State Science

To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Fast Food Nation is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats.

Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong—warped like the sixteenth-century map that enlarged Europe at the expense of Africa, Asia and the Americas. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, renowned math historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell make the case that the history of math is infinitely deeper, broader, and richer than the narrative we think we know.

In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries. From Plymouth Rock (when a woman was considered marriageable if "civil and under fifty years of age"), to a few generations later, when they were quietly retired to elderdom once they had passed the optimum age for reproduction, to recent decades, American attitudes towards age have been a moving target.

Presenting an aspect of American history that has never been fully told, Doris Kearns Goodwin describes how the isolationist and divided United States of 1940 was unified under the extraordinary leadership of Franklin Roosevelt to become, only five years later, the preeminent economic and military power in the world. Using diaries, interviews, and White House records, Goodwin paints an intimate, detailed portrait not only of the presidency during wartime but also of Franklin and Eleanor themselves.

Thirteen months after Trump allegedly captured the allegiance of "the white working class", a strike wave - the first in over four decades - rocked the United States. Inspired by the wildcat victory in West Virginia, teachers in Oklahoma, Arizona, and across the country walked off their jobs and shut down their schools to demand better pay for educators, more funding for students, and an end to years of austerity.

From day one, the truth behind JFK's assassination has been mired in controversy and dispute. The Warren Commission, established just seven days after Kennedy's death, delved into the who, what, when, and where of the tragedy, and over the course of the following year compiled an 889-page report that arrived at the now widely contested conclusion: Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin. In Who Really Killed Kennedy?, Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D., provides listeners with the ultimate JFK assassination theory book.

The Everglades was America's last frontier, a wild country long after the West was won. In this book Michael Grunwald chronicles how a series of visionaries tried to drain and "reclaim" it and how Mother Nature refused to bend to their will; in the most harrowing tale, a 1928 hurricane drowned 2,500 people in the Everglades. But the Army Corps of Engineers finally tamed the beast with levees and canals, converting half the Everglades into sprawling suburbs and sugar plantations.

The Making of the President: 1960 revolutionized the way modern presidential campaigns are reported. Reporting from within the campaign for the first time on record, White’s extensive research and access to all parties involved set the bar for campaign coverage and remains unparalleled. White conveyed, in magnificent detail and with exquisite pacing, the high-stakes drama; he painted the unforgettable, even mythic story of JFK versus Nixon; and, most of all, he imbued the nation’s presidential election process with grandeur.

Visit the Treasure State! Learn about Montana's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 41st state.

Visit the Sunflower State! Learn about Kansas' history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 34th state.

Take a trip to the Sunshine State! Learn about Florida's history, weather, geography, people, and more in this book that's all about our 27th state.

Take a trip through the Heart of Dixie! Learn about Alabama's geography, weather, history, people, and more in this book that's all about our 22nd state.

Visit the Badger State! Learn about Wisconsin's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 30th state.

Take a trip through the Show-Me State! Learn about Missouri's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 24th state.

Take a trip through the Pelican State! Learn about Louisiana's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 18th state.

Welcome to the Great Lakes State! Learn about Michigan's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 26th state.

Explore the Centennial State! Learn about Colorado's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 38th state.

Come visit the Last Frontier! Learn about Alaska's history, weather, geography, people, and more in this book that's all about our 49th state.

Visit the Pine Tree State! Learn about Maine's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 23rd state.

Explore the Gem State! Learn about Idaho's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 43rd state.