From wool and gold to minerals and manufacturing, Trading Nation reviews the history of Australia's trade and trade policy since Federation. The book tackles a number of key questions which are central to the nation's future. What is the future of our trade in minerals, agriculture, manufacturing and services? How can trade policy help address our faltering productivity? Is the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations dead and, if not, what can be done to conclude it? What ca...

Now with an Historical Afterword by Ron MillerIncludes the original illustrationsFeatured in Ron Miller’s “The Conquest of Space Book Series.” This 1911 novel by Mark Wicks describes a journey to the moon and Mars in the anti-gravity spaceship Areonal. Heavily influenced by the work of Percival Lowell, the book is an accurate mirror of the popular interest in Mars at the time it was written. Contains the original illustrations, many of which were drawn by the...

In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.In Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of do...

Renowned astronomer Carl Sagan’s classic bestseller that “dives into the past, present, and future of science, dealing with the mind-staggering enormity of the cosmos in which we exist” (Associated Press)—with an Introduction by Ann Druyan and a Foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson“Sagan dazzles the mind with the miracle of our survival, framed by the stately galaxies of space.”—CosmopolitanTHE INSPIRATION FOR THE FOX MINISERIES...

A blueprint for the nation after the boom.Australians have just lived through a period of exceptional prosperity, but, says influential economist Ross Garnaut, the Dog Days are on their way. Are we ready for the challenges ahead?In Dog Days, Garnaut explains how we got here, what we can expect next and the tough choices we need to make to survive the new economic conditions. Are we clever enough – and our leaders courageous enough – to change what ...

Off on a Comet (French: Hector Servadac) is an 1877 science fiction novel by Jules Verne.The story starts with a comet called Gallia, that touches the Earth in its flight and collects a few small chunks of it. The disaster occurs on January 1 of the year 188x in the area around Gibraltar. On the territory that is carried away by the comet there remain a total of thirty-six people of French, English, Spanish and Russian nationality. These people do not realize at first what has happened, an...

From the vantage point of many in the West, Africa remains a continent of woe – a place stalked by ethnic conflict, corrupt dictatorships, religious strife, war and famine. But today, at last, the flawed mythology that treats Africa as a homogenous disaster area is being challenged by investors, economists, fund managers and academics. Age is not often associated with speed; but Africa, the cradle of civilisation, now has more of the world’s fastest-growing economies than any other. After ...

Journey through time and space with the greatest astronomers in history. Astronomy is one of the oldest of all the sciences. And yet, its history is also so much more than the history of a science, reflecting our entire culture and providing insight into the evolution of humankind's ideas and ideals over the centuries. This fascinating book tells the amazing story of the development of astronomy, through the key characters in its history from Copernicus to Hubble and Halley, the excitement...

Fred Watson knows all about the madness that drives people to understand the Universe and unlock its secrets.Now you can join Australia's best-known astronomer on a unique tour to unravel the mysteries of space and time. Take in primitive observatories in ancient Peru and the world's largest atom-smasher in modern-day Switzerland. See Pluto demoted from planetary status. Go behind headlines to find the truth about the Transit of Venus and the Higgs Boson. Meet some of science's mos...

Micromegas, an inhabitant of one of the planets that orbits Sirius. His home world is 21.6 million times greater in circumference than the Earth. Micromegas stands 23 miles tall. When he is almost 450 years old, approaching the end of his infancy, Micromegas writes a scientific book examining the insects on his planet, which at 30 m are too small to be detected by ordinary microscopes.

Picture South Africa ten years from now: Are the angry poor rising up and seizing land and businesses? Or has economic reform created jobs and growth? Is an increasingly desperate government clamping down on freedoms? Or do the middle classes still braai in suburban bliss? South Africa is at a tipping point, and small shifts in political and economic conditions can bring about dramatic changes. Unemployment, slow growth, threats to freedom of speech, and poor education can send the country...

When was Mercury discovered?Does Mercury have a magnetic field?How big is Mercury's atmosphere?Was Mercury bigger in the past?Learn the answer to these questions and many more fun facts in this 15-Minute Book. The closest planet to the sun is Mercury – a tiny, hot, lifeless ball of rock that races around the sun in less than three months. What could possibly fascinate us about that?Read on and find out.LearningIsland.com believes in the value of ...