"Orbiting at the edge of the outer Solar System, Pluto is an intriguing object in astronomy. Since the fascinating events surrounding its discovery, it has helped increase our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, and raised questions about the nature and benefits of scientific classification. This is a timely and exciting account of Pluto and its satellites. The author uses Pluto as a case study to discuss discovery in astronomy,...

"A breakout bestseller in Italy, now available for American readers for the first time, Genesis: The Story of How Everything Began is a short, humanistic tour of the origins of the universe, earth, and life-drawing on the latest discoveries in physics to explain the seven most significant moments in the creation of the cosmos"-- Provided by publisher.

"The author of the best-selling Your Inner Fish, now gives us a lively and accessible account of the great transformations in the history of life, that enable us to further understand whether our presence on this planet is an accident or inevitable. The great transformations in the history of life brought about whole scale shifts in how animals live and how their bodies are organized: the evolution of fish to land-living creature, the origin of birds,...

A Dartmouth anthropologist whose team discovered two ancient human species explores how our evolution toward bipedalism rendered us dominant, innovative, more compassionate, and more susceptible to health problems.

"A top scholar reveals the most complete picture to date of how early human speech led to the languages we use today? The invention of language began with the apelike calls of our earliest ancestors. Today, the world is home to thousands of complex languages. Yet exactly how, when, and why this evolution occurred has been one of the most enduring--and contentiously debated--questions in science. In The Language Puzzle, renowned archaeologist Steven...

"70,000 years ago, the human race almost went extinct. We survived, but no one knows how. Until now. The countdown to the next stage of human evolution is about to begin, and humanity may not survive this time"--Page [4] of cover.

After an event at which futurist Edmond Kirsch is to announce a groundbreaking discovery erupts into chaos, Robert Langdon rushes to Barcelona to locate a cryptic password that will reveal Kirsch's secret before it is lost forever.