In this book Bill Bryson explores the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer and attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if...
Examines "the greatest works of world literature, from the Iliad to Don Quixote to The Great Gatsby. Around 100 ... articles explore landmark novels, short stories, plays, and poetry that reinvented the art of writing in their time, whether Ancient Greece, post-classical Europe, or modern-day Korea"--Amazon.com.
Delves into the world of visualized data where stunning infographics that blend the facts with their connections, contexts, and relationships make information meaningful, entertaining, and beautiful.
"In this sequel to the bestselling book The Visual Miscellaneum, author David McCandless uses stunning and unique visuals to reveal unexpected insights into how the world really works. Every day, every hour, every minute we are bombarded with information,...
What was history's biggest empire? Or the tallest building of the ancient world? What was the plumbing like in medieval Byzantium? The average wage in the Mughal Empire? Where did scientific writing first emerge? What was the bloodiest ever ritual human sacrifice?We are used to thinking about history in terms of stories. Yet we understand our own world through data: cast arrays of statistics that reveal the workings of our societies. In Figuring Out...
The duo behind the massively successful podcast "Stuff You Should Know" offers an unexpected look at weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected elements of a wide variety of topics, featuring new subjects that they've long wondered about and wanted to explore.
Presents a compendium of popular misconceptions, misunderstandings and common mistakes based on "common knowledge," culled from the fields of history, science, literature, and biography.
A reference book containing lists of information about history, society, science, philosophy, design, technology, nature, language arts, food,drinks, and the arts.
The bestselling classic has been revised and updated! A colorful guide to the world's most consequential trivia, Visual Miscellaneum by David McCandless is a reference book like no other. It now includes 18 all new graphs and 23 updated ones. It helps us make sense of our world by putting the data we are bombarded with every day -- health findings, technological advances, cultural touch points, war statistics -- into creative visual perspective. Like...
"Dr. Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial...
