Dog Science

Generations of dogs have been labeled training lemons for requiring actual motivation when all along they were perfectly normal. Numerous other completely and utterly normal dogs have been branded as canine misfits simply because they grew up to act like dogs. Barking, chewing, sniffing, licking, jumping up, and occasionally (just like people) having arguments are as normal and natural for dogs as wagging tails and burying bones.

“How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,” writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she’s been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.

It will take the courage of an outsider, the strength of a warlord, the skills of a rogue, and the bond between two sisters to forge a new future from the Ruins of Greatness left in the wake of the Masters. Long before Step’s time, and even before the birth of Salvo, the world that would create the greatest heroes and monsters ever known was a much colder place. Ferals and Neverwarms stalk the frozen wastes, searching for their next victims. Food is scarce, and warmth is scarcer. The dogs that remain must fight to ensure their survival in the harsh reality that has sprung up from the ...

Alexandra Horowitz’s brilliant On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes shows us how to see the spectacle of the ordinary - to practice, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it, "the observation of trifles". On Looking is structured around a series of eleven walks the author takes, mostly in her Manhattan neighborhood, with experts on a diverse range of subjects, including an urban sociologist, the well-known artist Maira Kalman, a geologist, a physician, and a sound designer. She also walks with a child and a dog to see the world as they perceive it.

When Bronwen Dickey brought her new dog home, she saw no traces of the infamous viciousness in her affectionate, timid pit bull. Which made her wonder: How had the breed - beloved by Teddy Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and TV's Little Rascals - come to be known as a brutal fighter? Her search for answers takes her from 19th-century New York City dogfighting pits - the cruelty of which drew the attention of the recently formed ASPCA - to early 20th-century movie sets where pit bulls cavorted with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But what about relativity? Physics professor Chad Orzel and his inquisitive canine companion, Emmy, tackle the concepts of general relativity in this irresistible introduction to Einstein's physics. Through armchair- and sometimes passenger-seat-conversations with Emmy about the relative speeds of dog and cat motion or the logistics of squirrel-chasing, Orzel translates complex Einsteinian ideas into examples simple enough for a dog to understand.

Scientists are beginning to understand that the diseases affecting humans—cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration and autoimmune disorders—also afflict canines. As a result, our canine companions are vexed with health problems throughout much of their lives and have shorter life spans. Since our pets can’t make health and lifestyle decisions for themselves, it’s up to pet parents to make smart choices for their dogs’ lasting vitality and health. The Forever Dog gives us the tools to protect our four-legged friends.

Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone's rescue when something shadowy appears.

Thirteen-year-old twins Vick and Tara have built an incredible machine - a loyal robotic watchdog named Daisy. But, when local crime boss Ms. Alba schemes to add Daisy to her robot army, Vick and Tara must go to great lengths to protect their prized pet. Because Daisy is more than just any robot - she's their constant protector, and together the three make a great team.

Discussing everything from the meaning of the Second Amendment to the stated rules around Supreme Court nominations, Sheehan walks us through the entire Constitution, from its preamble to its final amendment. He also offers a bonus section on the Declaration of Independence. Extra-credit information throughout on things like amendments that were never passed and what powers elected officials actually have, gives listeners all the information they need to be informed and effective voters and citizens.

I thought dying in prison was my only option… …then I was given a choice. I can either board an alien spaceship with 400 fellow criminals or rot in prison on a freezing Earth. The spacecraft's captain, a handsome alien who looks remarkably human, has been visiting me in my dreams for over a year. He has given me the companionship I need during my time locked up in solitary confinement, and the way he holds me in my mind makes me forget the Earth is on the brink of extinction. But was that nothing but my imagination? The alien in question doesn’t seem to know anything about the hours ...

Calvin wasn't supposed to be on a spaceship. He definitely wasn't supposed to be heading to Venus. But when you're nine years old, brilliant at hiding, and have a dog like Pudge, anything is possible. Join Calvin and Pudge as they accidentally stow away on Starhopper 9, meet a crew of quirky space travelers, and discover the greatest surprise of all—friendly aliens who wave back. With pancakes, paw prints, and peanut butter medals along the way, this out-of-this-world adventure will leave young readers laughing, wide-eyed, and ready for more. Perfect for ages 5–12, Deep Space Trouble is...

Merlin Mission books 17-24 of the number-one New York Times best-selling Magic Tree House series, available together for the first time ever! Magic Tree House Merlin Missions are more challenging adventures for the experienced Magic Tree House fan. In each adventure Merlin the magician sends Jack and Annie on an adventure in the magic tree house.

Rande Vandal VanDelle and his fellow Chevaliers campaign across the surface of Cinto DaSelva alongside the restored war machines of the Serpent Valley Botanist Union, intent on overturning control of the planet against a stubborn, dug-in defense.

No one ever said being a werewolf was easy. Take Delia, for instance. She’s spent much of her life fighting against her own nature, plagued by nightmares of childhood trauma, and trying to find her place in the world. Many werewolves are just like her: ostracized by their families, forced to live alone and in secret as they await those nights when the Change overtakes them.

Monty was just like any other dog. A scruffy and irascible Maltese terrier, he enjoyed barking at pugs and sniffing at trees. But after Monty has yet another dramatic confrontation with the local Rottweiler, Anthony McGowan realizes it’s high time he and Monty had a chat about what makes him a good or a bad dog.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite into orbit around the Earth. Little more than a month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik II. News of Sputnik created panic in Washington, D.C. Within days, the U.S. military began a madcap race to space full of crashes, skullduggery, and backstabbing - until Eisenhower's secret civilian program surpassed the Soviets by putting the first American, a hero monkey named Gordo, into orbit.

We are entering another ice age. In less than a year, my brother and I will freeze to death, unless we starve first. Experts have created biodomes, built tunnels, and rationed food and fuel to make the end more tolerable, for a bit. When Lon of planet Kaipra contacts me, claiming he has the key to our survival, I have to listen. He’ll help humans survive the ice age, but at the ultimate cost—I must agree to leave my brother, my friends, and the entire planet I call home to travel across the galaxy with him. Can I trust him? What are his plans with me? And do I even have a choice? ...

The Sun gives life to our planet, but it also produces some amazing phenomena. From sun dogs and green flash to solar flares and sunspots, The Science Behind Wonders of the Sun looks at some of these phenomena, explaining how and why they occur.

CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson has one simple task: Watch an ambassador’s dog while the diplomat is conducting sensitive negotiations with an alien race. But you know dogs - always getting into something. And when this dog gets into something that could launch an alien civil war, Wilson has to find a way to solve the conflict, fast, or be the one in the Colonial Union’s doghouse. "The Dog King" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.