Popular Posts

• The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012

  December 21, 2012. The Internet, bookshelves, and movie theaters are full of prophecies, theories, and predictions that this date marks the end of the world, or at least the end of the world as we know it. Whether the end will result from the magnentic realignment of the north and south poles, bringing floods, earthquakes, [...]

• Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota (The Complete Guide to Species Identification)

  With more than two hundred tree, shrub, and woody vine species in Minnesota, anyone with an interest in the outdoors has likely encountered an unfamiliar plant and wondered about its name, origin, characteristics, and habitat. In this new identification resource, the state’s foremost botanist and endangered species expert Welby R. Smith provides authoritative, accessible, and [...]

• Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe

  In 2000, Martin Bojowald, then a twenty-seven-year-old post-doc at Pennsylvania State University, used a relatively new theory called loop quantum gravity—a cunning combination of Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics—to create a simple model of the universe. Loop quantum cosmology was born, and with it, a theory that managed to do something even Einstein’s [...]

• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

  “[Greene] develops one fresh new insight after another…In the great tradition of physicists writing for the masses, The Elegant Universe sets a standard that will be hard to beat.” –George Johnson, The New York Times Book Review In a rare blend of scientific insight and writing as elegant as the theories it explains, Brian Greene, [...]

• Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race

  Growing up on either side of the Iron Curtain, David Scott and Alexei Leonov experienced very different childhoods but shared the same dream to fly. Excelling in every area of mental and physical agility, Scott and Leonov became elite fighter pilots and were chosen by their countries’ burgeoning space programs to take part in the [...]