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The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs
Par Mark O'Connell. 2017
The wildly entertaining and eye-opening biography of J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "Close Encounters" with…
alien life, inspired Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster classic science fiction epic film and is the subject of History Channel's Project Blue Book, and made an entire nation want to believe in UFOs.In June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold looked out his cockpit window and saw a group of nine silvery crescents weaving between the peaks of the Cascade Mountains at an estimated 1,200 miles an hour. The media, the military, and the scientific community—led by J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer hired by the Air Force—debunked this and many other Unidentified Flying Object sightings reported across the country. But after years of denials, Hynek made a shocking pronouncement: UFOs are real.Thirty years after his death, Hynek’s agonizing transformation from skepticism to true believer remains one of the great misunderstood stories of science. In this definitive biography, Mark O'Connell reveals for the first time how Hynek’s work both as a celebrated astronomer and as the U. S. Air Force’s go-to UFO expert for nearly twenty years stretched the boundaries of modern science, laid the groundwork for acceptance of the possibility of UFOs, and was the basis of the hit film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With unprecedented access to Hynek’s personal and professional files, O’Connell smashes conventional wisdom to reveal the intriguing man and scientist beneath the legend. Tracing Hynek’s career, O'Connell examines Hynek’s often-ignored work as a professional astronomer to create a complete portrait of a groundbreaking enthusiast who became an American cult icon and transformed the way we see our world and our universe.Direct Red: A Surgeon's View of Her Life-or-Death Profession
Par Gabriel Weston. 2009
“What a terrific book….[Weston] leaves you feeling that if push came to shove you’d want to be operated on by…
her.”—Nicholas Shakespeare, author of Bruce Chatwin: A BiographyThe continuing popularity of doctor shows on TV—from Scrubs, House, and Grey’s Anatomy to the television phenomenon ER—indicates a widespread fascination with all things medical. Direct Red, by practicing ear, nose, and throat surgical specialist Gabriel Weston, takes readers behind the scenes and into the operating room for a fascinating look at what really goes on on the other side of the hospital doors. “A Surgeon’s View of her Life-and-Death Profession,” Weston’s Direct Red is written not only with knowledge and insight, but with compassion, honesty, and literary flair.The Family Gene: A Mission to Turn My Deadly Inheritance into a Hopeful Future
Par Joselin Linder. 2017
A riveting medical mystery about a young woman’s quest to uncover the truth about her likely fatal genetic disorder that…
opens a window onto the exploding field of genomic medicineWhen Joselin Linder was in her twenties her legs suddenly started to swell. After years of misdiagnoses, doctors discovered a deadly blockage in her liver. Struggling to find an explanation for her unusual condition, Joselin compared the medical chart of her father—who had died from a mysterious disease, ten years prior—with that of an uncle who had died under similarly strange circumstances. Delving further into the past, she discovered that her great-grandmother had displayed symptoms similar to hers before her death. Clearly, this was more than a fluke. Setting out to build a more complete picture of the illness that haunted her family, Joselin approached Dr. Christine Seidman, the head of a group of world-class genetic researchers at Harvard Medical School, for help. Dr. Seidman had been working on her family’s case for twenty years and had finally confirmed that fourteen of Joselin’s relatives carried something called a private mutation—meaning that they were the first known people to experience the baffling symptoms of a brand new genetic mutation. Here, Joselin tells the story of their gene: the lives it claimed and the future of genomic medicine with the potential to save those that remain. Digging into family records and medical history, conducting interviews with relatives and friends, and reflecting on her own experiences with the Harvard doctor, Joselin pieces together the lineage of this deadly gene to write a gripping and unforgettable exploration of family, history, and love. A compelling chronicle of survival and perseverance, The Family Gene is an important story of a young woman reckoning with her father’s death, her own mortality, and her ethical obligations to herself and those closest to her.FRITZ HABER -- a Nobel laureate in chemistry, a friend of Albert Einstein, a German Jew and World War I…
hero -- may be the most important scientist you have never heard of. The Haber-Bosch process, which he invented at the turn of the twentieth century, revolutionized agriculture by converting nitrogen to fertilizer in quantities massive enough to feed the world. The invention has become an essential pillar for life on earth; some two billion people on our planet could not survive without it. Yet this same process supplied the German military with explosives during World War I, and Haber orchestrated Germany's use of an entirely new weapon -- poison gas. Eventually, Haber's efforts led to Zyklon B, the gas later used to kill millions -- including Haber's own relatives -- in Nazi concentration camps.Haber is the patron saint of guns and butter, a scientist whose discoveries transformed the way we produce food and fight wars. His legacy is filled with contradictions, as was his personality. For some, he was a benefactor of humanity and devoted friend. For others, he was a war criminal, possessed by raw ambition. An intellectual gunslinger, enamored of technical progress and driven by patriotic devotion to Germany, he was instrumental in the scientific work that inadvertently supported the Nazi cause; a Jew and a German patriot, he was at once an enabler of the Nazi regime and its victim.Master Mind is a thought-provoking biography of this controversial scientist, a modern Faust who personifies the paradox of science, its ability to create and to destroy. It offers a complete chronicle of his tumultuous and ultimately tragic life, from his childhood and rise to prominence in the heady days of the German Empire to his disgrace and exile at the hands of the Nazis; from early decades as the hero who eliminated the threat of starvation to his lingering legacy as a villain whose work led to the demise of millions.Hidden Valley Road
Par Robert Kolker. 2020
12 children.6 of them diagnosed with schizophrenia.Science's greatest hope in understanding the disease.___________*ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2020**TIME…
100 Must-Read Books Of 2020 Pick**New York Times bestseller**Selected as Oprah's Book Club Pick*'Startlingly intimate' - The Sunday Times'Grippingly told and brilliantly reported' - Mail on Sunday'Unforgettable' - The TimesFor fans of Educated, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Three Identical StrangersDon and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins - aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony - and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after the other, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institutes of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother, to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amidst profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love and hope.'An extraordinary case study and tour de force of reporting' - Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind'This book tore my heart out. It is a revelation-about the history of mental health treatment, about trauma, foremost about family-and a more-than-worthy follow-up to Robert Kolker's brilliant Lost Girls'-Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and Give Me Your Hand'Hidden Valley Road contains everything: scientific intrigue, meticulous reporting, startling revelations, and, most of all, a profound sense of humanity. It is that rare book that can be read again and again'-David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon(P)2020 Penguin AudioThe Boy Who Reached for the Stars El niño que alcanzó las estrellas
Par Elio Morillo. 2023
El joven ingeniero conocido como “el mecánico del espacio” (@THESPACEMECHANIC) comparte su apasionante historia, desde su infancia en Ecuador hasta…
su trabajo en la misión Marte 2020 de la NASA.Elio Morillo tenía cuatro años cuando una serie de dificultades económicas y familiares obligaron a su madre a abandonar Ecuador con él. En Nueva York, y más tarde en Puerto Rico, gracias a los sacrificios y el apoyo incondicional de su mamá, Elio descubrió el poder transformador de la educación y el esfuerzo, así como de la amistad y la ayuda desinteresada de los desconocidos. Su determinación lo llevó a trabajar en el Laboratorio de Propulsión a Chorro de la NASA para la Misión Marte 2020, donde fue ingeniero de pruebas y operaciones de sistema para el rover Perseverance e Ingenuity, el helicóptero de Marte. El niño que alcanzó las estrellas es una muestra de que, si te lo propones, tú también puedes realizar tus sueños, así sean tan grandes como alcanzar las estrellas.---The young engineer known as "the space mechanic" (@THESPACEMECHANIC) shares his gripping story, from his childhood in Ecuador to his work on NASA's Mars 2020 mission.Elio Morillo was four years old when a series of economic and family difficulties forced his mother to leave Ecuador with him. In New York, and later in Puerto Rico, thanks to the sacrifices and unconditional support of his mother, Elio discovered the transformative power of education and effort, as well as friendship and the selfless help of strangers. His determination led him to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Mars 2020 Mission, where he was a system tested and operations engineer for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter. The boy who reached for the stars is a proof that, if you set your mind to it, you too can make your dreams come true, even if they are as big as reaching for the stars.Einstein: His Life and Universe (Great Thinkers Ser.)
Par Walter Isaacson. 2008
By the author of the acclaimed bestsellers Benjamin Franklin and Steve Jobs, this is the definitive biography of Albert Einstein.…
How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk—a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate—became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom, and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals. These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the World's Greatest Scientist
Par Andrew Robinson. 2019
A "highly readable" account of the role Britain played in Einstein's life—by inspiring his teenage passion for physics and providing…
refuge from the Nazis (The Wall Street Journal).In late 1933, Albert Einstein found himself living alone in an isolated holiday hut in rural England. There, he toiled peacefully at mathematics, occasionally stepping out for walks or to play his violin. But how had Einstein come to abandon his Berlin home and go “on the run”?This lively account tells the story of the world’s greatest scientist’s time in Britain for the first time, showing why the country was the perfect refuge for Einstein from rumored assassination plots by Nazi agents. Young Einstein’s passion for British physics, epitomized by Newton, had sparked his scientific development around 1900. British astronomers had confirmed his general theory of relativity, making him internationally famous in 1919. Welcomed by the British people, who helped him campaign against Nazi anti-Semitism, he even intended to become a British citizen. So why did Einstein then leave Britain, never to return to Europe?“A vivid look at how the U.K. affected the German-born physicist’s life and thinking.” —Publishers Weekly“A marvelous job of pulling new and interesting material out of the Einstein archives . . . I suspect that even readers who have devoured many books about Einstein and are already familiar with his interactions with the English . . . will find much to learn and enjoy.” —Metascience Journal“Robinson has that rare knack for presenting a near-encyclopedic volume of historical information, anecdotes and contemporaneous accounts in a thoroughly delightful fashion.” —Physics WorldIncludes photographs and illustrationsThe Reality of Brain Injury: Am I Still Me? (After Brain Injury: Survivor Stories)
Par Andrew Tillyard. 2022
A respected medical professional, family man, and keen athlete, Andrew Tillyard had a full and active life until a vehicle…
crash changed it all. He sustained a serious head injury and was airlifted to the hospital where he worked, having only just survived. In this book, he recounts the raw, uncompromising struggles he faced to rebuild his life. Drawing from regular blog entries written throughout his rehabilitation, Andrew provides an authentic reflection of the lived experience at some of the key stages along the road to recovery, from pragmatic concerns about new daily difficulties to wider concerns about his new place in life. He highlights the specific challenges and support he encountered as a person with a medical background who finds themselves in a healthcare system as a patient. With frank honesty, he takes readers beyond the simple message that things can and do improve, by demonstrating that negativity, bitterness, and occasional rage are all necessary parts of the journey. However, he also describes the many little victories that helped him keep battling on, knowing there is always hope for the future. In particular, he narrates how he learnt to do things the doctors said he would never do: walking, reading, running, and ultimately writing this book. With the perspective of ten years since his injury, the book also charts a longer-term view of the ebb and flow of recovery. This is essential reading for neuropsychologists, neurologists, and other rehabilitation therapists, as well as students in medicine, nursing, allied health, and neuropsychology. This is also a compelling and compassionate story for anyone who has survived a brain injury, who feels – as Andrew did at times – that life might not be worth living anymore, as it can show that there is always hope for the future.Embracing Hope After Traumatic Brain Injury: Finding Eden (After Brain Injury: Survivor Stories)
Par Michael Arthur. 2022
This important book provides a firsthand account of a university professor who experienced traumatic brain injury. It tells the story of…
Michael Arthur, who had recently accepted a position as vice principal of a new high school. After only two weeks on the job, he was involved in a car accident while driving through an intersection in northern Utah. Through his personal account, he takes the reader into the dark interworkings of his mind as he tries to cope with his new reality. He provides insight into how he learned how to process information and even speak without stumbling on his words while also sharing how his significant relationships suffered as he tried to navigate the restless seas of doubt while trying to circumvent his unyielding symptoms. The book is about finding optimism and gaining insight into the struggles of the brain-injured patient and about trying to understand the perspectives of loved ones who can’t quite grasp the idea of an invisible injury. From the sudden onset of garbled speech to the challenges of processing information, the changing dynamic of the author’s life is highlighted to help family members and healthcare workers better understand.Benjamin Franklin: The Man Behind the Lightning Rod (Little Inventor)
Par Nancy Dickmann. 2020
Why is Benjamin Franklin important? He invented the lightning rod and much more! Readers follow the journey of this inventor…
and founding father. Franklin created the lightning rod and other inventions that helped change the world. It's an electrifying story filled with engaging text and colorful images, all reviewed by Smithsonian experts.Bryson City Tales: Stories of a Doctor's First Year of Practice in the Smoky Mountains
Par Walt Larimore. 2004
Captivating stories of how a young doctor's first year of medical practice in the Smoky Mountains shaped his practice of…
life and faith.The little mountain hamlet of Bryson City, North Carolina, offers more than dazzling vistas. For Walt Larimore, a young "flatlander" physician setting up his first practice, the town presents its peculiar challenges as well. With the winsomeness of a James Herriott book, Bryson City Tales sweeps you into a world of colorful characters, the texture of Smoky Mountain life, and the warmth, humor, quirks, and struggles of a small country town.It's a world where the family doctor is also the emergency physician, the coroner, and the obstetrician, and where wilderness medicine is part of the job, search-and-rescue calls in the national forest are a way of life, and the next patient just may be somebody's livestock or pet.Bryson City Tales is the tender and insightful chronicle of a young man's rite of passage from medical student to family physician. Laughter and adventure await you in these pages, and lessons learned from Bryson City's unforgettable residents.A Pulitzer Prize–winning author examines South Pole expeditions, &“wrapping the science in plenty of dangerous drama to keep readers engaged&”…
(Booklist). An Empire of Ice presents a fascinating new take on Antarctic exploration—placing the famed voyages of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, his British rivals Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and others in a larger scientific, social, and geopolitical context. Recounting the Antarctic expeditions of the early twentieth century, the author reveals the British efforts for what they actually were: massive scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was but a spectacular sideshow. By focusing on the larger purpose of these legendary adventures, Edward J. Larson deepens our appreciation of the explorers&’ achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about. &“Rather than recounting the story of the race to the pole chronologically, Larson concentrates on various scientific disciplines (like meteorology, glaciology and paleontology) and elucidates the advances made by the polar explorers . . . Covers a lot of ground—science, politics, history, adventure.&” —The New York Times Book ReviewA raccoon bite on the arm doesn&’t seem that serious, but it soon becomes a life-or-death medical crisis for Melissa…
Loomis. After days of treatment for recurring infection, it becomes obvious that her arm must be amputated. Dr. Ajay Seth, the son of immigrant parents from India and a local orthopaedic surgeon in private practice, performs his first-ever amputation procedure. In the months that follow, divine intervention, combined with Melissa&’s determination and Dr. Seth&’s disciplined commitment and dedication to his patients, brings about the opportunity for a medical breakthrough that will potentially transform the lives of amputees around the world.Rewired is the inspirational, miraculous story of Dr. Seth&’s revolutionary surgery that allows Melissa to not just move a prosthetic arm simply by thinking, but to actually feel with the prosthetic hand, just as she would with her natural arm. This resulted in what others have recognized as the world&’s most advanced amputee, all done from Dr. Seth&’s private practice in a community hospital, using a local staff, and with no special training or extensive research funding.Madness and Memory: The Discovery of Prions—A New Biological Principle of Disease
Par Stanley Prusiner. 2014
In this &“utterly fascinating&” science memoir, the Nobel Prize–winning author chronicles his revolutionary discovery of a major cause of brain…
diseases (The New York Times). In 1997, Stanley B. Prusiner received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on devastating brain diseases. That he was the award&’s sole recipient was entirely appropriate. His struggle to identify the agent responsible for scrapie and mad cow disease in animals, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, had been waged largely alone, and in some cases, in the face of strenuous opposition. In Madness and Memory, Prusiner recounts the journey to his remarkable discovery of prions—infectious proteins that replicate and cause disease, but surprisingly contain no genetic material. Along the way, he sheds light on the world of contemporary science and the meticulousness and perseverance it requires. Through his telling, the agony and triumph of years of research comes to life, along with fascinating portraits of fellow scientists racing to make breakthrough discoveries. Prusiner&’s hypothesis, once considered heresy, now stands as accepted science and provides a path toward conquering such pervasive scourges as Alzheimer&’s, Parkinson&’s, Lou Gehrig&’s, and others diseases. &“Madness and Memory is the story of one of the most important discoveries in recent medical history, and it is also a vivid and compelling portrait of a life in science.&” —Oliver Sacks, MD, neurologist and author of HallucinationsAndré Michaux in Florida: An Eighteenth-Century Botanical Journey
Par Walter Taylor, Eliane Norman. 2002
Retracing the eighteenth-century Florida exploration of botanist Andre Michaux The name Michaux often appears in the plant names of Florida, from…
the endangered yellow violets that grow wild in the panhandle to the Florida rosemary of the scrub. Andre Michaux (1746-1803) was one of the most extraordinary and dynamic individuals of early explorations in North America and the first trained botanist to explore extensively the wilderness east of the Mississippi River, including Spanish East Florida. This first book-length account of Michaux's Florida exploration combines his original journal with writings about him by later authors, historical background, and the author's own narrative to create a multifaceted, comprehensive treatise on Michaux's travels and discoveries in Florida.Beginning with a biographical sketch on the life of Andre Michaux, royal botanist for King Louis XVI of France, the authors retrace (using 16 maps) the exploratory routes he took in Florida and recount historical events occurring in Florida at the time. They include in full documentary form all the plants he discovered, collected, and observed and fully assess his findings so that his contributions can now be evaluated along with those of better-known botanists of whom much has been written, such as John Bartram and his son William--who acknowledged the Frenchman's abilities, writing that Michaux could traverse the same ground that he and his father had covered and find plants that they had missed.From a historical as well as a botanical perspective, Andre Michaux in Florida re-creates the Florida exploration of a remarkable explorer and observer and allows us to experience vicariously the vibrancy and joy of his journey of discovery.The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss
Par Abraham Verghese. 1998
An unforgettable, illuminating story of how men live and how they survive, from Abraham Verghese, the acclaimed New York Times…
bestselling author of Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water, an Oprah's Book Club Pick.“Heartbreaking. . . . Indelible and haunting, [The Tennis Partner] is an elegy to friendship found, and an ode to a good friend lost.”—The Boston GlobeWhen Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other. This friendship between doctor and intern grows increasingly rich and complex, more intimate than two men usually allow. Just when it seems nothing can go wrong, the dark beast from David’s past emerges once again—and almost everything Verghese has come to trust and believe in is threatened as David spirals out of control.Help kids ages 6 to 9 discover the life of Neil Armstrong—a story about working hard and achieving the impossibleNeil…
Armstrong became the first person ever to step foot on the moon. Before he flew space missions and made history with his moon landing, Neil was a curious kid who loved putting together model airplanes. He dreamed about pushing the boundaries of flight and studied hard in school to achieve his goals.Explore how Neil went from being a young boy growing up in Ohio to one of the most famous astronauts in the entire world (and beyond!). How will his can-do attitude and strong dedication inspire you?The Story of Neil Armstrong includes:Test your knowledge—Make sure you understand the story of Neil's life with a fun quiz.Visual timeline—Watch Neil Armstrong progress from curious kid to famous astronaut.Word definitions—Find a helpful glossary with some of the more advanced words and ideas in the book.You, too, can reach for the stars and do the impossible—just like Neil Armstrong!Discover the life of Leonardo da Vinci—a story about uncovering new things for kids ages 6 to 9Leonardo da Vinci…
was a famous artist and thinker. He created well-known paintings like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, and even had ideas for modern-day inventions like cars and contact lenses. Before he amazed the world with his creative mind, he was a bright kid who loved asking questions.As a teenager, he studied under an expert artist who taught him different ways to create, like painting and sculpting. Explore how Leonardo went from being a thoughtful young boy to an artistic genius whose artwork still hangs in museums all over the world.The Story of Leonardo da Vinci includes:Core curriculum standards—Learn the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of Leonardo's life, and test your knowledge with a fun quiz.His lasting legacy—Discover more about how Leonardo da Vinci changed the world for future generations, including you!A visual timeline—Explore a timeline marking the major milestones of Leonardo's life so you can watch him progress from a little kid to a brilliant artist.How will Leonardo's unstoppable imagination inspire you?