Science Middle Ages

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. By placing the image of the Virgin...

The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.

Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.

From beloved Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon comes a madcap new adventure about three sisters, a ravenous worm, and a mysterious mad scientist. So, you want to be a young mad scientist. Congratulations! Admitting it is the first step. The second step is reading the (definitely true) tale...

If you were taught that the Middle Ages were a time of intellectual stagnation, superstition, and ignorance, you were taught a myth that has been utterly refuted by modern scholarship. As a physicist and historian of science James Hannam shows in his brilliant new book, The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution, without the scholarship of the "barbaric" Middle Ages, modern science simply would not exist. The Middle Ages were a time of one intellectual triumph after another.

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. By placing the image of the Virgin...

Mythical creatures, shapeshifters, and magic – a gripping fantasy series for fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Narnia. A hidden island shrouded in fog. That unseen place Out There on the mainland where something terrible happened years ago. Only a handful of people left in the world... Or so the children are told. When Hal and Robbie make an astonishing discovery in the woods, they realize the adults of the small community have a dark secret. And the arrival of a mysterious woman at school proves it. Who is she? Where on earth did she come from? The classmates are more determined ...

An illuminating guide to the scientific and technological achievements of the Middle Ages through the life of a crusading astronomer-monk. 

Carlos planned to spend the afternoon trying to win a new BMX bike. Instead, he’s stuck in the backyard with his kid brother, a weed whacker, and one very bad beehive. Thirteen-year-old Carlos is stuck watching his kid brother and doing yard work when the weed whacker stirs up a hidden bee's nest. Getting inside the house should be simple—except his kid brother locked the door. Now, the backyard has become one giant escape puzzle. Carlos is an expert at making split-second moves on a BMX bike, which is lucky — because it’s hard to think when a buzzing brigade is dive-bombing your ...

“Lively. . . . Rousing. . . . Prophecy—roving, intelligent, irreducibly idiosyncratic—can expand our sense of possibility, starting now.” —The New York Times Book Review Tech empires are the prophets of the modern day, and like the ancient oracles and medieval astrologers that preceded...

This stunning debut novel about grief and wonder was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured widespread critical acclaim, including selection as a 2015 National Book Award finalist! After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy...

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a funny, heartfelt, action-packed “Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Land of Stories” adventure series that will take readers on an epic journey across the galaxy to save Earth! Eleven-year-old Roswell Johnson is obsessed...

Can a Particle Be in Two Places at Once? Welcome to the Strangest Science in the Universe. Does your child ask questions you can’t answer? At the smallest scale, the universe is strange, surprising — and completely real. Quantum physics sounds impossible. Most adults struggle to explain it. This book changes that. Quantum Physics for Kids turns complex ideas into a clear, structured journey for curious readers ages 8–12. No oversimplified cartoons. No confusing jargon. Just real science explained with clarity and respect. If you’ve been searching for the right way to explain reality...

When Ada Calhoun found herself in the throes of a midlife crisis, she thought that she had no right to complain. She was married with children and a good career. So why did she feel miserable? And why did it seem that other Generation X women were miserable, too? Calhoun decided to find some answers. She looked into housing costs, HR trends, credit card debt averages, and divorce data. At every turn, she saw a pattern: sandwiched between the Boomers and Millennials, Gen X women were facing new problems as they entered middle age, problems that were being largely overlooked.

From two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer comes an original penguin-tastic adventure inspired by the beloved classic Mr. Popper's Penguins. It's been years and years since the Popper family lived in Stillwater, but the town is still riding high on its former penguin residents...

A girl who struggles to breathe befriends a boy who seems shrouded in dust, in this unmissable tour de force from bestselling and award-winning author Dusti Bowling. After Avalyn nearly died from an asthma attack, her parents moved her to the clear, dry air of Clear Canyon City, Arizona. And for...

An extraordinary robot enters an ordinary fifth grade class in this hilarious, action-packed start to celebrated series from the world’s #1 bestselling author! Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez has never really fit in, with an inventor mother, a graphic novelist father, a lovable little sister with an...

Broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kári Gíslason are good friends. They share a deep attachment to the sagas of Iceland—the true stories of the first Viking families who settled on that remote island in the Middle Ages. These are tales of blood feuds, of dangerous women and people who are compelled to kill the ones they love the most. The sagas are among the greatest stories ever written, but the identity of their authors is largely unknown. Together, Fidler and Gíslason travel across Iceland, to the places where the sagas unfolded a thousand years ago.

In The Whigs' America, Joseph W. Pearson explores a variety of topics, including the Whigs' understanding of the role of the individual in American politics, their perceptions of political power and the rule of law, and their impressions of the past and what should be learned from history. Long dismissed as a party bereft of ideas, Pearson provides a counterbalance to this trend through an attentive examination of writings from party leaders, contemporaneous newspapers, and other sources.

Nobody invented glass. Lightning did. Every time a bolt of lightning strikes a beach, it fuses the sand into a branching tube of glass — and it was doing that for millions of years before there was anyone around to be impressed by it. This is the story of what happened when one species got hold of it. How melted sand became a counterfeit gemstone for pharaohs. How a hollow pipe in Roman Syria turned a royal treasure into something you could buy for pocket change. How Venice moved every glassmaker in the republic onto a single island — and made leaving a crime punishable by death. And ...