History & Philosophy

Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science...

Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos....

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine....

Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all....

The science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology....

For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’s new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology....

Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases.

Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in Other Minds....

From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery....

How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Find out....

In this audiobook, acclaimed writer and biologist Sean B. Carroll narrates the rollicking, awe-inspiring story of the surprising power of chance in our lives and the world....

Listeners learn the difference between how the world works at the quantum level, the cosmic level, and the human level - and then how each connects to the other....

Elon Musk is both an illuminating and authorized look at the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most exciting, unpredictable, and ambitious entrepreneurs....

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....

From the masters of storytelling-meets-science, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us....

Through Two Doors at Once celebrates the elegant simplicity of an iconic experiment and its profound reach. With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world, through history and down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have fathomed....

"Correlation does not imply causation". This mantra has been invoked by scientists for decades and has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. But today, that taboo is dead....

The follow-up to Pinker's groundbreaking The Better Angels of Our Nature presents the big picture of human progress: People are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives....

With characteristic pungency and simplicity of style, the author of Sociobiology challenges old prejudices and current misconceptions about the nature-nurture debate....

A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality.....

For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best....

A captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose from the world-renowned physicist and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe....

If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives....

The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook....

An eye-opening investigation into the history of diabetes research and treatment by the award-winning journalist and best-selling author of Why We Get Fat....

Throughout history, across cultures and countries, silk has reigned as the undeniable queen of fabrics, yet its origins and evolution remain a mystery. In a gorgeous and sweeping narrative, Silk weaves together its intricate story and the indelible mark it has left on humanity.

In Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, Agnes Arnold-Forster blends neuroscience and psychology with the history of medicine and emotions to explore the evolution of nostalgia from its first identification in seventeenth-century Switzerland (when it was held to be an illness that could, quite literally, kill you) to the present day (when it is co-opted by advertising agencies and politicians alike to sell us goods and policies).

Science helps us to understand ourselves in a world where we often feel like strangers - but what we know about the world around us, what has already been explored and discovered is only half of science's story. Unexplained will explore the frontier between what we do and don't know about the world: where knowledge meets mystery, complexity overwhelms certainty, and the vastness of our universe unspools the logic of science's established laws. Dr Camilla Pang will teach you to embrace the beauty in the unexplained and fall in love with the search for unknown answers.

Welcome to "Eternal Pursuit," an intriguing exploration of humanity's age-old obsession with longevity and invulnerability! Are we designed to endure endlessly, or is mortality an unalterable part of our existence? "Dive in and explore the multidimensional facets of immortality, from philosophical and theological perspectives to the potential technological, biological, and psychological implications of eternal life. Disentangle fascinating narratives of everlasting existence in different cultures, stories weaved throughout time that shaped our collective consciousness. Witness the magic of ...

Unlock the secrets of the cosmos as you embark on a captivating journey through millennia of astonishing evidence, hidden artifacts, and lost civilizations in "Ancient Aliens Among Us." This captivating eBook delves into the fascinating and controversial theory that extraterrestrial beings have visited our planet throughout history, influencing humankind and shaping the course of our existence. Be amazed and intrigued as you traverse the enigmatic world of ancient mysterious monuments and out-of-place artifacts that challenge mainstream historical accounts. Immerse yourself in the awe-...

Are you searching for a handbook that will guide you through the complex world of paranormal investigations? Look no further than The Ghost Hunter's Handbook! With over 20 chapters dedicated to all aspects of ghostly phenomena, this eBook is the quintessential guide for anyone interested in ghost hunting. In Chapter 1, readers will learn about the scientific method of investigating ghosts and spirits, providing a solid foundation for all investigations that follow. Chapters 2 through 6 cover the history of paranormal investigations, common beliefs about ghosts and spirits, the psychology of...

"Temporal Voyage" is a fascination-fueled journey that plunges readers into the enigma of time travel. From discerning its theoretical beginnings to evaluating its scientific implications, this eBook encompasses a full spectrum of engaging insights and in-depth knowledge about the science and philosophies of time travel. Our first encounter strikes at the core as we delve into the concept, examining various theories and philosophies that lay the foundation for temporal exploration. The adventure continues with an in-depth look into the physics that could potentially make this theoretical ...

Immerse yourself in the eerie and borderline surreal world of zombies, stripped from the confines of fiction and re-animated through the lens of science in "The Science of Zombies." This captivating read navigates the morbid allure of the undead, taking readers on a thrilling journey through history, pop culture, and the nooks and crannies of the human psyche. Utterly riveting, "The Science of Zombies" dissects the variations of zombies we encounter in media, while contrasting them with real-life, zombie-like situations. It sparks a chilling conversation about the chilling possibilities of ...

Do you find it suspect that the HIV virus showed up in two different places (Haiti and Africa) at the exact same time? For the most part, Africans do not travel, or vacation in Haiti and vice-versa (neither place considered ideal for vacation, and relaxation (where sexual interludes often occur), providing a gateway for transmission of the deadly virus. Yet this is where the virus was initially discovered. Science cannot explain how the HIV virus took a leap to these two distinct places in the mid, to latter 1970s. In 1981, AIDS made its debut in the United States; again, strangely, rapidly...

Dive into the cosmos and explore the captivating infinities of the universe with "Beyond the Stars." This book is an immersive journey decoding the intricacies of warp drive technology and the profound ripple effects it can have on our society if it were to become a reality. Chapter one starts by laying out the foundation, giving readers a comprehensive overview of warp drive technology, its hypothetical possibilities, and the need for a deep-rooted understanding of the ethical and societal considerations associated with such futuristic capabilities. As we navigate through the cosmos, ...

Chronicles of Dragons: From Myth to Modernity is an enthralling exploration of the timeless allure and enduring legacy of dragons. From ancient legends and folklore to modern-day popular culture, this captivating book takes readers on a sweeping adventure through the realms of dragon lore. As we turn each page of "Chronicles of Dragons: From Myth to Modernity," we invite you to embark on a timeless adventure—one that celebrates the power of imagination, the beauty of storytelling, and the enduring legacy of dragons in the rich tapestry of human history. Prepare to be captivated, inspired,...

You may think that a simple concept like Truth should be easy to describe and easy to understand. But like many simple concepts, it becomes so much more complicated the further you go. Author Drew Weatherhead endeavors to display the complexity of the objective Truth that we're forced to navigate from our subjective viewpoints through a variety of meta constructs. These Layers of Truth that make up the whole of our reality can help us recognize how we perceive the parts of it in which we exist.

The previously classified story of the eccentric researchers who invented cutting-edge underwater science to lead the Allies to D-Day victory.

At the height of World War I, history’s most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision of science and epidemic disease.

Long before the U.S. government began conducting secret radiation and germ-warfare experiments, and long before the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, medical professionals had introduced—and hotly debated the ethics of—the use of human subjects in medical experiments. In Subjected to Science, Susan Lederer provides the first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the earlier period, from 1890 to 1940.