From the New York Times-bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated volume, the author explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing the development of six key technologies (refrigeration, clocks, lenses, water purification, recorded sound, and artificial light) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to...

Contains excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs by soldiers, women, loyalists, pacifists, Native Americans, and African Americans concerning events in the American Revolution.

StarTalk is both a podcast and a National Geographic television program where host Neil deGrasse Tyson and his celebrity guests wrestle with these pressing questions and many more in an attempt to reveal the secrets of the universe and beyond. Filled with cool photos, smart scientific facts, and witty commentary on everything from the International Space Station to our unique anatomy, this companion volume is a dive into some of the most provocative...

"A People's History of the Civil War is "bottom up" history, illustrated with little-known anecdotes and first-person testimony. David Williams brings to life the brutal, mundane experiences of the war - such as the mutilated bodies which, in the words of one soldier, lay "thick as autumn leaves" over the fields after every major battle - and the harsh realities of battlefield medicine and wartime rations. At the same time, he gives us a moving and...

Odessa isn't known to be a place big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the idol business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West...

"Offers readers a compelling look into the lives, challenges, and successes of Central American immigrants. Additional features include a Fast Facts page, a timeline, informative photo captions, critical-thinking questions, primary source quotes and accompanying source notes, a phonetic glossary, additional resources for further study, and an index"--Provided by the publisher.

"An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible--a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our...

"From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously dubbed the 'Terrible Year' by Victor Hugo, Paris and its people were besieged, starved, and forced into surrender by Germans--then imperiled again as radical republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French Army after bloody street battles and the burning of central Paris....Sebastian Smee shows, it was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist...

Does IQ define our destiny? In his groundbreaking bestseller, Daniel Goleman argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow. It is not our IQ, but our emotional intelligence that plays a major role in thought, decision-making and individual success. Self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, motivation, empathy and social deftness- all are qualities that mark people who excel, whose relationships flourish, who can navigate difficult...

Our investments are devastated, obesity is epidemic, test scores are in decline, blue-chip companies circle the drain, and popular medications turn out to be ineffective and even dangerous. What happened? Didn't we listen to the scientists, economists and other experts who promised us that if we followed their advice all would be well?
Actually, those experts are a big reason we're in this mess. And, according to acclaimed business and science...