"A culinary mystery story leavened with Pallant's passion, charm, and devotion to the ageless allure of the risen loaf." —Aaron Bobrow-Strain, author of White BreadSourdough Culture presents the history and rudimentary science of sourdough bread baking from its discovery more than six thousand years ago to its still-recent displacement by the innovation of dough-mixing machines and fast-acting yeast. Environmental science professor Eric Pallant tra...

An engrossing and entertaining tour of the astonishing global effort required to bring home one loaf of bread, in the tradition of John McPhee.How many people does it take to make a loaf of bread? Proud “breadhead” and environmental science professor Eric Pallant, whose previous book, Sourdough Culture, detailed how baking sourdough bread has been integral to human history for six thousand years, is uniquely equipped to try to answer this dizzying question.In Loaf, Pallant ...

This book focuses on 'educating the sustainability leaders of the future' and will contribute to the further development of this fast-growing field. As the title suggests, it presents practical experiences related to education, research and extension, the so-called third mission, whereby universities conduct outreach to society as a whole (e.g. to local communities, organisations, industry, and other groups) with the aim of documenting such experiences and making them available to a wide a...

Sourdough bread fueled the labor that built the Egyptian pyramids.The Roman Empire distributed free sourdough loaves to its citizens to maintain political stability. More recently, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, sourdough bread baking became a global phenomenon as people contended with being confined to their homes and sought distractions from their fear, uncertainty, and grief. In Sourdough Culture, environmental science professor Eric Pallant shows how th...

A fascinating account of a scientific project that tracked 5 generations of children—the longest-ever-running study of human development.The lives of 70,000 people reveal the importance of our beginnings on the greater trajectory of our lives.In March 1946, scientists began to track thousands of children born in one cold week as part of a birth cohort study. No one imagined that this would become the longest-running study of human developme...

National Book Award Finalist: A study of national myths, lore, and identity that "will interest all those concerned with American cultural history" ( American Political Science Review).Winner of the American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Award for Best Book in American HistoryIn Regeneration Through Violence, the first of his trilogy on the mythology of the American West, historian and cultural critic Richard Slotkin ...

Discover the origins and traditions of world religions!With so many religions in the world, it isn't always easy to recall each faith's key influences, spiritual figures, and dogmas. Written in easy-to-understand language, Religion 101 offers a fascinating--and memorable--glimpse at the sacred stories, traditions, and doctrines that have influenced today's most popular religions.From Jesus and the Four Noble Truths to the Buddhist Wheel of Existence, this book pr...

What can we learn about the evolution of jaws from a pair of scissors? How does the flight of a tennis ball help explain how fish overcome drag? What do a spacesuit and a chicken egg have in common? Highlighting the fascinating twists and turns of evolution across more than 540 million years, paleobiologist Matthew Bonnan uses everyday objects to explain the emergence and adaptation of the vertebrate skeleton. What can camera lenses tell us about the eyes of marine reptiles? How does under...

Meet the overlooked women in history who loved, nurtured, and defended the famed American scientist and founding father.“ . . . highlights a side of Ben Franklin too often ignored by historians . . . and provides a necessary reminder that the women who came into his life are as deserving of our attention as Ben himself.” —Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary MothersEveryone knows Benjamin Franklin—the thrifty inventor-statesman of...

A root-and-branch rethinking of how history has shaped the science of genetics.In 1900, almost no one had heard of Gregor Mendel. Ten years later, he was famous as the father of a new science of heredity—genetics. Even today, Mendelian ideas serve as a standard point of entry for learning about genes. The message students receive is plain: the twenty-first century owes an enlightened understanding of how biological inheritance really works to the persistence of an i...

The acclaimed food critic's two-thousand-year history of going out to eat, from the ancient Romans in Pompeii to the luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants of today.Starting with the surprisingly sophisticated dining scene in the city of Pompeii, William Sitwell embarks on a romp through culinary history, meeting the characters and discovering the events that shape the way we eat today. The Daily Telegraph restaurant critic and famously acerbic MasterC...

National Book Award Finalist: The "impressive" conclusion to the "magisterial trilogy on the mythology of violence in American history" ( Film Quarterly)."The myth of the Western frontier—which assumes that whites' conquest of Native Americans and the taming of the wilderness were preordained means to a progressive, civilized society—is embedded in our national psyche. U.S. troops called Vietnam 'Indian country.' President John Kennedy invoked 'New Frontier...