"A survey of walls throughout history and their role in shaping society."--Provided by publisher.

Geometry defines the world around us, helping us make sense of everything from architecture to military science to fashion. And for over two thousand years, geometry has been equated with Euclid's Elements, arguably the most influential book in the history of mathematics. In The King of Infinite Space, renowned mathematics writer David Berlinski provides a concise homage to this elusive mathematician and his staggering achievements. Berlinski shows...

Joshua Bederson is the chief of Neurosurgery at the esteemed Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. New Yorker writer John Colapinto brings to vivid life what Dr. Bederson's professional life is like to show all the varied facets of his work, from extensive study and research to brain operations, one-on-one consultations with patients, and even staff meetings with fellow surgeons and students. Since Mt. Sinai is a teaching hospital, we learn alongside...

Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio investigates perhaps the most human of all our characteristics-curiosity-in this lively, expert, and definitely not dumbed-down account as he explores our innate desire to know why. Experiments demonstrate that people are more distracted when they overhear a phone conversation-where they can know only one side of the dialogue-than when they overhear two people talking and know both sides. Why does half a conversation...

"The first major biography of P.T. Barnum in a generation, a vivid account of the forefather of American entertainment"--

Describes how the United States developed from the first contact between extremely different cultures to its role as a superpower and explores how a country based on diversity seeks the sometimes contradictory goals of freedom and equality.

America experienced unprecedented expansion and turmoil in the years between 1815 and 1848. Historian David S. Reynolds illuminates the period's political story as well as the social and cultural movements that influenced it. He casts fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, along with John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation's territory and strengthened its position internationally. Waking Giant captures the...

"An eminent political scientist's brilliant synthesis of social and political trends over the past century that shows how we have gone from an individualistic society to a more communitarian society and then back again -- and how we can use that experience to overcome once again the individualism that currently weakens our country"--

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