Entertainment Science

With well over 200 episodes and a dozen seasons, The Big Bang Theory is one of America's favorite television series, bringing a new class of character to mainstream television: the science nerd. In spite of its evident popularity and influence in shaping public attitudes to science and scientists, there are relatively few books that explore the show's culture and social dimension. The Science of The Big Bang Theory looks behind the comedy scenes and scripts of this long-running and successful TV show.

The Star Wars films continue to revolutionize science fiction, creating new standards for cinematographic excellence and permeating popular culture around the world. The films feature many complex themes ranging from good versus evil and moral development and corruption to religious faith and pragmatism, forgiveness and redemption, and many others.

The Doctor and Romana are enjoying a leisurely lifestyle as the Lord and Lady of a London townhouse. But trouble never stays away from them for long, and before they know it a chance discovery of alien technology leads them deep into the heart of the English countryside, where a malign presence lurks. As the Doctor dodges deadly butlers and ferocious gamekeepers, Romana is faced with a malevolent aunt and an even deadlier peril - marriage. Directed by Ken Bentley.

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship - or an early grave.

By the time Chloé Hilliard was 12, she wore a size 12 - both shoe and dress - and stood over six feet tall. Fitting in was never an option. That didn’t stop her from trying. Cursed with a “slow metabolism”, “baby weight”, and “big bones” - the fat trilogy - Chloe turned to fad diets, starvation, pills, and workouts, all of which failed. Realizing that everything - from government policies to corporate capitalism - directly impacts our relationship with food and our waistlines, Chloé changed her outlook on herself and hopes others will do the same for themselves.

The Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it, showing us just how uncommon common sense can be. Marvel at the thief who steals electrical wires before shutting off the current. Gape at the would-be-pilot who flies his lawnchair suspended from helium balloons into air-traffic lanes. These tales of trial and awe-inspiring error illustrate the ongoing saga of survival of the fittest in all its selective glory!

Every night, Adachi transforms into a nightmarish creature--and every morning, he reverts to human form. When he encounters his ostracized classmate Yano Satsuki in his monstrous state, the two develop a peculiar bond. But daylight brings its own form of terrors. Which is worse, the monsters at night, or the cruel realities of the classroom by day?

Through JK Rowling’s series of Harry Potter books and the eight films, we have been introduced to a fantastic and magical world that many of us would like to visit. But what is the story behind what we see and read, and what are some little-known facts about the books, the films, the actors and the characters? This audiobook contains 101 amazing facts which you most likely didn’t know!

This explosively entertaining memoir abounds in gossip, satire, historical apercus, and trenchant observations. Vidal’s compelling narrative weaves back and forth in time, providing a whole view of the author’s celebrated life, from his birth in 1925 to today, and features a cast of memorable characters - including the Kennedy family, Marlon Brando, Anais Nin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Flula Borg's fascination with America and its "peoples" have warmed hearts nationwide. A frequent guest of Conan O’Brien, the German-born actor and multi-talented entertainer (think Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat crossed with Billy Eichner) fell in love with the United States upon his first visit as a young boy. Throughout his career, he has succeeded in regaling audiences with stories from his outlandish travel exploits while paying homage to his German upbringing, culminating in a personality that is supercharged and charmingly wholesome.

Award-winning civil rights historian Ray Arsenault describes the dramatic story behind Marian Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial - an early milestone in civil rights history - on the 70th anniversary of her performance. On Easter Sunday 1939, the brilliant vocalist Marian Anderson sang before a throng of 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington - an electrifying moment and an underappreciated milestone in civil rights history.

One of America’s finest historians shows us how Bob Dylan, one of the country’s greatest and most enduring artists, still surprises and moves us after all these years. Growing up in Greenwich Village, Sean Wilentz discov­ered the music of Bob Dylan as a young teenager; almost half a century later, he revisits Dylan’s work with the skills of an eminent American historian as well as the passion of a fan.

In From Holmes to Sherlock, Mattias Boström re-creates the full story behind the legendary detective and his many incarnations - a real-life narrative of success, tragedy, and family secrets that has never previously been told in its entirety.

There has been a renaissance in Masonic writings over the last quarter century. The academic world has rediscovered Freemasonry’s historical influence on civil society’s last 300 years. Now, you, too, can discover more about the mysteries of Masonry and the Masonic rituals. The world’s oldest fraternity is receiving considerable new attention.

As the Midwest Alliance puts plans in motion to touch off a civil war, Eric and a group of elite warriors are recruited to stop them. To prevent disaster, they will venture into the heart of enemy territory on an assassination mission. To survive, Eric will have to call on all his training, willpower, and strength - because this fight will determine not only his future, but the fate of an entire nation.

Daphne A. Brooks explores more than a century of music archives to examine the critics, collectors, and listeners who have determined perceptions of Black women on stage and in the recording studio. How is it possible, she asks, that iconic artists such as Aretha Franklin and Beyonce exist simultaneously at the center and on the fringe of the culture industry? Liner Notes for the Revolution offers a startling new perspective on these acclaimed figures—a perspective informed by the overlooked contributions of other Black women concerned with the work of their musical peers.

An examination of African American imagery and participation in American movies includes a timeline of important African American events in film history and discusses the achievements of noted celebrities.

When a deluded scientist, a crazy gang leader, and Max all butt heads, chaos is bound to arise. Armed conflict develops among the rivals fighting each other for the control of Fairport, the safest city to be in the zombie apocalypse. Z strikes hard, but Dean and the gang fight back with everything they have. Can Dean and the others keep Fairport safe from impending doom?

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface in July of 1969, they wore spacesuits made by Playtex: 21 layers of fabric, each with a distinct yet interrelated function, custom-sewn for them by seamstresses whose usual work was fashioning bras and girdles. This book is the story of that spacesuit. It is a story of the triumph over the military-industrial complex by the International Latex Corporation, best known by its consumer brand of "Playtex" - a victory of elegant softness over engineered hardness, of adaptation over cybernetics.

God Save the Queens pays tribute to the women of hip-hop - from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, God Save the Queens is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved.