Sea level rise will happen no matter what we do. Even if we stopped all carbon dioxide emissions today, the seas would rise one meter by 2050 and three meters by 2100. This -- not drought, species extinction, or excessive heat waves -- will be the most catastrophic effect of global warming. And it won't simply redraw our coastlines -- agriculture, electrical and fiber optic systems, and shipping will be changed forever. As icebound regions melt, new sources of oil, gas, minerals, and arabl...

I n modem times, science has brought the past-and so many of its creatures-back to life via intellectual inquiry, application of the scientific method, and some extraordinary technology that has recently been devel oped. The wonder of the process is that such a rich and vivid understanding of the deep past has been generated from such scanty evidence: broken bones, lithified shells, fossil leaves, and even simple layered rocks. The sci entists who have contributed to this work have woven r...

In November 12, 2002, Dr. John Chambers of the NASA Ames Research Center gave a seminar to the Astrobiology Group at the University of Washington. The audience of about 100 listened with rapt attention as Chambers described results from a computer study of how planetary systems form. The goal of his research was to answer a deceptively simple question: How often would newly forming planetary systems produce Earth-like planets, given a star the size of our own sun? By “Earth-like” Chambers ...

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe—the process that is loosely termed the "opening of China." Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Pe...

St. Peter’s Fair was a grand event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. With the pause in the Civil War during the summer of 1139, the fair would bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury.But a wealthy merchant is found murdered in the river Severn. Brother Cadfael offers to help the merchant’s niece, Emma; but while he searches for the killer, two more men are murdered—like her uncle, apparently for the valuables they possessed at their death. Cadfael races to s...

An absorbing and revelatory journey into the American Way of defying deathAs longevity medicine revolutionizes the lives of many older people, the quest to take the next step—to live as long as we choose—has spurred a scientific arms race in search of the elixir of life, funded by Big Tech and Silicon Valley.Once the stuff of Mesopotamian mythology and episodes of Star Trek, the effort to make humans immortal is becoming increasingly credible as th...

Midway between the satire of Spinal Tap and the pathos of American Beauty lies the schizophrenic state of mind known as Hog Fever. On the surface this is the story of a man, a motorcycle, and a teetering bank balance. But lurking beneath, occasionally visible like threads through faded denim, is the story of a man in search of freedom—or at least one last stab at it.Motivated by the emasculating success of his British screenwriter wife and a love of E...

This in-depth work of reportage dares to ask what’s at stake in privatizing outer space.Earth is in trouble—so dramatically that we’re now scrambling to explore space for valuable resources and a home for permanent colonization. With the era of NASA’s dominance now behind us, the private sector is winning this new space race. But if humans and their private wealth have made such a mess of Earth, who can say we won’t do the same in space?In The Consequential Frontier

Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. Yet as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride, looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians, and the bridegroom—an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather—and he quickly discerns that this union may be more d...

Netter's Integrated Musculoskeletal System is an innovative new text that brings together basic science material from several domains, providing a solid foundation prior to delving into topics of increasing complexity and clinical importance —all highlighted by superb Netter illustrations throughout. Initial chapters give a general overview of the human body, while the remaining chapters examine all facets of the musculoskeletal system, the injuries that affect it at the macroscopic and mi...

This collection introduces readers to the philosophical interpretation of Scripture, specifically within American Philosophy. The purpose of the collection concerns starting a conversation about the practice and task of the philosophical interpretation of Scripture. Reflections on the philosophical interpretation of Scripture have been treated more as a “conversation-stopper” than a conversation-starter within the American academy. To start such a conversation, this collection offers subst...