Letter to a Christian Nation

Written by Sam Harris

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: January 8, 2008
Price: $12.95
ISBN: 978-0-307-27877-7 (0-307-27877-8)

“Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth... Read more >

A Brief History of Time

Written by Stephen Hawking

Format: Trade Paperback, 224 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: September 1, 1998
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-38016-3 (0-553-38016-8)

Introduction by Carl Sagan. Hawking's classic A Brief History of Time expertly guides students to the supreme questions of the nature of physics, time and the universe: Was there a beginning of time? Will there be an end? Is the universe infinite? Is it possible to unite all branches of physics?... Read more >

A Brief History of Time
And Other Essays
Written by Stephen Hawking

Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: September 1, 1998
Price: $30.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-10953-5 (0-553-10953-7)

Introduction by Carl Sagan. Hawking's classic A Brief History of Time expertly guides students to the supreme questions of the nature of physics, time and the universe: Was there a beginning of time? Will there be an end? Is the universe infinite? Is it possible to unite all branches of physics?... Read more >

A Briefer History of Time

Written by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

Format: Hardcover, 176 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: September 27, 2005
Price: $27.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-80436-2 (0-553-80436-7)

Stephen Hawking’s worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author’s engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, the history and future of the universe... Read more >

The Grand Design

Written by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: September 7, 2010
Price: $28.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-80537-6 (0-553-80537-1)

The first major work in nearly a decade by one of the world's great thinkers, The Grand Design is a marvelously concise book with new answers to the ultimate questions of life.

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is... Read more >

The Universe in a Nutshell

Written by Stephen Hawking

Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: November 6, 2001
Price: $35.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-80202-3 (0-553-80202-X)

Please Note: This book is not available at the special examination price.

Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel to his A Brief History of Time that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book. The Universe in a... Read more >

History of the Space Shuttle, Volume Two
Development of the Space Shuttle, 1972-1981
Written by T. A. Heppenheimer

Format: Trade Paperback, 504 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: July 6, 2010
Price: $32.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-285-0 (1-58834-285-9)

Basing his work on virtually untapped NASA archives, T. A. Heppenheimer has produced the second volume of his definitive history of the space shuttle. Volume Two traces the development of the shuttle through a decade of engineering setbacks and breakthroughs, program-management challenges, and political strategizing, culminating in the first launch in... Read more >

Engines of Change
The American Industrial Revolution, 1790-1860
Written by Brooke Hindle and Stephen Lubar

Format: Trade Paperback, 310 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: October 17, 1986
Price: $21.95
ISBN: 978-0-87474-539-9 (0-87474-539-X)

Engines of Change is based on a Smithsonian Institution exhibit of the same title. The principal theme is the importance of technological transfer. It ventures beyond discussion of machines and tools to consider the effects of geographical dimension, natural resources, business practices, the role of women, ethnic diversity, and education. In... Read more >

The Age of Wonder
The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science
Written by Richard Holmes

Format: Trade Paperback, 576 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: March 2, 2010
Price: $17.95
ISBN: 978-1-4000-3187-0 (1-4000-3187-7)

A riveting history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.

When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific ferment sweeping through Britain... Read more >

The Age of Wonder
How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
Written by Richard Holmes

Format: Hardcover, 576 pages
Publisher: Pantheon
On Sale: July 14, 2009
Price: $40.00
ISBN: 978-0-375-42222-5 (0-375-42222-6)

Winner of the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books

A riveting history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.

When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover... Read more >

Totem Salmon
Life Lessons from Another Species
Written by Freeman House

Format: Trade Paperback, 248 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press
On Sale: May 12, 2000
Price: $20.00
ISBN: 978-0-8070-8549-3 (0-8070-8549-9)

Part lyrical natural history, part social and philosophical manifesto, Totem Salmon tells the story of a determined band of locals who’ve worked for over two decades to save one of the last purely native species of salmon in California. The book-call it the zen of salmon restoration-traces the evolution of the... Read more >

Man's Place in Nature

Written by Thomas H. Huxley
Series edited by Stephen Jay Gould

Format: Trade Paperback, 192 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: October 2, 2001
Price: $15.00
ISBN: 978-0-375-75847-8 (0-375-75847-X)

Thomas H. Huxley was one of the first supporters of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, and he did more than any other writer to advance its acceptance among scientists and nonscientists alike. His most famous book, Man’s Place in Nature, published only five years after Darwin’s The Origin... Read more >

Temperament
How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization
Written by Stuart Isacoff

Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: February 4, 2003
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-375-70330-0 (0-375-70330-6)

Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes on today’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature, or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role in the controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient... Read more >

The Northern Lights

Written by Lucy Jago

Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: October 29, 2002
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-0-375-70882-4 (0-375-70882-0)

Combining popular science, biography, and arctic adventure in a book that reads lika a cross between Longitude, A Beautiful Mind, and Into Thin Air, Lucy Jago presents a riveting acount of the life and work of Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland, the visioinary who solved the mysteries of the aurora borealis.

Here is... Read more >

The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Edited by Peter Jakab and Rick Young

Format: Trade Paperback, 368 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: June 17, 2004
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-142-6 (1-58834-142-9)

For the first time, nearly seventy of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s published writings are brought together in a single, annotated reference. Spanning the decades from the brothers’ turn-of-the-century experiments with gliders until Orville’s death in 1948, the articles describe the design of their aircraft, early test flights, and camp life at... Read more >

Ancient Mysteries
Discover the latest intriguiging, Scientifically sound explinations to Age-old puzzles
Written by Peter James and Nick Thorpe

Format: Trade Paperback, 672 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
On Sale: October 30, 2001
Price: $23.00
ISBN: 978-0-345-43488-3 (0-345-43488-9)

For centuries, philosophers, scientists, and charlatans have attempted to decipher the baffling mysteries of our past, from Stonehenge to the lost continent of Atlantis. Today, however, DNA testing, radiocarbon dating, and other cutting-edge investigative tools, together with a healthy dose of common sense, are guiding us closer to discovering the truth... Read more >

Ingenious Pursuits
Building the Scientific Revolution
Written by Lisa Jardine

Format: Trade Paperback, 464 pages
Publisher: Anchor
On Sale: December 5, 2000
Price: $17.00
ISBN: 978-0-385-72001-4 (0-385-72001-7)

n this fascinating look at the European scientific advances of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, historian Lisa Jardine demonstrates that the pursuit of knowledge occurs not in isolation, but rather in the lively interplay and frequently cutthroat competition between creative minds.

The great thinkers of that extraordinary age, including Isaac... Read more >

National Geographic 125 Years
Legendary Photographs, Adventures, and Discoveries That Changed the World
Written by Mark Collins Jenkins

Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: National Geographic
On Sale: November 6, 2012
Price: $50.00
ISBN: 978-1-4262-0957-4 (1-4262-0957-6)

Featuring show-stopping imagery and thrilling behind-the-scenes tales, National Geographic 125 Years captures the heart of National Geographic’s history, from its earliest days as a scientific club to its growth into one of the world’s largest geographic organizations. The book reveals how much is known about the world through the pages and... Read more >

Student's Quest Guide: Aristotle Leads the Way
Aristotle Leads the Way
Written by Johns Hopkins University

Format: Trade Paperback, 112 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: December 1, 2007
Price: $12.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-254-6 (1-58834-254-9)

This rich, multidisciplinary curriculum to accompany Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way covers astronomy, physics, and chemistry from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages. The course of study is divided into five units. Each unit includes an introduction (with background information, a materials list, and standards correlated to... Read more >

Student's Quest Guide: Newton at the Center
Newton at the Center
Written by Johns Hopkins University

Format: Trade Paperback, 246 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: June 1, 2008
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-255-3 (1-58834-255-7)

This rich, multidisciplinary curriculum to accompany Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science: Newton at the Center covers astronomy, physics, and chemistry from Copernicus to the Curies, from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. The course of study is divided into seven units. Each unit includes an introduction (with background, materials list... Read more >

Teacher's Quest Guide: Aristotle Leads the Way
Aristotle Leads the Way
Written by Johns Hopkins University

Format: Trade Paperback, 440 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: December 1, 2007
Price: $49.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-251-5 (1-58834-251-4)

This rich, multidisciplinary curriculum to accompany Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way covers astronomy, physics, and chemistry from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages. The course of study is divided into five units. Each unit includes an introduction (with background information, a materials list, and standards correlated to... Read more >

Teacher's Quest Guide: Newton at the Center
Newton at the Center
Written by Johns Hopkins University

Format: Trade Paperback, 544 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
On Sale: June 1, 2008
Price: $59.95
ISBN: 978-1-58834-252-2 (1-58834-252-2)

This rich, multidisciplinary curriculum to accompany Joy Hakim’s The Story of Science: Newton at the Center covers astronomy, physics, and chemistry from Copernicus to the Curies, from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. The course of study is divided into seven units. Each unit includes an introduction (with background, materials list... Read more >

Fire in the Mind
Science, Faith, and the Search for Order
Written by George Johnson

Format: Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: September 17, 1996
Price: $17.95
ISBN: 978-0-679-74021-6 (0-679-74021-X)

"A must for all those seriously interested in the key ideas at the frontier of scientific discourse."--Paul Davies

Are there really laws governing the universe? Or is the order we see a mere artifact of the way evolution wired the brain? And is what we call science only a set of myths... Read more >

Strange Beauty
Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics
Written by George Johnson

Format: Trade Paperback, 464 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: October 17, 2000
Price: $20.00
ISBN: 978-0-679-75688-0 (0-679-75688-4)

George Johnson's informed and insightful biography of Murray Gell-Mann goes far in helping us understand the complexities of both the man and the science in which he has loomed so large.  Gell-Mann's discoveries of the quark and the Eightfold Way were cornerstones for all that has followed in particle physics, the effort... Read more >

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

Written by George Johnson

Format: Trade Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: March 10, 2009
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-4000-3423-9 (1-4000-3423-X)

A dazzling, irresistible collection of the ten most ground-breaking and beautiful experiments in scientific history.

With the attention to detail of a historian and the story-telling ability of a novelist, New York Times science writer George Johnson celebrates these groundbreaking experiments and re-creates a time when the world seemed filled with... Read more >