検索キーワード： 制作 "Recorded Books" 科学

Having worked on numerous high-profile genetic investigations, including one focused on the famed Iceman of the Italian Alps, Bryan Sykes has become a premier authority on human genetics. In DNA USA, Sykes examines the unique fabric of the population of the United States - one of the world’s most genetically variegated countries. His fascinating discoveries offer new insights into the biological profile of the great melting pot.

In "Elemental Matters", Professor Deborah Sauder leads a comprehensive overview of chemistry, a subject that influences every aspect of daily life. Kicking off the lecture series with a revealing look at one of the planet’s most vital chemicals—water—Sauder then delves into the basics of molecular structure and chemical reactions. The course concludes with an eye-opening glimpse of 21st-century applications, such as nanotechnology and energy alternatives."

With Evolutionary Psychology I and II, Allen D. MacNeill of Cornell University led a thought-provoking series of lectures on why people do the things they do. In Evolutionary Biology I, MacNeill addresses a different side of the coin by examining the biological component, from Charles Darwin’s and Gregor Mendel’s “dangerous ideas” to contemporary thought leaders and the forming of the modern synthesis of this vital field of study.

In this partially autobiographical work, best-selling author Lewis Thomas offers insights on subjects as wide-ranging as gender differences, how it feels to be a patient, human vs. computer intelligence, the future of cancer research, and the longevity of the planet—interspersing all with charming anecdotes about his family, his colleagues and himself.

After 25 years on a farm in the Ozarks, award-winning writer and naturalist Sue Hubbell moved to a small town on the coast of Maine. There, in the pools, tides, and thickets, she found a vast array of creatures that aroused her considerable curiosity. Join Hubbell on a unique tour of the world of invertebrates. From humpbacked camel crickets to glow worms, from horseshoe crabs to elegantly-furred sea mice, Hubbell offers vivid descriptions and fascinating details about these superb examples of survival.

Most of us think of bugs as pesky creatures we squish under our shoes or bat away with our hands. Under the microscope of Sue Hubbell’s keen eye emerges an exciting world we rarely take the time to see. Author of A Country Year, Hubbell writes regularly for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and Discover magazines, bringing to her delightful essays the practical veracity of a gentlewoman farmer, and the style and élan of an eccentric who has found her bliss.

The timely story of how the forces of change converge on a small tribe of Niaruna Indians living in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. In addition to being a prophetic commentary on emerging threats to the environment, and the troublesome encroachment of the modern world on traditional cultures, the novel is a suspenseful adventure story about two men striving to find meaning in a world not their own.

Often hailed as the heir apparent to Wallace Stegner, Ivan Doig is among the finest chroniclers of the contemporary American West. In Mountain Time, Lexa McCaskell and Mitch Rozier leave their Seattle home to visit Mitch’s dying father in Montana. There Mitch clashes with both Lexa and his father as events from the past are explored and difficult memories resurface.

Renowned professor Michael B. McElroy leads a comprehensive examination of energy, including its history, use in the world today, and environmental consequences. Whether discussing the "oil shocks" of the 1970s, the current reliance on imported oil, or the growing buildup of carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere, it is clear that energy represents one of the world's most daunting challenges.

The history of Western civilization can be divided neatly into pre-Darwinian and post-Darwinian periods. Darwin's 1859 treatise, On the Origin of Species, was not the first work to propose that organisms had descended from other, earlier organisms and the mechanism of evolution it proposed remained controversial for years. Nevertheless, no biologist after 1859 could ignore Darwin's theories and few areas of thought and culture remained immune to their influence.

As far as we can see there are countless other galaxies of all shapes and sizes set within an ever-expanding space that was created in a "Big Bang" nearly 14 billion years ago. Along with solutions to old puzzles, however, come new riddles, as most of our Universe appears to be in the form of some kind of unseen "dark matter" and incomprehensible "dark energy" whose natures and origins remain unfathomable.

Renowned ornithologist John Kricher presents an absorbing analysis of the diverse ecosystems that exist on Planet Earth. He provides a factual study of the many fragile and threatened portions of our biosphere while describing the interaction between each system and the effect of man's presence in these ecosystems. Professor Kricher also explains the amazing variety of flora and fauna that inhabit the individual ecosystems and addresses current ecological issues facing mankind.

This course guides listeners through the sights of the naked- eye sky, wherein we directly witness the effects of the turning and revolving of the Earth, the artistry painted by the human mind using the sky and stars, and how the view changes with time and with our place on the planet.

Professor Betsey Dexter Dyer of Wheaton College examines the role of bacteria as major players in Earth's biodiversity. In the course of these fascinating lectures, Professor Dyer delves into the history of microbiology, the four billion year history of bacteria and archaea as the dominant organisms on Earth, and the place of pathogens in the greater context of the bacterial world. This course serves as both a field guide for curious naturalists and a friendly introduction to the world of bacteria and archaea.

In this course, we will discuss the moral aspects of human reproduction. We will discuss various influences on reproduction as well as the scientific advances in reproductive technology. At the end of this course we will not have arrived at answers to the various questions raised, but instead will have provided a base for us to consider the issues at hand and a desire to pursue more study in the important aspects of creating humans.

From the revered Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and writer comes his national bestseller on one of the world’s oldest and most popular activities, fishing. Presented in narrative form as a conversation between a fisherman and the Stranger, Hersey draws upon his own experiences and passion as the fisherman reflects on the age-old sport, offering his own insights and thoughts.

We all have habits we’d like to break, but for many of us it can be nearly impossible to do so. There is a good reason for this: The brain is a habit-building machine. In Hard to Break, leading neuroscientist Russell Poldrack provides an engaging and authoritative account of the science of how habits are built in the brain, why they are so hard to break, and how evidence-based strategies may help us change unwanted behaviors.

Flying more than 8,000 miles from Alaska to eastern Australia without stopping to eat or rest, the Bar-tailed Godwit holds the record for the longest nonstop migration of any land bird in the world. Flight of the Godwit invites readers on ornithologist Bruce M. Beehler's awe-inspiring journey in search of North America's largest and farthest-flying shorebirds. Driving 35,000 miles between 2019 to 2023, Beehler sought birds he dubs the "Magnificent Seven."

Jeff Tarrant was fascinated by the paranormal as a child but then his training as a neuropsychologist turned him into a hardcore skeptic. If something could not be reliably and consistently demonstrated in the laboratory, then it wasn’t real. These rigid ideas were gradually worn away as he repeatedly witnessed and experienced things that simply should not be possible—telekenesis, clairvoyance, telepathy, mediumship, energy healing, and more. This book follows his journey of studying, interviewing, and testing a wide variety of mediums, psychics, and healers.

Humans have long thought of their bodies and minds as separate spheres of existence. The body is physical. But the mind is mental; it perceives, remembers, believes, feels, and imagines. Although modern science has largely eliminated this mind-body dualism, people still tend to imagine their minds as separate from their physical being. Even in research, the notion of the "self" as somehow distinct from the rest of the organism persists. Joseph LeDoux argues that we have hit an epistemological wall—that ideas like the self are increasingly barriers to discovery and understanding.