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  The Sagan Conspiracy - NASA's...

  Donald L. Zygutis

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  Mainstream SETI scientists and ancient alien theorists don’t agree on much, but one opinion they share is that the undisputed authority on the possibility of alien existence was the late Carl Sagan (1934—1996), whose voluminous writings on the subject have had a profound influence on ETI research.But how many Carl Sagan fans know that while the renowned scientist was at Stanford University, he produced a controversial paper, funded by a NASA research grant, that concludes ancient alien intervention may have sparked human civilization? Author Donald Zygutis lays out a compelling case that points to a cover-up by the Pentagon and NASA, who may have buried it soon after it was written. How significant is the Stanford Paper? The answer may lie in another question: How would a science-backed theory and search strategy to guide the discovery of alien artifacts among our own ancient civilizations impact the worldwide institutions of government, religion, and culture?Recently rediscovered by the author, Sagan’s lost Stanford paper is the central theme of The Sagan Conspiracy. Groundbreaking research and paradigm-changing material challenges conventional thinking about the People’s Scientist—and maybe even the origins of human society. Sagan even conceived of the likelihood that the ancient Sumerian civilization had been visited and influenced by beings from other worlds as evidenced by ancient manuscripts, among other artifacts.As we celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Carl’s death, The Sagan Conspiracy is sure to fundamentally alter how the world thinks about extraterrestrials.

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  The History of Science Sexuality...

  Myrna Sheldon

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  What does the history of science reveal about sex and sexuality? Explore the relationship between body and sexual identity with a Harvard-educated expert. Prior to the seventeenth century, Western attitudes toward sexuality came primarily from reading scripture. With the onset of the Atlantic slave trade and the proliferation of European colonies, however, encounters with new racial and ethnic groups raised revealed variations in sexual activity and social norms that sparked a new medical and scientific interest in sexuality. Presented by Myrna Perez Sheldon, recipient of the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Award, this fascinating audio course demonstrates how the history of medical and scientific approaches to the body, as well as contemporary medical practices, have shaped modern understandings of sexuality. In these compelling lectures, you’ll learn how science became the primary cultural authority not only on bodily desire but on the environmental factors that affect sexual identity. You’ll see why lawmakers, educators, public commentators, and religious communities increasingly look to medicine and science to understand sexuality, while also discovering why feminist and queer activists are often wary of purely biological definitions of human sexuality. After studying the European origins of the scientific approach to sexuality, you’ll focus especially on the US national context, considering how medicine and science have shaped American cultural debates over LGBTQ diversities, contraception and abortion, as well as sexual health, desire, and morality.This course is part of the Learn25 collection.

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  Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage - The...

  Hermann Buhl

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  In 1953 Hermann Buhl made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat - the ninth-highest mountain in the world, and the third 8,000-metre peak to be climbed, following Annapurna and Everest. It was one of the most incredible and committed climbs ever made. Continuing alone and without supplementary oxygen, Buhl made a dash for the summit after his partners turned back. On a mountain that had claimed thirty-one lives, an exhausted Buhl waded through deep snow and climbed over technical ground to reach the summit, driven on by an 'irresistible urge'. After a night spent standing on a small ledge at over 8,000 metres, Buhl returned forty-one hours later, exhausted and at the very limit of his endurance. Written shortly after Buhl's return from the mountain, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage is a classic of mountaineering literature that has inspired thousands of climbers. It follows Buhl's inexorable rise from rock climber to alpinist to mountaineer, until, almost inevitably, he makes his phenomenal Nanga Parbat climb. Buhl's book, and ascent, reminded everyone that, while the mountains could never be conquered, they could be climbed with sufficient enthusiasm, spirit and dedication.

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  A Tour of the Arnhem...

  John Waddy

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  Although the Battle of Arnhem was fought over sixty years ago. It still evokes such interest that it would seem to rank with the great victories of Agincourt, Trafalgar, Waterloo and the Battle of Britain, all of which proved to be turning points in the history of our nation. Arnhem was not a victory, but its outcome may have had results equally vital to the more recent history of the world. To many people the Battle of Arnhem was the Battle of Arnhem Bridge, which has now passed into history as "The Bridge Too Far". This is understandable, for the bridge was the main objective of the 1st British Airborne Division. The north end was captured and held for three days, thus denying its use to the Germans, which proved crucial to the success gained by the rest of Operation Market Garden. As a battle guide this book leaves nothing out, illustrated with maps and photographs, the author takes the reader through the battle with extensive use of first hand accounts.

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  How the Social Sciences Think...

  Michael Kuhn

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  At the beginning of the new millennium, the social sciences discover an epochal “turn” making it necessary to revolutionize their theory-building: As a response to what they call the globalization of the social, they find the need to globalize their theorizing as well.
  
  It is odd to discover after two centuries of colonialism and imperialism, after two world wars and several economic world crises that there is a world beyond the national socials; it is even more strange that the social sciences globalize their theorizing by comparing theories about nationally confined socials and by creating all sorts of, preferably, “local theories”, just as if any national social was a secluded social biotope. Discussing how to globalize the social sciences, they argue that globalizing social science theorizing means finding a way of theorizing that must, above all, be liberated from “scientism” in order to allow a “provincialization” of thinking. Not surprisingly, the globalizing social sciences also rediscover mythological and moral thinking as a means for a “true scientific universalism”.
  
  Michael Kuhn’s new book presents many thought-provoking arguments on the oddities of the globalizing social sciences and on how these oddities are not accidents, but a consequence of the nature of how the social sciences theorize about the social.

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  The Wingsnappers - Lessons from...

  Barney A. Schlinger

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  Birds, hormones, and extraordinary behavior: The story of the tiny but mighty golden-collared manakin of Panama This book is the story of a remarkable bird, the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus) of Panama. Males of this species perform one of the most elaborate, physically complex, and noisy courtship displays of any animal on the planet. Barney A. Schlinger delves into the specialized neurons, muscles, bones, and hormonal systems underlying the manakin's unique courtship behavior, creating a rich life-history account that integrates field observations and evolutionary biology with behavioral ecology, anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and general ornithology. The personal lives of investigators and the natural history of the Panamanian rainforest provide context for this account of the bird's fascinating behavior. Schlinger clearly and approachably explains basic concepts in disciplines such as avian anatomy, endocrinology, sexual differentiation, and the neurobiology of song and aeroacoustics, offering listeners a window into the biology of this exuberant bird.This enhanced audiobook edition includes two short clips of the bird sounds described in the book.

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