New and Recently Released! The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York - by Deborah Blum Publisher: Penguin Press Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/18/2010 ISBN-13: 9781594202438 ISBN-10: 1594202435 It used to be really easy to poison people and not get caught--so easy that even the federal government did it during Prohibition by adding lethal toxins to bootleg liquor. You could even poison yourself by accident--for example, if it was your job to paint wristwatch dials with radium. But starting in 1918, when Dr. Charles Norris became New York City's chief medical examiner (in an era when many coroners didn't even have any medical training), he and toxicologist Alexander Gettler pioneered advances in forensic science that are standard practice today. Each chapter of this book by the author of The Ghost Hunters focuses on a different poison and is "caviar for true-crime fans and science buffs alike" (Kirkus Reviews). The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea - by Philip Hoare Publisher: Ecco Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2010 ISBN-13: 9780061976216 ISBN-10: 0061976210 Armed with a copy of Moby Dick, biographer Philip Hoare sets out to discover why whales continue to capture the human imagination, even as we drive them steadily toward extinction. In this fact-filled yet highly personal account, Hoare describes the biology and evolutionary history of the whale, researches the whaling industry of 200 years ago, visits modern-day towns with whaling connections such as New Bedford, Massachusetts, and even gets up close and personal by swimming with whales. If you enjoyed Richard Ellis' Men and Whales, you'll want to read this book (originally published in the UK as Leviathan), which won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize. Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy - by Melissa Milgrom Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/08/2010 ISBN-13: 9780618405473 ISBN-10: 061840547X Melissa Milgrom pulls "back the curtain on a surprising and intense culture" (The New York Times) in this book on an oft-misunderstood (a)vocation. From mounted specimens in natural history museums to artfully posed Victorian dioramas featuring kittens in wedding attire, taxidermy falls somewhere between science and art. In this book, Milgrom visits a third-generation taxidermy shop; attends the World Taxidermy Championships; talks with British artist Emily Mayer, best known for her work as Damien Hirst's taxidermist; and takes a hands-on approach to her subject by (not very successfully) stuffing a squirrel. If you're a fan of Mary Roach's investigations into offbeat topics, such as Stiff or Spook, try Still Life. The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems - by Henry Petroski Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/23/2010 ISBN-13: 9780307272454 ISBN-10: 0307272451 Best-known for his illuminating books about everyday things, such as The Toothpick and The Pencil, Henry Petroski takes a broader approach in this in-depth look at what engineers do and why they're important. Explaining the difference between scientists, who conduct research to build up a theoretical body of scientific knowledge, and engineers, who apply this knowledge in solving real-world challenges, Petroski makes a case for why we need both and why these two groups should work together to tackle the problems that face our world today. Be sure to read this "sharp, succinct look at the importance of engineering" (Kirkus Reviews). See What I'm Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses - by Lawrence D. Rosenblum Publisher: W. W. Norton Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/22/2010 ISBN-13: 9780393067606 ISBN-10: 0393067602 A blind cyclist who navigates by echolocation. A deaf FBI agent whose lip-reading skills help catch criminals. A professional food taster who can predict when an ingredient will go bad. These are just some of the people you'll meet in this book by psychologist Lawrence Rosenblum, which examines how our senses work-and work together. None of our five senses operates in isolation, explains Rosenblum, which is why we can literally smell fear and why eating a meal with the lights out makes food taste bland. If you're looking for some more in-depth explorations of our various senses, you might try Simon Ings' A Natural History of Seeing or Avery Gilbert's What the Nose Knows. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - by Rebecca Skloot Publisher: Crown Publishers Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2010 ISBN-13: 9781400052172 ISBN-10: 1400052173 In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor African-American woman in Baltimore, Maryland, died of cervical cancer in Johns Hopkins Hospital--but not before her surgeon extracted some tissue samples. These dime-sized slices, the first to successfully grow and replicate in a test tube, became the foundation of the HeLa cell line. These cells have made possible some of modern medicine's greatest discoveries, from the polio vaccine to in vitro fertilization to gene mapping. But who was Henrietta Lacks, beyond an unwitting (and unconsenting) tissue donor? To find out, Rebecca Skloot spent a decade researching Lacks as well as getting to know her descendants. The result is an in-depth biographical portrait that also reflects on medical ethics. First Chapter Math How mathematics happened : the first 50,000 years - Rudman, Peter Strom Publisher: Prometheus Books Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/02/2006 ISBN-13: 9781591024774 ISBN-10: 1591024773 Anyone who has ever wondered why an hour is divided into 60 minutes has much to learn from Rudman, student of the ancient mathematics of the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Mayans. Behind the base-60 number system that survives on a clock face, Rudman discerns the fascinating history of how numbers evolved beyond the finger- and stone-counting of hunter-gatherer societies. It all started with the Babylonians, who fit very old body-part measurements into a powerful new arithmetic of squares and square roots. Rudman also probes the physiological logic that equipped the Mayans with base-20 numbers for mapping the heavens, and he scrutinizes the brilliance of Egyptian mathematicians who calculated complex volumes without calculus. Readers can deepen their understanding of ancient feats by working out the numerous "Fun Questions" Rudman has embedded in his text to provide practical experience with key concepts. Such experience leads eventually to the conceptual threshold the Greeks crossed 2,500 years ago when they began developing proofs for their mathematical theories. Even readers casually interested in mathematics will enjoy traveling the road that leads to Pythagoras First Chapter Table of Contents The quants : how a new breed of math whizzes conquered Wall Street and nearly destroyed it - Patterson, Scott Publisher: Crown Business Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2010 ISBN-13: 9780307453372 ISBN-10: 0307453375 Documents the contributions of a team of young math geniuses who set in motion widespread market collapses, tracing the story of a 1950s gambler who applied Vegas strategies to Wall Street and his present-day successors who the author believes used math formulas and technology to trigger catastrophic market downturns. Table of Contents Geekspeak : how life + mathematics = happiness - Tattersall, Graham Publisher: Collins Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/01/2008 ISBN-13: 9780061629242 ISBN-10: 0061629243 A lighthearted primer on logic-based thinking shares whimsical counsel on how to address life's seemingly unanswerable questions, in a brain-building reference that explains how to use mathematical principles to sound intelligent and better understand the world. First Chapter Table of Contents Coincidences, chaos, and all that math jazz : making light of weighty ideas - Burger, Edward B. Publisher: W.W. Norton Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/30/2005 ISBN-13: 9780393059458 ISBN-10: 0393059456 By Starting in the familiar world and using a few simple steps of imagination, Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird sneak up on weighty mathematical ideas. The spirals on a pineapple quickly lead to the famous Fibonacci numbers and the alluring Golden Ratio and from there to aesthetic forms in nature, art, and music. The edge of a twisted strip of paper leads to an image of the shape of the universe. Playing with the notion of probability demonstrates that surprising coincidences such as the amazing parallels between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations are sure to happen. These and other foreign and familiar mysteries share two features--they appear inexplicable and they are all explained with great humor and clarity in this book. Perhaps the greatest surprise is that these travels require no math background. If you never thought you would read about mathematics, this book is for you. Table of Contents The math instinct : why you're a mathematical genius (along with lobsters, birds, cats, and dogs) - Devlin, Keith J. Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/30/2006 ISBN-13: 9781560258391 ISBN-10: 156025839X From NPR's "Math Guy," "The Math Instinct" is a real celebration of innate math sense and will provide even the most number-phobic readers with confidence in their own mathematical abilities. There are two kinds of math: the hard kind and the easy kind. The easy kind, practiced by ants, shrimp, Welsh Corgis -- and us -- is innate. But what innate calculating skills do we humans have? Leaving aside built-in mathematics, such as the visual system, ordinary people do just fine when faced with mathematical tasks in the course of the day. Yet when they are confronted with the same tasks presented as "math," their accuracy often drops. If we have innate mathematical ability, why do we have to teach math and why do most of us find it so hard to learn? Are there tricks or strategies that the ordinary person can do to improve mathematical ability? Can we improve our math skills by learning from dogs, cats, and other creatures that "do math?" The answer to each of these questions is a qualified yes. All these examples of animal math suggest that if we want to do better in the formal kind of math, we should see how it arises from natural mathematics. The universe and the teacup : the mathematics of truth and beauty - Cole, K. C. Publisher: Harcourt Brace Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/01/1999 ISBN-13: 9780156006569 ISBN-10: 0156006561 Mathematics, that breathtaking invention of ours that reveals the tiniest particles of matter and takes us to the outermost reaches of the cosmos, is found by many people to be intimidating. In The Universe and the Teacup, K. C. Cole demystifies mathematics and shows us-with humor and wonderfully accessible stories-why math need not be frightening. Using the O. J. Simpson trial, the bell curve, and Emmy Noether, the nineteenth-century woman scientist whose work was essential for Einstein's theory of relativity, Cole helps us see that more than just being a tool, math is a key to understanding the beauty of everything from rainbows to relativity. First Chapter __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 5045 (20100420) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com