Once upon a time life was simpler. Information came to us through gossip, books, newspapers, the radio and newsreels at the movies. Then came television. Initially the first news shows were only 15 minutes in length but gradually expanded until now we have CNN with its 24-hour coverage. But none of this was going to compare to the master of all information inundation - the Internet. Information overload, once confined to the few, is now the headache of the many. Surely not all this informa...

What really happened? Were those historical events really that glamorous, that glorifying, and that exciting? We know they were not; at least not at the time.When Custer's 7th cavalry regiment was wiped out at the battle of the Little Big Horn, it was reported that the were no survivors. There were over 5000 survivors - all Native Americans. Their story reveals the truth of that battle. According to their testimony Custer was probably the first to die, forever debunking the picture...

An entertaining collection of myths and misconceptions about history, geography, famous figures, and more—and the real stories behind them.Various “facts” are taught in schools. They are passed down to us by our families and friends, and have become part of our shared cultural knowledge. And they are wrong.Touching on a number of topics— including history, current events, government, sports, geography, and popular culture—Lies They Teach in School ...

"Coyne's knowledge of evolutionary biology is prodigious, his deployment of it as masterful as his touch is light." -Richard DawkinsIn the current debate about creationism and intelligent design, there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned-the evidence. Yet the proof of evolution by natural selection is vast, varied, and magnificent. In this succinct and accessible summary of the facts supporting the theory of natural selection, Jerry A. Coyne d...

THE CLASSIC NATIONAL BESTSELLER"A wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." –Howard FastHistorian Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, a landmark work of social history, chronicles American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official narrative taught in schools—w...

In his wildly entertaining, winningly irreverent, New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® series, author Kenneth C. Davis has amused and edified us with fascinating facts about history, mythology, the Bible, the universe, geography, and the Civil War.Now, the sky's the limit in his latest irresistible installment—a grand tour of knowledge that carries us from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Berlin Wall, from the Salem Witch Trials to Watergate, from Michelangelo to Houdi...

For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.”As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo ...

How did the replication bomb we call ”life” begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as ”the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius”), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.

Lots and lots of lists of quick and quirky historical facts, from the Stone Age to the Internet Age!Leave it to Uncle John to find a new way to make history fun and exciting! This quirky collection of lists is the latest volume in the Bathroom Reader's bestselling history series. Over 500 fact-packed pages will breathe life into history's most famous (and most unusual) stories. History buffs, trivia hounds, and readers looking for an educational snack will love lea...

Are plants intelligent? Can they solve problems, communicate, and navigate their surroundings? Or are they passive, incapable of independent action or social behavior? Philosophers and scientists have pondered these questions since ancient Greece, most often concluding that plants are unthinking and inert: they are too silent, too sedentary -- just too different from us. Yet discoveries over the past fifty years have challenged these ideas, shedding new light on the extraordinary capabilit...

A SWEEPING TALE OF TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY AMERICA AND THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCES THAT BROUGHT TWO MEN TOGETHER ONE FATEFUL DAYIn 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented imperial expansion, an assassin’s bullet shattered the nation’s confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be known as the American Century. The President and the Assassin is the story of the mo...

“A beautiful and very important book.”—Lewis Wolpert, American ScientistFor over a century, opening the black box of embryonic development was the holy grail of biology. Evo Devo—Evolutionary Developmental Biology—is the new science that has finally cracked open the box. Within the pages of his rich and riveting book, Sean B. Carroll explains how we are discovering that complex life is ironically much simpler than anyone ever expected.