New York Times Bestseller

A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human."

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Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that "will change the face of science forever". The evening's host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. This evening is to be no exception: he claims he...

The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies...

A groundbreaking look at how small changes to our surroundings can lead us to happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives. Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset, or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people--regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity--are mesmerized by infants, and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful...

Explores the indelible footprint that humans have left on this planet, and the catastrophic effects of environmental neglect and abuse, and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity

Uses illustrations to show various facts about humanity.

"Humans have subdued 75 percent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness. We tinker with nature at every opportunity; we garden the planet with our preferred species of plants and animals, many of them invasive; and we have even altered the climate, threatening our own extinction. Yet we reckon with our own destructive capabilities in extraordinary acts of hope-filled creativity...

"This vivid, terrifying, and galvanizing novel reveals our future world after previous generations failed to halt climate change-perfect for fans of The Drowned World and World War Z. 2084: Global warming has proven worse than even the direst predictions scientists had made at the turn of the century. No country-and no one-has remained unscathed. Through interviews with scientists, political leaders, and citizens around the globe, this riveting oral...

Numbering no more than a few thousand, tiny groups of intrepid humans began to move out of Africa, eventually dominating the planet. How did these early humans acquire the skills, technology, and talent to thrive in every environment on Earth? Take a global journey through the past, following the ancestors' footsteps out of Africa along a trail of scientific clues to help unravel the mystery of how humans got where they are.

A study of what would happen to Earth if the human presence was removed examines our legacy for the planet, from the objects that would vanish without human intervention to those that would become long-lasting remnants of humankind