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The Way Toys Work: The Science Behind the Magic 8 Ball, Etch A Sketch, Boomerang, and More
by Ed Sobey Woody SobeyA Selection of the Scientific American Book ClubProfiling 50 of the world's most popular playthings--including their history, trivia, and the technology involved--this guide uncovers the hidden science of toys. Discover how an Etch A Sketch writes on its gray screen, why a boomerang returns after it is thrown, and how an RC car responds to a remote control device. Leaving no detail unrevealed, the guide includes original patent-application blueprints and photos of the "guts" of several devices. Inventors and museum curators also offer their observations of favorite gizmos while dispelling (or confirming) several toy legends. Complete with explanations of do-it-yourself experiments and tips on reverse engineering old toys to observe their interior mechanics, this entertaining and informative reference even provides pointers on how budding toy makers can build their own toys using only recycled materials and a little ingenuity.
The Way We Eat Now: How the Food Revolution Has Transformed Our Lives, Our Bodies, and Our World
by Bee WilsonAn award-winning food writer takes us on a global tour of what the world eats--and shows us how we can change it for the betterFood is one of life's great joys. So why has eating become such a source of anxiety and confusion?Bee Wilson shows that in two generations the world has undergone a massive shift from traditional, limited diets to more globalized ways of eating, from bubble tea to quinoa, from Soylent to meal kits. Paradoxically, our diets are getting healthier and less healthy at the same time. For some, there has never been a happier food era than today: a time of unusual herbs, farmers' markets, and internet recipe swaps. Yet modern food also kills--diabetes and heart disease are on the rise everywhere on earth.This is a book about the good, the terrible, and the avocado toast. A riveting exploration of the hidden forces behind what we eat, The Way We Eat Now explains how this food revolution has transformed our bodies, our social lives, and the world we live in.
Waylon! Even More Awesome: Even More Awesome (Waylon #2)
by Sara PennypackerWaylon thinks most problems can be solved with science. But when it comes to having to share a dog with Baxter Boylen, science may not be very helpful. Baxter is the closest thing to a juvenile delinquent Waylon has ever met. He's always getting called to Principal Rice's office, and now he's even having meetings with the chief of police. At least the two boys can visit their dog, Dumpster Eddy, while they're at the station. Eddy is behind bars in the Stray Animals' Lock-up. When a new Animal Control officer takes over, it looks as though the dog's days are numbered. Waylon comes up with a science-y plan to save Eddy, but can he trust Baxter to help him carry it out?
Wayne Fire Department (Images of America)
by Richard L. StoryThe Wayne Fire Department was founded in 1911 as a volunteer fire department with 12 firemen. In 1928, the Village of Wayne purchased its first pumper and started a full-time fire department. The Wayne-Nankin Fire Department was formed in 1942, only to be divided again when the Village of Wayne became the City of Wayne in 1960. In all, this organization has served the community for 94 years. Through rare photographs and detailed historical information, this book documents nearly a century of the Wayne Fire Department's dedicated service.
Ways of Greening: Using Plants and Gardens for Healthy Work and Living Surroundings
by Stevie FamulariThis book focuses on rethinking working and living spaces and understanding how "greening" can make them healthier and their occupants happier. It teaches how to see unique ideas for spaces and some of the materials needed to create the designs. Inspired by a study that states that 8% of a space needs to have plants in order to positively affect the air quality of the space, this book explores what that minimum would look like in spaces and how it can be done to existing spaces as well as to new site designs, greening both interiors and exteriors. Using the mathematical amount of 10% per square foot, the illustrations start at that quantity of greening and show how it can look. The sites selected are both public and private sites, as well as interior and exterior. As there are more modalities, needs, and locations where people now work, making sure that multiple types of spaces are designed for people’s success is more relevant than ever. This includes designs for more traditional offices, open-air offices, commercial spaces, homes, studios, and more. Ways of Greening: using Plans and Gardens for Healthy Work and Living Surroundings gives readers a way to not only understand greening but to understand how to see greening applied to their place. The two basic ways to see the spaces selected are existing spaces to which greening design is applied afterward and upcoming spaces in which greening design can be built directly into the space. The first type of retrofitting greening into existing spaces can also be combined with the second type of space (new designs). There are examples of both types throughout the book. Essentially, this book addresses ways in which business owners, residents, developers, architects, agencies, and others can integrate greening to improve the air quality and the quality of life with a green solution.
Ways Out of the Climate Catastrophe: Ingredients for a Sustainable Energy and Climate Policy
by Lars JaegerFloods, species extinction, migration, droughts, super tornadoes - climate change is no longer a threat looming on the horizon but has long since become part of our everyday lives. Limiting the emerging and worsening climate changes is one of the most important challenges of our time.All human induced climate impacts can be traced back to a single factor: Energy. This book provides a comprehensive and readable introduction to the interplay between energy and climate, which also includes the fields of technology, economics, and politics. At the same time, the issue is highly complex and can only be understood in all its details by expert scientists, meaning that the facts are often poorly presented in the political discussion about climate. To put it simply: If we want to stop and even reverse the current climate trends, we need to find answers to the following three questions: · How exactly does our existing way of consuming energy affect the climate? · What options are there for generating energy without negative climate effects, and what do these mean for our lives? · What technological advances will directly help us to achieve this in future? In a non-alarmist yet entertaining manner, the book highlights the key determinants of global energy supply. Readers will come to appreciate the crucial facts about "energy and climate", will be up to date with the latest scientific and technological knowledge, and will understand the global political and economic framework that we need to consider when designing an appropriate future energy and climate policy. At the same time, the author conveys a clear and optimistic message: We already have the technical capabilities (which will be further enhanced in the future) to reverse the devastating climate trends without significantly limiting prosperity. The obstacles lie primarily in economic and political "constraints" and particular conflicts of interest. “A very important book that explains one of the most essential questions of our time - how we can master climate change by an energy transition - with scientific precision and clear words.” Georg Kell, founder and former Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact
Wayward: Wayward Pines: 2 (The Wayward Pines Trilogy #2)
by Blake CrouchThe second book of the smash-hit Wayward Pines trilogy, from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter, Recursion, and UpgradeIt&’s the perfect town . . . as long as you don&’t try to leave.Nestled amid picture-perfect mountains, the idyllic town of Wayward Pines is a modern-day Eden—at least at first glance.Except that within its fences, the residents are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. None of them know how they got here. Some believe they are dead. Others think they&’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise.As sheriff, Ethan Burke is tasked with enforcing the town&’s laws, and he&’s one of the few entrusted with the truth—even though, for all his knowledge, he&’s as much a prisoner of Wayward Pines as anyone else.But when a murder investigation draws him deeper into the town&’s inner workings, Ethan learns that its past is darker than even he suspected—and finds himself faced with an impossible choice.The second novel in Blake Crouch&’s blockbuster trilogy, Wayward delves deeper into the irresistible mysteries and horrors of this perfect little town, even as it asks what it means to live with secrets—and what price we&’ll pay for the truth.
WCDMA Design Handbook
by Andrew RichardsonDeveloped out of a successful professional engineering course, this practical handbook was originally published in 2005, and provides a comprehensive explanation of the Wideband CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) air interface of 3rd generation UMTS cellular systems. The book addresses all aspects of the design of the WCDMA radio interface from the lower layers to the upper layers of the protocol architecture. It considers each of the layers in turn, to build a complete understanding of the design and operation of the WCDMA radio interface including the physical layer, RF and baseband processing, MAC, RLC, PDCP/BMP, Non-Access stratum and RRC. An ideal course book and reference for professional engineers, undergraduate and graduate students.
WCDMA for UMTS
by Antti Toskala Harri HolmaNow in its fifth edition, the bestselling book on UMTS has been updated to cover 3GPP WCDMA and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) from Release 99 to Release 9. Written by leading experts in the field, the book explains HSPA performance based on simulations and field experience, and illustrates the benefits of HSPA evolution (HSPA+) both from the operators and from the end user?s perspective. It continues to provide updated descriptions of the 3GPP standard including the physical layer, radio protocols on layers 1-3 and a system architecture description. The challenges and solutions regarding terminal RF design are also discussed, including the benefits of HSPA+ power saving features. There is also the addition of a new chapter on femto cells as part of the updates to this fifth edition.Key updates include:HSPA evolution (HSPA+); Multicarrier HSPA solutions; HSPA femto cells (home base stations); TD-SCDMA system description; Terminal power consumption optimization. Updated description of LTE
WCFS2019: Proceedings of the World Conference on Floating Solutions (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #41)
by Chien Ming Wang Soon Heng Lim Zhi Yung TayThis book highlights recent research and developments in floating structures on rivers, lakes, seas and oceans for energy harvesting, aquaculture and farming, leisure activities, infrastructure, industrial plants, real estate and cities, with a focus on sustainably living, relaxing and working offshore. Bringing together international experts and leaders, from both industry and academia it reviews and discusses ocean space utilization, and offers an ideal platform for those wanting to establish new collaborations on floating structure projects.
WCFS2020: Proceedings of the Second World Conference on Floating Solutions, Rotterdam (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #158)
by Łukasz Piątek Soon Heng Lim Chien Ming Wang Rutger de Graaf-van DintherThis book highlights state-of-the-art research findings on floating developments in both inland and coastal waters with focus on living, recreation and working offshore. It includes six themes: (1) business case and real estate development, (2) spatial planning and architecture, (3) food and energy production, (4) ecological impact and nature-based solutions, (5) governance and social impact and (6) design and engineering of (infra)structures. The book presents key issues addressed when utilizing water space. It gives an overview of findings and discussions from the world’s leading experts from the industry, policymakers, entrepreneurs, researchers and identifies new opportunities as well as fosters collaboration on floating projects for a more climate-adaptive, socially inclusive, sustainable and better world.
WDM Systems and Networks
by Georgios Ellinas Neophytos Neo Antoniades Ioannis RoudasModeling, Simulation, Design and Engineering of WDM Systems and Networks provides readers with the basic skills, concepts, and design techniques used to begin design and engineering of optical communication systems and networks at various layers. The latest semi-analytical system simulation techniques are applied to optical WDM systems and networks, and a review of the various current areas of optical communications is presented. Simulation is mixed with experimental verification and engineering to present the industry as well as state-of-the-art research. This contributed volume is divided into three parts, accommodating different readers interested in various types of networks and applications. The first part of the book presents modeling approaches and simulation tools mainly for the physical layer including transmission effects, devices, subsystems, and systems), whereas the second part features more engineering/design issues for various types of optical systems including ULH, access, and in-building systems. The third part of the book covers networking issues related to the design of provisioning and survivability algorithms for impairment-aware and multi-domain networks. Intended for professional scientists, company engineers, and university researchers, the text demonstrates the effectiveness of computer-aided design when it comes to network engineering and prototyping.
We Are All Stardust: Scientists Who Shaped Our World Talk about Their Work, Their Lives, and What They Still Want to Know
by Ross Benjamin Stefan Klein“What distinguishes scientists, in your eyes?”—Stefan Klein“First and foremost, curiosity.”—Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize–winning chemistWhen Stefan Klein, an acclaimed journalist, sits down to talk with 18 of the world’s leading scientists, he finds they’re driven by, above all, curiosity. When they talk about their work, they turn to what’s next, to what they still hope to discover. And they see inspiration everywhere: From the sports car that physicist Steven Weinberg says helped him on his quest for “the theory of everything” to the jazz musicians who gave psychologist Alison Gopnik new insight into raising children, they reveal how their paradigm-changing work entwines with their lives outside the lab. We hear from extraordinary natural and social scientists, including:Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on ego and selflessnessPrimatologist Jane Goodall on chimpanzee behaviorNeuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran on consciousnessGeographer Jared Diamond on chance in historyAnthropologist Sarah Hrdy on motherhoodAnd cosmologist Martin Rees on how “ultimately we ourselves are stardust.”
We Are the Nerds: The Birth and Tumultuous Life of Reddit, the Internet's Culture Laboratory
by Christine Lagorio-ChafkinA riveting look inside Reddit, the wildly popular, often misunderstood website, whose intensely-engaged users have changed the culture of the Internet--"a must-read for anyone hoping to make sense of the century ahead" (Ashlee Vance, bestselling author of Elon Musk). Reddit hails itself as "the front page of the Internet." It's the third most-visited website in the United States--and yet, millions of Americans have no idea what it is. We Are the Nerds is an engrossing look deep inside this captivating, maddening enterprise, whose army of obsessed users have been credited with everything from solving cold case crimes and spurring tens of millions of dollars in charitable donations to seeding alt-right fury and landing Donald Trump in the White House. We Are the Nerds is a gripping start-up narrative: the story of how Reddit's founders, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, rose up from their suburban childhoods to become millionaires and create an icon of the digital age--before seeing the site engulfed in controversies and nearly losing control of it for good. Based on Christine Lagorio-Chafkin's exclusive access to founders Ohanian and Huffman, We Are the Nerds is also a compelling exploration of the way we all communicate today--and how we got here. Reddit and its users have become a mirror of the Internet: it has dingy corners, shiny memes, malicious trolls, and a sometimes heart-melting ability to connect people across cultures, oceans, and ideological divides.
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
by Jonathan Safran FoerSome people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to act on what we know. Will future generations distinguish between those who didn’t believe in the science of global warming and those who said they accepted the science but failed to change their lives in response? <P><P> The task of saving the planet will involve a great reckoning with ourselves—with our all-too-human reluctance to sacrifice immediate comfort for the sake of the future. We have, he reveals, turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products, and the consequences are catastrophic. Only collective action will save our home and way of life. And it all starts with what we eat—and don’t eat—for breakfast.
We Are Watching Eliza Bright
by A.E. OsworthIn this thrilling story of survival and anger, a woman has her whole life turned upside down after speaking out against workplace hostility–and inadvertently becomes the leader of a cultural movement.Eliza Bright was living the dream as an elite video game coder at Fancy Dog Games when her private life suddenly became public. But is Eliza Bright a brilliant, self-taught coder bravely calling out the toxic masculinity and chauvinism that pervades her workplace and industry? Or, is Eliza Bright a woman who needs to be destroyed to protect "the sanctity of gaming culture"? It depends on who you ask... When Eliza reports an incident of workplace harassment that is quickly dismissed, she's forced to take her frustrations to a journalist who blasts her story across the Internet. She's fired and doxxed, and becomes a rallying figure for women across America. But she's also enraged the beast that is male gamers on 4Chan and Reddit, whose collective, unreliable voice narrates our story. Soon Eliza is in the cross-hairs of the gaming community, threatened and stalked as they monitor her every move online and across New York City. As the violent power of an angry male collective descends upon everyone in Eliza's life, it becomes increasingly difficult to know who to trust, even when she's eventually taken in and protected by an under-the-radar Collective known as the Sixsterhood. The violence moves from cyberspace to the real world, as a vicious male super-fan known only as The Inspectre is determined to exact his revenge on behalf of men everywhere. We watch alongside the Sixsterhood and subreddit incels as this dramatic cat-and-mouse game plays out to reach its violent and inevitable conclusion. This is an extraordinary, unputdownable novel that explores the dark recesses of the Internet and male rage, and the fragile line between the online world and real life. It's a thrilling story of female resilience and survival, packed with a powerful feminist message.
We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program
by Richard Paul Steven MossThis &“surprising and insightful&” history profiles ten African American engineers, mathematicians, and others who worked for NASA&’s space program (Lauren Helmuth, New York Times Book Review).The Space Age began just as the struggle for civil rights forced Americans to confront the bitter legacy of slavery, discrimination, and violence against African Americans. NASA itself became an agent of social change, with President Kennedy opening its workplaces to African Americans. In We Could Not Fail, Richard Paul and Steven Moss profile ten pioneer African American space workers whose stories illustrate the role NASA and the space program played in promoting civil rights.Paul and Moss recount how these technicians, mathematicians, engineers, and an astronaut candidate surmounted barriers and navigated being the sole African American in a NASA work group. These brave and determined men went on to help transform Southern society by integrating colleges, patenting new inventions, holding elective office, and reviving and governing defunct towns. Adding new names to the roster of civil rights heroes and a new chapter to the story of space exploration, We Could Not Fail demonstrates how African Americans broke the color barrier by competing successfully at the highest level of American intellectual and technological achievement.
We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program
by Richard Paul Steven MossThis &“surprising and insightful&” history profiles ten African American engineers, mathematicians, and others who worked for NASA&’s space program (Lauren Helmuth, New York Times Book Review).The Space Age began just as the struggle for civil rights forced Americans to confront the bitter legacy of slavery, discrimination, and violence against African Americans. NASA itself became an agent of social change, with President Kennedy opening its workplaces to African Americans. In We Could Not Fail, Richard Paul and Steven Moss profile ten pioneer African American space workers whose stories illustrate the role NASA and the space program played in promoting civil rights.Paul and Moss recount how these technicians, mathematicians, engineers, and an astronaut candidate surmounted barriers and navigated being the sole African American in a NASA work group. These brave and determined men went on to help transform Southern society by integrating colleges, patenting new inventions, holding elective office, and reviving and governing defunct towns. Adding new names to the roster of civil rights heroes and a new chapter to the story of space exploration, We Could Not Fail demonstrates how African Americans broke the color barrier by competing successfully at the highest level of American intellectual and technological achievement.
We Do Things Differently: The Outsiders Rebooting Our World
by Mark StevensonAn acclaimed futurist visits people around the world who are solving the planet's biggest problems by innovative means. Our systems are failing. Old models—for education, healthcare and government, food production, energy supply—are creaking under the weight of modern challenges. As the world's population heads towards 10 billion, it's clear we need new approaches. In We Do Things Differently, historian and futurologist Mark Stevenson sets out to find them, across four continents. From Brazilian favelas to high tech Boston, from rural India to a shed inventor in England's home counties, Mark Stevenson travels the world to find the advance guard re-imagining our future. At each stop, he meets innovators who have already succeeded in challenging the status quo, pioneering new ways to make our world more sustainable, equitable and humane. Populated by extraordinary characters—including Detroit citizens who created new jobs and promoted healthy eating by building greenhouses, an Austrian mayor who built a new biomass plant using the by-product of a local flooring company, and an Indian doctor who crowdsourced his research and published his findings online—We Do Things Differently paints a riveting picture of what can be done to address the world’s most pressing dilemmas, offering a much needed dose of down-to-earth optimism. It is a window on (and a roadmap to) a different and better future.
We Dug Up the World: Unearth Amazing Archaeology Discoveries
by Alexandra StewartYou can find AMAZING things when you DIG. Shells, bottle tops and slimy snails. But can you imagine what would happen if one day you dug up something extra special, something that had an amazing story to tell about what life was like a long time ago . . .People have found some INCREDIBLE things by digging deep underground. Magnificent mummies from long, long ago. Dinosaur bones washed up on the beach. Beautiful cities buried by volcano ash. Mighty meteors from beyond the Milky Way. And even an ancient poo. Team up with archaeologists from around the world and travel through time to learn about fantastic historical artefacts. From Tutankhamun's tomb to the Titanic, and dinosaur bones on the beach to Pompeii, children will discover something new on every page and delight in learning about how the world used to be.
We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat us: Dependency and Exploitation in Bolivian Tin Mines
by June NashIn this powerful anthropological study of a Bolivian tin mining town, Nash explores the influence of modern industrialization on the traditional culture of Quechua-and-Aymara-speaking Indians.
We Garden Together!: Projects for Kids: Learn, Grow, and Connect with Nature
by Jane Hirschi Educators at City SproutsThis colorful activity book invites kids ages 3 to 6 to explore the world of plants and how they grow through creative hands-on activities developed by City Sprouts, a leading educational organization focused on introducing urban kids to the wonders of the garden and promoting equity in science education.
We Have Never Been Modern
by Bruno LatourWith the rise of science, we moderns believe, the world changed irrevocably, separating us forever from our primitive, premodern ancestors. But if we were to let go of this fond conviction, Bruno Latour asks, what would the world look like? His book, an anthropology of science, shows us how much of modernity is actually a matter of faith. What does it mean to be modern? What difference does the scientific method make? The difference, Latour explains, is in our careful distinctions between nature and society, between human and thing, distinctions that our benighted ancestors, in their world of alchemy, astrology, and phrenology, never made. But alongside this purifying practice that defines modernity, there exists another seemingly contrary one: the construction of systems that mix politics, science, technology, and nature. The ozone debate is such a hybrid, in Latour's analysis, as are global warming, deforestation, even the idea of black holes. As these hybrids proliferate, the prospect of keeping nature and culture in their separate mental chambers becomes overwhelming--and rather than try, Latour suggests, we should rethink our distinctions, rethink the definition and constitution of modernity itself. His book offers a new explanation of science that finally recognizes the connections between nature and culture--and so, between our culture and others, past and present. Nothing short of a reworking of our mental landscape. We Have Never Been Modern blurs the boundaries among science, the humanities, and the social sciences to enhance understanding on all sides. A summation of the work of one of the most influential and provocative interpreters of science, it aims at saving what is good and valuable in modernity and replacing the rest with a broader, fairer, and finer sense of possibility.
We Now Disrupt This Broadcast: How Cable Transformed Television and the Internet Revolutionized It All (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Amanda D. LotzThe collision of new technologies, changing business strategies, and innovative storytelling that produced a new golden age of TV.Cable television channels were once the backwater of American television, programming recent and not-so-recent movies and reruns of network shows. Then came La Femme Nikita, OZ, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead. And then, just as “prestige cable” became a category, came House of Cards and Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, and other Internet distributors of television content. What happened? In We Now Disrupt This Broadcast, Amanda Lotz chronicles the collision of new technologies, changing business strategies, and innovative storytelling that produced an era termed “peak TV.”Lotz explains that changes in the business of television expanded the creative possibilities of television. She describes the costly infrastructure rebuilding undertaken by cable service providers in the late 1990s and the struggles of cable channels to produce (and pay for) original, scripted programming in order to stand out from the competition. These new programs defied television conventions and made viewers adjust their expectations of what television could be. Le Femme Nikita offered cable's first antihero, Mad Men cost more than advertisers paid, The Walking Dead became the first mass cable hit, and Game of Thrones was the first global television blockbuster. Internet streaming didn't kill cable, Lotz tells us. Rather, it revolutionized how we watch television. Cable and network television quickly established their own streaming portals. Meanwhile, cable service providers had quietly transformed themselves into Internet providers, able to profit from both prestige cable and streaming services. Far from being dead, television continues to transform.
We, Robot: Skywalker's Hand, Blade Runners, Iron Man, Slutbots, and How Fiction Became Fact
by Mark Stephen MeadowsExamining favorite science fiction tales to reveal which robots actually exist today--and what's coming tomorrow--"We, Robot" asks: How close to becoming reality are our favorite science fiction robots? And what might be the real-life consequences of their existence?