Showing titles in Science & Technology

A Grown-Up Guide to Planet Earth is a tour of our world from the inside, out. Geologist Professor Chris Jackson plunges into the molten world beneath our feet, to reveal what drives the explosive power of volcanoes and destructive energy of earthquakes.

The brand-new, hilarious book from best-selling, record-breaking author Adam Kay. The olden days were pretty fun if you liked wearing chainmail or chopping people's heads off, but there was one tiny little problem back then...doctors didn't have the slightest clue about how our bodies worked. It's time to find out why Ancient Egyptians thought the brain was just a useless load of old stuffing that might as well be chucked in the bin, why teachers forced their pupils to smoke cigarettes, why hairdressers would cut off their customers' legs and why people used to get paid for farting.

The history of magic is as long as time and as wide as the world. In every culture, in every age, in every place and, probably, in every heart, there is magic. Harry Potter: A History of Magic reveals some of the hidden stories behind real-world magic and explores some of J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their folkloric, cultural and historical forebears.

Have you ever wondered how we got here? From hunting mammoths, to flying to the moon? It is because we are unstoppable. But what made us so? Well, we have the most amazing superpower: the ability to tell stories. Fairy tales have led us from imagining ghosts and spirits to being able to create money (yes, really!). And this has made us very powerful...but very deadly. Nothing stands in our way, and we always want more. So get ready for the most amazing story there ever was—the incredible true tale of the Unstoppables.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's number-one New York Times best-selling guide to the cosmos, adapted for young listeners. From the basics of physics to big questions about the nature of space and time, celebrated astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the mysteries of the cosmos into bite-sized pieces.

Australia's favourite science guru returns with a new haul of extraordinary stories from our incredible Universe! Dr Karl is surfing the universe for all that's gnarly, awesome, weird and wonderful. Why is sharpening a pencil in space risky business? How far would the Earth's viruses reach if you laid them end to end? What makes a sunset red and not blue? Find out how spiders like to plan ahead, whether 5G networks are safe, why we're running out of sand, and the answer to the Question on Everyone's Lips - how to make the best coffee.

Explore each organ of the body in this immersive audiobook edition of Kay's Anatomy, read by Adam Kay with a full cast of voices, including Mark Gatiss, Sandi Toksvig, Andy Nyman and Lolly Adefope. Do you ever think about your body and how it all works? Like really properly think about it? The human body is extraordinary and fascinating and, well...pretty weird. Yours is weird; mine is weird; your maths teacher's is even weirder. This book is going to tell you what's actually going on in there and answer the really important questions.

Have you ever wondered how we got here? From gathering berries and hunting mammoths, to shopping at supermarkets and letting people tell us what to do? You might hear a lot of people say 'the world isn't fair'. But why isn't it? And how did it become so? In Unstoppable Us: Volume 1, we learned how humans told stories to become rulers of the world - for good and bad. Now, in this next chapter of the incredible true tale of the Unstoppables, find out how we learned to control animals like dogs, chicken and cows.

Have you ever thought about the fact that before the fridge you'd have had maggots in your margarine? Ever thought about what you might use to wipe your bum before loo roll was a thing? And what about what everybody did before computers?! In this third hilarious book from Adam Kay and Henry Paker you'll learn about all of these and more.

Ladybird Audio Adventures is an original series for 4-to 7-year-olds; a new, entertaining and engaging way for children to learn about the world around them. These are special stories written exclusively for audio with fun sound and musical effects, perfect for listening at home, before bed and on long journeys. These fact-filled journeys travel through time and space teaching children all about five fascinating topics: Dinosaur Times, The Animal Kingdom, Outer Space, Amazing Vehicles and Deep Sea Dive.

All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial five per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That ’something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets.

In this adventure Cassandra and Missy are off to explore the biggest forest of them all - the Amazon rainforest. Setting course for South America they encounter some of the planet's most incredible wildlife and discover the reasons why the Amazon is one of the most important natural places in our world. These audiobooks help children learn about their environment on journey of discovery with the narrators Ben Bailey Smith (a.k.a. Doc Brown, rapper, comedian and writer) and Sophie Aldred (best known for her role as Ace in Doctor Who).

Ever wondered how we got from nothing to something? Or thought about how we can weigh the earth? Or wanted to reach the edge of the universe? Uncover the mysteries of time, space and life on earth in this extraordinary book - a journey from the centre of the planet to the dawn of the dinosaurs and everything in between. And discover our own incredible journey, from single cell to civilisation, including the brilliant (and sometimes very bizarre) scientists who helped us find out the how and why.

Ada wants to win a prize one day for her inventions. She has many ideas. When it’s time to clean up her blocks, Ada has a great idea to make clean-up time easier. Ada thinks to use her father’s old socks to invent a way to stay on her two feet on an icy day! Ada’s ideas to recycle old things makes her a great inventor!

Some animals have skin that will shock you! Well, they may not actually shock you but the skin has unique abilities that might surprise you. Learn how certain animals are able to change their appearance by changing skin color or texture, how others can make you sick with their poison, or animals whose skins peel off. Just imagine what it would be like to live in these skins!

Native American tribes from the Northwest Coast learned to use the wood of cedar trees for many of their daily needs. Tribes used recycling to conserve resources hundreds of years ago. Pounding bark until it was fluffy to make diapers and with special thin branches called withes, cedar trees were soaked and used to make rope. What special technique did tribes use to take down big cedar trees?

Could there be life forms on planetary moons such as Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon or Titian, one of Saturn’s largest moons? Although our moon is made of mostly rock, astronomers believe life may exist on other moons! Scientists know liquid water is needed to support life, and Europa has plenty of it. What other key ingredients are needed for life to exist in our solar system?

Ladybird Audio Adventures is an original series for 4-to 7-year-olds; a new, entertaining and engaging way for children to learn about the world around them. These are special stories written exclusively for audio with fun sound and musical effects, perfect for listening at home, before bed and on long journeys. These fact-filled journeys travel through time and space teaching children all about five fascinating topics: Dinosaur Times, The Animal Kingdom, Outer Space, Amazing Vehicles and Deep Sea Dive.

Did dinosaurs land on the moon 66 million years before us? Is the Loch Ness monster really a ghost? Should cats be in charge of protecting countries from Earthquakes? Are imaginary friends mysteriously turning into real people? Investigate the weird, the wacky and the downright weird questions you've always wanted to know the answers too (and some you hadn't even thought of!) with podcaster and fact-detective Dan Schreiber.

What is juicy, red and green with white stripes and pops up from the ground ready to eat—watermelon! Their seeds need plenty of water, lots of sun and nutrient rich soil. Follow along as a tiny, black seed bursts into a delicious fruit. Watermelons are ready to be picked when their yellow petals have all fallen. Find out what Bee-u-ti-ful insect helps the watermelon grow?