Look Up: Why Space Is for Everyone... and Why It Matters by Sarah Cruddas

$29.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

‘Sarah Cruddas is a gifted writer and Look Up is an inspired book. I am hopeful that we will never stop looking up.' Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins Most of us have never been to space. To date, of the more than 100 billion humans that have ever existed, fewer than 600 humans have ever left Earth. B ut the exploration of space is the most significant thing we will ever do as a species.Sarah Cruddas has been looking to the skies her entire life. Her childhood was spent staring at the Moon and hearing stories of the space race, and she worked in a fruit factory to fund her love of the subject. Her subsequent career studying astrophysics, and becoming a television host and space journalist has seen her report on space exploration and chase launches across the world. In Look Up Sarah explains why she has always been a passionate advocate for why space should matter – to everyone.From our ancestors who first painted patterns of the stars in caves, to the US and Soviet pioneers who first forged a path beyond our planet, Sarah Cruddas explores the stories and sacrifices that humankind has made to understand more about our place in the universe. And even today, when Moon walking and people in space suits seem less relevant to us than climate change and conflicts here on Earth, she shows how everything from medicine to mobile phones is affected by space technology, and how a new generation of entrepreneurs have kick-started a new story with the stars.This is an inspirational and enlightening introduction to the importance of space to everyone, and why we should all learn to Look Up. ...Show more

On the Origin of Evolution: Tracing 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea' from Aristotle to Dawkins by John Gribbin; Mary Gribbin

$45.00 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

The theory of evolution by natural selection did not spring fully formed and unprecedented from the brain of Charles Darwin. Rather it has been examined and debated by philosophers the world over for thousands of years. This lively history traces the evolution of the idea of evolution, showing how it ha s changed and been changed by different societies over time. It will put 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea' into its proper context, showing how it built on what went before and how it was developed in the twentieth century, through an understanding of genetics and the biochemical basis evolution. None of this diminishes the achievement of Darwin himself in perceiving the way evolution works at the level of individuals and species, but his contribution was one link in a chain that extends back into antiquity, and is still being forged today. ...Show more

Stephen Hawking by Leonard Mlodinow

$35.00 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

An icon of the last fifty years, Stephen Hawking seems to encapsulate genius- not since Albert Einstein has a scientific figure held such a position in popular consciousness. In this enthralling memoir, writer and physicist Leonard Mlodinow tells the story of his friend and their friendship, offering an intimate account of this giant of science. The two met in 2003, when Stephen asked Leonard if he would consider writing a book with him, the follow up to the bestselling A Brief History of Time. As they spent years working on a second book, The Grand Design, they forged a deep connection and Leonard gained a much better understanding of Stephen's daily life and struggles - as well as his compassion and good humour. Together they obsessed over the perfect sentence, debated the physics, and occasionally punted on Cambridge's waterways with champagne and strawberries. In time, Leonard was able to finish Stephen's jokes, chide his sporadic mischief, and learn how the hardships of his illness helped forge that unique perspective on the universe. By weaving together their shared story with a clear-sighted portrayal of Hawking's scientific achievements, Mlodinow creates a beautiful portrait of Stephen Hawking as a brilliant, impish and generous man whose life was not only exceptional but also genuinely inspiring. ...Show more

Stranger Planet by Nathan Pyle

$19.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

The sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon Strange Planet, featuring more hilarious and poignant adventures from the fascinating inhabitants of Nathan W. Pyle's colourful world. In this eagerly awaited sequel, Nathan takes us back to his charming and instantly recognisable planet colour ed in bright pinks, blues, greens, and purples, providing more escapades, jokes and phrases. Nathan mixes his most popular Instagram comics with more than thirty original works created exclusively for this second volume to explore four major topics: traditions, nature, emotions, and knowledge. He inducts new and longtime fans into a strangely familiar world and its culture, from "cohesion" (marriage) to "mild poison" (alcohol) to the full lyrics to "The Small Eight-Legged Creature" (sung to the tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider). Bright, colourful, and whimsical - yet charmingly familiar - Stranger Planet is out-of-this-world fun. ...Show more

The Mission: a True Story by David W. Brown

$34.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

A masterful, genre-defying narrative of the most ambitious science project ever conceived: NASA's deep-space mission to Europa--the Jovian moon where might swim the first known alien life in our solar system--powered by a motley team of obsessives and eccentrics.When scientists discovered the first ocea n beyond Earth, they had two big questions: "Is it habitable?" and "How do we get there?" To answer the first, they had to answer the second, and so began a vivacious team's twenty-year odyssey to mount a mission to Europa, the ocean moon of Jupiter. Standing in their way: NASA, fanatically consumed with landing robots on Mars; the White House, which never saw a science budget it couldn't cut; Congress, fixated on going to the moon or Mars--anywhere, really, to give astronauts something to do; rivals in academia, who wanted instead to go to Saturn; and even Jupiter itself, which guards Europa in a pulsing, rippling, radiation belt--a halo of death whose conditions are like those that follow a detonated thermonuclear bomb. The Mission, or: How a Disciple of Carl Sagan, an Ex-Motocross Racer, a Texas Tea Party Congressman, the World's Worst Typewriter Saleswoman, California Mountain People, and an Anonymous NASA Functionary Went to War with Mars, Survived an Insurgency at Saturn, Traded Blows with Washington, and Stole a Ride on an Alabama Moon Rocket to Send a Space Robot to Jupiter in Search of the Second Garden of Eden at the Bottom of an Alien Ocean Inside of an Ice World Called Europa (A True Story) is the Homeric, never-before-told story of modern space exploration, and a magnificent portrait of the inner lives of scientists who study the solar system's mysterious outer planets. David W. Brown chronicles the remarkable saga of how Europa was won, and what it takes to get things done--down here, and up there. Written with verve, humor, and uncanny empathy, The Mission is an exuberant masterclass in how a few determined cogs can change an entire machine. ...Show more

Flesh Made New: The Unnatural History and Broken Promises of Stem Cell Research by Carl Power; John Rasko

$34.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

The dazzling promise of stem-cell treatment: does it work and will it save us? Two experts look at the hype For decades, we've been anticipating the dawn of regenerative medicine. Again and again, we've been promised that stem cells will soon cure just about every ill imaginable. If not tomorrow, then t he next day, or the day after that, and so on. We're still waiting.This book is an antidote to hype and a salve to sooth the itch for stem-cell salvation. In it, Professor John Rasko, a leading physician-scientist, and writer-historian Carl Power take us on a wild historical tour of this scandal-prone field. They expose all the dirty little secrets that the hype merchants prefer to ignore - the blunders and setbacks, confusions and delusions, tricks and lies. It's a history rife with colourful characters. You'll meet Alexis Carroll, who discovered how to cultivate cells in a test tube: celebrity surgeon, scientific genius and Nazi sympathiser, he opened the field of modern cell science with an experiment so bogus it blocked the way forward for the next 50 years. You'll meet Don Thomas, who developed bone marrow transplantation - the first successful stem-cell therapy - but only after a miserable decade in which all of his patients died. Alongside true stem-cell pioneers, you'll meet charlatans who cooked their data and claimed fake cures - sometimes with fatal consequences.Is there any good news? Which of the many promises of stem-cell research have been kept? And what of the future? Rasko and Power insist that we can only know where we're going if we have a sense of where we've been. Their study tears down the hype surrounding stem cells in order to reveal what's still worth hoping for. ...Show more

A Walk Through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and Their Legends by Milton D. Heifetz

$27.95 AUD

$29.95 (6% off)

Category: Physical Sciences

What is that star called? Where is the Great Bear? A Walk through the Heavens is a beautiful guide to the pathways in the night sky, and which answers these questions and more. Written for complete beginners, this book introduces the reader to the patterns of the northern hemisphere's sky in a clear and memorable way. Its simplified maps and clear instructions make it easy to find the main constellations and identify the bright stars within them. This fourth edition adds color and a map of the Moon to its successful formula. Ancient myths and legends of the sky, some thousands of years old, are retold to add to the wonder and mystery of the stars. No equipment is needed to use this practical guide, just the naked eye and clear dark skies above - simply look up, relax and enjoy this journey across the sky. ...Show more

The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

$23.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

The Man of Numbers : Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution by Keith Devlin

$29.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

Why is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality by Jared Diamond

$22.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences | Series: Science Masters

Why are humans one of the few species to have sex in private? Why do humans have sex any day of the month or year, including when the female is pregnant, beyond her reproductive years, or between her fertile cycles? Why are human females one of the few mammals to go through menopause? Human sexuality se ems normal to us but it is bizarre by the standards of other animals. Jared Diamond argues that our strange sex lives were as crucial to our rise to human status as were our large brains. He also describes the battle of the sexes in the human and animal world over parental care, and why sex differences in the genetic value of parental care provide a biological basis for the all-too-familiar different attitudes of men and women towards extramarital sex. ...Show more

Calculus Diaries: A Year Discovering How Maths Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse by Jennifer Ouellette

$19.99 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

Jennifer Ouellette never took maths in the sixth form, mostly because she - like most of us - assumed she wouldn't need it much in real life. But then the English graduate, now an award-winning science-writer, had a change of heart and decided to revisit the equations and formulas that had haunted her y outh. The Calculus Diaries is the fun and fascinating account of a year spent confronting her numbers-phobia head on. With wit and verve, Ouellette explains how she discovered that maths could apply to everything from petrol mileages to dieting, rollercoaster rides to winning in Las Vegas. ...Show more

Cosmos - The Art and Science of the Universe by Roberta J. M. Olson; Jay M. Pasachoff

$80.00 AUD

Category: Physical Sciences

Since time immemorial, the nocturnal skies have mesmerized us, and heavenly bodies have inspired the imaginations of artists, poets, and scientists. Featuring paintings, sculpture, drawings, watercolors, prints, as well as plates from books, celestial diagrams, and astronomical photography, this book sh owcases the superstars of the firmament and the universe beyond in sumptuous illustrations. Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe charts the human love affair with the heavens in art and astronomy in a story based on sound science and insightful art and cultural history. With thrilling and seductive illustrations, Cosmos recounts in ten lively chapters the fascinating history of the human quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe. Showcasing works of art and new information, interpretations, and amusing anecdotes, this stunning book weaves a rich tapestry of celestial interconnections and our efforts to understand the universe, unveiling the beauty of the cosmos and its compelling story. ...Show more