In a provocative series of essays, more than one hundred of the world's leading thinkers--including Daniel Dennett, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, Jared Diamond, Freeman Dyson, Martin Rees, and others both in and outside the world of science--reveal what they believe despite a current lack of supporting evidence about such topics as the future of humankind, the fate of the universe, extraterrestrial life, and more. Original. 25,000 first printing.

Presents an assessment of the current career landscape facing science PhDs, a situation where tenure-track professorships are few and far between.

Joseph Chilton Pearce examines the current biological understanding of our neural organization to address how we can transcend our current evolutionary capacities and limitations. It is the dynamic interaction of the head brain (intellect) and heart brain (intelligence), of biology and spirit, that allows transcendence from one evolutionary place to the next.

Under a minute to spare? Why not spend it learning the essence of a subject you either feel you should know about or have been meaning to learn about. Whether it’s the Theory of Relativity or Fermat’s Last Theorem, the Golden Ratio or the Garden of Eden, Anarchism or Monetarism, Pavlov’s Dog or Schrodinger’s Cat, a Know It All theory is the quickest way to get an idea into your head. Each title in the series selects a popular subject area and dissects it into the 50 most significant or thought-provoking ideas at its heart. Each of these, no matter how complex, is explained without any waffle by a specialist or scholar using just 300 words and one picture—making it digestible in a mere 30 seconds. Complete with unique graphics that illuminate as well as entertain, and featuring essential glossaries plus biographies of the key players.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on sociobiology and biodiversity argues for the fundamental unity of all knowledge in the face of the increasing fragmentation and specialization of knowledge over the past two centuries. Reprint. 75,000 first printing. NYT.

This resource answers about 1,600 questions related to topics in science. It addresses questions in general science, math, physics, chemistry, astronomy and space, geology and earth science, meteorology and climatology, biology, genetics, botany, zoology, anatomy and physiology, ecology, and applied science and technology. This edition updates statistical data and has other changes. Annotation

The well-known "a bee in a cathedral" analogy describes the size of an atom and its nucleus in understandable terms. The analogy goes that if an atom were expanded to the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would be only about the size of a bee. The Big Book of Science uses analogies to demonstrate 100 basic scientific truths and principles in new and exciting ways, describing the unbelievably massive, the inconceivably tiny and the unfathomably complex in everyday terms. Readers will be drawn to the book by its combination of intuitive reasoning and a highly visual presentation style. It's bursting with facts, figures, diagrams, charts, and illustrations. Each page helps readers understand fundamental scientific principles and theories by using analogies that describe abstract ideas using everyday objects. Each analogy is explained in direct terms and clearly illustrated. A range of facts and figures -- presented in uniquely accessible "infographics" -- complements the analogies. The book covers a wide array of scientific topics: physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, earth sciences, anatomy and technology. The analogies include: - If an atomic nucleus expanded to the size of a marble, it would weigh about 100 million tons, or roughly the equivalent of 16 Great Pyramids of Egypt. - It would take a human heart less than 18 days to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. - The volcanic blast of Mount St. Helens released thermal energy 1,600 times the size of Hiroshima. Krakatoa's 1883 eruption was roughly 13,000 times as powerful as that same bomb. Informative and engaging, The Big Book of Science gives readers a deeper appreciation of the forces and facts that govern the universe and everything in it.

The mind-bending quiz book that every science geek needs in their Christmas stocking

The physicist-author of the best-selling Hyperspace explores how three scientific advances of the twentieth-century--quantum mechanics, biogenetics, and artificial intelligence--will permanently change humankind's relationship to nature. Reprint. K.

Recent polls suggest that fewer than 40 percent of Americans believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution, despite it being one of science’s best-established findings. More and more parents are refusing to vaccinate their children for fear it causes autism, though this link can been consistently disproved. And about 40 percent of Americans believe that the threat of global warming is exaggerated, despite near consensus in the scientific community that manmade climate change is real. Why do people believe bunk? And what causes them to embrace such pseudoscientific beliefs and practices? Noted skeptic Massimo Pigliucci sets out to separate the fact from the fantasy in this entertaining exploration of the nature of science, the borderlands of fringe science, and—borrowing a famous phrase from philosopher Jeremy Bentham—the nonsense on stilts. Presenting case studies on a number of controversial topics, Pigliucci cuts through the ambiguity surrounding science to look more closely at how science is conducted, how it is disseminated, how it is interpreted, and what it means to our society. The result is in many ways a “taxonomy of bunk” that explores the intersection of science and culture at large. No one—not the public intellectuals in the culture wars between defenders and detractors of science nor the believers of pseudoscience themselves—is spared Pigliucci’s incisive analysis. In the end, Nonsense on Stilts is a timely reminder of the need to maintain a line between expertise and assumption. Broad in scope and implication, it is also ultimately a captivating guide for the intelligent citizen who wishes to make up her own mind while navigating the perilous debates that will affect the future of our planet.