A riveting history of the Mount St. Helens eruption that will "long stand as a classic of descriptive narrative" (Simon Winchester).For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, sightseers, and nearby residents listened anxiously to rumblings in Mount St. Helens, part of the chain of western volcanoes fueled by the 700-mile-long Cascadia fault. Still, no one was prepared when an immense eruption took the top off of the mountain and laid waste to hundreds of sq...

150,000 years of human existence have passed, and yet what do we really know about our history before the advent of writing? Some of the most momentous events - including our origins, our migrations across the globe, and our acquisition of language - were lost in the darkness of 'prehistory'. But at last geneticists and other scientists are piecing together a history - the true story of Adam and Eve. Mapping Human History is nothing less than a 'history of prehistory'. Steve Olson travelle...

From punk rock band Bad Religion's Greg Graffin and Steve Olson, Anarchy Evolution is a provocative look at the collision between religion and science."Take one man who rejects authority and religion, and leads a punk band. Take another man who wonders whether vertebrates arose in rivers or in the ocean. . . . Put them together, what do you get? Greg Graffin, and this uniquely fascinating book." —Pulitzer Prize-win...

A thrilling narrative of scientific triumph, decades of secrecy, and the unimaginable destruction wrought by the creation of the atomic bomb.It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of ...

Beyond Experience challenges one of the most common assumptions in leadership and professional growth: that time on the job automatically leads to wisdom.Drawing on decades of work in broadcasting, education, and leadership development, Steve Olson explores why experience alone can quietly trap us in familiar patterns, inherited habits, and unexamined beliefs. Through real-world stories, practical examples, and thoughtful reflection, he shows how true growth happen...

Lessons in Leadership: A Storied Approach is a leadership book with a difference! The stories are personal and range from humorous to poignant. They include the follies of youth, the mistakes of being a new leader, and wisdom from knowledge and experience. The lessons learned are relevant and come with several points to ponder that will help you gain insights about yourself.

It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the enigmatic and deadly new material that would fuel atomic bombs. In the desert of eastern W...

What turns experience into wisdom?We’re told experience is everything. That time alone will teach us what we need to know. But experience, left unexamined, can just as easily trap us in repetition as guide us forward.Beyond Experience is a reflective audiobook about how wisdom actually forms, not through doing alone, but through the pairing of experience, knowledge, and thoughtful reflection.Written and narrated by the author, this audioboo...

A chilling account of more than half a century of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the “definitive” (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly.Almost 145,000 Americans fled their homes in and around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in late March 1979, hoping to save themselves from an invisible enemy: radiation. The reactor at the nearby Three Mile Island nuclear power plant had gone into partial meltdown, and scientists feared an explosion that c...

**"[G]ripping, immaculately researched . . . In Mr. Ullrich’s account, the murderous behavior of the Reich’s last-ditch loyalists was not a reaction born of rage or of stubbornness in the face of defeat—common enough in war—but of something that had long ago tipped over into the pathological." —Andrew Stuttaford, Wall Street JournalThe best-selling author of Hitler: Ascent and Hitler: Downfall reconstructs the chaotic, otherworldly last days of Nazi Germa...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Nathaniel Philbrick is a masterly storyteller. Here he seeks to elevate the naval battles between the French and British to a central place in the history of the American Revolution. He succeeds, marvelously."—The New York Times Book ReviewThe thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War from the New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower.**In the c...

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKFrom the bestselling author of Nixonland**,** The Invisible Bridge**, and** Before the Storm comes the dramatic conclusion of how modern conservatism took control of American political power.Over two decades, Rick Perlstein has published three definitive works about the emergi...