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Showing 1 - 20 of 29 items
The beak of the finch: a story of evolution in our time
By Jonathan Weiner. 1994
Discusses the work of Peter and Rosemary Grant, who spent more than twenty years in the Galapagos Islands researching Charles…
Darwin's finches to confront Darwin's notion of evolution as a time-suspended process. Weiner incorporates research from other scientists to assert that evolution is dynamic, involving constant, even observable, change. L.A. Times Book Prize for Science and Technology. Winner of the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. 1994.A short history of nearly everything
By Bill Bryson. 2004
This book is Bryson's quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization…
- how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out? Some strong language. 2004.The mummy congress: science, obsession, and the everlasting dead
By Heather Anne Pringle. 2001
After covering a conference of mummy experts, science reporter Heather Pringle became so intrigued with mummies that she spent a…
year circling the globe, visiting leading scientists in the field. She also investigated preserved Italian saints, Scandinavian mummies in bogs, and frozen Inca princesses. Pringle researched Egyptian embalmers, the past public craze for mummy unwrappings, and the Russians' attempts to preserve Stalin, and along the way learned what mummies have to tell us about ourselves. Winner of the 2002 CNIB Torgi Award. 2001.The sacred balance: rediscovering our place in nature
By David T Suzuki, Amanda McConnell. 1997
With a focus on the oceans and the water which maintains life, Suzuki discusses the need for environmental conservation. He…
argues that too much water, from global warming, or water too foul from pollution, results in the destruction of all life. Winner of the 1999 CNIB Talking Book of the Year Award. 1997.Water: Why You Should Worry
By Marq De Villiers. 1999
Everybody needs it to survive, but very few people give it any thought. Water, one of the most plentiful natural…
resources in the world, has the power to give life and to take it away. De Villiers examines the numerous uses of water, the changes that have occurred in the Earth's water supply, the folklore and myths surrounding water, and the future of water as a natural resource. Winner of the 1999 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. 1999.Unnatural harvest: how corporate science is secretly altering our food
By Ingeborg Boyens. 1999
According to Boyens, in the first decades of the new millennium, the majority of our food will be the product…
of genetic engineering. She presents the implications of biotechnology, and illustrates the consequences this science may have for the environment, human and animal health, and the global food system. Winner of the National Business Book Award. 1999.The ingenuity gap: How Can We Solve The Problems Of The Future?
By Thomas F Homer-Dixon. 2000
Can we create ideas fast enough to solve the very problems - environmental, social, and technological - we have created?…
Homer-Dixon calls the gap between our need for practical and innovative ideas to solve our complex problems and our actual supply of those ideas the "ingenuity gap". He argues that as the gap widens, political disintegration and violent upheaval can result and suggests ways to overcome these real problems before it is too late. Winner of the 2001 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. 2000.Rogue primate : an exploration of human domestication
By John A Livingston. 1994
In the 1970s, environmentalist John Livingston began to find serious flaws in the conventional conservation argument. He began to challenge…
the belief that the survival of undomesticated plants and animals in a world dominated by humans could be enabled through "resource conservation" managed by humans. He argues that our dependence on ideas -- in effect, our own domestication -- has cut us off from the natural world, and led us to believe that our domination over nature is itself "natural." Winner of the 1994 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction.La galaxie Gutenberg: la genèse de l'homme typographique
By Marshall McLuhan. 1967
Ce livre classique théorise que l'invention de l'impression a formé nos vies. McLuhan regarde la politique, les sciences économiques, la…
philosophie, la littérature et la physique post-Newtonienne. c1967. Titre uniforme: The Gutenberg Galaxy.Dinosaurs in your backyard: The Coolest, Scariest Creatures Ever Found in the USA!
By Alan Barnard, Hugh Brewster. 2009
Presents facts learned from fossilized evidence of dinosaur species that roamed the North American continent millions of years ago, like…
the Stegosaurus of Colorado. Discusses size, eating habits, head crests, skull shapes, tail clubs, raptor claws, and dinosaur descendants. For grades 3-6. 2009The Gutenberg galaxy: the making of typographic man
By Marshall McLuhan. 1962
Controversial when first published, this classic book theorizes that the invention of printing has shaped our lives. McLuhan looks at…
politics, economics, philosophy, literature and post-Newtonian physics. Winner of the 1962 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction.The Gutenberg galaxy: the making of typographic man
By Marshall McLuhan. 1977
Controversial when first published, this classic book theorizes that the invention of printing has shaped our lives. McLuhan looks at…
politics, economics, philosophy, literature and post-Newtonian physics. Winner of the 1962 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. c1962, 1977.The school for whatnots
By Margaret Peterson Haddix. 2022
"No matter what anyone tells you, I'm real. That's what the note says that Max finds under his keyboard. He…
knows that his best friend, Josie, wrote it. He'd know her handwriting anywhere. But why she wrote it--and what it means--remains a mystery. Ever since they met in kindergarten, Max and Josie have been inseparable. Until the summer after fifth grade, when Josie disappears, leaving only a note, and whispering something about "whatnot rules." But why would Max ever think that Josie wasn't real? And what are whatnots? As Max sets to uncover what happened to Josie--and what she is or isn't--little does he know that she's fighting to find him again, too. But there are forces trying to keep Max and Josie from ever seeing each other again. Because Josie wasn't supposed to be real." -- Provided by publisherDragon Bike: Fantastical Stories of Bicycling, Feminism, & Dragons
By Unknown. 2020
From the great, winged, fire-breathing lizards of the west to the wise, flying serpents of the east, dragons play a powerful…
role in our myths and imaginations. In these fourteen stories and one comic, bicyclists encounter a diversity of dragons, whether foes or friends, hoarders or helpers, powerful symbols or terrifying and very real beasts. Instead of stereotypical tales of heroes saving helpless princesses from cruel beasts, these stories are populated by empowered people facing complicated dilemmas and fantastical quests.The Collapse of Western Civilization
By Erik M. Conway, Naomi Oreskes. 2014
The year is 2393, and a senior scholar of the Second People's Republic of China presents a gripping and deeply…
disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment, the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies, entered into a Penumbral period in the early decades of the twenty-first century, a time when sound science and rational discourse about global change were prohibited and clear warnings of climate catastrophe were ignored. What ensues when soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, drought, and mass migrations disrupt the global governmental and economic regimes? The Great Collapse of 2093.This work is an important title that will change how readers look at the world. Dramatizing climate change in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, this inventive, at times humorous work reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon industrial complex" that have turned the practice of sound science into political fodder. The authors conclude with a critique of the philosophical frameworks, most notably neo-liberalism, that do their part to hasten civilization's demise. Based on sound scholarship yet unafraid to tilt at sacred cows in both science and policy, this book provides a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate change literature. It includes a lexicon of historical and scientific terms that enriches the narrative and an interview with the authors.Why God Is a Woman
By Nin Andrews. 2015
Why God Is a Woman is a collection of poems written about a magical island where women rule and men…
are the second sex. It is also the story of a boy who, exiled from the island because he could not abide by its sexist laws, looks back with both nostalgia and bitterness and wonders: Why does God have to be a woman? Celebrated prose poet Nin Andrews creates a world both fantastic and familiar where all the myths, logic, and institutions support the dominance of women.Nin Andrews's books include The Book of Orgasms and Sleeping with Houdini.The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future
By Naomi Oreskes, Erik Conway. 2014
The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading…
to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought and—finally—the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093, when the disintegration of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet led to mass migration and a complete reshuffling of the global order. Writing from the Second People's Republic of China on the 300th anniversary of the Great Collapse, a senior scholar presents a gripping and deeply disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment—the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies—failed to act, and so brought about the collapse of Western civilization. In this haunting, provocative work of science-based fiction, Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway imagine a world devastated by climate change. Dramatizing the science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, the book reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon combustion complex" that have turned the practice of science into political fodder. Based on sound scholarship and yet unafraid to speak boldly, this book provides a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate change literature.The Science of Middle-earth: A New Understanding of Tolkien and His World
By Arnaud Rafaelian. 2021
The surprising and illuminating look at how Tolkien's love of science and natural history shaped the creation of his Middle…
Earth, from its flora and fauna to its landscapes.The world J.R.R. Tolkien created is one of the most beloved in all of literature, and continues to capture hearts and imaginations around the world. From Oxford to ComiCon, the Middle Earth is analyzed and interpreted through a multitude of perspectives. But one essential facet of Tolkien and his Middle Earth has been overlooked: science. This great writer, creator of worlds and unforgettable character, and inventor of language was also a scientific autodidact, with an innate interest and grasp of botany, paleontologist and geologist, with additional passions for archeology and chemistry. Tolkien was an acute observer of flora and fauna and mined the minds of his scientific friends about ocean currents and volcanoes. It is these layers science that give his imaginary universe—and the creatures and characters that inhabit it—such concreteness. Within this gorgeously illustrated edition, a range of scientists—from astrophysicists to physicians, botanists to volcanologists—explore Tolkien&’s novels, poems, and letters to reveal their fascinating scientific roots. A rewarding combination of literary exploration and scientific discovery, The Science of Middle Earth reveals the hidden meaning of the Ring&’s corruption, why Hobbits have big feet, the origins of the Dwarves, the animals which inspired the dragons, and even whether or not an Ent is possible. Enhanced by superb original drawings, this transportive work will delight both Tolkien fans and science lovers and inspire us to view both Middle Earth—and our own world—with fresh eyes.Be a Mermaid: & be independent, be powerful, be free (Be a...)
By Sarah Ford. 2018
Mermaid is happy in her own fins. She is fiercely independent and is just as happy taking herself out for…
dinner as she is on a night out with the squad. Never one to bow out early, she confronts every challenge head on and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (though her tail will always be sparkling clean). So let Mermaid guide you through the trials and tribulations of real girl power and you can be sure she'll always have your back. Be a Mermaid is a great gift for friends who need reminding of their inner mermaid, as well as a must-have addition for anyone who needs to regain the power.A myth-busting, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping and fun-filled expedition through the world of Game of Thrones.Do dragons actually exist? Is it possible…
to crush a person's head with your bare hands?What really happened when royal families interbreed? How does wildfire win wars? Can you really kill someone with molten gold?Award-winning comedian and popular-science writer Helen Keen uncovers the astounding science behind the world's most popular television show. Join Helen as she sifts the fact from fantasy, discovers the truth beneath the togas, and reveals a world more fantastical than Daenerys Targaryen's wildest dreams. So pour yourself a bowl of brown, climb on your beast of burden, and prepare yourself for an amazing adventure. It's time to see the Seven Kingdoms as you have never seen them before.