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Red Rover: Inside the Story of Robotic Space Exploration, from Genesis to the Mars Rover Curiosity
by Roger WiensFor centuries humankind has fantasized about life on Mars, whether it’s intelligent Martian life invading our planet (immortalized in H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds) or humanity colonizing Mars (the late Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles). The Red Planet’s proximity and likeness to Earth make it a magnet for our collective imagination. Yet the question of whether life exists on Mars-or has ever existed there-remains an open one. Science has not caught up to science fiction-at least not yet.This summer we will be one step closer to finding the answer. On August 5th, Curiosity-a one-ton, Mini Cooper-sized nuclear-powered rover-is scheduled to land on Mars, with the primary mission of determining whether the red planet has ever been physically capable of supporting life. In Getting to Mars, Roger Wiens, the principal investigator for the ChemCam instrument on the rover-the main tool for measuring Mars’s past habitability-will tell the unlikely story of the development of this payload and rover now blasting towards a planet 354 million miles from Earth.ChemCam (short for Chemistry and Camera) is an instrument onboard the Curiosity designed to vaporize and measure the chemical makeup of Martian rocks. Different elements give off uniquely colored light when zapped with a laser; the light is then read by the instrument’s spectrometer and identified. The idea is to use ChemCam to detect life-supporting elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen to evaluate whether conditions on Mars have ever been favorable for microbial life.This is not only an inside story about sending fantastic lasers to Mars, however. It’s the story of a new era in space exploration. Starting with NASA’s introduction of the Discovery Program in 1992, smaller, scrappier, more nimble missions won out as behemoth manned projects went extinct. This strategic shift presented huge opportunities-but also presented huge risks for shutdown and failure. And as Wiens recounts, his project came close to being closed down on numerous occasions. Getting to Mars is the inspiring account of how Wiens and his team overcame incredible challenges-logistical, financial, and political-to successfully launch a rover in an effort to answer the eternal question: is there life on Mars?
Data Analysis: A Statistical Primer for Psychology Students
by Edward L. WikeThis book is intended for psychology majors and graduate students who are conducting experiments for the first time and are faced with the task of making sense out of their data. This much needed "how-to-do-it" text illustrates the application of statistical methods to the data from small samples. It also serves as a handbook, with twenty-two tables presented at the end of the text that will allow the student to carry out virtually every computation necessary in analyzing his data. Almost all of the examples and illustrations are drawn from actual experiments so that the student can see how professional scientists examine their data. The book also shows students the kinds of data that are encountered in psychological research, the kinds of questions investigators seek to answer, and how these questions are approached.The author asserts that statistics is not an abstract discipline but a tool in research. However, the book also imparts a philosophy of data analysis and its meaning, a concern for questions of the function of data analysis and the interpretations that legitimately can be drawn from data. In brief, Data Analysis asks: What kinds of data are met in psychological research? What can we do with these data? What can we conclude as a result of this doing?The book will be invaluable for students who, even though they may have taken a previous statistics course, are still unsure of what statistical techniques should be used in interpreting their data.
The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces
by Frank WilczekA Nobel-prize winning physicist takes on the essential question: what are we made of?Our understanding of nature's deepest reality has changed radically, but almost without our noticing, over the past twenty-five years. Transcending the clash of older ideas about matter and space, acclaimed physicist Frank Wilczek explains a remarkable new discovery: matter is built from almost weightless units, and pure energy is the ultimate source of mass. He calls it "The Lightness of Being." Space is no mere container, empty and passive. It is a dynamic Grid-a modern ether- and its spontaneous activity creates and destroys particles. This new understanding of mass explains the puzzling feebleness of gravity, and a gorgeous unification of all the forces comes sharply into focus.The Lightness of Being is the first book to explore the implications of these revolutionary ideas about mass, energy, and the nature of "empty space." In it, Wilczek masterfully presents new perspectives on our incredible universe and envisions a new golden age of fundamental physics.
Budgeting and Governing
by Aaron WildavskyAaron Wildavsky's greatest concern, as expressed in his writings, is how people manage to live together. This concern may at first appear to have little to do with the study of budgeting, but for Wildavsky budgeting made living together possible. Indeed, as he argues in Budgeting and Governing, now available in paperback, if you cannot budget, you cannot govern.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar WildeOscar Wilde's only novel. Dorian Gray sells his soul in a bid to maintain eternal youth and beauty. Only his portrait will age. As with all such bargains, however, there will be a reckoning.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar WildeOscar Wilde's only novel. Dorian Gray sells his soul in a bid to maintain eternal youth and beauty. Only his portrait will age. As with all such bargains, however, there will be a reckoning.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar WildeDorian Gray believes that the true value of life is revealed only in the pursuit of beauty. As a result, Dorian sells his soul so that a beautiful painting of him will age, while he remains forever young.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Downloadable Response Journal (Macmillan Collector's Library #104)
by Oscar WildeDorian Gray is young, arrogant, and devastatingly handsome. Confronted by his beauty in the form of a portrait, and struck by the terrible realization that he will age, Dorian wishes to retain his charms forever and finds his desire granted. He abandons himself to a life of hedonism, vice and murder, yet his face remains unmarked by his evil. But, hidden in his attic, the painting ages and corrupts, and one day Dorian must stand face to face with the man he has become.A perfect depiction of fin-de-siècle decadence, Oscar Wilde's only novel highlights the tension between the polished surface and murky depths of Victorian high society.This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray features an afterword by the playwright and actor Peter Harness.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Downloadable Response Journal (Pulp! The Classics Ser.)
by Oscar WildeHey Girl... I'd sell my soul for you Dorian Gray might be as pretty as a picture, but he's paid a devilishly high price for it. He'll stay drop-dead gorgeous, but there's something nasty festering in the attic...
The Infinity Box: The Clewiston Test; The Infinity Box; Welcome, Chaos (Gateway Essentials)
by Kate WilhelmSuppose you could enter the mind of a beautiful woman; see what she sees, feel what she feels, and control her completely. Suppose you could turn back the hands of your watch, and relive your life. Suppose the stories you wrote kept coming true.
Reckoning (Silver Blackthorn Trilogy #1)
by Kerry WilkinsonIn the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This coming-of-age test not only decides her place in society - Elite, Member, Inter or Trog - but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.But these are uncertain times and no-one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide?Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . .Reckoning is the first title in the electrifying Silver Blackthorn Trilogy from bestselling sensation, Kerry Wilkinson.
Renegade (Silver Blackthorn Trilogy #2)
by Kerry WilkinsonSilver Blackthorn is a fugitive.Silver Blackthorn has committed treason.She is dangerous.Do NOT approach her.A large reward is on offer. Report any sightings to your nearest Kingsman.Long live the King.Silver Blackthorn is on the run.She fled Windsor Castle with eleven other teenagers, taking with her something far more valuable than even she realises: knowledge.With the entire country searching for the missing Offerings, Silver must keep them all from the vicious clutches of King Victor and the Minister Prime. Until now, no one has escaped the king and lived to tell the tale. Or have they?With expectations weighing heavily on the girl with the silver streak in her hair, will she ever find her way home?Following the breath-taking Reckoning, Renegade continues the excitement of the Silver Blackthorn Trilogy by bestselling author Kerry Wilkinson.
HAMLET: (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and Collins GCSE Edited by Peter Alexander Introduction and notes by Lucy ToopThis edition of Hamlet is perfect for A-level students, with the complete play in an accessible format, on-page notes, introduction setting the context, timeline, character and theme indexes. Affordable high quality complete play for Hamlet Demystify vocabulary with notes on the page and concise commentary Set the scene with perfectly pitched introductions that introduce key contexts, concerns and stylistic features, and examine different performances and interpretations Recall plot summaries at the beginning of each scene Support A Level revision and essay writing with theme and character indexes Help with social, historical and literary context with the bespoke timeline of Shakespeare’s life and times
The Witches' Kitchen
by Allen WilliamsDeep in the walls of a witches' cottage lays an ancient magical kitchen. Dangling over that kitchen's cauldron, pinched between the fingers of two witches, is a toad. And the Toad has no idea how she got there, and no memory of even her name. All she knows is she doesn't think she was always a Toad, or that she's ever been here before. Determined to recover her memories she sets out on a journey to the oracle, and along the way picks up a rag-tag team of friends: an iron-handed imp, a carnivorous fairy, and a few friendly locals.But the Kitchen won't make it easy. It is pitch black, infinite, and impossible to navigate, a living maze. Hiding in dark corners are beastly, starving things. Worse yet are the Witches themselves, who have sent a procession of horrific, deadly monsters on her trail. With some courage and wisdom, the Toad just might find herself yet-and with that knowledge, the power to defeat the mighty Witches. Filled with forty stunning pencil illustrations from the author, the Witches' Kitchen is a rich, well-imagined fantasy setting unlike any other.
The Enchanter Heir (Heir Chronicles #4)
by Cinda Williams ChimaThey called it the Thorn Hill Massacre - the brutal attack on a once-thriving Weir community. Though Jonah Kinlock lived through it, he did not emerge unscathed: like the other survivors Jonah possesses unique magical gifts that set him apart from members of the mainline guilds. At 17, Jonah has become the deadliest assassin in Nightshade, a network that hunts the undead. Emma Claire Greenwood grew up worlds away, raised by a grandfather who taught her music rather than magic. An unschooled wild child, she runs the streets until the night she finds her grandfather dying, gripping a note warning Emma that she might be in danger. The clue he leaves behind leads Emma into Jonah's life - and a shared legacy of secrets and lingering questions. Was Thorn Hill really a peaceful commune? Or was it, as the Wizard Guild claims, a hotbed of underguild terrorists? The Wizards' suspicions grow when members of the mainline guilds start turning up dead. They blame Nightshade, bringing tensions between the groups to a head.Racing against time, Jonah and Emma work to uncover the truth about Thorn Hill, amid increasing concern that whoever planned the Thorn Hill Massacre might strike again.
Now Is the Time for Running
by Michael WilliamsJust down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other... until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven in South Africa. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that greet refugees everywhere, but eventually Deo finds hope, joining dozens of other homeless, displaced teens on the World Cup Street Soccer team--a possible ticket out of extreme hardship to a new life.Captivating and timely, Now Is the Time for Running is a staggering story of survival that follows Deo and his brother on a transformative journey that will stay with readers long after the last page.
To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found The Bishop's Bird Stump At Last (S.F. MASTERWORKS)
by Connie WillisNed Henry is a time-travelling historian who specialises in the mid-20th century - currently engaged in researching the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral. He's also made so many drops into the past that he's suffering from a dangerously advanced case of 'time-lag'. Unfortunately for Ned, an emergency dash to Victorian England is required and he's the only available historian. But Ned's time-lag is so bad that he's not sure what the errand is - which is bad news since, if he fails, history could unravel around him ...Winner of the Hugo Award for best novel, 1999Introduction by Pat Cadigan
Hitler: A Short Biography (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by A.N. Wilsoner's unlikely rise to power and his uncanny ability to manipulate his fellow man resulted in the deaths of millions of Europeans and a horrific world war, yet despite his colossal role in world history, he remains mythologized and, as a result, misunderstood. In Hitler, A.N. Wilson limns this mysterious figure with great verve and acuity, showing that it was Hitler's frightening normalcy-not some otherworldly evilness-that makes him so truly terrifying.
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
by Bee WilsonAward-winning food writer Bee Wilson's secret history of kitchens, showing how new technologies - from the fork to the microwave and beyond - have fundamentally shaped how and what we eat.Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious--or at least edible. But these tools have also transformed how we consume, and how we think about, our food. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson takes readers on a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of objects we often take for granted. Technology in the kitchen does not just mean the Pacojets and sous-vide machines of the modern kitchen, but also the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks. Blending history, science, and personal anecdotes, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be and how their influence has shaped food culture today. The story of how we have tamed fire and ice and wielded whisks, spoons, and graters, all for the sake of putting food in our mouths, Consider the Fork is truly a book to savor.
Kiss
by Jacqueline Wilson Nick SharrattSylvie and Carl have been friends since they were tiny children. They've always played together, called each other boyfriend and girlfriend and, deep down, Sylvie has always believed that they'd end up married to each other. They even have a a magical fantasy world that belongs to them alone.But as they become older, things are starting to change. Sylvie would still rather spend all her time with Carl - but Carl has a new friend, Paul, who is taking all his attention. Now, Carl seems much less happy to be called Sylvie's boyfriend - and in a game of spin the bottle, he avoids having to kiss her. Sylvie can tell his feelings have changed and that their future together might not be so clear-cut after all. But can she guess at the true reasons behind it all? Touching and compelling, Kiss is a delicately handled treatment of love and sexuality from award-winning Jacqueline Wilson.
The Kayla Chronicles
by Sherri WinstonKayla Dean, junior feminist and future journalist, is about the break the story of a lifetime. She is auditioning for the Lady Lions dance team to prove they discriminate against the not-so-well endowed. But when she makes the team, her best friend and fellow feminist, Rosalie, is not happy.Now a Lady Lion, Kayla is transformed from bushy-haired fashion victim to glammed-up dance diva. But does looking good and having fun mean turning her back on the cause? Can you be a strong woman and still wear really cute shoes? Soon Kayla is forced to challenge her views, coming to terms with who she is and what girl power really means.Narrated with sharp language and just the right amount of attitude, The Kayla Chronicles is the story of a girl's struggle for self-identity despite pressure from family, friends and her own conscience. Kayla's story is snappy, fun and inspiring, sure to appeal to anyone who's every questioned who they really are.
Shark Teeth
by Sherri WinstonFrom National Book Award longlisted author Sherri Winston comes an important middle grade novel about a girl's tumultuous journey to keep her family together, even when she's falling apart.Sharkita “Kita” Hayes is always waiting.Waiting for her mama to mess up.Waiting for social services to be called again.Waiting for her and her siblings to be separated.Waiting for her worst fear to come true.But Mama promises things are different now. She's got a good job, she's stopped drinking, stopped going out every night-it's almost enough to make Kita believe her this time. But even as Kita's life is going good, she can't shake the feeling that everything could go up in flames at any moment. When her assistant principal and trusted dance coach starts asking questions about her home life, Kita is more determined than ever to keep up appearances and make sure her family stays together-even if it means falling apart herself. As the threat of her family being separated again circles like a shark in the water, the pressure starts to get to Kita. But could it be that Kita's worst fear is actually the best thing that could happen to her family . . . and to her?
The Self-Help Guide for Teens with Dyslexia: Useful Stuff You May Not Learn at School (PDF)
by Alais WintonGold Medal Winner in the Self-Help category of the 2015 Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards As Alais Winton knows, having dyslexia doesn't mean you're not bright; like her, you might just need a different way of looking at things. In this book, she lets you in on the learning techniques which work for her, and which you may not be taught at school. Offering solutions to common problems students with dyslexia face, Alais describes tried-and-tested techniques for succeeding with reading, spelling, memorising information and time management, and even a simple method to ensure you never misplace your learning tools (such as pencils and books) again. The strategies are ideal for use in the run-up to exams, helping you to become more organised, less stressed and better prepared. This is a must-read pocket guide for students with dyslexia aged 11 to 18, and will also be a helpful source of ideas for teachers, SENCOs and parents of teens with dyslexia.
Doing It: Let's Talk About Sex...
by Hannah WittonBook of the Year at the Summer in the City Awards 2017Sexting. Virginity. Consent. The Big O ... Let's face it, doing it can be tricksy. I don't know anyone (including myself) who has sex all figured out. So I've written a book full of honest, hilarious (and sometimes awkward) anecdotes, confessions and revelations. And because none of us have all the answers, I've invited some friends and fellow YouTubers to talk about their sexuality, too. My book is for everyone, no matter what gender you identify as or who you fancy.We talk about doing it safely. Doing it joyfully. Doing it when you're ready. Not doing it. Basically, doing it the way you want, when you want. So. Let's do this ...-------Doing It candidly and openly explores topics like masturbation, slut-shaming, pornography and consent, as well as how to maintain healthy relationships in a digital age.
Breaking Beautiful
by Jennifer Shaw WolfFans of dark contemporary stories will feel right at home in Jennifer Shaw Wolf's debut as she takes them on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and ultimately, forgiveness.Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident--including her memory of the event. She doesn't remember driving on the cliff road. She doesn't recall jumping from the truck just before Trip lost control. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she's kept hidden for so long, the horrible reality of their abusive relationship. When the police reopen the investigation, it quickly turns on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. As the threats begin and the survivor's guilt takes over, Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free?