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Showing 1 - 20 of 104176 items
By Lynda Olman, Birgit Schneider. 2024
This book project examines global forest monitoring as a means to understand the promises and problems of global visualization for…
climate management.Specifically, the book focuses on Global Forest Watch, the most developed and widely available forest-monitoring platform, created in 1997 by the World Resource Institute. Forest maps are always political as they visualize power relations and form the grid within which forests become commodities. This dislocation of the idea of the forest from its literal roots in the ground has generated problems for forest visualization efforts designed to empower local communities. This book takes a critical humanistic approach to this problem, combining methods from the fields of rhetoric and media studies to suggest solutions to these problems for designers and users of platforms like the Global Forest Watch. To explain why global views of forests can be disempowering, the book relies on biopolitical and rhetorical theories of panopticism and how these views unfold a different violence on different regions of the Earth in relation to colonial history. Using this theoretical framework, the book explains the historical process by which forests came to be classified, quantified, and mapped on a global scale. Interviews with end-users of global forest visualization platforms reveal if and how these platforms support local action. Lastly, the book provides rhetorical solutions to articulate global and local views of forests without reducing one view to the other. These solutions involve looking to forests themselves for clues about how to generate more broadly effective and resilient visualizations.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of forest studies, climate change, science communication, visualization studies, environmental communication, and environmental conservation.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.By Nagaiyar Krishnamurthy, Chiranjib Kumar Gupta. 2016
New Edition Now Covers Recycling, Environmental Issues, and Analytical DeterminationEmploying four decades of experience in the rare metal and rare…
earths industry, the authors of Extractive Metallurgy of Rare Earths, Second Edition present the entire subject of rare earth elements with depth and accuracy. This second edition updates the most imporBy Jeremy Shere. 2013
Where does the energy we use come from? It's absolutely vital to every single thing we do every day, but…
for most people, it is utterly invisible. Flick a switch and the lights go on. It might as well be magic. Science writer Jeremy Shere shows us in Renewable: The World-Changing Powerof Alternative Energy that energy is anything but magical. Producing it in fossil fuel form is a dirty, expensive—but also hugely profitable— enterprise, with enormous but largely hidden costs to the entire planet. The cold, hard fact is that at some point we will have wrung the planet dry of easily accessible sources of fossil fuel. And when that time comes, humankind will have no choice but to turn—or, more accurately, return—to other, cleaner, renewable energy sources. What will those sources be? How far have we come to realizing the technologies that will make these sources available?To find the answers, Shere began his journey with a tour of a traditional coal-fueled power plant in his home state of Indiana. He then continued on, traveling from coast to coast as he spoke to scientists, scholars and innovators. He immersed himself in the green energy world: visiting a solar farm at Denver's airport, attending the Wind Power Expo and a wind farm tour in Texas, investigating turbines deep in New York City's East River, and much more. Arranged in five parts—Green Gas, Sun, Wind, Earth, and Water—Renewable tells the stories of the most interesting and promising types of renewable energy: namely, biofuel, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. But unlike many books about alternative energy, Renewable is not obsessed with megawatts and tips for building home solar panels. Instead, Shere digs into the rich, surprisingly long histories of these technologies, bringing to life the pioneering scientists, inventors, and visionaries who blazed the way for solar, wind, hydro, and other forms of renewable power, and unearthing the curious involvement of great thinkers like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nicola Tesla.We are at an important crossroads in the history of renewable technologies. The possibilities are endless and enticing, and it has become increasingly clear that renewable energy is the way of the future. In Renewable, Jeremy Shere's natural curiosity and serious research come together in an entertaining and informative guide to where renewable energy has been, where it is today, and where it's heading.By Sonia Shah. 2010
In recent years, malaria has emerged as a cause célèbre for voguish philanthropists. Bill Gates, Bono, and Laura Bush are…
only a few of the personalities who have lent their names—and opened their pocketbooks—in hopes of curing the disease. Still, in a time when every emergent disease inspires waves of panic, why aren't we doing more to eradicate one of our oldest foes? And how does a parasitic disease that we've known how to prevent for more than a century still infect 500 million people every year, killing nearly 1 million of them?In The Fever, the journalist Sonia Shah sets out to answer these questions, delivering a timely, inquisitive chronicle of the illness and its influence on human lives. Through the centuries, she finds, we've invested our hopes in a panoply of drugs and technologies, and invariably those hopes have been dashed. From the settling of the New World to the construction of the Panama Canal, through wars and the advances of the Industrial Revolution, Shah tracks malaria's jagged ascent and the tragedies in its wake, revealing a parasite every bit as persistent as the insects that carry it. With distinguished prose and original reporting from Panama, Malawi, Cameroon, India, and elsewhere, The Fever captures the curiously fascinating, devastating history of this long-standing thorn in the side of humanity.By William B. Scott, Michael J. Coumatos, William J. Birnes. 2009
In Space Wars, Scott, Coumatos, and Birnes created a fascinating war gaming scenario of how World War III might unfold…
in above the Earth's surface. Now this thrilling team of writers reunites with Counterspace, an even more chilling fictionalized look at America's most catastrophic fears. What if North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon in space and silenced dozens of satellites? What if an Iranian missile threatened to destroy Israel, while a Venezuelan "research" satellite endangered one of the US's most promising space initiatives?What if tech-savvy terrorist cells unleashed back-to-back horrors in California, creating an avalanche of crises overnight, as national leaders robbed of spy satellite imagery were forced to make decisions in the "blind"?These are the scenarios of Counterspace, a frighteningly plausible look at threats to the United States and the world. Scott, Coumatos, and Birnes use war gaming scenarios to show how the US Strategic Command might choose to fight off these menaces and prevent global disaster. Combining current and future technology with our enemies' grandest plans, Counterspace is equally a terrifying possibility and a hopeful affirmation that America can and will be ready to face such dangers, told with the pulse-pounding power of a modern day thriller.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.By Erno Rubik. 2020
The first book by the reclusive inventor of the world’s most iconic puzzle THE RUBIK’S CUBE. Erno Rubik inspires us…
with what he’s learned in a lifetime of creating, curiosity, and discovery.Erno Rubik was a child when he first became obsessed with puzzles of all kinds. “Puzzles,” he writes, “bring out important qualities in each of us: concentration, curiosity, a sense of play, the eagerness to discover a solution.” To Rubik puzzles aren’t just games—they’re creativity machines. He encourages us to embrace our inner curiosity and find the puzzles that surround us in our everyday lives. “If you are determined, you will solve them,” he writes. Rubik’s own puzzle, the Cube, went on to be solved by millions worldwide for over forty years, become one of the bestselling toys of all time, and to be featured as a global symbol of intelligence and ingenuity.In Cubed, Rubik covers more than just his journey to inventing his eponymous cube. He makes a case for always being an amateur—something he has always considered himself to be. He discusses the inevitability of problems during any act of invention. He reveals what it was like to experience the astonishing worldwide success of an object he made purely for his own play. And he offers what he thinks it means to be a true creator (hint: anyone can do it). Steeped in the wisdom and also the humility of a born inventor, Cubed offers a unique look at the imperfect science of creation.By Samuel C. Florman. 1987
Civil engineer Samuel C. Florman's The Civilized Engineer is aimed at both those observing and commenting externally on engineering, and…
the practicing engineer—to reveal something of the art behind great engineering achievements, and to stimulate debate upon the author's hypothesis that "in its moment of ascendance, engineering is faced with the trivialization of its purpose and the debasement of its practice."By Kailei Pew. 2024
What do swim fins, Popsicles®, Infection-Detecting Stitches, the Braille alphabet, and Taco vs. Burrito all have in common? They were…
all invented by kids! When Remya Jose had to spend many hours washing her family’s laundry by hand, she invented a pedal powered washing machine that could finish the chore in only 20 minutes! When Tripp Phillips’ Lego creations kept falling apart, he developed a glue strong enough to hold his creations together that would wash off when he was ready to build something new! And when Fatima Al Kaabi didn’t have anyone willing to teach her about robotics, she turned to the internet to teach herself all the skills she needed—and created multiple crowd-pleasing robots in the process! From Popsicles® and swim fins to robots and glitter shooting prosthetics, Kailei Pew's middle grade nonfiction debut is full of fun and inspiring stories, illustrated by Shannon Wright, about real kid inventors who proved that even the youngest people can change the world.Did you know that the number of atoms in a cookie is about the same number of stars in the…
universe? Geoff Engelstein tackles the big questions of the universe and how it works using the sweet and simple chocolate cookie as guide. By exploring what goes into the cookie—the ingredients and the steps—we learn about how everything works, from the tiny world of subatomic particles to galactic clusters. Topics include: The Big Bang Explained with Chocolate ChipsQuantum Mechanics Explained with Milk and CookiesChaos Explained with VanillaAnd more!Filled with fascinating facts and laugh-out-loud moments, it's a richly visual and deeply fascinating scientific exploration of the world. And cookies.By Dorian Solot, Marshall Miller. 2024
"Educational and approachable" – Publishers Weekly Head, shoulders, knees, and . . . vulvas and vaginas! Young children are curious…
about all body parts.With bright illustrations, readable language, and a matter-of-fact tone, this guide offers readers the information they need to understand how bodies work.All About Vulvas and Vaginas is a book that embraces body diversity, reassures kids, and provides caregivers easy ways to answer the common questions that children have.Additional guidance for parents and caregivers includes more information on being an askable parent and how to talk to young children about sensitive topics.By Chris Gall. 2024
DIVE! is a fascinating introduction to the comprehensive world history of diving by award-winning artist Chris Gall.How do you breathe…
underwater? What tools can we use to go deeper and deeper into the oceans? And...what's down there?Two-thirds of our Earth is covered in ocean, yet only 5% of it has been explored. DIVE deep into our long history of sea exploration to learn why, how, and when humans have dived, and uncover our biggest questions about what hides in the Earth's deepest waters.Perfect for STEM-oriented minds and young and old readers fascinated by the sea, Dive! is a must-have to add to any nonfiction shelf.By Rebecca Donnelly. 2024
In this high-interest full-color graphic novel chapter book, embark on an engineering extravaganza and discover all that animals can do…
in a science competition!7 fierce animal competitors2 shark judges1 winnerWho will come out on top?Survival of the Fittest: the game show where animal contestants pitch the latest and greatest in scientific innovation to a panel of shark judges! Animals of all sizes and skills compete to see who can come up with the most useful, most creative, most brilliant design for a product based on something that exists in the natural world. Today's theme is: engineering.Filled with interesting information, awesome visuals, and funny dialogue, this new series by nonfiction maven Rebecca Donnelly is Shark Tank made literal. Swim along - and try not to get chomped by the Chomp! Buzzer.By Roger M. Knutson. 1999
Hypochondriacs beware-- would you believe the nastiest creatures in the known universe live inside our bodies? Not content to just…
find a home and produce offspring in our internal space, parasites will drink our blood, eat our cells, and infest our muscles. There is very little that can be said in their favor, with perhaps one exception-- they are truly fascinating!Fearsome Fauna is a wickedly amusing and startlingly informative look into the secret world of these fascinating creatures. Perhaps the greatest biological success story of all time (there are more kinds of parasites than insects), parasites have found homes in the vast majority of people on earth and have learned to live in their environment without destroying it (usually). For readers who would like to meet these hardworking beasts-- or learn how to avoid them-- Fearsome Fauna tells you everything you always wanted to know about parasites but were too disgusted or terrified to ask.By Dorian Solot, Marshall Miller. 2024
Head, shoulders, knees, and . . . penises! Young children are curious about all body parts.With bright illustrations, readable language,…
and a matter-of-fact tone, this guide offers readers the information they need to understand how bodies work.All About Penises is a book that embraces body diversity, reassures kids, and provides caregivers easy ways to answer the common questions that children have. Additional guidance for parents and caregivers includes more information on being an askable parent and how to talk to young children about sensitive topics.By Charles Foster. 2016
A passionate naturalist explores what it’s really like to be an animal—by living like themHow can we ever be sure…
that we really know the other? To test the limits of our ability to inhabit lives that are not our own, Charles Foster set out to know the ultimate other: the non-humans, the beasts. And to do that, he tried to be like them, choosing a badger, an otter, a fox, a deer, and a swift. He lived alongside badgers for weeks, sleeping in a sett in a Welsh hillside and eating earthworms, learning to sense the landscape through his nose rather than his eyes. He caught fish in his teeth while swimming like an otter; rooted through London garbage cans as an urban fox; was hunted by bloodhounds as a red deer, nearly dying in the snow. And he followed the swifts on their migration route over the Strait of Gibraltar, discovering himself to be strangely connected to the birds. A lyrical, intimate, and completely radical look at the life of animals—human and other—Being a Beast mingles neuroscience and psychology, nature writing and memoir to cross the boundaries separating the species. It is an extraordinary journey full of thrills and surprises, humor and joy. And, ultimately, it is an inquiry into the human experience in our world, carried out by exploring the full range of the life around us.By Stephan Faris. 2009
A vivid and illuminating portrayal of the surprising ways that climate change will affect the world in the near future—politically,…
economically, and culturallyWhile reporting just outside of Darfur, Stephan Faris discovered that climate change was at the root of that conflict, and began to wonder what current and impending—and largely unanticipated—crises such changes have in store for the world. Forecast provides the answers.Global warming will spur the spread of many diseases. Italy has already experienced its first climate-change epidemic of a tropical disease, and malaria is gaining ground in Africa. The warming world will shift huge populations and potentially redraw political alliances around the globe, driving environmentalists into the hands of anti-immigrant groups. America's coasts are already more difficult places to live as increasing insurance rates make the Gulf Coast and other gorgeous spots prohibitively expensive. Crops will fail in previously lush places and thrive in some formerly barren zones, altering huge industries and remaking traditions. Water scarcity in India and Pakistan have the potential to inflame the conflict in Kashmir to unprecedented levels and draw the United States into the troubles there, and elsewhere.Told through the narratives of current, past, and future events, the result of astonishingly wide travel and reporting, Forecast is a powerful, gracefully written, eye-opening account of this most urgent issue and how it has altered and will alter our world.By Martha Greenwald. 2023
Who We Lost is the first book that directly acknowledges the free-floating grief of the COVID-bereaved, affirms that it must…
be addressed, and offers a purposeful activity that respects mourners as well as the mourned.  In 2020,By Harold L. Klawans. 1996
The author who told us why Toscanini fumbled and why Newton raved takes us on a tour of the great…
brains of great athletes in --baseball players and basketball players, track stars and golfers--to show how both accomplishment and tragedy may be the result of some unusual neurons.In Why Michael Couldn't Hit, Dr. Harold L. Klawans joins his two lifelong passions for neurological discovery and sports. And his arguments about the way the two are linked will give every sports fan a new outlook on what happens on the track, the baseball diamond, or in the arena. A deft and fascinating exploration, the book reveals that the twists and turns of athletes' brains have at least as much to do with their stardom as the strength and coordination of their muscles. It's an entirely original perspective on a topic that has always captured the American imagination: the breathtaking sight of athletic grace, force, and skill.By Ivars Peterson. 1993
With his critically acclaimed best-sellers The Mathematical Toursist and Islands of Truth, Ivars Peterson took readers to the frontiers of…
modern mathematics. His new book provides an up-to-date look at one of science's greatest detective stories: the search for order in the workings of the solar system.In the late 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton provided what astronomers had long sought: a seemingly reliable way of calculating planetary orbits and positions. Newton's laws of motion and his coherent, mathematical view of the universe dominated scientific discourse for centuries. At the same time, observers recorded subtle, unexpected movements of the planets and other bodies, suggesting that the solar system is not as placid and predictable as its venerable clockwork image suggests.Today, scientists can go beyond the hand calculations, mathematical tables, and massive observational logs that limited the explorations of Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and others. Using supercomputers to simulate the dynamics of the solar system, modern astronomers are learning more about the motions they observe and uncovering some astonishing examples of chaotic behavior in the heavens. Nonetheless, the long-term stability of the solar system remains a perplexing, unsolved issue, with each step toward its resolution exposing additional uncertainties and deeper mysteries.To show how our view of the solar system has changed from clocklike precision to chaos and complexity, Newton's Clock describes the development of celestial mechanics through the ages--from the star charts of ancient navigators to the seminal discoveries of the 17th centure; from the crucial work of Poincaré to the startling, sometimes controversial findings and theories made possible by modern mathematics and computer simulations. The result makes for entertaining and provocative reading, equal parts science, history, and intellectual adventure.