George Johnson – författare

George Johnson tells the stories of ten beautiful experiments which changed the world. From Galileo singing to mark time as he measured the pull of gravity and Newton carefully inserting a needle behind his own eye, to Joule packing a thermometer on his honeymoon to take the temperature of waterfalls and Michelson recovering from a dark depression to discover that light moves at the same speed in every direction - these ten dedicated men employed diamonds, dogs, frogs and even their own bodies as they worked to discover the laws of nature and of the universe.

When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, science-writer George Johnson embarked on a journey to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and combating it. What he discovered is that a revolution is now under way – an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from. He combs through the realms of epidemiology, clinical trials, laboratory experiments and scientific hypotheses, to reveal what we know and don’t know about cancer, showing why a cure remains such a slippery concept. His luminous accounts describe tumors that evolve like alien creatures inside the body, paleo-oncologists who uncover petrified tumors clinging to the skeletons of dinosaurs and ancient human ancestors, and the surprising reversals in science’s comprehension of the causes of cancer, with the foods we eat and environmental toxins playing a lesser role. Perhaps most fascinating of all is how cancer borrows natural processes involved in the healing of a wound or the unfolding of a human embryo and turns them against the body.Throughout his pursuit, Johnson illuminates the human experience with elegiac grace, bearing witness to the punishing gauntlet of consultations, surgeries, targeted therapies and other treatments. Provocative and intellectually vibrant, The Cancer Chronicles will challenge everything you thought you knew about the disease – and provide hope for tomorrow and the future.

Over its 105-year history, the NFL has built franchise empires, created icons, integrated itself into the fabric of American culture and captivated fans around the globe. At the core of the NFL are the stories of the iconic players and leaders who drove the NFL from a modest association struggling to define itself against the college game to the most exciting and profitable sports league in the world. Through snappy prose and historic photographs, NFL Moments catalogs the league's larger-than-life characters and their defining stories. The book features these and many more moments:the founding of the NFLthe stories of the Forgotten Four and the emergence of Black athletesJoe Namath's guaranteeFranco Harris and the Immaculate Receptionthe unrivalled improvisational skills of Patrick Mahomes.

Are there really laws governing the universe? Or is the order we see a mere artifact of the way evolution wired the brain? And is what we call science only a set of myths in which quarks, DNA, and information fill the role once occupied by gods? These questions lie at the heart of George Johnson''s audacious exploration of the border between science and religion, cosmic accident and timeless law. Northern New Mexico is home both to the most provocative new enterprises in quantum physics, information science, and the evolution of complexity and to the cosmologies of the Tewa Indians and the Catholic Penitentes. As it draws the reader into this landscape, juxtaposing the systems of belief that have taken root there, Fire in the Mind into a gripping intellectual adventure story that compels us to ask where science ends and religion begins."A must for all those seriously interested in the key ideas at the frontier of scientific discourse."--Paul DaviesFrom the Trade Paperback edition.

Even as you read these words, a tiny portion of your brain is physically changing. New connections are being sprouted--a circuit that will create a stab of recognition if you encounter the words again. That is one of the theories of memory presented in this intriguing and splendidly readable book, which distills three researchers'' inquiries into the processes that enable us to recognize a face that has aged ten years or remember a melody for decades. Ranging from experiments performed on the "wetware" of the brain to attempts to re-create human cognition in computers, In the Palaces of Memory is science writing at its most exciting.

Machinery of Mind is a full-scale, indispensable examination of the history, content, politics, and philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. In detail, consecutively but with a keen awareness of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, Johnson traces the history of the burgeoning science from its earliest practitioners to corporation-funded engineers and experts: Roger Schank, Terry Winograd, Doug Lenat and others who are struggling to create machines that can actually think independently, going beyond man-made programs and "games." Johnson presents the counterarguments of some theorists that intelligence is less than soul and that the "new science" moves arrogantly into dangerous territory. Necessarily inconclusive, this fascinating study is clear, comprehensive, richly detailed, and endlessly provocative.

Johnson’s Essentials of The Living World text is written with an emphasis on the "how” and “why” of Biology, focusing on concepts rather than terminology and technical information. Utilizing a clear, straightforward writing style, the text helps students apply scientific principles to daily life. The 7th edition includes contributions and pedagogy from new coauthor, Dr. Joel Bergh.

The author team of Biology is committed to continually improving the text, keeping the student and learning foremost. The integrated pedagogical features expand the student's learning process and enhance their learning experience. Biology has a clear, accessible, and engaging writing style with a solid framework of pedagogy that highlights an emphasis on evolution and scientific inquiry that have made this a leading textbook for students majoring in biology. An emphasis on the organizing power of evolution is combined with an integration of the importance of cellular, molecular biology and genomics.