Basic Books: 1466 books
Decoding Darkness
The Search For The Genetic Causes Of Alzheimer's Disease
Language: English
Release Date: January 7, 2008
Working from the intriguing hypothesis that Alzheimer's dementia is the result of a renegade protein-beta amyloid-Tanzi and others set out to find the gene responsible for its production. Decoding Darkness takes us deep into the minds and far-flung labs of many a prominent researcher, offering an...
Rigor Mortis
How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions
Language: English
Release Date: April 4, 2017
An essential book to understanding whether the new miracle cure is good science or simply too good to be true
American taxpayers spend $30 billion annually funding biomedical research, but over half of these studies can't be replicated due to poor experimental design, improper methods, and...
Dark Remedy
The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine
Language: English
Release Date: April 27, 2009
In this riveting medical detective story, Trent Stephens and Rock Brynner recount the history of thalidomide, from the epidemic of birth defects in the 1960's to the present day, as scientists work to create and test an alternative drug that captures thalidomide's curative properties without its cruel...
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman
Language: English
Release Date: April 6, 2005
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman-from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science-a life like no other. From...
Fixing My Gaze
A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions
Language: English
Release Date: May 26, 2009
A revelatory account of the brain's capacity for change
When neuroscientist Susan Barry was fifty years old, she experienced the sense of immersion in a three dimensional world for the first time. Skyscrapers on street corners appeared to loom out toward her like the bows of giant ships. Tree...
Permanent Present Tense
The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesic Patient, H. M.
Language: English
Release Date: May 14, 2013
In 1953, 27-year-old Henry Gustave Molaison underwent an experimental psychosurgical” procedure-a targeted lobotomy-in an effort to alleviate his debilitating epilepsy. The outcome was unexpected-when Henry awoke, he could no longer form new memories, and for the rest of his life would be trapped...
by Lawrence Friedman
Language: English
Release Date: September 9, 1994
Language: English
Release Date: September 9, 1994
In a panoramic history of our criminal justice system from Colonial times to today, one of our foremost legal thinkers shows how America fashioned a system of crime and punishment in its own image.
The Folly of Fools
The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life
Language: English
Release Date: October 25, 2011
A New York Times Notable Book of 2012
Whether it’s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive—but deceit and self-deception carry the costs of being alienated from...
Skull Wars
Kennewick Man, Archaeology, And The Battle For Native American Identity
Language: English
Release Date: April 5, 2001
The 1996 discovery, near Kennewick, Washington, of a 9,000-year-old Caucasoid skeleton brought more to the surface than bones. The explosive controversy and resulting lawsuit also raised a far more fundamental question: Who owns history? Many Indians see archeologists as desecrators of tribal rites...
The Law of the Land
A Grand Tour of Our Constitutional Republic
Language: English
Release Date: April 14, 2015
From Kennebunkport to Kauai, from the Rio Grande to the Northern Rockies, ours is a vast republic. While we may be united under one Constitution, separate and distinct states remain, each with its own constitution and culture. Geographic idiosyncrasies add more than just local character. Regional...
The Chief
The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts
Language: English
Release Date: March 26, 2019
An incisive biography of the Supreme Court's enigmatic Chief Justice, taking us inside the momentous legal decisions of his tenure so far
John Roberts was named to the Supreme Court in 2005 claiming he would act as a neutral umpire in deciding cases. His critics argue he has been anything but,...
Half-Life
The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy
Language: English
Release Date: February 3, 2015
It was at the height of the Cold War, in the summer of 1950, when Bruno Pontecorvo mysteriously vanished behind the Iron Curtain. Who was he, and what caused him to disappear? Was he simply a physicist, or also a spy and communist radical? A protégé of Enrico Fermi, Pontecorvo was one of the most...
The Man Who Shocked The World
The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram
Language: English
Release Date: February 24, 2009
Creator of the famous Obedience Experiments and originator of the six degrees of separation” theory, Stanley Milgram transformed our understanding of human nature and continues to be one of the most important figures in psychology and beyond. In this sparkling biography, Thomas Blass captures...
The Triumph of Seeds
How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
Language: English
Release Date: March 24, 2015
As seen on PBS's American Spring LIVE, the award-winning author of Buzz and Feathers presents a natural and human history of seeds, the marvels of the plant kingdom
"The genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of...