Systems Science

In the future: A united Earth, to deal with the problem of population control, divides its population into classes of citizen and non-gratis. To be born a non-gratis means a life of little freedoms and the constant possibility of being assigned to work on a colony. Lacking citizenship, every aspect of their life is controlled from where they live down to marriage and childbearing regulations. The only possible escape from life as a non-gratis is to qualify for one of the limited slots available for entrance into the military.

Fool and Jackal returned, triumphant from their latest mission. As a reward, they get to babysit a spoiled rich kid as he levels up and maybe becomes a valuable asset. An easy job, until the Armageddon cultists showed up.

How can we be proud of a system of justice that often pressures the innocent to plead guilty? How can we claim that justice is equal when we imprison thousands of poor Black men for relatively modest crimes but rarely prosecute rich white executives who commit crimes having far greater impact? Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff, a leading authority on white-collar crime, explores these and other puzzles in Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free, a startling account of our broken legal system.

Erosion changes Earth's natural features. It breaks down materials and can help make something new. Discover why erosion is an important part of nature!

All living things need air to survive. Air also protects Earth. Discover why air is an important part of nature!

Plants and animals from millions of years ago left behind fossils. Fossils can teach people about the past. They are also used for fuel. Discover why fossils are an important part of nature!

How does blood circulate throughout your body? How does your brain make your body move? This series explores the many systems at work in the human body. Young listeners will learn how each system works, the parts of each system, how the systems work together, and how to keep each system healthy. This volume includes The Nervous System, The Respiratory System, and The Skeletal System.

Today, the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 "winning" the race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the solar system. Moreover, the notion that America "won" the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit.

The return to the city of goblins draws ever closer but Ivan Susanin's survival hangs in the balance. It is more than just the monsters. The capture of the Dungeon, creation of the Minor Altar and growth of the Cult of Heresy has attracted the attention of the Earth gods. The number of contenders for the grand prize is growing, hostile gods are joining the race, and the existence of an independent candidate is unacceptable. Nevertheless, the gods cannot sentence one of the Alliance leaders and the strongest player on Earth to death.

This audiobook exposes the exploitation and entrapment in Canada’s student loan system: a system that cripples or destroys the careers, health, and hopes of thousands, while lining the pockets of banks, collection agencies, and bureaucrats. It's a system where students are driven to abandon school for minimum-wage work, prostitution, or gambling to pay debts. Some have committed suicide to escape unrealistic payment schedules and conditions.

Futurologist Luna Lee presents possibilities for the future of space travel in the next 100 years.

Soil covers most of the land on Earth. It feeds plants and is home to many animals. Discover why soil is an important part of nature!

Most of Earth is covered in water. Water falls from the sky as rain or snow. All living things need water to survive. Discover why water is an important part of nature!

Having fled his home country, Jack finds himself in a foreign land surrounded on all sides by people who hate his existence, even those that claim to support him seem to have some ulterior motive. Be it because of his eye color, or the shadow of his parent's sins cast over him, Jack finds himself having to strike deals and play a part with the Princess of the Empire if he wishes to protect his sister.

Making earth science accessible and entertaining, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth explains how our planet works - and how we can protect it - from its diverse ecosystems and their inhabitants to the levels of ecology, the importance of biodiversity, the cycles of nature, and more. Science- and nature-loving listeners of all ages will delight in this utterly charming guide to our amazing home.

The System Apocalypse has brought the clothing industry, and just about everything else, to a grinding halt. Now Lana Pearson intends to kickstart the local industry into gear to help Vancouver self-sustain itself. Key to her strategy are special teams of non-combat classes.

Imagine being the only human left on an Earth occupied by monsters, aliens, and worse. Sounds terrible? Well...it's not so bad when you are an introverted battle junkie like me. Honestly, I was almost starting to appreciate being left behind while everyone else was given the chance to prepare for the mess Earth had gotten itself into. On a side note, it turns out I'm pretty good at hunting monsters. Though dragons and such are a bit out of my league. Just a bit. I survived dozen-something kobolds that wanted me dead, and now it's time to pay back their leader.

In the past thirty years alone, more than 2,800 innocent American prisoners—their combined sentences surpassing 25,000 years—have been exonerated and freed after being condemned for crimes they did not commit. Terrifyingly, this number represents only a fraction of the actual number of persons wrongfully accused and convicted over the same period.

A compelling new set of interviews on our changing and turbulent times with Noam Chomsky, one of the world's foremost thinkers...

In this new collection of conversations, conducted from 2010 to 2012, Noam Chomsky explores the most immediate and urgent concerns: the future of democracy in the Arab world, the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the European financial crisis, the breakdown of American mainstream political institutions, and the rise of the Occupy movement. As always, Chomsky presents his ideas vividly and accessibly, with uncompromising principle and clarifying insight.

People have long been curious about the solar system. Since the 1960s, several probes, orbiters, landers, and rovers have been sent out to explore and study the planets and their moons. What incredible discoveries were made during these daring missions? And what will be needed for humans to visit the planets in person? Max Axiom and the Society of Super Scientists learn about various missions to other planets and the risks involved with sending people across the solar system and beyond.