by Skye Moody (2006)
Churned up from the ocean depths by a storm or lobbed into the waves by a human hand, a motley stew of trash and treasure has floated to shore across time and countless miles, and has influenced our lives in innumerable ways. Join author and "flotsamist" Skye Moody as she uncorks the origins of things the tide brought in. Societies the world over have fashioned pigments and dyes, jewelry, medicine, cosmetics, talismans, houses, and entire religions from what they found on the beach. Missives in bottles were once the preferred communication method of the British Naval Intelligence. Yet the postindustrial age has seen no decline in the sea's bounty. Dig deeper to learn why hardened whale spittle amplifies the human sex drive and has been valued as highly as gold. And lastly, explore the darker side of flotsam and jetsam: the syringes and other medical waste poisoning our waters and marking an era of global pollution and biological warfare.--From publisher description.
Abraham Loeb
Abraham Loeb starts from first principles, tracing the theoretical foundations of cosmology and carefully explaining the physics behind them. Topics include the gravitational growth of perturbations in an expanding universe, the abundance and properties of dark matter halos and galaxies, reionization, the observational methods used to detect the earliest galaxies and probe the diffuse gas between them--and much more.--
written and
Presents craft and art projects, games, and nature study experiments using the various items found on the seashore. Includes beach pebble polishing, sand casting, scallop wind chimes, mapping a tidal creek, and seaside picture bingo.
D.H. Perkins
"The last several years have seen a symbiosis of the fields of elementary particle physics and the astrophysics of the early universe. This text presents the background of the subjects and the latest developments at a level suitable for final year undergraduates and beginning graduate students. The first chapters cover the properties and interactions of elementary particles followed by discussion of the early universe, including inflation, dark matter and dark energy, and the growth of the galactic structure. The final chapters discuss cosmic rays and particle physics in the stars. The close relation between particle interactions and large scale development of the cosmos is a constant theme in the text, with emphasis on the interplay between experiment and theory."--Jacket.
Nick Harkaway
A hilarious, action-packed look at the apocalypse that combines a touching tale of friendship, a thrilling war story, and an all out kung-fu infused mission to save the world. Gonzo Lubitch and his best friend have been inseparable since birth. They grew up together, they studied kung-fu together, they rebelled in college together, and they fought in the Go Away War together. Now, with the world in shambles and dark, nightmarish clouds billowing over the wastelands, they have been tapped for an incredibly perilous mission. But they quickly realize that this assignment is more complex than it seems, and before it is over they will have encountered everything from mimes, ninjas, and pirates to one ultra-sinister mastermind, whose only goal is world domination.