In this informative feast for anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical, Randall Munroe, creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, provides hilarious and deeply researched answers to his fans strangest questions.

A ball drops to the ground. Leaves fall from a tree. Gravity is at work all around you. But what exactly is gravity? And how does it affect different objects? Read this book to find out! Learn all about matter, energy, and forces in the Exploring Physical Science series-part of the Lightning Bolt Books™ collection. With high-energy designs, exciting photos, and fun text, Lightning Bolt Books™ bring nonfiction topics to life!

Why is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? Do you wish you understood the science of food but don't want to plow through dry, technical books? In What Einstein Told His Cook, University of Pittsburgh chemistry professor emeritus and award-winning Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides reliable and witty explanations for your most burning food questions, while debunking misconceptions and helping you interpret confusing advertising and labeling. A finalist for both the James Beard Foundation and IACP Awards for best food reference, What Einstein Told His Cook engages cooks and chemists alike.

“This is a great book. It became a popular table game in the summer holidays with two teams competing with all your questions. It makes an excellent change from celebrity trivia.” — Peter Gabriel, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, on What Does the Moon Smell Like?

From the surprising science behind everyday life to the mysteries on the frontiers of scientific discovery, this quiz book for all ages explores anything and everything in a fun, user–friendly format. Topics include the earth, the moon, and the stars; satellites and space travel; pets and other animals; nature and the environment; the brain and the body; and the psychology of food, behaviour, success, and attraction.

The introductions to each question are peppered with interesting tidbits of information, and the fascinating answers to these quiz questions are explained in detail and given full context. Whether used as an individual brain workout or as a fun game at social gatherings, What Does the Earth Sound Like? is smile–inducing and thought–provoking.

A call to action from Jane Fonda, one of the most inspiring activists of our time, urging us to wake up to the looming disaster of climate change and equipping us with the tools we need to join her in protest "This is the last possible moment in history when changing course can mean saving lives and species on an unimaginable scale. It's too late for moderation." In the fall of 2019, frustrated with the obvious inaction of politicians and inspired by Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein, and student climate strikers, Jane Fonda moved to Washington, D.C., to lead weekly climate change demonstrations on Capitol Hill. On October 11, she launched Fire Drill Fridays, and has since led thousands of people in nonviolent civil disobedience, risking arrest to protest for action. In What Can I Do? , Fonda weaves her deeply personal journey as an activist alongside conversations with and speeches by leading climate scientists and inspiring community organizers, and dives deep into the issues, such as water, migration, and human rights, to emphasize what is at stake. Most significantly, Fonda equips us all with the tools we need to join her in protest, so that everyone can work to combat the climate crisis. No stranger to protest, Fonda's life has been famously shaped by activism. And now she is once again galvanizing the public to take to the streets. Many are already aware of the looming disaster of climate change and realize that a moral responsibility rests on our shoulders. In 2019, we saw atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases hit the highest level ever recorded in human history, and our window of opportunity to act is quickly closing. We are facing a climate crisis, but we're also facing an empathy crisis and an inequality crisis; the surge of protests over police violence against black Americans has once again highlighted the links between racism and environmental degradation in our country. It isn't only earth's life-support systems that are unraveling. So too is our social fabric. This is going to take an all-out war on drilling and fracking and deregulation and racism and misogyny and colonialism and despair all at the same time. As Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA and Fonda's partner in developing Fire Drill Fridays, has declared, "Change is inevitable; by design, or by disaster." Together, we can commandeer change for the positive—but it will require collective actions taken by social movements on an unprecedented scale. The problems we face now require every one of us to join the fight. The fight for not only our immediate future, but for the future of generations to come. *This audiobook program includes a PDF of photographs and graphs. 100% of the author's net proceeds from What Can I Do ? will go to Greenpeace

An exhilarating mix of natural history and personal exploration Whale in the Door is a passionate account of a woman’s transformative experience of her adopted home.

For thousands of years, Howe Sound, an inlet in the Salish Sea provided abundant food, shelter, and stories, for the Squamish Nation. After a century of contamination from pulp mills, a chemical factory, and a copper mine, the Sound, a noisy, stinky, polluted place, contained many biologically dead zones. Marine life was severely diminished. But major efforts by the Squamish Nation, governments, and industry has produced dramatic returns of herring, dolphins, porpoises, orcas, and humpbacks.

Today, Howe Sound, a spectacular fjord in Vancouver’s backyard, is a popular recreation and tourism destination. The recovery, however, is fragile. The Sound is being inundated with proposals for re-industrialization-a controversial liquid natural gas plant, pipelines, super tankers, a gravel mine on a salmon-bearing estuary, and major residential and commercial developments.

Pauline Le Bel, a resident of Howe Sound, embarks on a journey of discovery to find out what is special about the Sound, its wild nature and its people, to witness the cultural and spiritual revivals taking place. Her research, her interviews, her travels on the land, the water, the skies of Howe Sound, compel her to abandon antiquated ideas about wilderness and community, and to arrive at a new appreciation for the genius of her home.

Whale in the Door invites readers into a story of biological resilience as a community struggles to shape a vision for its future.

What’s going on up there when the rain falls, when the wind blows, when the clouds roll in and the lightning flashes? How do hurricanes arise and where to tornadoes come from? Why do seasonal conditions sometimes vary so much from one year to the next? Our ways of life, our very existences depend on knowing the answers to questions like these. Economies have been wiped out, civilizations have risen and fallen, entire species have come into being or gone extinct because of a temperature shift of just a few degrees, or a brief shortage or glut of rainfall. With so much riding on the weather, it makes you wonder how you’ve lived this long without knowing more about it.  Don’t worry it’s never too late to find out about what makes the weather tick. And there’s never been an easier or more enjoyable way to learn than Weather For Dummies. In know time, you’ll know enough of weather basics to be able to: * Identify cloud types * Make sense of seasonal differences in the weather * Understand what causes hurricanes, tornadoes, and other extreme events * Make your own weather forecasts * Avoid danger during severe weather * Understand the global warming debate * Get a handle on smog, the greenhouse effect, El Niño and more Award-winning science writer John D. Cox brings the science of meteorology down to earth and, with the help of dozens of cool maps and charts and stunning photographs of weather conditions, he covers a wide range of fascinating subjects, including: * What is weather and how it fits into the entire global ecosystem * What goes into making a professional daily weather forecast * The basic elements of weather, including air pressure, clouds and humidity * Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons and other extreme forms of weather * Seasonal weather effects and why they vary * Lightning, rainbows, sundogs, haloes and other special effects Featuring clear explanations, stunning illustrations, and fun, easy experiments and activities you can do at home, Weather For Dummies is your guide to making sense of  the baffling turmoil of the ever-changing skies above.

Concern about the climate crisis is widespread as humans struggle to navigate life in uncertain times. From the vantage of a schooner full of artists on an adventure in the high Arctic, biologist Lynne Quarmby explains the science that convinced her of an urgent need to act on climate change and recounts how this knowledge - and the fear and panic it elicited - plunged her into unsustainable action, ending in arrests, lawsuits, and a failed electoral campaign on behalf of the Green Party of Canada.Watermelon Snowweaves memoir, microbiology, and artistic antics together with descriptions of a sublime Arctic landscape. At the top of the warming world, Quarmby struggles with burnout and grief while an aerial artist twirls high in the ship's rigging, bearded seals sing mournfully, polar bears prowl, and glaciers crumble into the sea. In a compelling narrative, sorrow and fear are balanced by beauty and wonder. The author's journey back from a life out of balance includes excursions into evolutionary history where her discoveries reveal the heart of human existence. The climate realities are as dark as the Arctic winter, yet this is a book of lightness and generosity. Quarmby's voice, intimate and original, illuminates the science while offering a reminder that much about the human experience is beyond reason.Inspiring and deeply personal, Watermelon Snowis the story of one scientist's rediscovery of what it means to live a good life at a time of increasing desperation about the future.

Water Rites: Reimagining Water in the West brings together artists, activists, conservation groups, and scholars to illuminate the diverse issues surrounding water in Alberta. Examining the human right to water, the effects of resource extraction on Indigenous communities, oil spills, and protest movements, this vital collection explores key water-related issues with a focus on environmental and Indigenous perspectives. It shows how deeply water is tied to human life, not only as a necessary resource, but also as a source of artistic inspiration and as part of our collective consciousness.