Bodyology: The Curious Science of the Human BodyEver wondered what it's really like to be struck by lightning — what happens to your skin, nerves, heart rhythm, and brain in a split second? What it means to lose your sense of smell (anosmia), why it can vanish after illness or injury, and what recovery can look like? Whether we'll ever find a genuine cure for baldness and hair loss? Or how a single bee sting can save a woman's life?Welcome to Bodyology: a page-turn...

Eye-opening and compelling, the overlooked world of freight shipping, revealed as the foundation of our civilization.On ship-tracking Web sites, the waters are black with dots. Each dot is a ship; each ship is laden with boxes; each box is laden with goods. In postindustrial economies, we no longer produce but buy, and so we must ship. Without shipping there would be no clothes, food, paper, or fuel. Without all those dots, the world would not work. Yet freight shi...

Rose Blanche is a Newfoundland village, founded in the 1800s. George Rose grew up there in the 1930s and 1940s, and in this memoir he paints a vivid picture of life in the outports at that time. Rose also provides a history of the community, and how he became a teacher. "Growing up in Rose Blanche was an experience I wouldn't trade for anywhere else I've seen or read about."

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist: A "compelling chronicle" of the science, politics, and business of blood ( The Wall Street Journal).Blood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don't even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood dis...

**A fresh and fascinating take on fish, the fishing industry, and our shared future, from one of our most intrepid and entertaining nonfiction writers.Finalist for the 2026 Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing**Slippery, wet, and strange: Fish can be easier to think of as food than as fellow animals. But what do we know about these creatures we meet on our dinner table and how they got there? For the first time in history, humans are eating more farmed fish than wild, ...

An "extraordinary" look at the stubborn problem of human waste disposal: "Among the best nonfiction books of the new millennium." — The New York TimesAcclaimed as "valuable and often entertaining" ( Los Angeles Times), The Big Necessity defies the taboo on bodily waste—something common to all and as natural as breathing. We prefer not to talk about it, but we should—even those of us who take care of our business in pristine, sanitary condi...

An eye-opening exploration of blood, the lifegiving substance with the power of taboo, the value of diamonds and the promise of breakthrough scienceBlood carries life, yet the sight of it makes people faint. It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquitousness, the few tablespoons of blood di...

'Asylum-seeker'; refugee'. All the major British political parties have brought these words to the top of the political agenda. Some newspapers shout about the swarms of refugees arriving on our shores; others criticise our government's lack of humanitarian principles. But what do we know about the refugees themselves what it means to leave your home, your family, your past? Rose George has travelled to Liberia and Ivory Coast and also met refugees in Britain to discover what really happen...

"One smart book . . . delving deep into the history and implications of a daily act that dare not speak its name." —NewsweekAcclaimed as "extraordinary" (The New York Times) and "a classic" (Los Angeles Times), The Big Necessity is on its way to removing the taboo on bodily waste—something common to all and as natural as breathing. We prefer not to talk about it, but we should—even those of us who take care of our business in pri...

On ship-tracking websites, the waters are black with dots. Each dot is a ship; each ship is laden with boxes; each box is laden with goods. In postindustrial economies, we no longer produce but buy. We buy, so we must ship. Without all those dots, the world would not work.Freight shipping has been no less revolutionary than the printing press or the Internet, yet it is all but invisible. Away from public scrutiny, shipping revels in suspect practices, dubious operators, and a shady...

Over the last decade, the center of world power has been quietly shifting from Europe to Asia. With oil reserves of several billion barrels, an estimated nine hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and several centuries' worth of competing territorial claims, the South China Sea in particular is a simmering pot of potential conflict. The underreported military buildup in the area where the Western Pacific meets the Indian Ocean means that it will likely be a hinge point for global war...

A sterling roster of natural and social scientists in conversation with top-flight journalist Stefan Klein—shedding new light on their work, their lives, and what they still hope to discoverWhen acclaimed science writer Stefan Klein asks Nobel Prize–winning chemist Roald Hoffmann what sets scientists apart, Hoffmann says, “First and foremost, curiosity.” In this collection of intimate conversations with nineteen of the world’s best-known scientists (including three Nobel Laureates)...