Planet Hunters

Planet Hunters PDF Author: Lucas Ellerbroek
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780238789
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Astronomers are on the verge of answering one of our most profound questions: are we alone in the universe? The ability to detect life in remote solar systems is at last within sight, and its discovery—even if only in microbial form—would revolutionize our self-image. Planet Hunters is the rollicking tale of the search for extraterrestrial life and the history of an academic discipline. Astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek takes readers on a fantastic voyage through space, time, history, and even to the future as he describes the field of exoplanet research, from the early ideas of sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno to the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 to the invention of the Kepler Space Telescope. We join him on his travels as he meets with leading scientists in the field, including Michel Mayor, who discovered the first exoplanet, and Bill Borucki, principal investigator for NASA’s Kepler mission. Taken together, the experiences, passion, and perseverance of the scientists featured here make the book an exciting and compelling read. Presenting cutting-edge research in a dynamic and accessible way, Planet Hunters is a refreshing look into a field where new discoveries come every week and paradigms shift every year.

Planet Hunters

Planet Hunters PDF Author: Lucas Ellerbroek
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780238789
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Astronomers are on the verge of answering one of our most profound questions: are we alone in the universe? The ability to detect life in remote solar systems is at last within sight, and its discovery—even if only in microbial form—would revolutionize our self-image. Planet Hunters is the rollicking tale of the search for extraterrestrial life and the history of an academic discipline. Astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek takes readers on a fantastic voyage through space, time, history, and even to the future as he describes the field of exoplanet research, from the early ideas of sixteenth-century heretic Giordano Bruno to the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 to the invention of the Kepler Space Telescope. We join him on his travels as he meets with leading scientists in the field, including Michel Mayor, who discovered the first exoplanet, and Bill Borucki, principal investigator for NASA’s Kepler mission. Taken together, the experiences, passion, and perseverance of the scientists featured here make the book an exciting and compelling read. Presenting cutting-edge research in a dynamic and accessible way, Planet Hunters is a refreshing look into a field where new discoveries come every week and paradigms shift every year.

Hunter's Planet

Hunter's Planet PDF Author: David Bischoff
Publisher: Spectra
ISBN: 9780553565560
Category : Genetic engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Based on the successful Dark Horse graphic novels, this thrilling tale by the author of several bestselling Star Trek novels reunites two of the silver screen's most deadly aliens. Machiko Noguchi, the woman who survived a terrifying battle between the Aliens and Predators in Prey, returns in an action-packed follow-up.

Ocean Hunters

Ocean Hunters PDF Author: Kris Hirschmann
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780816769483
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
Enter the mysterious world of moray eels, whales, jellyfish, sharks--and more.

The Hunt for Vulcan

The Hunt for Vulcan PDF Author: Thomas Levenson
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0812988302
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The captivating, all-but-forgotten story of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and the search for a planet that never existed For more than fifty years, the world’s top scientists searched for the “missing” planet Vulcan, whose existence was mandated by Isaac Newton’s theories of gravity. Countless hours were spent on the hunt for the elusive orb, and some of the era’s most skilled astronomers even claimed to have found it. There was just one problem: It was never there. In The Hunt for Vulcan, Thomas Levenson follows the visionary scientists who inhabit the story of the phantom planet, starting with Isaac Newton, who in 1687 provided an explanation for all matter in motion throughout the universe, leading to Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who almost two centuries later built on Newton’s theories and discovered Neptune, becoming the most famous scientist in the world. Le Verrier attempted to surpass that triumph by predicting the existence of yet another planet in our solar system, Vulcan. It took Albert Einstein to discern that the mystery of the missing planet was a problem not of measurements or math but of Newton’s theory of gravity itself. Einstein’s general theory of relativity proved that Vulcan did not and could not exist, and that the search for it had merely been a quirk of operating under the wrong set of assumptions about the universe. Levenson tells the previously untold tale of how the “discovery” of Vulcan in the nineteenth century set the stage for Einstein’s monumental breakthrough, the greatest individual intellectual achievement of the twentieth century. A dramatic human story of an epic quest, The Hunt for Vulcan offers insight into how science really advances (as opposed to the way we’re taught about it in school) and how the best work of the greatest scientists reveals an artist’s sensibility. Opening a new window onto our world, Levenson illuminates some of our most iconic ideas as he recounts one of the strangest episodes in the history of science. Praise for The Hunt for Vulcan “Delightful . . . a charming tale about an all-but-forgotten episode in science history.”—The Wall Street Journal “Engaging . . . At heart, this is a story about how science advances, one insight at a time. But the immediacy, almost romance, of Levenson’s writing makes it almost novelistic.”—The Washington Post “A well-structured, fast-paced example of exemplary science writing.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet

Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet PDF Author: Tom Hunt
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0857838040
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
'If we could all live and eat a little more like Tom the world and the food chain would be in much better shape.' Anna Jones 'This book is like a hybrid of Michael Pollan and Anna Jones. It combines serious food politics with flavour-packed modern recipes. This is a call-to-arms for a different way of eating which seeks to lead us there not through lectures but through a love of food, in all its vibrancy and variety.' Bee Wilson Tom's mission is to teach a way of eating that prioritises the environment without sacrificing pleasure, taste and nutrition. Tom's manifesto, 'Root to Fruit' demonstrates how we can all become part of the solution, supporting a delicious, biodiverse and regenerative food system, giving us the skills and knowledge to shop, eat and cook sustainably, whilst eating healthier, better-tasting food for no extra cost.

The Life of Super-Earths

The Life of Super-Earths PDF Author: Dimitar Sasselov
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN: 046502193X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
An astronomy professor at Harvard University discusses the possibilities of finding other worlds that sustain alien life forms, citing recent breakthroughs in biology and exoplanetary astronomy, including the recent discovery of arsenic-based bacteria in a California lake.

Neutrino Hunters

Neutrino Hunters PDF Author: Ray Jayawardhana
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0374709424
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Winner of the Canadian Science Writers Association Science in Society Book Award One of the Best Physics Books of 2013, Cocktail Party Physics Blog, Scientific American Detective thriller meets astrophysics in this adventure into neutrinos and the scientists who pursue them The incredibly small bits of matter we call neutrinos may hold the secret to why antimatter is so rare, how mighty stars explode as supernovae, what the universe was like just seconds after the big bang, and even the inner workings of our own planet. For more than eighty years, adventurous minds from around the world have been chasing these ghostly particles, trillions of which pass through our bodies every second. Extremely elusive and difficult to pin down, neutrinos are not unlike the brilliant and eccentric scientists who doggedly pursue them. In Neutrino Hunters, the renowned astrophysicist and award-winning writer Ray Jayawardhana takes us on a thrilling journey into the shadowy world of neutrinos and the colorful lives of those who seek them. Demystifying particle science along the way, Jayawardhana tells a detective story with cosmic implications—interweaving tales of the sharp-witted theorist Wolfgang Pauli; the troubled genius Ettore Majorana; the harbinger of the atomic age Enrico Fermi; the notorious Cold War defector Bruno Pontecorvo; and the dynamic dream team of Marie and Pierre Curie. Then there are the scientists of today who have caught the neutrino bug, and whose experimental investigations stretch from a working nickel mine in Ontario to a long tunnel through a mountain in central Italy, from a nuclear waste site in New Mexico to a bay on the South China Sea, and from Olympic-size pools deep underground to a gigantic cube of Antarctic ice—called, naturally, IceCube. As Jayawardhana recounts a captivating saga of scientific discovery and celebrates a glorious human quest, he reveals why the next decade of neutrino hunting will redefine how we think about physics, cosmology, and our lives on Earth.

Procedural Generation in Game Design

Procedural Generation in Game Design PDF Author: Tanya Short
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 135164291X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Making a game can be an intensive process, and if not planned accurately can easily run over budget. The use of procedural generation in game design can help with the intricate and multifarious aspects of game development; thus facilitating cost reduction. This form of development enables games to create their play areas, objects and stories based on a set of rules, rather than relying on the developer to handcraft each element individually. Readers will learn to create randomized maps, weave accidental plotlines, and manage complex systems that are prone to unpredictable behavior. Tanya Short’s and Tarn Adams’ Procedural Generation in Game Design offers a wide collection of chapters from various experts that cover the implementation and enactment of procedural generation in games. Designers from a variety of studios provide concrete examples from their games to illustrate the many facets of this emerging sub-discipline. Key Features: Introduces the differences between static/traditional game design and procedural game design Demonstrates how to solve or avoid common problems with procedural game design in a variety of concrete ways Includes industry leaders’ experiences and lessons from award-winning games World’s finest guide for how to begin thinking about procedural design

Aliens Vs. Predator

Aliens Vs. Predator PDF Author: David Bischoff
Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 9781857982282
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The story is set on the planet Ryushi, where the Aliens are perfect killing machines born on another world, and the Predators are the only match for this horror.

The Cloud Hunters

The Cloud Hunters PDF Author: Alex Shearer
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 1628733500
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Hunting the skies is not for the faint-hearted. In a world where water is scarce and deadly jellyfish swim through the sky, overprotected Christien dreams of excitement, adventure, and even a bit of danger. When he meets the exotic and alluring Jenine and her family of cloud hunters, he becomes determined to fulfill his dreams and see what this nomadic tribe of people is all about. The cloud hunters are set apart from society with their darker, heavily tattooed skin and the distinctive scars on their faces. Christien has been fascinated by them for years, and when Jenine invites him on a hunting expedition, he is only too eager to join her on the sky ship. But this is no ordinary cloud hunting trip—Christien finds that he's been brought along to help rescue Jenine's father, who's being held prisoner on the Forbidden Isles. Will their elaborate rescue plan succeed? Will Christien take up the cloud hunters' offer to become one of them—scars and all? Or will Christien find that there is something even more important to him than adventure in the high skies? In a richly imaginative tale, perfect for both boys and girls as they launch themselves into the world of fiction as independent readers, Alex Shearer creates a Dahl-esque fantasy that roams through realms of magic, wonder, and adventure.