Why do poets and artists so often disparage science in their work For that matter, why does so much scientific literature compare poorly with, say, the phone book After struggling with questions like these for years, biologist Richard Dawkins has taken a wide-ranging view of the subjects of meaning and beauty in Unweaving the Rainbow, a deeply humanistic examination of science, mysticism an... ...Read More »

Have you ever wondered if a severed head retains consciousness long enough to see what happened to it Or whether your dog would run to fetch help, if you fell down a disused mineshaft And what would happen if you were to give an elephant the largest ever single dose of LSD The chances are that someone, somewhere has conducted a scientific experiment to find out...'Excellent accounts of some of the... ...Read More »

In Paradigms Regained, John Casti re-examines the six big questions he looked at in his 1989 book, Paradigms Lost: Did life begin naturally and on Earth Is human behaviour genetically determined Is there a language organ in the human brain Can computers think Can we talk to ET Is there a Real World In Paradigms Lost, he presents the evidence for yes and no answers to each question as though in a t... ...Read More »

Parallel Worlds explores the possibility that one day we might be able to make the perilous journey from our universe into another, more hospitable one via wormholes and dimensional portals. Parallel worlds, instead of being a plaything for theoretical physicists, may one day be our only salvation. In particular, according to Einstein's theory, black holes may actually be gateways to another unive... ...Read More »

Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction, a chemical procedure that allows scientists to "see" the structures of the molecules of genes. Mullis is no shy, socially inept bench chemist, though; on the contrary, he has led as big and full a life as possible, opening himself to experiences like hallucinogenic drugs, surfing, casually handling dangerous chemic... ...Read More »

Alan MA 28 Clip Mikro with Ohrhörer, for Alan 441 ...Read More »

In Infinite Ascent, David Berlinski, the acclaimed author of The Advent of the Algorithm, A Tour of the Calculus, and Newton"s Gift, tells the story of mathematics, bringing to life with wit, elegance, and deep insight a 2,500-year-long intellectual adventure.Berlinski focuses on the ten most important breakthroughs in mathematical history?and the men behind them. Here are Pythagoras, intoxicated ... ...Read More »