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.

A critically acclaimed study documents the outbreaks of newly discovered diseases around the globe, such as HIV, Lassa, and Ebola, and explores the social and environmental deterioration that helps to keep such viruses alive. Reprint. Tour.

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.

"Thirty thousand years ago our prehistoric ancestors painted perfect images of animals on walls of tortuous caves, most often without any light. How was this possible? What meaning and messages did the cavemen want these paintings to convey? In addition,how did these perfect drawings come about at a time when man's sole purpose was surviving? And why, some ten thousand years later, did startlingly similar animal paintings appear once again, on dark cave walls? Scholars and archaeologists have for centuries pored over these works of art, speculating and hoping to come away with the key to the mystery. No one until now has ever come close to elucidating either their origin or their meaning. In their stunning book and for the first time, David and Lefráere, after working together for years, give us a new understanding of an art lost in time, revealing what had until recently remained unexplainable--the oldest enigma in humanity has been solved"--

This dictionary, with over 3,000 entries, provides detailed explanation of key terms used in the study of geography and should be an ideal companion to any student studying geography at school or in higher education.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and author of Woman draws on interviews with hundreds of the world's top scientists to offer an entertaining guide to scientific literacy, exploring the fundamental principles of the major scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy and their link to the world around us. 75,000 first printing.

Examines more than two centuries of forensic technology and development and recounts real-life groundbreaking cases in fifteen different fields of forensics

A latest collection in the annual series features a selection of the year's most significant writings on key scientific developments in genetics, physics, cognition, evolutionary theory, astronomy, and other fields and is complemented by an accessible overview of the year's most important discoveries, research, and events. Original. 35,000 first printing.