Prelude Science Classics – serie

One of the most illuminating, useful and exciting books ever published in the mathematical fieldTaking only a modicum of knowledge for granted, Lancelot Hogben leads readers of this famous book through the whole course from simple arithmetic to calculus.His illuminating explanation is addressed to the person who wants to understand the place of mathematics in modern civilization but who has been intimidated by its supposed difficulty.Mathematics is the language of size, shape, and order – a language Hogben shows one can both master and enjoy.

The unforgettable introduction to the human body that continues to inspire new generations of doctorsAwesome and magnificent as the body itself, here is the one book that explains the mysteries of human anatomy – from head to heart; muscles to metabolism; bones to blood and beyond – in a way certain to captivate.It cuts through jargon and transcends the ordinary to let you get to know all about your body: how it adapts, how it protects itself, how it senses the world, how it grows.An indispensable book for everyone who has ever felt a sense of wonder for the remarkable machine that remains infinitely superior to every human invention.

"Swords and lances, arrows, machine guns and even high explosives have had far less power over the fate of nations than the typhus louse, the plague flea and the yellow-fever mosquito."Both shocking and entertaining, this masterpiece of popular science writing tells the tragic story of the struggle between humanity and its humble but deadly enemies, the organisms of disease.Zinsser shows how infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. While from the human perspective an invading pathogen was abnormal, from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal.From the pestilence which contributed to the downfall of Rome to the dancing manias of medieval Europe, the aristocracy’s fashion for wearing wigs and the role of typhus in the First World War, Zinsser reveals just how disease and epidemics have shaped human history.