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'Oliver Sacks is a perfect antidote to the anaesthetic of familiarity. His writing turns brains and minds transparent' Observer How does the brain perceive and interpret information from the eye? And what happens when the process is disrupted? In The Mind's Eye, Oliver Sacks tells the stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and abilities: the capacity to recognize faces, the sense of three-dimensional space, the ability to read, th... read more

A gripping, triumphant memoir about the power of addiction and its effect on the brain. Marc Lewis knows addiction: that desperate ambition to get high accompanied him around the world for many years. In the 1960s, Lewis was a teenager in boarding school, experimenting with cough syrup and alcohol to assuage his depression. When he moved to Berkeley, California, the pulsing heart of the counter-cultural movement, he began using LSD and heroin. His spiralling journey of addiction eventually led him to Asia, where he sniffed nitr... read more

Packed with the latest technologies and countermeasures for spy devices 101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius, Second Edition shows you how to reclaim your privacy by targeting the very machines that invade your space. Learn how to disable many spy devices by hacking easily available appliances into cool tools of your own, and even turn the tables on the snoopers by using gadgetry to collect information on them. Featuring easy-to-find, inexpensive parts, the book shows you how to build your very own spy gadgets and countermeasures ar... read more

A fantastic edition to the Elements family- a 1000 piece jigsaw to really test your knowledge of the Elements table! Vivid and a great extra for fans of Theo's work, or just those who love Science but already have all the books!

An astonishing new scientific discovery called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the adult human brain is fixed and unchanging. It is, instead, able to change its own structure and function, even into old age. Psychiatrist and researcher Norman Doidge travelled around the US to meet the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, and the people whose lives they've transformed. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole; a woman labelled retarded who cured her defic... read more

Chaos Theory, String Theory, the Theory of Relativity? Intelligent Design? Schrodinger's Cat and Pavlov's Dog? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you've certainly heard of all of them. But do you know enough about them to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your knowledge? 30-Second Theories takes a revolutionary approach to understanding the 50 most significant and intriguing scientific theories. It challenges a half-century of leading boffins to abandon their beloved jargon and explain the most complex theo... read more

The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on such areas as public health, environmental science, and issues affecting quality of life. These scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers. Merchants of Doubt tells the story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politi... read more

Dr Robert Kaplan, a forensic-psychiatrist and researcher, set out to explore the various brain diseases or conditions that have made some people very famous (or infamous), and often changed the course of history. The Exceptional Brain and How It Changed the World delves into the lives of famous figures and celebrates the work of ground-breaking doctors who helped us understand the way the brain works. Dr. Kaplan illuminates both the bizarre and common conditions that affected a collection of exceptional people, including Leonardo d... read more

This pioneering guide offers a proven method for thinking like an inventor and generating innovative, viable ideas. The "eureka moment" is when breakthrough ideas occur. The Eureka Method is a proven approach to making those moments happen! There are many books on inventing, most of which address how to secure and protect a patent, how to license and market an invention, or the history of inventions. This book uniquely focuses on the HOW of inventing, addressing the root issue--the one everyone wants to know--how to make the leap f... read more

From the elemental forces that drive our expanding universe to the delicate hairs on the back of your neck, science offers talented writers the kind of scope that other subjects simply cant match. This dynamic genre of Australian writing has never, until now, been showcased in an anthology. With a foreword by Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty, The Best Australian Science Writing 2011 will is a landmark book. Showcasing selections from the work of renowned communicators such as Tim Flannery, Germaine Greer, Anna Funder and Paul Davie... read more

From basic mathematical and physical formulas that govern much of our world to the components of matter; from the structure of the cosmos to that of the human body-the discoveries of scientists over the last millennium have been remarkable. Sciencia gathers together "Useful Mathematical and Physical Formulae," " Q.E.D," "Essential Elements," "Evolution," "The Human Body," and "The Compact Cosmos," six elegant and insightful short volumes spanning the realms of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, evolution, and astronomy, off... read more

Weather is the oldest story in the worldone we want to keep on telling each other when we meet, as though it were part of who we are, a story that wants to keep on telling itself, and affecting us, whether we like it or not. We breathe it in; we see embodied in it our fears and desires; it falls on our heads. And wed better take care of it: our lives are in its hands. Marrying photographs from the collection of the National Library of Australia with an evocative and contemplative essay by poet Mark Tredinnick, Australias Wild Weath... read more

Is it ethical for medical science to do more than treat illness--to actually make us "better than human"? Currently the U.S. military is searching for a drug that will allow soldiers to stop sleeping, completely--and tests have already been conducted on promising candidates. In fact, scientists are presently investigating many ways to alter our DNA and give us abilities that we currently lack--much as we produce genetically modified fish and crops. Where do we draw the line, between using medical science to improve our lives, and p... read more

This generous selection from Galileo's writings contains all the essential texts. Newly translated by Mark Davie and William R. Shea, the contents include full representation from his scientific masterpieces, his contributions to the debate on science and religion, and key documents from his trial before the Inquisition in 1633.

For a taster of this book, buy the mini Ebook: "The Geek Manifesto: Why Geeks Matter" and discover just how much we need all geeks to step up to the plate. We live in a country where: only one of our 650 MPs has worked as a research scientist. The Government's drugs adviser was sacked for making a decision based on scientific fact rather than public opinion. A writer can be forced into court for telling the scientific truth. The media would rather sell papers by scaremongering over MMR vaccines and GM crops than report the less sen... read more

David Bainbridge is a vet with a particular interest in evolutionary zoology - and he has just turned forty. As well as the usual concerns about greying hair, failing eyesight and goldfish levels of forgetfulness, he finds himself pondering some bigger questions: have I come to the end of my productive life as a human being? And what I am now for? By looking afresh at the latest research from the fields of anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, and reproductive biology, it seems that the answers are surprisingly, reassuringly enco... read more

Hybrid cars, fast trains, compact fluorescent light bulbs, solar panels, carbon offsets: everything you've been told about living green is wrong. We are consumers, and we like to consume green and efficiently. But David Owen argues that our best efforts are still at cross purposes to our true goal - living sustainably, and caring for our environment and the future of the planet. Efficiency, once considered the holy grail of our environmental problems, turns out to be part of the problem. Improving efficiency and increasing sustaina... read more

Creativity: It's singing the song that has never been sung and solving the problem that seems impossible. It's the free verse poem and the mathematical equation, the abstract painter and the patient inventor. It's the ability to see the world as it is, and then to imagine how it might be. Jonah Lehrer is on a mission to unlock the mysteries of creativity and invention, starting at the source: inside our head. Discover why humans are the creative species, where original ideas come from and how we can learn to generate more of them. ... read more

Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs presents a series of clear and concise essays that explain the fundamentals of some of the most exciting and important science concepts you really need to know. Paul Parsons profiles the important, ground-breaking, and front-of-mind scientific discoveries that have had a profound influence on our way of life and will grow in importance with our advancing understanding. In 100 sections, this book provides an overview of the history of Western science, from astronomy and physics to geology, biology an... read more

Joseph Rotblat's life poses deep and important questions about conscience, science and society. This biography presents the full story, from his childhood lived out under anti-Semitism, family tragedy at the hands of the Nazis; work on Britain's nuclear programme; and his single-minded dedication to nuclear disarmament and social responsibility.