A Most Improbable Journey: A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves

Author: Walter Alvarez
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393292703
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
"A thrilling synthesis from a brilliant scientist who discovered one of the most important chapters in our history." —Sean B. Carroll Big History, the field that integrates traditional historical scholarship with scientific insights to study the full sweep of our universe, has so far been the domain of historians. Famed geologist Walter Alvarez—best known for the “Impact Theory” explaining dinosaur extinction—has instead championed a science-first approach to Big History. Here he wields his unique expertise to give us a new appreciation for the incredible occurrences—from the Big Bang to the formation of supercontinents, the dawn of the Bronze Age, and beyond—that have led to our improbable place in the universe.

A Most Improbable Journey

Author: Walter Alvarez
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0393355195
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

The Little Book of Big History

Author: Ian Crofton
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1782434305
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
From the Big Bang to the future of our planet, The Little Book of Big History divides history into manageable but comprehensive time frames, encompassing the cosmos, the stars, life and everything in between. Big History is the attempt to understand and condense the entire story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the current day. Combining methods from history, astronomy, physics and biology to draw together the big story arcs of how the universe was created, why planets formed and how life developed, this creates a unique perspective from which to understand the place of mankind in the universe. Excited by the alternative 'framework for all knowledge' that is offered by this approach, Bill Gates is funding the Big History Project, which aims to bring the subject to a wider audience around the world. The Little Book of Big History breaks down the main themes of Big History into highly informative and accessible parts for all readers to enjoy. By giving a truly complete timeline of world events, this book shines a whole different light on history as we learned it and makes us think of our history - and our future - in a very different way.

The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird

Author: Jack E. Davis
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631495267
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
Best Books of the Month: Wall Street Journal, Kirkus Reviews From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Gulf, a sweeping cultural and natural history of the bald eagle in America. The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you’re not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as “majestic” and “noble,” yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from before the nation’s founding through inconceivable resurgences of this enduring all-American species, Jack E. Davis contrasts the age when native peoples lived beside it peacefully with that when others, whether through hunting bounties or DDT pesticides, twice pushed Haliaeetus leucocephalus to the brink of extinction. Filled with spectacular stories of Founding Fathers, rapacious hunters, heroic bird rescuers, and the lives of bald eagles themselves—monogamous creatures, considered among the animal world’s finest parents—The Bald Eagle is a much-awaited cultural and natural history that demonstrates how this bird’s wondrous journey may provide inspiration today, as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale.

A Dream Too Big

Author: Caylin Louis Moore
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1400209927
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
In this inspiring and provocative memoir about a young black man, Caylin Moore tells the against-all-odds story of his rise from racial injustice and cruel poverty in gang-ridden Los Angeles to academic success at the University of Oxford, with hope as his compass. A Dream to Big is for readers who want to … enjoy a compelling, true, hard-to-believe inspirational story; thoughtfully embrace a long-overdue conversation about equality and justice in America; and be inspired and find hope from a firsthand account of redemption through even the most painful life experiences. When Caylin Louis Moore was a young child, his mother gathered her three young children and fled an abusive marriage, landing in poverty in a heavily policed, gang-ridden community. When Moore’s mother suffered from health complications and a devastating experience in the hospital and his father was sentenced to life imprisonment, Moore was forced to enter adulthood prematurely. His hope was fueled by embracing his mother's steely faith in a brighter future. Moore skirted the gangs, the police, and the violence endemic to Compton to excel as a student and athlete, eventually reaching the pinnacles of academic achievement as a Rhodes Scholar. Moore's eye-opening, against-all-odds story reveals that there is no such thing as a dream too big.

596 Switch

Author: Ryan Leaf
Publisher: Crimson Oak Publishing
ISBN: 0982950535
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
All-American Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf, who led the WSU Cougars to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1998, shares the ins and outs of a young man from Montana, attending college with dreams of a pro football career! It covers four years, from the moment Leaf decided to attend Washington State up through the Rose Bowl appearance in 1998. For college football fans and for WSU Cougar fans, this is an entertaining, behind-the-scenes journey through a fascinating time in the school's football history. For sports fans generally, it offers an unvarnished look at the world of college athletics, good and bad. The book does not glorify the sport or the WSU Cougar team, but does shed light on the powerful stories, colorful characters and some of the shenanigans behind one of our country's most beloved weekend pastimes.

Yes

Author: Daniel Bryan
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 125006788X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
YES! YES! YES! Daniel Bryan is the real deal. Everyone's favorite underdog, he's proven to the world and to all of WWE that looks can be deceiving. Just ask everyone who's ever underestimated him…right before he went out and whipped the WWE Universe into a frenzy. This is Bryan's behind-the-scenes story told for the first time ever -- from his beginnings as a child wanting to wrestle to his ten years on the circuit before finally making it in WWE. When his "YES!" chant becomes a full-fledged movement, his career skyrockets. This book chronicles all the hard work, values, influences, unique life choices and more leading to his watershed week at WrestleMania 30. You won't want to miss it. Yes! We're sure about this.

Improbable Planet

Author: Hugh Ross
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 149340539X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
The Latest Scientific Discoveries Point to an Intentional Creator Most of us remember the basics from science classes about how Earth came to be the only known planet that sustains complex life. But what most people don't know is that the more thoroughly researchers investigate the history of our planet, the more astonishing the story of our existence becomes. The number and complexity of the astronomical, geological, chemical, and biological features recognized as essential to human existence have expanded explosively within the past decade. An understanding of what is required to make possible a large human population and advanced civilizations has raised profound questions about life, our purpose, and our destiny. Are we really just the result of innumerable coincidences? Or is there a more reasonable explanation? This fascinating book helps nonscientists understand the countless miracles that undergird the exquisitely fine-tuned planet we call home--as if Someone had us in mind all along.

Atlas of Improbable Places

Author: Travis Elborough
Publisher: Aurum Press
ISBN: 0711264015
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Atlas of Improbable Places shows the modern world from surprising new vantage points that will inspire urban explorers and armchair travellers alike to consider a new way of understanding the world we live in.

The Monkey's Voyage

Author: Alan de Queiroz
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465069762
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Throughout the world, closely related species are found on landmasses separated by wide stretches of ocean. What explains these far-flung distributions? Why are such species found where they are across the Earth? Since the discovery of plate tectonics, scientists have conjectured that plants and animals were scattered over the globe by riding pieces of ancient supercontinents as they broke up. In the past decade, however, that theory has foundered, as the genomic revolution has made reams of new data available. And the data has revealed an extraordinary, stranger-than-fiction story that has sparked a scientific upheaval. In The Monkey's Voyage, biologist Alan de Queiroz describes the radical new view of how fragmented distributions came into being: frogs and mammals rode on rafts and icebergs, tiny spiders drifted on storm winds, and plant seeds were carried in the plumage of sea-going birds to create the map of life we see today. In other words, these organisms were not simply constrained by continental fate; they were the makers of their own geographic destiny. And as de Queiroz shows, the effects of oceanic dispersal have been crucial in generating the diversity of life on Earth, from monkeys and guinea pigs in South America to beech trees and kiwi birds in New Zealand. By toppling the idea that the slow process of continental drift is the main force behind the odd distributions of organisms, this theory highlights the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the history of life. In the tradition of John McPhee's Basin and Range, The Monkey's Voyage is a beautifully told narrative that strikingly reveals the importance of contingency in history and the nature of scientific discovery.