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To Boldly Go Where No Book Has Gone Before: A Joyous Journey Through All of Science
by Luke O'NeillScience is a serious business, right? Wrong. Scientists have been participants in the best reality show of all time, with all the highs, lows, bust-ups, and strange personalities of any show on telly today. From Luke O'Neill - the science teacher you wish you'd had - this hugely accessible history of science reveals the human stories behind the biggest discoveries.For example, we meet Charles Darwin as he weighs up the pros and cons of marrying his cousin: 'constant companion' vs 'less money for books'. Tough call.To Boldly Go Where No Book Has Gone Before covers everything from space travel and evolution to alchemy and AI. Written by one of our leading scientists, this is an insider's account that celebrates the joy of science. It is filled with all the juicy bits that other histories leave out.
To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight
by James TobinJames Tobin, award-winning author of Ernie Pyle's War and The Man He Became, has penned the definitive account of the inspiring and impassioned race between the Wright brothers and their primary rival Samuel Langley across ten years and two continents to conquer the air.For years, Wilbur Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in obscurity, supported only by their exceptional family. Meanwhile, the world watched as Samuel Langley, armed with a contract from the US War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley saw flight as a problem of power, the Wrights saw a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths--Langley's toward oblivion, the Wrights' toward the heavens--though not before facing countless other obstacles. With a historian's accuracy and a novelist's eye, Tobin has captured an extraordinary moment in history. To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement.
The To-day and To-morrow Reader: Future Speculations from the 1920s and Early 1930s
by Max SaundersThe To-day and To-morrow book series (1923–1931) was a unique publishing phenomenon – over 100 short, often brilliant, books choosing a particular subject, outlining its present state, and then speculating about its future. This Reader brings together some of the best work in the series, including eleven complete volumes and substantial extracts from ten more.To-day and To-morrow is one of the key documents of modernity. It contains some of the best writing of the twentieth century, and some of the most visionary predictions. The contributors were creative writers, scientists, inventors, philosophers, lawyers, doctors, and teachers. Included here are Bertrand Russell, Vera Brittain, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Robert Graves, and the scientists J. B. S. Haldane, J. D. Bernal, and Sir James Jeans. The topics range from emerging technologies such as the talkies, television, robotics, and drones, to speculations about future technologies like test-tube babies, artificial wombs, cyborgs, genetic modification, hormone replacement therapy, space exploration, the internet, and the possibility of hive minds. The books consider how societies will respond to such developments; how the transformations will impact on lives, relationships, beliefs, politics.To-day and To-morrow brings new perspectives to the literature and culture of modernism and modernity for general readers, students, and scholars. It sheds new light on twentieth-century literature, culture, and society. It offers resources for teachers and students of creative writing – and everyone – facing the challenge of thinking about our future.
To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design
by Henry PetroskiDrawing on everyday examples of how things break, Petroski explains relevant engineering principles and how engineers deal with, risks in a way nonprofessionals will understand.
To Fly Among the Stars: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts
by Rebecca SiegelA searing look at the birth of America's space program, and the men and women aviators who set its course. <p><p>In the 1960s, locked in a heated race to launch the first human into space, the United States selected seven superstar test pilots and former military air fighters to NASA's astronaut class—the Mercury 7. The men endured grueling training and constant media attention for the honor of becoming America's first space heroes. <p><p>But a group of 13 women—accomplished air racers, test pilots, and flight instructors—were enduring those same astronaut tests in secret, hoping to defy social norms and earn a spot among the stars. <p><p>With thrilling stories of aviation feats, frustrating tales of the fight against sexism, and historical photos, To Fly Among the Stars recounts an incredible era of US innovation, and the audacious hope of the women who took their fight for space flight all the way to Washington, DC.
To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure
by Henry PetroskiWhen planes crash, bridges collapse, and automobile gas tanks explode, we are quick to blame poor design. But Henry Petroski says we must look beyond design for causes and corrections. Known for his masterly explanations of engineering successes and failures, Petroski here takes his analysis a step further, to consider the larger context in which accidents occur. In "To Forgive Design" he surveys some of the most infamous failures of our time, from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse and the toppling of a massive Shanghai apartment building in 2009 to Bostons prolonged Big Dig and the 2010 Gulf oil spill. These avoidable disasters reveal the interdependency of people and machines within systems whose complex behavior was undreamt of by their designers, until it was too late. Petroski shows that even the simplest technology is embedded in cultural and socioeconomic constraints, complications, and contradictions. Failure to imagine the possibility of failure is the most profound mistake engineers can make. Software developers realized this early on and looked outside their young field, to structural engineering, as they sought a historical perspective to help them identify their own potential mistakes. By explaining the interconnectedness of technology and culture and the dangers that can emerge from complexity, Petroski demonstrates that we would all do well to follow their lead.
To Know Is to Compare: Studying Social Media across Nations, Media, and Platforms
by Mora Matassi Pablo J. BoczkowskiHow systematic comparative research can unlock the potential of social media scholarship.Though diverse and fruitful, social media scholarship too often focuses on single platforms in single countries, disconnected from other media that people use. Mora Matassi and Pablo J. Boczkowski&’s alternative approach offers a framework based on the epistemological principle that everything we know emerges from comparing two or more entities. Drawing on a wealth of real-life cases, Matassi and Boczkowski examine key aspects of social media from three comparative dimensions (nations, media, and platforms) and two topics (history and language) to propose a blueprint that encourages researchers and lay readers alike to think about social media from new perspectives.Matassi and Boczkowski illustrate their theoretical points with examples that link multiple media, illuminate an array of platforms, cover different countries and eras, and address various languages and both textual and non-textual signifiers. The result is an original conceptual account that allows for the study of social media in ways that are global, de-westernized, transmedia, and multiplatform. In addition, the authors review the major texts that use a comparative treatment and suggest topics, theories, and methods for engaging in comparative studies in the future.
To Market, to Market
by Nikki McClureFrom the New York Times-bestselling artist. “Exact, masterful cut-paper illustrations bring the market’s smells, produce, bustle and cheery people to life.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)WINNER: Washington State Book Award, Children’s Picture BooksKnown for art that celebrates the virtues of community, hard work, and living gently on the planet, Nikki McClure here explores a topic close to her heart: the farmers market. Alternating between story and fact, this lovingly crafted picture book follows a mother and son to the weekly market. As they check off items on their shopping list, the reader learns how each particular food was grown or produced, from its earliest stages to how it ended up at the market. To Market, to Market is a timely book that shines awareness on the skill that goes into making good food.“McClure’s papercuts of windblown hair, vegetable leaves, craftsmen at work, and beds of hay continue to delight. This is, in effect, two books in one: younger readers can stick to the gentle introductions to sections about kale, smoked salmon, honey, blueberry turnovers, cheese, and even napkins; older children will appreciate (and have the patience to sit through) each product’s path to market.” —Publishers Weekly“Astonishingly detailed.” —School Library Journal
To Master the Boundless Sea: The U.S. Navy, the Marine Environment, and the Cartography of Empire (Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges)
by Jason W. SmithAs the United States grew into an empire in the late nineteenth century, notions like "sea power" derived not only from fleets, bases, and decisive battles but also from a scientific effort to understand and master the ocean environment. Beginning in the early nineteenth century and concluding in the first years of the twentieth, Jason W. Smith tells the story of the rise of the U.S. Navy and the emergence of American ocean empire through its struggle to control nature. In vividly told sketches of exploration, naval officers, war, and, most significantly, the ocean environment, Smith draws together insights from environmental, maritime, military, and naval history, and the history of science and cartography, placing the U.S. Navy's scientific efforts within a broader cultural context.By recasting and deepening our understanding of the U.S. Navy and the United States at sea, Smith brings to the fore the overlooked work of naval hydrographers, surveyors, and cartographers. In the nautical chart's soundings, names, symbols, and embedded narratives, Smith recounts the largely untold story of a young nation looking to extend its power over the boundless sea.
To Recruit And Advance: Women Students And Faculty In Science And Engineering
by National Research Council of the National AcademiesAlthough more women than men participate in higher education in the United States, the same is not true when it comes to pursuing careers in science and engineering. To Recruit and Advance: Women Students and Faculty in Science and Engineering identifies and discusses better practices for recruitment, retention, and promotion for women scientists and engineers in academia. Seeking to move beyond yet another catalog of challenges facing the advancement of women in academic science and engineering, this book describes actions actually taken by universities to improve the situation for women. Serving as a guide, it examines the following: Recruitment of female undergraduates and graduate students. Ways of reducing attrition in science and engineering degree programs in the early undergraduate years. Improving retention rates of women at critical transition points—from undergraduate to graduate student, from graduate student to postdoc, from postdoc to first faculty position. Recruitment of women for tenure-track positions. Increasing the tenure rate for women faculty. Increasing the number of women in administrative positions. This guide offers numerous solutions that may be of use to other universities and colleges and will be an essential resource for anyone interested in improving the position of women students, faculty, deans, provosts, and presidents in science and engineering.
To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism
by Evgeny MorozovThe award-winning author of "The Net Delusion" shows how the radical transparency we've become accustomed to online may threaten the spirit of real-life democracy
To Save the Land and People
by Chad MontrieSurface coal mining has had a dramatic impact on the Appalachian economy and ecology since World War II, exacerbating the region's chronic unemployment and destroying much of its natural environment. Here, Chad Montrie examines the twentieth-century movement to outlaw surface mining in Appalachia, tracing popular opposition to the industry from its inception through the growth of a militant movement that engaged in acts of civil disobedience and industrial sabotage. Both comprehensive and comparative, To Save the Land and People chronicles the story of surface mining opposition in the whole region, from Pennsylvania to Alabama. Though many accounts of environmental activism focus on middle-class suburbanites and emphasize national events, the campaign to abolish strip mining was primarily a movement of farmers and working people, originating at the local and state levels. Its history underscores the significant role of common people and grassroots efforts in the American environmental movement. This book also contributes to a long-running debate about American values by revealing how veneration for small, private properties has shaped the political consciousness of strip mining opponents.
To Space & Back
by Susan Okie Sally RideThis book describes in text and photographs what it is like to be an astronaut on the space shuttle and includes a glossary of terms.
To the Digital Age: Research Labs, Start-up Companies, and the Rise of MOS Technology (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)
by Ross Knox BassettThe metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor is the fundamental element of digital electronics. The tens of millions of transistors in a typical home—in personal computers, automobiles, appliances, and toys—are almost all derive from MOS transistors. To the Digital Age examines for the first time the history of this remarkable device, which overthrew the previously dominant bipolar transistor and made digital electronics ubiquitous. Combining technological with corporate history, To the Digital Age examines the breakthroughs of individual innovators as well as the research and development power (and problems) of large companies such as IBM, Intel, and Fairchild.Bassett discusses how the MOS transistor was invented but spurned at Bell Labs, and then how, in the early 1960s, spurred on by the possibilities of integrated circuits, RCA, Fairchild, and IBM all launched substantial MOS R & D programs. The development of the MOS transistor involved an industry-wide effort, and Bassett emphasizes how communication among researchers from different firms played a critical role in advancing the new technology. Bassett sheds substantial new light on the development of the integrated circuit, Moore's Law, the success of Silicon Valley start-ups as compared to vertically integrated East Coast firms, the development of the microprocessor, and IBM's multi-billion-dollar losses in the early 1990s. To the Digital Age offers a captivating account of the intricate R & D process behind a technological device that transformed modern society.
To the Euphrates and Beyond: Archaeological Studies in Honour of Maurits N van Loon
by O.M.C. Haex H.H. Curvers P.M.M.G. AkkermansThis book contains papers that reflect the wide-ranging interests of the Dutch archaeologist Maurits van Loon—prehistory, art history, and ancient history. It is a mine of useful information and synthesis for archaeologists working in the region of northern Syria.
To the Moon!: The True Story of the American Heroes on the Apollo 8 Spaceship
by Jeffrey Kluger Ruby ShamirThe exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of the Earth's orbit and reach the moon, by the best-selling author of Apollo 13.What's more exciting than spaceships and astronauts? How about a spaceship carrying the first astronauts ever to see the moon firsthand--on Christmas!The year was 1968, and the American people were still reeling from the spacecraft fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew a year earlier. On top of that, there were rumors that the Russian cosmonauts were getting ready to fly around the moon. NASA realized that they needed to take a bold step--and that they needed to take it now. They wanted to win the space race against Russia and hold true to President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. So in a risky move, a few days before Christmas of that year, they sent Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders to the moon! This book about the exciting and inspiring true story of Apollo 8, the first crewed spaceship to break free of Earth's orbit and reach the moon, tells the story of these three brave men, the frantic rush to get their rocket ready, and the journey that gave the American people--and the world--a new look at the planet we live on and the corner of space we inhabit.Filled with the science and training required to put a person into space, and every detail of what it's like to live in a spaceship for days on end (including what happens when astronauts need to use the bathroom), this book is sure to leave kids clamoring for a spot on the next mission to outer space.
To the Stars! (Cloverleaf Books (tm) -- Space Adventures Ser.)
by Gina Bellisario Mike MoranHow do stars shine so bright? Stella's imagination takes her on an adventure to explore the stars. Join her on a mission to visit constellations, learn about the closest star to Earth, and maybe even race a shooting star! Find out more about the fascinating stars in the night sky.
To the Sun! (Cloverleaf Books (tm) -- Space Adventures Ser.)
by Jodie Shepherd Paula J. BeckerThe sun brings light, heat, and energy to Earth! Leela's imagination takes her on a journey to explore the sun. Come aboard her spacecraft as she orbits around the sun and learns what makes it so hot! Find out more about the closest star to our planet.
Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization
by Iain GatelyA provocative cultural history explores how tobacco use emerged from an obscure Native American ritual to become a global phenomenon, building and destroying fortunes and empires throughout the world.
The Tobacco Plant Genome (Compendium of Plant Genomes)
by Manuel C. Peitsch Nikolai V. Ivanov Nicolas SierroThis book describes the history of tobacco genomics, from its “discovery” by Europeans to next-generation omics approaches in plant science. The authors primarily focus on the allotetraploid common tobacco plant (N. tabacum); however, separate chapters are dedicated to closely related Nicotiana species, such as N. benthamiana and N. attenuata, for which substantial progress in omics data analysis has been already achieved. While genetic maps, transcriptomes, and physical maps of BAC libraries have significantly enhanced our understanding of the tobacco plant, the genome of tobacco and related Nicotiana species has opened a new era in modern tobacco research. This book addresses current and future industrial and research applications as well as central challenges in tobacco science, including diseases, low variability of cultivars, the genome’s large size, polyploidy, and gene duplication.
Today versus Tomorrow: The Sensitivity of the Non-Oil Current Account Balance to Permanent and Current Income
by Alun Thomas Tamim BayoumiA report from the International Monetary Fund.
TOF Range-Imaging Cameras
by David Stoppa Fabio RemondinoToday the cost of solid-state two-dimensional imagers has dramatically dropped, introducing low cost systems on the market suitable for a variety of applications, including both industrial and consumer products. However, these systems can capture only a two-dimensional projection (2D), or intensity map, of the scene under observation, losing a variable of paramount importance, i.e., the arrival time of the impinging photons. Time-Of-Flight (TOF) Range-Imaging (TOF) is an emerging sensor technology able to deliver, at the same time, depth and intensity maps of the scene under observation. Featuring different sensor resolutions, RIM cameras serve a wide community with a lot of applications like monitoring, architecture, life sciences, robotics, etc. This book will bring together experts from the sensor and metrology side in order to collect the state-of-art researchers in these fields working with RIM cameras. All the aspects in the acquisition and processing chain will be addressed, from recent updates concerning the photo-detectors, to the analysis of the calibration techniques, giving also a perspective onto new applications domains.
Toi, robot
by Daniel Canals FloresToi, robot, Il est un sérieux avertissement pour l’humanité. En écrivant cette histoire, un frisson m'a traversé l'âme: l'acronyme I.A. (Intelligence Artificielle) correspondent à celles du génie robotique incontesté Isaac Asimov. Le professeur en était-il conscient? Ce livre est un hommage à son œuvre et à sa vision futuriste inquiétante. La quatrième révolution industrielle et l'égoïsme de quelques-uns engendreront le monstre qui finira par dominer l'Univers et détruire l'espèce humaine...
Toilet: How It Works (My Readers #3)
by David MacaulayEveryone knows what a toilet is for, right? But what exactly happens after you flush? Where does our waste go, and how is it made safe? With his unique blend of informative text and illustration, David Macaulay takes readers on a tour of the bathroom, plumbing, and the sewer system, from the familiar family toilet to the mysterious municipal water treatment plant.
The Toilet Papers
by Sim Van der RynA classic is back in print! One of the favorite books of 1970s back-to-the-landers, The Toilet Papers is an informative, inspiring, and irreverent look at how people have dealt with their wastes through the centuries. In a historical survey, Van der Ryn provides the basic facts concerning human wastes, and describes safe designs for toilets that reduce water consumption and avert the necessity for expensive and unreliable treatment systems. The Toilet Papers provides do-it-yourself plans for a basic compost privy and a variety of graywater systems.