Engineering Physics

Did you know that San Diego’s Frozen Zoo is home to preserved DNA samples from over 8,000 endangered or threatened species, or that the tell-tale smell of freshly mowed grass is actually the plant’s version of a distress call? And what about Henrietta Lacks, the “immortal woman” whose cancer cells have been divided and multiplied for research purposes for over 60 years? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know: Science.

From the dawn of time, man has sought to understand the universe and his place in it. How did the Earth and the Solar System come to be? How was the universe created? Like other scientific disciplines, astronomy and astrophysics is one big detective story. Hypotheses are formed, observations taken, and experiments performed in the search for universal laws that describe all that we see. In this resourceful guide, common and uncommon questions about the universe will be explained in comprehensive but easy-to-understand terms.

Did you know that the sun is a star? Without the sun’s light and heat, there would be no live on Earth. Kids will learn why the sun is so important to us in this musical audiobook perfect for young scientists.

Does the universe circle around Earth? Do creatures live on the sun? Can you tell the future by looking at the stars? At one time science supported wild notions like these! But later studies proved these ideas were nonsense. Discover science's biggest mistakes and oddest assumptions about physics and astronomy, and see how scientific thought changed over time.

Have you ever wondered how bridges don’t fall down or how really old buildings stay standing up? Basic principles of architecture and engineering, including an introduction to bridges, locks, arches, columns, and skyscrapers, are explored in this newest engaging addition to the How Do series.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, a former star, amateur wrestler at Harvard who went on to become an award-winning astrophysicist, might be the most well-known science communicator in the United States since the late Carl Sagan. Tyson, who has served as the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City since 1996, had published a dozen books prior to Astrophysics for People in a Hurry; all of them have been aimed at a popular audience. In spite of that, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is probably his most accessible and scaled-down work to date.