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Author recounts spending the summer of 2008 in mission control of the Phoenix Mars expedition with one hundred thirty scientists…
and engineers. Describes the team's discovery of ice on Mars, discusses the possibility of life on the planet, and addresses conspiracy stories about the mission's findings. 2011
Detailed account of college intern Thad Roberts's theft of moon rocks from NASA in 2002 and the FBI sting that…
snared him. Describes Roberts's sheltered upbringing, his estrangement from his parents, and his romance with a coworker that motivated the heist. Some strong language. 2011
Theoretical physicist and author of From Eternity to Here (DB 71474) explains the research involved in and the potential impact…
of the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as the God particle, that gives particles their mass. Details the role of engineers, theorists, and experimentalists. 2012
Journalist explores the rivalry between financier Henry Graves Jr. and automobile magnate James Ward Packard to build and own the…
most remarkable watch in history. Graves and Packard spurred Swiss watchmaker Patek Phillipe to manufacture the Graves Supercomplication--the most complex mechanical watch ever created. Details early-twentieth-century watchmaking techniques. 2013
Arizona State University cosmologist challenges belief in a divine creator and describes modern research in quantum mechanics that suggests the…
universe originated out of nothing--and could eventually return to that. Includes afterword by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The Greatest Show on Earth (DB 70102). 2012
Physicist and author of The House of Wisdom (DB 75023) discusses nine theories and ideas that seem to defy common…
sense, including the Paradox of the Twins and Achilles and the Tortoise. Explains the science and math required to understand these brainteasers. 2012
Mamaskatch, Darrel J. McLeod’s 2018 memoir of growing up Cree in Northern Alberta, was a publishing sensation - winning the…
Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction, shortlisted for many other major prizes, and translated into French and German editions. In Peyakow, McLeod continues the poignant story of his impoverished youth, beset by constant fears of being dragged down by the self-destruction and deaths of those closest to him as he battles the bullying of White classmates, copes with the trauma of physical and sexual abuse, and endures painful separation from his family and culture. With steely determination, he triumphs: now, elementary teacher; now, school principal; now, head of an Indigenous delegation to the UN in Geneva; now, executive in the Government of Canada - and now, a celebrated author. Brutally frank but buoyed throughout by McLeod’s unquenchable spirit, Peyakow - a title borrowed from the Cree word for “one who walks alone” - is an inspiring account of triumph against unimaginable odds. McLeod’s perspective as someone whose career path has crossed both sides of the Indigenous/White chasm resonates with particular force in today’s Canada.
Journalist chronicles historical and contemporary explorations into the nature of light, both scientific and artistic. Discusses creation myths, Greek philosophers,…
religious representations, scientific investigations and feuds, filmmaking, and the development of such artistic movements as Romanticism. 2016
Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, scientific advisor for Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar, guides readers through the science at work throughout the…
movie. Chapters provide context for each of the film's scientific concepts, in addition to explaining the theory and mechanics of such subjects as wormholes, planet dynamics, and quantum gravity. 2014
Philosopher Crease and physicist Goldhaber discuss the lasting legacy of the research into quantum physics in the early 1900s. Present…
material from their cross-disciplinary course that explores how science and human behavior meet in the definition of "quantum." Describe the impact of quantum research on science and popular culture. 2014
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Weinberg examines the development of scientific reasoning across the world in a number of different fields. Chronologically…
examines the advancements of the ancient Greeks, Europe, and the Arab world in the Middle Ages, and the scientific revolution during the Enlightenment. 2015
Journalist examines the growth of discoveries of exoplanets--planets that orbit stars other than the Sun--in the late twentieth and early…
twenty-first centuries and what it means for the identification of extraterrestrial life. Profiles astronomers and planetary scientists responsible for this batch of identified planets. 2013
Theoretical physicist examines advances in brain research that once could only be imagined in science fiction. Explores possibilities such as…
connecting brains to computers to power exoskeletons for those with paralyzed limbs, learning new subjects through artificial memory, and constructing a "brain-net" to link minds across the world. Bestseller. 2014
Journalist focuses on the experiences of the people working at NASA from the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger shuttle explosion…
to the July 2011 final shuttle flight. Interviews flight controllers, shuttle workers, and astronauts. Covers the 2003 loss of the Columbia. Includes foreword by astronaut Jerry Ross. 2013
Examination of the lives of Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) and their contributions in the development of…
physics. Discusses Faraday's early life of poverty--and the challenges he faced because of his background--and Maxwell's ability to support Faraday's theories with mathematical formulas. 2014
Journalist St. John and engineer Ramirez examine the game of football and discuss the behavioral and mechanical science concepts behind…
it. The authors explore the notion that chaos theory--as explained to them by MacArthur Fellow Stephan Wolfram--is the underpinning for Cincinnati Bengals' coach Sam Wyche's no-huddle. 2013
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars…
spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to ""civilize"" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. Perhaps the most symbolically potent strategy used to alienate residential school children was addressing them by assigned numbers only - not by the names with which they knew and understood themselves. In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family - from substance abuse to suicide attempts - and eloquently articulates her own path to healing. They Called Me Number One comes at a time of recognition - by governments and society at large - that only through knowing the truth about these past injustices can we begin to redress them. Bev Sellars is chief of the Xatsu'll (Soda Creek) First Nation in Williams Lake, British Columbia. She holds a degree in history from the University of Victoria and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. She has served as an advisor to the British Columbia Treaty Commission.
Molecular geneticist McFadden and physicist Al-Khalili, author of Paradox (DB 75728), present the emerging field of quantum biology. They discuss…
the introduction of quantum mechanics theory into the field of biology and explore investigations into puzzles facing biologists, including the ways migrating birds know where to go, interpreting scents, and gene replication. 2014
Examines the effects of light pollution. Beginning at the "brightest beam of light on Earth" at the Luxor casino in…
Las Vegas and ending at the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah, Bogard travels across the world searching for places where only natural light exists. 2013
Astrophysicist discusses the legacy of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Examines discoveries and scientific advancements in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries…
to posit that, while it is not the center of the universe, the Earth does occupy a unique position in space, time, and scale. Explores astronomy, biology, and physics. 2014