30-Second Evolution


Book Description

Adapt or die: it's nature's most famous imperative. But how does evolution actually happen?It's too slow to see, but it's going on all around you, all the time. Even if you're on top of the key terms - variation? Natural selection? Parent-offspring conflict? - you still need some context to put them in. From populations to speciation and polymorphism to evolutionary psychology, here's the one-stop source for all you need to know. Evolution unlocks the laboratory of life, dissecting it into the 50 most significant topics that provide the missing links to understand the natural world's four-billion-year ancestry and the process of natural selection in which species either adapt in myriad ways - mutation, ingenuity, and intelligence - to meet the challenges of a changing environment, or die. Unravel the development of living organisms, at micro and macro level - from genes to geniuses.




30-Second Zoology


Book Description

Endowed with abundant water, extraordinary ecoystems, varied climates and biomes, our planet is teeming with creatures, great and small. What produced this rich diversity? How have so many species formed, evolved and adapted? What effects are humans having on the rest of the animal kingdom and on the natural environment we share? 30-Second Zoology explains the diversification process of evolution, then introduces the main groups of invertebrates and vertebrates. Breathing, seeing, communicating and other key features of animal physiology and behaviour are explored, as are the ecological relationships between Earth’s myriad species – the predators, the prey, the parasites and the positively poisonous – before assessing the anthropogenic effects of pollution, over-harvesting and a changing climate. Covering everything from the origins of life and the most basic of organisms, all the way through to the more complex creatures that we recognise today, 30-Second Zoology aims to showcase the most fantastic examples of life on our earth, all in 300 words and one stunning illustration per topic.




30-second Biology


Book Description

The 50 most thought-provoking theories of life, each explained in half a minute. 30-Second Biology tackles the vital science of life, dissecting the 50 most thought-provoking theories of our ecosystem and ourselves. At a time when discoveries in DNA allow us to feel more connected than ever to the natural world, this is the fastest route to an understanding of the tree of life. Whether you're dipping into the gene pool, unlocking cells, or conversing on biodiversity, this is all the knowledge you need to bring life to the dinner-party debate. An internationally bestselling series presents essential concepts in a mere 30 seconds, 300 words, and one image; The 50 most important ideas and innovations in biology dissected and explained clearly without the clutter; The fastest way to learn about cells, reproduction, animals, plants, evolution and ecosystems.




Life After the 30-Second Spot


Book Description

The old media strategies advertisers used for decades no longer work. Here's what does! Traditional advertising, in the form of print, radio, and most notably, television, is far less effective than it used to be. Advertising strategies using only these mediums no longer work. Life After the 30-Second Spot explains how savvy marketers and advertisers are responding with new marketing techniques to get their message out, get noticed, engage their audiences-and increase sales! Covering topics such as viral marketing, gaming, on-demand viewing, long-form content, interactive, and more, the book explains the new avenues marketers and advertisers must use to replace traditional print, TV, and radio advertising-and which strategies are most effective. This book is every marketer's road map to "new marketing."




30-Second Theories


Book Description

When it comes to big science, very few things are conclusively known. From Quantum Mechanics to Natural Selection, what we have instead are theories - ideas explain why things happen the way they do. We don't know for certain these are correct - no one ever saw the Big Bang - but with them we can paint beautiful, breathtaking pictures of everything from human behaviour to what the future may hold. Profiling the key scientists behind each theory, "30-Second Theories" presents each entry in a unique, eye-catching full-colour design, with thought-provoking extras and stylish illustrations. It is essential for anyone keen on expanding their mind with science's most thrilling ideas.




30-Second AI and Robotics


Book Description

This comprehensive presentation of the core concepts and historical landmarks in robotics and artificial intelligence is a must-read for those who want to understand the important changes happening now in our everyday lives, in the workplace, and in our minds and bodies. What is deep in "deep learning"? Can artificial intelligence really think? What will robots really look like in the near future? Is there a new class divide between those who understand technology and those who fear it? A clear and exhaustive introduction for non-specialists, 30-Second AI & Robotics will help the reader to navigate the world of ubiquitous computers, smart cities, and collaborative robots. At last, an optimistic and friendly book about our human possibilities in the time of automata.




30-Second Elements


Book Description

When was radium discovered? Who are Dmitri Mendeleev and Glenn T. Seaborg? Who discovered uranium's radioactivity? Which element is useful for dating the age of Earth? And why doesn't gold have a scientific name? 30-Second Elements presents you with the very foundations of chemical knowledge, explaining concisely the 50 most significant chemical elements. This book uses helpful glossaries and tables to fast track your knowledge of the other 68 elements and the relationships between all of them.




Evolution in Minutes


Book Description

Evolution in Minutes is your compact and accessible guide to the central concepts of the science of evolution, revealing how biological populations change over successive generations. Covering the basics of speciation, genesis, and extinction in animals, plants, and humans alike--from the origins and development of life to artificial selection and evolutionary algorithms--this is the fastest, fullest path to understanding evolution. Contents include fossils, microbes, genes, DNA, natural selection, Darwinism, genetic drift, mutation, gene migration, heredity, adaptation, and variation, as well as key biological concepts necessary to understand the fascinating field of evolution.




30-Second Politics


Book Description

You may be OK with standard stuff like Conservatism and Democracy, but do you really know what Patrimonialism is? And what about Oligarchy? Anarcho-syndicalism? Politics is, we are willing to bet, the most passionately argued-over subject matter, and yet how many of us flounder around in confrontational debates because we have no grip on political theory, just a vague notion that they are all out to get us? 30-Second Politics will help dispel this fog mistrust and paranoia. It challenges political theorists of all colors to come up with no-frill, no-spin, tell-it-like-it-is explanations of the 50 most important political -isms, -archies, and -ocracies that have pertained since the time of Periclean Athens. At no public expense, the book explains each political theory in nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and some propaganda-style imagery, for we all know that a picture opportunity is worth a thousand words of dull interview.




30-Second Maths


Book Description

From Rubik's cubes to Godel's incompleteness theorem, everything mathematical explained, with colour illustrations, in half a minute. Maths is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. So how can you avoid being the only dinner guest who has no idea who Fermat was, or what he proved? The more you know about Maths, the less of a science it becomes. 30 Second Maths takes the top 50 most engaging mathematical theories, and explains them to the general reader in half a minute, using nothing more than two pages, 200 words and one picture. Read at your own pace, and discover that maths can be more fascinating than you ever imagined.