Dr Karl's Little Book of Climate Change Science by Karl Kruszelnicki

$14.99 AUD

Category: Science

Remember by Lisa Genova

$32.99 AUD

Category: Science

A fascinating exploration of the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget, and what we can do to protect our memories, from the Harvard-trained neuroscientist and bestselling author of Still Alice. Have you ever felt a crushing wave of panic when you can't for the life of you remember the name of that actor in the movie you saw last week, or you walk into a room only to forget why you went there in the first place? If you're over forty, you're probably not laughing. You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimers or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make, or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human. In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimers (that you own a car). And you'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context. Once you understand the language of memory and how it functions, its incredible strengths and maddening weaknesses, its natural vulnerabilities and potential superpowers, you can both vastly improve your ability to remember and feel less rattled when you inevitably forget. You can set educated expectations for your memory, and in doing so, create a better relationship with it. You don't have to fear it anymore. And that can be life-changing. Using her expertise as a neuroscientist and her gifts as a storyteller, Genova explains the nuances of human memory. As with her previous books, this is an engaging and edifying read.- Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of How the Mind Works. 'No one writes more brilliantly about the connections between the brain, the mind, and the heart. Remember is a beautiful, fascinating, and important book about the mysteries of human memory, what it is, how it works, and what happens when it is stolen from us. A scientific and literary treat that you will not soon forget.' - Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness 'In Remember, Lisa Genova provides easy-to-follow, no nonsense advice on how to maximize one of the greatest outputs of your brain, memory. But, more important, she also lets us know that while memory is a tremendous gift, the real you is much more than just what you can remember! -  Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD, professor of neurology, Harvard Medical School, coauthor of The Healing Self ...Show more

Flesh Made New: The Unnatural History and Broken Promises of Stem Cell Research by Carl Power; John Rasko

$34.99 AUD

Category: Science

The dazzling promise of stem-cell treatment: does it work and will it save us? Two experts look at the hype For decades, we've been anticipating the dawn of regenerative medicine. Again and again, we've been promised that stem cells will soon cure just about every ill imaginable. If not tomorrow, then t he next day, or the day after that, and so on. We're still waiting.This book is an antidote to hype and a salve to sooth the itch for stem-cell salvation. In it, Professor John Rasko, a leading physician-scientist, and writer-historian Carl Power take us on a wild historical tour of this scandal-prone field. They expose all the dirty little secrets that the hype merchants prefer to ignore - the blunders and setbacks, confusions and delusions, tricks and lies. It's a history rife with colourful characters. You'll meet Alexis Carroll, who discovered how to cultivate cells in a test tube: celebrity surgeon, scientific genius and Nazi sympathiser, he opened the field of modern cell science with an experiment so bogus it blocked the way forward for the next 50 years. You'll meet Don Thomas, who developed bone marrow transplantation - the first successful stem-cell therapy - but only after a miserable decade in which all of his patients died. Alongside true stem-cell pioneers, you'll meet charlatans who cooked their data and claimed fake cures - sometimes with fatal consequences.Is there any good news? Which of the many promises of stem-cell research have been kept? And what of the future? Rasko and Power insist that we can only know where we're going if we have a sense of where we've been. Their study tears down the hype surrounding stem cells in order to reveal what's still worth hoping for. ...Show more

The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19 by Tim Flannery

$24.99 AUD

Category: Science

Australians are witnessing an unprecedented government response to crisis-swift decisive action to avert catastrophe. And the advice of scientists has informed every step of the way. But for decades the advice of scientists on the impending catastrophe that climate change will bring has been ignored, di smissed and even ridiculed. Renowned climate scientist Tim Flannery takes aim at those in government and in the fossil fuel industries for their inaction and lies in response to calls to address the very real and immediate threats posed by climate change. Threats that are now upon us, as the 2019/20 Australian bushfires and floods have shown. Flannery sees 2020 as a turning point. He explores the measures at our disposal to reduce CO2 emissions. He looks at the ways carbon can be drawn out of the atmosphere and safely stored to stabilise atmospheric carbon levels. And he demands a new approach that puts tackling climate change in the hands of the scientists who can lead the way. The Climate Cure is an action plan for survival, a call for government policies that, like its COVID-19 response, rise to the very real climate challenges we face. There is reason for optimism - if we act now. ...Show more

Fight for Planet A by Craig Reucassel

$34.99 AUD

Category: Science

What we can do when there's no planet B. Based on the hit ABC series - don't leave earth without it Most Australians accept that climate change is real, but many don't know what to do about it and feel powerless to make a difference. In Fight for Planet A, Craig Reucassel shows that it isn't as scary as we think, and we can make a difference to help protect the world for future generations. The Chaser comedian and presenter of War on Waste sets out solutions and practical day-to-day changes we can make to reduce our carbon footprint, as well changes our governments need to make without further delay.  ...Show more

Numb and Number by William Hartston

$29.99 AUD

Category: Science

'A wise, witty and insightful guide to clear thinking amid a deluge of percentages and probabilities.' Ian Stewart Like it or not, our lives are dominated by mathematics. Our daily diet of news regales us with statistical forecasts, opinion polls, risk assessments, inflation figures, weather and climat e predictions and all sorts of political decisions and advice backed up by supposedly accurate numbers. Most of us do not even pause and question such figures even to ask what they really mean and whether they raise more questions than they answer. In this simple guide for anyone numbed by numbers, William Hartston reveals with clarity and humour why the figures being flung at us may not tell the whole story. Along the way he explains common mathematical terms, solves common mathematical problems and shows how to steer a safe path through the minefield of mathematics that surrounds us.   ...Show more

Dr Karl's Surfing Safari Through Science by Karl Kruszelnicki

$22.00 AUD

$35.00 (37% off)

Category: Science

Australia's favourite science guru returns with a new haul of extraordinary stories from our incredible Universe - includes pop-up Dr Karl holograms! Dr Karl is surfing the Universe for all that's gnarly, awesome, weird and wonderful.Why is sharpening a pencil in space a risky business?What makes a suns et red and not blue?How far would the Earth's viruses reach if you laid them end to end?Which animal grows an anus every time it needs to poo?Find out how spiders can fly and count, whether 5G networks are safe, why we're running out of sand, and the answer to the Question on Everyone's Lips - how to make the best coffee.Plus loads more, including pop-up Karl holograms!So take a surfing safari with Dr Karl and get ready to Hang Ten - or wipe out. ...Show more

Beyond Climate Grief: A journey of love, snow, fire and an enchanted beer can by Jonica Newby

$29.99 AUD

Category: Science

How do we find courage when climate change overwhelms us emotionally?In this magical, often funny and deeply moving personal story, award-winning science reporter Jonica Newby explores how to navigate the emotional turmoil of climate change.After researching what global warming will do to the snow count ry she loves, Newby plummeted into a state of profound climate grief. And if she was struggling, she wondered, how was everyone else coping? What should parents tell their anxious kids? How might we all live our best lives under the weight of this fearsome knowledge? Then reality outstripped imagination as her family was swept up in the apocalyptic 2020 fires.Featuring illuminating conversations with singer–songwriter Missy Higgins, comedians Charlie Pickering and Craig Reucassel and business leader Mike Cannon-Brookes, practical advice from psychological and scientific experts, incredible accounts from everyday heroes, plus inspiring stories from the climate strike kids,Beyond Climate Grief provides guidance and emotional sustenance to help shore up courage for the uncertainties ahead.It reminds us of the love, beauty and wonder in the world, even amidst disaster. And how we all have a touch of epic hero in us. ...Show more

The Best Australian Science Writing 2020 by Sara Phillips (Editor)

$32.99 AUD

Category: Science

The annual collection – now in its tenth year – celebrating the finest voices in Australian science writing.Can fish feel pain? Does it matter if a dingo is different from a dog? Is there life in a glob of subterranean snot? Science tackles some unexpected questions. At a time when the world is buffeted by the effects of a pandemic, climate change and accelerating technology, the fruits of scientific labour and enquiry have never been more in demand. Who better to navigate us through these unprecedented days than Australia's best science writers.Now in its tenth year, this much-loved anthology selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating science stories and essays from Australian writers, poets and scientists. In their expert hands such ordinary objects as milk and sticky tape become imbued with new meaning, while the furthest reaches of our universe are made more familiar and comprehensible.With a foreword from Nobel laureate and immunologist Peter C Doherty, this collection brings fresh perspective to the world you thought you knew. ...Show more

A Human's Guide to the Future by Jordan Nguyen

$34.99 AUD

Category: Science

TECHNOLOGY IS EVOLVING AT THE FASTEST RATE WE'VE EVER SEEN, BUT IT MAY BE THE SLOWEST RATE WE'LL EVER SEE AGAIN! What does this mean for the future of the human race? Do we resist these changes or embrace them?Australian biomedical engineer, inventor and visionary Dr Jordan Nguyen has lived a life of cu riosity and wonder - exploring positive opportunities in science and technology, including robotics, artificial intelligence, bionics, extended reality and avatars. He believes that technology is a powerful tool that we as humans can choose to harness to create a better tomorrow.In A Human's Guide to the Future, Dr Jordan takes us on a journey through the big innovations being developed around the world, along the fun and amazing rollercoaster of his own adventures, and to envisage where our collective future is headed.Written by one of this generation's most exciting voices, this is a book that will deepen your understanding of new and emerging technologies and fuel your imagination at the dawn of what will be the most transformative era in human history. ...Show more

The Secret Life of Whales by Micheline Jenner (Contribution by)

$29.99 AUD

Category: Science

Marine biologist Micheline Jenner discovered humpback breeding grounds off the Kimberley coast, uncovered pygmy blue whale feeding spots, and, with her husband Curt, is one of very few people to witness a humpback whale giving birth. In The Secret Life of Whales she reveals the little-known world of the se giants of the deep, taking us from Australia to Antarctica and beyond. With her infectious enthusiasm for these magnificent creatures. Mich shares her insights into how whales live - how they migrate, feed, breed and look after their young - and her world-leading conservation work. ...Show more

The Best Australian Science Writing 2017 by Michael Slezak (Contribution by)

$29.99 AUD

Category: Science

Would it be ethical to eat sentient aliens? What is the basis of differences between the sexes? Where do you find fossils of early multicellular life? Is there any hope for the Great Barrier Reef or Tasmanian forests in a warming climate? Were Aboriginal Australians the world's first astronomers? The Be st Australian Science Writing 2017, now in its seventh year, draws on the knowledge and insight of Australia's brightest thinkers. From the potentially venomous future of medicine to the ecological knowledge available from large-scale, unreplicated natural experiments (LUNEs), this acclaimed anthology selects the best science writing from the past year, challenging perceptions of the world we think we know. With a foreword by Professor Emma Johnston, UNSW Dean of Science, this year's collection includes the best of Australia's science writing talent: Jo Chandler, Elmo Keep, Peter Singer, Bianca Nogrady, James Bradley, and many more. ...Show more