Kingsley Bolton uses early word lists, satirical cartoons and data from journals and memoirs to uncover the forgotten history of English in China, from the arrival of the first English-speaking traders in the early seventeenth century to the present...

A historical and theoretical investigation of the unexpected ways screen-based media protect and excite viewers’ fears and anxieties of the worldIn this brilliant contribution to contemporary media studies, acclaimed theorist Francesco Casetti advances a...

A revelatory tale of how the human brain develops, from conception to birth and beyondBy the time a baby is born, its brain is equipped with billions of intricately crafted neurons wired together through trillions of interconnections to form a compact...

Cover -- Contents -- Preface to the 2023 Edition -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter One. The Prehistory of the Classical Interpretation of Probability: Expectation and Evidence -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Quantitative and...

A sweeping cultural history of one of the most influential mathematical books ever writtenEuclid's Elements of Geometry is one of the fountainheads of mathematics—and of culture. Written around 300 BCE, it has traveled widely across the centuries,...

An evolutionary case for the existence of free willScientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As we probe ever deeper into the mechanics of decision...

How the Einsteinian revolution can be understood as the result of a long-term evolution of science The revolution that emerged from Albert Einstein’s work in the early twentieth century transformed our understanding of space, time, motion, gravity,...

An eminent engineer and historian tackles one of the most elemental aspects of life: how we experience and utilize physical force“Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus ReviewsForce explores how humans interact with the material world...

This book is intended as a first rigorous course in geometry. As the title indicates, we have adopted Birkhoff's metric approach (i.e., through use of real numbers) rather than Hilbert's synthetic approach to the subject. Throughout the text we...

A "fascinating, terrifying" (JJ Abrams) cautionary tale about the destructive power of AI--an autobiographical thriller written in verse by an AI itself, with context from top writers and scientists, articulating the dangers of its disturbing vision for...

How do we create a universe of truthful and verifiable information, available to everyone?In The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge, MIT Open Learning’s Peter B. Kaufman describes the powerful forces that have purposely crippled our...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, Frank Close has produced this major revision to his classic and compelling introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe. Frank Close...

How the principles of biological innovation can help us overcome creative challenges in art, business, and scienceIn Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural...

"Beautifully written... a riveting account of how melodies and rhythms connect us, and help us deal with alienation and anxiety."--Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score Shortlisted for the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada...

From the Los Angeles Times Book Prize–winning historian, the colorful, dramatic story of Charles Darwin’s journey on HMS Beagle that inspired the evolutionary theories in his path-breaking books On the Origin of Species and The Descent of ManWhen...

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The dramatic story of the Flint water crisis, by a relentless physician who stood up to power.“Stirring . . . [a] blueprint for all those who believe . . . that ‘the world . . . should be full of people raising their...

From a Forbes 30 Under 30 scientist comes a fascinating exploration into how the brain creates our conscious experiences—potentially revolutionizing neuroscience and the future of technology—transforming the very fabric of our society.Throughout history,...

A mesmerizing trip to the strange world of white holes from the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of TimeLet us journey, with beloved physicist Carlo Rovelli, into the heart of a black hole. We slip beyond its horizon and...

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY"Revelatory, superbly written, and pulsing with wisdom and humanity, How Infrastructure Works is a masterpiece.” —Ed Yong, author of An Immense WorldA new way of seeing the essential systems hidden inside our...