The Charlotte & William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
December, 11 2024 17:27:45
Lake of the Ozarks
By Geist, Bill
Before there was "tourism" and souvenir ashtrays became "kitsch," the Lake of the Ozarks was a Shangri-La for middle-class Midwestern families on vacation, complete with man-made beaches, Hillbilly Mini Golf, and feathered rubber tomahawks. It was there that author Bill Geist spent summers in the Sixties during his school and college years working at Arrowhead Lodge-a small resort owned by his bombastic uncle-in all areas of the operation, from cesspool attendant to bellhop. What may have seemed just a summer job became, upon reflection, a transformative era where a cast of eccentric, small-town characters and experiences shaped (some might suggest "slightly twisted") Bill into the man he is today. He realized it was this time in his life that had a direct influence on his sensibilities, his humor, his writing, and ultimately a career searching the world for other such untamed creatures for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and CBS News. In LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Emmy Award-winning CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent Bill Geist reflects on his coming of age in the American Heartland and traces his evolution as a man and a writer. He shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes and tongue-in-cheek observations guaranteed to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for "the good ol' days." Written with Geistian wit and warmth, LAKE OF THE OZARKS takes readers back to a bygone era, and demonstrates how you can find inspiration in the most unexpected places.
Grand Central Publishing
|
9781538729809
|
Hardcover
What Is Real?
By Becker, Adam
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universeEvery physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
Basic Books
|
9780465096053
|
Hardcover
Time Travel
By Gleick, James
From the acclaimed author of The Information and Chaos, here is a mind-bending exploration of time travel: its subversive origins, its evolution in literature and science, and its influence on our understanding of time itself. The story begins at the turn of the previous century, with the young H. G. Wells writing and rewriting the fantastic tale that became his first book and an international sensation: The Time Machine. It was an era when a host of forces was converging to transmute the human understanding of time, some philosophical and some technological: the electric telegraph, the steam railroad, the discovery of buried civilizations, and the perfection of clocks. James Gleick tracks the evolution of time travel as an idea that becomes part of contemporary culture - from Marcel Proust to Doctor Who, from Jorge Luis Borges to Woody Allen. He investigates the inevitable looping paradoxes and examines the porous boundary between pulp fiction and modern physics. Finally, he delves into a temporal shift that is unsettling our own moment: the instantaneous wired world, with its all-consuming present and vanishing future.(With a color frontispiece and black-and-white illustrations throughout)
Pantheon Books
|
9780307908797
|
Print book
StarTalk
By Tyson, Neil Degrasse
This beautifully illustrated companion to celebrated scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson's popular podcast and National Geographic Channel TV show is an eye-opening journey for anyone curious about the complexities of our universe. For decades, beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has interpreted science with a combination of brainpower and charm that resonates with fans everywhere. In 2009, he founded StarTalk, the wildly popular podcast that became an Emmy-nominated talk show on the National Geographic Channel this year. Tyson's pioneering, provocative book will take the greatest hits from the airwaves to the page in one smart, richly illustrated compendium. Featuring vivid photography, thought-provoking sidebars, enlightening facts, and fun quotes from science and entertainment luminaries like Bill Nye and Dan Akroyd, StarTalk reimagines science's most challenging topics - from how the brain works to the physics of comic book superheroes - in a relatable, humorous way that will delight fans and new readers alike.
National Geographic Soc
|
9781426217272
|
Print book
Statistics
By Donnelly, Robert A
Statistics is a class that is required in many college majors, and it's an increasingly popular Advanced Placement (AP) high school course. In addition to math and technical students, many business and liberal arts students are required to take it as a fundamental component of their majors. A knowledge of statistical interpretation is vital for many careers. Idiot's Guides: Statistics explains the fundamental tenets in language anyone can understand. Content includes: - Calculating descriptive statistics. - Measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode. - Probability. - Variance analysis. - Inferential statistics. - Hypothesis testing. - Organizing data into statistical charts and tables.
Alpha Books
|
9781465451668
|
Print book
Spaceman
By Massimino, Mike
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself strapped to a giant rocket that's about to go from zero to 17,500 miles per hour? Or to look back on Earth from outer space and see the surprisingly precise line between day and night? Or to stand in front of the Hubble Space Telescope, wondering if the emergency repair you're about to make will inadvertently ruin humankind's chance to unlock the universe's secrets? Mike Massimino has been there, and in Spaceman he puts you inside the suit, with all the zip and buoyancy of life in microgravity. Massimino's childhood space dreams were born the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Growing up in a working-class Long Island family, he catapulted himself to Columbia and then MIT, only to flunk his first doctoral exam and be rejected three times by NASA before making it through the final round of astronaut selection. Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the Hubble Telescope - which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with saving on his final mission - Massimino has written an ode to never giving up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible. Spaceman invites us into a rare, wonderful world where science meets the most thrilling adventure, revealing just what having "the right stuff" really means.
Crown
|
9781101903544
|
Hardcover
Borrowed Time
By Armstrong, Sue
The question of how and why organisms age has teased scientists for centuries. There are myriad competing theories, from the idea that aging is a simple wear and tear process, like the rusting of a car, to the belief that aging and death are genetically programmed and controlled. In fact, there is no clearly defined limit to life, and no single, predictable program playing itself out: different things are happening within and between tissues, and each system or organ accumulates damage at its own pace, according to the kind of insults imposed on it by daily living.Sometime before 2020, the number of people over sixty-five worldwide will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 0-4 year olds; and by 2050 there are likely to be 2.5 times as many older people in the world as toddlers. Sue Armstrong tells the story of society's quest to understand aging through the eyes of the scientists themselves, as well as through the "ordinary" people who exemplify the mysteries of ageing--from those who suffer from the premature aging condition, Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, to people still running marathons in their 80s. Borrowed Time will investigate such mind-boggling experiments as transfusing young blood into old rodents, and research into transplanting the first human head, among many others. It will explore where science is taking us and what issues are being raised from a psychological, philosophical and ethical perspective, through interviews with, and profiles of, key scientists in the field and the people who represent interesting and important aspects of aging.
Bloomsbury Sigma
|
9781472936066
|
Hardcover
Third Thoughts
By Weinberg, Steven
A wise, personal, and wide-ranging meditation on science and society by the Nobel Prize-winning author of To Explain the World.For more than four decades, one of the most captivating and celebrated science communicators of our time has challenged the public to think carefully about the foundations of nature and the inseparable entanglement of science and society. In Third Thoughts Steven Weinberg casts a wide net: from the cosmological to the personal, from astronomy, quantum mechanics, and the history of science to the limitations of current knowledge, the art of discovery, and the rewards of getting things wrong.Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of the classic The First Three Minutes, Weinberg shares his views on some of the most fundamental and fascinating aspects of physics and the universe.
Belknap Press
|
9780674975323
|
Hardcover
What the Future Looks Like
By Al-khalili, Jim
Science fact, not science fiction, features in this wide-ranging update from leading experts on the cutting-edge developments that are already defining our future lives and worldEvery day, scientists alight on pioneering solutions that will define the future of life on this planet, yet it isn't every day you hear about these discoveries straight from the scientists themselves. Now, award-winning science writer Jim Al-Khalili and his top-notch team of experts draw on their mastery of groundbreaking scientific research to predict what advancements will shape the future just around the corner and beyond.Taking in genomics, robotics, AI, the "Internet of Things," synthetic biology, interstellar travel, colonization of the solar system, and much more, What the Future Looks Like explores big-picture questions like: Will we find a cure to all diseases? The answer to climate change? And will bionics one day turn us into superheroes? Neither celebratory nor alarmist, here is entirely reality-based insight on the science-fueled future that is helping to solve intractable problems - and that's already unfolding all around us.
The Experiment
|
9781615194704
|
Paperback
Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome
By Falk, Dean
In this unusual book an evolutionary anthropologist and her coauthor/granddaughter, who has Asperger syndrome, examine the emergence and spread of Asperger syndrome and other forms of high-functioning autism. The authors speak to readers with autism, parents, teachers, clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, other health-care providers, autism researchers, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, paleoanthropologists, and people who simply enjoy reading about science.Using the latest findings regarding brain evolution and the neurological, genetic, and cognitive underpinnings of autistic individuals at the high end of the spectrum, Falk theorizes that many characteristics associated with Asperger syndrome are by-products of the evolution of advanced mental processing.
Lake of the Ozarks
By Geist, Bill
Before there was "tourism" and souvenir ashtrays became "kitsch," the Lake of the Ozarks was a Shangri-La for middle-class Midwestern families on vacation, complete with man-made beaches, Hillbilly Mini Golf, and feathered rubber tomahawks. It was there that author Bill Geist spent summers in the Sixties during his school and college years working at Arrowhead Lodge-a small resort owned by his bombastic uncle-in all areas of the operation, from cesspool attendant to bellhop. What may have seemed just a summer job became, upon reflection, a transformative era where a cast of eccentric, small-town characters and experiences shaped (some might suggest "slightly twisted") Bill into the man he is today. He realized it was this time in his life that had a direct influence on his sensibilities, his humor, his writing, and ultimately a career searching the world for other such untamed creatures for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and CBS News. In LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Emmy Award-winning CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent Bill Geist reflects on his coming of age in the American Heartland and traces his evolution as a man and a writer. He shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes and tongue-in-cheek observations guaranteed to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for "the good ol' days." Written with Geistian wit and warmth, LAKE OF THE OZARKS takes readers back to a bygone era, and demonstrates how you can find inspiration in the most unexpected places.
What Is Real?
By Becker, Adam
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universeEvery physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
Time Travel
By Gleick, James
From the acclaimed author of The Information and Chaos, here is a mind-bending exploration of time travel: its subversive origins, its evolution in literature and science, and its influence on our understanding of time itself. The story begins at the turn of the previous century, with the young H. G. Wells writing and rewriting the fantastic tale that became his first book and an international sensation: The Time Machine. It was an era when a host of forces was converging to transmute the human understanding of time, some philosophical and some technological: the electric telegraph, the steam railroad, the discovery of buried civilizations, and the perfection of clocks. James Gleick tracks the evolution of time travel as an idea that becomes part of contemporary culture - from Marcel Proust to Doctor Who, from Jorge Luis Borges to Woody Allen. He investigates the inevitable looping paradoxes and examines the porous boundary between pulp fiction and modern physics. Finally, he delves into a temporal shift that is unsettling our own moment: the instantaneous wired world, with its all-consuming present and vanishing future.(With a color frontispiece and black-and-white illustrations throughout)
StarTalk
By Tyson, Neil Degrasse
This beautifully illustrated companion to celebrated scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson's popular podcast and National Geographic Channel TV show is an eye-opening journey for anyone curious about the complexities of our universe. For decades, beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has interpreted science with a combination of brainpower and charm that resonates with fans everywhere. In 2009, he founded StarTalk, the wildly popular podcast that became an Emmy-nominated talk show on the National Geographic Channel this year. Tyson's pioneering, provocative book will take the greatest hits from the airwaves to the page in one smart, richly illustrated compendium. Featuring vivid photography, thought-provoking sidebars, enlightening facts, and fun quotes from science and entertainment luminaries like Bill Nye and Dan Akroyd, StarTalk reimagines science's most challenging topics - from how the brain works to the physics of comic book superheroes - in a relatable, humorous way that will delight fans and new readers alike.
Statistics
By Donnelly, Robert A
Statistics is a class that is required in many college majors, and it's an increasingly popular Advanced Placement (AP) high school course. In addition to math and technical students, many business and liberal arts students are required to take it as a fundamental component of their majors. A knowledge of statistical interpretation is vital for many careers. Idiot's Guides: Statistics explains the fundamental tenets in language anyone can understand. Content includes: - Calculating descriptive statistics. - Measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode. - Probability. - Variance analysis. - Inferential statistics. - Hypothesis testing. - Organizing data into statistical charts and tables.
Spaceman
By Massimino, Mike
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself strapped to a giant rocket that's about to go from zero to 17,500 miles per hour? Or to look back on Earth from outer space and see the surprisingly precise line between day and night? Or to stand in front of the Hubble Space Telescope, wondering if the emergency repair you're about to make will inadvertently ruin humankind's chance to unlock the universe's secrets? Mike Massimino has been there, and in Spaceman he puts you inside the suit, with all the zip and buoyancy of life in microgravity. Massimino's childhood space dreams were born the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Growing up in a working-class Long Island family, he catapulted himself to Columbia and then MIT, only to flunk his first doctoral exam and be rejected three times by NASA before making it through the final round of astronaut selection. Taking us through the surreal wonder and beauty of his first spacewalk, the tragedy of losing friends in the Columbia shuttle accident, and the development of his enduring love for the Hubble Telescope - which he and his fellow astronauts were tasked with saving on his final mission - Massimino has written an ode to never giving up and the power of teamwork to make anything possible. Spaceman invites us into a rare, wonderful world where science meets the most thrilling adventure, revealing just what having "the right stuff" really means.
Borrowed Time
By Armstrong, Sue
The question of how and why organisms age has teased scientists for centuries. There are myriad competing theories, from the idea that aging is a simple wear and tear process, like the rusting of a car, to the belief that aging and death are genetically programmed and controlled. In fact, there is no clearly defined limit to life, and no single, predictable program playing itself out: different things are happening within and between tissues, and each system or organ accumulates damage at its own pace, according to the kind of insults imposed on it by daily living.Sometime before 2020, the number of people over sixty-five worldwide will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 0-4 year olds; and by 2050 there are likely to be 2.5 times as many older people in the world as toddlers. Sue Armstrong tells the story of society's quest to understand aging through the eyes of the scientists themselves, as well as through the "ordinary" people who exemplify the mysteries of ageing--from those who suffer from the premature aging condition, Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, to people still running marathons in their 80s. Borrowed Time will investigate such mind-boggling experiments as transfusing young blood into old rodents, and research into transplanting the first human head, among many others. It will explore where science is taking us and what issues are being raised from a psychological, philosophical and ethical perspective, through interviews with, and profiles of, key scientists in the field and the people who represent interesting and important aspects of aging.
Third Thoughts
By Weinberg, Steven
A wise, personal, and wide-ranging meditation on science and society by the Nobel Prize-winning author of To Explain the World.For more than four decades, one of the most captivating and celebrated science communicators of our time has challenged the public to think carefully about the foundations of nature and the inseparable entanglement of science and society. In Third Thoughts Steven Weinberg casts a wide net: from the cosmological to the personal, from astronomy, quantum mechanics, and the history of science to the limitations of current knowledge, the art of discovery, and the rewards of getting things wrong.Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of the classic The First Three Minutes, Weinberg shares his views on some of the most fundamental and fascinating aspects of physics and the universe.
What the Future Looks Like
By Al-khalili, Jim
Science fact, not science fiction, features in this wide-ranging update from leading experts on the cutting-edge developments that are already defining our future lives and worldEvery day, scientists alight on pioneering solutions that will define the future of life on this planet, yet it isn't every day you hear about these discoveries straight from the scientists themselves. Now, award-winning science writer Jim Al-Khalili and his top-notch team of experts draw on their mastery of groundbreaking scientific research to predict what advancements will shape the future just around the corner and beyond.Taking in genomics, robotics, AI, the "Internet of Things," synthetic biology, interstellar travel, colonization of the solar system, and much more, What the Future Looks Like explores big-picture questions like: Will we find a cure to all diseases? The answer to climate change? And will bionics one day turn us into superheroes? Neither celebratory nor alarmist, here is entirely reality-based insight on the science-fueled future that is helping to solve intractable problems - and that's already unfolding all around us.
Geeks, Genes, and the Evolution of Asperger Syndrome
By Falk, Dean
In this unusual book an evolutionary anthropologist and her coauthor/granddaughter, who has Asperger syndrome, examine the emergence and spread of Asperger syndrome and other forms of high-functioning autism. The authors speak to readers with autism, parents, teachers, clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, other health-care providers, autism researchers, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, paleoanthropologists, and people who simply enjoy reading about science.Using the latest findings regarding brain evolution and the neurological, genetic, and cognitive underpinnings of autistic individuals at the high end of the spectrum, Falk theorizes that many characteristics associated with Asperger syndrome are by-products of the evolution of advanced mental processing.