Science & Mathematics
Delve into topics ranging from botany to physics with riveting books that take an in-depth look at our world and beyond. Whether itās genome mapping or aquatic life, thereās endless wonder to explore in the realm of science and mathematics. Dive in today when you sign up for a Scribd subscription.
Delve into topics ranging from botany to physics with riveting books that take an in-depth look at our world and beyond. Whether itās genome mapping or aquatic life, thereās endless wonder to explore in the realm of science and mathematics. Dive in today when you sign up for a Scribd subscription.
Trending titles
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Ebook
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
byMargot Lee ShetterlyRating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fault Lines Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genome: The Autobiography of a Species In 23 Chapters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Audiobook
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
byMargot Lee ShetterlyRating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Krakatoa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Ebook
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
byRobin Wall KimmererRating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How the Mind Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong Audiobook
Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
byEric BarkerRating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World Without Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Junky: The Definitive Text of "Junk" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Ebook
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
byLori GottliebRating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun Ebook
The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
byGretchen RubinRating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Buzzy new favorites
Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence Audiobook
Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence
byJames BridleThis audiobook is read by the author. Artist, technologist, and philosopher James Bridleās Ways of Being is a brilliant, searching exploration of different kinds of intelligenceāplant, animal, human, artificialāand how they transform our understanding of humansā place in the cosmos. What does it mean to be intelligent? Is it something unique to humans, or shared with other beingsābeings of flesh, wood, stone, and silicon? The last few years have seen rapid advances in āartificialā intelligence. But as it approaches, it also gets weirder: rather than a friend or helpmate, AI increasingly appears as something stranger than we ever imagined, an alien invention that threatens to decenter and supplant us. At the same time, weāre only just becoming aware of the other intelligences which have been with us all along, even if weāve failed to recognize or acknowledge them. These othersāthe animals, plants, and natural systems that surround us are slowly revealing their complexity, agency, and knowledge, just as the technologies weāve built to sustain ourselves are threatening to cause their extinction, and ours. What can we learn from them, and how can we change ourselves, our technologies, our societies, and our politics, to live better and more equitably with one another and the non-human world? Artist and maverick thinker James Bridle drawn on biology and physics, computation, literature, art, and philosophy, to answer these unsettling questions. Startling and bold, Ways of Being explores the fascinating, strange and multitudinous forms of knowing, doing, and being which are becoming evident in the present, and which are essential for our survival.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I Audiobook
The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
byLindsey Fitzharris"Enthralling. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. And utterly redemptive. Lindsey Fitzharris hit this one out of the park." āErik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile Lindsey Fitzharris, the award-winning author of The Butchering Art, presents the compelling, true story of a visionary surgeon who rebuilt the faces of the First World Warās injured heroes, and in the process ushered in the modern era of plastic surgery. The audiobook is read by actor Daniel Gillies who is the great, great nephew of the pioneering surgeon, Harold Gillies. From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankindās military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care. Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the worldās first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits. The Facemaker places Gilliesās ingenious surgical innovations alongside the dramatic stories of soldiers whose lives were wrecked and repaired. The result is a vivid account of how medicine can be an art, and of what courage and imagination can accomplish in the presence of relentless horror. A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Let's Talk About Hard Things From the host of the popular WNYC podcast Death, Sex, & Money, Letās Talk About Hard Things is ālike a good conversation with a friendā (The New Yorker) where āno topic is off-limits when it comes to creating meaningful connectionā (Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone). Anna Sale wants you to have that conversation. You know the one. The one that youāve been avoiding or putting off, maybe for years. The one that youāve thought ātheyāll never understandā or ādo I really want to bring that up?ā or āitās not going to go well, so why even try?ā Sale is the founder and host of WNYCās popular, award-winning podcast Death, Sex, & Money or as the New York Times dubbed her āa therapist at happy hour.ā She and her guests have direct and thought-provoking conversations, discussing topics that most of us are too squeamish, polite, or nervous to bring up. But Sale argues that we all experience these hard things, and by not talking to one another, we cut ourselves off, leading us to feel isolated and disconnected from people who can help us most. In Letās Talk About Hard Things, Sale uses the best of what sheās learned from her podcast to reveal that when we dare to talk about hard things, we learn about ourselves, others, and the world that we make together. Diving into five of the most fraught conversation topicsādeath, sex, money, family, and identityāshe moves between memoir, fascinating snapshots of a variety of Americans opening up about their lives, and expert opinions to show why having tough conversations is important and how to do them in a thoughtful and generous way. She uncovers that listening may be the most important part of a tough conversation, that the end goal should be understanding without the pressure of reconciliation, and that there are some things that words canāt fix (and why thatās actually okay).
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman: A Memoir "Fierce, absorbing, and ultimately inspiring." āELIZABETH KOLBERT "One of the finest scientific memoirs ever written." āDAVID W. BROWN From one of the worldās leading planetary scientists, a luminous memoir of exploration on Earth, in space, and within oneselfāequal parts ode to the beauty of science, meditation on loss, and roadmap for personal resilience Deep in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, three times farther from the sun than the Earth is, orbits a massive asteroid called (16) Psyche. It is one of the largest objects in the belt, potentially containing the equivalent of the worldās total economy in metals, though they cannot be brought back to Earth. But (16) Psyche has the potential to unlock something even more valuable: the story of how planets form, and how our planet formed. Soon we will find out, thanks to the extraordinary work of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the Principal Investigator of NASAās $800 million Psyche mission, and the second woman ever to be awarded a major NASA space exploration contract. The journey that brought her to this place is extraordinary. Amid a childhood of terrible trauma, Elkins-Tanton fell in love with science as a means of healing and consolation. But still she wondered, was forced to wonder: as a woman, was science āfor herā? In answering that question, she takes us from the wilds of the Siberian tundra to the furthest reaches of outer space, from the Mayo Clinic, where Elkins-Tanton battled ovarian cancer while writing the Psyche proposal, to NASAās Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where her team brought that proposal to life. A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young WomanĀ is a beautifully-constructed memoir that explores how a philosophy of life can be built from the tools of scientific inquiry. It teaches us how to approach difficult problems by asking the right questions and truly listening to the answersāand how we may find meaning through exploring the wonders of the universe around us.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFuture Stories: What's Next? The New York Times bestselling author of Origin Story turns his attention to THE FUTURE OF HUMANITYāand how we think about itāin this ambitious, interdisciplinary book. Every second of our livesāwhether weāre looking both ways before crossing the street, celebrating the birth of a baby, or moving to a new cityāwe must cope with an unknowable future. How do we do this? And how do we, like most living organisms, manage this impossible challenge so well ⦠at least most of the time? David Christian, historian and author of Origin Story, is renowned for pioneering the emerging discipline of Big History, which surveys the whole of the past. But with Future Stories, he casts his sharp analytical eye forward, offering an introduction to the strange world of the future, and a guide to what we think we know about it at all scales, from the individual to the cosmological. Christian consults theologians, philosophers, scientists, statisticians, and scholars from a huge range of places and times as he explores how we prepare for uncertain futures, including the future of human evolution, artificial intelligence, and interstellar travel. By linking the study of the past to the study of the future, we can begin to imagine what the world will look like in a hundred years and consider solutions to the biggest challenges facing us all.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World In the dust of the Gilded Age Bone Wars, two vastly different men emerge with a mission to fill the empty halls of New York's struggling American Museum of Natural History: Henry Fairfield Osborn, a socialite whose reputation rests on the museum's success, and intrepid Kansas-born fossil hunter Barnum Brown. When Brown unearths the first Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils in the Montana wilderness, forever changing the world of paleontology, Osborn sees a path to save his museum from irrelevancy. With four-foot-long jaws capable of crushing the bones of its prey and hips that powered the animal to run at speeds of twenty-five miles per hour, the T. Rex suggests a prehistoric ecosystem more complex than anyone imagined. As the public turns out in droves to cower before this bone-chilling giant of the past and wonder at the mysteries of its disappearance, Brown and Osborn together turn dinosaurs from a biological oddity into a beloved part of culture. The Monster's Bones journeys from prehistory to present day, from remote Patagonia to the badlands of the American West to the penthouses of Manhattan. With a wide-ranging cast of robber barons, eugenicists, and opportunistic cowboys, New York Times bestselling author David K. Randall reveals how a monster of a bygone era ignited a new understanding of our planet and our place within it.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us Audiobook
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
bySteve BrusatteBy āone of the stars of modern paleontologyā (National Geographic), a sweeping and revelatory new history of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us Though humans claim to rule the Earth, we are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals. Indeed humankind and many of the beloved fellow mammals we share the planet with todayālions, whales, dogsārepresent only the few survivors of a sprawling and astonishing family tree that has been pruned by time and mass extinctions. How did we get here? In his acclaimed bestsellerĀ The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaursāhailed as āa masterpiece of science writingā by the Washington PostāAmerican paleontologist Steve Brusatte enchanted readers with his definitive his - tory of the dinosaurs. Now, picking up the narrative in the ashes of the extinction event that doomed T-rex and its kind, Brusatte explores the remarkable story of the family of animals that inherited the Earthāmammalsā and brilliantly reveals that their story is every bit as fascinating and complex as that of the dinosaurs. Beginning with the earliest days of our lineage some 325 million years ago, Brusatte charts how mammals survived the asteroid that claimed the dinosaurs and made the world their own, becoming the astonishingly diverse range of animals that dominate todayās Earth. Brusatte also brings alive the lost worlds mammals inhabited through time, from ice ages to volcanic catastrophes. Entwined in this story is the detective work he and other scientists have done to piece together our understanding using fossil clues and cutting-edge technology. A sterling example of scientific storytelling by one of our finest young researchers,Ā The Rise and Reign of the MammalsĀ illustrates how this incredible history laid the foundation for todayās world, for us, and our future. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Sharks Matter: A Deep Dive with the World's Most Misunderstood Predator Audiobook
Why Sharks Matter: A Deep Dive with the World's Most Misunderstood Predator
byDavid ShiffmanSharks are some of the most fascinating and ecologically important, yet most threatened and misunderstood animals on Earth. More often feared than revered, their role as predators of the deep has earned them a reputation as a major threat to humans. But the truth is that sharks are not a danger to usātheyāre in danger from us. In Why Sharks Matter, marine conservation biologist Dr. David Shiffman urges us to overcome our misconceptions and embrace sharks as the imperiled and elegant ocean guardians they really are. Touching on everything from Shark Week to shark fin soup, overfishing to marine sanctuaries, Shiffman reveals why sharks are in trouble, why we should care, and how we can save them. A witty narrative highlighting the authorās fascinating experiences working with sharks, this exploration of the essential principles of shark conservation science and policy is full of amazing facts about both little-known and iconic shark species. It spells out how healthy shark populations support marine ecosystemsāand the coastal economies that depend on themāwhile carefully explaining what scientists, conservationists, and readers can do to help. With his signature pragmatism and irreverence, Shiffman doesnāt shy away from explaining why much of what youāve heard about sharks and how to save them is wrong. Perfect for shark enthusiasts, Why Sharks Matter provides an approachable, informative guide to the world of shark conservation, and an insiderās introduction to the passionate, brilliant people who work to protect our oceans. This fun read will have you looking at sharks with a fresh perspective and an understanding that their survival is crucial to the survival of another apex predatorāourselves.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mind and the Moon: My Brotherās Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches Audiobook
The Mind and the Moon: My Brotherās Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches
byDaniel BergnerAn importantāand intimateāinterrogation of how we treat mental illness and how we understand ourselves In the early 1960s, JFK declared that science would take us to the moon. He also declared that science would make the āremote reaches of the mind accessibleā and cure psychiatric illness with breakthrough medications. We were walking on the moon within the decade. But today, psychiatric cures continue to elude usāas does the mind itself. Why is it that we still donāt understand how the mind works? What is the difference between the mind and the brain? And given all that we still donāt know, how can we make insightful, transformative choices about our psychiatric conditions? When Daniel Bergnerās younger brother was diagnosed as bipolar and put on a locked ward in the 1980s, psychiatry seemed to have achieved what JFK promised: a revolution of chemical solutions to treat mental illness. Yet as Bergnerās brother was deemed a dire risk for suicide and he and his family were told his disorder would be lifelong, he found himself taking heavy doses of medications with devastating side effects. Now, in recounting his brotherās journey alongside the gripping, illuminating stories of Caroline, who is beset by the hallucinations of psychosis, and David, who is overtaken by depression, Bergner examines the evolution of how we treat our psyches. He reveals how the pharmaceutical industry has perpetuated our biological view of the mind and our drug-based assumptions about treatmentādespite the shocking price paid by many patients and the problematic evidence of drug efficacy. And he takes us into the pioneering labs of todayās preeminent neuroscientists, sharing their remarkably candid reflections and fascinating new theories of treatment. The Mind and the Moon raises profound questions about how we understand ourselves and the essential human divide between our brains and our minds. This is a book of thought-provoking reframings, delving into the scienceāand spiritāof our psyches. It is about vulnerability and personal dignity, the terrifying choices confronted by families and patients, and the prospect of alternatives. In The Mind and the Moon, Bergner beautifully explores how to seek a deeper engagement with ourselves and one anotherāand how to find a better path toward caring for our minds. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery Audiobook
Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery
byPaul CraddockThis program is read by the author. Paul Craddock's Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day. How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660's? Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children? And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality? We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world. But transplant surgery is as ancient as the pyramids, with a history more surprising than we might expect. Paul Craddock takes us on a journey - from sixteenth-century skin grafting to contemporary stem cell transplants - uncovering stories of operations performed by unexpected people in unexpected places. Bringing together philosophy, science and cultural history, Spare Parts explores how transplant surgery constantly tested the boundaries between human, animal, and machine, and continues to do so today. Witty, entertaining, and at times delightfully macabre, Spare Parts shows us that the history - and future - of transplant surgery is tied up with questions about not only who we are, but also what we are, and what we might become. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for AnythingāEven Things that Seem Impossible Today Audiobook
Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for AnythingāEven Things that Seem Impossible Today
byJane McGonigalWorld-renowned future forecaster, game designer, and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Jane McGonigal gives us the tools to imagine the future without fear. āAn accessible, optimistic field guide to the future.āāSan Francisco Chronicle āReading this book is like sitting down with a creative, optimistic friendāand getting up as a new version of yourself.ā ā Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When The COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly frequent climate disasters, a new war ā events we might have called āunimaginableā or āunthinkableā in the past are now reality. Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures. InāÆImaginable, Jane McGonigal draws on the latest scientific research in psychology and neuroscience to show us how to train our minds to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable. She invites us to play with the provocative thought experiments and future simulations sheās designed exclusively for this book, with the goal to: 1. Build our collective imagination so that we can dive into the future and envision, in surprising detail, what our lives will look like ten years from now 2. Develop the courage and vision to solve problems creatively 3. Take actions and make decisions that will help shape the future we desire 4. Access āurgent optimism,ā an unstoppable force within each of us that activates our sense of agency Imaginable teaches us to be fearless, resilient, and bold in realizing a world with possibilities we cannot yet imagineāuntil reading this transformative, inspiring, and necessary book
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible Audiobook
Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible
byDr. Albert Bourla2022 Genesis Prize Laureate The exclusive, first-hand, behind-the-scenes story of how Pfizer raced to create the first Covid-19 vaccine, told by Pfizerās Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla. A riveting, fast-paced, inside look at one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history, Moonshot recounts the intensive nine months in 2020 when the scientists at Pfizer, under the visionary leadership of Dr. Albert Bourla, made āthe impossible possibleāācreating, testing, and manufacturing a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine that previously would have taken years to develop.Ā Dr. Bourla chronicles how the brilliant, dedicated minds at Pfizer, under the enormous strains of the global pandemic, overcame a series of crises that were compounded by social and political unrest, and reveals the doubts, decisions, obstacles, and failures they encountered. As Dr. Bourla makes clear, Pfizerās success wasnāt due to luck; it was because of preparation driven by four simple valuesāCourage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy. Moonshot is a story of leadership under the most unprecedented circumstancesāhow Dr. Bourla, a Greek immigrant, a child of Holocaust survivors, and a veterinarian, became the head of one of the worldās largest corporations and initiated a dramatic transformation of the organization just before a global health crisis would serve to test the organization, its scientists, and its leader, like never before. Moonshot describesĀ best practices that can be used to address the multiple, unprecedented challenges our world faces, reveals Pfizerās implementation of scientific breakthroughs at a record-breaking pace, and offers leadership lessons that can help anyone successfully manage their own seemingly unsolvable problems. As Dr. Bourla explains,Ā āI am sharing the story of our moonshotāthe challenges we faced, the lessons we learned, and the core values that allowed us to make it happenāin hopes that it might inspire and inform your own moonshot, whatever that may be.ā Ā Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Scalpel: The History of Surgery From an eminent surgeon and historian comes the āby turns fascinating and ghastlyā (The New York Times Book Review, Editorsā Choice) story of surgeryās developmentāfrom the Stone Age to the present dayāblending meticulous medical research with vivid storytelling. There are not many life events that can be as simultaneously frightening and hopeful as a surgical operation. In America, tens-of-millions of major surgical procedures are performed annually, yet few of us consider the magnitude of these figures because we have such inherent confidence in surgeons. And, despite passionate debates about health care and the mediaās endless fascination with surgery, most of us have no idea how the first surgeons came to be because the story of surgery has never been fully told. Now, Empire of the Scalpel elegantly reveals surgeryās fascinating evolution from its early roots in ancient Egypt to its refinement in Europe and rise to scientific dominance in the United States. From the 16th-century saga of Andreas Vesalius and his crusade to accurately describe human anatomy while appeasing the conservative clergy who clamored for his burning at the stake, to the hard-to-believe story of late-19th century surgeonsā apathy to Joseph Listerās innovation of antisepsis and how this indifference led to thousands of unnecessary surgical deaths, Empire of the Scalpel is both a global history and a uniquely American tale. Youāll discover how in the 20th century the US achieved surgical leadership, heralded by Harvardās Joseph Murray and his Nobel Prizeāwinning, seemingly impossible feat of transplanting a kidney, which ushered in a new era of transplants that continues to make procedures once thought insurmountable into achievable successes. Today, the list of possible operations is almost infiniteāfrom knee and hip replacement to heart bypass and transplants to fat reduction and rhinoplastyāand āRutkow has a raconteurās touchā (San Francisco Chronicle) as he draws on his five-decade career to show us how we got here. Comprehensive, authoritative, and captivating, Empire of the Scalpel is āa fascinating, well-rendered story of how the once-impossible became a daily realityā (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World āAs David Robson makes plain in this compelling book, the way we think about the world can profoundly shape how we navigate it. Based in science and packed with smart advice, The Expectation Effect will expand your mindāand maybe even extend your life.ā āDaniel Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and To Sell Is Human A journey through the cutting-edge science of how our mindset shapes every facet of our lives, revealing how your brain holds the keys to unlocking a better you What you believe can make it so. Youāve heard of the placebo effect and how sugar pills can accelerate healing. But did you know that sham heart surgeries often work just as well as placing real stents? Or that people who think theyāre particularly prone to cardiovascular disease are four times as likely to die from cardiac arrest? Such is the power and deadly importance of the expectation effectāhow what we think will happen changes what does happen. Melding neuroscience with narrative, science journalist David Robson takes readers on a deep dive into the many life zones the expectation effect permeates. We see how people who believe stress is beneficial become more creative when placed under strain. We see how associating aging with wisdom can add seven plus years to your life. People say seeing is believing but, over and over, Robson proves that the converse is truer: believing is seeing. The Expectation Effect is not woo-woo. You cannot think your way into a pile of money or out of a cancer diagnosis. But just because magical thinking is nonsense doesnāt mean rational magic doesnāt exist. Pointing to accepted psychology and objective physiology, Robson gives us the practical takeaways we need to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, and happiness. Any reader who wants to take their fate into their own hands need only pick up this book. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System We have the impression that the solar system is perfectly regular like a clock or a planetarium instrument. On a short timescale it is. But, seen in a longer perspective, the planets, and their satellites, have exciting lives, full of events. For example, did you know that Saturnās moon, Titan, boasts lakes which contain liquid methane surrounded by soaring hills and valleys, exactly as the earth did before life evolved on our fragile planet? Or that Mercury is the shyest planet? Or, that Marsās biggest volcano is one hundred times the size of Earthās, or that its biggest canyon is ten times the depth of the Grand Canyon, or that it wasnāt always red, but blue? The culmination of a lifetime of astronomy and wonder, Paul Murdinās enchanting new book reveals everything you ever wanted to know about the planets, their satellites, and our place in the solar system.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir How did one of the worldās preeminent marine conservation scientists fall in love with coral reefs? We first meet Callum as a young student who had never been abroad, spending a summer helping to map the unknown reefs of Saudi Arabia. From that moment, when Callum first cleared his goggles, he never looked back. He went on to survey Sharm al-Sheikh, and from there he would dive into the deep in the name of research all over the world, from Australiaās imperiled Great Barrier Reef to the hardier reefs of the Caribbean. Reef Life is filled with astonishing stories of adventure and the natural world, which are by turns lyrical and laced with a wonderful wry humor. Callum illuminates the science of our oceans and reefs and his book, combined with the stunning photographs from Alex Mustard, will also commit readers to support Callumās goal to preserve 10 percent of the worldās oceans.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way of Imagination Prizeāwinning essayist turns to the imagination as a spiritual guide and material method of living through climate disruption, as climate change and broad extinction forever alter our place on the planet and our lives together. Scott Russell Sanders shows how imagination, linked to compassion, can help us solve the urgent ecological and social challenges we face. While reflecting on the conditions needed for human flourishing, he tells the story of his own intellectual and moral journey from childhood religion to an adult philosophy of life. That philosophy is tested when his first wife and then their son fall ill. Compelled to leave their beloved old house, they design a new one, and then transform their vision into a home and their raw city lot into a garden
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine Ebook
The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine
byBrendan BorrellThe full inside story of the high-stakes, global race for the lifesaving vaccine to end the pandemic Heroic science. Chaotic politics. Billionaire entrepreneurs.Ā Award-winning journalist Brendan Borrell brings the defining story of our times alive through compulsively readable, first-time reporting on the players leading theĀ fight against a vicious virus.Ā The First Shots, soon to beĀ the subject of an HBO limited series with superstar director and producer Adam McKay (Succession, Vice, The Big Short), draws on exclusive, high-level access to weave together the intenseĀ vaccine-race conflicts among hard-driving, heroic scientists and the epic rivalries among Washington power players that shaped 18 months of fear, resolve, and triumph. From infectious disease expert Michael Callahan, an American doctor secretly on the ground in Wuhan in January 2020 to gauge the terrifying ravages of Disease X;Ā to Robert (Dr. Bob) Kadlec, one of Operation Warp Speedās architects, whose audacious plans for the American people run straight into the buzz saw of the Trump White House factions;Ā to StĆ©phane Bancel of upstart Moderna Therapeutics going toe-to-toe with pharma behemoth Pfizer,Ā The First ShotsĀ lays bare, in a way we have not seen, the full stunning story behind the medical scienceĀ āmoon shotā of our lifetimes.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope? This program is read by the authors and includes a bonus PDF. Looking at the headlinesāthe worsening climate crisis, a global pandemic, loss of biodiversity, political upheavalāit can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed. In this urgent audiobook, Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist, and Douglas Abrams, the internationally bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy, explore through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her "Four Reasons for Hope": The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit. Drawing on decades of work that has helped expand our understanding of what it means to be human and what we all need to do to help build a better world, The Book of Hope touches on vital questions, including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? What is the relationship between hope and action? Filled with moving and inspirational stories and photographs from Janeās remarkable career, The Book of Hope is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in the world today. While discussing the experiences that shaped her discoveries and beliefs, Jane tells the story of how she became a messenger of hope, from living through World War II to her years in Gombe to realizing she had to leave the forest to travel the world in her role as an advocate for environmental justice. And for the first time, she shares her profound revelations about her next, and perhaps final, adventure. The second audiobook in the Global Icons Seriesāwhich launched with the instant classic The Book of Joy with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond TutuāThe Book of Hope is a rare and intimate look not only at the nature of hope but also into the heart and mind of a woman who revolutionized how we view the world around us and has spent a lifetime fighting for our future. There is still hope, and this book will help guide us to it. A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Animals NATIONAL BESTSELLER āMagnificent.ā āThe New York Times * āBeguiling, observant, and howlingly funny.ā āSan Francisco Chronicle * āSpectacular.ā āStar Tribune (Minneapolis) * āFull of astonishments.ā āThe Boston Globe Susan Orleanāthe beloved New Yorker staff writer hailed as āa national treasureā by The Washington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Library Bookāgathers a lifetime of musings, meditations, and in-depth profiles about animals. āHow we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,ā writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, sheās been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career. These stories consider a range of creaturesāthe household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with who are central to human life. In her own backyard, Orlean discovers the delights of keeping chickens. In a different backyard, in New Jersey, she meets a woman who has twenty-three pet tigersāsomething none of her neighbors knew about until one of the tigers escapes. In Iceland, the worldās most famous whale resists the efforts to set him free; in Morocco, the worldās hardest-working donkeys find respite at a special clinic. We meet a show dog and a lost dog and a pigeon who knows exactly how to get home. Equal parts delightful and profound, enriched by Orleanās stylish prose and precise research, these stories celebrate the meaningful cross-species connections that grace our collective existence.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World War C: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One Audiobook
World War C: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One
bySanjay Gupta M.D.CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, offers an accessible, data-packed answer to our biggest questions about Covid-19: What have we learned about this pandemic and how can we prepare forāor preventāthe next one? As Americaās favorite frontline Covid-19 health journalist, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has barely left his primetime seat in his makeshift studio basement since the pandemic began (other than to perform brain surgery). Heās had insider access to the dramaās unfolding, including exclusive conversations with the worldās top public health experts and behind-the-scenes scientists racing to find treatments and cures. And now heās sharing what heās learned in a book that will answer not only all our questions about what happened, but also about how our world will change in the years ahead, even once weāre back to ānormal.ā Gupta argues that we need to prepare for a new era where pandemics will be more frequent, and possibly even more deadly. As the doctor whoās been holding Americaās hand through the crisis with compassion, clarity, and well-earned wisdom, he gives you the unvarnished story behind the pandemic, including insights about the novel virusās behavior, and offers practical tools to ready ourselves for what lies ahead. He answers critical questions: Can we stamp out the virus for good (and if not, how do we live with it)? Should we put our parents in a nursing home? Where should we live? What should we stockpile? What should we know before taking a trip? Does it make sense to spend more on health insurance to deal with any long-term effects? How do you decide when itās safe to go to a public pool or schedule elective surgery? What should Covid survivors know about protecting their future health? What if you become a long-hauler with chronic health challenges stemming? World War C will give you hope for the future along with real information that leaves you more resilient and secure.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World Making sense of sound is one of the hardest jobs we ask our brains to do. In Of Sound Mind, Nina Kraus examines the partnership of sound and brain, showing for the first time that the processing of sound drives many of the brain's core functions. Our hearing is always onāwe can't close our ears the way we close our eyesāand yet we can ignore sounds that are unimportant. We don't just hear; we engage with sounds. Kraus explores what goes on in our brains when we hear a wordāor a chord, or a meow, or a screech. Our hearing brain, Kraus tells us, is vast. It interacts with what we know, with our emotions, with how we think, with our movements, and with our other senses. Auditory neurons make calculations at one-thousandth of a second; hearing is the speediest of our senses. Sound plays an unrecognized role in both healthy and hurting brains. Kraus explores the power of music for healing as well as the destructive power of noise on the nervous system. She traces what happens in the brain when we speak another language, have a language disorder, experience rhythm, listen to birdsong, or suffer a concussion. Kraus shows how our engagement with sound leaves a fundamental imprint on who we are. The sounds of our lives shape our brains, for better and for worse, and help us build the sonic world we live in.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse In the tradition of Rachel Carsonās groundbreaking environmental classic Silent Spring, an award-winning entomologist and conservationist explains the importance of insects to our survival, and offers a clarion call to avoid a looming ecological disaster of our own making. Drawing on thirty years of research, Goulson has written an accessible, fascinating, and important book that examines the evidence of an alarming drop in insect numbers around the world. āIf we lose the insects, then everything is going to collapse,ā he warned in a recent interview in the New York Timesābeginning with humansā food supply. The main cause of this decrease in insect populations is the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. Hence, Silent Earthās nod to Rachel Carsonās classic Silent Spring which, when published in 1962, led to the global banning of DDT. This was a huge victory for science and ecological health at the time. Yet before long, new pesticides just as lethal as DDT were introduced, and today, humanity finds itself on the brink of a new crisis. What will happen when the bugs are all gone? Goulson explores the intrinsic connection between climate change, nature, wildlife, and the shrinking biodiversity and analyzes the harmful impact for the earth and its inhabitants.Ā Ā Meanwhile we have all read stories about hive collapse syndrome affecting honeybee colonies and the tragic decline of monarch butterflies in North America, and more. But it is not too late to arrest this decline, and Silent Earth should be the clarion call. Smart, eye-opening, and essential, Silent Earth is a forceful call to action to save our world, and ultimately, ourselves. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5End of Bias, The: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias Audiobook
End of Bias, The: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias
byJessica NordellNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, AARP, GREATER GOOD, AND INC. The End of Bias is a transformative, groundbreaking exploration into how we can eradicate unintentional bias and discrimination, the great challenge of our age. Unconscious bias: persistent, unintentional prejudiced behavior that clashes with our consciously held beliefs. We know that it exists, to corrosive and even lethal effect. We see it in medicine, the workplace, education, policing, and beyond. But when it comes to uprooting our prejudices, we still have far to go. With nuance, compassion, and ten years' immersion in the topic, Jessica Nordell weaves gripping stories with scientific research to reveal how minds, hearts, and behaviors change. She scrutinizes diversity training, deployed across the land as a corrective but with inconsistent results. She explores what works and why: the diagnostic checklist used by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital that eliminated disparate treatment of men and women; the preschool in Sweden where teachers found ingenious ways to uproot gender stereotyping; the police unit in Oregon where the practice of mindfulness and specialized training has coincided with a startling drop in the use of force. Captivating, direct, and transformative, The End of Bias: A Beginning brings good news. Biased behavior can change; the approaches outlined here show how we can begin to remake ourselves and our world. A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World Audiobook
Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
byKatharine HayhoeNATIONAL BESTSELLER āAn optimistic view on why collective action is still possibleāand how it can be realized.ā āThe New York Times āAs far as heroic characters go, Iām not sure you could do better than Katharine Hayhoe.ā āScientific American āItās not an exaggeration to say that Saving Us is one of the more important books about climate change to have been written.ā āThe Guardian United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future. Called āone of the nation's most effective communicators on climate changeā by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet. A Canadian climate scientist living in Texas, she negotiates distrust of data, indifference to imminent threats, and resistance to proposed solutions with ease. Over the past fifteen years Hayhoe has found that the most important thing we can do to address climate change is talk about itāand she wants to teach you how. In Saving Us, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation. We need to find shared values in order to connect our unique identities to collective action. This is not another doomsday narrative about a planet on fire. It is a multilayered look at science, faith, and human psychology, from an icon in her fieldārecently named chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy. Drawing on interdisciplinary research and personal stories, Hayhoe shows that small conversations can have astonishing results. Saving Us leaves us with the tools to open a dialogue with your loved ones about how we all can play a role in pushing forward for change.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic Audiobook
Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic
byScott GottliebNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER āUncontrolled SpreadĀ is everything youād hope: a smart and insightful account of what happened and, currently, the best guide to what needs to be done to avoid a future pandemic." āWall Street Journal āInformative and well paced.āāThe Guardian āAn intense ride through the pandemic with chilling details of what really happened. It is also sprinkled with notes of true wisdom that may help all of us better prepare for the future.āāSanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNNP hysician and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb asks: Has Americaās COVID-19 catastrophe taught us anything? In Uncontrolled Spread, he shows how the coronavirus and its variants were able to trounce Americaās pandemic preparations, and he outlines the steps that must be taken to protect against the next outbreak. As the pandemic unfolded, Gottlieb was in regular contact with all the key players in Congress, the Trump administration, and the drug and diagnostic industries. He provides an inside account of how level after level of American government crumbled as the COVID-19 crisis advanced. A system-wide failure across government institutions left the nation blind to the threat, and unable to mount an effective response. Weād prepared for the wrong virus. We failed to identify the contagion early enough and became overly reliant on costly and sometimes divisive tactics that couldnāt fully slow the spread. We never considered asymptomatic transmission and we assumed people would follow public health guidance. Key bureaucracies like the CDC were hidebound and outmatched. Weak political leadership aggravated these woes. We didnāt view a public health disaster as a threat to our national security. Many of the woes sprung from the CDC, which has very little real-time reporting capability to inform us of Covidās twists and turns or assess our defenses. The agency lacked an operational capacity and mindset to mobilize the kind of national response that was needed. To guard against future pandemic risks, we must remake the CDC and properly equip it to better confront crises. We must also get our intelligence services more engaged in the global public health mission, to gather information and uncover emerging risks before they hit our shores so we can head them off. For this role, our clandestine agencies have tools and capabilities that the CDC lacks. Uncontrolled Spread argues we must fix our systems and prepare for a deadlier coronavirus variant, a flu pandemic, or whatever else nature -- or those wishing us harm -- may threaten us with. Gottlieb outlines policies and investments that are essential to prepare the United States and the world for future threats.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South An Indie Next Selection for September 2021 From the author of the bestselling #ReadWithJenna/TODAYĀ Show book club pickĀ Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss For the past four years, Margaret Renklās columns have offered readers ofĀ The New York TimesĀ a weekly dose of natural beauty, human decency, and persistent hope from her home in Nashville. Now more than sixty of those pieces have been brought together in this sparkling new collection. āPeople have often asked me how it feels to be the āvoice of the South,āā writes Renkl in her introduction. āBut Iām not the voice of the South, and no one else is, either.ā There are many Southsāred and blue, rural and urban, mountain and coast, Black and white and brownāand no one writer could possibly represent all of them. InĀ Graceland, At Last, Renkl writes instead from her own experience about the complexities of her homeland, demonstrating along the way how much more there is to this tangled region than many people understand. In a patchwork quilt of personal and reported essays, Renkl also highlights some other voices of the South, people who are fighting for a better future for the region. A group of teenagers who organized a youth march for Black Lives Matter. An urban shepherd whose sheep remove invasive vegetation. Church parishioners sheltering the homeless. Throughout, readers will find the generosity of spirit and deep attention to the world, human and nonhuman, that keep readers returning to her columns each Monday morning. From a writer who āmakes one of all the worldās beingsā (NPR),Ā Graceland, At LastĀ is a book full of gifts for Southerners and non-Southerners alike.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Deep-Drawn Breath: A Critical Care Doctor on Healing, Recovery, and Transforming Medicine in the ICU Audiobook
Every Deep-Drawn Breath: A Critical Care Doctor on Healing, Recovery, and Transforming Medicine in the ICU
byDr Wes ElyāPerhaps one lesson to draw from the pandemic, with help from books like this one, is that the ICU experience can be changed for the betterā (The Washington Post) for both patients and their families. You will learn how in this timely, urgent, and compassionate work by a world-renowned critical care doctor. Over the next ten years, 40 to 60 million people in this country will be admitted to the ICU. Most of these hospitalizations will be sudden, unexpected, and harrowing experiences that can alter patients and their families physically and emotionally, with effects that endure for years. In this rich blend of science, medical history, profoundly humane patient stories, and personal reflection, Dr. Wes Ely describes his mission to prevent patients from being inadvertently harmed by the technology that is keeping them alive. You will experience the world of critical care through the eyes of a physician who drastically changed his clinical practice to offer person-centered health care, and through cutting-edge research convinced others to do the same. For decades, ICU survivors left the hospital with disabling symptoms including newly acquired dementia, depression, PTSD, and nerve damage, all now recognized as Post Intensive Care Syndrome, or PICS. Dr. Elyās groundbreaking investigations advanced the understanding of PICS and introduced crucial changes that reshaped intensive care: minimizing sedation, maximizing mobility, listening to the family, and providing supportive aftercare. Dr. Ely shows that there are ways to bring humanity into the ICU and that ātechnology plus touchā is the future of health care and is a proven path toward returning ICU patients to the lives they had before their hospital stay. An essential resource for anyone who will be affected by illnessāwhich is all of usāElyās āpersonal, passionate return to the ethical heart of the Hippocratic oathā¦[offers] meaningful, thought-provoking insight into the world of critical careā (Kirkus Reviews).
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Life of Fungi Fungi are unlikeĀ any other living thingāthey almost magically unique.Ā Welcome to this astonishing world. . .Ā Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra. They can invade our bodies and live between our toes or our floorboards.Ā They are unwelcome intruders or vastly expensive treats, and symbols of both death and eternal life. But despite their familiar presence, there's still much to learn about the eruption, growth, and decay of their secret, interconnected, world. Aliya Whiteley has always been in love with fungiāfrom her childhood taking blurry photographs of strange fungal eruptions on Exmoor to a career as a writer inspired by their surreal and alien beauty. This love for fungi is a love for life, from single-cell spores to the largest living organism on the planet; a story stretching from Aliya's lawn into orbit and back again via every continent. From fields, feasts and fairy rings to death caps, puffballs and ambrosia beetles, this is an intoxicating journey into the life of extraordinary organism, one that we have barely begun to understand.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pastoral Song The acclaimed chronicle of the regeneration of one family's traditional English farm NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing * Named "Nature Book of the Year" by the Sunday Times * New York Times Editors' Choice * Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Sunday Times, Financial Times, New Statesman, Independent, Telegraph, Observer, and Daily Mail "Superbly written and deeply insightful, the book captivates the reader until the journeyās end.āĀ āĀ Wall Street Journal TheĀ New York Times bestselling author of The Shepherdās Life profiles his familyās farm across three generations, revealing through this intimate lens the profound global transformation of agriculture and of the human relationship to the land. As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in England's Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, it was barely recognizable. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. Hailed as "a brilliant, beautiful book" by the Sunday Times (London), Pastoral Song (published in the United Kingdom under the title English Pastoral)Ā is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. And yet this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all. [Published in the United Kingdom as English Pastoral.]
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