Popular Science at The Nile -Australia`s Largest Online Bookstore

THE PERSEUS BOOKS GROUP
A Well-ordered Thing Description: Dmitrii Mendeleev: It`s a name we recognize, but only as the disheveled scientist pictured in our high school chemistry textbook, the creator of the periodic table of elements. Until now, little has been known about the man, but A Well-Ordered Thing draws a portrait of this chemist in three full dimensions. Historian Michael Gordin also details Mendeleev`s complex relationship with the Russian Empire that was his home. From his attack on Spiritualism to his humiliation at the hands of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, from his near-mythical hot-air balloon trip to his failed voyage to the Arctic, this is the story of an extraordinary man deeply invested in the good of his country. And the ideals that shaped his work in politics and culture were the same ones that led a young chemistry professor to start putting elements on order. Mendeleev was a loyal subject of the Tsar, but he was also a maverick who thought that only an outsider could perfect a modern Russia. A Well-Ordered Thing is a fascinating glimpse into the world of Imperial Russia and into the life of one of its most notorious minds.... Read More about the "A Well-ordered Thing" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
Dependant Gene Description: A masterful guide to human development that redefines the nature versus nurture debate A much-needed antidote to genetic determinism, The Dependent Gene reveals how all traits-even characteristics like eye and hair color-are caused by complex interactions between genes and the environment at every stage of biological and psychological development, from the single fertilized egg to full-grown adulthood. How we understand the nature versus nurture debate directly affects our thoughts about such basic issues as sex and reproduction, parenting, education, and crime, and has an enormous impact on social policy. With life-and-death questions in the balance surrounding stem-cell research, cloning, and DNA fingerprinting, we can no longer afford to be ignorant of human development. An enlightening guide to this brave new world, The Dependent Gene empowers us to take control of our own destiny. A provocative and gracefully written book that will surely generate discussion and debate. -Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., author of Three Seductive Ideas The Dependent Gene is a masterful analysis. A useful and engaging guide for the lay reader, the practicing scientist, and all who seek a more integrative approach to the endlessly fascinating process of development. -Robert Lickliter, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University... Read More about the "Dependant Gene" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HarperCollins Publishers
Fuzzy Thinking Description: Fuzzy logic is the next wave in technology. Japanese electronics giants have, in the last ten years, already staked their commercial future on the benefits of fuzzy production; only recently have European and US companies begun to catch up. Fuzzy logic sanctifies vagueness. It prescribes a new way of thinking about machines, about science, ambiguity, confusion and contradiction.... Read More about the "Fuzzy Thinking" on the The Nile Book Store Website

The Nile Book Store
Green Is Good: Smart Ways To Live Well And Save The Planet Description: Let`s face it, the environment is in trouble. Global warming and climate change are a reality and our Western lifestyle is largely to blame. The good news is that there are many simple ways to turn things around, even if you are a busy, car?driving, resource?guzzling city dweller. Over the next few years the choices you make will have an enormous impact. But out of the mountain of conflicting information, how do you know which choices are the right ones? In this practical, straight?talking book, environmental scientist Rebecca Blackburn targets three main areas ? home, food and transport ? and shows how small changes of habit can have a large effect. Timely, useful and beautifully packaged, `Green is Good` is an essential book for every modern household ? and a perfect gift for anyone who cares about the future.... Read More about the "Green Is Good: Smart Ways To Live Well And Save The Planet" on the The Nile Book Store Website

THE PERSEUS BOOKS GROUP
Hacking Matter Description: Programmable matter is probably not the next technological revolution, nor even perhaps the one after that. But it`s coming, and when it does, it will change our lives as much as any invention ever has. Imagine being able to program matter itselfto change it, with the click of a cursor, from hard to soft, from paper to stone, from fluorescent to super-reflective to invisible. Supported by organizations ranging from Levi Strauss and IBM to the Defense Department, solid-state physicists in renowned laboratories are working to make it a reality. In this dazzling investigation, Wil McCarthy visits the laboratories and talks with the researchers who are developing this extraordinary technology, describes how they are learning to control it, and tells us where all this will lead. The possibilities are truly astonishing.... Read More about the "Hacking Matter" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HarperCollins Publishers
Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind Description: The human brain will do a number of unusual, interesting and important things - if given time. As described in this book, there is evidence from cognitive science and elsewhere that it will learn patterns of a degree of subtlety which normal, purposeful, busy consciousness cannot even see, let alone master; it will make sense out of hazy, ill-defined situations which leave everyday rationality flummoxed; it will get to the bottom of personal, emotional issues much more successfully than the questing intellect; it will detect and respond to meaning - in poetry, for example - that cannot be articulated; and it will sometimes come up with solutions to complicated predicaments that are wise rather than merely clever.;The book explores these slower ways of knowing and explains how we could, or should, use them more often and more effectively.... Read More about the "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind" on the The Nile Book Store Website

PENGUIN BOOKS LTD
How To Build A Time Machine Description: According to the laws of physics, time travel is possible, albeit a little troublesome, and, because time is money, financially rather stretching. Paul Davies shows how it can be done.... Read More about the "How To Build A Time Machine" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
How We Believe Description: A new edition covering the latest scientific research on how the brain makes us believers or skepticsRecent polls report that 96 percent of Americans believe in God, and 73 percent believe that angels regularly visit Earth. Why is this? Why, despite the rise of science, technology, and secular education, are people turning to religion in greater numbers than ever before? Why do people believe in God at all? These provocative questions lie at the heart of How We Believe , an illuminating study of God, faith, and religion. Bestselling author Michael Shermer offers fresh and often startling insights into age-old questions, including how and why humans put their faith in a higher power, even in the face of scientific skepticism. Shermer has updated the book to explore the latest research and theories of psychiatrists, neuroscientists, epidemiologists, and philosophers, as well as the role of faith in our increasingly diverse modern world.Whether believers or nonbelievers, we are all driven by the need to understand the universe and our place in it. How We Believe is a brilliant scientific tour of this ancient and mysterious desire.... Read More about the "How We Believe" on the The Nile Book Store Website

The Nile Book Store
Into The Silent Land: Travels In Neuropsychology Description: The debut of an astonishing new voice. Paul Broks draws on his many years as a neuropsychologist to present an unforgettable narrative about memory and personal identity. The hardback edition won widespread critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2003.... Read More about the "Into The Silent Land: Travels In Neuropsychology" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
Life And Death Of Planet Earth Description: Science has worked hard to piece together the story of the evolution of our world up to this point, but only recently have we developed the understanding and the tools to describe the entire life cycle of our planet. Peter Ward and Don Brownlee, a geologist an astronomer respectively, are in the vanguard of the new fields of astrobiology. Combining their knowledge of how the critical sustaining systems of our planet evolve through time with their understanding of how stars and solar systems grow and change throughout their own life cycles, the authors tell the story of the second half of Earth`s life. In this masterful melding of groundbreaking research and captivating, eloquent science writing, Ward and Brownlee provide a comprehensive portrait of Earth`s life cycle that allows us to understand and appreciate how the planet sustains itself today, and offers us a glimpse of our place in the cosmic order.... Read More about the "Life And Death Of Planet Earth" on the The Nile Book Store Website

HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience And What Makes Us Human Description: Author Matt Ridley`s follow-up to Genome. Armed with the new discoveries about our genes, Ridley turns his attention to the nature versus nurture debate to bring an account of the roots of human behaviour.... Read More about the "Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience And What Makes Us Human" on the The Nile Book Store Website

The Nile Book Store
Please Explain Description: Please Explain is the latest in Dr Karl`s mega?selling science series ? which includes the bestsellers Great Mythconceptions, Bum Breath, Botox and Bubbles and Q and A with Dr K. Australia`s favourite scientist answers more curly questions on Life, The Universe and Everything. No?one conveys the excitement and wonder of science quite like Dr Karl, and this, his twenty?sixth book, takes us on another thoroughly entertaining exploration of the world around us. If you like your science fun and unpredictable, don`t miss this new addition to the Dr Karl library.... Read More about the "Please Explain" on the The Nile Book Store Website

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