A groundbreaking and surprising look at contemporary censorship in ChinaAs authoritarian governments around the world develop sophisticated technologies for controlling information, many observers have predicted that these controls would be ineffective because they are easily thwarted and evaded by savvy Internet users.
How the latest cutting-edge science offers a fuller picture of life in Rome and antiquityThis groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive look at how the latest advances in the sciences are transforming our understanding of ancient Roman history.
A treasure trove of illuminating and entertaining quotations from the legendary naturalistHere is Charles Darwin in his own words-the naturalist, traveler, scientific thinker, and controversial author of On the Origin of Species, the book that shook the Victorian world.
This book explores the role of causal constraints in science, shifting our attention from causal relations between individual events--the focus of most philosophical treatments of causation-to a broad family of concepts and principles generating constraints on possible change.
The remarkable story of how our solar system came to beThe birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins.
An authoritative exploration of why understanding evolution is crucial to human life todayIt is easy to think of evolution as something that happened long ago, or that occurs only in "e;nature,"e; or that is so slow that its ongoing impact is virtually nonexistent when viewed from the perspective of a single human lifetime.
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose questions some of the most fashionable ideas in physics today, including string theoryWhat can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy possibly have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe?
The complete guide to everything you ever wanted to know about EinsteinThis is the single most complete guide to Albert Einstein's life and work for students, researchers, and browsers alike.
A survey of ancient Egyptian mathematics across three thousand yearsMathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the fourth millennium BC-and the earliest hints of writing and number notation-to the end of the pharaonic period in Greco-Roman times.
The untold story of Albert Einstein's role as the father of quantum theoryEinstein and the Quantum reveals for the first time the full significance of Albert Einstein's contributions to quantum theory.
This book presents a new approach to the epistemology of mathematics by viewing mathematics as a human activity whose knowledge is intimately linked with practice.
In 1884, Edwin Abbott Abbott wrote a mathematical adventure set in a two-dimensional plane world, populated by a hierarchical society of regular geometrical figures-who think and speak and have all too human emotions.
An acclaimed biography of the Enlightenment's greatest mathematicianThis is the first full-scale biography of Leonhard Euler (1707-83), one of the greatest mathematicians and theoretical physicists of all time.
People have always been xenophobic, but an explicit philosophical and scientific view of human racial difference only began to emerge during the modern period.
From the 1770s through the 1820s the French scientific community predominated in the world to a degree that no other scientific establishment did in any period prior to the Second World War.
An essential introduction to the philosophy of biologyThis is a concise, comprehensive, and accessible introduction to the philosophy of biology written by a leading authority on the subject.
The remarkable story and personalities behind one of the most important theories in modern economicsFinding Equilibrium explores the post-World War II transformation of economics by constructing a history of the proof of its central dogma-that a competitive market economy may possess a set of equilibrium prices.
How the new brain sciences are transforming our understanding of what it means to be humanThe brain sciences are influencing our understanding of human behavior as never before, from neuropsychiatry and neuroeconomics to neurotheology and neuroaesthetics.
Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked.
How two charismatic, exceptionally talented physicists came to terms with the nuclear weapons they helped to createIn 1945, the United States dropped the bomb, and physicists were forced to contemplate disquieting questions about their roles and responsibilities.
A Machine to Make a Future represents a remarkably original look at the present and possible future of biotechnology research in the wake of the mapping of the human genome.
How science in medieval Europe originated in Buddhist AsiaWarriors of the Cloisters tells how key cultural innovations from Central Asia revolutionized medieval Europe and gave rise to the culture of science in the West.
An entertaining and informative anthology of popular math writing from the Renaissance to cyberspaceDespite what we may sometimes imagine, popular mathematics writing didn't begin with Martin Gardner.
The best backyard experiments for hands-on science learningThe Ultimate Book of Saturday Science is Neil Downie's biggest and most astounding compendium yet of science experiments you can do in your own kitchen or backyard using common household items.
More than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers write about things they believe in, despite the absence of concrete proofScientific theory, more often than not, is born of bold assumption, disparate bits of unconnected evidence, and educated leaps of faith.
The story of the visionary scientists who invented the futureIn 1969, Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill began looking outward to space colonies as the new frontier for humanity's expansion.
Hugh Everett III was an American physicist best known for his many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which formed the basis of his PhD thesis at Princeton University in 1957.
The impact on climate from 200 years of industrial development is an everyday fact of life, but did humankind's active involvement in climate change really begin with the industrial revolution, as commonly believed?
The clash of faith and science in Napoleonic FranceThe Dendera zodiac-an ancient bas-relief temple ceiling adorned with mysterious symbols of the stars and planets-was first discovered by the French during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, and quickly provoked a controversy between scientists and theologians.
A major history of technology and Western conquestFor six hundred years, the nations of Europe and North America have periodically attempted to coerce, invade, or conquer other societies.
The volcano that has fascinated scientists, writers, and poets for two millenniaCapricious, vibrant, and volatile, Vesuvius has been and remains one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes.
Hermann Weyl (1885-1955) was one of the twentieth century's most important mathematicians, as well as a seminal figure in the development of quantum physics and general relativity.
