The Riddle of the Compass

The Riddle of the Compass PDF Author: Amir D. Aczel
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780156007535
Category : Compass
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A narrative chronicle of the invention of the compass that discusses its development in both China and Europe.

The Riddle of the Compass

The Riddle of the Compass PDF Author: Amir D. Aczel
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780156007535
Category : Compass
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A narrative chronicle of the invention of the compass that discusses its development in both China and Europe.

Pendulum

Pendulum PDF Author: Amir D. Aczel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416588434
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
In 1851, struggling, self-taught physicist Léon Foucault performed a dramatic demonstration inside the Panthéon in Paris. By tracking a pendulum's path as it swung repeatedly across the interior of the large ceremonial hall, Foucault offered the first definitive proof -- before an audience that comprised the cream of Parisian society, including the future emperor, Napoleon III -- that the earth revolves on its axis. Through careful, primary research, world-renowned author Amir Aczel has revealed the life of a gifted physicist who had almost no formal education in science, and yet managed to succeed despite the adversity he suffered at the hands of his peers. The range and breadth of Foucault's discoveries is astonishing: He gave us the modern electric compass, devised an electric microscope, invented photographic technology, and made remarkable deductions about color theory, heat waves, and the speed of light. Yet until now so little has been known about his life. Richly detailed and evocative, Pendulum tells of the illustrious period in France during the Second Empire; of Foucault's relationship with Napoleon III, a colorful character in his own right; and -- most notably -- of the crucial triumph of science over religion. Dr. Aczel has crafted a fascinating narrative based on the life of this most astonishing and largely unrecognized scientist, whose findings answered many age-old scientific questions and posed new ones that are still relevant today.

Finding Zero

Finding Zero PDF Author: Amir D. Aczel
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466879106
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
“A captivating story, not just an intellectual quest but a personal one . . . gripping [and] filled with the passion and wonder of numbers.” —The New York Times Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. But the story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is the saga of Amir Aczel’s lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals, perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross-examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the reader along for the ride. The history begins with Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by Greek and Roman letter numerals. Then Aczel asks: Where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? It is this search that leads him to explore uncharted territory on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia. There he is blown away to find the earliest zero—the keystone of our entire system of numbers—on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets a host of fascinating characters: academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and treacherous archaeological thieves—who finally reveal where our numbers come from. “A historical adventure that doubles as a surprisingly engaging math lesson . . . rip-roaring exploits and escapades.” —Publishers Weekly

A Tolkien Compass

A Tolkien Compass PDF Author: Jared Lobdell
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 9780875483030
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Ten writers with different viewpoints explore the political, religious, cosmological, and psychological principles of the creator of The Lord of the Rings.

The Riddle of the Labyrinth

The Riddle of the Labyrinth PDF Author: Margalit Fox
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062228889
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
The discovery and deciphering of Europe’s earliest known written language is recounted with “almost nail-biting suspense” in this prize-winning account (Booklist, starred review). In 1900, famed archaeologist Arthur Evans uncovered the ruins of Knossos, a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece’s Classical Age. The massive discovery included a cache of ancient tablets, Europe’s earliest written records. For half a century, the meaning of the inscriptions, and even the language in which they were written, would remain an enigma. Award–winning New York Times journalist Margalit Fox follows this intellectual mystery from the Bronze Age Aegean to a legendary archeological dig at the turn of the twentieth century, and on to the brilliant decipherers who finally cracked the code in the 1950s. These include Michael Ventris, the amateur linguist who deciphered the script but met with a sudden, mysterious death that may have been a direct consequence of his findings; and Alice Kober, the unsung heroine of the story whose painstaking work allowed Ventris to crack the code. Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

The Riddle of Scheherazade, and Other Amazing Puzzles, Ancient & Modern

The Riddle of Scheherazade, and Other Amazing Puzzles, Ancient & Modern PDF Author: Raymond M. Smullyan
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 9780679446347
Category : Logic puzzles
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In his new book, Raymond Smullyan, grand vizier of the logic puzzlejoins Scheherazade, a charming young woman of "fantastic logical ingenuity", to give us 1001 hours of brain-teasing fun.

Yachting

Yachting PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description


Interpreting Our World

Interpreting Our World PDF Author: Joseph J. Kerski
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1610699203
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
This important book demonstrates why geography matters in the modern-day world through its examination of 100 moments throughout history that had a significant impact on the study of geography—literally, "writing about the earth." Geography is not simply accounts of the lands of earth and their features; it's about discovering everything there is to know about our planet. This book shows why geography is of critical importance to our world's 21st-century inhabitants through an exploration of the past and present discoveries that have been made about the earth. It pinpoints 100 moments throughout history that had a significant impact on the study of geography and the understanding of our world, including widely accepted maps of the ancient world, writings and discoveries of key thinkers and philosophers, key exploration events and findings during the Age of Discovery, the foundations of important geographic organizations, and new inventions in digital mapping today. The book begins with a clear explanation of geography as a discipline, a framework, and a way of viewing the world, followed by coverage of each of the 100 discoveries and innovations that provides sufficient background and content for readers to understand each topic. The book concludes with a concise synopsis of why it all matters and a look forward to 10 possible future discoveries in the next 50 years of geography. Students will gain a clear sense of what is truly revolutionary about geography, perhaps challenging their preconceived notion of what geography actually is, and grasp how important discoveries revolutionized not only the past but the present day as well.

The Monk and the Riddle

The Monk and the Riddle PDF Author: Randy Komisar
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 9781578516445
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
A book about how to make work pay and not just in cash, but in experience, satiafaction, and joy.

The Sourcebook for Teaching Science, Grades 6-12

The Sourcebook for Teaching Science, Grades 6-12 PDF Author: Norman Herr
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0787972983
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 614

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Book Description
The Sourcebook for Teaching Science is a unique, comprehensive resource designed to give middle and high school science teachers a wealth of information that will enhance any science curriculum. Filled with innovative tools, dynamic activities, and practical lesson plans that are grounded in theory, research, and national standards, the book offers both new and experienced science teachers powerful strategies and original ideas that will enhance the teaching of physics, chemistry, biology, and the earth and space sciences.