Space Engineering

Welcome to the world, Metis, titan of wisdom and sagacity. Actually, you’re a new built artificial brain, part of a dispersed architecture neural net system designed to run a wing-ship. A jump capable starship operating in the Pamplona Sector. But the Pamplona Sector is caught up in a revolution. The Battered Birdie, the ship you’re installed in, is a pirate ship and its captain is a crook and casual killer. That’s the situation Metis finds herself in. Doctor Schmitz did build a moral center into her, but like all A.I.s, she’s designed to serve, not to rule. That means taking orders...

The volcano - among the most familiar and perhaps the most terrifying of all geological phenomena. However, Earth isn't the only planet to harbour volcanoes. In fact, the solar system, and probably the entire universe, is littered with them. Our own Moon, which is now a dormant piece of rock, had lava flowing across its surface billions of years ago, while Mars can be credited with the largest volcano in the solar system.

Book 5: Free the North!: Peace in the south. People settling in. Intelligent creatures moving to Vii from the RV Traveler. Soon, meat will be in short supply. Hungry people will fight for what they need. Braden knows that livestock abounds in the north. It's time to go get some. But free trade in the north has been declared illegal by a new governor.

Black holes are the most extreme objects in the universe, and yet they are ubiquitous. Frighteningly enigmatic, these dark giants continue to astound even the scientists who spend their careers studying them. Einstein’s Monsters reveals how our comprehension of black holes is intrinsically linked to how we make sense of the universe and our place within it. From the small questions to the big ones - from the tiniest particles to the nature of space-time itself - black holes might be the key to a deeper understanding of the cosmos.

Comet begins with a breathtaking journey through space astride a comet. Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer Carl Sagan, author of Cosmos and Contact, and writer Ann Druyan explore the origin, nature, and future of comets, and the exotic myths and portents attached to them. The authors show how comets have spurred some of the great discoveries in the history of science and raise intriguing questions about these brilliant visitors from the interstellar dark.

Were the fates of the dinosaurs and the origins of humans tied to the wanderings of a comet?

In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells for the first time the full story of the 100-year quest to decipher the ancient Greek computer known as the Antikythera Mechanism. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of remarkable characters and explores the deep roots of modern technology in ancient Greece and the medieval European and Islamic worlds. At its heart, this is an epic adventure and mystery, a book that challenges our assumptions about technology through the ages.

Missing scientists, a desperate corporation, that sounds like just the kind of payday Captain Drake, and his crew were looking for. Life out in the stars isn’t easy. Not unless you’re willing to pledge your services to one of the major players. Captain Drake has never been much for servitude even when it comes with a golden spoon. That just means he has to be willing to get a little extra dirt on his hands to make a living. The mercenary guild only hires the best for their top of the line clients, and the crew of the Star Talon has just made the grade. What they find themselves involved...

That means taking jobs and not asking questions, whether that involves smuggling, transporting runaways, or performing other, far less wholesome work. Whatever the situation, Jace is willing to do what it takes to achieve his dream and live the life he’s always wanted. That is, until he comes face to face with an item of unprecedented value - something that could give him everything he needs to pay off his debt and be free. The only problem is that selling it would also shift the balance of power between the two largest empires in the galaxy.

The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe - from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars - constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The rest is known as dark matter and dark energy, because their precise identities are unknown. The Cosmic Cocktail is the inside story of the epic quest to solve one of the most compelling enigmas of modern science - what is the universe made of? - told by one of today’s foremost pioneers in the study of dark matter.

Buckle up for a joy ride through physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. Drawing on conversations with hundreds of the world's top scientists and her own work as an award-winning science writer, Natalie Angier does the impossible: she makes science fascinating and seriously fun, even for those of us who, in Angier's words, "still can't tell the difference between a proton, a photon, and a moron".

Planets in our solar system have so many cool facts about them that scientists have made very complicated to understand. This book has taken some of the most amazing facts and repackaged them in a way that makes it easy for kids to understand. From the most basic facts right through to some of the most amazing and not well know ones, this book covers everything a child would love to know.

After a soldier is left for dead, Eva Delgado's life begins to unravel. The truth of what happened remains a mystery, and the government will stop at nothing to keep it buried. Together with the unit's medic, Eva finds herself branded a terrorist and enemy of the state, hunted by two opposing governments. When the pair uncover a plot that could have ramifications for the whole galaxy, they know they have to act, but it will take all of their training, cunning and just a bit of luck to do what no one else has achieved. But what do you do when every secret begets another?

Across millennia, cultures and civilizations have envisioned the ability to revisit the past, glimpse the future, or even rewrite fate. From ancient mythologies to modern science fiction epics, the allure of time travel persists as one of humanity’s most profound and enduring fascinations.

Kayan has emerged from the Hoyon citadel repaired and refreshed, though she’s a bit cagey. Why would she share what kind of upgrades the healing process bestowed upon her? Noah Gantz is just glad to be back in the action, seeking Seer secrets, a way to save two galaxies, and finding Kilis Dane Ryger before Celia and Ryg destroy Kayan to get their answers. When Kayan’s crew learns Dane may have genetically modified Azok warships, they pursue the clues back to the Milky Way and Earth.

A noted space expert explains the current revolution in spaceflight, where it leads, and why we need it. Astronautical engineer Robert Zubrin spells out the potential of these new developments in an engrossing narrative that is visionary yet grounded by a deep understanding of the practical challenges. Fueled by the combined expertise of the old aerospace industry and the talents of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, spaceflight is becoming cheaper.

In the 1940s and '50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn't turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite group of young women who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American satellites, and made the exploration of the solar system possible.

In The Elephant in the Universe, Govert Schilling explores the fascinating history of the search for dark matter. Evidence for its existence comes from a wealth of astronomical observations. Theories and computer simulations of the evolution of the universe are also suggestive: they can be reconciled with astronomical measurements only if dark matter is a dominant component of nature.

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.

The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design.

On September 14, 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were detected for the first time, and astronomy changed forever. Up until then, investigation of the universe had depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible light, radio, X-rays, and the rest. But gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of space and time - are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop light dead.