Download or read book The Amateur Scientist s Notebook written by Jesse DeLong and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amateur Scientist's Notebook employs sharp lyricism and formal ingenuity to interrupt and intertwine narrative logic, and in doing so he creates an experience of the world, a story of lives that don't move forward in a linear fashion but are knocked off balance by fragments of past and future selves, science, nature. Fragmented yet familiar these poems become "acts of attention that carry, often indistinguishably, great beauty and disillusion." Ecological, these poems do the hard work of affirming humanity as natural phenomena in all of its volatility and symmetry.
Download or read book The Scientist as Rebel written by Freeman Dyson and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 33 essays on the fads and fantasies of science and scientists—including climate prediction, genetic engineering, space colonization, and paranormal phenomena—by “the iconoclastic physicist who has become one of science’s most eloquent interpreters” (New York Times) “Provocative, touching, and always surprising.” —Wired Magazine From Galileo to today’s amateur astronomers, scientists have been rebels, writes Freeman Dyson. Like artists and poets, they are free spirits who resist the restrictions their cultures impose on them. In their pursuit of nature’s truths, they are guided as much by imagination as by reason, and their greatest theories have the uniqueness and beauty of great works of art. Dyson argues that the best way to understand science is by understanding those who practice it. He tells stories of scientists at work, ranging from Isaac Newton’s absorption in physics, alchemy, theology, and politics, to Ernest Rutherford’s discovery of the structure of the atom, to Albert Einstein’s stubborn hostility to the idea of black holes. His descriptions of brilliant physicists like Edward Teller and Richard Feynman are enlivened by his own reminiscences of them. He looks with a skeptical eye at fashionable scientific fads and fantasies, and speculates on the future of climate prediction, genetic engineering, the colonization of space, and the possibility that paranormal phenomena may exist yet not be scientifically verifiable. Dyson also looks beyond particular scientific questions to reflect on broader philosophical issues, such as the limits of reductionism, the morality of strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, the preservation of the environment, and the relationship between science and religion. These essays, by a distinguished physicist who is also a prolific writer, offer informed insights into the history of science and fresh perspectives on contentious current debates about science, ethics, and faith.
Download or read book Scientific American the Amateur Astronomer written by Shawn Carlson and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2000-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the longest running column in Scientific American's history comes this collection of fascinating projects for amateur astronomers For over seventy years, ""The Amateur Scientist"" column in Scientific American has helped people explore their world and make original discoveries. This collection of both classic and recent articles presents projects for amateur astronomers at all levels. Hands-on astronomy fans will find how to build inexpensive astronomical instruments using ordinary shop-tools. From making a telescope to predicting satellite orbits to detecting the chemical composition of faraway stars, this book has something for everyone interested in practical astronomy.
Download or read book Citizen Scientist written by Mary Ellen Hannibal and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2017-08-22 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2016: “Intelligent and impassioned, Citizen Scientist is essential reading for anyone interested in the natural world.” Award-winning writer Mary Ellen Hannibal has long reported on scientists’ efforts to protect vanishing species, but it was only through citizen science that she found she could take action herself. As she wades into tide pools, spots hawks, and scours mountains, she discovers the power of the heroic volunteers who are helping scientists measure—and even slow—today’s unprecedented mass extinction. Citizen science may be the future of large-scale field research—and our planet’s last, best hope.
Download or read book The Invention of Clouds written by Richard Hamblyn and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-08-03 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the story of Luke Howard, an ameteur meterologist, and his groundbreaking work that began with naming and classifying clouds.
Download or read book The Scientist and the Spy written by Mara Hvistendahl and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting true story of industrial espionage in which a Chinese-born scientist is pursued by the U.S. government for trying to steal trade secrets, by a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. In September 2011, sheriff’s deputies in Iowa encountered three ethnic Chinese men near a field where a farmer was growing corn seed under contract with Monsanto. What began as a simple trespassing inquiry mushroomed into a two-year FBI operation in which investigators bugged the men’s rental cars, used a warrant intended for foreign terrorists and spies, and flew surveillance planes over corn country—all in the name of protecting trade secrets of corporate giants Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer. In The Scientist and the Spy, Hvistendahl gives a gripping account of this unusually far-reaching investigation, which pitted a veteran FBI special agent against Florida resident Robert Mo, who after his academic career foundered took a questionable job with the Chinese agricultural company DBN—and became a pawn in a global rivalry. Industrial espionage by Chinese companies lies beneath the United States’ recent trade war with China, and it is one of the top counterintelligence targets of the FBI. But a decade of efforts to stem the problem have been largely ineffective. Through previously unreleased FBI files and her reporting from across the United States and China, Hvistendahl describes a long history of shoddy counterintelligence on China, much of it tinged with racism, and questions the role that corporate influence plays in trade secrets theft cases brought by the U.S. government. The Scientist and the Spy is both an important exploration of the issues at stake and a compelling, involving read.
Download or read book The Annotated Build It Yourself Science Laboratory written by Windell Oskay and published by Maker Media, Inc.. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raymond E. Barrett's Build-It-Yourself Science Laboratory is a classic book that took on an audacious task: to show young readers in the 1960s how to build a complete working science lab for chemistry, biology, and physics--and how to perform experiments with those tools. The experiments in this book are fearless and bold by today's standards--any number of the experiments might never be mentioned in a modern book for young readers! Yet, many from previous generations fondly remember how we as a society used to embrace scientific learning. This new version of Barrett's book has been updated for today's world with annotations and updates from Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, including extensive notes about modern safety practices, suggestions on where to find the parts you need, and tips for building upon Barrett's ideas with modern technology. With this book, you'll be ready to take on your own scientific explorations at school, work, or home.
Download or read book Letters to a Young Scientist written by Edward O. Wilson and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson imparts the wisdom of his storied career to the next generation. Edward O. Wilson has distilled sixty years of teaching into a book for students, young and old. Reflecting on his coming-of-age in the South as a Boy Scout and a lover of ants and butterflies, Wilson threads these twenty-one letters, each richly illustrated, with autobiographical anecdotes that illuminate his career—both his successes and his failures—and his motivations for becoming a biologist. At a time in human history when our survival is more than ever linked to our understanding of science, Wilson insists that success in the sciences does not depend on mathematical skill, but rather a passion for finding a problem and solving it. From the collapse of stars to the exploration of rain forests and the oceans’ depths, Wilson instills a love of the innate creativity of science and a respect for the human being’s modest place in the planet’s ecosystem in his readers.
Download or read book The Amateur Astronomer written by Patrick Moore and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-07-31 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2000 Edition of Sir Patrick Moore’s classic book has been completely revised in the light of changes in technology. Not only do these changes include commercially available astronomical telescopes and software, but also what we know and understand about the universe. There are many new photographs and illustrations. Packs a great deal of valuable information into appendices which make up almost half the book. These are hugely comprehensive and provide hints and tips, as well as data (year 2000 onwards) for pretty well every aspect of amateur astronomy. This is probably the only book in which all this information is collected in one place.
Download or read book Radio Science for the Radio Amateur written by Eric P. Nichols and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regardless of your experience and resources, as a ham radio operator you have what it takes to make a meaningful contribution to science and technology. Nichols explores and explains the often profound differences between science and technology, and dispels the notion that we know all there is to know about radio. Using a fresh, playful approach, he guides you through some of the most fascinating "nooks and crannies" of the radio universe.
Download or read book From Dream to Discovery written by Hans Selye and published by New York ; Toronto : McGraw-Hill. This book was released on 1964 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2000. Gift from the estate of Dr. Cecil Wittson.
Download or read book Beatrix Potter Scientist written by Lindsay H. Metcalf and published by Albert Whitman & Company. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Mighty Girl's 2020 Books of the Year Friends of American Writers Chicago Winner 2021 Young People's Literature Award Beatrix Potter was a writer, an artist, and a scientist too, and she strove to find a place in the world for her talents. Everyone knows Beatrix Potter as the creator of the Peter Rabbit stories. But before that, she was a girl of science. As a child, Beatrix collected nature specimens; as a young adult, she was an amateur mycologist presenting her research on mushrooms and other fungi to England's foremost experts. Like many women of her time, she remained unacknowledged by the scientific community, but her keen eye for observation led her to an acclaimed career as an artist and storyteller. A beloved author is cast in a new light in this inspiring picture book story.
Download or read book Visual Psychophysics written by Zhong-Lin Lu and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive treatment of the skills and techniques needed for visual psychophysics, from basic tools to sophisticated data analysis. Vision is one of the most active areas in biomedical research, and visual psychophysical techniques are a foundational methodology for this research enterprise. Visual psychophysics, which studies the relationship between the physical world and human behavior, is a classical field of study that has widespread applications in modern vision science. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this textbook provides a comprehensive treatment of visual psychophysics, teaching not only basic techniques but also sophisticated data analysis methodologies and theoretical approaches. It begins with practical information about setting up a vision lab and goes on to discuss the creation, manipulation, and display of visual images; timing and integration of displays with measurements of brain activities and other relevant techniques; experimental designs; estimation of behavioral functions; and examples of psychophysics in applied and clinical settings. The book's treatment of experimental designs presents the most commonly used psychophysical paradigms, theory-driven psychophysical experiments, and the analysis of these procedures in a signal-detection theory framework. The book discusses the theoretical underpinnings of data analysis and scientific interpretation, presenting data analysis techniques that include model fitting, model comparison, and a general framework for optimized adaptive testing methods. It includes many sample programs in Matlab with functions from Psychtoolbox, a free toolbox for real-time experimental control. Once students and researchers have mastered the material in this book, they will have the skills to apply visual psychophysics to cutting-edge vision science.
Download or read book Know It All written by New Scientist and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A joy for science lovers, Know It All is your ticket to a grand meeting of curious minds! New Scientist magazine’s beloved “Last Word” column is a rare forum for “un-Google-able” queries: Readers write in, and readers respond! Know It All collects 132 of the column’s very best Q&As. The often-wacky questions cover physics, chemistry, zoology and beyond: When will Mount Everest cease to be the tallest mountain on the planet?If a thermometer was in space, what would it read?Why do some oranges have seeds, and some not?Many people suffer some kind of back pain. Is it because humans haven’t yet perfected the art of walking upright? And the unpredictable answers showcase the brainpower of New Scientist’s readers, like the anatomist who chimes in about back pain (“Evolution is not in the business of perfecting anything.”) and the vet who responds, “Quadrupeds can get backache too!”
Download or read book Rocket Boys written by Homer Hickam and published by Delta. This book was released on 2000-01-11 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspired the film October Sky, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir—a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the dawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space . . . and who made those dreams come true. With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed its men alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and getting out, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle of triumph—at once exquisitely written and marvelously entertaining. Now with 8 pages of photographs. A number-one New York Times bestseller in mass market, brought to the screen in the acclaimed film October Sky, Homer Hickam's memoir, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, comes to trade paperback with an all-new photo insert. One of the most beloved bestsellers in recent years, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir. A powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the end of the 1950s, it is the story of a mother's love and a father's fears, of growing up and getting out. With the grace of a natural storyteller, Homer Hickam looks back after a distinguished NASA career to tell his own true story of growing up in a dying coal town and of how, against the odds, he made his dreams of launching rockets into outer space come true. A story of romance and loss and a keen portrait of life at an extraordinary point in American history, Rocket Boys is a chronicle of triumph.
Download or read book Stalin and the Scientists written by Simon Ings and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “One of the finest, most gripping surveys of the history of Russian science in the twentieth century.” —Douglas Smith, author of Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy Stalin and the Scientists tells the story of the many gifted scientists who worked in Russia from the years leading up to the revolution through the death of the “Great Scientist” himself, Joseph Stalin. It weaves together the stories of scientists, politicians, and ideologues into an intimate and sometimes horrifying portrait of a state determined to remake the world. They often wreaked great harm. Stalin was himself an amateur botanist, and by falling under the sway of dangerous charlatans like Trofim Lysenko (who denied the existence of genes), and by relying on antiquated ideas of biology, he not only destroyed the lives of hundreds of brilliant scientists, he caused the death of millions through famine. But from atomic physics to management theory, and from radiation biology to neuroscience and psychology, these Soviet experts also made breakthroughs that forever changed agriculture, education, and medicine. A masterful book that deepens our understanding of Russian history, Stalin and the Scientists is a great achievement of research and storytelling, and a gripping look at what happens when science falls prey to politics. Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in 2016 A New York Times Book Review “Paperback Row” selection “Ings’s research is impressive and his exposition of the science is lucid . . . Filled with priceless nuggets and a cast of frauds, crackpots and tyrants, this is a lively and interesting book, and utterly relevant today.” —The New York Times Book Review “A must read for understanding how the ideas of scientific knowledge and technology were distorted and subverted for decades across the Soviet Union.” —The Washington Post
Download or read book Scientific Astrophotography written by Gerald R. Hubbell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-11-09 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific Astrophotography is intended for those amateur astronomers who are looking for new challenges, once they have mastered visual observing and the basic imaging of various astronomical objects. It will also be a useful reference for scientifically inclined observers who want to learn the fundamentals of astrophotography with a firm emphasis on the discipline of scientific imaging. This books is not about making beautiful astronomical images; it is about recording astronomical images that are scientifically rigorous and from which accurate data can be extracted. This book is unique in that it gives readers the skills necessary for obtaining excellent images for scientific purposes in a concise and procedurally oriented manner. This not only gets the reader used to a disciplined approach to imaging to maximize quality, but also to maximize the success (and minimize the frustration!) inherent in the pursuit of astrophotography. The knowledge and skills imparted to the reader of this handbook also provide an excellent basis for “beautiful picture” astrophotography! There is a wealth of information in this book – a distillation of ideas and data presented by a diverse set of sources and based on the most recent techniques, equipment, and data available to the amateur astronomer. There are also numerous practical exercises. Scientific Astrophotography is perfect for any amateur astronomer who wants to go beyond just astrophotography and actually contribute to the science of astronomy.
