Basic Books imprint: 1165 books
Why Beauty Is Truth
The History of Symmetry
Language: English
Release Date: August 2, 2007
At the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory, and much of modern cosmology lies one concept: symmetry. In Why Beauty Is Truth, world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study. Stewart introduces us to such characters...
The Age of Anxiety
A History of America's Turbulent Affair with Tranquilizers
Language: English
Release Date: December 30, 2008
Anxious Americans have increasingly pursued peace of mind through pills and prescriptions. In 2006, the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that 40 million adult Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder in any given year: more than double the number thought to have such a disorder in 2001....
Never Home Alone
From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live
Language: English
Release Date: November 6, 2018
A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements
Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the...
Fear of Physics
A Guide for the Perplexed
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2007
Fear of Physics is a lively, irreverent, and informative look at everything from the physics of boiling water to cutting-edge research at the observable limits of the universe. Rich with anecdotes and accessible examples, it nimbly ranges over the tools and thought behind the world of modern physics, taking the mystery out of what is essentially a very human intellectual endeavor.
River Out of Eden
A Darwinian View of Life
Language: English
Release Date: August 4, 2008
How did the replication bomb we call ”life” begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as ”the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius”), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Game Theory in Everyday Life
Language: English
Release Date: November 4, 2008
Praised by Entertainment Weekly as the man who put the fizz into physics,” Dr. Len Fisher turns his attention to the science of cooperation in his lively and thought-provoking book. Fisher shows how the modern science of game theory has helped biologists to understand the evolution of cooperation...
Out Of Control
The New Biology Of Machines, Social Systems, And The Economic World
Language: English
Release Date: April 30, 2009
Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things.
Small Pieces Loosely Joined
A Unified Theory Of The Web
Language: English
Release Date: November 5, 2008
In this insightful social commentary, David Weinberger goes beyond misdirected hype to reveal what is truly revolutionary about the Web. Just as Marshall McLuhan forever altered our view of broadcast media, Weinberger shows that the Web is transforming not only social institutions but also bedrock...
by Francis Crick
Language: English
Release Date: August 6, 2008
Language: English
Release Date: August 6, 2008
Candid, provocative, and disarming, this is the widely-praised memoir of the co-discoverer of the double helix of DNA.
Adventures in Human Being
A Grand Tour from the Cranium to the Calcaneum
Language: English
Release Date: October 13, 2015
"Adventures in Human Being, with its deft mix of the clinical and the lyrical, is a triumph of the eloquent brain and the compassionate heart."
--Wall Street Journal
We assume we know our bodies intimately, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory, an enigma of bone...
by Ian Stewart
Language: English
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Renowned mathematician Ian Stewart uses remarkable (and some unremarkable) numbers to introduce readers to the beauty of mathematics.
At its heart, mathematics is about numbers, our fundamental tools for understanding the world. In Professor Stewart's Incredible Numbers, Ian Stewart offers...
Surfaces and Essences
Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking
Language: English
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Is there one central mechanism upon which all human thinking rests? Cognitive scientists Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander argue that there is. At this core is our incessant proclivity to take what we perceive, to abstract it, and to find resemblances to prior experiences—in other words, our...
by Alan M. Dershowitz
Language: English
Release Date: July 31, 2008
Language: English
Release Date: July 31, 2008
As defender of both the righteous and the questionable, Alan Dershowitz has become perhaps the most famous and outspoken attorney in the land. Whether or not they agree with his legal tactics, most people would agree that he possesses a powerful and profound sense of justice. In this meditation on...
Boys Adrift
The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men
Language: English
Release Date: June 28, 2016
Why America's sons are underachieving, and what we can do about it.
Something is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, American boys are, on average, less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. The gender gap in college attendance and graduation...