Science: eBooks

Located in Overdrive. From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest--a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery. Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. In this, her first book, now available in paperback, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths--that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. Simard writes--in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways--how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies--and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them. And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world.

Located in Gale Virtual Reference. How do our human senses work and help us interact with our surroundings, and what happens when these senses malfunction or are impaired? This book provides in-depth information that answers these questions and more.The Five Senses and Beyond: The Encyclopedia of Perception supplies students and general readers with accurate, up-to-date information about the human senses. It explains the "big five" senses in detail as well as lesser-known but important senses--perceptions such as balance, kinesthesia, temperature, and pain. After a helpful introduction, this reference work provides A-to-Z, cross-referenced entries on hundreds of topics in the realm of human perception that allow students to find and digest information quickly and draw connections between related topics. Through the use of activity sidebars, readers will also be able to explore the workings of the senses firsthand, lending an element of interactivity to this accessible encyclopedia. A convenient end-of-volume glossary provides definitions of unfamiliar terms.

Located in EBSCO eBooks. A deeply reported look at the rise of home genetic testing and the seismic shock it has had on individual lives. You swab your cheek or spit in a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or the report could reveal long-buried family secrets and upend your entire sense of identity. Soon a lark becomes an obsession, a relentless drive to find answers to questions at the core of your being, like "Who am I?" and "Where did I come from?" Welcome to the age of home genetic testing. In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. Gripping and masterfully told, The Lost Family is a spectacular book on a big, timely subject.

Located in Overdrive. Stephen Walker unpacks secrets that were hidden for decades and takes the reader into the drama of one of humanity's greatest adventures – to the scientists, engineers and political leaders on both sides, and above all to the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.

Located in Gale Virtual Reference, this book covers all major areas of science, engineering, technology, as well as mathematics and the medical and health sciences, while providing a comprehensive overview of current scientific knowledge and technology.

Located in Gale Virtual Reference. Thrilling new discoveries in science and technology are announced almost daily. Cutting-Edge Science and Technology keeps readers at the forefront of new research. Sustainable Agriculture covers a broad spectrum of issues related to advances in farming technology, such as sustainable soil, sustainable water, sustainable energy, and biotechnology. High-impact photos and explanatory graphics and charts bring scientific concepts to life. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Located in EBSCO eBooks. A comprehensive illustrated exploration of the fascinating science of color. Arielle and Joann Eckstut, authors of The Secret Language of Color, offer a thorough, readable, and highly visual exploration of the science of color. Organized by 50 of the most essential questions about color across a variety of fields--physics, chemistry, biology, technology, and psychology--this book examines how and why we see color; how color relates to light; what the real primary colors are; how biology, language, and culture affect the colors that we see; and much more. Full of clear and elegant infographics, What Is Color? is a must-have for artists and designers, scientists, students, and decorators, and anyone else whose work or play involves color.

Located in Overdrive. A renowned climate scientist shows how fossil fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility and delay action on climate change, and offers a battle plan for how we can save the planet.

Located in OverDrive, Life's Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation that no one but one of the most celebrated science writers of our generation could craft. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to re-create life.