National Network for Equitable Library Service

"Excellent...Tucker's chronicle of the world of 17th-century science in London and Paris is fascinating." -The Economist. In December 1667, maverick physician Jean Denis transfused calf's blood into one of Paris's most notorious madmen. Days later, the madman was dead and Denis was framed for murder.

Among all the great discoveries and inventions of the nineteenth century, few offer a more fascinating insight into Victorian society than the discovery of anaesthesia. Now considered one of the greatest inventions for humanity since the printing press, anaesthesia offered pain-free operations, childbirth with reduced suffering, and instant access to the world beyond consciousness. And yet, upon its introduction, Victorian medics, moralists, clergymen, and scientists were plunged into turmoil.

Physics, once known as "natural philosophy," is the most basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the largest scale down to the very, very, very smallest, and our understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their historical context as well as against a broad cultural backdrop.

Part of the joy of mathematics is that it is everywhere—in soap bubbles, electricity, da Vinci's masterpieces, even in an ocean wave. Written by the well-known mathematics teacher consultant, this volume's collection of over 200 clearly illustrated mathematical ideas, concepts, puzzles, and games shows where they turn up in the "real" world. You'll find out what a googol is, visit hotel infinity, read a thorny logic problem that was stumping them back in the 8th century.

Discover the most fascinating crimes committed between two of the greatest wars ever fought, from America's first train robbery by the Reno brothers in 1866, to alleged killings at the H. H. Holmes Murder Castle in 1893, to the Rumrich Nazi spy case in 1938, and much more. The era from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of World War II was a dynamic and evolving time for murderers, thieves, gangsters and more. Train robberies, presidential assassinations, high-profile heists, and serial murders are just a selection of what occurred between the 1860s and the 1930s.

The autobiography of global human rights icon Nelson Mandela is "riveting . . . both a brilliant description of a diabolical system and a testament to the power of the spirit to transcend it" (Washington Post). Nelson Mandela was one of the great moral and political leaders of his time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country.

Rough & Messy Justice vividly portrays Alberta's Crowsnest Pass of 1920, a rugged Rocky Mountain region shaped by its mining economy and diverse culture. An armed CPR train robbery spirals into a deadly shootout at the Bellevue Café, where police clash with Russian outlaws fresh from Montana's mines. A surviving bandit escapes, triggering a relentless manhunt. When captured, his trial becomes a spectacle marred by overt racism in the press, law enforcement cover-ups, and a judge and jury riddled with bias.

This is the story of the King's Own Calgary Regiment. Beginning in the last years of collective innocence before the Great War, it follows the regiment to Vimy Ridge, through the short years of peace to Dieppe and the Italian Campaign, through the establishment and maintenance of militia and reserve forces, and into the Cold War. "Onward" is a soldier's story: mundane, heroic and tragic.

This is the definitive history of the Fort McKay Métis Nation. It traces the evolution of the community from the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, paying special attention to genealogy, land-use, land-tenure, and responses to mass oil sands development. "The Fort McKay Métis Nation" carefully considers the community's unique historical context, drawing on a broad range of sources including archival research, oral histories, grey literature, and community literature.

Public health is diffuse, divided, and poorly understood. As a policy and practice, public health promotes and protects people and communities. As a field of academic inquiry it provides deep insights into the ways individuals and collectives can work within societies to prevent disease and promote health and health equity. Public health is a broad, intersectoral, and interdisciplinary field of scholarship, activism, policy, and practice with the potential to create and support immense change. This is a story of one hundred years of public health in Alberta.