Natural sciences

From the bestselling authors of Soonish, a brilliant and hilarious off-world investigation into space settlement

From New Yorker staff writer and author of The Longing for Less Kyle Chayka comes a timely history and investigation of a world ruled by algorithms, which determine the shape of culture itself. From trendy restaurants to city grids, to TikTok and Netflix feeds the world round, algorithmic recommendations dictate our experiences and choices. The algorithm is present in the familiar neon signs and

Starting with the moment of the Big Bang—at exactly one ten-millionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second—this book charts a history of space and time all the way through the evolution of our solar system, the birth of stars and the formation of life on Earth, to the future of our galaxy and beyond.With deeply insightful and fascinating text by Hayden Planetarium Associate

Become a moggy mastermind with nine fun and easy-to-score personality tests. From cat speak to curious quirks, discover your feline’s true nature to better nurture your bond. It begins with a simple question: what are your cat's classic behaviours? Whether they're testily knocking over your mug of piping hot tea or affectionately cuddling into your arms for a morning squeeze, each of these en

A special 10th anniversary edition of the million-copy bestseller What If? from the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd—revised and annotated with brand-new illustrations and answers to important questions you never thought to ask. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions: What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast ca

The bestselling author of Your Inner Fish takes readers on an epic adventure to the North and South Poles to reveal the secrets locked in the ice about life, the cosmos, and our planet´s future. Renowned scientist Neil Shubin has made extraordinary discoveries by leading scientific expeditions to the sweeping ice landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic. He´s survived polar storms, tr

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A life-altering journey through the science of neuroaesthetics, which offers proof for how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts—and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities. “This book blew my mind!”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit A BLOOM

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance—from a co-founder of the pioneering artificial intelligence company DeepMind and current CEO of Microsoft AI “A fascinating, well-written, and important book.”—Yuval Noah

Brief Answers, Big Questions: four new books celebrating the genius of Stephen Hawking's brilliant posthumous work, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, with each one offering two electrifying essays from one of the greatest minds of our age.

In an age where technologies such as AI threaten to supplant human intelligence, an award-winning scientist offers a radical new view of our innate human technology and what we're truly capable of. There are rare moments in time when we make choices that irreversibly change the world, and our lives, forever. Today is one of those moments. Scientists, engineers and philosophers alike warn us that

The only numbers in this book are the page numbers. Math Without Numbers is a vivid, conversational, and wholly original guide to the three main branches of abstract math-topology, analysis, and algebra-which turn out to be surprisingly easy to grasp. This book upends the conventional approach to math, inviting you to think creatively about shape and dimension, the infinite and infinitesimal, sy

Boken skildrar den vetenskapliga rivaliteten mellan Carl von Linné och Georges-Louis de Buffon på 1700-talet, där de båda strävade efter att katalogisera allt liv på jorden. Roberts utforskar deras motsatta synsätt på naturen och hur deras idéer har påverkat den moderna biologin och synen på mänskligheten.

From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman's OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history, reshaping the planet in real time, from the cockpit of the company that is driving the frenzy When AI expert and investigative journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were

The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists

“A revolutionary guide to mastering your emotional life.”—Charles Duhigg “Brilliant, engaging, and deeply insightful.”—Lisa Damour “A blueprint for navigating the emotional curveballs that life throws at us every day.”—The New York Times INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER • One of Oprah Daily´s Best Self-Help Books for Personal Growth in 2025, Next Big Idea Club´s Highly Anticip

How did life emerge? What are the smallest elements of matter? How are planets formed? Over the centuries, brilliant men and women have sought to develop theories to answer the most compelling questions about the world around us. Through their amazing insights and conscientious efforts they helped to create the world we know today. In this entertaining introduction, Anne Rooney explores the fas

"Peake's explanation of your immortality is the most innovative and provocative argument I have seen" - Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor of Psychiatry, University of Virginia. What happens when we die? As the bestselling author of Is There Life After Death? and Cheating the Ferryman, Anthony Peake has studied this topic for over two decades. In this latest follow-up, Peake explores the incre

Discover the incredible capabilities of the human body and its functions with this indispensable hardback guide, richly illustrated in full-colour. The human body is a remarkable work of nature - its immense complexity allowing us to sense the world around us, move, regulate our temperature, formulate thoughts and much more besides. In this stunning visual guide, author Robert Snedden examin

Pick a number, any number, and The Book of Numbers will let you in on all its secrets. You'll be amazed at just how exciting numbers can be... From zero to infinity, this handy hardback is the ultimate number reference guide which explores the mathematical significance and cultural associations of over 130 numbers. Discover how a pack of playing cards came to have 52 cards, why 7 is the 'magic

* THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the Hugo Award * Scientific American´s #1 Book for 2023 * Winner of Royal Society's Trivedi Prize * A Guardian Best Book of 2024 * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A Times Best Science and Environment Book of 2023 * A Tor.com Best Book of 2023 * “Exceptional. . . Forceful, engaging and funny . . . This book will make you happy to l