Showing titles in Science & Engineering

Updating ancient philosophy with modern cognitive and social science, a leading philosopher reveals how a sceptical approach is the perfect guide to a good life The ancient Greeks and Romans devised an approach to life based on the notion that we don't know as much as we think we do, and that...

Pre-order Ray Nayler's brand-new speculative historical thriller Palaces of the Crow, coming soon! 'I loved this novel's brain and heart' DAVID MITCHELL, AUTHOR OF CLOUD ATLAS 'A first-rate speculative thriller, by turns fascinating, brutal, powerful, and redemptive' JEFF VANDERMEER, AUTHOR OF...

Humans – who are we? Physically, we’re unremarkable in the animal world – a hairless ape. But somehow, in combination, our characteristics make us remarkable. How can our ears listen to this audiobook with such precision, differentiating each specific word? How can we understand the...

Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you've come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.

Award-winning Wharton professor Katy Milkman has devoted her career to the study of behaviour change. An engineer by training, she approaches all challenges as problems to be solved and, with this mindset, has drilled into the roadblocks that prevent us from achieving our goals and breaking unwanted behaviours. The key to lasting change, she argues, is not to set ever more audacious goals or to foster good habits but to get your strategy right.

This course chronicles the history of Earth and life on Earth from the point of view of the minerals that made it all happen. A major theme is how minerals and life coevolved, leading to the unprecedented mineral diversity on our world compared to the other planets in the solar system. Professor Hazen tells this epic story in 48 action-packed lectures that take you from the big bang to the formation of the solar system to the major milestones that marked the evolution of Earth and life.

Brian Clegg was always fascinated by Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation series of books, in which the future is predicted using sophisticated mathematical modelling of human psychology and behaviour. Only much later did he realise that Asimov's 'psychohistory' had a real-world equivalent: game theory. Originating in the study of probabilistic gambling games that depend on a random source—the throw of a dice or the toss of a coin—game theory soon came to be applied to human interactions: essentially, what was the best strategy to win, whatever you were doing?

The author of Cod and The Basque History of the World takes an extraordinary look at an ordinary substance — salt, the only rock humans eat — and how it has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.

Join intellectual phenomenon Dr. Jordan Peterson for enlightening discourse that will change the way you think. This podcast breaks down the dichotomy of life through interviews and lectures that explain how individuals and culture are shaped by values, music, religion, and beyond. It will give you a new perspective and a modern understanding of your creativity, competence, and personality.

Amazingly interesting fact podcasts. From most amazing people to future technology creations to facts about amazing mysteries, if it’s amazing, we'll explore it. Oh, and there's a splash of humor thrown in too. You'll be amazed at our mind-blowing array of fun facts and condensed lists.

Join neuroscientist, philosopher, and five-time New York Times best-selling author Sam Harris as he explores important and controversial questions about the mind, society, current events, moral philosophy, religion, and rationality—with an overarching focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. Sam is also the creator of the Waking Up app. Combining Sam's decades of mindfulness practice, profound wisdom from varied philosophical and contemplative traditions, and a commitment to a secular, scientific worldview, Waking Up is a ...

Are there other dimensions beyond our own? Is time travel possible? Can we change the past? Are there gateways to parallel universes? All of us have pondered such questions, but there was a time when scientists dismissed these notions as outlandish speculations. Not any more. Today, they are the focus of the most intense scientific activity in recent memory. In Hyperspace, Michio Kaku offers the first book-length tour of the most exciting (and perhaps most bizarre) work in modern physics.

Wild Fictions brings together Amitav Ghosh's extraordinary writings on subjects that have obsessed him over the last twenty-five years: literature and language; climate change and the environment; human lives, travel and discoveries. The spaces that we inhabit, and the manner in which we occupy...

There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to and cover everything from 5G and ADHD, to Fluoride and Fasting Diets.

Myth-shattering social scientist Brian Klaas dives deeply into the phenomenon of random chance and the chaos it can sow, taking aim at most people's neat and tidy storybook version of reality. The book's argument is that we willfully ignore a bewildering truth: but for a few small changes, our lives - and our societies - could be radically different. Offering an entirely new lens, Fluke explores how our world really works, driven by strange interactions and apparently random events.

Brought to you by Penguin. From the award-winning scientist who identified the bones of Richard III in a Leicester carpark and genetically analysed Hitler, discover the myth-busting book that provides a window into the world of modern genetics and reveals the extraordinary true stories and...

In a compelling new analysis, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, coauthor of The China Study and author of the New York Times bestselling follow-up, Whole, brings to light a series of first-hand experiences that starkly demonstrate how corporate influence in academia, government and the media determines—and sometimes actively suppresses—public access to nutrition research.

There may never be another era of science like the first half of the twentieth century, when many of the most important physicists ever to live—Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Ernst Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, and others—came together to uncover the quantum world: a concept so outrageous and shocking, so contrary to traditional physics, that its own founders rebelled against it until the equations held up and fundamentally changed our understanding of reality. Tobias Hürter takes us back to this uniquely momentous and harrowing time.

"Speaking of Psychology" is an audio podcast series highlighting some of the latest, most important and relevant psychological research being conducted today. Produced by the American Psychological Association, these podcasts will help listeners apply the science of psychology to their everyday lives.

Quantum computing has the promise to be the next huge thing in technology. How do we know that? Look at how much the big players in tech are investing in the technology. Quantum Computing For Dummies preps you for the amazing changes that are coming with the world of computing built on the phenomena of quantum mechanics. Need to know what is it and how does it work? This easy-to-understand book breaks it down and answers your most pressing questions.