Science Nonfiction History

History’s Biggest Oops: The Blunders That Changed the World A witty, eye-opening journey through the most surprising mistakes that made history. What do global superpowers, billion-dollar companies, genius inventors, and well-meaning leaders all have in common? At some point, they all got it spectacularly wrong. This laugh-out-loud and deeply curious collection explores the unexpected missteps, miscalculations, and “what were they thinking?” moments that ended up shaping the world in strange and powerful ways. Blending sharp insight with irreverent humor, this book offers a guided ...

My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights, and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment. Radical and superbly listenable, the essays speak in a voice of unique spirit, marked by compassion, clarity, and courage. Roy offers a powerful defense of the collective, of the individual, and of the land, in the face of the destructive logic of financial, social, religious, military, and governmental elites.

2017 Audie Award Finalist for Non-Fiction The #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller The basis for the PBS Ken Burns Documentary The Gene: An Intimate History From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies—a fascinating history of the gene and “a magisterial account of how...

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York. One of the Modern Library’s hundred...

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May 10, 1940. The Netherlands was swarming with Third Reich troops. In seven days it's entirely occupied by Nazi Germany. Joining a small resistance cell in the Dutch city of Haarlem were three teenage girls: Hannie Schaft, and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, who would soon band together to form a singular female underground squad.

When painter Winslow Homer first sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was struck by its "special kind of providence." Indeed, the Gulf presented itself as America's sea - bound by geography, culture, and tradition to the national experience - and yet, there has never been a comprehensive history of the Gulf until now. And so, in this rich and original work that explores the Gulf through our human connection with the sea, environmental historian Jack E. Davis finally places this exceptional region into the American mythos in a sweeping history that extends from the Pleistocene age to the 21st century.

What do the wheel, the printing press, the light bulb, and the smartphone have in common? Each began as a simple idea—and went on to change the course of human history. 100 Inventions That Changed the World takes readers on a fascinating journey through the breakthroughs that shaped civilization. From the earliest tools that helped humans survive to the advanced technologies that define modern life, this book reveals how creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving have driven progress for thousands of years. Inside, you’ll discover: How ancient inventions laid the foundations of society ...

The Glitch in the Matrix: Unbelievable Facts from Natural History, Pop Culture, and the Human Mind Dive into the Secrets the World Keeps—From Exploding Termites to Forbidden Laws Are you ready to discover the world you thought you knew? Forget the history books and toss out your old encyclopedia. This book is a fast-paced, jaw-dropping journey into the weirdest, wildest, and most verifiable truths hiding just beneath the surface of everyday life. This isn't trivia; it’s an exposé of the colossal, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying glitches in the matrix of reality. Within these pages,...

Before their experiments, inventions, and discoveries that changed the world, the world’s most celebrated scientists had regular-kid problems just like you. Stephen Hawking hated school and preferred to spend his free time building model airplanes, inventing board games, and even building his own computer. Jane Goodall got in trouble for bringing worms and snails into her house. And Neil deGrasse Tyson had to start a dog-walking business to save up money to buy a telescope.

Book 9 in the Our Scary History series, this volume continues the focus on real events that ripped the land apart and left permanent marks on history. Reports and accounts from deadly volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, and disasters that reshaped entire regions between 1750 and 1930, drawn from historical records of the time. Many of these events occurred before modern rescue equipment, trained emergency crews, or coordinated relief systems existed. In avalanches, floods, collapses, and sinkholes, entire groups of people sometimes vanished without trace. Survivors reported hearing voices ...

Unlock a world of wonder for your child with hundreds of mind-blowing facts and quizzes that entertain and educate—perfect for curious kids who never stop asking “why?” Does your child devour random facts, ask endless questions, and love surprising you with what they’ve learned? Are you looking for something more meaningful than another hour of scrolling or gaming? Curious Kids’ Amazing Fact Vault is designed for ages 5–15 who are thirsty for knowledge and love sharing what they discover. Packed with fascinating facts, stories, and interactive features, it turns curiosity into ...

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from?...

A revolutionary new history that reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the development—and demise—of civilizations across time Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our...

The Hawaiian kingdom was tiny, and the big world was huge. The 19th century was the high water mark of Western imperialism, worldwide, and the great powers were planting their flags across the Pacific. Hawai'i was in their sights. By late in the century, two strong American currents were running: one east from the islands, one west from the continent. Sugar plantations had become Hawai'i's biggest moneymaker. And many of the biggest names in the business were of American blood - the sons of missionaries, devout capitalists.

Guerrilla Warfare by the revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, written in 1960, has become a how-to manual for thousands of guerrilla fighters in various countries around the world. Guevara intended it to be a guidebook on guerrilla warfare, as inspiration for the revolutionary movement. Fascinating to admirers and adversaries alike, he captured the minds of millions with his leadership and his belief in guerrilla warfare as the only effective agent to achieve political change.

Napoleon was defeated by rabbits. The CIA tried to weaponize a cat (it died immediately). You've never physically touched anything in your entire life. Ancient Greeks built a computer 2,000 years too early. Your brain rewrites your memories every time you access them. And that's just the first chapter. Welcome to Dr. Factenstein's World of Weird—where history makes no sense, science violates your intuition, nature refuses to behave, and your body has been lying to you since birth. Inside you'll discover: Why honey is immortal (and judging you) How Rome built concrete that outlasts modern ...

Tracy Kidder's "riveting" (Washington Post) story of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and has become essential reading for understanding the history of the American tech industry. Computers have changed since...

Learn how fossils teach us about dinosaurs.

Could griffins have been real? When Adrienne Mayor carefully read the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions, this mythic hybrid of a lion and an eagle sounded like something people had actually seen. What could explain that evidence? After a decade of hunting through myths, poring over old maps, and tracing the discoveries of modern dinosaur hunters, she found the answer: awesome dinosaur fossils observed by ancient gold hunters in the Gobi desert.