A “timely, informative, and fascinating” study of 8 inventions—and how they shaped our world—with “totally compelling” insights on little-known inventors throughout history (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction)In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines 8 inventions and reveals how they shaped the human experience:• Clocks• Steel rails• Copper communication ...

Gladys’s mind swirls with numbers and shapes as the world enters the high-tech space age. This is the lyrical true story of a groundbreaking Black mathematician whose inventions led to the creation of GPS.Little Gladys is a farm girl who loves math. But as a Black kid growing up in Virginia in the mid-twentieth century, she sees life around her as less than or greater than but never equal. When a teacher calls her “college material,” Gladys knows she can achieve he...

In this first picture book in the Black Innovators series, meet the insatiably curious Jim West, who invented a vital piece of the device we all carry in our pockets—transforming how the world communicates today.Young Jim West loves to pull apart whatever electronics he can get his hands on to see how they work. Those around him say there’s no path for a kid like him to become a scientist, but Jim is determined to forge his own way. His knack for all things electri...

In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions—clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips—and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes, among other things, how our p...

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.Russell wrote The ABC of Relativity in 1925, twenty years after Einstein's miracle year and ten years after general relativity — for the educated reader who wanted to actually understand what Einstein had done. Russell was perhaps the most lucid English-language explainer of his century. He walks the listener through space and time, what light is, what mass is, what gravity actually is once you stop thinking of it as a force, and what t...

The Nobel Prize winner offers "an ideal introduction to the theories of special and general relativity" in clear, comprehensible language ( Nature ).A renowned mathematician and philosopher , and as well as recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Bertrand Russell was acclaimed for his ability to address complex subjects in accessible ways. In this classic reference book, Russell delve...

A sweeping account of the century of experimentation that confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity, bringing to life the science and scientists at the origins of relativity, the development of radio telescopes, the discovery of black holes and quasars, and the still unresolved place of gravity in quantum theory.Albert Einstein did nothing of note on May 29, 1919; yet that is when he became immortal. On that day, astronomer Arthur Eddington and his team observed a solar ecl...

Focusing on Thebes in 1360 BCE, How to Survive in Ancient Egypt is the ultimate guide to living in ancient Egypt, including all of the religious beliefs and sites to see.Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Egypt and you had to start a new life there. How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? Where would you go to have your hair done? Who would you go to if you got ill, or if you were ...

AN INSTANT USA Today BESTSELLER • NAMED A Thinkers50 BEST NEW MANAGEMENT BOOK FOR 2026“I love this book. How to Be Bold is a practical road map filled with real-life stories that will inspire you and help you find courage when it matters most.” —Mel Robbins, New York Times bestselling author and host of The Mel Robbins PodcastFrom the distinguished Harvard Business School professo...

A gripping, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war.In 1932, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed, and propaganda campaigns swept the country, urging...

As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today’s cutting-edge technologies possible.Wanting everyone to be able to “speak” science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains—as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos—the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system,...

The extraordinary ways the brain can misfire: Why would someone wake up and claim they’re Napoleon? Or why would they believe they have been turned into a wolf and demand to be fed raw meat?For centuries, people have dismissed delusions as a problem for the shrinks to sort out in distant asylums. But delusions are more than just bizarre case studies. They tell stories of collective anxieties and traumas.Examining the study and documentation of delusions ove...