Treatise on political power, statecraft, and the qualities of the ideal ruler.

Around Christmas of 1882, while peering through a microscope at starfish larvae in which he had inserted tiny thorns, Russian zoologist Elie Metchnikoff had a brilliant insight: what if the mobile cells he saw gathering around the thorns were the same as white blood cells that traveled to the site of an injury or infection in a human or other animal? Was this some form of cellular defense? Metchnikoff's theory of immunity, that phagocytes--white blood...

On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became a national star. That morning at Cape Canaveral, a small-town boy from Ohio took his place atop a rocket and soared into orbit to score a victory in the heavily contested Cold War. The television images were blurry black-and-white phantoms. The cameras shook as the rocket moved, but by the end of the day, one thing was clear: a new hero rode that rocket and became the center of the world's attention for the...

"This volume presents one of the richest and most comprehensive collections of writings by Nikolai Tesla, a founding figure of the modern electrical power industry and long-time rival of Thomas Edison. Included is Tesla's autobiography, My Inventions , and the lengthy philosophical essay "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy," as well as a series of lectures: "A New System of Alternate...

Caroline Herschel is best known as the less significant sister of the astronomer William Herschel. Yet the romantic notion of her tirelessly working for her brother while he made his studies of the heavens, documenting his discoveries so he could achieve greatness in the scientific world, couldn't be further from the truth. When Caroline wasn't working as her brother's assistant, she was sweeping the stars with her own small telescope given to her...

R. J. Mitchell was virtually self-taught; surprisingly, almost all his other aircraft 24 aircraft were slow-flying seaplanes. How a lad from the land-locked Midlands, apprenticed to a locomotive works, came to be responsible for the Spitfire is a great tale in itself. This detailed book tells us how Mitchell learned his trade-from 1916, contributing to the production of the cumbersome Night Hawk, designed to combat the German Zeppelin threat, and...

"The nuclear safety expert shares a gripping, blow-by-blow account of how he led the response to the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. On March 11, 2011, fifty minutes after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit eastern Japan, a forty-five-foot high tsunami engulfed the nuclear power plant known as Fukushima Daiichi, knocking out electrical power and all the reactors' safety systems. Three reactor cores experienced meltdowns in the first three days,...

The true story of the French engineer and inventor who developed a mine detector for the US Army during WWII-and then went on to transform the oil industry. In March 1940, with Europe at war, French army lieutenant Henri-Georges Doll came to the U.S. embassy in Paris to give a deposition. Doll was an artillery commander, a graduate of France's grandes écoles of science, engineering, and service. He had been mobilized to the front at the start...

The 21st Century Junior Library Women Innovators series highlights the contributions of women to STEM fields. Maria Beasley and Life Rafts examines the life of this important woman and her contributions to ship safety. Sidebars encourage readers to engage in the material by asking deeper questions or conducting individual research. Full color photos, a glossary, and a listing of additional resources all enhance the learning experience.

The 21st Century Junior Library Women Innovators series highlights the contributions of women to STEM fields. Sarah Mather and Underwater Telescopes examines the life of this important woman and her contributions to underwater exploration. Sidebars encourage readers to engage in the material by asking deeper questions or conducting individual research. Full color photos, a glossary, and a listing of additional resources all enhance the learning experience....