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  Smell - A Very Short Introduction

  Matthew Cobb

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  Our sense of smell—or olfaction as it is technically known—is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance in our mental life and in the existence of all animals, our scientific understanding of how smell works is limited.In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Cobb describes the latest scientific research on smell in humans and other mammals, in insects, and even in fish. He looks at how smell evolved, how animals use it to navigate and communicate, and disorders of smell in humans. Understanding smell, especially its neurobiology, has proved a big challenge, but olfactory science has revealed genetic factors that determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell while others find it unbearable. He ends by considering future treatments for smell disorders, and speculating on the role of smell in a world of robots.

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  The Albert Einstein Collection...

  Albert Einstein

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  From revealing, personal letters to brilliant essays on the nature of science, these three volumes demonstrate the breadth of Einstein’s thought. The man who became famous for conceiving of the equation E=mc2 kept his mind sharp through stimulating correspondence and applied his intellectual acuity to a number of important scientific issues. The second volume of the Albert Einstein Collection offers a fascinating window into how he developed his ideas.  Essays in Science: In these sixteen essays, written at the height of his intellectual powers, Einstein sets out his views on scientific knowledge, its relationship to human experience, and the underlying principles of any scientific pursuit. He discusses his own work in theoretical physics and its basis in field theory, as well as the many achievements of other scientific thinkers—including Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and others.  Letters to Solovine: This collection of personal letters from Einstein to his longtime friend and translator Maurice Solovine offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of his thought, as well as a revealing portrait of the man himself. Spanning Einstein’s career and ranging from philosophical discussion to personal gossip, these letters are presented in English translation alongside the German text, with facsimiles of the original letters also included.  Letters on Wave Mechanics: In this stirring collection of correspondence, four of the twentieth century’s greatest minds—H. A. Lorentz, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, and Albert Einstein—discuss, debate, and refine Schrödinger’s then-nascent theory of wave mechanics. As the physicist Karl Przibram states in his foreword to this edition, “little needs to be added to the letters; they speak for themselves. Apart from their essential content, they reveal something of the personalities of the four men of genius.”  

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  Fighters Over the Fleet - Naval...

  Norman Friedman

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  A tactical and technical history of the development of British, American, and Japanese naval air defense from the 1920s to the 1980s. This is an account of the evolution of naval fighters for fleet air defense and the parallel evolution of the ships operating and controlling them, concentrating on the three main exponents of carrier warfare: the British Royal Navy, the U.S. Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It describes the earliest efforts from the 1920s, but it was not until radar allowed the direction of fighters that organized air defense became possible. Thus, major naval-air battles of the Second World War like Midway, the Pedestal convoy, the Philippine Sea, and Okinawa are portrayed as tests of the new technology. This was ultimately found wanting by the Kamikaze campaigns, leading to postwar moves towards computer control and new kinds of fighters. After 1945 the threats of nuclear weapons and standoff missiles compounded the difficulties of naval air defense. The second half of the book covers R.N. and U.S.N. attempts to solve these problems, looking at the American experience in Vietnam and British operations in the Falklands War. It concludes with the ultimate U.S. development of techniques and technology to fight the Outer Air Battle in the 1980s, which in turn point to the current state of carrier fighters and the supporting technology. Based largely on documentary sources, some previously unused, this book will appeal to both the naval and aviation communities.“Fighters Over the Fleet provides more information about fleet air defense than any other work currently available. It is recommended for specialist as well aviation-minded readers.” —Naval Historical Foundation

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  Exploding Data - Reclaiming Our...

  Michael Chertoff

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  A former Secretary of Homeland Security examines our outdated laws regarding the protection of personal information, and the pressing need for change.   Nothing undermines our freedom more than losing control of information about ourselves. And yet, as daily events underscore, we are ever more vulnerable to cyber-attack. In this bracing book, Michael Chertoff makes clear that our laws and policies surrounding the protection of personal information, written for an earlier time, are long overdue for a complete overhaul. On the one hand, the collection of data—more widespread by business than by government, and impossible to stop—should be facilitated as an ultimate protection for society. On the other, standards under which information can be inspected, analyzed, or used must be significantly tightened. In offering his compelling call for action, Chertoff argues that what is at stake is not so much the simple loss of privacy, which is almost impossible to protect, but of individual autonomy—the ability to make personal choices free of manipulation or coercion.   Offering vivid stories over many decades that illuminate the three periods of data gathering we have experienced, Chertoff explains the complex legalities surrounding issues of data collection and dissemination today, and charts a path that balances the needs of government, business, and individuals alike.   “Surveys the brave new world of data collection and analysis…The world of data as illuminated here would have scared George Orwell.”―Kirkus Reviews   “Chertoff has a unique perspective on data security and its implications for citizen rights as he looks at the history of and changes in privacy laws since the founding of the U.S.”—Booklist

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  Dyslexia 101 - How to Understand...

  HowExpert, Lucy Heiderscheit

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  This book is written for anyone with a learning disability or loved one who struggles with a learning disability that wants to make the most of their brain. 
  • Tip and tricks to gaining scholastic confidence! 
  • What it is like to grow and learn with dyslexia. Gaze into the childhood of a person with dyslexia. See what struggles they face and learn how to overcome obstacles. 
  • What elementary school looks like through the eyes of someone with dyslexia. 
  • The challenge of middle school, bullying scholastics, and fitting in with dyslexia. 
  • Early adulthood with dyslexia. What it is like to attend high school, study in college, and enter the work force with dyslexia. 
  • The diagnosis process can be daunting, but when you take it one step at a time you can get through it. There are ways to determine if you or a loved one may be dyslexic at home, as well as by a professional. 
  • Why it is so important to find a support group when you struggle with a learn disability. 
  • How to conquer dyslexia! Tips and tricks to acing classes and excelling in the work place. 
  • Why there is such thing as feeling grateful for your disability because of the skills it teaches you. 
  About the Expert 
  Lucy Heiderscheit is a mother, wife, and business women. She enjoys writing, the outdoors, spending time with her family. Originally from Washington D.C. she grew up along the Mississippi River in the beautiful state of Iowa, which is where she current resides with her family. For a number of years, she struggled to learn because of her disability. Growing up as a child learning a little different bothered her. But now, at 26, she looks at her dyslexia as an advantage. She feels it taught her to work harder and the value of knowledge. Life would be boring if we all learned the same! 
  HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.

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  Colliding Worlds - How Cosmic...

  Simone Marchi

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  Some 4.6 billion years ago, a planetary system was born from a disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. Specks of dust, pushed into dense clumps, collided, stuck together, and grew. While the gas disappeared, the growing bodies clashed in a final violent phase, leaving a series of planets, and much debris. The planets jostled and moved around as they sought a stable arrangement, knocking many small fragments out of the system altogether while others formed a distant icy fringe. The massive violent collisions of this time gouged out vast craters from the newborn planets, and sometimes created moons. Such was the birth of our Solar System. Only recently have scientists begun to find subtle clues of these ancient, violent times. Remarkably, they are still there, if we look carefully at the Earth’s oldest rocks, at Mars and the Moon with their ancient surfaces, and at the asteroids, which are themselves startlingly varied small worlds. Clues are also to be found in the meteorites that have landed on Earth. From such splinters, from the precious collection of lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts, and the information gleaned by spacecraft and the Mars rovers, we are slowly building up a picture of the early days of the planets. Simone Marchi, a planetary scientist involved with several space missions including Dawn, captures the excitement of these discoveries. We learn of the evidence for an early dramatic rearrangement of the big planets; for a once warm and wet Mars where life perhaps still lurks today; and for the huge collisions that have shaped our own planet and affected life’s trajectory upon it. For all their destructive power, cosmic collisions have played a critical role in creation. Without them, we would not exist.

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