Publisher Profiles

A "beautifully written and definitive history" (Library Journal) of the dynasty that ruled Islam’s greatest era

The ancient land of Mesopotamia---modern-day Iraq---has given rise to many empires: Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian. But none surpassed the power and influence of the Abbasid caliphs who ruled from Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris River.

The "golden age of Islam" was as significant to world history as the Roman Empire was in the first and second centuries. From a rebellion planned in a remote desert town came the founding of Baghdad in 762, the growth of an incredibly grand court life under Harun al-Rashid, and intellectual brilliance under his son al-Mamun. The caliphs of Baghdad formed the model for succeeding Muslim regimes, from the building of palaces to the establishment of court bureaucracies, from military conquests to court-sponsored poetry and art.

The telescope is undoubtedly one of the world’s most far-reaching inventions. For the past four centuries the telescope has stood at the forefront of human discovery. From its humble beginnings in seventeenth-century Holland, when a simple spectacle-maker first presented his invention to his country’s military leaders, to today’s colossal structures housed in space-age cathedrals, the telescope has unlocked nature’s secrets. And in the past decade, the Hubble Space Telescope has brought us to the very edge of the universe, and the very beginning of time. How did the telescope--a potent mix of art, science, and engineering--reach its present level of sophistication?

The history of the telescope is a rich story of human ingenuity and perseverance involving some of the most colorful figures of the scientific world-Galileo, Johann Kepler, Isaac Newton, William Herschel, George Ellery Hale, and Edwin Hubble. Stargazer brings to life the story of these brilliant, and sometimes quirky, scientists as they turned their eyes and ideas beyond what anyone thought possible.

Beliefs in mysterious Underworlds are as old as humanity. From the ancient Sumerians to Incas to modern Christians, nearly every culture has had its special version. However, the idea that the earth has a hollow interior where strange lands, creatures, and civilizations may exist was first proposed as a scientific theory in 1692 by Sir Edmund Halley (of Halley’s comet fame). Since then it has been used as a popular literary motif by writers as varied as Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, to name a few.

The Hollow Earth traces this notion through the centuries and cultures, exploring how each era’s relationship to the notion of a hollow earth reflected its particular hopes, fears, and values. Lavishly illustrated-including Bosch’s inspired surreal nightmares of Hell, seventeenth-century maps and diagrams of the interior, illustrations from early Jules Verne editions and other novels, pulp art from World War I through the 1940s, plus movie posters and much more-this unique book will appeal to readers of many sorts: those interested in the history of science, religion, utopian fiction, and real-life experiments; science fiction fans, film buffs, and those intrigued by the remarkable evolution of ideas over centuries.

In science fiction, futuristic soldiers are often shown wielding light emitting weapons—Flash Gordon used a ray gun, Captain Kirk carried a phaser, and Darth Vader brandished a light saber. But, today, the imagined future of science fiction is soon to be a reality. After more than two decades of research, the United States is on the verge of deploying a new generation of weapons that discharge light-wave energy, the same spectrum of energy found in your microwave, or in your TV remote control. They’re called "directed energy weapons"—lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams—and they signal a revolution in weaponry, perhaps, more profound than the atomic bomb.

In The E-Bomb, author J. Douglas Beason, Ph.D. and a leading U.S. expert in directed-energy research, explains in clear and nontechnical prose these new weapons and answers the following questions: What is Directed Energy? How do DE weapons work? What can these DE weapons do? And are these weapons safe to use?

Readers who believe that "only left-handed people are in their right minds" will want to join David Wolman, in his search of the origin and meaning of the lefty mystique. In a quest to prove his premise of Southpaw superiority, his travels take him from the halls of history to the halls of science, as he visits a Scottish castle with a staircase designed for lefthanded swordfighting, and a California operating room where he watches cataract surgery performed by a left-handed doctor. He confers with primatologists about whether chimps’ hand preference for throwing could show an evolutionary link between coordination and language ability. He searches for the mystical significance of leftiness at a handwriting analysis conference and a palmistry workshop. Along the way, he meets colorful Southpaws such as Diabolos Rex, follower of the ancient religion of the Left Hand Path, and members of the National Association of Left-Handed Golfers of Japan. Weaving his personal experience with a blend of sharp-eyed reporting and intriguing personalities, Wolman crafts an entertaining narrative in praise of all things Southpaw.