**Winner of the Royal Society Science Book.**
For billions of years, Earth was an inhospitably alien place - covered with churning seas, slowly crafting its landscape through volcanic eruptions, the atmosphere in a constant state of chemical flux. And yet, despite facing literally every conceivable setback that living organisms could encounter, life has been extinguished and picked itself up to evolve again. From that first foray to the spread of early hominids who later became Homo sapiens, life has persisted, undaunted. A (Very) Short History of Life: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters is an enlightening story of survival, of persistence, illuminating the delicate balance within which life has always existed, and continues to exist today. It is our planet like you've never seen it before. Dr Henry Gee presents creatures from 'gregarious' bacteria populating the seas to duelling dinosaurs in the Triassic period, to magnificent mammals with the future in their grasp. Life's evolutionary steps - from the development of a digestive system to the awe of creatures taking to the skies in flight - are conveyed with an up-close intimacy.

'A Brief History of Time,' published in 1988, was a landmark volume in science writing and in world-wide acclaim and popularity, with more than 9 million copies in print globally. The original edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the ensuing years have seen extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic world--observations that have confirmed many of Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book.
Now a decade later, this edition updates the chapters throughout to document those advances, and also includes an entirely new chapter on Wormholes and Time Travel and a new introduction. It make vividly clear why 'A Brief History of Time' has transformed our view of the universe.

Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a higher level of math competency, 'A Mind for Numbers' offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating but inescapable field. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options--both to rise in the military and to explore other careers--she returned to school with a newfound determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.
In 'A Mind for Numbers,' Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning math and science--secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they'd known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there's only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are often a number of different solutions--you just need the creativity to see them. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In short, studying a problem in a laser-focused way until you reach a solution is not an effective way to learn math. Rather, it involves taking the time to step away from a problem and allow the more relaxed and creative part of the brain to take over. 'A Mind for Numbers 'shows us that we all have what it takes to excel in math, and learning it is not as painful as some might think

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science.

The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, A Short History of Nearly Everything is the biggest-selling popular science book of the 21st century, and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

A fascinating journey through more than 5,000 years of seafaring history in this essential guide to the most impressive seafaring tales, explorers, and maritime environments.

For more than 5,000 years, the seas have challenged, rewarded, and punished the brave sailors who set forth to explore it. This history of the seas and sailing tells the remarkable story of those individuals - whether they lived to tell the tale themselves
or not.

From the early Polynesian seafarers and the first full circumnavigations of the globe, to explorers picking their way through the coral reefs of the West Indies, this book tells the compelling story of life at sea that lies behind man's search for new lands, new trade, conquest, and uncharted waters.

Charting the great milestones of nautical history from the discovery of America to the establishment of the Royal Navy, the naval history of the American Civil War, the Battle of Midway and modern piracy the book sets all of them in their cultural and historical context.

A Short History of Seafaring is a unique compendium of awe-inspiring tales of epic sea voyages and great feats of seamanship, navigation, endurance, and ingenuity.

Including conversations with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley and more, this is an essential guide to the most exciting ideas of our time and their proponents from our most brilliant science communicator. Books Do Furnish a Life is divided by theme, including celebrating nature, exploring humanity, and interrogating faith. For the first time, it brings together Richard Dawkins' forewords, afterwords and introductions to the work of some of the leading thinkers of our age - Carl Sagan, Lawrence Krauss, Jacob Bronowski, Lewis Wolpert - with a selection of his reviews to provide an electrifying celebration of science writing, both fiction and non-fiction. It is also a sparkling addition to Dawkins' own remarkable canon of work. Plenty of other scientists write well, but no one writes like Dawkins... here is Dawkins the teacher, the scholar, the polemicist, the joker, the aesthete, the poet, the satirist, the man of compassion as well as indignation, the slayer of superstition and, above all, the scientist. - Areo Magazine

A true-life scientific adventure story, this thrilling book takes the reader deep into South African caves to discover fossil remains that compel a monumental reframing of the human family tree.

In the summer of 2022, Lee Berger lost 50 pounds in order to wriggle though impossibly small openings in the Rising Star cave complex in South Africa—spaces where his team has been unearthing the remains of Homo naledi, a proto-human likely to have coexisted with Homo sapiens some 250,000 years ago. The lead researcher on the site, still Berger had never made his way into the dark, cramped, dangerous underground spaces where many of the naledi fossils had been found. Now he was ready to do so.

Once inside the cave, Berger made shocking new discoveries that expand our understanding of this early hominid—discoveries that stand to alter our fundamental understanding of what makes us human. So what does it all mean?

Join Berger on the adventure of a lifetime as he explores the Rising Star cave system and begins the complicated process of explaining these extraordinary finds—finds that force a rethinking of human evolution, and discoveries that Berger calls “the Rosetta stone of the human mind.”

Een van die gewildste programme, Die Professor, op Amore Bekker se oggendprogram op RSG is nou in boekformaat.
• Die ideale Kersgeskenk!
• Hierdie program word weer in Oktober hervat. Die Menslike Dieretuin nooi die leser uit tot ʼn unieke leeservaring oor die belangrikste parasiete en ander organismes wat in en op ons leef.
• Die gedetailleerde illustrasies en beskrywings sorg vir ʼn besonderse leeservaring en maak hierdie interessante onderwerp toeganklik soos nog nooit tevore nie.
• Vars uit die navorsers se penne.
• Die jongste en mees relevante boek tans oor die parasitologie beskikbaar.
• Vir alle leergieriges!
• Lesers kom meer te wete oor parasiete, maar ontwikkel ook 'n dieper insig in die natuurlike wêreld en die mens se plek daarin.
• Kontroversieel: bv. die feit dat ʼn groot persentasie mense met toksoplasmose besmet is wat tot depressie en ander neurologiese probleme kan lei, of dat ʼn wanbalans in jou derm-mikrobes die hoofoorsaak vir suikersiekte en kolonkanker is.
• Die omvattende woordelys saam met die tekeninge is ʼn besonderse geskenk aan die Afrikaanse leser.

Benjamin Franklin was a pioneering scientist, leader of the Enlightenment and founding father of the USA. But perhaps less well known is that he was also the first person to use artificial respiration to revive an electric shock victim. Odder still, it was actually mouth-to-beak resuscitation on a hen that he himself had shocked. Welcome to some of the most weird and wonderful experiments ever conducted in the name of science. Packed full of eccentric characters, irrational obsessions and extreme experiments, Electrified Sheep is the follow-up to the bestselling Elephants on Acid. Watch as scientists attempt to blow up the moon, wince at the doctor who performs a self-appendectomy and catch the faint whiff of singed wool from an electrified sheep.

Winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021. Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing 2021
The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. They can change our minds, heal our bodies and even help us avoid environmental disaster; they are metabolic masters, earth-makers and key players in most of nature's processes. In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake takes us on a mind-altering journey into their spectacular world, and reveals how these extraordinary organisms transform our understanding of our planet and life itself.

Could you surf down an erupting volcano?
*Why do zebras have stripes?
*Are you breathing the same air as Leonardo da Vinci?
*Are there any green mammals?
*Why do pineapples have spikes?
*Why do songs get stuck in your head?
*What happens when black holes collide?
*Can you extract your DNA?
New Scientist has been a treasure trove of fascinating and surprising questions and answers for over a decade. From how to measure the speed of light using chocolate, to why dogs howl at sirens, Eureka! brings together 365 mindblowing questions, fascinating facts and exciting experiments.

If you've ever wondered how to escape quicksand, what would happen if the moon vanished, and why cats (nearly) always land on their feet, you've come to the right place.

Southern Africa boasts many spectacular examples of rocks and minerals; volcanic lavas make up the dramatic Drakensberg mountain range, granite mountains form stunning scenery in Namibia and Zimbabwe, and some of the most ancient rocks on Earth - over 3 000 million years old - are to be found on the subcontinent. The region is home to many important and interesting minerals, as well as a wide array of beautiful gemstones - diamonds from South Africa, emeralds from Zimbabwe and tourmalines from Namibia.

Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals of Southern Africa is the first definitive field guide to document the common, rare and unusual rocks and minerals of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and southern Mozambique. Supported by more than 500 full-colour photographs, the text describes in detail a wide range of the region's common and attractive rocks and minerals. Authoritative information is presented in a user-friendly manner and is enlivened by box and panel features. It will appeal to mineral collectors, geologists, gemologists, students, and anyone with an interest in the natural environment.

First published in August 2002, Field Guide to the Cradle of Humankind caused a considerable stir among professionals in the field of palaeoanthropology (a field fraught with professional jealousies, subjective interpretation and egos) and sparked a flurry of newspaper articles, journal articles and general debate. The authors acknowledged that some inaccuracies had crept into their work, but also defended much of what they had written and highlighted their field as highly interpretive and often subjective. In the midst of fierce criticism, the book got people talking and sold out in less than a year Â- indicating the level of public interest in the subject matter.

These natural history guides have been developed to encourage young people and anyone with a budding interest in natural history to learn about the wonders of southern Africa's fascinating fauna, flora and landscape. They are an invaluable resource for the beginner, providing information at a glance: each of the species presented is described in easy-to-read text, with a photograph and distribution map. A short introduction gives context to the topic. These compact guides come in a handy pocket size and are easy to use in the field - and make ideal gifts for children or beginners in the field.

In very recent times humanity has learnt a vast amount about the universe, the past, and itself. But through our remarkable successes in acquiring knowledge we have learned how much we have yet to learn: the science we have, for example, addresses just 5% of the universe; pre-history is still being revealed, with thousands of historical sites yet to be explored; and the new neurosciences of mind and brain are just beginning.
What do we know, and how do we know it? What do we now know that we don't know? And what have we learnt about the obstacles to knowing more? In a time of deepening battles over what knowledge and truth mean, these questions matter more than ever.
Bestselling polymath and philosopher A. C. Grayling seeks to answer them in three crucial areas at the frontiers of knowledge: science, history, and psychology. In each area he illustrates how each field has advanced to where it is now, from the rise of technology to quantum theory, from the dawn of humanity to debates around national histories, from ancient ideas of the brain to modern theories of the mind.
A remarkable history of science, life on earth, and the human mind itself, this is a compelling and fascinating tour de force, written with Grayling's verve, clarity and remarkable breadth of knowledge.