For fans of accessible and fun popular science comes an exploration of evolution’s quirkiest puzzles and most enduring mysteries.Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do bees have yellow stripes? Why can we smell a skunk from a mile away? Such questions can be seen as puzzles about creatures' evolved traits. Besides triggering our curiosity, they focus our attention on beguiling designs that have been millions of years in the making. Indeed, looking at the living ...

An award-winning science writer introduces us to mathematics using the extraordinary equation that unites five of mathematics' most important numbersBertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry." This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's i...

In a world where the quest for eternal youth seems unattainable, David Stipp offers a captivating exploration into the scientific battle against aging.Even before the first person set off to find the Fountain of Youth, we were searching for a way to live longer. But promises of life extension have long reeked of snake oil, and despite our wishful thinking—not to mention the number of vitamins we pop—few of us believe we’ll live to see one hundred, much less set a l...

For fans of accessible and fun popular science comes an exploration of evolution’s quirkiest puzzles and most enduring mysteries.Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do bees have yellow stripes? Why can we smell a skunk from a mile away? Such questions can be seen as puzzles about creatures' evolved traits. Besides triggering our curiosity, they focus our attention on beguiling designs that have been millions of years in the making. Indeed, looking at the living ...

Bertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry." This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's identity or God's equation, it includes just five numbers but represents an astonishing revelation of hidden connections. It ties together everything from basic arithmetic to ...

An authoritative history of the overlooked youth activists that spearheaded the largest protests of the Civil Rights Movement and set the blueprint for future generations of activists to follow.Some of the most iconic images of the Civil Rights Movement are those of young people engaged in social activism, such as children and teenagers in 1963 being attacked by police in Birmingham with dogs and water hoses. But their contributions have not been well documented or...

A critically-acclaimed literary memoir braiding together environmental research and the personal journey of generational healing, grief, and chronic illness.Author Eiren Caffall is the inheritor of a family legacy of two hundred years of genetic kidney disease and the mother of a child who may inherit that legacy.A literary memoir on loss, chronic illness, and generational healing, Caffall’s The Mourner’s Bestiary is also a meditation on grief and ...

Did you know that Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk, William Shakespeare was a stoner, and George Washington drank a spoonful of opium every night to staunch the pain from his fake teeth? Or how about the fact that China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, ingested liquid mercury in an (ironic) attempt to live forever, or that Alexander Shulgin, inventor of no fewer than 230 new psychedelic drugs, was an employee of the DEA?In Human History on Drugs, historian Sam Kelly introduc...

**For fans of Braiding Sweetgrass, The Future We Choose, and The Blue Zones, a book about the effect our relationship to nature has on our well-being and health.**Winner of the Best Book Award from American Bookfest in the General Health category; the Silver award from Reader Views in the Health and Fitness Category; and the Bronze award from Reader Views in the Body/Mind/Spirit Category****Our modern way of living is incompatible with ou...

This groundbreaking book tracks the massive wealth amassed from slavery from pre-Civil War to today, showing how our modern economy was built on the backs of enslaved Black people—and lays out a clear argument for reparations that shows exactly what was stolen, who stole it, and to whom it is owed.In this timely, powerful, investigative history, The Stolen Wealth of Slavery, Emmy Award-nominated journalist David Montero follows the trail of the massive wea...

You're standing in front of your refrigerator, a week after your last trip to the supermarket. You've got a bunch of random veggies, some wrinkly fruit, near-expired milk, and those pricey fresh herbs you bought for that one recipe. For a split second you picture yourself throwing everything away and ordering takeout.But instead . . . you pick up this cookbook. You're saving food, shrinking that grocery bill, and learning some key skills for making the most of what you have. It's e...

What Jane Goodall did for chimpanzees, international ecologist and conservation scientist Hannah Mumby now does for elephants in this compelling, eye-opening account that brings into focus this species remarkably similar to humans—and makes a persuasive argument for saving them.From early childhood, Dr. Hannah Mumby has loved wildlife, especially elephants. Her first wild elephant sighting at twenty-four changed the course of her life. Since then, she has devoted h...