Other books that might interest you

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  Topology - A Very Short...

  Richard Earl

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  How is a subway map different from other maps? What makes a knot knotted? What makes the Möbius strip one-sided? These are questions of topology, the mathematical study of properties preserved by twisting or stretching objects. In the 20th century topology became as broad and fundamental as algebra and geometry, with important implications for science, especially physics. 
  In this Very Short Introduction, Richard Earl gives a sense of the more visual elements of topology (looking at surfaces) as well as covering the formal definition of continuity. Considering some of the eye-opening examples that led mathematicians to recognize a need for studying topology, he pays homage to the historical people, problems, and surprises that have propelled the growth of this field.

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  Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing -...

  Theo Pike

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  In recent years, we've all become more familiar with the idea of invasive species.
  
  Plants and animals as varied as giant hogweed, the mink and oak processionary moths regularly make headlines because of the health, environmental and economic problems they cause. Invasive deer contribute to more than 74,000 traffic accidents in the UK every year, while Japanese knotweed added £70m to the bill for staging the London Olympics, and could soon stop you getting a mortgage on your house.
  
  These invasive species destroy crops and forestry, dump silt into rivers, sabotage drains and electrical infrastructure, cut off access to beautiful places, and drive native rare and iconic species to extinction.
  
  And they cost us all a lot of money – at least £1.8bn to the UK economy each year.
  
  How can you help stop this expensive, dangerous (and ultimately boring) slide towards global blandification?
  Read this book and then roll up your sleeves!
  •    Over 40 different species featured
  
  •    List of actions you can take
  
  •    Useful contact list for those getting involved 

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  Dogs Who Serve - Incredible...

  Lisa Rogak

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  Military working dogs have played a vital role in the United States armed forces throughout history. In this celebration of their contributions to our nation, Lisa Rogak profiles these heroic dogs, capturing the devotion and respect these amazing canines, their devoted handlers, and fellow soldiers share for each other.A heartwarming collection for dog lovers everywhere, Dogs Who Serve is a must-listen tribute to America's military working dogs.

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  Pandora's Seed - The Unforeseen...

  Spencer Wells

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  This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers. What do terrorism, pandemic disease, and global warming have in common? To find the answer we need to go back ten millennia, to the wheat fields of the Fertile Crescent and the rice paddies of southern China. It was at that point that our species made a radical shift in its way of life. We had spent millions of years of evolution eking out a living as hunter-gatherers. When we learned how to control our food supply, though, we became as gods-we controlled the world rather than it controlling us. But with godliness comes responsibility. By sowing seeds thousands of years ago, we were also sowing a new culture-one that has come with many unforeseen costs.Taking us on a 10,000-year tour of human history and a globe-trotting fact-finding mission, Pandora's Seed charts the rise to power of Homo agriculturis and the effect this radical shift in lifestyle has had on us.Focusing on three key trends as the final stages of the agricultural population explosion play out over this century, Wells speculates on the significance of our newfound ability to modify our genomes to better suit our unnatural culture, fast-forwarding our biological adaptation to the world we have created. But what do we stand to lose in the process? Climate change, a direct result of billions of people living in a culture of excess accumulation, threatens the global social and ecological fabric. It will force a key shift in our behavior, as we learn to take the welfare of future generations into account. Finally, the rise of religious fundamentalism over the past half-century is explained as part of a backlash against many of the trends set in motion by the agricultural population explosion and its inherent inequality. Ultimately, the world's present state of crisis will force us to evolve culturally, but can we self-correct our culture to solve these problems that we ourselves, in our race to succeed, have caused?

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  Beloved Beasts - Fighting for...

  Michelle Nijhuis

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  In the late nineteenth century, as humans came to realize that our rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving other animal species to extinction, a movement to protect and conserve them was born. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the movement's history: from early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today's global effort to defend life on a larger scale.She describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson as well as lesser-known figures in conservation history; she reveals the origins of vital organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund; she explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros; and she confronts the darker side of conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism.As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change escalate, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species—including our own.

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  Universe: The Solar System and...

  My Ebook Publishing House

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  Experience the cosmos as never before with Universe: The Solar System and Beyond.
  
  Beginning with a fascinating overview and then organized by planet, this book takes us on a trip across time and space that includes a front-row seat to the explosive birth of the solar system, a journey to (and then deep inside) each of its eight planets, and even an in-depth exploration of asteroids and comets. With this newly revised edition, the authors' goals are to help you use astronomy to understand science - and use science to understand what we are. Fascinating and engaging, this text will help you answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know?
  
  Three ever widening domains are presented - Earth, our solar system, and the large scale universe itself - each including the ones before it and extending outward.
  An Author's Republic audio production.

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