Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[2001]
Language
English
Description
A pillar of evolutionary biology, Mayr (comparative zoology, Harvard U.) writes for three types of readers: anyone, biologist or not, who wants to know more about evolution; those who accept evolution but doubt the Darwinian explanation of it; and creationists who want to learn more about it even if only to challenge it better.
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[2000]
Language
English
Description
How did a single "genesis event" create billions of galaxies, black holes, stars and planets? How did atoms assemble -- here on earth, and perhaps on other worlds -- into living beings intricate enough to ponder their origins? What fundamental laws govern our universe?This book describes new discoveries and offers remarkable insights into these fundamental questions. There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld....
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Upheaval, a fun and wide-ranging exploration of why human sexuality is so different from other animals', and how it made us who we are
To us humans, the sex lives of animals seem weird. But it's our own sex lives that are truly bizarre. We are the only social species to insist on carrying out sex privately. Stranger yet, we have sex at any time, even during periods of infertility,...
To us humans, the sex lives of animals seem weird. But it's our own sex lives that are truly bizarre. We are the only social species to insist on carrying out sex privately. Stranger yet, we have sex at any time, even during periods of infertility,...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[2001]
Language
English
Description
"It would be hard to imagine a better guide to this difficult subject." -- Scientific American
In Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, Lee Smolin provides an accessible overview of the attempts to build a final "theory of everything." He explains in simple terms what scientists are talking about when they say the world is made from exotic entities such as loops, strings, and black holes and tells the fascinating stories behind these discoveries: the...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[1998]
Language
English
Description
Most people are baffled by how computers work and assume that they will never understand them. What they don't realize -- and what Daniel Hillis's short book brilliantly demonstrates -- is that computers' seemingly complex operations can be broken down into a few simple parts that perform the same simple procedures over and over again. Computer wizard Hillis offers an easy-to-follow explanation of how data is processed that makes the operations of...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[1998]
Language
English
Description
Although Charles Darwin's theory of evolution laid the foundations of modern biology, it did not tell the whole story. Most remarkably, The Origin of Species said very little about, of all things, the origins of species. Darwin and his modern successors have shown very convincingly how inherited variations are naturally selected, but they leave unanswered how variant organisms come to be in the first place. In Symbiotic Planet, renowned scientist...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
1994.
Language
English
Description
There is no more profound, enduring or fascinating question in all of science than that of how time, space, and matter began. Now John Barrow, who has been at the cutting edge of research in this area and has written extensively about it, guides us on a journey to the beginning of time, into a world of temperatures and densities so high that we cannot recreate them in a laboratory. With new insights, Barrow draws us into the latest speculative theories...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
1995.
Language
English
Description
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.
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
1994.
Language
English
Description
Ragnarok. Armageddon. Doomsday. Since the dawn of time, man has wondered how the world would end. In The Last Three Minutes, Paul Davies reveals the latest theories. It might end in a whimper, slowly scattering into the infinite void. Then again, it might be yanked back by its own gravity and end in a catastrophic "Big Crunch." There are other, more frightening possibilities. We may be seconds away from doom at this very moment. Written in clear language...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[1996]
Language
English
Description
Combining ideas from philosophy, artificial intelligence, and neurobiology, Daniel Dennett leads the reader on a fascinating journey of inquiry, exploring such intriguing possibilities as: Can any of us really know what is going on in someone else's mind? What distinguishes the human mind from the minds of animals, especially those capable of complex behavior? If such animals, for instance, were magically given the power of language, would their communities...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[1997]
Language
English
Description
"In this accessible book, you will first view the brain with nothing but the naked eye, then learn about the different regions of the brain and their functions and relevance to the operation of the organ as a whole. Then Dr. Greenfield will show you the various problems inherent in the localization of the different brain functions through the application of simple, but familiar, processes like movement and vision. After this, you are ready to examine...
Author
Series
Publisher
Basic Books
Pub. Date
[1997]
Language
English
Description
We may regard ourselves as the most advanced species on the planet, but have we really reached our optimum design' Isn't there always room for improvements' Before you answer, let noted evolutionary biologist George C. Williams remind you of both the exquisite adaptations and absurd maladaptations nature has bestowed upon us, the self-proclaimed "pinnacle of evolution."Picking up where Darwin left off, Williams combines philosophical perspective and...
Author
Series
Publisher
Carroll & Graf
Pub. Date
1991.
Language
English
Description
What would intelligent life-forms on another planet look like? Would they walk upright? Would they wear clothes? Or would they be hulking creatures on six legs that wallow in their own excrement? Upon first contact with the Utod- intelligent, pacifist beings who feel no pain-mankind instantly views these aliens as animals because of their unhygienic customs. This leads to the slaughter, capture, and dissection of the Utod. But when one explorer recognizes...