Today we are faced with the alarming possibility that as many as 50 percent of species alive will become extinct within this century. This statistic is so staggering that scientists have begun to refer to the twenty-first century as the sixth extinction.” But while this is alarming, all hope is not lost; conservation experts across the globe are working tirelessly to preserve our planet for future generations.In Wild Lives, twenty of these pioneers share their stories via...

Many of the world’s most important and life-saving devices and techniques were often discovered purely by accident. Serendipity, timing, and luck played a part in the discovery of unintentional cures and breakthroughs:A plastic shard in an RAF pilot’s eye leads to the use of plastic for contact lenses.The inability to remove a titanium chamber from rabbit’s bone leads to dental implants.Viagra was discovered by a group of chemists, working in the lab to find a new dru...

Whistleblowers pay with their lives to save ours. When insiders like former NSA analyst Edward Snowden or ex-FBI agent Coleen Rowley or Big Tobacco truth-teller Jeffrey Wigand blow the whistle on high-level lying, lawbreaking or other wrongdoing-whether it's government spying, corporate murder or scientific scandal-the public benefits enormously. Wars are ended, deadly products are taken off the market, white-collar criminals are sent to jail. The whistleblowers themselves, however, genera...

From the author of Wyrde and Wayward and Modern Magick comes a cosy cottagecore fairytale, replete with "large helpings of wit and whimsy" (Publishers Weekly)When the centuries-barren orchards of Berrie-on-the-Wyn suddenly bear fruit, it is clear that something strange is afoot — and something fey, for this is no ordinary harvest. To partake of the fruits of Faerie is to be changed for good, but not necessarily for the better.Whence come the golden apples, ...

**Fifty-two inspiring and insightful profiles of history’s brightest female scientists.“Rachel Swaby’s no-nonsense and needed Headstrong dynamically profiles historically overlooked female visionaries in science, technology, engineering, and math.”—Elle**In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise th...

In Unlocking the Past, Martin Jones, a leading expert at the forefront of bioarchaeology-the discipline that gave Michael Crichton the premise for Jurassic Park-explains how this pioneering science is rewriting human history and unlocking stories of the past that could never have been told before. For the first time, the building blocks of ancient life-DNA, proteins, and fats that have long been trapped in fossils and earth and rock-have become widely accessible to scienc...

A cup of coffee is a miracle, a wonderful assemblage of relationships”. This classic follows coffee's journey around the world, from London to Brazil, telling in fascinating detail and amusing anecdote the singular history of the legendary commodity, from its discovery that chewing on the beans were keeping goats awake in Yemen to the author’s own experiences with the bean in 1935.Referred to as a documentary novel” back during its inception, H.E. Jacobs pioneered the concept of ...

In this fascinating book, wildlife expert and enthusiast Warner Shedd refutes popular animal myths like squirrels remembering where they bury nuts, wolves howling at the moon, and oppossums "playing dead."Have you ever seen a flying squirrel flapping through the air, watched a beaver carrying a load of mud on its tail, or ducked when a porcupine started throwing its quills? Probably not, says Shedd, former regional executive for the National Wildlife Federation. Of...

How do we know a cat is a cat . . . and why do we call it a cat? An "intriguing and often fascinating" look at words, perceptions, and the relationship between them ( Newark Star-Ledger).In Kant and the Platypus, the renowned semiotician, philosopher, and bestselling author of The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum explores the question of how much of our perception of things is based on cognitive ability, and how much on l...

Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out.Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit's end trying to understand what's wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn't talk of such things: he's the human liaison for the goblin...

Learn how quantum physics affects your daily life and discover practical ways to put that knowledge to good use!Ever wonder why you always seem to seek the easiest and shortest way to accomplish something? And why is it

"A TREASURE!" --Hugo and Nebula winner Mary Robinette KowalOld Mr. Heldrick is every bit as dangerous as the kids imagine--not because he's a demented killer but because his house hides a portal to another world, and he's the guardian. When Bess is caught in his basement, she's forced to flee through that doorway, not knowing where it leads.She finds herself in a nightmare world controlled by black-cloaked, knife-wielding horsemen. Within minutes she's on th...