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The genius within: smart pills, brain hacks and adventures in intelligence
By David Adam. 2018
What if you have more intelligence than you realize? What if there is a genius inside you, just waiting to…
be released? And what if the route to better brain power is not hard work or thousands of hours of practice but to simply swallow a pill? In The Genius Within, David Adam explores the groundbreaking neuroscience of cognitive enhancement that is changing the way the brain and the mind works, to make it better, sharper, more focused and, yes, more intelligent. He considers how we measure and judge intelligence, taking us on a fascinating tour of the history of brain science and medicine, from gentlemen scientist brain autopsy clubs to case studies of mental health patients with extraordinary savant abilities. In addition to reporting on the latest research and fascinating case studies, David also goes on his own personal journey to investigate the possibilities of neuroenhancement, using himself as a guinea pig for smart pills and electrical brain stimulation in order to improve his IQ scores and cheat his way into MENSA. Getting to the heart of how we think about intelligence and mental ability, The Genius Within plunges into deep ethical, neuroscientific, and historical pools of enquiry about the science of brain function, untapping potential, and what it means for all of us. Going to the heart of how we consider, measure, and judge mental ability, The Genius Within asks difficult questions about the science that could rank and define us, and inevitably shape our future. 2018.The girl with nine wigs: a memoir
By Sophie Van der Stap. 2015
Sophie is twenty-one when she is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. A striking, fun-loving student, her world…
is reduced overnight to the sterile confines of a hospital. But within these walls Sophie discovers a whole new world of white coats, gossiping nurses, and sexy doctors; of shared rooms, hair loss, and eyebrow pencils. As wigs become a crucial part of Sophie's new life, she reclaims a sense of self-expression. Each of Sophie's nine wigs makes her feel stronger and gives her a distinct personality, and that is why each has its own name: Stella, Sue, Daisy, Blondie, Platina, Uma, Pam, Lydia, and Bebé. There's a bit of Sophie in all of them, and they reveal as much as they hide. Sophie is determined to be much more than a cancer patient. 2015.The great escape: the untold story
By Ted Barris. 2014
On the night of March 24, 1944, eighty airmen crawled through a 400-foot-long tunnel, code-named "Harry," and dashed from Stalag…
Luft III, the infamous WWII German POW camp. It became known as The Great Escape. The breakout had taken a year to plan, involved 2,000 POWs, and prompted a massive manhunt across occupied Europe. All but three escapees were recaptured, and on Hitler’s orders, fifty were murdered. The author recounts this battle of wits and determination through the voices of those involved, assembles original interviews, memoirs, letters and diaries to reconstruct the Great Escape’s untold story. Bestseller. 2014.The girls of Atomic City: the untold story of the women who helped win World War II
By Denise Kiernan. 2013
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents. But to most of the…
world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians—many of them young women from small towns across the South—were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is, until the end of the war—when Oak Ridge’s fateful secret was revealed. Bestseller. 2013.The golden spruce: A True Story Of Myth, Madness And Greed
By John Vaillant. 2005
In 1997, when a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an Alaskan island north of the Canadian border,…
they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. The author braids together the strands of this mystery and brings to life the historical collision of Europeans and the Haida and the harrowing world of logging. Canada Reads 2012. Winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. Bestseller. 2005.The global forest
By Diana Beresford-Kroeger. 2010
Weaving together ecology, ethnobotany, horticulture, spirituality, science, and alternative medicine, the author describes trees' untapped ecological and pharmaceutical potential. Beresford-Kroeger…
proposes how trees can be planted in urban and rural areas to promote health and counteract pollution and global warming. c2010.The geography of hope: a tour of the world we need
By Chris Turner. 2007
To offset the grim predictions of environmentalists, Turner describes solutions already at work around the world, from Canada's largest wind…
farm to Asia's greenest building and Europe's most eco-friendly communities. He also seeks out the next generation of political, economic, social, and spiritual institutions that could provide the global foundations for a sustainable future, including the parliament houses of Scandinavia and the villages of southern India, where microcredit finance has remade the social fabric. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. 2007.The Franz Boas enigma: Inuit, Arctic, and sciences
By Ludger Müller-Wille. 2014
Addressing the enigma of how Franz Boas came to be the central founder of anthropology and a driving force in…
the acceptance of science as part of societal life in North America, this exploration breaks through the linguistic and cultural barriers that have prevented scholars from grasping the importance of Boas’ personal background and academic activities as a German Jew. Müller-Wille argues that to fully appreciate Boas’ complete scientific and literary opus and deep emotional and intellectual attachment to the upbringing that shaped his life, it is crucial to become familiar with his publications on Inuit and the Arctic as related to environmental, geographical, and ethnological questions. 2014.The first days of life
By Russell Freedman, Joseph Cellini. 1974
The fix: soccer and organized crime
By Declan Hill. 2010
The final forest: the battle for the last great trees of the Pacific Northwest
By William Dietrich. 1992
The flamingo's smile: reflections in natural history
By Stephen Jay Gould. 1985
The first American: the life and times of Benjamin Franklin
By H. W Brands. 2000
Biography of one of America's founding fathers, incorporating correspondence and anecdotes of his contemporaries. Franklin was heralded as a leading…
inventor and scientist, author, and diplomat as well as a bon vivant. In exploring Franklin's conversion from British loyalist to revolutionary, Brands seeks out the genius behind the man. 2000.The doctor will not see you now
By Jane Poulson. 2002
Autobiography of Dr. Jane Poulson, the first blind person in Canada to become a practising doctor. Poulson suffered from diabetes…
and because of the disease, lost her sight and then experienced severe heart problems. Nonetheless she was an extremely accomplished doctor, published widely in leading medical journals, and showed great courage and endurance to all who knew her. She wrote this book during the last two years of her life. 2002.The field: the quest for the secret force of the universe
By Lynne McTaggart. 2002
The author reveals a radical new biological paradigm - that on our most fundamental level, the human mind and body…
are not distinct and separate from their environment, but a pulsating power constantly interacting with this vast energy sea. There may be such a thing as a life force. 2002.The end of the line: how overfishing is changing the world and what we eat
By Charles Clover. 2006
Clover describes how fishing with modern technology has nearly destroyed entire ocean ecosystems: New England's fisheries have collapsed, the fish…
stocks of West Africa's continental shelf are overexploited, and few cod are left in Newfoundland's Grand Banks. He blames trawlers with huge nets that destroy everything in their wake, celebrity chefs with endangered species on their menus, the European Union, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, and countries like Japan and Spain that persist in illegal fishing. 2006.The end of the river: dams, drought and déjà vu on the Rio São Francisco
By Brian J Harvey. 2008
A biologist searches for a solution that will save many fish species from life-threatening dams. His adventures take him from…
a fisheries patrol boat on the Fraser River to the great Tsukiji fish market in Japan, with stops in the Philippines, Thailand, and assorted South American countries. Portrays fishermen, fish farmers, and even fish cops in a new light, as well as scientists, shysters, and some very drunk, hairy Brazilian men in thongs. Some strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some descriptions of violence. c2008.Our world has ended five times: it has been broiled, frozen, poison-gassed, smothered, and pelted by asteroids. In this book,…
Peter Brannen dives into deep time, exploring Earth's past dead ends, and in the process, offers us a glimpse of our possible future. Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, "The Ends of the World" takes us on a tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave and casts our future in a completely new light. 2017.The end of ownership: personal property in the digital economy (The Information Society Series)
By Aaron Perzanowski, Jason Schultz. 2016
Explores how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and makes an argument for the benefits of personal…
property. E-books, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But consumers should be aware of the trade-offs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. The authors argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But more importantly, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us. 2016.The fabulous flying machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont
By Victoria Griffith. 2012