A disquieting and meditative look at the issue that started the biggest food fight of our time--GMOs. From a journalist and mother who learned that genetically modified corn was the culprit behind what was making her and her child sick, a must-read book for anyone trying to parse the incendiary discussion about genetically modified foods.*One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books 2016*"More so than definitive answers, the questions that Shetterly advances are a persuasive reminder of how important the continued fight for true transparency in the food industry is." --GoopGMO products are among the most consumed and the least understood substances in the United States today. They appear not only in the food we eat, but in everything from the interior coating of paper coffee cups and medicines to diapers and toothpaste. We are often completely unaware of their presence.Caitlin Shetterly discovered the importance of GMOs the hard way. Shortly after she learned that her son had an alarming sensitivity to GMO corn, she was told that she had the same condition, and her family's daily existence changed forever. An expansion of Shetterly's viral Elle article "The Bad Seed," Modified delves deep into the heart of the matter - from the cornfields of Nebraska to the beekeeping conventions in Brussels - to shine a light on the people, the science, and the corporations behind the food we serve ourselves and our families every day. Deeper than an expos, and written by a mother and journalist whose journey had no agenda other than to understand the nuance and confusion behind GMOs, Modified is a rare breed of book that will at once make you weep at the majestic beauty of our Great Plains and force you to harvest deep seeds of doubt about the invisible monsters currently infiltrating our food and our land and threatening our future.
G.P. Putnam's Sons
|
9780399170676
|
Print book
A Divine Language
By Wilkinson, Alec
"There is almost no writer I admire as much as I do Alec Wilkinson. He's an extraordinary reporter and a writer of such grace that his stories seem illuminated from within. His work has enduring brilliance and humanity." -- Susan Orlean, author of The Library BookA spirited, metaphysical exploration into math's deepest mysteries and conundrums at the crux of middle age.Decades after struggling to understand math as a boy, Alec Wilkinson decides to embark on a journey to learn it as a middle-aged man. What begins as a personal challenge -- and it's challenging -- soon transforms into something greater than a belabored effort to learn math. Despite his incompetence, Wilkinson encounters a universe of unexpected mysteries in his pursuit of mathematical knowledge and quickly becomes fascinated; soon, his exercise in personal growth (and torture) morphs into an intellectually expansive exploration.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
|
9781250168573
|
Hardcover
Fox and I
By Raven, Catherine
An unforgettable memoir about the friendship between a solitary woman and a wild fox. When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She was as emotionally isolated as she was physically, but she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brought out her camping chair, sat as close to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince.
Spiegel & Grau
|
9781954118003
|
Hardcover
Eight Bears
By Dickie, Gloria
A global exploration of the eight remaining species of bears -- and the dangers they face.Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, from Indigenous folklore and Greek mythology to nineteenth-century fairytales and the modern toy shop. But as humans and bears come into ever-closer contact, our relationship nears a tipping point. Today, most of the eight remaining bear species are threatened with extinction. Some, such as the panda bear and the polar bear, are icons of the natural world; others, such as the spectacled bear and the sloth bear, are far less known.In Eight Bears, journalist Gloria Dickie embarks on a globe-trotting journey to explore each bear's story, whisking readers from the cloud forests of the Andes to the ice floes of the Arctic; from the jungles of India to the backwoods of the Rocky Mountain West.
W. W. Norton & Company
|
9781324005087
|
Hardcover
King of the Dinosaur Hunters
By Dingus, Lowell
The story of the extraordinary adventures behind the man who has discovered some of the amazing wonders of natural history.Every year millions of museum visitors marvel at the skeletons of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures discovered by John Bell Hatcher. The life of the "King of Collectors" is every bit as fascinating as the mighty bones and fossils he unearthed.Hatcher helped discover and mount much of the Carnegie Museum's world famous, 150 million-year-old skeleton of Diplodocus, a slender-necked, long-tailed, plant-eater whose skeleton has captivated our collective imaginations for more than a century. But that wasn't all Hatcher discovered. During a now legendary collecting campaign in Wyoming between 1889 and 1892, Hatcher discovered a 66 million-year-old horned dinosaur, Torosaurus, as well as the first scientifically significant set of skeletons from its evolutionary cousin, Triceratops.
Pegasus Books
|
9781681778655
|
Hardcover
An Arrow's Arc
By Md, Carl Nathan
"A well-rendered portrait of an intense medical life devoted to equally intense research." - Kirkus Reviews"This is a wonderful account of a nonpareil physician-scientist and, in recent decades, a creator of drug therapies and a lifesci macher. Carl Nathan illuminates his memoir with great storytelling and deeply considered reflections (regularly summed up in pithy 'life lessons') on how his person and his personal journey prepared, and propelled, him. Like Carl, I am a scientist whose asthma and serial pneumonias meant swapping a lot of childhood companionship for finding out young how rewarding adventures of the mind can be. An Arrow's Arc belongs on your bookshelf right next to Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" - Professor K.
Paul Dry Books
|
9781589881853
|
Paperback
How to Catch a Mole
By Hamer, Marc
In this evocative and heart-wrenching memoir, a hard-working Welsh molecatcher reveals his double life as a poet and a dreamer * "A wonderful memoir ... hands down the most charming book I read last year." - Margaret Renkl, The New York Times"How to Catch a Mole is a small book of many things. In quiet, crystalline prose, it blends memoir, keen observations of nature, and ruminations about life, aging and death." - Wall Street JournalKneeling in a muddy field in the Welsh countryside, clutching a creature that is soft and blue-black, Marc Hamer vows he will stop trapping moles - forever. In this earnest, understated, and sublime work of literary memoir, the molecatcher shares what led him to this strange career and what caused him to stop: from sleeping among hedges as a homeless teen, to toiling on the railway, to weeding windswept gardens in Wales and witnessing the beauty of every living thing.
Greystone Books
|
9781771649940
|
Paperback
Big Meg
By Flannery, Tim
Internationally bestselling author and renowned scientist Tim Flannery and his daughter, scientist Emma Flannery, delivers an informative-yet-intimate portrait of the megalodon, an extinct shark and the largest predator of all timeWhen Tim Flannery was a boy he found a fossilized tooth of the giant shark megalodon at a beach near his home in Australia. This remarkable find - the tooth was large enough to cover his palm - sparked an interest in paleontology that was to inform his life's work and a lifelong quest to uncover the secrets of the great shark Otodus megalodon.Tim passed on his love of the natural world and interest in the fossil record to his daughter, Emma, a scientist and writer. And now, together, they have written a fascinating account of this ancient marine creature.
Atlantic Monthly Press
|
9780802162588
|
Hardcover
Calculating the Cosmos
By Stewart, Ian
In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from the solar system to the Galaxy and the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life and what forms this might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid. Mathematics has been the driving force in astronomy and cosmology since the ancient Babylonians. Stewart describes how Kepler's work on the orbits of the planets led Newton to formulate his theory of gravity, and how two centuries later tiny irregularities in the motion of Mars inspired Einstein to devise his theory of General Relativity. He explains the fundamentals of gravity, space-time, relativity and quantum theory, and how they all relate to each other. Eighty years ago, the discovery of the universe expanding led to the Big Bang theory of its origins. This in turn led cosmologists to add new features, such as inflation, dark matter, and dark energy. But does inflation explain the structure of today's universe? Does dark matter actually exist? Could a scientific revolution be on the way, which will challenge the long-held scientific orthodoxy and once again transform our understanding of the universe? In an exciting and engaging style, Calculating the Cosmos is a mathematical quest through the intricate realms of astronomy and cosmology.
Basic Books
|
9780465096107
|
Print book
The Insect Artist
By Thalden, Zebith Stacy
"Art and science collide beautifully" in this step-by-step, fully illustrated guide to drawing and painting the wonderful world of insects (Lila Higgins) .The Insect Artist offers a complete course in illustration and lifelike artwork. The 15 projects are designed to build on one another, beginning with techniques that strengthen drawing and acrylic painting skills. More advanced projects focus on design principals, realistic environments, and creative challenges. Clear instructions and visual demonstrations describe each step of the process and reference photos show the anatomy and coloration of each insect. Short outdoor exercises are included as lessons on actively observing the nature. This is a book for artists of all levels and anyone interested in rediscovering the natural world through artistic expression.
Timber Press
|
9781604697964
|
Paperback
Otter Country
By Darlington, Miriam
"Beguiling. The gentle and persistent search by Darlington sparkles." - The GuardianA plan formed in my mind. I would explore the places in this land that hid my grail. I would spend a whole year or longer, if that's what it took, wading through marshes, hiding between mossy rocks, paddling down rivers and swimming in sea lochs; recording my journey through the seasons as I searched for wild otters.Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations, despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country, celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood, and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world.
Tin House Books
|
9781959030348
|
Hardcover
Angry Weather
By Otto, Friederike
A pioneering scientist solves a pressing climate question: Can we pin the blame for individual extreme weather events on humans?Massive fires, widespread floods, category 4 hurricanes - weather disasters are becoming more frequent each year, but not everyone agrees on what causes them. Renowned University of Oxford researcher Friederike Otto provides an answer with attribution science, a revolutionary method for pinpointing the role of climate change in extreme weather events. Anchoring her book with the gripping, day-by-day story of Hurricane Harvey, which caused over a hundred deaths and $125 billion in damage in 2017, Otto reveals how attribution science works in real time, and determines that Harvey's terrifying floods were three times more likely to occur due to human-induced climate change.
Greystone Books
|
9781771646147
|
Hardcover
Vacation Guide to the Solar System
By Koski, Olivia
Packed with real science and fueled by imagination, a beautifully illustrated travel guide to traveling in our solar system Imagine taking a hike along the windswept red plains of Mars to dig for signs of life, or touring one of Jupiter's sixty-four moons where you can photograph its swirling storms. For a shorter trip on a tight budget, the Moon is quite majestic and very quiet if you can make it during the off-season. With four-color illustrations and packed with real-world science, The Vacation Guide to the Solar System is the must-have planning guide for the curious space adventurer, covering all of the essentials for your next voyage, how to get there, and what to do when you arrive. Written by an astronomer who presents at the Hayden Planetarium and one of the creators of the Guerilla Science collective, this tongue-in-cheek reference guide is an imaginative exploration into the "What if" of space travel, sharing fascinating facts about space, the planets in our solar system, and even some moons!
Penguin Books
|
9780143129776
|
Hardcover
The Secret History of Bigfoot
By O'connor, John
From the shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest to off-the-wall cryptozoological conventions, one man searches high and low for the answer to the question: real or not, why do we want to believe?Journalist and writer John O'Connor takes readers on a narrative quest through the American wilds in search of Bigfoot, its myth and meaning. Inhabited by an eccentric cast of characters - reputable men of science and deluded charlatans alike - the book explores the zany and secretive world of "cryptozoology," tracking Bigfoot from the Wild Men of Native American and European lore to Harry and the Hendersons, while examining the forces behind our ever-widening belief in the supernatural. By turns an ardent, philosophical defense of nature, investigation into what Kurt Andersen calls our peculiar "American appetites for immersive make-believe," and a gonzo trip into alternative reality, this is the story of our Bigfoot obsession - where it comes from, what it means today - and the people driving it.
Sourcebooks
|
9781464216633
|
Hardcover
Waves in an Impossible Sea
By Strassler, Matt
A theoretical physicist takes us on an awe-inspiring journey from relativity to the Higgs field, showing how the universe creates everything from what seems like nothing at all
In Waves in an Impossible Sea, physicist Matt Strassler tells a startling tale of elementary particles, human experience, and empty space. He begins with a simple mystery of motion. When we drive at highway speeds with the windows down, the wind beats against our faces. Yet our planet hurtles through the cosmos at 150 miles per second, and we feel nothing of it. How can our voyage be so tranquil when, as Einstein discovered, matter warps space, and space deflects matter?
The answer, Strassler reveals, is that empty space is a sea, albeit a paradoxically strange one. Much like water and air, it ripples in various ways, and we ourselves, made from its ripples, can move through space as effortlessly as waves crossing an ocean.
Modified
By Shetterly, Caitlin
A disquieting and meditative look at the issue that started the biggest food fight of our time--GMOs. From a journalist and mother who learned that genetically modified corn was the culprit behind what was making her and her child sick, a must-read book for anyone trying to parse the incendiary discussion about genetically modified foods.*One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books 2016*"More so than definitive answers, the questions that Shetterly advances are a persuasive reminder of how important the continued fight for true transparency in the food industry is." --GoopGMO products are among the most consumed and the least understood substances in the United States today. They appear not only in the food we eat, but in everything from the interior coating of paper coffee cups and medicines to diapers and toothpaste. We are often completely unaware of their presence.Caitlin Shetterly discovered the importance of GMOs the hard way. Shortly after she learned that her son had an alarming sensitivity to GMO corn, she was told that she had the same condition, and her family's daily existence changed forever. An expansion of Shetterly's viral Elle article "The Bad Seed," Modified delves deep into the heart of the matter - from the cornfields of Nebraska to the beekeeping conventions in Brussels - to shine a light on the people, the science, and the corporations behind the food we serve ourselves and our families every day. Deeper than an expos, and written by a mother and journalist whose journey had no agenda other than to understand the nuance and confusion behind GMOs, Modified is a rare breed of book that will at once make you weep at the majestic beauty of our Great Plains and force you to harvest deep seeds of doubt about the invisible monsters currently infiltrating our food and our land and threatening our future.
A Divine Language
By Wilkinson, Alec
"There is almost no writer I admire as much as I do Alec Wilkinson. He's an extraordinary reporter and a writer of such grace that his stories seem illuminated from within. His work has enduring brilliance and humanity." -- Susan Orlean, author of The Library BookA spirited, metaphysical exploration into math's deepest mysteries and conundrums at the crux of middle age.Decades after struggling to understand math as a boy, Alec Wilkinson decides to embark on a journey to learn it as a middle-aged man. What begins as a personal challenge -- and it's challenging -- soon transforms into something greater than a belabored effort to learn math. Despite his incompetence, Wilkinson encounters a universe of unexpected mysteries in his pursuit of mathematical knowledge and quickly becomes fascinated; soon, his exercise in personal growth (and torture) morphs into an intellectually expansive exploration.
Fox and I
By Raven, Catherine
An unforgettable memoir about the friendship between a solitary woman and a wild fox. When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She was as emotionally isolated as she was physically, but she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? She brought out her camping chair, sat as close to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince.
Eight Bears
By Dickie, Gloria
A global exploration of the eight remaining species of bears -- and the dangers they face.Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, from Indigenous folklore and Greek mythology to nineteenth-century fairytales and the modern toy shop. But as humans and bears come into ever-closer contact, our relationship nears a tipping point. Today, most of the eight remaining bear species are threatened with extinction. Some, such as the panda bear and the polar bear, are icons of the natural world; others, such as the spectacled bear and the sloth bear, are far less known.In Eight Bears, journalist Gloria Dickie embarks on a globe-trotting journey to explore each bear's story, whisking readers from the cloud forests of the Andes to the ice floes of the Arctic; from the jungles of India to the backwoods of the Rocky Mountain West.
King of the Dinosaur Hunters
By Dingus, Lowell
The story of the extraordinary adventures behind the man who has discovered some of the amazing wonders of natural history.Every year millions of museum visitors marvel at the skeletons of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures discovered by John Bell Hatcher. The life of the "King of Collectors" is every bit as fascinating as the mighty bones and fossils he unearthed.Hatcher helped discover and mount much of the Carnegie Museum's world famous, 150 million-year-old skeleton of Diplodocus, a slender-necked, long-tailed, plant-eater whose skeleton has captivated our collective imaginations for more than a century. But that wasn't all Hatcher discovered. During a now legendary collecting campaign in Wyoming between 1889 and 1892, Hatcher discovered a 66 million-year-old horned dinosaur, Torosaurus, as well as the first scientifically significant set of skeletons from its evolutionary cousin, Triceratops.
An Arrow's Arc
By Md, Carl Nathan
"A well-rendered portrait of an intense medical life devoted to equally intense research." - Kirkus Reviews"This is a wonderful account of a nonpareil physician-scientist and, in recent decades, a creator of drug therapies and a lifesci macher. Carl Nathan illuminates his memoir with great storytelling and deeply considered reflections (regularly summed up in pithy 'life lessons') on how his person and his personal journey prepared, and propelled, him. Like Carl, I am a scientist whose asthma and serial pneumonias meant swapping a lot of childhood companionship for finding out young how rewarding adventures of the mind can be. An Arrow's Arc belongs on your bookshelf right next to Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" - Professor K.
How to Catch a Mole
By Hamer, Marc
In this evocative and heart-wrenching memoir, a hard-working Welsh molecatcher reveals his double life as a poet and a dreamer * "A wonderful memoir ... hands down the most charming book I read last year." - Margaret Renkl, The New York Times"How to Catch a Mole is a small book of many things. In quiet, crystalline prose, it blends memoir, keen observations of nature, and ruminations about life, aging and death." - Wall Street JournalKneeling in a muddy field in the Welsh countryside, clutching a creature that is soft and blue-black, Marc Hamer vows he will stop trapping moles - forever. In this earnest, understated, and sublime work of literary memoir, the molecatcher shares what led him to this strange career and what caused him to stop: from sleeping among hedges as a homeless teen, to toiling on the railway, to weeding windswept gardens in Wales and witnessing the beauty of every living thing.
Big Meg
By Flannery, Tim
Internationally bestselling author and renowned scientist Tim Flannery and his daughter, scientist Emma Flannery, delivers an informative-yet-intimate portrait of the megalodon, an extinct shark and the largest predator of all timeWhen Tim Flannery was a boy he found a fossilized tooth of the giant shark megalodon at a beach near his home in Australia. This remarkable find - the tooth was large enough to cover his palm - sparked an interest in paleontology that was to inform his life's work and a lifelong quest to uncover the secrets of the great shark Otodus megalodon.Tim passed on his love of the natural world and interest in the fossil record to his daughter, Emma, a scientist and writer. And now, together, they have written a fascinating account of this ancient marine creature.
Calculating the Cosmos
By Stewart, Ian
In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from the solar system to the Galaxy and the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life and what forms this might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid. Mathematics has been the driving force in astronomy and cosmology since the ancient Babylonians. Stewart describes how Kepler's work on the orbits of the planets led Newton to formulate his theory of gravity, and how two centuries later tiny irregularities in the motion of Mars inspired Einstein to devise his theory of General Relativity. He explains the fundamentals of gravity, space-time, relativity and quantum theory, and how they all relate to each other. Eighty years ago, the discovery of the universe expanding led to the Big Bang theory of its origins. This in turn led cosmologists to add new features, such as inflation, dark matter, and dark energy. But does inflation explain the structure of today's universe? Does dark matter actually exist? Could a scientific revolution be on the way, which will challenge the long-held scientific orthodoxy and once again transform our understanding of the universe? In an exciting and engaging style, Calculating the Cosmos is a mathematical quest through the intricate realms of astronomy and cosmology.
The Insect Artist
By Thalden, Zebith Stacy
"Art and science collide beautifully" in this step-by-step, fully illustrated guide to drawing and painting the wonderful world of insects (Lila Higgins) .The Insect Artist offers a complete course in illustration and lifelike artwork. The 15 projects are designed to build on one another, beginning with techniques that strengthen drawing and acrylic painting skills. More advanced projects focus on design principals, realistic environments, and creative challenges. Clear instructions and visual demonstrations describe each step of the process and reference photos show the anatomy and coloration of each insect. Short outdoor exercises are included as lessons on actively observing the nature. This is a book for artists of all levels and anyone interested in rediscovering the natural world through artistic expression.
Otter Country
By Darlington, Miriam
"Beguiling. The gentle and persistent search by Darlington sparkles." - The GuardianA plan formed in my mind. I would explore the places in this land that hid my grail. I would spend a whole year or longer, if that's what it took, wading through marshes, hiding between mossy rocks, paddling down rivers and swimming in sea lochs; recording my journey through the seasons as I searched for wild otters.Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations, despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country, celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood, and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world.
Angry Weather
By Otto, Friederike
A pioneering scientist solves a pressing climate question: Can we pin the blame for individual extreme weather events on humans?Massive fires, widespread floods, category 4 hurricanes - weather disasters are becoming more frequent each year, but not everyone agrees on what causes them. Renowned University of Oxford researcher Friederike Otto provides an answer with attribution science, a revolutionary method for pinpointing the role of climate change in extreme weather events. Anchoring her book with the gripping, day-by-day story of Hurricane Harvey, which caused over a hundred deaths and $125 billion in damage in 2017, Otto reveals how attribution science works in real time, and determines that Harvey's terrifying floods were three times more likely to occur due to human-induced climate change.
Vacation Guide to the Solar System
By Koski, Olivia
Packed with real science and fueled by imagination, a beautifully illustrated travel guide to traveling in our solar system Imagine taking a hike along the windswept red plains of Mars to dig for signs of life, or touring one of Jupiter's sixty-four moons where you can photograph its swirling storms. For a shorter trip on a tight budget, the Moon is quite majestic and very quiet if you can make it during the off-season. With four-color illustrations and packed with real-world science, The Vacation Guide to the Solar System is the must-have planning guide for the curious space adventurer, covering all of the essentials for your next voyage, how to get there, and what to do when you arrive. Written by an astronomer who presents at the Hayden Planetarium and one of the creators of the Guerilla Science collective, this tongue-in-cheek reference guide is an imaginative exploration into the "What if" of space travel, sharing fascinating facts about space, the planets in our solar system, and even some moons!
The Secret History of Bigfoot
By O'connor, John
From the shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest to off-the-wall cryptozoological conventions, one man searches high and low for the answer to the question: real or not, why do we want to believe?Journalist and writer John O'Connor takes readers on a narrative quest through the American wilds in search of Bigfoot, its myth and meaning. Inhabited by an eccentric cast of characters - reputable men of science and deluded charlatans alike - the book explores the zany and secretive world of "cryptozoology," tracking Bigfoot from the Wild Men of Native American and European lore to Harry and the Hendersons, while examining the forces behind our ever-widening belief in the supernatural. By turns an ardent, philosophical defense of nature, investigation into what Kurt Andersen calls our peculiar "American appetites for immersive make-believe," and a gonzo trip into alternative reality, this is the story of our Bigfoot obsession - where it comes from, what it means today - and the people driving it.
Waves in an Impossible Sea
By Strassler, Matt
A theoretical physicist takes us on an awe-inspiring journey from relativity to the Higgs field, showing how the universe creates everything from what seems like nothing at all In Waves in an Impossible Sea, physicist Matt Strassler tells a startling tale of elementary particles, human experience, and empty space. He begins with a simple mystery of motion. When we drive at highway speeds with the windows down, the wind beats against our faces. Yet our planet hurtles through the cosmos at 150 miles per second, and we feel nothing of it. How can our voyage be so tranquil when, as Einstein discovered, matter warps space, and space deflects matter? The answer, Strassler reveals, is that empty space is a sea, albeit a paradoxically strange one. Much like water and air, it ripples in various ways, and we ourselves, made from its ripples, can move through space as effortlessly as waves crossing an ocean.