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Nature and Science October 2017
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Quakeland: On the Road to America's Next Devastating Earthquake
by Kathryn Miles
"Earthquakes are everywhere," explains science journalist Kathryn Miles, who knows her natural disasters (she's also the author of Superstorm: Nine Days Inside Hurricane Sandy). Although geological maps of the United States reveal some 2,100 known faults, the nation is ill-prepared should any of them slip. Poor infrastructure and a lack of early warning systems are causes for concern, as is the increasing number of earthquakes in unexpected places such as Oklahoma and North Dakota, where hydraulic fracturing has transformed the landscape. Given that 75 million Americans currently live in "areas of significant seismic risk," this eye-opening book is essential reading.
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Rare : portraits of America's endangered species
by Joel Sartore
A compelling collection of stark and haunting images showcases plants and animals threatened by extinction, including the ocelot, the California condor, the Puerto Rican crested toad and many more.
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DNA : the story of the genetic revolution
by James D. Watson
Newly revised and updated, and charting the greatest scientific journey of our time, the Nobel laureate whose pioneering work helped unlock the mystery of DNA’s structure presents the most comprehensive authoritative exploration of DNA’s impact—practical, social and ethical—on our society and our world. By the author of The Double Helix.
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| Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame by Michael KodasAnyone who follows the news can't help but be aware of the wildfires that periodically ravage the western United States, claiming lives and causing widespread destruction. In this sobering book, journalist and firefighter Michael Kodas draws on interviews and on-site reporting to investigate why such "megafires" occur -- and how our response to them may be doing more harm than good. |
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Purpose and desire : a new model for understanding life
by J. Scott Turner
Helping us bridge the ideological divide, a professor, biologist and physiologist, drawing on the work of Claude Bernard, argues that modern Darwinism’s materialist and mechanistic biases have led to a scientific dead end and only an openness to the qualities of “purpose and desire” will move the field forward. 25,000 first printing.
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Ripples in spacetime : Einstein, gravitational waves, and the future of astronomy
by Govert Schilling
It has already been called the scientific breakthrough of the century: the detection of gravitational waves. Einstein predicted these tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime nearly a hundred years ago, but they were never perceived directly until now. Decades in the making, this momentous discovery has given scientists a new understanding of the cataclysmic events that shape the universe and a new confirmation of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Ripples in Spacetime is an engaging account of the international effort to complete Einstein's project, capture his elusive ripples, and launch an era of gravitational-wave astronomy that promises to explain, more vividly than ever before, our universe's structure and origin. The quest for gravitational waves involved years of risky research and many personal and professional struggles that threatened to derail one of the world's largest scientific endeavors. Govert Schilling takes readers to sites where these stories unfolded--including Japan's KAGRA detector, Chile's Atacama Cosmology Telescope, the South Pole's BICEP detectors, and the United States' LIGO labs. He explains the seeming impossibility of developing technologies sensitive enough to detect waves from two colliding black holes in the very distant universe, and describes the astounding precision of the LIGO detectors. Along the way Schilling clarifies concepts such as general relativity, neutron stars, and the big bang using language that readers with little scientific background can grasp.
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| Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max TegmarkAre you ready for the AI revolution? If not, you're hardly alone. Although the issues surrounding artificial intelligence comprise "the most important conversation of our time," according to MIT professor Max Tegmark, we as a society have not devoted much attention to the political, economic, and social consequences of AI. Whether you're worried about automation eliminating your job (it probably will) or robot overlords destroying all humans (they probably won't), you'll want to read this book. |
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| Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology by Ellen UllmanWhen Ellen Ullman once objected to her software engineer colleagues' suggestions of genocide as a means of eradicating a genetic disorder, one replied, "This is how I know you're not a real techie." In this essay collection, the award-winning author of the memoir Close to the Machine and the novel The Bug describes her experiences in the tech industry, beginning in the 1970s and spanning decades. From living in what she calls "mind-time" to dealing with gender-based discrimination, Ullman offers countless insights from a life lived in close proximity to machines. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Keene Public Library
60 Winter St.
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
603-352-0157
http://www.keenepubliclibrary.org/
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