This second volume of Ridley's stage plays confirms him as one of the most imaginative, daring and unique voices currently working in theatre. All four plays collected here contain that strange mix of the barbaric and the beautiful he has made all his own.[...]

The official illustrated companion book to the winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Costume Design, Sound, and Visual Effects.Director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Alien) brings the glorious battles of the ancient Roman arena back to th[...]

Today's world of spirits is experiencing an explosive increase in craft distillers and pioneers of new distillates. It's about men and women tearing up rule books and creating new spirits with extraordinary personality and passion. This book uncovers the best spirits the world has to offer. These ar[...]

"Collins Big Cat" is a guided reading series for ages 4--7 edited by Cliff Moon. Children's authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that your children should love to read, banded to help you choose the right book for every child. Practical teaching notes are included at t[...]

Shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2011. Life is on the up. We are wealthier, healthier, happier, kinder, cleaner, more peaceful, more equal and longer-lived than any previous generation. Thanks to the unique human habits of exchange and specialisation, our species has foun[...]

A historical analysis of the nature-versus-nurture debate documents the 2001 discovery that there are fewer genes in a human genome than previously thought and considers the argument that nurture elements are also largely responsible for human behavior. Originally published as Nature Via Nurture. Re[...]

The genome's been mapped.But what does it mean?Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we thi[...]

Life is getting better--and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down -- all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Afric[...]

The Forgotten True Story of America's Daring First Exploration of the PacificJust four years after the Revolutionary War and more than a decade before Lewis and Clark's expedition, a remarkable--but now forgotten--plan was hatched along the docks of Boston Harbor. Two ships carrying the flag of the [...]

Sex is as fascinating to scientists as it is to the rest of us. A vast pool of knowledge, therefore, has been gleaned from research into the nature of sex, from the contentious problem of why the wasteful reproductive process exists at all, to how individuals choose their mates and what traits they [...]

If, as Darwin suggests, evolution relentlessly encourages the survival of the fittest, why are humans compelled to live in cooperative, complex societies? In this fascinating examination of the roots of human trust and virtue, a zoologist and former American editor of the Economist reveals the resul[...]

Evolution is unlike any other theory in science in the generality of its interest and the excellence of the authors who write about it. This anthology contains extracts from over 60 scientific papers, by authors such as Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, Francis Crick and Jacques Monod. It starts w[...]