Opera is all about intense emotion, magical music and overwhelming theatrical spectacle.In this exciting new guide, the many myths that surround opera are exploded, while its transformation from inaccessible high art to affordable, dramatically realistic and easy-to-encounter drama is revealed.The powerful principal players in the opera world - the maestros, superstar divas and directors - are examined in fascinating detail, and questions are asked of opera...

Joseph Roth, best known as the author of the novel The Radetzky March and the nonfiction work The Wandering Jews, was one of the most seductive, disturbing, and enigmatic writers of the twentieth century. Born in 1894 in the Habsburg Empire in what is now Ukraine and dying in Paris in 1939, he was a perpetually displaced person, a traveler, a prophet, a compulsive liar, and a man who covered his tracks. Throughout the eastern borderlands of Europe, Dennis Marks explores t...

An "extraordinary guide to the hidden secrets of modern man-made miracles . . . Highly recommended" —from the author of Froth!: The Science of Beer ( Midwest Book Review).Ever wonder how a graceful and slender bridge can support enormous loads over truly astonishing spans? Why domes and free-standing arches survive earthquakes that flatten the rest of a city?Physicist Mark Denny looks at the large structures around us—tall buildings, long br...

The world's oceans account for roughly 71 percent of the planet's surface and 99 percent of its livable volume. Any study of this huge habitat requires a solid foundation in the principles that underlie marine biology and physical and chemical oceanography, yet until now undergraduate textbooks have largely presented compilations of facts rather than explanations of principles. How the Ocean Works fills this gap, providing a concise and accessible college-level introduction to mar...

Humans have changed the Earth so profoundly that we’ve ushered in the first new geologic period since the ice ages. So, what are we going to do about it?Ever since Nobel Prize–winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the term "Anthropocene" to describe our current era—one in which human impact on the environment has pushed Earth into an entirely new geological epoch—arguments for and against the new designation have been raging. Finally, an official working ...

As anyone from cold climates knows, living with lots of ice and snow can lead to a special appreciation of sports such as skiing, sledding, and skating. Prolific physics popularizer Mark Denny’s take on winter athletics lays out the physical principles that govern glaciated game play.After discussing the physical properties of ice and snow and describing the physics behind sliding friction and aerodynamic drag, Denny applies these concepts to such sports as bobsledding, snowboardin...

An estimated 4.1 million people in the United States participate in recreational sailing. Yet the large library of sailing literature leaves many of them high and dry. On one side are technical guides for America’s Cup boat-builders; on the other, simplistic books for weekend sailors with little interest in science. In Float Your Boat! professional and amateur boaters alike will find intelligent and understandable answers to such questions as: What were the key innovations that ma...

How do meteorologists design forecasts for the next day's, the next week's, or the next month's weather? Are some forecasts more likely to be accurate than others, and why? Making Sense of Weather and Climate takes readers through key topics in atmospheric physics and presents a cogent view of how weather relates to climate, particularly climate-change science. It is the perfect book for amateur meteorologists and weather enthusiasts, and for anyone whose livelihood depends on nav...

"A theoretical physicist's exploration of the math and science behind the beer-brewing process. Packed with humor, history, and DIY enthusiasm." — Seed MagazineBest Beer Book in the United States of America, 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook AwardsEver wonder where the bubbles in your beer came from, which way they are going, and why? Have you considered the physical differences among ales, lambics, and lagers? Do you contemplate your pin...

Understand the why behind every clinical sign. Mechanisms of Clinical Signs remains the only text dedicated to explaining the physiological and pathophysiological basis of clinical examination findings.Despite the emergence of technological advancements and artificial intelligence in diagnostic modalities, clinical examination remains essential to the diagnostic and therapeutic process. Rather than describing examination techniques in isolation, this fourth edition reveals the mechanisms t...

Conversations with Marco Polo is a biography of Eugene Haderlie, whose extraordinary life is deeply intertwined with the 20th century: a rough-and-tumble childhood in Wyoming during the Depression; an undergraduate expedition to Baja Mexico, where he crossed paths with John Steinbeck and had his inflamed appendix taken out by a veterinarian; two years as hard-hat diver in World War II, defusing mines in the English Channel and enduring the trauma of D-Day. The conversations recorded here a...

Humans have changed the Earth so profoundly that we’ve ushered in the first new geologic period since the ice ages. So, what are we going to do about it?Ever since Nobel Prize–winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the term "Anthropocene" to describe our current era—one in which human impact on the environment has pushed Earth into an entirely new geological epoch—arguments for and against the new designation have been raging. Finally, an official working ...