Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

$24.99 AUD

Category: Science

#1 New York Times Bestseller From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." One hundred th ousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem. ...Show more

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

$24.99 AUD

Category: Sociology

THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Sapiens shows us where we came from. Homo Deus shows us where we're going. Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond - from o vercoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold? 'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before' Daniel Kahneman ...Show more

Quitting Plastic: Easy and Practical Ways to Cut Down the Plastic in Your Life by Clara Williams Roldan; Louise Williams (As told to)

$19.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues | Reading Level: 4 non fiction

How to reduce plastic in your everyday life, starting with changes that are small and easy to make, and working up to bigger changes to your daily routine.

2040: A Household Handbook for the Regeneration by Damon Gameau

$34.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction

'You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.' Buckminster Fuller Like most of us, Damon Gameau has spent most of his adult years overwhelmed into inaction by the problem of climate change and its devastating ef fects on the planet. But when Damon became a father, he knew he couldn't continue to look away. So he decided to do what he does best, and tell a story. And the story became an imagining of what the world could look like in 2040, if we all decided to start doing things differently, right now. The result is the era-defining documentary 2040 - a meticulously researched plea for the adoption of community-building, energy-generating, forest-renewing, ocean-replenishing measures that science tells us will reset our planet's health, drive our economies and improve lives across the globe. 2040: A Household Handbook for the Regeneration shows us how we can stitch this magnificent vision into everyday life by engaging in activities such as cooking, shopping, gardening, sharing, working and teaching our kids. It shows us that climate change is a practical problem that can be tackled by each of us, one small step at a time, and that we can make a genuine difference - if we know what to do. Brimming with practical wisdom and even 50 delicious recipes, 2040: A Household Handbook for the Regeneration empowers you to become the change you want to see in the world. ...Show more

Less Stuff: Simple Zero-Waste Steps to a Joyful and Clutter-free Life by Lindsay Miles

$24.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues | Reading Level: 6 Home

 Clutter impacts on our productivity, stresses us out and keeps us stuck. Why do we let our stuff stand in the way of the lives we dream about? Decluttering is great for our mental wellbeing, and when done right, it can be good for the planet too. When we rehome, repurpose or recycle the things we no longer need, we free up existing resources for others and reclaim our homes with less guilt. Less Stuff is a guide for people who find it difficult to declutter and who don't want to see things go to waste. Step by step, you'll explore finding your 'enough', learn how to let go of your old possessions without sending them to landfill, and eventually break the cycle of stuff. The end result is a planet with less strain, a home with more peace and a life with more meaning. ...Show more

Wooleen Way: The Renewing an Australian Resource by David Pollock

$35.00 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues

The outback conjures many images that the Australian psyche is built upon. Its grand vistas of sweeping dusty plains and its evocation of a tough pioneering spirit form the foundation of our prosperous culture. But these romantic visions often hide the stark environmental, economic, and social problems that have inadvertently been left in the wake of our collective past. Through retelling the struggle of his family amid droughts, financial ruin, depression, and death, David Pollock exposes the modern-day realities of managing a remote outback station. Forced by a sense of moral responsibility, he set out on an uncharted course to restore the 153,000 hectares of degraded leasehold land that he felt he was obliged to manage on behalf of the Australian people. Then, just at the point when that course seemed certain to fail, the project was saved by the generosity and faith of everyday Australians. This is an urgent story of political irresponsibility, bureaucratic obstinacy, industrial monopolisation, and, above all, ecological illiteracy in a vast segment of the Australian continent. It is a familiar story of overexploitation. Yet it is also a story of the extraordinary ability of the natural environment to repair itself, given the chance. After over a decade of his hard-won insights, Pollock outlines in The Wooleen Way a specific and comprehensive plan to reverse the ecological damage done to the pastoral resource since European colonisation. He also emphasises the economic and social necessity of carrying it out. This is a story with national implications about a way to curb the conquering human spirit so that it aligns with the subtle power of the natural landscape. ...Show more

Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of how Humans Navigate the World by Maura O'Connor

$32.99 AUD

Category: General

Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibben

$34.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction

Thirty years ago Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about climate change. Now he broadens the warning: the entire human game, he suggests, has begun to play itself out. Bill McKibben's groundbreaking book The End of Nature - issued in dozens of languages and long regarded as a classic - was the first book to alert us to global warming. But the danger is broader than that: even as climate change shrinks the space where our civilization can exist, new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics threaten to bleach away the variety of human experience. Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervor that keeps us from bringing them under control. And then, drawing on McKibben's experience in building 350.org, the first truly global citizens movement to combat climate change, it offers some possible ways out of the trap. We're at a bleak moment in human history -- and we'll either confront that bleakness or watch the civilization our forebears built slip away. Falter is a powerful and sobering call to arms, to save not only our planet but also our humanity. ...Show more

Our Planet by Alastair Fothergill; Keith Scholey

$49.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues

With a foreword by Sir David Attenborough, this is the striking photographic companion to the groundbreaking NETFLIX original documentary series. With six hundred members of crew filming in fifty countries over four years, the directors that brought us the original Planet Earth and Blue Planet, take us on a journey across all the globe's different biological realms to present stunning visuals of nature's most intriguing animals in action, and environmental change on a scale that must be seen to be believed. Featuring some of the world's rarest creatures and previously unseen parts of the Earth--from deep oceans to remote forests to ice caps--Our Planet takes nature-lovers deep into the science of our natural world. Revealing the most amazing sights on Earth in unprecedented ways, alongside stories of the ways humans are affecting the world's ecosystems--from the wildebeest migrations in Africa to the penguin colonies of Antarctica--this book places itself at the forefront of a global conversation as we work together to protect and preserve our planet. ...Show more

Brief Answers to the Big Questions: Stephen Hawking (HB) by Stephen Hawking

$32.99 AUD

Category: General

'A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind' Steven Poole, DAILY TELEGRAPH The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work.   Is there a God? How did it all begin? Can we predict the future? What is inside a black hole? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Will artificial intelligence outsmart us? How do we shape the future? Will we survive on Earth? Should we colonise space? Is time travel possible? Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet. And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next. A percentage of all royalties will go to charity. ...Show more

Waste Not Everyday: 365 Ways to Reduce, Reuse and Reconnect by Erin Rhoads

$19.99 AUD

Category: Environmental Issues | Reading Level: 6 Home

Suited to those who are interested in taking their first steps towards a zero waste lifestyle, this book is a lighter, easier approach to Erin's first and more in depth book, Waste Not. Also makes a great gift for friends and family looking for a simple introduction to the concept of zero wast e.  Would you like to throw away less? Do something for the planet? But not ready to dive straight into composting or go totally plastic-free yet? Waste Not Everyday is your step-by-step guide with 365 easy changes that will not only influence what you throw out but also have a genuine impact on the future of our planet. Split into four easy-to-follow parts, Waste Not Everyday features simple tips that will lead to a real shift in thinking and action and show you that a zero-waste lifestyle is actually achievable - for everyone, every budget and every schedule. With tips ranging from actions and inspiration to recipes and resources, Erin Rhoads, well-known zero-waste advocate and author of Waste Not, takes you on a gentle journey towards a life with less waste and more meaning. ...Show more

The Secret Lives of the Planets - A User's Guide to the Solar System by Paul Murdin

$32.99 AUD

Category: General

We have the impression that the solar system is perfectly regular like a clock, or a planetarium instrument. On a short timescale it is. But, seen in a longer perspective, the planets, and their satellites, have exciting lives, full of events - for example, did you know that Saturn's moon, Titan, boasts lakes which contain liquid methane surrounded by soaring hills and valleys, exactly as the earth did before life evolved on our fragile planet? Or that Mercury is the shyest planet? Or, that Mars' biggest volcano is 100 times the size of Earth's, or that its biggest canyon is 10 times the depth of the Grand Canyon, or that it wasn't always red, but blue? The culmination of a lifetime of astronomy and wonder, Paul Murdin's enchanting new book reveals everything you ever wanted to know about the planets, their satellites, and our place in the solar system. ...Show more