People have always needed doctors. But the doctors of the past might not look like the doctors you are used to seeing! Sometimes their healing methods were weird, disgusting, or even dangerous. Doctors in the Middle Ages sniffed patients' urine to diagnose disease, and barbers might cut off a person's injured arm or leg. The ancient Chinese fought smallpox by blowing powdered pus up the nose. Many of these old remedies turned out to be dangerous, but others paved the way for modern blood t...

It's easy to take a pill when we aren't feeling well. But did you know that the art of making medicines goes back thousands of years? Early remedies weren't always so easy—or effective. Some seemed downright disgusting. Wine infused with a venomous snake was used to cure fatigue and hair loss. Snail slime soothed burns, and a mixture of ear wax and mud treated headaches. Discover more about how medicine was practiced centuries ago and how, eventually, scientists discovered some truly amazi...

Just think, every single thing you do is handled by an amazing computer inside your head—your brilliant brain! And it's helped by your body's internet—your nervous system. Join the Stickmen to discover how spidery nerve cells send messages to the brain in seconds, how quick reflexes keep you safe, and how different parts of your brain are in charge of different thoughts and actions. Learn how all the parts of your body work together with the brain to help you to see, hear, smell, and make ...

Are you ready to take off with the world's fastest supersonic aircraft? Strap yourself in for a trip in the MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor and clock up to 2,100 mph (3,380 kmh/h)! Soar in the NAA X-15 rocket plane, which set a record of 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h) in 1967! Hop into the world's fastest jet, the NASA Hyper X-43 scramjet, but hang on—it has the potential to go 7,000 mph (11,265 km/h)! Detailed illustrations put you in the cockpits of these mighty, streaking aircraft, while bite-sized f...

This book explains how the Universe is made up, from stars and their systems to galaxies and globular clusters.

Join the Stickmen on a fascinating tour of monster vehicles, transporters, and construction tools. You'll discover some of the largest machines in existence and see the Stickmen (accidentally) test the limits of gravity!

It's 1718 and the world goes dark for Jamie Flynn, who's been snatched from the docks to join Blackbeard's crew of the fearsome pirates. Join him on board as he learns to fight with a cutlass and pistol, and follow him as he storms a treasure ship and shares in the spoils. You'll need your sea legs and strong nerves to live like a Caribbean pirate!

Being sick is horrible. But it used to be worse. Inside this book, you'll see evidence of the plagues of the past—rotting skin, dissolving lungs, and sinister swelling all over the body. Diseases like the Black Death wiped out whole towns and villages. Tuberculosis consumed young people like a bloodsucking vampire. And Smallpox left its victims scarred for life—if they survived. At the time, no one knew where these killer diseases came from or how to treat them. But eventually doctors disc...

Take an enthralling journey from the Stone Age onward, and see how our ancestors became great builders and rulers. They grew food, discovered metals, made tools, and invented writing. You will see a mighty civilization in Egypt, wise Chinese philosophy, Maya culture in Central America, the colossal Roman Empire, and much more. Illustrated maps let you compare what is happening across the globe at various moments in time. While the Santorini volcano was wiping out the Minoan civilization, f...

The elements of the periodic table come alive in the first book in a stellar nonfiction comic series illustrated by Shiho Pate!From oxygen to hydrogen, carbon to plutonium, Animated Science: Periodic Table makes chemistry come alive! In this book you'll meet the building blocks of you, the world, and the universe and see how they come together to make everything you see, do, and use every day.With a narrative nonfiction text, kid-friendly information, and Shiho Pat...

Rocks and minerals come alive in the next Animated Science book, an outstanding comic series illustrated by Shiho Pate!From gemstones to fossils and beyond, Animated Science: Rocks and Minerals is the definitive guide to rocks and minerals for grade school readers. In this book, readers will explore the substances that make up our Earth through comic illustrations and hilarious characters.With a narrative nonfiction text, kid-friendly information, ...

From the ever-curious mind that brought you the bestselling Do You Think You're Clever? comes a brand-new trip to the far reaches of the intellectual universe, courtesy of even more notoriously provocative Oxbridge interview questions.How would you poison someone without the police finding out? (Medicine, Cambridge)What makes a strong woman? (Theology, Oxford)Instead of politicians, why don't we let the managers of IKEA run the country? (Social and Political Sciences, ...