A Very Short Introduction

From a modest beginning in the form of a little shrew-like, nocturnal, insect eating ancestor that lived 200 million years ago, mammals evolved into the huge variety of different kinds of animals we s

What is knowledge? Is it the same as opinion or truth? Do you need to be able to justify a claim in order to count as knowing it? How can we know that the outer world is real and not a dream?Questions

Games are played whenever people interact wherever there are strategies to adopt and outcomes or prizes to win. And that means games are played everywhere: from economics to evolutionary biology, fro

Voltaire's description of the Holy Roman Empire as "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" is often cited to underline its worthlessness. German historians traditionally despised it because it had al

Go on an amazing journey of discovery with the Very Hungry Caterpillar and learn fascinating facts about animals. Take a tour of the animal kingdom and discover everything you need to know about creatures from elephants to ants in this colorful and charming first animal reference book. Different chapters focus on different animal types, with a new critter every time you turn the page. Bite-size chunks of information are complemented by captivating illustrations by the World of Eric Carle, eye-catching photography, and simple how-it-works diagrams, while pull-out images and facts provide extra nuggets of interest. Young learners can find out all about koalas, armadillos, eagles, penguins, turtles, frogs, sharks, and butterflies and many, many more in this one-of-a-kind introduction to nature. For lovers of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and all bright young minds, this is the ultimate must-have animal encyclopedia.

Ageing is an activity we are familiar with from an early age. In our younger years upcoming birthdays are anticipated with an excitement that somewhat diminishes as the years progress. As we grow olde

Crystals have fascinated us for centuries with their beauty and symmetry, and have often been invested with magical powers. The use of X-ray diffraction, first pioneered in 1912 by father and son Will

Light enables us to see the world around us. Our sense of sight provides us with direct information about space and time, the physical arrangement of the world, and how it changes. This almost univers

Where do myths come from? What is their function and what do they mean? In this Very Short Introduction Robert Segal introduces the array of approaches used to understand the study of myth. These appr

For as long as there have been civilizations, there has been the urge to venture outside of them, either in search of other civilizations or in search of novelty. Exploration: A Very Short Introductio

From 1789 in France to 2011 in Cairo, revolutions have shaken the world. In their pursuit of social justice, revolutionaries have taken on the assembled might of monarchies, empires, and dictatorships

Mark A. Noll, named one of America's most influential evangelicals by Time Magazine, provides a fresh and accessible history of Protestantism from the era of Martin Luther to the present day. Noll beg

Our fascination with other worlds never stops. Going deep into space David A. Rothery looks at the planetary bodies that make up our Solar System, and those around other stars. From the gas giants and

Chaos exists in systems all around us. Even the simplest system can be subject to chaos, denying us accurate predictions of its behavior, and sometimes giving rise to astonishing structures of large-s

Bertrand Russell was one of the most famous and important philosophers of the twentieth century. In this account of his life and work A. C. Grayling introduces both Russell's contributions to logic an

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was an extraordinarily original thinker, whose influence on twentieth-century thinking far outside the bounds of philosophy alone. In this engaging Introduction, A.C. G

Hume's "naturalist" approach to a wide variety of philosophical topics resulted in highly original theories about perception, self-identity, causation, morality, politics, and religion, all of which a

Vast, majestic, and often stunningly beautiful, glaciers lock up some 10% of the world's freshwater. These great bodies of ice play an important part in the Earth system, carving landscapes and influe

As the founder of Islam, a religion with over one billion followers, Muhammad is beyond all doubt one of the most influential figures in world history. But learning about his life and understanding hi

North American Indigenous literature began over thirty thousand years ago when Indigenous people began telling stories of emergence and creation, journey and quest, and heroism and trickery. By settin