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Showing 1 - 20 of 1560 items
By Jason Roberts. 2024
From the bestselling author of A Sense of the World comes this dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific…
rivals and their race to survey all life on Earth.In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible—how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet and on humanity itself. The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens—but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn.With elegant, propulsive prose grounded in more than a decade of research, featuring appearances by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, bestselling author Jason Roberts tells an unforgettable true-life tale of intertwined lives and enduring legacies, tracing an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.By Nicole Mortillaro. 2022
Are we alone in the cosmos? Could we one day live on a different planet? How is life formed? What…
other secrets does the universe hold? Through profiles of seven remarkable women scientists and their achievements in their respective fields, Searching Beyond the Stars takes us deep into space, looking at once to the distant past and the distant future to capture the awe and intrigue of some of the biggest questions we can possibly ask.Making connections across astronomy, chemistry, physics, history, and more, Nicole Mortillaro draws on her own experience as a woman in STEM to highlight the incredible odds each scientist faces while chasing new discoveries and the ways in which sexism and racism, among other barriers, still affect women scientists to this day. Sidebars filled with fascinating facts take readers behind the science and encourage them to delve deeper. Vibrant illustrations by Amanda Key showcase the wonder of space and the passion and eternal curiosity that drive each scientist in their work unfurling the mysteries of our universe.Scientists ProfiledKatherine Johnson, research mathematician and aerospace technologist at NASA. Helped get the first American astronauts into space and safely home again. Lived in Newport News, Virgina.Jill Tarter, radio astronomer and project scientist at NASA. Opened up possibilities for communicating with aliens. Lives in Berkeley, California.Sara Seager, astrophysicist and planetary scientist. Credited with laying the foundation for the field of exoplanet atmospheres and the search for life on exoplanets. Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Sara now lives in Massachusetts.Emily Lakdawalla, planetary scientist, journalist, speaker, and expert science communicator formerly of The Planetary Society. Lives in Los Angeles, California.Tanya Harrison, planetary scientist and geologist. Was on the science operations team for NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter analyzing imaging from a geologist’s standpoint to see whether we might one day live on Mars. Director of Science Strategy at Planet Labs. Lives in Washington, D.C.Renée Hložek, astrophysicist and cosmologist. Her work is to imagine, dream, and calculate the mathematical equations that govern and predict the end of the universe. Originally from South Africa, Renée now lives in Toronto, Ontario.Ashley Walker, astrochemist, science communicator, and activist. Co-organizer of #BlackinChem, #BlackInAstro, and #BlackInPhysics to highlight and amplify the voices of Black researchers and scholars in these fields. Lives in Chicago, Illinois.*A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionBy Alexandra Posadzki. 2024
A riveting, deeply reported account that takes us inside the dramatic battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, and…
paints a broader picture of the cutthroat telecom industry, the labyrinth of regulatory and political systems that govern it, and the high-stakes corporate games played by the Canadian establishment. Alexandra Posadzki’s ground-breaking coverage in the Globe and Mail exposed one of the most spectacular boardroom and family dramas in Canadian corporate history—one that has pitted the company’s extraordinarily powerful chairman and controlling shareholder, Edward Rogers, against not only his own management team but also the wishes of his mother and two of his sisters. Hanging in the balance is no less than the pending $20 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications, a historic deal that promises to transform Rogers into the truly national telecom empire that its late founder, Ted Rogers, always envisioned. Based on deeply sourced, investigative reporting of the iconic $30 billion publicly traded telecom and media giant, Posadzki takes us inside a company that touches the lives of millions of Canadians, challenging what we thought we knew about corporate governance and who really holds the power. Rogers v. Rogers is also a story of family legacy and succession, of an old guard pushing back at the new guard, and of a company struggling to find its footing in the wake of its legendary founder’s death. At the heart of it all is a dispute between warring factions of the family over how they each interpret the desires of the late patriarch and the very identity of the company that bears their name.By Dominique Prinet. 2022
Au cours des années 1960 et 1970, le Grand Nord canadien était en pleine effervescence. Dominique Prinet, alors jeune pilote…
de brousse, y a effectué des vols incroyables, lui qui a transporté, par tous les temps, des pêcheurs, des chasseurs et des trappeurs, des chercheurs d'or ou de pétrole, ainsi que des blessés et des malades nécessitant une évacuation d'urgence. C'était bien avant le GPS, quand les cartes se révélaient imprécises, les modes de communication, rudimentaires, et que les voyages du genre duraient des semainesBy Martin Viau. 2023
Peu de gens savent ce qui se passe réellement à l'arrière d'une ambulance. Martin Viau, paramédic, vous dirait que c'est…
très bien ainsi. Lui et ses collègues interviennent sur des corps amochés, parfois méconnaissables, retrouvés dans des circonstances souvent effroyables. Ils affrontent tous les jours la souffrance et parfois, presque régulièrement, la mortBy Amanda Lewis. 2023
"I learned, I laughed, I sighed, I swooned. What an absolutely delightful romp through the forest."—Kate Harris, author of Lands…
of Lost Borders"Intimate, open-hearted. . . A personal introduction to one of the most profoundly alive places on earth."—John Vaillant, author of The Golden SpruceA funny, deeply relatable book about one woman's quest to track some of the world's biggest trees.Amanda Lewis was an overachieving, burned-out book editor most familiar with trees as dead blocks of paper. A dedicated "indoorswoman," she could barely tell a birch from a beech. But that didn't stop her from pledging to visit all of the biggest trees in British Columbia, a Canadian province known for its rugged terrain and gigantic trees.The "Champion" trees on Lewis's ambitious list ranged from mighty Western red cedars to towering arbutus. They lived on remote islands and at the center of dense forests. The only problem? Well, there were many. . .Climate change and a pandemic aside, Lewis's lack of wilderness experience, the upsetting reality of old-growth logging, the ever-changing nature of trees, and the pressures of her one-year timeframe complicated her quest. Burned out again—and realizing that her "checklist" approach to life might be the problem—she reframed her search for trees to something humbler and more meaningful: getting to know forests in an interconnected way.Weaving in insights from writers and artists, Lewis uncovers what we’re really after when we pursue the big things—revealing that sometimes it's the smaller joys, the mindsets we have, and the companions we're with that make us feel more connected to the natural world.By Philip Connors. 2011
The Gila landscape, rugged and roadless, - and the 1st region in the world to officially be off-limits to industrial…
machines - is typically hit by lightning more than 30,000 times per year. Written with startling beauty from a 10,000 foot firewatch perch, the book is filled with reflections on nature and historic events of the region, as well as musings on other writers who had served as lookouts before him. AdultBy Izzeldin Abuelaish. 2023
"What can you do? You can do a lot. You can support justice for all by speaking out loudly to…
your family, friends, community, politicians and religious leaders. You can support foundations that do good work. You can volunteer for humanitarian organizations. You can vote regressive politicians out of office. You can do many things to move the world toward greater harmony…"I know that what I have lost, what was taken from me, will never come back. But as a physician and a Muslim of deep faith, I need to move forward to the light, motivated by the spirits of those I lost. I need to bring them justice… I will keep moving but I need you to join me in this long journey."-from I Shall Not HateDr. Izzeldin Abuelaish - now known simply as "the Gaza doctor" captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: on January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza Strip, killing three of his daughters and a niece.By turns inspiring and heartbreaking, hopeful and horrifying, this is Abuelaish's account of a Gazan life in all its struggle and pain. A Palestinian doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Abuelaish is an infertility specialist who lived in Gaza but plied his specialty in Israeli hospitals. From the strip of land he calls home (a place where 1.5 million refugees are crammed into 360 square kilometres of land), the Gaza doctor has been crossing the lines that divide the region for most of his life, as a physician who treats patients on both sides of the border and as a humanitarian who sees the need for improved public health and education for women as the way forward in the Middle East.But it was Abuelaish's response to the loss of his children that made news and won him humanitarian awards around the world. Instead of seeking revenge or sinking into hatred, in this personal account of his life, Izzeldin Abuelaish is calling for the people of the Middle East to start talking to each other. His deepest hope is that his daughters will be the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis.By Mary Kenney. 2022
"Discover the women behind the video games we love--from the iconic games they created, the genres they invented, the studios…
and companies they built--and how they changed the industry forever. From classic games like Centipede and Solitaire to popular modern games like Final Fantasy, Uncharted, and Halo, this book explores the work and history of 25 influential women in the video game industry and how their contributions ultimately built and transformed the medium that we know today. Gamer Girls explores each woman's contributions to the industry, but also their inspirations and hardships as they worked to create the games that they wanted to play." -- Provided by publisherBy Carl Erik Fisher. 2022
By Gerri Hirshey. 2010
True stories that explore the one of a kind union between people who are visually impaired and the guide dogs…
who become their steadfast partners. For fifty years, Fidelco has provided trained German Shepherds to more than 1200 men and women who have flourished with their help. The pairings are defined by devotion, intelligence, hard work, and most of all, trust. AdultBy Amanda Abler. 2021
A nonfiction picture book about the famous 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The strange and spectacular collapse of which has become…
a textbook example of an engineering failure, an oft-used science lesson, and even given rise to a legend of an old and gigantic octopus. For grades 3-6. UnratedBy Liz Lee Heinecke. 2021
By Sharon Mentyka. 2019
By Frank A Cassell. 2017
In 1910, Bertha Honore? Parker ventured to the gulf coast of Florida to investigate real estate opportunities, launching her family's…
decades-long development of the Sarasota area. Parker, a businesswoman, women's rights activist, and Queen of Chicago Society, initiated infrastructure, expanded agriculture, and navigated political hiccups to lay the foundation for Sarasota's growth and legacy. Adult. Some strong languageBy Raakhee Mirchandani. 2023
Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book…
series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds—including Kalpana Chawla! Born and raised in India, Kalpana Chawla was discouraged from pursuing a career in aeronautical engineering because there were limited career options for women in that field. But she persisted, getting her degree and then moving to the US to obtain other, more advanced education before joining NASA and becoming the first Indian-born woman to go to space. Though she was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, she continues to inspire girls in India and around the world to pursue their dreams of spaceflight. In this chapter book biography by acclaimed author Raakhee Mirchandani, listeners learn about the amazing life of Kalpana Chawla—and how she persisted . Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton and a list of ways that readers can follow in Kalpana Chawla's footsteps and make a difference! A perfect choice for kids who love learning and teachers who want to bring inspiring women into their curriculum. And don’t miss out on the rest of the audiobooks in the She Persisted series, featuring so many more women who persisted, including Sally Ride, Temple Grandin, Malala Yousafzai, and more!By Erik Larson. 2006
A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s "great hush." In Thunderstruck , Erik Larson tells…
the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time. Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners; scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed; and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, "the kindest of men," nearly commits the perfect murder. With his unparalleled narrative skills, Erik Larson guides us through a relentlessly suspenseful chase over the waters of the North Atlantic. Along the way, he tells of a sad and tragic love affair that was described on the front pages of newspapers around the world, a chief inspector who found himself strangely sympathetic to the killer and his lover, and a driven and compelling inventor who transformed the way we communicateBy Mike Massimino. 2023
A former NASA astronaut and New York Times bestselling author delivers lessons for teamwork, innovation, and leadership to the average…
person through thrilling, firsthand accounts of space exploration. When you think of a NASA astronaut, the image that probably comes to mind is one of the All-American hero: athletic, charismatic, ready to take on the stars. But former NASA astronaut turned business speaker and bestselling author Mike Massimino was pretty much the opposite. He was the underdog, one of the weakest swimmers during NASA training and a "gangly, scrawny, working-class kid from Long Island with bad eyesight and a fear of heights." Still, after working hard and working smart, Massimino had a successful career as an astronaut. Now, he uses his experience to bring readers valuable, actionable, and entertaining advice for how to get back up and make possible the seemingly impossible—now on Earth. Moonshot shares Massimino's hard-earned lessons and how to apply them in work and life. Using humor and a unique storytelling ability, he inspires readers to identify the passion in their work, use teamwork and innovation to solve problems, provide leadership in the face of adversity, and never give up when pursuing a goal. Written with characteristic wit and a big heart, Mike operates as our mission control to navigate us as we achieve our own personal and professional moonshots. Like Admiral McRaven's Make Your Bed and Voss's Never Split the Difference brought military and hostage negotiation lessons to civilian life, Moonshot distills stories and insights from NASA into an accessible, compact, actionable guide of how to get the little things right to accomplish our big goalsBy Todd Finkle. 2023
Warren Buffett is perhaps the most accomplished investor of all time. The CEO and chair of Berkshire Hathaway has earned…
admiration for not only his financial feats but also the philosophy behind them. Todd A. Finkle provides striking new insights into Buffett's career through the lens of entrepreneurship. This book demonstrates that although Buffett is thought of primarily as an investor, one of the secrets to his success has been running Berkshire as an entrepreneur. Finkle-a Buffett family friend-shares his perspective on Buffett's early life and business ventures. The book traces the entrepreneurial paths that shaped Buffett's career, from selling gum door-to-door during childhood to forming Berkshire Hathaway and developing it into a global conglomerate through the imaginative deployment of financial instruments and creative deal making. Finkle considers Buffett's investment methodology, management strategy, and personal philosophy on building a rewarding life in terms of entrepreneurship. He also zeroes in on Buffett's longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, and his contributions to Berkshire's success. Finkle draws key lessons from Buffett's mistakes as well as his successes, using these failures to explore the ways behavioral biases can affect investors and how to overcome themBy Kerry Howley. 2023
A wild, humane, and hilarious meditation on post-privacy America—from the acclaimed author of Thrown "At 25, [Reality] Winner—yoga teacher, beloved…
sister, AR-15 owner—was sentenced to five years in prison for leaking classified documents about a Russian election attack. Howley deftly analyzes the brutal, surreal conditions that underlie this drama and the way that they implicate all of us." —Glamour Who are you? You are data about data. You are a map of connections—a culmination of everything you have ever posted, searched, emailed, liked, and followed. In this groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction, Kerry Howley investigates the curious implications of living in the age of the indelible. Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs tells the true story of intelligence specialist Reality Winner, a lone young woman who stuffs a state secret under her skirt and trusts the wrong people to help. After printing five pages of dangerous information she was never supposed to see, Winner finds herself at the mercy of forces more invasive than she could have possibly imagined. Following Winner’s unlikely journey from rural Texas to a federal courtroom, Howley maps a hidden world, drawing in John Walker Lindh, Lady Gaga, Edward Snowden, a rescue dog named Outlaw Babyface Nelson, and a mother who will do whatever it takes to get her daughter out of jail. Howley’s subjects face a challenge new to history: they are imprisoned by their past selves, trapped for as long as the Internet endures. A soap opera set in the deep state, Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs is a free fall into a world where everything is recorded and nothing is sacred, from a singular writer unafraid to ask essential questions about the strangeness of modern life