Teaming with Microbes - The organic gardener's guide to the soil food web by Wayne Lewis; Jeff Lowenfels

$20.00 NZD

Category: Gardening | Series: Science for Gardeners Ser. | Reading Level: very good

Healthy soil teems with life--not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Chemical fertilizers injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and the soil becomes increasingly dependent on artificial, often toxic, substances. But the re is an alternative: by strengthening the soil food web--the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms--gardeners can create a nurturing environment for plants. Teaming with Microbes extols the benefits of cultivating the soil food web. It clearly explains the activities and organisms that make up the web, and explains how gardeners can cultivate the life of the soil through the use of compost, mulches, and compost tea. With Jeff Lowenfels' help, everyone--from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants--can create rich, nurturing, living soil. ...Show more

Two in the Bush by Gerald Durrell

$15.00 NZD

Category: Natural History | Reading Level: good

Big Numbers - A mind-expanding trip to infinity and back by Mary Gribbin

$12.00 NZD

Category: Children Non-fiction | Reading Level: very good

• How big is infinityb• How small is an electron>• When will the Sun destroy the Earth • How fast is a nerve impulse in your brainh• Why can’t you see inside a black holes• What’s the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earthe• What’s the furthest yo u can see on a clear night Welcome to the amazing world of ‘Big Numbers’, where you’ll travel from the furthest reaches of the known Universe to the tiniest particles that make up life on Earth. Together with Mary and John Gribbin, you can find out how our telescopes can see 10 billion years into the past, and why a thimble-full of a neutron star would contain as much mass as all the people on Earth put together! ...Show more

A History of Mathematics by Carl B Boyer and Uta C Merzbach

$20.00 NZD

Category: Mathematics | Reading Level: good-very good

The Music of the Primes - Why an Unsolved Problem in Mathematics Matters by Marcus du Sautoy

$12.00 NZD

Category: Mathematics | Reading Level: good-very good

The paperback of the critically-acclaimed popular science book by a writer who is fast becoming a celebrity mathematician.Prime numbers are the very atoms of arithmetic. They also embody one of the most tantalising enigmas in the pursuit of human knowledge. How can one predict when the next prime number will occur? Is there a formula which could generate primes? These apparently simple questions have confounded mathematicians ever since the Ancient Greeks.In 1859, the brilliant German mathematician Bernard Riemann put forward an idea which finally seemed to reveal a magical harmony at work in the numerical landscape. The promise that these eternal, unchanging numbers would finally reveal their secret thrilled mathematicians around the world. Yet Riemann, a hypochondriac and a troubled perfectionist, never publicly provided a proof for his hypothesis and his housekeeper burnt all his personal papers on his death.Whoever cracks Riemann's hypothesis will go down in history, for it has implications far beyond mathematics. In business, it is the lynchpin for security and e-commerce. In science, it has critical ramifications in Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory, and the future of computing. Pioneers in each of these fields are racing to crack the code and a prize of $1 million has been offered to the winner. As yet, it remains unsolved.In this breathtaking book, mathematician Marcus du Sautoy tells the story of the eccentric and brilliant men who have struggled to solve one of the biggest mysteries in science. It is a story of strange journeys, last-minute escapes from death and the unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Above all, it is a moving and awe-inspiring evocation of the mathematician's world and the beauties and mysteries it contains. First published 2003; this edition with PS section 2004. ...Show more

Why Does E mc2 ? - and why should we care? by Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw

$12.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: very good

The Beginning of Infinity - Explanations That Transform The World by David Deutsch

$14.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: very good

In our search for truth, how far have we advanced? This uniquely human quest for good explanations has driven amazing improvements in everything from scientific understanding and technology to politics, moral values and human welfare. But will progress end, either in catastrophe or completion - or will it continue indefinitely? In this profound and seminal book, David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding, taking in the Infinity Hotel, supernovae and the nature of optimism, to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved - and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity's infinite possibility. ...Show more

Our Mathematical Universe - My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality by Max Tegmark

$12.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: very good

In Our Mathematical Universe, Max Tegmark, one of the most original physicists at work today, leads us on an astonishing journey to explore the mysteries uncovered by cosmology and to discover the nature of realityPart-history of the cosmos, part-intellectual adventure, Our Mathematical Universe travels from the Big Bang to the distant future via parallel worlds, across every possible scale - from the sub-atomic to the intergalactic - showing how mathematics provides the answers to our questions about the world. Where do we come from? What makes the universe the way it is? In essence, why are we here? With dazzling clarity, Max Tegmark ponders these deep mysteries and allows us to grasp the most cutting-edge and mind-boggling theories of physics. What he proposes is an elegant and fascinating idea: that our physical world not only is described by mathematics, but that it is mathematics. 'Our Mathematical Universe is nothing if not impressive. Brilliantly argued and beautifully written, it is never less than thought-provoking about the greatest mysteries of our existence' - New York Times 'An amazing ride through the rich landscape of contemporary cosmology... Physics could do with more characters like Tegmark... an imaginative intellect and a charismatic presence' - Clive Cookson, Financial Times Max Tegmark is author or co-author of more than 200 technical papers, twelve of which have been cited more than 500 times. He has featured in dozens of science documentaries, and his work with the SDSS collaboration on galaxy clustering shared the first prize in Science magazine's "Breakthrough of the Year: 2003". He holds a Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a physics professor at MIT. ...Show more

In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin

$10.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: very good

We once had to abandon the idea of earth being at the centre of the universe. Now, we need to confront an even more profound possibility: the universe itself might just be one universe among many. "In Search of the Multiverse" takes us on an extraordinary journey, examining the most fundamental question s in science. What are the boundaries of our universe? Can there be different physical laws from the ones we know? Are there in fact other universes? Do we really live in a multiverse? This book is the ultimate search and Gribbin guides us through the different competing theories revealing what they have in common and what we can come to expect. ...Show more

The Quantum Universe - Everything That Can Happen Does Happen by Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw

$12.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: very good

From the bestselling authors of "Why does E=mc2?" comes "The Quantum Universe", in which Brian Cox, presenter of the BBC's "Wonders of the Solar System" and "Wonders of the Universe", and Jeff Forshaw go on a brilliantly ambitious mission to show that everyone can understand the deepest questions of sci ence. This Top Ten bestseller now contains an updated chapter on the remarkable progress in the search for the Higgs boson particle. But just what is quantum physics? How does it help us understand our amazing world? Where does it leave Newton and Einstein? And why, above all, can we be sure that the theory is good? Here, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw give us the real science behind the bizarre behaviour of the atoms and energy that make up the universe, and reveal exactly how everything that can happen, does happen. ...Show more

The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch

$10.00 NZD

Category: Science | Reading Level: good

A synthesis of unifying ideas arising from quantum theory, the theory of computation, epistemology and the theory of evolution, this book explores the deep connections between the progress of knowledge of the world and the process of change in the world itself.

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

$12.00 NZD

Category: Science | Series: Penguin Press Science Ser. | Reading Level: very good

From Brian Greene, one of the world's leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way. Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a dir ection? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science's new and deeper understanding of the universe. From Newton's unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein's fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics' entangled arena where vastly distant objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe. Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that "time's arrow" is a relic of the universe's condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional "multiverse," pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities. Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of ourscientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world. With 146 illustrations Jacket photograp ...Show more