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Showing 161 - 180 of 2750 items
Gabby: a story of courage and hope
By Jeffrey Zaslow, Gabrielle D. Giffords, Mark E. Kelly. 2011
Arizona congresswoman Giffords and her husband, astronaut Kelly, describe their lives before and after the near-fatal shooting of Giffords in…
January 2011. They discuss their anguish over the other victims, Kelly's support during Giffords's recovery, and Giffords's determination to return to work. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2011The man who made lists: love, death, madness, and the creation of Roget's Thesaurus
By Joshua C Kendall. 2008
Biography of Englishman Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), physician, mathematician, inventor, writer, and chess expert. Discusses Roget's family, marriage, and social…
life. Describes Roget's invention of the log-log slide rule, near-capture by Napoleon's army, progressive medical practices, and love of list-making that culminated in his publishing a book of synonyms. 2008Biography of Marie Curie (1867-1934), a dedicated scientist who became the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes. Describes her…
childhood in Poland, university education in Paris, pioneering research on radioactivity, and use of X-rays to help wounded soldiers. Places her achievements in historical contexts. For grades 4-7. 2006The blind doctor: the Jacob Bolotin story : a biography
By Rosalind Perlman. 2007
Biography of Chicago-born Jacob Bolotin (1888-1924), blind from birth. The author, whose husband was related to Bolotin, discusses Bolotin's determination…
to become a physician and describes the hard-won training that enabled him to practice medicine as a respected heart and lung specialist. Some strong language. 2007Blame it on the rain: how the weather has changed history
By Laura Lee. 2006
Surveys the impact of severe weather on historic events. Covers rainstorms and heavy winds during decisive battles, including the defeat…
of the Spanish Armada, Waterloo, and D-Day. Explores weather conditions related to the Stradivarius violin, the safety razor, and the hymn "Amazing Grace." 2006My stroke of insight: a brain scientist's personal journey
By Jill Bolte Taylor. 2008
Neuroanatomist chronicles a severe brain hemorrhage she had when she was in her mid-thirties and the following eight-year recovery period.…
She describes the joy of the present moment she felt when she was operating solely with her brain's right hemisphere and explains ways the experience changed her. Bestseller. 2008Darwin: discovering the tree of life
By Niles Eldredge. 2005
Analyzes Charles Darwin's notes from his travels to South America and the Galapagos Islands in 1831-36. Traces the scientist's personal…
and professional life during the twenty years the notebooks were kept private. Discusses advances in evolutionary theory since Darwin's time and disputes the concept of intelligent design. 2005Strong at the broken places: voices of illness, a chorus of hope
By Richard M. Cohen. 2008
Author of Blindsided (RC 57643) relates his interviews with five people who, like himself, are dealing with chronic illness. They…
discuss the experiences that helped them to find control, peace, and grace since their diagnoses of ALS, muscular dystrophy, bipolar disorder, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Crohn's disease. 2008Sky walking: an astronaut's memoir
By Thomas D Jones. 2006
Astronaut describes his eleven years in the NASA program, from training experiences to four different space shuttle missions. Provides first-person…
accounts of stepping through the ship's airlock into the vastness of space, working with Russian cosmonauts, and sharing the camaraderie of his fellow astronauts. 2006Biography of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) focuses on the two decades in England during which the reclusive naturalist developed his revolutionary…
theories following his return in 1836 from the five-year data-gathering Beagle voyage. Examines the scientific research and introspective lifestyle that produced The Origin of Species (BR 12412) in 1859. 2006Thunderstruck
By Erik Larson. 2006
Edwardian England. Chronicles the 1910 manhunt for Dr. H.H. Crippen, who murdered his wife and fled in disguise by ocean…
liner to Canada with his lover. Describes how Guglielmo Marconi's 1895 invention of wireless communication enabled Scotland Yard to pursue the killer and enthrall the world. Bestseller. 2006What helped get me through: cancer survivors share wisdom and hope
By Julie K. Silver. 2009
Breast cancer survivor and medical doctor uses her experience and the comments of other cancer survivors and specialists to explore…
aspects of fighting the disease. Discusses the need for adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and exercise. Covers spirituality, intimacy, and the importance of seeking help and balancing work and family. 2008Maimonides (Jewish Encounters Ser.)
By Sherwin B Nuland. 2005
Award-winning author of How We Die (BR 9461) offers an introductory portrait of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1135-1204), Spanish-born Jewish…
philosopher and physician. Explores Maimonides' life and work in religious and medical fields, including his treatise The Guide for the Perplexed, which attempted to reconcile science and faith. 2005Einstein's heroes: imagining the world through the language of mathematics
By Robyn Arianrhod. 2005
Combines history, biography, and science to portray the ways in which Einstein's respect for Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, and James…
Clerk Maxwell helped formulate his theories of relativity. Discusses Maxwell's equations for electricity and magnetism and the relevance of mathematics in building models of physical discovery. 2005Rocket boys: a memoir (Coalwood Ser. #1)
By Homer H Hickam. 1998
Retired NASA engineer reminisces about boyhood in West Virginia during the Sputnik era, when his first rocket launch burned down…
his mother's garden fence. He and his friends improved their models, ultimately winning the 1960 National Science Fair. The movie October Sky is based on this book. 1998Biography of Charles Hatfield (1875-1958), part con man, part scientist, and self-proclaimed rainmaker. Focuses on the deal Hatfield made with…
San Diego councilmen to conjure enough rain to fill the city's reservoir. Describes the subsequent January 1916 flood, the city's worst ever, that led to accusations against Hatfield. 2005John Muir: magnificent tramp (American heroes series)
By Rod Miller. 2005
Concise biography of Scottish-born John Muir (1838-1914), remembered as a staunch conservationist, founder of the Sierra Club, and champion of…
national parks. Discusses how Muir's love for the natural environment shaped his philosophy, travel adventures, scientific studies, writing, and political battles. 2005Biography of a German Jewish scientist whose discoveries embodied both the beneficial and the destructive capacities of science. Discusses the…
intellect of Fritz Haber (1868-1934), who moved confidently between laboratory, factory, and battlefield, who invented famine-preventing agricultural processes, and who developed poisonous gas later used in Nazi concentration camps. 2005Splendid solution: Jonas Salk and the conquest of polio
By Jeffrey Kluger. 2004
This history of the 1950s battle to develop a polio vaccine focuses on Jonas Salk's successful dead-virus inoculation. Discusses social…
effects of infantile paralysis from 1916 to mid century, the controversy over live-virus vaccines, Walter Winchell's public denouncement of Dr. Salk, and Salk's 1954 vindication. 2004A sense of the mysterious: science and the human spirit
By Alan P Lightman. 2005
Essays exploring the emotional life of science by physicist and author of The Diagnosis (BR 13414) and Reunion (BR 15284).…
Reflects on his own scientific journey and his struggles to reconcile the working universe with humanity and truth. Incorporates portraits of influential figures including Albert Einstein and Vera Rubin. 2005