Natural sciences

A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth.

Drawing on the latest research, this timely and original book lays out the current scientific understanding of mass extinction on our planet. Cutting-edge techniques across biology, chemistry, physics and geology have transformed our knowledge of the deep past, including the discovery of a previously

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece which begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time.

A boxed notecard set featuring beautiful prints of medicinal plants. Healing Plants features 16 hand-coloured plates from Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal (1737–39). Blackwell, a talented artist with a passion for the natural world, published her herbal as a means of financial support after her husband landed in debtor’s prison, and it quickly became a valuable reference for doctors and a

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

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

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.

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

A groundbreaking tour of the human mind that illuminates the biological nature of our inner worlds and emotions, through gripping, moving—and, at times, harrowing—clinical stories “[A] scintillating and moving analysis of the human brain and emotions.”—Nature “Beautifully connects the inner feelings within all human beings to deep insights from modern psychiatry and n

A radical retelling of our relationship with the cosmos, reinventing the history of astronomy as a new form of astrological calendar. Astronomy is another form of cinema. Time is fragmented and extended. Matter becomes light in motion. The camera remains fixed, looking outwards into the darkness, while the earth moves beneath our feet. A carefully constructed text in sixty numbered sections, The

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 thrilling nonfiction tour of the cosmos that brings the universe down to Earth, from one of the all-time masters of science fiction.   No one makes sense out of science like Isaac Asimov. Are you puzzled by pulsars? Baffled by black holes? Bewildered by the big bang? If so, here are succinct, crystal-clear answers to more than one hundred of the most significant questions abou

An exhilarating journey through the most creative and catastrophic f**k ups in human history, from our very first ancestor falling out of that tree, to the most spectacular fails of the present day. Perfect for fans of Sarah Knight and Giles Milton. This is HUMANS. In the seventy thousand years that modern human beings have walked this earth, we've come a long way. Art, science, culture, trade - o

What are fractals? Why are they such fun? How do you make one? Why is a dripping tap not as random as it seems? What is chaos? Is the Mandelbrot Set really the most complex object in mathematics? In this beautifully illustrated book, fractal-hunter Oliver Linton takes us on a fascinating journey into the mathematics of fractals and chaos, diving into many kinds of self- similar structures to rev

What are numbers? Where do they come from? Are there different kings of number? Why was Pythagoras fascinated by triangular and square numbers? Is there a link between perfect numbers and primes? In this enlightening illustrated pocket book, mathemagician Oliver Linton reveals the wonderful world of numbers, visiting the questions and answers of great number theorists along the way, from Euclid

Is there a secret visual language all around us? What´s so special about the shape of the Great Pyramid? Why is there something so sexy about circles? How many ways can you tile the plane? Lavishly illustrated by the author, this enchanting small introduction to one of the oldest and most widely-used ancient traditions on Earth will forever change the way you look at a triangle, arch, window, fa

It's been said that, after 9/11, the 2008 financial crash and the Covid-19 pandemic, we're a more fearful society than ever before. Yet fear, and the panic it produces, have long been driving forces - perhaps the driving force - of world history: fear of God, of famine, war, disease, poverty, and other people. In Fear: An Alternative History of the World, Robert Peckham considers the impact of fea

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST • THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution still shapes all our lives today   “A page-turning whistle-stop tour of mammalian developmen

Have you ever been in an accident and felt that time slowed down? Have you felt time stretch radically, or even apparently disappear, in a state of deep meditation? Psychologist Dr Steve Taylor calls these Time Expansion Experiences, and in this book he shares his years of research into this life-changing phenomenon. Most of us will have experienced a TEE, an experience of time slowing do

The word raccoon is drawn from the Native American Algonquian language. Their term arakun roughly translates to "he who scratches with his hands." Anyone who has found a raccoon rummaging around in a once securely closed trash container can attest to how skilful raccoons are with their front paws. In fact, they have four times as many sensory receptors in their forepaw skin as they do in their hin

A brilliantly original exploration of humanity's intimate relationship with technology, from the emergence of our species to the emergence of AI and beyond.