Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307777693
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Book Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes a relentlessly inventive novel that dives deep into the very nature of consciousness. “Fantastical, mysterious, and funny . . . a fantasy world that might have been penned by Franz Kafka.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a hyperkinetic novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.

Science in Wonderland

Author: Melanie Keene
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199662657
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Book Description
Presents a new perspective on Victorian scientific discoveries and inventions; includes a range of Victorian scientific fairy-tales and stories; looks at why fairies and their tales were chosen as an appropriate new form for capturing and presenting scientific and technological knowledge to young audiences; examines a range of scientific subjects, from palaeontology to entomology to astronomy.--Provided by publisher.

We Only Find Them When They're Dead Deluxe Edition

Author: Al Ewing
Publisher: Boom! Studios
ISBN: 1936393867
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Book Description
ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL... ALWAYS DEAD... NO ESCAPE. Captain Malik and the crew of the spaceship the Vihaan II are in search of the only resources that matter–which can only be found by harvesting the giant corpses of alien gods that are found on the edge of human space. But Malik’s obsession with being the first to find a living god will push his crew into the darkest reaches of space and many decades into the future, where the universe has changed in ways beyond comprehension. Rival religious factions clash throughout the galaxy as the Vihaan II is on a quest to discover—once and for all—the origins of the Gods. Will the lines between humanity and the divine blur even further? Superstar writer Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk) and distinguished artist Simone Di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) for the first time ever present a deluxe hardcover collection of the entire sci-fi epic! Collects We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #1-15.

New Scientist: The Origin of (almost) Everything

Author: New Scientist
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
ISBN: 1857889398
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
From what actually happened in the Big Bang to the accidental discovery of post-it notes, the history of science is packed with surprising discoveries. Did you know, for instance, that if you were to get too close to a black hole it would suck you up like a noodle (it's called spaghettification), why your keyboard is laid out in QWERTY (it's not to make it easier to type) or why animals never evolved wheels? New Scientist does. And now they and award-winning illustrator Jennifer Daniel want to take you on a colorful, whistle-stop journey from the start of our universe (through the history of stars, galaxies, meteorites, the Moon and dark energy) to our planet (through oceans and weather and oil) and life (through dinosaurs to emotions and sex) to civilization (from cities to alcohol and cooking), knowledge (from alphabets to alchemy) ending up with technology (computers to rocket science). Witty essays explore the concepts alongside enlightening infographics that zoom from how many people have ever lived, to showing you how a left-wing brain differs from a right-wing one...

SCAM

Author: Edzard Ernst
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845409833
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is popular and therefore important, no matter whether we love or loathe it. Consequently, an impressive number of books about SCAM are already available. Most of them, however, are woefully uncritical, overtly promotional and dangerously misleading. Not so this one! This book was written by someone who received SCAM as a patient, practised SCAM as a doctor, and researched SCAM as a scientist. It provides an insider's perspective by covering aspects of SCAM which most other books avoid, and by questioning the many tacitly accepted assumptions and wild extrapolations that underpin SCAM. The text is factual, occasionally dosed with a touch of humour or satire. The aim is not only to inform but also to entertain. It is written principally for members of the general public who have an interest in healthcare and are tired of the promotional counter-knowledge produced by SCAM enthusiasts. It is an exercise in critical thinking that might prevent you from wasting your money on (or endangering your health with) bogus treatments.

Lights Out in Wonderland: A Novel

Author: DBC Pierre
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393082326
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
"Lights Out in Wonderland has all the verbal wit and energy of Vernon God Little."—Financial Times Gabriel Brockwell—aesthete, philosopher, disaffected twenty-something decadent—is thinking terminal. He's decided to kill himself—but not immediately. His destination is Wonderland. The style of the journey is all that's to be decided. Traveling between London, Tokyo, and Berlin, Gabriel is in search of the bacchanal to obliterate all previous parties. His adventure takes in a spell in rehab, a near-death experience eating a poisonous Japanese delicacy, and finally an orgiastic feast in the bowels of Berlin's majestic Tempelhof Airport. Along the way, Gabriel falls apart, only to reemerge with a new outlook on the world and a mission to right his past wrongs. Lights Out in Wonderland is an allegorical banquet, a sly commentary on these End Times and the march toward banality, and a joyful expression of the human spirit.

Space Walrus

Author: Kevin L. Donihe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781621050285
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
Space: the final frontier... these are the voyages of... a walrus? Meet Walter. He is the first walrus in a revolutionary space program. Someday, his blubbery form will float past asteroids, stars, and planets as he journeys through the dark beyond to become a Master of Space. But for now, Walter's dream is to win the heart of his lifelong love, Dr. Stephanie, who happens to be the scientist assigned to conduct experiments on him. The problem is Dr. Stephanie does not love Walter. She views him as a test subject and nothing more. To make matters worse, Dr. Stephanie appears to be in love with the abusive head scientist, Dr. Ron. From Wonderland Book Award winner Kevin L. Donihe comes a tragic comedy of unrequited love and inspired determination.

The Alice Books and the Contested Ground of the Natural World

Author: Laura White
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351803611
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
Though popular opinion would have us see Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There as whimsical, nonsensical, and thoroughly enjoyable stories told mostly for children; contemporary research has shown us there is a vastly greater depth to the stories than would been seen at first glance. Building on the now popular idea amongst Alice enthusiasts, that the Alice books - at heart - were intended for adults as well as children, Laura White takes current research in a new, fascinating direction. During the Victorian era of the book’s original publication, ideas about nature and our relation to nature were changing drastically. The Alice Books and the Contested Ground of the Natural World argues that Lewis Carroll used the book’s charm, wit, and often puzzling conclusions to counter the emerging tendencies of the time which favored Darwinism and theories of evolution and challenged the then-conventional thinking of the relationship between mankind and nature. Though a scientist and ardent student of nature himself, Carroll used his famously playful language, fantastic worlds and brilliant, often impossible characters to support more the traditional, Christian ideology of the time in which mankind holds absolute sovereignty over animals and nature.

Good Charts

Author: Scott Berinato
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 1633690717
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 842

Book Description
Dataviz—the new language of business A good visualization can communicate the nature and potential impact of information and ideas more powerfully than any other form of communication. For a long time “dataviz” was left to specialists—data scientists and professional designers. No longer. A new generation of tools and massive amounts of available data make it easy for anyone to create visualizations that communicate ideas far more effectively than generic spreadsheet charts ever could. What’s more, building good charts is quickly becoming a need-to-have skill for managers. If you’re not doing it, other managers are, and they’re getting noticed for it and getting credit for contributing to your company’s success. In Good Charts, dataviz maven Scott Berinato provides an essential guide to how visualization works and how to use this new language to impress and persuade. Dataviz today is where spreadsheets and word processors were in the early 1980s—on the cusp of changing how we work. Berinato lays out a system for thinking visually and building better charts through a process of talking, sketching, and prototyping. This book is much more than a set of static rules for making visualizations. It taps into both well-established and cutting-edge research in visual perception and neuroscience, as well as the emerging field of visualization science, to explore why good charts (and bad ones) create “feelings behind our eyes.” Along the way, Berinato also includes many engaging vignettes of dataviz pros, illustrating the ideas in practice. Good Charts will help you turn plain, uninspiring charts that merely present information into smart, effective visualizations that powerfully convey ideas.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Decoded

Author: David Day
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0385682271
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
This gorgeous 150th anniversary edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is also a revelatory work of scholarship. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--published 150 years ago in 1865--is a book many of us love and feel we know well. But it turns out we have only scratched the surface. Scholar David Day has spent many years down the rabbit hole of this children's classic and has emerged with a revelatory new view of its contents. What we have here, he brilliantly and persuasively argues, is a complete classical education in coded form--Carroll's gift to his "wonder child" Alice Liddell. In two continuous commentaries, woven around the complete text of the novel for ease of cross-reference on every page, David Day reveals the many layers of teaching, concealed by manipulation of language, that are carried so lightly in the beguiling form of a fairy tale. These layers relate directly to Carroll's interest in philosophy, history, mathematics, classics, poetry, spiritualism and even to his love of music--both sacred and profane. His novel is a memory palace, given to Alice as the great gift of an education. It was delivered in coded form because in that age, it was a gift no girl would be permitted to receive in any other way. Day also shows how a large number of the characters in the book are based on real Victorians. Wonderland, he shows, is a veritable "Who's Who" of Oxford at the height of its power and influence in the Victorian Age. There is so much to be found behind the imaginary characters and creatures that inhabit the pages of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. David Day's warm, witty and brilliantly insightful guide--beautifully designed and stunningly illustrated throughout in full colour--will make you marvel at the book as never before.