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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 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 genius of China: 3,000 years of science, discovery, and invention
By Robert K. G Temple, Joseph Needham. 1986
Reveals the Chinese origins of such "modern" inventions as paper and printing, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass. Temple's eleven topics--including…
astronomy, engineering, medicine, and warfare--provide historical context and show that more than half of the basic discoveries considered "Western" were developed earlier in China. 1998, c1986.The first Vietnam war
By Peter M Dunn. 1985
Immediately after the Japanese surrender at the end of the Second World War, Saigon was occupied by British forces directed…
from Mountbatten's South East Asia Command. These forces became the first of a Western nation to clash with a Communist-led revolution in Asia, and by thwarting the Viet Minh's desperate attempts to seize power, made it impossible for South Vietnam to hold out when North Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1954. 1985.The first days of life
By Russell Freedman, Joseph Cellini. 1974
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 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 end of absence: reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection
By Michael Harris. 2014
Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the internet. For everyone who follows us,…
online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. The author chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained and lost in the bargain. He argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself -- of silence, wonder and solitude. Winner of the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction. 2014.The end of Hong Kong: the secret diplomacy of imperial retreat
By Robert Cottrell. 1993
On June 30, 1997, Britain ended its colonial rule over Hong Kong, the wealthy city state with six million people.…
The terms of the handover to China were to be those set out in a Joint Declaration initialled by Britain and China in 1984. This is an account of the diplomacy behind that settlement, and the prospects that lay ahead for Hong Kong. 1993.The fabric of the cosmos: space, time, and the texture of reality
By B Greene. 2004
String theory is a recent development in physics that, by positing that all which exists is composed of infinitesimally small…
vibrating loops of energy, seeks to unify Einstein's theories and those of quantum mechanics into a so-called "theory of everything." Greene offers a view of human understanding of space and time, beginning with Newton, moving through Einstein and quantum physics, and on to string theory and its hypotheses. c2004.The ethical canary: science, society and the human spirit
By Margaret A Somerville. 2000
As science and technology continue to advance, many moral and ethical questions begin to arise. The author, a leading authority…
on medicine, ethics and law, presents an examination of the various ethical concerns human society is currently facing. Addressing everything from cloning to genetically modified foods, this volume illuminates some of the most controversial and pressing issues of our time.The end of time: the next revolution in our understanding of the universe
By Julian B Barbour. 1999
This text describes the coming revolution in our understanding of the cosmos: a quantum theory of the universe that brings…
together Einstein's general theory of relativity - which denies the existence of a unique time - and quantum mechanics - which demands one. The author contends that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the profound conflict between these two foundational pillars of modern physics, and in this book he proposes it: there is, quite literally, no time at all. 1999.The essential Darwin
By Charles Darwin, Mark Ridley. 1987
Charles Darwin was unusual in that he was a scientist who wrote for the general reader and this selection contains…
passages from his nine most important books. From the "Origin", his explanation of natural selection and his summary of the case for evolution; from "The Descent of Man", human intelligence and morality, and his theory of sex differences; and from "Coral Reefs", the wholly original and still accepted theory of the origin of coral atolls. 1987.The devil and the disappearing sea: a true story about the Aral Sea catastrophe
By Robert W Ferguson. 2003
The Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest inland body of water, has lost over half its surface area and 80 percent…
of its volume since 1960, due to poorly planned irrigation systems. In January 2000, Canadian Rob Ferguson went to Uzbekistan to work on an environmental project to save the Aral Sea. After a year of dealing with corrupt officials, not only had the project gone nowhere, but Ferguson was under suspicion of murder. Some strong language. 2003.