Download or read book The Bastard Brigade written by Sam Kean and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2019-07-09 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses -- dubbed the Alsos Mission -- and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club. The details of the mission rival the finest spy thriller, but what makes this story sing is the incredible cast of characters -- both heroes and rogues alike -- including: Moe Bergm, the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball. Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission. Colonel Boris Pash, a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission. Joe Kennedy Jr., the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer. Samuel Goudsmit, a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe. Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance. Thrust into the dark world of international espionage, these scientists and soldiers played a vital and largely untold role in turning back one of the darkest tides in human history.
Download or read book The Disappearing Spoon written by Sam Kean and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2010-07-12 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.
Download or read book The Icepick Surgeon written by Sam Kean and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a New York Times bestselling author comes the gripping, untold history of science's darkest secrets, "a fascinating book [that] deserves a wide audience" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process. The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong. Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.
Download or read book Bastard Battalion written by Terry Lowry and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spending 508 days in combat, the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion fought on 2 continents and participated in 6 campaigns. Their firepower was felt in Sicily, Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. Places such as Gela, San Pietro, Ceppagna, Anzio, Minturno, Venafro, Briancon, the Vosges, Colmar Pocket, Zellenberg, and Riquewihr saw them at their best.
Download or read book The Violinist s Thumb written by Sam Kean and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-07-17 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, language, and music, as told by our own DNA. In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists. Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future.
Download or read book Atomic Soldiers written by Howard L. Rosenberg and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While focusing on one victim in particular, Rosenberg examines the grim statistics concerning the 300,000 American soldiers who, between 1948 and 1963, were deliberately exposed to high-level radiation durin g Pentagon-sponsored nuclear tests.
Download or read book Cloned Lives written by Pamela Sargent and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This debut sci-fi novel by the Nebula and Locus Award–winning author of The Shore of Women follows five human clones in an unforgiving world. Shock and outrage greet Paul Swenson’s announcement of the success of his latest and most controversial scientific endeavor. Having taken advantage of a brief lull in legislative restrictions, the renowned astrophysicist and a team of bioscientists have created five human clones—four males and one female—from Swenson’s own genetic material. From the moment Michael, Edward, Albert, James, and Kira Swenson are revealed to the world, they are viewed with hostility and suspicion. Growing up under the heavy yoke of specialness, the five exceptional human “experiments” have no one but each other to turn to for emotional support. Then tragedy strikes and everything falls apart . . . Now Kira and her brothers must follow their destinies down separate, divergent paths. Heading out into a world that never welcomed them, each clone is intent on pursuing knowledge, career, family—all the desired elements of a so-called normal life. But they cannot escape their shared past, because the true purpose behind Paul Swenson’s remarkable achievement remains shrouded in shadow. And his children are prepared to travel to the ends of the Earth and beyond for an answer to the question that has always haunted them: Why were we made?
Download or read book Caesar s Last Breath written by Sam Kean and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science and history of the air we breathe. It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell. In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation. Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.
Download or read book The Big Kill written by Mickey Spillane and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1968-08-01 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You think Mike Hammer is tough? Just wait until you see the punishment he delivers when he sets out to find the killer of a guy trying to go straight. A guy who parked his kid in Mike Hammer’s arms—and left him there an orphan. Luscious, eager dames, dynamite-packed action that starts in cheap bars and goes right to the D.A.’s office, and a guided tour of the seamiest—as well as the swankiest—spots in New York, make this one of Mike Hammer’s most thrilling adventures to date.
Download or read book Scientists and Their Mind blowing Experiments written by Dr. Mike Goldsmith and published by Hippo Bks. This book was released on 2003 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You've probably heard of a few scientists... - Galileo Galilei and his telescope - Isaac Newton and his apple - Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. But have you heard that... - Galileo was sentenced to life in prison for his shocking ideas about the solar system - Newton wasn't all that keen on science - sometimes it got on his nerves - Darwin wrote a book about his pet worms? Yes, even though they're dead, scientists are still full of surprises - and the nine in this book are more surprising than most. Now you can get the inside story from their lost notebooks, read the news reports as their breakthroughs hit the headlines, and find out all about the mind-blowing experiments! Dead Funny ~ Dead Gripping ~ Dead Famous
Download or read book What They Didn t Burn written by Mel Laytner and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-20 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if you uncovered a Nazi paper trail that revealed your father to be a man very different from the quiet, introspective dad you knew . . . or thought you knew? Growing up, author Mel Laytner saw his father as a quintessential Type B: passive and conventional. As he uncovered documents the Nazis didn’t burn, however, another man emerged—a black market ringleader and wily camp survivor who made his own luck. The tattered papers also shed light on painful secrets his father took to his grave. Melding the intimacy of personal memoir with the rigors of investigative journalism, What They Didn’t Burn is a heartwarming, inspiring story of resilience and redemption. A story of how desperate survivors turned hopeful refugees rebuilt their shattered lives in America, all the while struggling with the lingering trauma that has impacted their children to this day.
Download or read book The Book Thieves written by Anders Rydell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A chilling reminder of Hitler’s twisted power." —BBC For readers of The Monuments Men and The Hare with Amber Eyes, the story of the Nazis' systematic pillaging of Europe's libraries, and the small team of heroic librarians now working to return the stolen books to their rightful owners. While the Nazi party was being condemned by much of the world for burning books, they were already hard at work perpetrating an even greater literary crime. Through extensive new research that included records saved by the Monuments Men themselves—Anders Rydell tells the untold story of Nazi book theft, as he himself joins the effort to return the stolen books. When the Nazi soldiers ransacked Europe’s libraries and bookshops, large and small, the books they stole were not burned. Instead, the Nazis began to compile a library of their own that they could use to wage an intellectual war on literature and history. In this secret war, the libraries of Jews, Communists, Liberal politicians, LGBT activists, Catholics, Freemasons, and many other opposition groups were appropriated for Nazi research, and used as an intellectual weapon against their owners. But when the war was over, most of the books were never returned. Instead many found their way into the public library system, where they remain to this day. Now, Rydell finds himself entrusted with one of these stolen volumes, setting out to return it to its rightful owner. It was passed to him by the small team of heroic librarians who have begun the monumental task of combing through Berlin’s public libraries to identify the looted books and reunite them with the families of their original owners. For those who lost relatives in the Holocaust, these books are often the only remaining possession of their relatives they have ever held. And as Rydell travels to return the volume he was given, he shows just how much a single book can mean to those who own it.
Download or read book Retreat from Doomsday written by John Mueller and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Oxygen Barons written by Gregory Feeley and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book ANZACs at War written by George Low and published by Carlton Publishing Group. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maori challenge The forgotten five War in the wet Test by battle Regan's Raiders Killing zone Outback Army Sub-Chaser Secret in the sand Island of fear Outlaw from the Outback The warlord.
Download or read book Time Bomb and Zahndry Others written by Timothy Zahn and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time in book form, here is a full-spectrum showcase by the author of Cobra and The Blackcollar. Timothy Zahn has established himself in a few short years as one of the better writers of the science fiction adventure.--Science Fiction Chronicle.
Download or read book The Bastard Brigade written by Peter Leslie and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
