The Mind and the Brain : Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Jeffrey M. Schwartz

$37.99 NZD

$42.99 (11% off)

Category: Science

Conventional science holds that "the mind" is only an illusion, a side effect of the activity of the physical brain. Now comes a book, based on cutting-edge research, that argues exactly the opposite--that the mind has a life of its own. Review Quotes: "A daring rescue of the concept of the free human will." "Fascinating . . . Schwartz and Begley excel at spreading enthusiasm for science by forging scintillating concepts out of difficult ideas." In his work treating patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz made an extraordinary discovery: by focusing their attention away from negative behaviors and toward positive ones, his patients were able to make permanent changes to their own neural pathways. In "The Mind and the Brain Schwartz explores this power -- the power of the mind to shape the brain. Through research and case studies, he demonstrates the brain's ability to be drastically rewired, not just in childhood but throughout life -- a paradigm-shifting discovery that could transform the treatment of every neurological dysfunction, from dyslexia to stroke. Schwartz's landmark book challenges the idea that we are merely biologically programmed automatons and proves that we have the power to shape our brains and, consequently, our destiny -- a revolutionary insight that continues to provoke debate among those who care about the future of man's role in the universe. ...Show more

Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav

$40.99 NZD

Category: Science

Featuring a new introduction, an exploration of quantum physics and relativity theory is presented for the layperson reader in an accessible and occasionally whimsical format. By the author of The Seat of the Soul.

Wonders of the Solar System by Brian Cox; Andrew Cohen

$59.99 NZD

Category: Science

Taking readers on a breathtaking visual and scientific adventure, renowned physicist Brian Cox reveals the Solar System as you have never seen it before: from Saturn's moons, where giant ice fountains spout into space and oceans are made of liquid methane, to Jupiter, where storms rage that are twice th e size of Earth and giant super-volcanoes dominate its tortured moon of Io. Professor Cox takes you on a journey of discovery where alien worlds become places you can see and explore. He introduces you to the planets and moons beyond our world, finding the biggest and most bizarre and powerful natural phenomena. He visits some of the most spectacular and extreme locations here on Earth to unveil what our planet can reveal about the wonders of the Solar System. Employing his trademark authoritative yet down-to-earth approach, Brian explores how these previously unseen phenomena have dramatically expanded our horizons with new discoveries about the planets, their moons, and how they came to be the way they are. Includes 500 diagrams and full-color photographs ...Show more

Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society by Bill Bryson et al

$49.99 NZD

Category: Science

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, and with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, David Attenborough, Martin Rees and Richard Fortey amongst others, this is a remarkable volume celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. Since its inception in 1660, the Royal Society has pi oneered scientific discovery and exploration. The oldest scientific academy in existence, its backbone is its Fellowship of the most eminent scientists in history including Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Today, its Fellows are the most influential men and women in science, many of whom have contributed to this ground-breaking volume alongside some of the world,s most celebrated novelists, essayists and historians. Published to mark its 350th anniversary, this highly illustrated book celebrates the Royal Society's vast achievements in its illustrious past as well as its huge contribution to the development of modern science. With unrestricted access to the Society's archives and photographs, 'Seeing Further, shows that the history of scientific endeavour and discovery is a continuous thread running through the history of the world and of society - and is one that continues to shape the world we live in today. ...Show more

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

$27.99 NZD

Category: Science

Ben Goldacre's wise and witty bestseller, shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, lifts the lid on quack doctors, flaky statistics, scaremongering journalists and evil pharmaceutical corporations. Since 2003 Dr Ben Goldacre has been exposing dodgy medical data in his popular Guardian column. In this e ye-opening book he takes on the MMR hoax and misleading cosmetics ads, acupuncture and homeopathy, vitamins and mankind's vexed relationship with all manner of 'toxins'. Along the way, the self-confessed 'Johnny Ball cum Witchfinder General' performs a successful detox on a Barbie doll, sees his dead cat become a certified nutritionist and probes the supposed medical qualifications of 'Dr' Gillian McKeith. Full spleen and satire, Ben Goldacre takes us on a hilarious, invigorating and ultimately alarming journey through the bad science we are fed daily by hacks and quacks. ...Show more

The Number Mysteries: A Mathmatical Odyssey Through Everyday Life by Marcus du Sautoy

$44.99 NZD

Category: Science

From the most famous mathematician in Britain comes the ultimate handikit to mathematics. From hopscotch to Wayne Rooney with lots and lots of games to play, The Number Mysteries shows why mathematics really is at the heart of everything we do. 'Mind-bending, fascinating and useful too. Maths didn't us ed to be this much fun.' Alan Davies. We are all taught how fundamental maths is to the world we live. But did you know that Wayne Rooney solves a quadratic equation every time he connects with a cross to put the ball in the back of the net? That we use prime numbers when we shop on the Internet? Or that you can win $1 million just by solving one of the five puzzles in The Num8er My5teries? In The Num8er My5teries, Marcus du Sautoy - mathematician, footballer and amateur musician - brings to life the beauty behind five mathematical puzzles that have contributed to our understanding of the world around us and have helped develop the technology to cope with it. With load of games to play and puzzles to solve this is a maths book for all ages from 1-101. In The Num8er My5teries you will learn everything from how to better your chances at Rock, Paper, Scissors and break uncrackable codes, to uncovering the shape of the universe and predict the future. It will also show you how maths really is at the heart of everything that we do. ...Show more

Geekspeak: Why Life + Mathematics = Happiness by Graham Tattersall

$34.99 NZD

Category: Science

The quirky offspring of 'QI' and 'Freakonomics', 'Geekspeak' melds ingenious statistical analysis with edifying trivia to explain away some curious facts of life. Curiosity is our human birthright, and destiny. As a species we are to prone to think, ruminate, reflect, cogitate, deliberate and philosoph ise. We do all these things, and why? To explain away the world around us, to find solace in knowledge, to answer all those seeming unanswerables: why are we here? Is there a God? Is there life after death? How many slaves on treadmills does it take to power my kettle? Yes, forget the Bible, 'Geekspeak' is the new oracle for 21st century living. Graham Tattersall, a confirmed and superior geek, has rescued maths from the prison of the classroom, imbued it with fresh new life, and put it to use in novel and unexpected ways. His ingenious, deceptively simple formula melds statistical analysis with personal experience and enlightening trivia to explain away some curious and oft-pondered mysteries of the world: how big is your vocabulary, how heavy is your house, do the dead outnumber the living, how powerful is a fly, how fast is a fart. ...Show more

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

$27.99 NZD

Category: Science

Why do smart people make irrational decisions every day? The answers will surprise you. Predictably Irrational is an intriguing, witty and utterly original look at why we all make illogical decisions. Why can a 50p aspirin do what a 5p aspirin can't? If an item is "free" it must be a bargain, right? Why is everything relative, even when it shouldn't be? How do our expectations influence our actual opinions and decisions? In this astounding book, behavioural economist Dan Ariely cuts to the heart of our strange behaviour, demonstrating how irrationality often supplants rational thought and that the reason for this is embedded in the very structure of our minds. Predicatably Irrational brilliantly blends everyday experiences with a series of illuminating and often surprising experiments, that will change your understanding of human behaviour. And, by recognising these patterns, Ariely shows that we can make better decisions in business, in matters of collective welfare, and in our everyday lives from drinking coffee to losing weight, buying a car to choosing a romantic partner. ...Show more

The Address Book : Our Place in the Scheme of Things by Tim Radford

$44.99 NZD

Category: Science

At the start of each school term, at the age of about 10, I did something that I suppose a million other 10-year-olds have done! The Address Book starts with some of the fundamental questions asked by everyone, in every culture since the beginning of civilisation. Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going ? Tim Radford attempts to answer them by drafting in a technique he first used as a school-boy, when he wrote his address in the inside front cover of his exercise book every term, starting with the house number, the street name, the town, and proceeding upwards through levels of scale - the hemisphere, the planet, the solar system, the galaxy - until he reached the final line, the universe itself. So - this is a book written on a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. We open with Tim in the present day, in Hastings, sitting at his desk, thinking about his house, his possessions, how they have shaped him and how he has affected them, how a house becomes part of our identity and what binds us to the objects in it. The next chapter deals with Hastings itself; the town as a unit of scale, why we associate ourselves with one place rather than another. And so on, upwards through levels of magnitude. As the units of space grow larger, so Tim himself dwindles and the bigger, colder forces of astronomy and astrophysics come into play. By the time we reach the address's final line we are beginning to understand that there is no final answer to the question "Where am I?" - behind every answer lies a new question, receding into unthinkable distance, to the spectacle of galaxies falling away from each other into nothingness. The Address Book is fascinating, entertaining, unsettling and insatiably curious. ...Show more

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

$36.99 NZD

Category: Science

In this fascinating and often hilarious work, pre-eminent psychologist Daniel Gilbert shows how - and why - the majority of us have no idea how to make ourselves happy. We all want to be happy, but do we know how? When it comes to improving tomorrow at the expense of today, we're terrible at predicting how to please our future selves. 'What would you do right now if you learned that you were going to die in ten minutes? Would you race upstairs and light that Marlboro you've been hiding in your sock drawer? Would you waltz into your boss's office and present him with a detailed description of his personal defects? Hard to say of course, but of all the things you might do in your final ten minutes, it's a pretty safe bet that few of them are things you actually did today.As humans in search of happiness, we are continually deferring present pleasure for future gain - but in cosseting our future selves, we regularly come up against the limitations of foresight and an inbuilt tendency to misjudge what it is we truly want. In this delightful romp through the interrelated fields of psychology, philosophy and the psychological equivalent of music-hall illusionism, Daniel Gilbert draws on examples that play with the reader's perception, combining lively fresh analysis, fascinating research and considerable wit to illustrate how our fundamental drive to satisfy our desires is not only often misguided, but also intrinsically linked to the most long-standing and contentious questions about human nature. At once whimsical and scholarly, Stumbling on Happiness is an engaging and engrossing look at what it means to be a human being on a perennial quest for happiness. First published 2006. ...Show more

Collins Dictionary of Mathematics by E.J. Borowski

$24.99 NZD

Category: Science | Series: Collins Dictionary of

A fully revised and expanded edition of the popular (over 50,000 copies sold) and authoritative Collins Dictionary of Mathematics. With over 9.000 definitions and 400 diagrams, this new edition has been fully revised to ensure it is fully congruent with mathematics as it is taught at A level and 1st yea r undergraduate level. ...Show more

The Gecko's Foot : How scientists are taking a leaf from nature's book by Peter Forbes

$26.99 NZD

$29.99 (10% off)

Category: Science

This is a cutting-edge science book in the style of "Fermat's Last Theorem" and "Chaos" from an exciting and accessible new voice in popular science writing. Bio-inspiration is a form of engineering but not in the conventional sense. Extending beyond our established and preconceived notions, scientists, architects and engineers are looking at imitating nature by manufacturing 'wet' materials such as spider silk or the surface of the gecko's foot. The amazing power of the gecko's foot has long been known - it can climb a vertical glass wall and even walk upside down on the ceiling - but no ideas could be harnessed from it because its mechanism could not be seen with the power of optical microscopes. Recently however the secret was solved by a team of scientists in Oregon who established that the mechanism really is dry, and that it does not involve suction, capillary action or anything else the lay person might imagine. Each foot has half a million bristles and each bristle ramifies into hundreds of finer spatula-shaped projections. ...Show more