National Network for Equitable Library Service

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics.

Now in a new edition for young readers, this is the true story of four African American female mathematicians known as "human computers" who helped John Glenn orbit the earth and Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.

Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra. From fields, feasts, and fairy rings to death caps, puffballs, and ambrosia beetles, this is an intoxicating journey into the life of an extraordinary organism, one that we have barely begun to understand.

Cognitive neurologist Sara Manning Peskin demystifies the most curious neurological phenomena through the perspective of patients, researchers, and science. Here are true accounts of unruly molecules and the diseases that form in their wake, from total loss of inhibitions to florid psychosis to compulsive lying. With an intoxicating blend of history and intrigue, Sara Manning Peskin invites readers to play medical detective, tracing each diagnosis from the patient to an ailing nervous system.      

This new, expanded edition of the groundbreaking book features brand-new content, including the latest undeniable evidence of the power of a plant-based diet.

Sure, almost all kids know Benjamin Franklin as one of America's Founding Fathers, a man with a hand in both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Kathleen Krull reveals Ben Franklin the "natural philosopher" (the term for "scientist" back in the 1700s), a man whose experiments led to important discoveries about the nature of electricity, including his famous demonstration that electricity and lightning were one and the same.

Marcus Wohlsen chronicles biohacking DIY scientists working to solve the world's biggest problems with DNA. Wohlsen also explores risks of DIY bioterrorism, genetic experiments gone awry, and if designing life from scratch on a laptop might come sooner than we think.

In 1913, a young, unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G. H. Hardy, begging the preeminent mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. It was the beginning of a collaboration with a true genius of the century.

Aquatic ecologist and permafrost scientist Katey Walter Anthony recalls her adventures across the Arctic studying climate change, her quest to find belonging and family, and her journey of faith in a world of science.

Creativity is perhaps the defining human trait. Yet, for thousands of years, we did know where creative inspiration came from, until now. This book is about the science of creativity.