Mathematics & Science

In many ecosystems dung beetles play a crucial role--both ecologically and economically--in the decomposition of large herbivore dung. Their activities provide scientists with an excellent opportunity to explore biological community dynamics. This...

The extraordinary life story of the celebrated naturalist who transformed our understanding of evolution.Enchanted by Daphne is legendary ecologist Peter Grant's personal account of his remarkable life and career. In this revelatory book, Grant takes...

How to put democracy at the heart of AI governance.Artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping our world. Police forces use them to decide where to send police officers, judges to decide whom to release on bail, welfare agencies to decide...

A foundational account of a new construction in the p-adic Langlands correspondenceMotivated by the p-adic Langlands program, this book constructs stacks that algebraize Mazur's formal deformation rings of local Galois representations. More precisely, it...

A marvellously illustrated look at the most deadly predators on the planetTooth and Claw presents the world's top predators as you have never seen them before, from big cats and wild dogs to sharks, reptiles, and killer whales. Blending gorgeous photos...

You can tell a lot about a tree from the company it keeps. James Nardi guides you through the innermost unseen world that trees share with a wondrous array of creatures. With their elaborate immune responses, trees recruit a host of allies as predators...

A wondrous story of scientific endeavor-probing the great ice sheets of Antarctica.From the moment explorers set foot on the ice of Antarctica in the early nineteenth century, they desired to learn what lay beneath. David J. Drewry provides an insider's...

A comprehensive and richly illustrated introduction to the world of viruses.As parasites that are often hundreds of times smaller than bacteria, viruses exist in and on everything, everywhere. Rapidly evolving, they are highly opportunistic and...

How the classic mirror test served as a portal for scientists to explore questions of self-awarenessSince the late eighteenth century, scientists have placed subjects-humans, infants, animals, and robots-in front of mirrors in order to look for signs of...

A richly illustrated introduction to the incredible world of beetles.With some 400,000 species, beetles are among the largest and most successful groups of organisms on earth, making up one-fifth of all plant and animal species. No other animals exhibit...

A marvellously illustrated A-to-Z compendium of bird names from around the globe.The Bird Name Book is an alphabetical reference book on the origins and meanings of common group bird names, from 'accentor' to...

How the concept of proof has enabled the creation of mathematical knowledge.The Story of Proof investigates the evolution of the concept of proof - one of the most significant and defining features of mathematical thought - through critical episodes in...

A major new biography of the brilliant naturalist, traveller, humanitarian, and codiscoverer of natural selectionAlfred Russel Wallace (18231913) was perhaps the most famed naturalist of the Victorian age. His expeditions to remote Amazonia and southeast...

A compact, richly illustrated photographic field guide to all of the birds of Galpagos, from renowned photographer and writer Tui De RoyA lifelong resident of Galpagos, Tui De Roy has been observing, studying, and photographing the islands' astonishing...

Is the universe infinite or just really big? With this question, cosmologist Janna Levin announces the central theme of this book, which established her as one of the most direct, unorthodox, and creative voices in contemporary science. As Levin sets...

Featuring dramatic and delightful wild bird colonies and communities, How Birds Live Together offers a broad overview of social living in the avian world. From long-established seabird colonies that use the same cliffs for generations to the...

A century ago, thoughtful people questioned how reality could agree with physical theories that keep changing, from a mechanical model of the ether to electric and magnetic fields, and from homogeneous matter to electrons and atoms. Today, concepts like...

A powerful framework for understanding how natural selection shapes adaptation and biological design.Design and diversity are the two great challenges in the study of life. Microbial Life History draws on the latest advances in microbiology to describe...

A fascinating and richly illustrated exploration of the natural history of fungiWe know fungi are important, for us as well as the environment. But how they live, and what they can do, remains mysterious and surprising. Filled with stunning photographs,...

The ocean teems with life that thrives under difficult situations in unusual environments. The Extreme Life of the Sea takes readers to the absolute limits of the ocean world - the fastest and deepest, the hottest and oldest creatures of the oceans. It...

Seaweeds are astoundingly diverse. They're found along the shallows of beaches and have been recorded living at depths of more than 800 feet; they can be microscopic or grow into giants many meters long. They're incredibly efficient at using the...

A richly illustrated natural history of ants, covering their diversity, ecology, anatomy, behaviour, and morePlentiful and familiar, ants make up an estimated one-third of the world's insect biomass and can be found in virtually every part of the globe,...

An epic excursion into one of the last great frontiers on Earth.The deep ocean comprises more than 90 percent of our planet's biosphere and is home to some of the world's most dazzling creatures, which thrive amid extreme pressures, scarce food supplies,...

When many people think of bees, they are likely to picture the western domesticated honey bee, insects that live in large, socially complex societies inside a hive with a single queen and thousands of workers. But this familiar bee is just one of more...

What a Mushroom Lives For pushes today's mushroom renaissance in compelling new directions. For centuries, Western science has promoted a human- and animal-centric framework of what counts as action, agency, movement and behaviour. But, as Michael...

A fully updated tutorial on the basics of the Python programming language for science studentsPython is a computer programming language that has gained popularity throughout the sciences. This fully updated second edition of A Student's Guide to Python...

A concise, beginner-friendly introduction to quantum field theory. Quantum field theory is a powerful framework that extends quantum mechanics in ways that are essential in many modern applications. While it is the fundamental formalism for the study of...

The visionary science behind the digital human twins that will enhance our health and our futureVirtual You is a panoramic account of efforts by scientists around the world to build digital twins of human beings, from cells and tissues to organs and...

A comprehensive photographic guide to the gull species of the Western PalearcticGulls occupy a particularly important place in the world of birds. But because they are notoriously difficult to identify, they have been relatively neglected in the...

From famed zoologist Anthony Sinclair, an account of his decades-long quest to understand one of Earth's most spectacular ecosystems.With its rich biodiversity, astounding wildlife, and breathtaking animal migrations, Serengeti is like no other...

The revolution in science that is transforming our understanding of extinct life.We used to think of fossils as being composed of nothing but rock and minerals, all molecular traces of life having vanished long ago. We were wrong. Remnants of Ancient...

The first annotated edition of the scientific papers that created the foundation of modern neuroscience and physiology The origin of everything known about how neurons and muscles generate electrical signals can be traced back to five revolutionary...

A spellbinding look at the philosophical and moral implications of animal dreaming.Are humans the only dreamers on Earth? What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream brings together behavioural and neuroscientific research on...

A Brief Welcome to the Universe offers a breathtaking tour of the cosmos, from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes and time loops. Bestselling authors and acclaimed astrophysicists Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott take...

An authoritative introduction to the latest comparative methods in evolutionary biologyPhylogenetic comparative methods are a suite of statistical approaches that enable biologists to analyze and better understand the evolutionary tree of life, and shed...

How the politicization of the pandemic endangers our lives-and our democracyCOVID-19 has killed more people than any war or public health crisis in American history, but the scale and grim human toll of the pandemic were not inevitable. Pandemic Politics...

A new model for the relationship between science and democracy that spans policymaking, the funding and conduct of research, and our approach to new technologiesOur ability to act on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from pandemics and...

An updated and comprehensive guide identifying all of the world's sharksSharks are some of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. We still have a lot to learn about these fascinating creatures, which are more seriously threatened with extinction...

The first modern scholarly synthesis of animal domesticationAcross the globe and at different times in the past millennia, the evolutionary history of domesticated animals has been greatly affected by the myriad, complex, and diverse interactions humans...

'One of Nature's Top Ten Books of 2019''Finalist for the PROSE Award in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Association of American Publishers''One of BBC Sky at Night Magazine's...

A translation of selected non-English texts included in Volume 16 is available in paperback. Since this supplementary paperback includes only select portions of Volume 16, it is not recommended for purchase without the main volume.Every document in The...

Among nature's most artful creations, shells have long inspired the curiosity and passion of artisans, artists, collectors, and thinkers. Conchophilia delves into the intimate relationship between shells and people, offering an unprecedented account of...

A groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century plasma physics and its applications. Kip Thorne and Roger Blandford's monumental Modern Classical Physics is now available in five stand-alone volumes that make ideal textbooks for individual...

An authoritative, accessible, and gorgeously illustrated exploration into the lives of these remarkable animalsLions are the only social cat. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together against neighbours and strangers. Lions...

A scientist's inspiring vision of our return to the Moon as humanity's next thrilling step in space exploration.Just over half a century since Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the lunar surface, a new space race to the Moon is well underway and...

A fun and fact-filled AZ treasury for anyone with a head on their shoulders.Neuropedia journeys into the mysteries and marvels of the three pounds of tissue between your ears - the brain. Eric Chudler takes you on a breathtaking tour of the nervous...

A garden of geologic delights for all EarthlingsGeopedia is a trove of geologic wonders and the evocative terms that humans have devised to describe them. Featuring dozens of entries - from Acasta gneiss to Zircon - this illustrated compendium is...

A brief guide to the real science of interstellar travel.With known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, the age-old dream of venturing forth...