A dramatic account of how 19th-century Quaker surgeon Joseph Lister developed an antiseptic method that indelibly changed medicine, describes the practices and risks of early operating theaters as well as the belief systems of Lister's contemporaries. By the creator of the YouTube series, Under the Knife.

Presents an illustrated investigation into the technologies of the near future, from deep-space travel to 3D organ printing, to offer insight into how they will work and what is needed to advance their readiness.

Offers a look at sleep and dreaming that incorporates the important discoveries of the last two decades regarding their purpose, addressing their importance in such functions as learning, logical thinking, emotional regulation, and metabolism.

A darkly whimsical chronicle of medicine's greatest mistakes incorporates vintage images and ads for historical cures, from morphine for colicky babies and strychnine for impotence to leeches for the common cold and liquefied gold for immortality.

"What jobs should be automated? How should our legal systems handle autonomous systems? How likely is the emergence of suprahuman intelligence? A.I. is the future of science, technology, and business—and there is no person better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark. What has A.I. brought us? Where will it lead us? The story of A.I. is the story of intelligence—of life processes as they evolve from bacteria (1.0) to humans (2.0), where life processes define their own software,to technology (3.0), where life processes design both their hardware and software. We know that A.I. is transforming work, laws, and weapons, as well as the dark side of computing (hacking and viral sabotage), raising questions that we all need to address: What jobs should be automated? How should our legal systems handle autonomous systems? How likely is the emergence of suprahuman intelligence? Is it possible to control suprahuman intelligence? How do we ensure that the uses of A.I. remain beneficial? These are the issues at the heart of this book and its unique perspective, which seeks a ground apart from techno-skepticism and digital utopia"—

A portrait of the American small farm examines one family's fight to preserve its legacy, following them from harvest to harvest as they are confronted by encroaching pipelines, climate change and shifting trade policies.

In Mental, Jaime Lowe shares and investigates her story of episodic madness, as well as the stabil­ity she found while on lithium. She interviews scientists, psychiatrists, and patients to examine how effective lithium really is and how its side effects can be dangerous for long-term users — including Lowe, who after 20 years on the medication suffers from severe kidney damage. Mental is eye-opening and powerful, tackling an illness and drug that has touched millions of lives and yet remains shrouded in social stigma.

The best-selling author of The Evolution of God philosophically explains how the human mind evolved to channel anxiety, depression, anger and greed and how a healthy practice of Buddhist meditation can promote clarity and alleviate suffering.

Judith "Jack" Chen, a scientist-turned-drug pirate, travels the world in a submarine to bring cheap medicine to the poor, but when her latest drug hack results in a trail of lethal overdoses, she is pursued by a jaded military agent and his robotic partner.

Incorporating sophisticated infographics, a comprehensive, data-driven portrait of the behaviors of the planet's wildlife draws on pioneering research made possible by current advances in satellite, camera and other digital technologies to reveal nature's unique talents and survival skills.

A true story of Cold War espionage and engineering reveals how the CIA, the U.S. Navy and an eccentric billionaire spent six years and nearly a billion dollars to steal a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine after it sank in the Pacific Ocean. By the author of Show Dog.

The health journalist behind Superbug exposes the shocking role of antibiotics in industrial farming and the profound impact these mass food-processing practices are having on our lives and our health.

An evocative memoir on the impact of addiction on a family traces the author's experiences as the sibling of Hans K. Rausing, whose wife died of a drug overdose in 2012 amid tabloid speculation and difficult questions about responsibility and control in the face of a destructive disease.

"Few settings in literature are as widely known or celebrated as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. The natural landscape plays a major role in nearly all of Tolkien's major works, and readers have come to view the geography of this fictional universe as integral to understanding and enjoying Tolkien's works. And in laying out this continent, Tolkien paid special attention to its plant life; in total, over 160 plants are explicitly mentioned and described as a part of Middle-Earth. Nearly all of these plantsare real species, and many of the fictional plants are based on scientifically grounded botanic principles. In Flora of Middle Earth: Plants of Tolkien's Legendarium, botanist Walter Judd gives a detailed species account of every plant found in Tolkien's universe, complete with the etymology of the plant's name, a discussion of its significance within Tolkien's work, a description of the plant's distribution and ecology, and an original hand-drawn illustration by artist Graham Judd in the style of a woodcut print. Among the over three-thousand vascular plants Tolkien would have seen in the British Isles, the authors show why Tolkien may have selected certain plants for inclusion in his universe over others, in terms of their botanic properties and traditional uses. The clear, comprehensive alphabetical listing of each species, along with the visual identification key of the plant drawings, adds to the reader's understanding and appreciation of the Tolkien canon. "—

Exploring the most fascinating and significant scientific missteps, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases; an expert on vaccines, immunology and virology; and the co-inventor of a rotavirus that has saved thousands of lives presents seven cautionary lessons to separate good science from bad. By the author of Autism's False Prophets.

A dual memoir by a U.S. Marine and a conflict photographer profile their unlikely friendship and how it helped them recover from combat wounds and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"An ICU and Palliative Care specialist featured in the Netflix documentary Extremis offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die. Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care—to become an ICU physician—and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. But then during her first code she found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and frail it was unimaginable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice. Extreme Measures charts Zitter's journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming another—a doctor who prioritizes the patient's values and preferences in an environment where the default choice is the extreme use of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she terms the End-of-Life Conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities to suffer their final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself : the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patients' pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully. Filled with rich patient stories that make a compelling medical narrative, Extreme Measures enlarges the national conversation as it thoughtfully and compassionately examines an experience that defines being human."—

The author of An Anatomy of Addiction traces the story of brothers Harvey and Will Kellogg, one of whom became a revered doctor and founder of the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium, the other of whom founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which eventually became General Mills.

A sports journalist relates the story of Ivy League freshman and track star Maddy Holleran, who seemingly had it all and succeeded at everything she tried, but who secretly grappled with mental illness before taking her own life during the spring semester.

"In the tradition of Erik Larson's Isaac's Storm, a riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in recorded history in North America—the 1964 Alaskan earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and obliterated the coastal village of Chenega—and the scientist sent to look for geological clues to explain the dynamics of earthquakes, who helped to confirm the then controversial theory of plate tectonics. On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., the biggest earthquake ever recorded in North America—and the second biggest ever in the world, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale—struck Alaska, devastating coastal towns and villages and killing more than 130 people in what was then a relatively sparsely populated region. In a riveting tale about the almost unimaginable brute force of nature, New York Times science journalist Henry Fountain, in his first trade book, re-creates the lives of the villagers and townspeople living in Chenega, Anchorage, and Valdez; describes the sheer beauty of the geology of the region, with its towering peaks and 20-mile-long glaciers; and reveals the impact of the quake on the towns, the buildings, and the lives of the inhabitants. George Plafker, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey with years of experience scouring the Alaskan wilderness, is asked to investigate the Prince William Sound region in the aftermath of the quake, to better understand its origins. His work confirmed the then controversial theory of plate tectonics that explained how and why such deadly quakes occur, and how we can plan for the next one"—