Science Geography

What is a country? While certain basic tenets - such as the clear demarcation of a country's borders, and the acknowledgment of its sovereignty by other countries and by international governing bodies like the United Nations - seem applicable, journalist Joshua Keating's book explores exceptions to these rules. Through stories about these countries' efforts at self-determination, as well as their respective challenges, Keating reveals that there is no universal legal authority determining what we consider a country.

Eleven-year-old Josephine knows that no one is good enough for her daddy. That's why she makes a habit of scaring his new girlfriends away. She's desperate to make it onto her school's cricket team because she'll get to play her favorite sport and use the cricket matches to distract Daddy from dating. But when Coach Broomes announces that girls can't try out for the team, the frustrated Josephine cuts into a powerful silk cotton tree and accidentally summons a bigger problem into her life.

This book describes the location of the countries and major features within them for someone who cannot see a map or who is not a visual learner. You don't need to see to understand geography.

Wonder, mysticism, heartache, and joy are the stones that set the path to one girl's journey as her destiny unfolds. In the village of Huanan in medieval China, the deity that rules is the Great Huli Jing. Though 12-year-old Li Jing's name is a different character entirely from the Huli Jing, the sound is close enough to provide constant teasing - but maybe is also a source of greater destiny and power. Jing's life isn't easy....

The planet says we consume too much: in North America, we burn the Earth's resources at a rate five times faster than they can regenerate. And despite our efforts to "green" our consumption - by recycling, increasing energy efficiency, or using solar power - we have yet to see a decline in global carbon emissions.

Humans versus Nature tells a history of the global environment from the Stone Age to the present, emphasizing the adversarial relationship between the human and natural worlds. Nature is cast as an active protagonist rather than a mere backdrop or victim of human malfeasance. Daniel R. Headrick shows how environmental changes - epidemics, climate shocks, and volcanic eruptions - have molded human societies and cultures, sometimes overwhelming them.

A highly entertaining and accessible introduction to our planet from the best-selling author of Schrödinger's Cat, The Scientists, and In Search of the Multiverse. In this incredible expedition into the origins, workings, and evolution of our home planet, John Gribbin does what he does best: takes four and a half billion years of mind-boggling science and digs out the best bits. From the physics of Newton and the geology of Wegener, to the environmentalism of Lovelock, this is a must-listen for Earth's scientists and residents alike.

There may not be such a thing as a perfect city, but all great cities have moments of perfection - perfect streets or buildings, perfect places to raise a family or to relax with a coffee - and all of them strive for perfection when they undertake grand projects...Joe Berridge, one of the world's leading urban planners, takes us on an insider's tour of the world's largest and most diverse cities, from New York to London, Shanghai to Singapore, Toronto to Sydney, to examine what is working and not working, what is promising and what needs to be fixed in the contemporary megalopolis.

From the beetroot fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labour pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads.

Este libro es mucho más que una simple colección de datos; es una puerta a las maravillas ocultas del conocimiento. A través de sus páginas, descubrirás hechos tan asombrosos como inesperados, que te harán repensar lo que crees saber sobre el mundo. Cada curiosidad está diseñada para despertar tu imaginación y ofrecerte una nueva perspectiva sobre el mundo que nos rodea. Si alguna vez te has preguntado por qué ciertos patrones se repiten en la naturaleza o cómo ciertos eventos históricos cambiaron el curso de la humanidad, aquí encontrarás respuestas que te sorprenderán.

In this book, Joaquin and Yocsary take us on an exciting and unforgettable adventure around the unique Central American country of Costa Rica. Are you ready to take a majestic walk in the cloud forests and visit tropical blond and black sand beaches all in the same country? Feel free to jump into the ocean and go surfing. Visit hot spring sites and learn more about the wonderful biodiversity in the Costa Rican jungle.

Writing in the grand American tradition of Annie Dillard and Barry Lopez, Donovan Hohn is an "adventurous, inquisitive, and brightly illuminating writer" (New York Times). Since the publication of Moby-Duck a decade ago, Hohn has been widely hailed for his prize-winning essays on the borderlands between the natural and the human. The Inner Coast collects 10 of his best, many of them originally published in such magazines as the New York Times Magazine and Harper's.

On the day of his birth, Prince Alexos is revealed to be the long-awaited champion of Athene. He grows up lonely, conscious of all that is expected of him. But Alexos discovers that being a champion isn't about fame and glory - it's about sacrifice and courage.

This is the true story of how Kush (parts of modern Sudan and Ethiopia) founded a dynasty of black Pharaohs. This astonishing civilization south of Egypt developed its own distinctive pyramid and culture and overcame both Egypt and Rome. Ancient propaganda claimed victory over the barbarians of Kush, but the truth cannot be hidden forever!

Great explorers have one thing in common - a desire to leap into the unknown, no matter how dangerous that might be. From Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago to Barbara Hillary's treks to the North and South poles while in her 70s, Explorers documents the trials and hardships of the men and women who rewrote our understanding of the world and showed us what humans are capable of.

The great forces of population change—the balance of births, deaths and migrations—have made the world what it is today. They have determined which countries are superpowers and which languish in relative obscurity. The same forces that have shaped our past and present are shaping our future. Illustrating this through 10 illuminating indicators, Paul Morland shows how demography is both a powerful and an under-appreciated lens through which to view the global transformations that are currently underway.

In Book Three of Holly Webb's The Mysteries of Maisie Hitchins, 12-year-old Maisie and her dog Eddie are invited to join Maisie's friend Alice on a trip to the country. It's lovely to get away from the London smog, but there is something strange about the manor where the girls are staying. Odd noises, horrid smells, and sightings of a spectral cat keep them up at night. Has Alice's father rented a haunted house? There must be a logical explanation, and Maisie plans to use her detecting skills to find out what it is!

Son al menos cinco clases de territorios extraños que trata Olivier Marchon en este peculiar libro sobre la geografía humana: los enclavados, los simbólicos, los que se encuentran en disputa, los especiales y los utópicos. Así podemos encontrar a Kowloon Walled City, una ciudad en la que de pronto, en medio de un conflicto ente China y Gran Bretaña, nada es técnicamente ilegal. Sí, nada.

Billy Chan and his friends are not having a very relaxing summer. Their friend Dylan has been kidnapped by the evil Dragon of Death, and it’s up to them to travel through time, back to the dangerous Dragon Realm in order to save him. Luckily they have their own dragons on side, but they’ll need to collect eight magical pearls if they’re to amass enough power to destroy the Dragon of Death and her followers for good. So begins an epic quest that will take them to the depths of the Frozen Wasteland and the imperial palaces of Ancient China. But can good triumph evil?

This audiobook tells the story of how Steve Wozniak developed the personal computer.