This is a source book unique in its scope, clarity, and general interest. Its 116 excerpts range in time from Epicurus (ca. 300 B.C.) to the turn of the twentieth century and sometimes, when continuity requires, a little beyond (as to K. S. Lashley, 1929). It includes excerpts from Kepler (1604) on the inverted retinal image, Descartes (1650) on the soul's interaction with the machine of the body, Newton (1675) on the seven colors of the spectrum, Locke (1700) on association of ideas, Whytt (1751) on the spinal reflex, Weber (1834) on Weber's law, Darwin (1859) on evolution, Sechenov (1863) on reflexology, Hughlings Jackson (1884) on nervous dissolution, William James (1890) on associationism, Thorndike, Pavlov, Wertheimer, Watson, and 70 other great figures in the history of psychology. Arranged by topic rather than in the usual strict chronological order, each of the first fourteen chapters traces the development of one important subject in experimental and quantitative psychology. The final chapter discusses the history of thinking about the nature of psychology itself. The editors provide an introduction to each chapter and each excerpt, indicating the significance of the content to follow and establishing historical continuity.

Co-publication with Yale University Press (USA). Discussion of the biological diversity of the earth. Demonstrates how the natural systems that surround us play an essential role in protecting our basic life-support systems. Describes the millions of species providing ecosystem services and explains how biological diversity opens the way for new medicines, construction materials and designs, and manufactured goods. Urges us to protect the biological wealth of the earth from destructive human activity. Includes reccommended reading and index. Beattie is director of the Commonwealth Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources at Macquarie University. Turnbull is a research associate at Macquarie. Erlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University.

This book is about how the wonderful diversity of the universe can arise out of a set of fairly simple basic laws. It is written by an expert in both the fundamental laws and the complex structures that they can produce.' Stephen Hawking's acclaim of Murray Gell-Mann's literary debut is typical of the reception the book received on first publication in 1994. From one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists comes this unique, highly personal vision of the connections between the basic laws of physics and the complexity and diversity of the natural world. THE QUARK AND THE JAGUAR - the simple and the complex - is an irresistibly engaging and rewarding introduction to the life's work of physicist, polymath and Nobel Laureate Murray Gell-Mann.

"An outstanding overview on global warming--and what we can do about it--from a distinguished world-class authority" Climate change is the single biggest problem that humankind has ever had to face, as we continue with lifestyles that are way beyond the planet's limits. Mayer Hillman explains the real issues: what role technology can play, how you and your community can make changes, and what governments must do now to protect our planet for future generations. In "The Suicidal Planet, "he proposes: - A ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions by the world's governments- Global carbon rationing to reduce our individal carbon outputs to a fair and ecologically safe level- Helpful guidelines for the home, travel, and leisure- And much, much more. Featuring the very latest information on global warming completely revised to include U.S. facts and figures, "The Suicidal Planet" takes us out of the problem and into the solution of our international crisis.

Gossip is no trivial matter; despite its reputation, Epstein argues, it is an eternal and necessary human enterprise. Proving that he himself is a master of the art, Epstein serves up delightful mini-biographies of the Great Gossips of the Western World, along with many choice bits from his own experience. He also makes a powerful case that gossip has morphed from its old-fashioned best--clever, mocking, a great private pleasure--to a corrosive new-school version, thanks to the reach of the mass media and the Internet. Written in his trademark erudite and witty style, Gossip captures the complexity of this immensely entertaining subject.

From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences. Many thoughts that resonate today are dangerous not because they are assumed to be false, but because they might turn out to be true. What do the world's leading scientists and thinkers consider to be their most dangerous idea? Through the leading online forum "Edge" (www.edge.org), the call went out, and this compelling and easily digestible volume collects the answers. From using medication to permanently alter our personalities to contemplating a universe in which we are utterly alone, to the idea that the universe might be fundamentally inexplicable, "What Is Your Dangerous Idea?" takes an unflinching look at the daring, breathtaking, sometimes terrifying thoughts that could forever alter our world and the way we live in it.

Story of Earth as a timepiece.

A collection of 17 essays that cover topics ranging from human evolution to the formation of the solar system. With penetrating insight and solid scientific knowledge, Asimov tackles the problems of over-population, need for alternative fuels, fear of radiation, what makes humans different from other two-legged creatures, and more.

LIFE AND ENERGY is a brilliant introduction to the chemistry of life. In this highly lucid guide to the dynamics of modern biology, Isaac Asimov deftly explores the most recent discoveries in this constantly surprising field of inquiry. In the first part, he explains the mechanics of the inanimate world, the significance of energy, work, motion, heat, and chemical reaction. He then uses these concepts in the second half to analyze and explain the latest advances in the study of enzymes, amino acids, proteins and the very processes which constitute life itself. In short, Dr. Asimov's keen examination of biology's current desire to isolate and control the very basis of life--the significance of which promises to revolutionize life itself--becomes a fascinating as well as informative excursion. Illustrated with drawings, charts and diagrams.

From Simon & Schuster, The Eagles Quest is a story of a physicist finding the scientific truth at the heart of the Shamanic world. The Eagle's Quest is an exploration of shamanism and its interaction with quantum physics examines natural healing, shape shifting, fire walking, near-death and out-of body experiences, lucid dreaming, and time traveling.

This is the classic, beautiful study about the migratory birds in flight over the Arkansas Prairie. Originally published in 1946 by Ducks Unlimited, it now is loved by a new audience of bird enthusiasts. Through exciting photographs and line drawings, the elusive mechanics of flight are illustrated.

In More Things in Heaven and Earth, Levy argues the fundamental unity of the arts and the sciences, pointing out the poetry that is in astronomy and the scientific references to the night sky found in many of the great poets. He illustrates his arguments with spectacular colour photographs of comets and eclipses and also with extensive quotation of and commentary on Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Keats, Tennyson, Hopkins and Frost. For him the collision of the comet bearing his name with the planet Jupiter, the greatest cataclysm in the history of astronomy, is an opportunity to get a whole new generation excited about our universe in a way that has not been possible since the 1969 Moon landing.

Some years ago, David Freedberg opened a dusty cupboard at Windsor Castle and discovered hundreds of vividly colored, masterfully precise drawings of all sorts of plants and animals from the Old and New Worlds. Coming upon thousands more drawings like them across Europe, Freedberg finally traced them all back to a little-known scientific organization from seventeenth-century Italy called the Academy of Linceans (or Lynxes). Founded by Prince Federico Cesi in 1603, the Linceans took as their task nothing less than the documentation and classification of all of nature in pictorial form. In this first book-length study of the Linceans to appear in English, Freedberg focuses especially on their unprecedented use of drawings based on microscopic observation and other new techniques of visualization. Where previous thinkers had classified objects based mainly on similarities of external appearance, the Linceans instead turned increasingly to sectioning, dissection, and observation of internal structures. They applied their new research techniques to an incredible variety of subjects, from the objects in the heavens studied by their most famous (and infamous) member Galileo Galilei—whom they supported at the most critical moments of his career—to the flora and fauna of Mexico, bees, fossils, and the reproduction of plants and fungi. But by demonstrating the inadequacy of surface structures for ordering the world, the Linceans unwittingly planted the seeds for the demise of their own favorite method—visual description-as a mode of scientific classification. Profusely illustrated and engagingly written, Eye of the Lynx uncovers a crucial episode in the development of visual representation and natural history. And perhaps as important, it offers readers a dazzling array of early modern drawings, from magnificently depicted birds and flowers to frogs in amber, monstrously misshapen citrus fruits, and more.

There are few scientists of the twentieth century whose life's work has created more excitement and controversy than that of physicist David Bohm (1917-1992). Exploring the philosophical implication of both physics and consciousness, Bohm's penchant for questioning scientific and social orthodoxy was the expression of a rare and maverick intelligence. For Bohm, the world of matter and the experience of consciousness were two aspects of a more fundamental process he called the implicate order. Without a working sensibility of what this implicate order might be, our conceptions of the various threads of Bohm's work--whether in quantum theory or social dialogue remain incomplete. But with an enhanced understanding of such an order, the wholeness of Bohm's work becomes apparent and accessible. For the first time in a single volume, The Essential David Bohm offers a comprehensive overview of Bohm's original works from a non-technical perspective. Including three chapters of previously unpublished material, each reading has been selected to highlight some aspect of the implicate order process, and to provide an introduction to one of the most provocative thinkers of our time.

Ray Kurzweil has projected the date for a Technological Singularity as 2045. AI researcher Ben Goertzel believes it could potentially happen much sooner, if appropriate attention and resources are focused on the right R&D projects. What current technologies are most likely to lead to the rapid advent of powerful Artificial General Intelligence systems? What impact will the advent of such technologies have upon human life? What philosophical, scientific and spiritual ideas should be deployed to explore such questions? How probable are Terminator type outcomes, versus friendlier scenarios where advanced artificial intelligences play a beneficent role to humanity and other sentiences? What should be our top priorities now, looking forward to a radically different AI-centric future? This book gathers together essays that Ben Goertzel wrote during the period 2009-2011, for H+ Magazine and other periodicals, which explore these issues from various directions. Each essay is presented along with a brief personal introduction discussing the context in which the essay was written, and reviewing relevant developments from the period 2012-2014.

The life and work of Johannes Kepler shown in great detail