$17.00

Einstein And Relativity: part of The Big Idea Series:
by Paul Strathern.
For Grades 5 to Adult. He has written an excellent series of brief biographies of important scientific figures and the discoveries they made. Strathern presents a distillation of Einstein's life and work within their historical and scientific contexts. The bulk of the book deals with Einstein's annus mirabilis, 1905, when his three most influential papers were published: discovery that light is both a particle and wave; proof of the existence of molecules; and why there is no such thing as real time. Einstein was selected by Time magazine as the man of the century. This book will give a brief look at why.

Extraordinary Minds
by Howard Gardner
Portraits of 4 exceptional individuals (Mozart, Virginia Woolf, Freud and Ghandi) and an examination of our own extra-ordinariness.

Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein
by George Gamow
This book incorporates fascinating personal and biographical data about the great physicists past and present. Each chapter is centered around a single great figure or, at most, two, with other physicists of the era and their contributions which help form the background of the era. 128 figures & 8 halftone plates.

Hawking and Black Holes: part of The Big Idea Series:
by Paul Strathern.
For Grades 5 to Adult. He has written an excellent series of brief biographies of important scientific figures and the discoveries they made. Paul Strathern not only demystifies Hawking's universe-expanding theories, but helps readers appreciate why such knowledge is essential for anyone who wants to more fully understand the world around them.Just a few of the big ideas featured in Hawking & Black Holes are: 1. how the universe originated and what this has to do with black holes; 2. how the big bang actually worked; 3. why black holes aren't actually black; 4. Is a Unified Theory of Everything possible (the ultimate Big Idea)? The book also portrays the iron-willed determination of a man who continues to search for the key to understanding the cosmos, despite the devastating effects of motor neuron disease. Brilliantly simplifying the most complex ideas, Hawking & Black Holes will help you grasp the universe in ways you never thought possible.

$14.00

$14.95

$16.95

$35.00

Men of Mathematics
by Eric Temple Bell
In this book, Bell gives the reader an engaging look into the personal lives of many great mathematicians. While most mathematical biographies focus mainly on the individual's work, Men of Mathematics pays special attention to the lifestyles and life stories of some of the math greats. Mathematical contributions of the men are not downplayed; they are just presented in the context of their social and private lives and of the society in which they lived. The biographies of the great mathematicians are engrossing. An extraordinary number lived bizarre or unusual lives. The book is also a history of ideas, tracing the development of mathematical thought from ancient times to the twentieth century. It accessibly explains major mathematics, from the geometry of the Greeks through Newton's calculus and on to the laws of probability, symbolic logic, and the fourth dimension.

My Brain Is Open
by Bruce Schechter
The mathematical journeys of Paul Erdos, the legendary Hungarian mathematician.

Minds, Machines, And The Multiverse
by Julian Brown
Based in large part on the groundbreaking work of David Deutsch, this book explores the history of computation and quantum theory. Brown shows us why quantum computing is faster and more powerful, and is a good candidate for replacing its predecessor. The author doesn't pull any mathematical punches, but injects humor and personalization into his writing. Portraits of such luminaries as Deutsch and Feynman are more engaging than those found in some biographies and are enlightening on their own. The real power and charm of Brown's prose lies in its straightforward explanation of the arcane details of the multiple-worlds theory, "qubits," and quantum logic in language any informed reader can understand. There are more questions than answers, but the questions are profoundly satisfying all by themselves.

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
by Paul Hoffman
The vibrant portrait of Paul Erdos, a fascinating philosopher-scientist.

Mathematician's Apology
by G.H.Hardy, C.P.Snow
Written in 1940 as his mathematical powers were declining, G.H. Hardy's "apology" offers an engaging account of the thoughts of a man known for his eccentricities as well as his brilliance in mathematics. This elegant memoir has provided generations of mathematicians with pithy quotes and examples for their office walls, and plenty of inspiration to either be great or find something else to do. He is a worthy mentor, a man who understood deeply and profoundly the rewards and losses of true devotion.

Mathematicians Are People Too Vol. 1
by Reimer
An excellent collection of short biographies of the men and women who made the important contributions to the development of mathematics.

Mathematicians Are People Too Vol. 2
by Reimer
An excellent collection of short biographies of the men and women who made the important contributions to the development of mathematics.

The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics
by Robin Marantz Henig
The Moravian monk and naturalist Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), the founder of the field of genetics, labored quietly over the years in his abbey's garden, attempting to discover the mechanisms by which traits are passed from one generation to the next (in Mendel's case, in sweet peas). When he published the results in the proceedings of a local scientific study group, it would take nearly twenty years before researchers in more august institutions would discover Mendel's work and apply it to their own revolutionizing biology in the process. Mendel's life was full of disappointments: he failed his qualifying examinations to teach high school several times, and he had trouble getting the scientific establishment of his day to take him seriously. Taking issue with historians of science who have sought to discount Mendel's contributions to the field, the author makes a well-defended claim that the monk in his small garden should be honored as a genius: "a man with a vision and the dedication to carry it to its brilliant, radical conclusion."

Newton And Gravity: part of The Big Idea Series:
by Paul Strathern.
For Grades 5 to Adult. He has written an excellent series of brief biographies of important scientific figures and the discoveries they made. Newton's theory of gravity offered his contemporaries their first glimpse of how the universe actually works, and his mathematics enabled later generations to walk on the moon. Today, we know that gravity keeps our feet on the ground, but how many of us know how Newton's greatest discovery really works? Just a few of the big ideas covered here are: 1. Newton's discovery of calculus at age twenty-three; 2. Why gravity, one of the greatest human insights of all time, was in fact a hunch and how it actually works; 3. Why it took Newton twenty years after his discovery to reveal to the world the secret of gravity and planetary motion. Newton & Gravity is a fascinating refresher course that makes physics not only fun but shockingly easy to understand.

$9.95

$22.00

$23.00

Scientists at Work: Profiles of Today's Groundbreaking Scientists from Science Times
by Laura Chang, Cornelia Dean,& Stephen Jay Gould (intro)
From the New York Times. Every Tuesday, the NY Times publishes a science section. You never know what you are going to find and learn, but you should never miss it.

Strange Brains & Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen
by Clifford Pickover
This book is about those quirky, wacky people we have labeled as geniuses. The author refers back often to Telsa and this is the primary topic of his writing. But there is enough juicy into about other geniuses to delight and entertain the reader.

Takedown
by Tsutomu Shimomura
The story of a bright young man, his unorthodox education, and his extraordinary accomplishments in tracking down Mitnick, the notorious computer criminal. It is also the story of his efforts to mobilize the FBI quickly enough to catch Mitnick. A great read!

Turing and the Computer: part of The Big Idea Series:
by Paul Strathern.
For Grades 5 to Adult. He has written an excellent series of brief biographies of important scientific figures and the discoveries they made. Strathern sets Turing's accomplishments in their historical context. He starts with the long prehistory of the computer, its roots in the abacus, the slide rule, and Charles Babbage's 19th-century "difference engine." He then moves through the great mathematical debates that led to the Colossus machine which cracked Germany's secret codes during World War II.

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood
by Oliver W. Sacks
A memoir. Sacks, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, invokes his childhood in wartime England and his early scientific fascination with light, matter and energy. The "Uncle Tungsten" of the book's title is Sacks's Uncle Dave, who manufactured light bulbs with filaments of fine tungsten wire, and who first initiated Sacks into the mysteries of metals. The author's profound inquisitiveness was cultivated by living in a household steeped in learning, religion and politics (both his parents were doctors). For Sacks, the onset of puberty coincided with his discovery of biology, his departure from his childhood love of chemistry and, at age 14, a new understanding that he would become a doctor. This book is as well-written as Sacks's earlier works.

The Whys Of A Philosophical Scrivener
by Martin Gardner
This classic work, first published in 1983, showcases Martin Gardner as the consummate philosopher, thinker, and great mathematician that he is. Exploring issues that range from faith to prayer to evil to immortality, and far beyond, Gardner challenges the discerning reader with fundamental questions of classical philosophy and life's greater meanings.

Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers
by David Edmonds
In October 1946, philosopher Karl Popper arrived at Cambridge to lecture at a seminar hosted by his legendary colleague Ludwig Wittgenstein. It did not go well: the men began arguing, and eventually, Wittgenstein began waving a fire poker toward Popper. It lasted scarcely 10 minutes, yet the debate has turned into perhaps modern philosophy's most contentious encounter, largely because none of the eyewitnesses could agree on what happened. Very well written, this is a marvelous blend of lay and academic scholarship. It ranks in quality with The Professor and the Madman and An Eternal Golden Braid.

Women & Numbers
by Teri Perl
Another book on important women mathematicians plus some of their discovery activities.