Exploring scientific naming as a joyful and creative act—from a lizard named after Jim Morrison to the Ampulex dementor wasps inspired by Harry Potter!Tyrannosaurus rex. Homo sapiens. Heteropoda davidbowie. There are about 1.8 million discovered and named plant and animal species, and millions more still to be discovered. Naming is the necessary next step after discovery; it is through the naming of species that we perceive and understand nature. ...

A groundbreaking popular psychology book that explores the deep connection between our body and our brain.Over decades of study, University of Virginia psychologist Dennis Proffitt has shown that we are each living our own personal version of Gulliver's Travels, where the size and shape of the things we see are scaled to the size of our bodies, and our ability to interact with them. Stairs look less steep as dieters lose weight, baseballs grow bigger the be...

INSIDE THE MYSTERIES OF THE HEART: See your heart in a whole new way as a leading cardiac scientist reveals astonishing insights on heart function, heart health, and heart disease.“Our blood-pumping organ and its impressive tricks deserve all our cartoon-heart emoji." —The Boston GlobeYour heart is a miracle in motion, a marvel of construction unsurpassed by any human-made creation. It beats 100,000 times every day. If you were to ...

Venture to one of Europe’s most ancient places to uncover Neandertal remains—and what it means to be human.“[Bahrami’s] wide interests in travel, memoir, food, wine . . . make this exceedingly engaging title more like a French version of Under the Tuscan Sun” (Booklist).The Dordogne region of southwestern France is one of Europe’s most concentrated regions for Neandertal occupations. In this delightful book, award-winning writer Be...

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...

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...

"A delightful exposition of commonly-encountered statistical fallacies and paradoxes and why they matter." —Samuel H. Preston, coauthor of Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population ProcessesAn essential guide to the ways data can improve decision making.Statistics are everywhere: in news reports, at the doctor's office, and in every sort of forecast, from the stock market to the weather. Allen B. Downey knows well that people have an innate abil...

Connections is a brilliant examination of the ideas, inventions, and coincidences that have culminated in the major technological achievements of today.How did the popularity of underwear in the twelfth century lead to the invention of the printing press? How did the waterwheel evolve into the computer? How did the arrival of the cannon lead eventually to the development of movies?In this highly acclaimed and bestselling book, James Burke brilliant...

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...

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist meets George Orwell’s 1984 in this cross-genre tale, which marries visionary and political fiction in a heartfelt but high-stakes thriller.Darah, a tech writer living in the democratic nation of California, is dismayed to see the game she’s helping develop for a Silicon Valley tech company has been tampered with. When her hacker friend Jedd investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the nation—and the wor...

"An absolute joy to read . . . it is Harman's skill in blending contemporary science and traditional storytelling that makes this book truly brilliant." —Randy Rosenthal, New York Journal of BooksWe no longer think, like the ancient Chinese did, that the world was hatched from an egg, or, like the Maori, that it came from the tearing-apart of a love embrace. The Greeks told of a tempestuous Hera and a cunning Zeus, but we now use genes and natural selection...

"A dazzling tour of a most promising area of neuroscience—the interface between the immune system and the nervous system." —Elliot S. Gershon, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, The University of ChicagoSince ancient times humans have felt intuitively that emotions and health are linked, and recently there has been much popular speculation about this notion. But until now, without compelling evidence, it has been impossible to say for sure that such a connection really ex...