 A new month brings a new theme to Aisle 49, stocked full of books you covet and desperately want. The beginning of the year is time for fresh starts, new ideas, and even a radical thought or two. Check out our favorite selections by noted inventors such as Nikola Tesla (Tesla: The Lost Inventions) and Buckminster Fuller (Your Private Sky). And for reworking the way we think, there's no one better than James Burke (Connections). For those of you who are working on a project in the basement, Nolo Press's 13th edition of Patent It Yourself is the ultimate DIY book. Intrigued? Check out what else we've picked out for you!
 "To err is human," Alexander Pope once said, but have you ever wondered why? Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Joseph Hallinan has. He describes his new book, Why We Make Mistakes, as "a field guide to human error" and also offers some helpful hints about making fewer of them. Adults tend to act and see in patterns, neglecting to notice the details. That's why your kids always know where your car keys are and you don't. In this Q&A, find out why Hallinan prefers the outdoors to chess, what famous scientist he'd like to be in his next life, and why the PedEgg is on his mind. Save 30% on Why We Make Mistakes for a limited time.
 It's not hard to imagine how Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost spent their youth. Their new book, Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System, is one of the first to explore the "systems" of the Atari game console, and explains the relationship between platforms and creative expression. They discuss and dissect popular Atari games such as Pitfall, Adventure, Pac Man and Star Wars. In their Q&A, find out why E. coli spinach makes Ian sympathize with Dilbert, why Nick believes laptops make people think differently, and why Ian hasn't yet mastered Latin. Plus, save 30% on Racing the Beam.
 James Boyle is a professor of law at Duke University and cofounder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain there, as well. Boyle's newest book, The Public Domain, asserts the importance of a richer public domain in an increasingly private and litigious copyright law environment. In his Technica Q&A, find out why elementary school teachers failed to inspire him, how he has "vicarious geek cred," and learn why he hopes the Internet will be as beneficial to science as it has been for shoe shopping. For a limited time save 30% on The Public Domain.
 In The Pluto Files, New York Times-bestselling author Neil deGrasse Tyson chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto. In his typically witty way, Tyson explores the history of planet classification and America's obsession with the "planet" that's recently been judged as a dwarf. "[H]ighly entertaining," cheers Booklist. Read Tyson's Tech Q&A and save 30% on The Pluto Files.
 Huzzah! Santa was very good to you this year, and now you've got a new, shiny gadget that you haven't figured out yet. Between work, school, and spending time on Facebook, who has time to read those dull user manuals? Worry not! It's time for our annual "What Do I Do with This Thing?" promotion. New to the iPod Touch? Erica Sadun's Take Your iPod Touch to the Max teaches you all the new tricks. New to geocaching, or just want to go hiking with safety in mind? GPS Made Easy by Lawrence Letham will show you the way. Shop enthusiasts can't be without the classic text How to Run a Lathe by South Bend Machine Works. And for those of you who want to dig a well, but want to save on surveying costs, Dowsing: A Journey beyond Our Five Senses, by Hamish Miller, is just what you need.
Handbook: Secret Tips from the Pros (Simpsons)
by Matt Groening
Here is a rare homage to the art of classic 2andndash;D animation and the timeandndash;honored method of handandndash;drawing characters that come alive on the silver screen. The creator of "The Simpsons" and "Futurama," reveals the art of brilliant...
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Your Price
$17.98
Used - Hardcover
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
by Daniel J. Levitin
A revelation for music buffs and science geeks ...
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Your Price
$15.00
New - Trade Paper
Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual (Missing Manual)
by David Pogue
For a company that promised to put a pause on new features, Apple sure has been busy-there's barely a feature left untouched in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. There's more speed, more polish, more refinement-but still no manual. Fortunately, David Pogue is...
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Your Price
$34.99
New - Trade Paper
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
by Theodore Gray
Beautiful and informative, surprising and smart, The Elements will appeal to your inner geek (even if you didn't know you had one). With unique stories, bizarre facts, and dazzling photographs of the 118 elements in the periodic table, this book will...
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List Price $29.95
Your Price
$20.96
Sale - Hardcover
Tube Circuits for Audio Amplifiers: Power Amplifiers and Pre-Amplifiers, for Monaural and Stereophonic Reproduction from Microphone, Radio, Tape, and Pick-up Signals
by Mullard
The complete guide to building eleven power and control amps for sound systems with vacuum tubes, featuring a four-chapter tutorial on sound quality which is solid guidance on achieving the best sound with tubes. First published in 1959 by Mullard, one...
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Your Price
$16.95
New - Trade Paper
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
This learned and amusing work covers the origin of the universe to the human genome. A welcome journey with Bryson in typical wise and witty fashion....
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Your Price
$7.98
Sale - Trade Paper
Tom Henry's Key Word Index: Based on the 2008 NEC
by Tom Henry
Every word in the Code book put into an index with page numbers. Now you can find it in the Code in seconds! This book is a great study aid for electrical exams and is specially designed to increase your speed by getting you familiar with those hard to...
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Your Price
$18.00
New - Pamphlet
Buildind a Single-shot, Falling-block Rifle Action
by Walter B. Mueller
Originally published as a series in The Home Shop Machinist magazine, this very popular gunsmithing project for firearms enthusiasts is now presented complete in soft-cover format for workbench ease....
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Your Price
$17.00
New - Pamphlet
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This Day in Tech History
Tuesday, December 15
Simon Marius is first to observe Andromeda galaxy through
a telescope 1612
G.R. Kirchoff describes chemical
composition of Sun 1859
American
Radio Relay League founded by Hiram Percy Maxim 1914
Soviet Venera 7 is first spacecraft
to land on another planet (Venus) 1970
Birthdays
Janos Bolyai (1802), mathematician
(non-Euclidean geometry)
Alexandre-Gustave
Eiffel (1832), built a tower in Paris
Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852), discoverer of radioactivity
Charles
Edgar Duryea (1861), inventor of the first
automobile built and operated in US
Arthur D. Little (1863), chemist who patented rayon
Maurice Wilkins (1916), physicist, worked with DNA
(Nobel 1962)
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