Code Breaker - Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

$49.99 AUD

Category: Science

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies. When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she cam e home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn't become scientists, she decided she would. Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book's author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his co-discovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned ​a curiosity ​of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code. Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm...Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids? After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is a thrilling detective tale that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.   ...Show more

Contagion: Plagues, Pandemics and Cures from the Black Death to Covid-19 and Beyond by Dr. Richard Gunderman

$32.99 AUD

Category: Science

As the outbreak of a new and deadly form of coronavirus dominates headlines and triggers fear and global recession, now is a good time to reflect on the history and science of transmissible diseases. Behind every disease is a story, from the natural history of the disease and its course in the individua l, to the tale of the disease's description, discovery and treatment. From the impact of tuberculosis on English dynastic history to the makeup of our DNA; from the deadliest plagues of the ancient world to twenty-first century pandemics; and from the ravages of the Black Death to the discovery of antibodies, transmissible diseases have an incredible variety of tales to tell. Contagion explores some of the most notorious, grisly, and pernicious communicable diseases in history, revealing their hidden stories. In addition to discussing their symptoms, causes, prevention, and treatment, Richard Gunderman also discusses their impact on notable figures in history, nfrom soldiers to monarchs; the extraordinary contributions of the scientists and physicians who battled them; as well as their impacts on world history and human evolution. Here are the exploits of Edward Jenner, who invented the first vaccine; John Snow, the first person to study disease scientifically; Louis Pasteur, who established the germ theory of infection, along with a myriad other remarkable stories in the never ending struggle between humanity and disease. The narrative is brought right up to date with the desperate battle to stem the Covid-19 pandemic and discover a vaccine. Renowned medical expert Dr Richard Gunderman shows how disease has shaped the evolution of our species and, if we don't take the proper steps, may yet threaten our very existence on this planet. ...Show more

Fake Medicine: Exposing the wellness quacks and cons costing us our health by Bradley McKay

$32.99 AUD

Category: Science

We all want to be healthy, live longer and avoid cancer, but too many of us are being scammed by sciencey-sounding crooks and nonsense marketing. Dr Brad McKay, GP and experienced Australian science communicator, has watched how misinformation and 'alternative facts' have come to permeate every facet of our lives, causing many of us to turn away from academic expertise and instead look to social media influencers and dodgy websites to guide our health choices. Fake Medicine looks at the danger of Wellness Warriors, conspiracy theories and vaccine deniers, supplements and fad diets, alternative practitioners and the power of positive thinking, and interrogates the marketing that leads consumers toward dubious products and practices. In the wash of celebrity influencers and miracle cures, this is the essential book to debunk the faux-science and scam marketing of the modern health landscape.   ...Show more

Neuroscience of Mindfulness by Stan Rodski

$34.99 AUD

Category: Brain Science

Our Emotional Sixth Sense Neuroscientific studies are finding that our brain circuits for emotions are just as tangible as circuits for our other five senses. Advanced imaging techniques can now observe this. Recent fascination with colouring -in for adults joins a long list of techniques that have been employed by humans to calm the brain and help us with our emotions. Our ways of dealing with this intuitively have included tasks with some return for our time and effort. Tasks such as knitting and gardening. However, we now enter a world where these tasks are redundant for many of us. We employ gardeners and buy scarves. The discoveries of focused activities which take our minds away from the emotions of day to day living are returning again but in new formats such as colouring-in books and even lego building blocks for adults. In this book, Dr Rodski explores the science behind these activities and many others which we humans crave for to help us through our emotional world. The world of mindfulness, the world of our 6th sense. ...Show more

Some Brains: A Book Celebrating Neurodiversity by Nelly Thomas

$19.99 AUD

Category: Brain Science

It starts from the premise that neurodiversity (conditions like Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and the like) is a normal, essential part of human biodiversity - without it we don't get Picasso, Einstein or Greta Thunberg! Yes, neurodiverse kids sometimes require a bit of extra help and patience, but they should never be viewed as disordered. Some Brains encourages us all look for our strengths and to understand that brains are like fingerprints - uniquely, wonderfully ours. All brains are special, All brains are smart, All kids have big thoughts, And all kids have big hearts. ALL KIDS ARE SPECIAL - JUST FOLLOW THEIR HEARTS ...Show more

A Guide to our Solar System

$59.95 AUD

Category: Astronomy

Chemistry in 100 Numbers: A Numerical Guide to Facts, Formulas and Theories by Joel Levy

$14.99 AUD

Category: Science

Mathematics is the language of science, and numbers are at the heart of all chemical sciences-understand the numbers, and you'll have a better understanding of the science. Chemistry in 100 Numbers explores the most important and interesting numbers in chemistry, starting with the lowest number (-92.4, which is the 'negative' enthalpy of the Haber process measured in kilojoules and moles) and working in numerical order up to the very largest (6.0221367 x 1023, which is Avogadro's number of particles in exactly 12 grams of carbon-12). ...Show more

Keep Sharp: How to Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta

$32.99 AUD

Category: Brain Science

An exciting new science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline. Throughout our lives, we are always looking for ways to keep our mind sharp and effortlessly productive. In this book, globetrotting neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta offers insights from top scientists all over the world, whose cutt ing edge research can help you heighten and protect brain function and maintain cognitive health at any age. Keep Sharp debunks common myths about ageing and cognitive decline, explores whether there's a 'best' diet or exercise regimen for the brain, and explains whether it's healthier to play video games that test memory and processing speed, or to engage in more social interaction. Discover what we can learn from 'super-brained' people who are in their eighties and nineties but showing no signs of slowing down - and whether there are truly any benefits to drugs, supplements and vitamins. Dr Gupta also addresses brain disease, particularly Alzheimer's, answers all your questions about signs and symptoms, and shows you both how to ward against it and how to care for a partner in cognitive decline. The book also provides readers with a personalized twelve-week programme featuring practical strategies to strengthen your brain every day. Keep Sharp is the only owner's manual you'll need to keep your brain young and healthy at any age! ...Show more

Pain: The Science of the Feeling Brain by Abdul Lalkhen

$29.99 AUD

Category: Brain Science

Told through case studies and medical history, this is an enlightening, in-depth book on the fascinating science behind pain and the complexities of its treatment, by one of the leading doctors in this area.

Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

$34.99 AUD

Category: Brain Science

Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big grey blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from th e front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience. Along the way, you'll also learn to dismiss popular myths such as the idea of a 'lizard brain' and the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions, or even between nature and nurture, to determine your behaviour. Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain is full of surprises, humour, and important implications for human nature - a gift of a book that you will want to savour again and again. ...Show more

Superheavy - Making and Breaking the Periodic Table by Kit Chapman

$22.99 AUD

Category: Science

Shortlisted for the 2020 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Creating an element is no easy feat. It's the equivalent of firing six trillion bullets a second at a needle in a haystack, hoping the bullet and needle somehow fuse together, then catching it in less than a thousandth o f a second - after which it's gone forever. Welcome to the world of the superheavy elements: a realm where scientists use giant machines and spend years trying to make a single atom of mysterious artefacts that have never existed on Earth. From the first elements past uranium and their role in the atomic bomb to the latest discoveries stretching our chemical world, Superheavy will reveal the hidden stories lurking at the edges of the periodic table. Why did the US Air Force fly planes into mushroom clouds? Who won the transfermium wars? How did an earthquake help give Japan its first element? And what happened when Superman almost spilled nuclear secrets? In a globe-trotting adventure that stretches from the United States to Russia, Sweden to Australia, Superheavy is your guide to the amazing science filling in the missing pieces of the periodic table. By the end you'll not only marvel at how nuclear science has changed our lives - you'll wonder where it's going to take us in the future. ...Show more

The Long Enlightenment - Australian Science from Its Beginning to the Mid-20th Century by Robert Clancy

$49.95 AUD

Category: Science