Aussie STEM Stars: Michelle Simmons


Book Description

Age range 9+ Growing up in London, Michelle’s interests frequently bumped up against expectations of girls which she pushed through, including her love of playing soccer and chess, and later, her passion for science and technology. Professor Simmons is well-known for creating the field of atomic electronics. Since 2000 she established the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology dedicated to the making of tiny atomic-scale devices in silicon and germanium. Her research group at the University of New South Wales is the only group worldwide that can create atomically precise devices in silicon. It was also the first team in the world to develop a working ‘perfect’ single-atom transistor and the narrowest conducting doped wires in silicon. In 2018 Michelle became Australian of the Year and is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She is passionate about encouraging girls to pursue a career in science and technology: ‘Seeing women in leadership roles and competing internationally … gives them the sense that anything is possible’.




Aussie STEM Stars: Michelle Simmons


Book Description

Age range 9+ Growing up in London, Michelle's interests frequently bumped up against expectations of girls which she pushed through, including her love of playing soccer and chess, and later, her passion for science and technology. Professor Simmons is well-known for creating the field of atomic electronics. Since 2000 she established the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology dedicated to the making of tiny atomic-scale devices in silicon and germanium. Her research group at the University of New South Wales is the only group worldwide that can create atomically precise devices in silicon. It was also the first team in the world to develop a working 'perfect' single-atom transistor and the narrowest conducting doped wires in silicon. In 2018 Michelle became Australian of the Year and is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She is passionate about encouraging girls to pursue a career in science and technology: 'Seeing women in leadership roles and competing internationally ... gives them the sense that anything is possible'.




Aussie Stem Stars: Alan Finkel


Book Description

Age range 9 to 14 Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics As Australia's Chief Scientist, our country has turned to Alan Finkel for advice on everything from the climate, to AI, to the pandemic. But at a time when scientists have never been so important, Alan nearly didn't become one at all. Growing up in Melbourne as the son of immigrants who fled the Holocaust, Alan had to find the courage to make his own choices - even when they weren't quite what his family had in mind. Alan's story is one of being brave, loving your family and always aiming for excellence. Dr Finkel commenced as Australia's Chief Scientist on 25 January 2016. This followed an extensive science background as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator, and an industrial career producing breakthrough scientific instruments for academic neurosciences and pharmaceutical drug discovery. He served as President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and for eight years as Chancellor of Monash University. He has been Chair of multiple companies dedicated to scientific research and was named the 2016 Victorian of the Year. Alan is committed to science education and has founded numerous magazines and education programs for schools and organisations. His career is defined by creative leadership, initiatives, philanthropy and innovative scientific publishing. He has been a strong and effective advocate for governmental and industrial support of innovation and research in science and engineering.




Aussie Stem Stars


Book Description

Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics As Australia's Chief Scientist, our country has turned to Alan Finkel for advice on everything from the climate, to AI, to the pandemic. But at a time when scientists have never been so important, Alan nearly didn't become one at all. Growing up in Melbourne as the son of immigrants who fled the Holocaust, Alan had to find the courage to make his own choices - even when they weren't quite what his family had in mind. Alan's story is one of being brave, loving your family and always aiming for excellence. Dr Finkel commenced as Australia's Chief Scientist on 25 January 2016. This followed an extensive science background as an entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist and educator, and an industrial career producing breakthrough scientific instruments for academic neurosciences and pharmaceutical drug discovery. He served as President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and for eight years as Chancellor of Monash University. He has been Chair of multiple companies dedicated to scientific research and was named the 2016 Victorian of the Year. Alan is committed to science education and has founded numerous magazines and education programs for schools and organisations. His career is defined by creative leadership, initiatives, philanthropy and innovative scientific publishing. He has been a strong and effective advocate for governmental and industrial support of innovation and research in science and engineering.




Aussie Stem Star: Fiona Wood


Book Description

Age range 9 to 14 Fiona Wood is a plastic surgeon whose expertise in burns treatment came to the world's attention in 2002 in the wake of the Bali bombings. From defending the weak and fixing the broken to fighting for her chance to study medicine, the story of plastic surgeon and spray-on skin inventor Fiona Wood shows us the value of dreams, hard work, and having the courage to do what is right. 'She revolutionised treatment and outcomes for burns patients around the world – and she continues to work tirelessly in this area, striving for a better future. I think everyone she meets comes away affected and uplifted by her spirit, stamina, generosity and courage. It was an extraordinary honour to work with Fiona to tell her story.' — Cristy Burne




Complexity


Book Description

“If you liked Chaos, you’ll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year” (The Washington Post). In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell—and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. This book is their story—the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the twenty-first century. “Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner . . . [Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight.” —The New York Times Book Review “Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away.” —Medium “[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science.” —Publishers Weekly




Blindsight


Book Description

Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel, Blindsight Two months since the stars fell... Two months of silence, while a world held its breath. Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route. So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met? You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there. Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Your Inner Fish


Book Description

The paleontologist and professor of anatomy who co-discovered Tiktaalik, the “fish with hands,” tells a “compelling scientific adventure story that will change forever how you understand what it means to be human” (Oliver Sacks). By examining fossils and DNA, he shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our heads are organized like long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genomes look and function like those of worms and bacteria. Your Inner Fish makes us look at ourselves and our world in an illuminating new light. This is science writing at its finest—enlightening, accessible and told with irresistible enthusiasm.




Aussie Stem Star: Eddie Woo


Book Description

Age range 9 to 14 Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Eddie Woo has already packed a lot into his short life. Australian High School Maths teacher, education ambassador and advisor, author, TV Host and YouTube sensation, Eddie has been putting the magic in maths for the past ten years, allowing students to learn in creative and practical ways, and being at the forefront of school-based integrated STEM education. His is an inspiring story of empathy, generosity, mentorship, personal connection, and overcoming adversity. In 2012 Eddie began to film his classroom lessons for a sick student, and put them up on YouTube, on his 'WooTube' channel. This became a valuable mechanism for students to direct their own learning at a pace that suited them. 'WooTube' now has over 1 million subscribers around the world. On discovering that teachers in training found his videos an invaluable window into actual classrooms and what exemplary teaching looks like in action, he created a separate channel where teachers can share their expertise. Eddie is well known across Australia as an advocate for teachers and the importance of teaching. He has written for and been featured in specialist teaching press and in national and international media; served on on education advisory boards; given TED talks; published his own books; and won numerous awards, including Australia Day Local Hero of the Year and being named as one of the world's Top 10 teachers.




The A Swing


Book Description

The national bestselling golf instructional, The A Swing, created by the world's #1 instructor to help golfers consistently hit good shots. David Leadbetter is the most recognized golf instructor in the history of the game. His book, The A Swing, is an evolution of his swing theories that have successfully helped thousands of golfers globally. His tour players, whom he has coached over the years, have amassed 19 major golf championships. David has been prolific during his 30+ year career in producing books, videos, teaching aids that have inspired golfers of every level to reach their potential. The A Swing - A stands for Alternative - is a simple way to swing the club, which follows biomechanically sound, scientific principles, and only requires minimal practice. The A Swing has been thoroughly tested with a wide range of players, from tour level to beginner, junior to senior, and the results overall have been nothing short of dramatic. The A Swing is a way to develop a consistent, repetitive motion which will improve accuracy and distance, and is easy on the body. It will fix many of golf's common faults, and the book takes you through an easy, step-by-step approach. With over 200 illustrations, easy drills, and the 7-Minute Practice Plan, golfers now have the opportunity to play the way they've always dreamed of. Golf is a frustrating game, even for the top players, but the A Swing will make it easier and more fun. It could really change the way the game has been taught, which hasn't changed for years - it is not an exact method, and has leeway for individualism. David is excited that the A Swing will help golfers the world over enjoy the game more. In essence, the A Swing is a shortcut to great golf. Whatever your level of play is now, whatever your goals, however you've been struggling with the game, the A Swing could change your golfing life.