Cosmology 101
EVER LOOK UP AT THE NIGHT SKY AND WISH YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE SEEING? Cosmology is the study of the Universe. In COSMOLOGY 101 astronomer David H. Levy takes readers on a fascinating tour of our solar system, our own Milky Way Galaxy, and the rest of the cosmos. This is an easily read and understood introductory (or refresher) course on all things astronomical by the discoverer of the Shoemaker-Levy comet. Discover: How the Universe was born. How the Universe expanded and took the shape it currently has. How galaxies came together. How stars provide the materials for planets and life. How our solar system was formed. What comets are, where they come from, and where they go. What a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse are. How to view the night sky yourself. DAVID H. LEVY, science columnist for PARADE magazine and a contributor to Sky & Telescope, is one of the world's foremost astronomers. He has discovered 21 comets, including Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with Jupiter and made historic, worldwide news. Levy is the author of several books, including Impact Jupiter and Eclipse: Voyage to Darkness and Light. Levy observes the cosmos every clear night from his own observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
Arguing Science
An in-depth dialogue on the nature of science between post-materialist biologist Rupert Sheldrake and renowned skeptic Michael Shermer
Virus
An essential illustrated guide to the 101 most fascinating viruses This stunningly illustrated book provides a rare window into the amazing, varied, and often beautiful world of viruses. Contrary to popular belief, not all viruses are bad for you. In fact, several are beneficial to their hosts, and many are crucial to the health of our planet. Virus offers an unprecedented look at 101 incredible microbes that infect all branches of life on Earth--from humans and other animals to insects, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Featuring hundreds of breathtaking color images throughout, this guide begins with a lively and informative introduction to virology. Here readers can learn about the history of this unique science, how viruses are named, how their genes work, how they copy and package themselves, how they interact with their hosts, how immune systems counteract viruses, and how viruses travel from host to host. The concise entries that follow highlight important or interesting facts about each virus. Learn about the geographic origins of dengue and why old tires and unused pots help the virus to spread. Read about Ebola, Zika, West Nile, Frog virus 3, the Tulip breaking virus, and many others--how they were discovered, what their hosts are, how they are transmitted, whether or not there is a vaccine, and much more. Each entry is easy to read and includes a graphic of the virus, and nearly every entry features a colorized image of the virus as seen through the microscope. Written by a leading authority, this handsomely illustrated guide reveals the unseen wonders of the microbial world. It will give you an entirely new appreciation for viruses.
Molecular Complexes in Earth’s, Planetary Cometary and Interstellar Atmospheres
This book introduces systematically the concept of weakly-bound complexes into the broad field of atmospheric sciences. To fill up the gap between our rapidly expanding knowledge of the individual properties of Van der Waals and hydrogen-bonded molecules, and our understanding of their role in the atmospheric processes, an ensemble of related topics are covered by a team of expert co-authors. The general properties of the weakly bound molecular complexes (or "clusters") are discussed, as well as their distribution in the planetary atmospheres. Collision-induced and dimeric absorption and emission are considered in the context of atmospheric spectroscopy. The advanced experimental techniques which enable us to study the spectroscopic features of molecular complexes in the gas phase, or which are adsorbed, are reviewed. The role of molecular complexes in the cometary atmosphere, the Earth mesosphere, and the atmospheres of the giant planets and some of their satellites are also discussed in detail.
How We’ll Live on Mars
Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within twenty years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen. The race is on. Private companies, driven by iconoclastic entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Allen, and Sir Richard Branson; Dutch reality show and space mission Mars One; NASA; and the Chinese government are among the many groups competing to plant the first stake on Mars and open the door for human habitation. Why go to Mars? Life on Mars has potential life-saving possibilities for everyone on earth. Depleting water supplies, overwhelming climate change, and a host of other disasters--from terrorist attacks to meteor strikes--all loom large. We must become a space-faring species to survive. We have the technology not only to get humans to Mars, but to convert Mars into another habitable planet. It will likely take 300 years to "terraform" Mars, as the jargon goes, but we can turn it into a veritable second Garden of Eden. And we can live there, in specially designed habitations, within the next twenty years. In this exciting chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of lively characters all engaged in a dramatic effort to be the first to settle the Red Planet. How We'll Live on Mars brings firsthand reporting, interviews with key participants, and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can expect to see life on Mars within the next twenty years.
The Reef
Stretching 1,400 miles along the Australian coast and visible from space, the Great Barrier Reef is home to three thousand individual reefs, more than nine hundred islands, and thousands of marine species, and has alternately been viewed as a deadly maze, an economic bounty, a scientific frontier, and a precarious World Heritage site. Now the historian and explorer Iain McCalman takes us on a new adventure into the reef to reveal how our shifting perceptions of the natural world have shaped this extraordinary seascape. Showcasing the lives of twenty individuals spanning more than two centuries, The Reef highlights our profound desire to conquer, understand, embrace, and ultimately save the world's most complex ocean ecosystem. Opening with the story of Captain James Cook, who sailed unknowingly into the southwest entrance of this vast network of coral outcroppings, McCalman shows how Cook spent months navigating this treacherous underwater labyrinth, struggling to keep his crew alive and his ship afloat, sparring with deceptive shoals and wary native islanders. Through a series of dramatic tales from intrepid explorers, unwitting castaways, inquisitive naturalists, enchanted artists, and impassioned environmentalists who have collectively shaped our ideas about the Great Barrier Reef, McCalman demonstrates how this grand natural wonder of the world was built as much by human imagination as by the industrious, beautiful creatures of the sea. A romantic, historically significant book and a deeply personal journey into the heart of a marine environment in peril, The Reef powerfully captures the delicate relationship between humanity and the natural world.
Minnesota Weather Almanac
Second edition of the popular weather almanac! Whether planning your garden, settling a bet, or making neighborly small talk, this fascinating guide will give you all the facts and figures, all the trials and tales you need.
Plague
#10 on Amazon Charts, USA Today Bestseller On July 22, 2009, a special meeting was held with twenty-four leading scientists at the National Institutes of Health to discuss early findings that a newly discovered retrovirus was linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and eventually neurodevelopmental disorders in children. When Dr. Judy Mikovits finished her presentation the room was silent for a moment, then one of the scientists said, "Oh my God!" The resulting investigation would be like no other in science. For Dr. Mikovits, a twenty-year veteran of the National Cancer Institute, this was the midpoint of a five-year journey that would start with the founding of the Whittemore-Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease at the University of Nevada, Reno, and end with her as a witness for the federal government against her former employer, Harvey Whittemore, for illegal campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On this journey Dr. Mikovits would face the scientific prejudices against CFS, wander into the minefield that is autism, and through it all struggle to maintain her faith in God and the profession to which she had dedicated her life. This is a story for anybody interested in the peril and promise of science at the very highest levels in our country.
Love’s Energy
Creationism is no longer tenable, scientifically, although many still cling to it. This kind of religious 'literalism' can be found in geo-political examples of fundamentalism and particularly in violent, Islamic extremism. If creationism is dead, what do religious people think they mean when they say 'we believe in God, as Creator or Source' in a universe that 'makes itself?' What caused the Big Bang and the Big Birth? How could God be involved, let alone embedded, in natural processes of cosmological and evolutionary change, if divine 'intervention' undermines the vital autonomy of these processes? This trilogy offers a new way of understanding these questions alongside the science of cosmology, physics, quantum and evolution. This book, LE3, focuses on some key moments in the story of our understanding of natural philosophy - and how Darwin's courage challenged so many assumptions about evolutionary teleology. It also touches on the work of Ray, Buffon, Cuvier, Lamarck, Lavoisier, Paley, Malthus, Spencer, Chambers, Wallace, Hooker, Huxley, Sedgwick, Owen, Galton, Gray, Wilkins, Crick, Watson, Franklin, Gurdon, Oparin, Haldane, Dawkins and many others who have so radically changed our understanding of how life evolved and 'makes itself.' Love's Energy explores particular 'pattern paradoxes' of certainty and uncertainty, ontology and epistemology, order and chance in the 'indeterminacy' present in the fascinating story of science and theology. It provides the general and more specialist reader with an opportunity to make new connections between these formative parts of our intellectual map making, and assumptions about the world. In an age when religious dogmatism is intolerant and dangerous, it offers an exciting alternative for people of all faiths - the belief that Love's Energy is the source of cosmological and evolutionary creativity, and embedded in natural processes and relationships.
Dark Winter
Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years. In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun.Casey's research into the Sun's activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world's citizens. In Dark Winter, he provides evidence of the following: The end of global warmingThe beginning of a "solar hibernation," a historic reduction in the energy output of the SunA long-term drop in Earth's temperaturesThe start of the next climate change to decades of dangerously cold weatherThe high probability of record earthquakes and volcanic eruptionsA sobering look at Earth's future, Dark Winter predicts worldwide, crop-destroying cold; food shortages and riots in the United States and abroad; significant global loss of life; and social, political, and economic upheaval.
The Dark Matter Problem
Most astronomers and physicists now believe that the matter content of the Universe is dominated by dark matter: hypothetical particles which interact with normal matter primarily through the force of gravity. Though invisible to current direct detection methods, dark matter can explain a variety of astronomical observations. This book describes how this theory has developed over the past 75 years, and why it is now a central feature of extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. Current attempts to directly detect dark matter locally are discussed, together with the implications for particle physics. The author comments on the sociology of these developments, demonstrating how and why scientists work and interact. Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), the leading alternative to this theory, is also presented. This fascinating overview will interest cosmologists, astronomers and particle physicists. Mathematics is kept to a minimum, so the book can be understood by non-specialists.
Journey into Space
Director of Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1976 to 1982, Bruce Murray is uniquely qualified to tell the story of America's unmanned space program. Mixing an insider's knowledge of the politics of space with a scientist's command of technical intricacy, he chronicles our rise and decline in space and calls for a return to greatness.
In Search of the True Universe
Astrophysicist and scholar Martin Harwit examines how our understanding of the Cosmos advanced rapidly during the twentieth century and identifies the factors contributing to this progress. Astronomy, whose tools were largely imported from physics and engineering, benefited mid-century from the U.S. policy of coupling basic research with practical national priorities. This strategy, initially developed for military and industrial purposes, provided astronomy with powerful tools yielding access - at virtually no cost - to radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations. Today, astronomers are investigating the new frontiers of dark matter and dark energy, critical to understanding the Cosmos but of indeterminate socio-economic promise. Harwit addresses these current challenges in view of competing national priorities and proposes alternative new approaches in search of the true Universe. This is an engaging read for astrophysicists, policy makers, historians, and sociologists of science looking to learn and apply lessons from the past in gaining deeper cosmological insight.
Star-Hopping
Star-hopping--using easily seen bright stars to locate fainter celestial objects in the night sky--is a basic and essential technique for all star gazers, novice and veteran alike. Robert Garfinkle shows you how to locate the many stellar objects usually overlooked by the untrained eye. Two or more detailed star hops for each month of the year, which can be read in any order, take you on a trip through the night sky, opening new doors of discovery and reinforcing star-hopping methods and techniques. With Garfinkle's able guidance, learn to take the Messier Marathon--a night-long hop across the skies. Additional basic astronomy skills are carefully outlined, including reading star charts, finding celestial directions, understanding telescope types, and using light pollution filters. A lively history of the universe and the ancient myths and legends of the sky round out the text. This is an essential guide for sky gazers who want to get the most out of their evening sky explorations.
Astronomy with Your Personal Computer
The first edition of this very successful book was a winner of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's "Astronomy Book of the Year" award in 1986. The popularity of the book's programs is based on the ease with which the amateur astronomer can perform calculations on a personal computer. The routines are not specific to any make of computer and are user-oriented in that they utilize a simple version of the BASIC programming language and require only a broad understanding of any particular problem. Seven new subroutines in this new edition can be linked in any combination with the existing twenty-six. Since the programs themselves take care of details, they can be used, for example, to calculate the time of rising of any of the planets in any part of the world at any time in the future or past, or they may be used to find the circumference of the next solar eclipse visible from a particular place. In fact, almost every problem likely to be encountered by the amateur astronomer can be solved by a suitable combination of the routines given in this book. Peter Duffett-Smith is the author of another popular astronomy book: Astronomy with Your Calculator (3rd Edition), also published by Cambridge University Press.
Masks of the Universe
In Masks of the Universe, Edward Harrison brings together fundamental scientific, philosophical and religious issues in cosmology and raises thought provoking questions. Philosophical issues dominated cosmology in the ancient world. Theological issues ranked foremost in the Middle Ages; astronomy and the physical sciences have taken over in more recent times. Yet every attempt to grasp the true nature of the universe creates a new "mask," People have always pitied the universes of their ancestors, believing that their generation has at last discovered the "real" universe. Do we now stand at the threshold of knowing everything, or have we created yet another "mask," doomed to fade like those preceding ours? Edward Harrison is Adjunct Professor of Astronomy, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, and Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He worked as a scientist for the Atomic Energy Research Establishment and the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory in England until 1966 when he became a Five College professor at the University of Massachusetts and taught at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College. He is the author of numerous books, including Cosmology: the Science of the Universe (Cambridge, 2001)
Nasa
Around the world, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is synonymous with air and space flight. This book covers NASA's aerospaceresearch from the agency's beginnings as NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1915 to the present-day NASA. Exciting projects and developments are portrayed, such as the first supersonic flight of the X-1 in 1947, the flights of the fastest manned aircraft, the rocket-powered X-15, which attained almost seven times the speed of sound in 1967, the flight-testing of the lunar module for the moon landings, tipping-rotor aircraft, testing new wing concepts, and much more. The emphasis of the book is in the realm of aviation research, but the boundaries between air and space research are often fluid, so that the development of the Space Shuttle and its testing have been included in this book. Besides project portrayals and descriptions of various research trends, the development sites and important personnel of NASA are portrayed.
Space Chronicles
Neil deGrasse Tyson is a rare breed of astrophysicist, one who can speak as easily and brilliantly with popular audiences as with professional scientists. Now that NASA has put human space flight effectively on hold--with a five- or possibly ten-year delay until the next launch of astronauts from U.S. soil--Tyson's views on the future of space travel and America's role in that future are especially timely and urgent. This book represents the best of Tyson's commentary, including a candid new introductory essay on NASA and partisan politics, giving us an eye-opening manifesto on the importance of space exploration for America's economy, security, and morale. Thanks to Tyson's fresh voice and trademark humor, his insights are as delightful as they are provocative, on topics that range from the missteps that shaped our recent history of space travel to how aliens, if they existed, might go about finding us.
The Grand Design
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "A whirlwind tour of fundamental physics and cosmology."--The Wall Street Journal "Fascinating . . . a wealth of ideas [that] leave us with a clearer understanding of modern physics in all its invigorating complexity."--Los Angeles Times When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? Is the apparent "grand design" of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion--or does science offer another explanation? In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most illuminating scientific thinking about these and other abiding mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by brilliance and simplicity. According to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history. The authors explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the early universe and show how quantum theory predicts the "multiverse"--the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature. They conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a "theory of everything" the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, which, if confirmed, would represent the ultimate triumph of human reason. A succinct, startling, and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform--and provoke--like no other.
Catastrophic Gumbo
From avalanches to volcanoes, and from the Gulf Oil Spill to bridge collapses, author Alvin JacQues explores the fascinating world of disasters-both manmade and natural. Inspired by his survival of Hurricane Katrina, chronicled in his first book Catastrophic Gumbo, JacQues delivers a compilation of facts and commentary on a number of global natural and manmade disasters, both historical and more recent, that have impacted the human race. Gathered from more than sixty locations, JacQues details the mayhem caused by a range of events that include an F5 tornado in Oklahoma, a typhoon in China, a blizzard in the United States, the flood of 1889, the sinking of the Titanic, and the crash of Flight 111. A compelling collection of stories, Catastrophic Companions narrates the reality of extreme events and communicates not only the power of Mother Nature, but of the perseverance of the human race to endure these tragedies for which often there is no preparation.
Catastrophic Gumbo
From avalanches to volcanoes, and from the Gulf Oil Spill to bridge collapses, author Alvin JacQues explores the fascinating world of disasters-both manmade and natural. Inspired by his survival of Hurricane Katrina, chronicled in his first book Catastrophic Gumbo, JacQues delivers a compilation of facts and commentary on a number of global natural and manmade disasters, both historical and more recent, that have impacted the human race. Gathered from more than sixty locations, JacQues details the mayhem caused by a range of events that include an F5 tornado in Oklahoma, a typhoon in China, a blizzard in the United States, the flood of 1889, the sinking of the Titanic, and the crash of Flight 111. A compelling collection of stories, Catastrophic Companions narrates the reality of extreme events and communicates not only the power of Mother Nature, but of the perseverance of the human race to endure these tragedies for which often there is no preparation.
The 4 Percent Universe
"Fascinating . . . One of the most important stories in the history of science."-- Washington Post In recent years, a handful of scientists has been racing to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only 4 percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, and every star and planet. The rest is completely unknown.Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of how scientists reached this cosmos-shattering conclusion. In vivid detail, he narrates the quest to find the "dark" matter and an even more bizarre substance called dark energy that make up 96 percent of the universe. This is perhaps the greatest mystery in all of science, and solving it will bring fame, funding, and certainly a Nobel Prize. Based on hundreds of interviews and in-depth, on-site reporting, the book offers an intimate portrait of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have redefined science and reinvented the universe. "A lively new account of twentieth-century (plus a little twenty-first-century) cosmology . . . The book is as much about how the science got done as about the science itself."--Salon
The Universe Before the Big Bang
The idea that the Universe we observe today originated from an enormous explosion (big bang) is now well known and widely accepted, at all levels, in modern popular culture. But what happens to the Universe before the big bang? And would it make any sense at all to ask such a question? In fact, recent progress in theoretical physics, and in particular in String Theory, suggests answers to the above questions, providing us with mathematical tools able in principle to reconstruct the history of the Universe even for times before the big bang. In the emerging cosmological scenario the Universe, at the epoch of the big bang, instead of being a "new born baby" was actually a rather "aged" creature in the middle of its possibly infinitely enduring evolution. The aim of this book is to convey this picture in non-technical language accessible also to non-specialists. The author, himself a leading cosmologist, draws attention to ongoing and future observations that might reveal relics of an era before the big bang.
Before the Big Bang
According to a recent survey, the most popular question about science from the general public was: what came before the Big Bang? We all know on some level what the Big Bang is, but we don't know how it became the accepted theory, or how we might know what came before. In "Before the Big Bang," Brian Clegg (the critically acclaimed author of "Upgrade Me "and "The God Effect") explores the history of this remarkable concept. From the earliest creation myths, through Hershel's realization that the Milky Way was one of many galaxies, to on-going debates about Black Holes, this is an incredible look at the origins of the universe and the many theories that led to the acceptance of the Big Bang. But in classic scientist fashion Clegg challenges the notion of the "Big Bang" itself, and raises the deep philosophical question of why we might want to rethink the origin of the universe. This is popular science at its best, exploratory, controversial, and utterly engrossing.
The Grand Design
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "A whirlwind tour of fundamental physics and cosmology."--The Wall Street Journal "Fascinating . . . a wealth of ideas [that] leave us with a clearer understanding of modern physics in all its invigorating complexity."--Los Angeles Times When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? Is the apparent "grand design" of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion--or does science offer another explanation? In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most illuminating scientific thinking about these and other abiding mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by brilliance and simplicity. According to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history. The authors explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the early universe and show how quantum theory predicts the "multiverse"--the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature. They conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a "theory of everything" the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, which, if confirmed, would represent the ultimate triumph of human reason. A succinct, startling, and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform--and provoke--like no other.
Night Sky
Make Stargazing More Fun Than Ever! Stargazing is among the most peaceful and inspiring outdoor activities. Night Sky, the award-winning book by Jonathan Poppele, makes it even better! Take a simple approach to finding 64 constellations by focusing on one constellation at a time, instead of attempting to study dizzying charts. Start with the easy-to-find constellations during each season and work toward the more difficult ones. Learn how to locate any constellation in relation to the Big Dipper, the North Star, and the top of the sky. With multiple ways to locate each constellation, you'll know where in the sky to look and what to look for! Along the way, you'll be introduced to mythology, facts, and tidbits, as well as details about the planets, solar system, and more. This revised and expanded edition includes new photographs, new discoveries, and more constellations, including a section that introduces the 44 constellations of the Southern Hemisphere.
The Stargazer's Guide
The Stargazer's Guide is an accessible astronomy guide to the history, science, and myth of the night sky, perfect for anyone entranced by the stars. Guiding readers through what there is to see in the sky, why it's interesting, and how previous generations viewed and interpreted it, expert stargazer Emily Winterburn entertains and informs with this fun, accessible, and appealing look at the beauty of the heavens.
The Snow Tourist
Combining on-the-slopes experience with off-trail research, author Charlie English follows in the footsteps of the Romantic poets across the Alps, learns how to build igloos with the Inuit on Baffin Island, examines snow-patches in the Cairngorms to detect signs of global warming, and tests his mettle on some of the most perilous peaks on Earth. Along the way, he meets up with a flurry of fellow enthusiasts, from avalanche survivors and resort operators to climate scientists and champion skiers. English is obsessed with snow, and has collected for our enjoyment an amazing array of not-so-random facts about the hexagonal substance that fills the human imagination with wonder. In this "snow handbook," he describes how snow is created, how to build an igloo, how avalanches occur, and (more importantly) how to survive an avalanche. His glossary is filled with snow terms that will delight, such as "coulior," "hoarfrost," "firn," and "sastrugi." Fresh and fun and infused with the adrenaline of adventure, The Snow Tourist is a fascinating account of one man's pilgrimage through the world's blanketed fields, ice-capped rooftops, cozy igloos, and snow-covered mountain peaks.
Hunting Nature's Fury
Ride into the Storm! Each year, at least 1,200 tornadoes batter the United States. While most occur in Tornado Alley--a vast, weather-beaten swath of middle America-in truth, tornadoes can occur almost anywhere. And where there are tornadoes, there are storm chasers. They come in all shapes and sizes, from hobbyists to researchers to professional chasers. There is one, however, who stands well above the rest: Roger Hill. Hunting Nature's Fury tells the story of Roger Hill and his love affair with storm chasing, taking you on a suspenseful and dramatic ride across the Great Plains, into the Deep South, even into the eyes of such recent hurricanes as Katrina. You'll accompany Hill as he braves close calls, makes history, and gains insight into the science of severe weather. This is a story of a storm chaser obsessed with the storms that almost killed him; of resiliency in the face of disaster; and of humility in the presence of the awesome power of nature. Includes eight color pages of jaw-dropping photos taken by Hill showing many of the storms chronicled in the book.
Instant Egghead Guide
Everything from quarks to galactic superclusters delivered to your eyeballs at the speed of light (any faster would be impossible) Take a tour of the wonder and majesty of the universe, from the smallest subatomic particles to the possibility of infinite universes. According to some prominent physicists, it's possible that, right now, someone who looks just like you is reading the back of a book just like this one in a parallel universe. And your double thinks it looks really interesting... Whether you're a fan of Scientific American's wildly popular 60-Second Science Podcast or just curious about science, you're going to want to dust off your Dad's telescope and warm up your particle accelerator after enjoying the same bite-sized knoweldge in The Instant Egghead Guide to the Universe.
Galaxies, A Very Short Introduction
In this fascinating Very Short Introduction, popular science writer John Gribben tells the story of our growing understanding of galaxies, from the days before Galileo to our present-day observations of our many hundreds of millions of galactic neighbors. Not only are galaxies fascinating astronomical structures in themselves, but their study has revealed much of what we know today about the cosmos, providing a window on the Big Bang and the origins of the Universe. Gribben looks at our own "Milky Way" Galaxy in detail, from the different kinds of stars that are born within it, to the origins of its magnificent spiral structure. Perhaps most interesting, Gribben describes the many exciting discoveries have been made about our own galaxy and about those beyond: how a supermassive black hole lurks at the center of every galaxy, how enormous forces are released when galaxies collide, how distant galaxies provide a window on the early Universe, and how the formation of young galaxies shed needed light on the mysteries of Cold Dark Matter. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
The Brightest Stars
Fred Schaaf is one of the most experienced astronomical observers of our time. For more than two decades, his view of the sky-what will be visible, when it will be visible, and what it will look like-has encouraged tens of thousands of people to turn their eyes skyward.--David H. Levy, Science Editor, Parade magazine, discoverer of twenty-one comets, and author of Starry Night and Cosmic Discoveries"Fred Schaaf is a poet of the stars. He brings the sky into people's lives in a way that is compelling and his descriptions have all the impact of witnessing the stars on a crystal-clear dark night."--William Sheehan, coauthor of Mars: The Lure of the Red Planet and The Transits of VenusIn this book, you'll meet the twenty-one brightest stars visible from Earth. You'll learn how to find these stars and discover the best ways to see them. Each star is profiled in a separate chapter, with detailed guidance on what to look for while observing it. Suitable for beginners as well as experienced amateur astronomers, the book shares fascinating information about the lore and legends connected with each star through history, as well as what the science of astronomy has to teach us about the star's physical nature.
My Big Toe
Book 1: AwakeningSection 1 provides a partial biography of the author that is pertinent tothe subsequent creation of this trilogy. This brief look at the author's uniqueexperience and credentials sheds some light upon the origins of this extraordinarywork. The unusual associations, circumstances, training and initialresearch that eventually led to the creation of the My Big TOE trilogy aredescribed to provide a more accurate perspective of the whole.Section 2 lays out, logically justifies, and defines the basic conceptualbuilding blocks needed to construct My Big TOE's conceptual foundation.It discusses the cultural beliefs that trap our thinking into a narrow andlimited conceptualization of reality, defines the fundamentals of Big Pictureepistemology and ontology, as well as examines the inner-workings andpractice of meditation. Most importantly, Section 2 defines and developsthe two basic assumptions upon which this trilogy is based. From these twoassumptions, time, space, consciousness, and the basic properties, purpose, and mechanics of our reality are logically inferred.Book 2: DiscoverySection 3 develops the interface and interaction between "we the people"and our digital consciousness reality. It derives and explains the characteristics, origins, dynamics, and function of ego, love, free will, and ourlarger purpose. Finally, Section 3 develops the psi uncertainty principleas it explains and interrelates psi phenomena, free will, love, consciousnessevolution, physics, reality, human purpose, digital computation, andentropy.Section 4 describes an operational and functional model of consciousnessthat further develops the results of Section 3 and supports the conclusions ofSection 5. The origins and nature of digital consciousness are described alongwith how artificial intelligence (AI), as embodied in AI Guy, leads to artificialconsciousness, which leads to actual consciousness and to us. Section 4 derivesour physical universe, our science, and our perception of a physical reality.The mind-matter dichotomy is solved as physical reality is directly derived fromthe nature of digital consciousness.Book 3: Inner WorkingsSection 5 pulls together Sections 2, 3, and 4 into a more formal model ofreality that describes how an apparent nonphysical reality works, interacts, and interrelates with our experience of physical reality. Probable realities, predicting and modifying the future, teleportation, telepathy, multiple physicaland nonphysical bodies, and the fractal nature of an evolving digitalconsciousness reality are explained and described in detail.Section 6 is the wrap-up that puts everything discussed in Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 into an easily understood personal perspective. Additionally, Section6 points out My Big TOE's relationship with contemporary science and philosophy.By demonstrating a close conceptual relationship between this TOEand some of the establishment's biggest intellectual guns, Section 6 solidlyintegrates My Big TOE into traditional Western scientific and philosophicalthought.
Everything Forever
GEVIN GIORBRAN has authored three books including "Exploring A Many Worlds Universe" in which he describes in detail how our universe eventually ends as space expands perfectly flat and time reaches absolute zero, a prediction based upon his model of an infinite and timeless Multiverse, and all three books were written prior to 1998 when astrophysicists discovered the expansion of the universe is in fact accelerating towards absolute zero. While other scientists continue to grapple with this discovery, in Everything Forever Giorbran eloquently explains for the lay reader the governing role a cosmic zero plays in the evolution of all universes and all life.
The Cloudspotter's Guide
Now in paperback: the runaway British bestseller that has cloudspotters everywhere looking up. Where do clouds come from? Why do they look the way they do? And why have they captured the imagination of timeless artists, Romantic poets, and every kid who's ever held a crayon? Veteran journalist and lifelong sky watcher Gavin Pretor-Pinney reveals everything there is to know about clouds, from history and science to art and pop culture. Cumulus, nimbostratus, and the dramatic and surfable Morning Glory cloud are just a few of the varieties explored in this smart, witty, and eclectic tour through the skies. Illustrated with striking photographs (including a new section in full-color) and line drawings featuring everything from classical paintings to lava lamps, The Cloudspotter's Guide will have enthusiasts, weather watchers, and the just plain curious floating on cloud nine.
A World Without Time
It is a widely known but little considered fact that Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel were best friends for the last decade and a half of Einstein's life. The two walked home together from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study every day; they shared ideas about physics, philosophy, politics, and the lost world of German science in which they had grown up. By 1949, Godel had produced a remarkable proof: In any universe described by the Theory of Relativity, time cannot exist . Einstein endorsed this result-reluctantly, since it decisively overthrew the classical world-view to which he was committed. But he could find no way to refute it, and in the half-century since then, neither has anyone else. Even more remarkable than this stunning discovery, however, was what happened afterward: nothing. Cosmologists and philosophers alike have proceeded with their work as if Godel's proof never existed -one of the greatest scandals of modern intellectual history. A World Without Time is a sweeping, ambitious book, and yet poignant and intimate. It tells the story of two magnificent minds put on the shelf by the scientific fashions of their day, and attempts to rescue from undeserved obscurity the brilliant work they did together.
Big Bang
A half century ago, a shocking Washington Post headline claimed that the world began in five cataclysmic minutes rather than having existed for all time; a skeptical scientist dubbed the maverick theory the Big Bang. In this amazingly comprehensible history of the universe, Simon Singh decodes the mystery behind the Big Bang theory, lading us through the development of one of the most extraordinary, important, and awe-inspiring theories in science.
North Carolina Weather and Climate
From blue skies to raging hurricanes, from ice storms to droughts, North Carolina's weather varies widely from season to season and from day to day. In this delightful and informative book, Peter Robinson provides a layperson's guide to the state's weather and climate and an introduction to the science that describes it.What is North Carolina's "typical" weather? How does it vary from the coast to the mountains? How do we forecast it? With dozens of color maps and tables to make understanding easier, Robinson covers big issues such as the role of weather and climate in daily life, severe weather threats and their causes, and the meteorological effects of seasons. He also explains more specific phenomena including the causes of heating and cooling, the effects of acid rain, and the role of groundwater in weather.Robinson addresses the state's weather history as well as long-term concerns associated with how air pollution affects weather and our health, and he explores why issues of local and global climate change matter. Throughout, he discusses weather in ways that can inform daily life, whether you're planting a garden, building a climate-friendly and energy-efficient home, or choosing a time and place for vacation.
The Children's Blizzard
"David Laskin deploys historical fact of the finest grain to tell the story of a monstrous blizzard that caught the settlers of the Great Plains utterly by surprise. . . . This is a book best read with a fire roaring in the hearth and a blanket and box of tissues near at hand." -- Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City"Heartbreaking. . . . This account of the 1888 blizzard reads like a thriller." -- Entertainment WeeklyThe gripping true story of an epic prairie snowstorm that killed hundreds of newly arrived homesteaders and cast a shadow on the promise of the American frontier.January 12, 1888, began as an unseasonably warm morning across the Great Plains of Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the weather so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves. But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed. One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds. Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent.By the next morning, some five hundred people lay dead on the drifted prairie after a devastating natural disaster, many of them children who had perished on their way home from country schools. In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realities of their harsh environment. Recent immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Ukraine learned that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled.With the storm as its dramatic, heartbreaking focal point, The Children's Blizzard captures this pivotal moment in American history by tracing the stories of five families who were forever changed that day. In this powerful work of narrative nonfiction, David Laskin has produced a masterful portrait of a tragic crucible in the settlement of the American heartland.The P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.Laskin's meticulous account of this Gilded Age tragedy reveals: Pioneer History: The harrowing true story of settlers on the American frontier, lured by the promise of free land only to face an unforgiving environment they could not control.Extreme Weather: A minute-by-minute account of January 12, 1888, when an unseasonably mild day exploded into a hurricane of snow, trapping hundreds of adults and children without warning.A Survival Story: The intertwined fates of five immigrant families whose lives were forever changed by a few terrifying hours, a pivotal event in 19th-century history.Historical Nonfiction: Meticulously researched and deeply moving, this portrait of an epic prairie snowstorm reads with the urgency of a thriller.
Whale And The Supercomputer
In The Whale and the Supercomputer, scientists and natives wrestle with our changing climate in the land where it has hit first--and hardest A traditional Eskimo whale-hunting party races to shore near Barrow, Alaska-their comrades trapped on a floe drifting out to sea-as ice that should be solid this time of year gives way. Elsewhere, a team of scientists transverses the tundra, sleeping in tents, surviving on frozen chocolate, and measuring the snow every ten kilometers in a quest to understand the effects of albedo, the snow's reflective ability to cool the earth beneath it. Climate change isn't an abstraction in the far North. It is a reality that has already dramatically altered daily life, especially that of the native peoples who still live largely off the land and sea. Because nature shows her footprints so plainly here, the region is also a lure for scientists intent on comprehending the complexities of climate change. In this gripping account, Charles Wohlforth follows the two groups as they navigate a radically shifting landscape. The scientists attempt to decipher its smallest elements and to derive from them a set of abstract laws and models. The natives draw on uncannily accurate traditional knowledge, borne of long experience living close to the land. Even as they see the same things-a Native elder watches weather coming through too fast to predict; a climatologist notes an increased frequency of cyclonic systems-the two cultures struggle to reconcile their vastly different ways of comprehending the environment. With grace, clarity, and a sense of adventure, Wohlforth--a lifelong Alaskan--illuminates both ways of seeing a world in flux, and in the process, helps us to navigate a way forward as climate change reaches us all.
High Tide
"President Bush and his Administration have risen to the global warming challenge with responses ranging from obfuscation to pretense to outright denial...I'd like to issue each and every one of them a challenge. Come with me--see what I have seen--and try to understand what global warming really means for us and for our children. Leave Washington and travel to the places I have visited..."--From the Preface A glacier disappears high in the Peruvian Andes. Floodwaters surge across the English countryside. Ten thousand Pacific Islanders begin to evacuate their homeland. A dust storm turns day into night across the Inner Mongolian plains. These events may seem unrelated, but they are not. Even as scientists and other experts debate the specifics, climate crisis is already affecting the lives of millions. In this ground-breaking book, Mark Lynas reveals the first evidence--collected during an epic three-year journey across five continents--about how global warming is hitting people's lives all around the world. From American hurricane chasers to Mongolian herders, from Alaskan Eskimos to South Sea islanders, Lynas's encounters and discoveries give us a stark warning about the even worse dangers that lie ahead if nothing is done. High Tide's message is urgent and its revelations are at once shocking and inspiring--shocking as so few of us yet realize the magnitude of what's happening, and inspiring as there is still time to avert much greater catastrophe. No one who reads this book will be able to look their children in the eyes and say "I didn't know." As global temperatures soar to record levels, Lynas bears witness to: - CRIPPLING DROUGHT: China's Yellow River no longer reaches the sea for half the year, and villages across the north of the country are disappearing under advancing sand dunes - BAKED ALASKA: Permafrost is melting, leaving houses, roads and whole forests sucked into the thawing ground. Winter is in retreat, leaving animals confused and Native Alaskan people without a livelihood - DISAPPEARING GLACIERS: Every glaciated mountain range on Earth is experiencing massive ice losses. Montana's Glacier National Park has lost 100 glaciers in the last century; only 50 remain. Water supplies to hundreds of millions of people--from Peru to Pakistan--are threatened - HIGH TIDES: Islanders on the tiny South Pacific nation of Tuvalu are already leaving their homeland as rising sea levels engulf their atolls. Today 70 percent of the world's sandy shorelines are retreating; up to 90 percent of the beaches on the Eastern U.S. seaboard are eroding fast - CATASTROPHIC FLOODS: English villagers now talk about a "wet season" rather than a winter. Heavier rainfall is now falling across the global mid-latitudes, from the continental U.S. to Russia, sparking devastating floods on an ever more frequent basis.
My Big Toe
Book 1 of the MY Big TOE trilogy. My Big TOE, written by a nuclear physicist in the language contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding. Book 1: Awakening - Section 1 provides a partial biography of the author that is pertinent to the subsequent creation of this trilogy. This brief look at the author's unique experience and credentials sheds some light upon the origins of this highly unusual work. Section 2 lays out and defines the basic conceptual building blocks needed to construct My Big TOE's conceptual foundation. It discusses the cultural beliefs that trap our thinking into a narrow and limited conceptualization of reality, defines the basics of Big Picture epistemology and ontology; logically infers the nature of time, space, and consciousness as well as describes the basic properties, purpose, and mechanics of our reality. Many of the concepts initiated in Section 2 are more fully explained in Book 2.
My Big Toe Inner
Book 3 of the MY Big TOE trilogy. My Big TOE, written by a nuclear physicist in the language contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding. Book 3: Inner Workings - Section 5 presents the formal reality model in detail. In this section the mechanics of reality are explained. You will find out how the past present and future are formed, how they can be altered, and how you interact with the larger reality as an individuated unit of consciousness. Here you will find an explanation of inter and intra dimensional awareness and the theoretical possibilities of teleportation, time travel as a few of the more fun ramifications of this reality model are probed. Section 6 provides the wrap-up that puts everything discussed into an easily understood perspective. Additionally, Section 6 points out My Big TOE's relationship with contemporary science and philosophy. By demonstrating a close conceptual relationship between this TOE and some of the establishment's biggest scientific and philosophic intellectual guns, Section 6 integrates My Big TOE into traditional Western science and philosophy.
