Tags: , , ,

Knowledge Blast! Must-Read Interesting Facts Books

Did you know that there are one million earthworms in an acre of soil, or that an average American eats 10 pounds of marshmallows in a year? Did you know that the act of yawning and stretching at the same time is known as pandiculation?

These facts, and hundreds more in a wide variety of subjects including history, science, sports, music and more, make Hmm…I Did Not Know That a must read for trivia buffs and fact fanatics.

Ever Wonder Why?

List price:

$6.99

Price:

$3.10

Everyone knows that…donuts have holes…we clink glasses before saying a toast…golfers yell “fore!” before teeing off…we nod our heads yes and shake our heads no…But how many of us know why? You’ll learn the answers and a whole lot more in this fun and fact-filled almanac. And all you have to do is ask WHY?!

Random Kinds Of Factness: 1001 (or So) Absolutely True Tidbits About (mostly) Everything

List price:

$16.95

Price:

$9.59

This latest romp through history, politics, religion, and science from the dyno-duo Barrett and Mingo is sure to tickle the fancy of trivia buffs everywhere. Amuse your date, impress your boss, bore your kids, or be the 6th caller to win a pair of tickets to the nose-flute band concert! All because you know that a Twinkie in the microwave will explode in 45 seconds, that you have a 1 in 3,448,276 chance of dying from a snake bite, that 342 cases of tea were tossed into the “hahbah” during the Boston Tea Party or that white rhinoceroses are not actually white but grey (you’ll have to read the book to discover why). Barrett and Mingo, partners in life and crime (er, writing) can do a thing or two with random facts, and this book ranks right up there. From the time the Wallace family made famous books of lists of one kind or another, readers have found fascination–or maybe just food for their obsessions–in books like Random Kinds of Factness.

2201 Fascinating Facts: 2 Vols. in One

List price:

$12.99

Price:

$7.35

Did you know that:
—in 1740 a cow was found guilty of sorcery in France and publicly hanged?
—the principality of Monaco consists of only 370 acres?
—the Mona Lisa has no eyebrows?
—there are ten million bricks in the Empire State Building?
These intriguing facts and 2197 more like them are collected here to delight, entertain, educate and astonish trivia buffs, esoterica experts, information addicts and anyone else with a passion for collecting odd bits of knowledge.
Dip into 2201 Fascinating Facts and you’ll be hooked instantly. You’ll find provocative, curious and often humorous facts about everything from the body, smoking, sports, and geography to place names, human oddities, weather, royalty, government, fallacies, firsts, fashions and dozens of other topics.
2201 Fascinating Facts will help you settle bets, finish crossword puzzles, amaze your friends. It will supply you with an endless fund of conversation starters—and stoppers. And because you’ll be the only one around who knows how many calories there are in the glue on a postage stamp, who invented the parking meter or how many ridges there are around the edge of a quarter, you’ll soon find yourself the star of the office lunch group and the life of every party.
Whether you’re merely an interested collector of trivia or a hardcore fact fiend, you’ll find 2201 Fascinating Factstotally irresistible. It will be a book you’ll go back to again and again.

The Ultimate Book of Top Ten Lists: A Mind-Boggling Collection of Fun, Fascinating and Bizarre Facts on Movies, Music, Sports, Crime, Celebrities, History, Trivia and More

List price:

$14.95

Price:

$10.17
BIZARRE STUFF, AMAZING FACTS, ASTONISHING MYSTERIES, NATURAL WONDERS, LITTLE-KNOWN PEOPLE, USEFUL TIPS AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

From crime, movies and music to science, history and literature, this book offers an incredible array of intriguing top-10 lists, including:

•Urban Legends—Debunked
•Influential People Who Never Lived
•Ancient Methods of Execution
•Poisonous Foods We Love to Eat
•Inventions of the Middle Ages
•Gruesome Fairytale Origins
•Secret Societies
•Amazing Film Swordfights
•Bizarre Animal Mating Rituals
•Misconceptions About Evolution
•Tips for Frugal Living
•Fascinating Graveyards You Must See

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things

List price:

$16.99

Price:

$9.18

For lovers of facts, students of popular culture, history buffs, and science enthusiasts, the fascinating stories behind 500 everyday items, expressions, and customs–from Kleenex to steak sauce, Barbie Dolls to honeymoons.

Every Minute On Earth

List price:

$9.99

Price:

$0.78

In the minute it could take you to read this page, the Earth will be hit by 6,000 lightning strikes; 2,137 pounds of popcorn will be eaten; 10,000 pieces of skin will be lost from your body; 21,000 pizzas will be baked; 954 camera phones will be sold worldwide; the International Space Station will travel 289 miles in its orbit around the Earth; and 750,000 gallons of water will tumble over Niagara Falls. 

The Earth and its inhabitants are active every minute of the day. Isn’t it amazing what can happen in such a short amount of time?

The Ultimate Book of Useless Information: A Few Thousand More Things You Might Need to Know ( But ProbablyDon’t)

List price:

$12.95

Price:

$0.88

Bigger, better, and more useless than ever!

In their groundbreakingly useless book, The Book of Useless Information, the members of the Useless Information Society proved that knowledge doesn’t have to be useful to be entertaining. Now they present a new collection of their most fascinating, hilarious, and wholly trivial findings. The Ultimate Book of Useless Informationincludes such “did you knows” as:

- Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite
- The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing
- And giraffes have no vocal cords

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information (Bathroom Readers)

List price:

$17.95

Price:

$5.84
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts combines the most intriguing, enlightening material from nine previous Bathroom Readerfavorites into one concise volume. Flush with delightfully useless ? and sometimes even useful ? information about sports, movies, music, politics, American and world history, and much more, the book is the most extensive reference guide in the series to date. Contained within this handy, portable tome are the fascinating narratives, terrific trivia, and easy-to-read lists that fans have come to delight in, as well as quotes, facts, findings, and historical tidbits. Weird and wonderful factoid footers on the bottom of each page are perfect for super-quick trips, while quizzes and puzzles enliven lengthier stays. Arranged for simple and speedy reference, the book is the perfect companion for trivia buffs and knowledge junkies who need a quick, fun read not just ?at the office,” but in airports, waiting rooms, while traveling, or for any other moments that would otherwise be wasted.

The Book of Knowledge: Or Interesting Facts in Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, History, Physiology, A

List price:

$24.75

Price:

$15.10

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts – the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Tags: , , , ,

Brain Boost! Chaos Theory Book Reviews

List price:

$20.00

Price:

$5.67

James Gleick explains the theories behind the fascinating new science called chaos. Alongside relativity and quantum mechanics, it is being hailed as the twentieth century’s third revolution. 8 pages of photos.

Chaos Theory Tamed

List price:

$34.95

Price:

$22.73

What is this business called ‘chaos’? What does it deal with? Why do people think it’s important? And how did the term ‘chaos’ – long associated with disorder – come to signify a new paradigm in the orderly realm of mathematics? The concept of chaos is one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding research topics of recent decades. Chaos might underlie many kinds of well-known processes – the performance of the stock market, the weather, the cries of newborn babies, the dripping of a leaky faucet, and more.In “Chaos Theory Tamed”, scientist Garnett P. Williams walks the reader through this exciting territory, building an understanding of chaos and its significance in our lives. “Chaos” is a mathematical subject. If you seek bodice-ripping romance, this book is not for you. But if you are a researcher working with data…a scientist, engineer, or economist who has specialized outside the field of mathematics…or an interested person with a bit of background in algebra and statistics…then “Chaos Theory Tamed” can help you understand the basic concepts of this relatively new arm of science.Williams explains the terms necessary for an understanding of chaos theory. He discusses ‘sensitive dependence on initial conditions’ and what that means for long-term predictions. He explores the role of the chaotic or ‘strange’ attractor, order within chaos, fractal structure, and the emerging concepts of self-organization and complexity. Drawing from mathematics, physics, and statistics, the book provides a toolkit for readers, including vectors, phase space, Fourier analysis, time-series analysis, and autocorrelation.Williams describes routes that systems may take from regular behavior to chaos – period doubling, intermittency, and quasiperiodicity – and discusses nonlinear equations that can give rise to chaos. Dimension is a basic ingredient of chaos, and Williams brings clarity to the many ways in which this term is used by specialists in the field. And he explains how the magnitude of chaos may be gauged by Lyapunov exponents, Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and mutual information – mysterious terms that ‘aren’t all that difficult once we pick them apart,’ says Williams. “Chaos Theory Tamed” makes generous use of lists, graphs, field examples, summaries, and – perhaps most important – friendly language to help the reader learn and use the vocabulary of chaos. It will help scientists, students, and others outside mathematics to use the concepts of chaos in working with data, and it will give the interested lay reader a foothold on the fundamentals of this new realm of thought.

Applied Chaos Theory: A Paradigm for Complexity

List price:

$88.95

Price:

$7.86

This book differs from others on Chaos Theory books  in that it focuses on its applications for understanding complex phenomena. The emphasis is on the interpretation of the equations rather than on the details of the mathematical derivations. The presentation is interdisciplinary in its approach to real-life problems: it integrates nonlinear dynamics, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, information theory, and fractal geometry. An effort has been made to present the material ina reader-friendly manner, and examples are chosen from real life situations. Recent findings on the diagnostics and control of chaos are presented, and suggestions are made for setting up a simple laboratory. Included is a list of topics for further discussion that may serve not only for personal practice or homework, but also as themes for theses, dissertations, and research proposals.

Key Features
*Includes laboratory experiments Includes applications and case studies related to cell differentiation, EKGs, and immunology
* Presents interdisciplinary applications of chaos theory to complex systems
* Emphasizes the meaning of mathematical equations rather than their derivations
* Features reader friendly presentation with many illustrations and interpretations
* Deals with real life, dissipative systemsIntegrates mathematical theory throughout the text

Chaos Theory

List price:

$7.50

Price:

$1.94

Chaos Theoryis the electrifying new thriller from Gary Krist, a brilliant and chilling journey through the streets of Washington, D.C.-where innocence and corruption collide.

The Art of Modeling Dynamic Systems: Forecasting for Chaos, Randomness and Determinism (Dover Books on Mathematics)

List price:

$22.95

Price:

$6.67
This text demonstrates the roles of statistical methods, coordinate transformations, and mathematical analysis in mapping complex, unpredictable dynamical systems. Written by a well-known authority in the field, it employs practical examples and analogies, rather than theorems and proofs, to characterize the benefits and limitations of modeling tools. 1991 edition.

Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrated Guide to Chaos Theory and the Science of Wholeness

List price:

$15.95

Price:

$18.98

Until recently, such phenomena as the volatility of weather systems, the fluctuation of the shock market, or the random firing of neurons in the brain were considered too “noisy” and complex to be probed by science. But now, with the aid of high-speed computers, scientists have been able to penetrate a reality that is changing the way we perceive the universe. Their findings — the basis for chaos theory — represent one of the most exciting scientific pursuits of our time.

No better introduction to this find could be found than John Briggs and F. David Peat’s Turbulent Mirror. Together, they explore the many faces of chaos and reveal how its law direct most of the processes of everyday life and how it appears that everything in the universe is interconnected — discovering an “emerging science of wholeness.”

Turbulent Mirror introduces us to the scientists involved in study this endlessly strange field; to the theories that are turning our perception of the world on its head; and to the discoveries in mathematics, biology, and physics that are heralding a revolution more profound than the one responsible for producing the atomic bomb. With practical applications ranging from the control of traffic flow and the development of artifical intelligence to the treatment of heart attacks and schizophrenia, chaos promises to be an increasingly rewarding area of inquiry — of interest to everyone.

Fractal Market Analysis: Applying Chaos Theory to Investment and Economics

List price:

$100.00

Price:

$30.00

A leading pioneer in the field offers practical applications of this innovative science. Peters describes complex concepts in an easy-to-follow manner for the non-mathematician. He uses fractals, rescaled range analysis and nonlinear dynamical models to explain behavior and understand price movements. These are specific tools employed by chaos scientists to map and measure physical and now, economic phenomena.

Emergence: From Chaos To Order (Helix Books)

List price:

$18.00

Price:

$7.26
In this important book, John H. Holland dramatically shows us that the “emergence” of order from disorder has much to teach us about life, mind and organizations. Creative activities in both the arts and the sciences depend upon an ability to model the world. The most creative of those models exhibits emergent properties, so that “what comes out is more than what goes in.” From the ingenious checkers-playing computer that started beating its creator in game after game, to the emotive creations of the poet, Emergence shows that Holland’s theory successfully predicts many complex behaviors in art and science.

Chaos Theory in the Social Sciences: Foundations and Applications

List price:

$37.50

Price:

$27.95
Chaos Theory in the Social Sciences: Foundations and Applications offers the most recent thinking in applying the chaos paradigm to the social sciences. The book explores the methodological techniques–and their difficulties–for determining whether chaotic processes may in fact exist in a particular instance and examines implications of chaos theory when applied specifically to political science, economics, and sociology. The contributors to the book show that no single technique can be used to diagnose and describe all chaotic processes and identify the strengths and limitations of a variety of approaches.
The essays in this volume consider the application of chaos theory to such diverse phenomena as public opinion, the behavior of states in the international arena, the development of rational economic expectations, and long waves.
Contributors include Brian J. L. Berry, Thad Brown, Kenyon B. DeGreene, Dimitrios Dendrinos, Euel Elliott, David Harvey, L. Ted Jaditz, Douglas Kiel, Heja Kim, Michael McBurnett, Michael Reed, Diana Richards, J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., and Alvin M. Saperstein.
L. Douglas Kiel and Euel W. Elliott are both Associate Professors of Government, Politics, and Political Economy, University of Texas at Dallas

Tags: ,

Einstein without a Brain !?

It is historically true that Einstein became brainless, not in his life time but after approximately 7 hours after his death. Thomas Stoltz Harvey who made autopsy on Einstein removed his brain (without a permission from his family) for scientific study because of Einstein’s advanced thinking abilities and popularity. You can see the photo he has taken during his research.

Harvey sliced the brain into 240 blocks and made experiments with some chemical stuff. As a result, he couldn’t find something unusual but kept the pieces with him over the next four decades in two jars eventhough he was kicked from his job at the university. All this time, he just gave a tiny pieces to some researchers. Some of these researchers later claimed that Einstein Brain was working that way because of the high level of glial cells on the left part.

Funny thing is that he didn’t plan to take the brain. He was just a last minute replacement for another doctor in the morgue. In 2007 Harvey died and could kept his secret unpopular until 1978 from mass media. I will not tell where Einstein brain pieces now to motivate you doing a Google research for it, just added a few photos below :)
Einstein Brain Autopsy Photo

Einstein Brain in Jars

Actually, Einstein is not the first person whose brain was preserved. Our mathematical genius Gauss was also one of the most famous victims.

If you want to hear another interesting story about brain preservation, refer to Edward Rullof as well. A talented philologist, continuous criminal and who owned one of the largest brains in history.

A good read about the subject? Here is the journey of Einstein’s brain. Driving Mr. Albert, poor Albert !

The Black Hole War

Tags: , ,

Have you ever been sucked into a black hole?

The Black Hole WarThe Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics which is authored by Leonard Susskind (Felix Bloch professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and he is accepted as one of the fathers of String Theory) provides an interesting and adventurous journey to subjects like quantum mechanics, black holes, string theory, general relativity.

What happens when something is sucked into a black hole? Does it disappear? Three decades ago, a young physicist named Stephen Hawking claimed it did-and in doing so put at risk everything we know about physics and the fundamental laws of the universe. Most scientists didn’t recognize the import of Hawking’s claims, but Leonard Susskind and Gerard t’Hooft realized the threat, and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics. THE BLACK HOLE WAR is the thrilling story of their united effort to reconcile Hawking’s revolutionary theories of black holes with their own sense of reality-effort that would eventually result in Hawking admitting he was wrong, paying up, and Susskind and t’Hooft realizing that our world is a hologram projected from the outer boundaries of space.

Don’t think that you will not understand anything. It is a popular culture science book. Surely not for dummies, but also not for geniuses.

Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Tags:

An epic of imagination and self-discovery

The Neverending Story is a masterpiece fantasy book. Reading this book transports the reader into that space where we dream and forget the limits of our finite reality.

It is truly a masterpiece of Literature for both children and adults. Anyone can read this brilliant story and be entertained and come away with it with some profound insights.

Now, on to the actual story. “The Neverending Story” tells the story of Bastian Balthaazar Bux, an outcast trying to get over the shock of losing his mother. One morning, while running from the local bullies, he ducks into a bookstore. He finds a book there that literally calls out to him. Even though his conscience tries to dissuade him, he steals the book and has the urge to read it right away! What he finds in the book is an adventure most unlike any of the others he is used to finding in books. Things seem SO real! He can practically SEE each character, SMELL the earth, taste the seed cakes, hear the wind, and feel the cold. As things go along, he knows it is silly, but he somehow feels a part of the NeverEnding story….Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Although this book was written in the 1980′s, it has definitely stood the test of time. Michael Ende proves himself as one of the top fantasy writers. Like Bastian, you can almost imagine you are there. If you love books like “Chronicles of Narnia,” “Harry Potter,” and “The Princess Bride,” it is a magnificent gift to you from Michael Ende.

Aurora - Northern Lights

Tags:

Best of “The Northern Lights”

Northern Lights : Aurora Borealis (named after the ancient goddess of dawn and the Greek word for wind), they are a natural wonder that occurs in and near the polar zone as a result of the unique climate conditions in the area. 13 of the Best Aurora Observation Points

Aurora - Northern Lights

Multiplayer Chess Game

Age of Empires for Chess Brains.