Results for "The Accidentals" in Science

Nominated for the best popular science book of 2024 by Smart Book. 'Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James' New York Post 'James writes with infectious enthusiasm and optimism' Kirkus Reviews 'A science teacher by profession, Mr. James knows how to get his audience's attention' Wall...

This audiobook is read by the author, Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland. 'The Duchess does indeed seem a remarkable woman . . . this is an engaging book' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph When Emma Watkins, the pony-mad daughter of a Welsh farmer, imagined her future, she imagined following in her...

A top astronomer reveals why his field depends on luck If you learn about the scientific method, you learn that first we hypothesize about something we’ve experienced, and then we look for more of it. This works well enough—but what if you are interested in studying a heretofore unknown...

The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman's first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

The Accidental Invasion of Baghdad Zoo is not just a zoo story; it is a journey into the manic layers of modern Iraq. The addictive energy of Baghdad comes to life through uplifting missions, tragedy, unshakable camaraderie, suicide bombings, unexpected comedy, Iraqi hospitality, and political adventurism. For a year, abandoned palace menageries, Green Zone politicking, raw violence, Saddam Hussein’s stolen Arabian horses, wounded bears, and checkpoint puppies spiraled the recovery into animal welfare theater.

Across the world, chefs, farmers, plant scientists and backyard growers are doing something extraordinary: creating new generations of fruit, vegetables and cereals, all bred specifically to flourish locally, taste delicious, and contribute to our food future. In The Accidental Seed Heroes, Adam Alexander dons his seed detective homburg to meet these twenty-first century seed heroes, who are not only championing traditional varieties but also breeding delicious new ones that will help create a sustainable future for our planet.

The Accidental Ecosystem tells the story of how cities across the United States went from having little wildlife to filling, dramatically and unexpectedly, with wild creatures. Today, many of these cities have more wild animals living in them than at any time in at least the past 150 years. Why have so many cities—the most artificial and human-dominated of all Earth's ecosystems—grown rich with wildlife, even as wildlife has declined in most of the rest of the world? And what does this paradox mean for people, wildlife, and nature on our increasingly urban planet?

When you think of evolution, the picture that most likely comes to mind is a straight-forward progression, the iconic illustration of a primate morphing into a proud, upright human being. But in reality, random events have played huge roles in determining the evolutionary histories of everything from lions to lobsters to humans. However, random genetic novelties are most likely to become fixed in small populations. It is mathematically unlikely that this will happen in large ones.

The idea of a missing link between humanity and our animal ancestors predates evolution and popular science and actually has religious roots in the deist concept of the Great Chain of Being. Yet, the metaphor has lodged itself in the contemporary imagination, and new fossil discoveries are often hailed in headlines as revealing the elusive transitional step, the moment when we stopped being "animal" and started being "human". In The Accidental Species, Henry Gee, longtime paleontology editor at Nature, takes aim at this misleading notion.

You've probably seen it before: a human brain dramatically lit from the side, the camera circling it like a helicopter shot of Stonehenge, and a modulated baritone voice exalting the brain's elegant design in reverent tones... to which this book says: Pure nonsense.

Not every activist starts out with the goal of changing the world. Some have their life shaped by chance, quirks of timing, and strange coincidences. And an unwillingness - or simple inability - to fully ignore the horrors perpetrated on animals today. Since Matt Ball learned of factory farms well over a quarter century ago, his journey has been anything but linear. Instead, his evolution has been fraught with denial, regression, conflicts, and failures. Matt’s evolution shows that not every activist is a confident extrovert with all the answers.

With all the passion, curiosity, and precise yet lyrical prose that have marked his previous books, Alan Lightman here explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by discoveries in science, focusing most intently on the human condition and the needs of humankind. He looks at the difficult dialogue between science and religion, the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature, the possibility that our universe is simply an accident, the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world, and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws.

Brought to you by Penguin. The BBC presenter of 'Sky at Night', and Gresham Professor of Astronomy, Chris Lintott, takes us on an astonishing tour of bizarre accidents, big characters, and human error to tell the story of some of the most important astronomical events of the past hundred years...

Accidental Transcendentalwith PaulA playful, poetic, and deeply personal journey through awakening, neurodivergence, and the weird beauty of being.Each episode traces a spiral through consciousness, creativity, and curiosity — one joyful explorer’s attempt to map the infinite from within.Expect wonder, glitches, memory loops, and the occasional cosmic joke.

Another World IS still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose - and now it's collapsing around us. So how do we co-create a Thrutopian future that we'd all be proud to leave as our legacy? What stories can we weave of possibility? Of transformation? What happens if we commit to a world based on generative values: compassion, courage, integrity? What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that really matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves, between ourselves ...