Spooky action at a distance:
technica q&a: brian clegg (the god effect)
technical q&a: david orr (design on the edge)
macforce
isepp lecture series
holiday gift ideas
springer yellow sale
new arrivals
history of science
dvds
doug brown's factoid
bestsellers

This happens every year. Spring forward, fall back! we tell ourselves. We really do mean to set our clocks back for the end of daylight savings time. But then the store closes, and after drinking a couple pints of Imperial Stout at the Tugboat brewery, we walk home through the leaves with an autumnal buzz. Then on Sunday, Jay shows up for work an hour early and smacks his forehead. Again.

TECHNICA Q&A: BRIAN CLEGG
What is quantum entanglement, and why is this such an exciting scientific theory? Entanglement occurs when two or more objects have to be described with reference to one another, even though they may not be physically close. What are the ramifications of this? This phenomenon could affect time travel, teleportation, and super-powerful computers, or so says author Brian Clegg. Want to find out more? Read the Q&A and save 30% on The God Effect.

TECHNICA Q&A: DAVID ORR
Design on the Edge: The Making of a High-Performance Building tells the story of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center at Oberlin College — the first substantially green building to be built on a college campus. This thoughtful book is also a philosophical study on green design in general. David Orr, a professor at Oberlin, noticed that many academic buildings built after World War II were ugly, cheaply-made behemoths. (It's ironic that the planning committee for this new, green building met in a windowless basement.) Orr writes eloquently about the slow process of institutional change and the political economy of design. Want to learn more about architectural revolution? Read his Q&A and save 30% on Design on the Edge.

Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose, the largest flying boat ever built, performed its only flight on November 2, 1947. Its official name is the "Hughes H-4 Hercules," but you have to admit that the nickname is snappier. Due to wartime rationing, the Spruce Goose was actually made of birch (and a little spruce). One Senator called the Spruce Goose "The Flying Lumberyard." You can see this marvel at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

MACFORCE
Powell's Technical Books will be hosting a book sale at MacForce (100 SE Salmon) on Saturday, December 9, 12-4 p.m. For every $25 you spend on our books, we'll take $5 off the purchase price. And, while you're there, enter MacForce's Holiday Sweepstakes to win $1500 in prizes, including a $100 gift card from Powell's Technical Books. The drawing for the grand prize is December 22 — just in time for the holidays! — plus, MacForce will pick one winner each week during the month of December, for prizes like the Adobe Creative Suite bundle from Powell's, a $300 value, amongst others. Yes, Macs (and MacForce) rule.

ISEPP LECTURE SERIES
Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 30, when Dr. Meyya Meyyappan will present his speech, "Designing the Future on the Nano Frontier," in the popular ISEPP Lecture Series. Meyya Meyyappan is director of the Center for Nanotechnology and senior scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Meyyapan's lecture will discuss nanotechnology's tremendous potential for all disciplines of science and engineering, as well as addressing opportunities and challenges ahead. To save 50% on the ticket price, click here.

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS
Corie recommends Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest by Andy Lamb and Bernard Hanby. A slightly morbid but very entertaining new title is Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die by Michael Largo. Brian raves about Richard Postman's Anvils in America, a definitive resource on the subject. Beautiful Evidence by Edward Tufte is also a favorite among staff and customers alike. Collier praises Roman Builders: A Study in Architectural Process; he says it's one of the finest books he's seen recently. Browse more of our holiday gift picks here. And don't forget the Giant Microbes! These fuzzy critters are cute, educational, and a great stocking stuffer for any pre-med or biology student... or just those who like anthropomorphized afflictions in plush form.

SPRINGER YELLOW SALE
Our Springer Yellow Sale is still going strong! If you've thought we've run out of the good titles, we will certainly prove you wrong. We are continuously restocking fresh, sparkling, discounted Springer books every day. So, if you're craving a little academically highbrow color for your bookshelves, get smart and save up to 60% on Springer titles now through December.

NEW ARRIVALS
For the craftsman on your holiday list, you can't go wrong with The Art of Modern Custom Knifemaking by David Darom. Want to see another side of Tolkien? Peruse Ents, Elves and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien by Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans. If you like a good puzzle, you'll be intrigued by Stephen Pincock's Codebreaker. Are you a kitchen geek? Then The Alchemist's Kitchen by Guy Ogilvy is a gem of a book. If you want to see Earth from Major Tom's point of view, check out Off the Map: The Most Amazing Sights on Earth as Seen by Satellite by James Turnbull. And for kids who need to pull themselves away from the computer, buy them Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book, which is a big, fantastic encyclopedia of over 100 projects and how to make them... a breath of fresh DIY air.

HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Raise your glass to the late, great Carl Sagan on November 9! Born on this day in 1934, Sagan shot to fame in 1980 with his PBS television series Cosmos and the best selling book that followed. He taught at Harvard and Cornell, and worked as an advisor to NASA, where he chaired the committee involved with the Voyager Golden Record. This was actually a gold phonograph record that contained sounds and images relating to life on Earth, and was sent up to space with the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Although it's doubtful any space aliens will actually find it (and have a working record player), Sagan said, "...the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet." We miss you, Carl.

DVDS
James hand-picks the DVDS that we sell here at Powell's Technical Books. Here are two of his favorites: Soylent Green is a favorite for the paranoid in all of us, and Face in the Crowd is a classic Elia Kazan film from 1957. As always, shipping is free on all our DVDs.

DOUG BROWN'S FACTOID
Due to changes in paper chemistry, the particular beetle larvae known as "bookworms" no longer eat many books.  Termites, who consider books the cream filling in bookcase Oreos, are today's primary devourers of books.  Carpet beetles, biscuit beetles, silverfish, and many cockroaches have developed a taste for the paste in the bindings (the beetles also like leather bindings themselves).  Leather bindings with rough patches and little holes are often the stylings of larder beetle larvae.  In the common home, the two worst munchers are the clothes moth and brown house moth; they like the cloth bindings best, and a description of "worn along edges" oftentimes betrays their depredations.

TECH BESTSELLERS
1. Rails Recipes by Chad Fowler (Computer Languages)
2. Ugly's Electrical References 2005 by George Hart (Construction)
3. Head Rush Ajax by Brett McLaughlin (Computer Languages)
4. Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things by Cy Tymony (Featured Titles)
5. Professional SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services by Paul Turley (Database)
6. Writing Security Tools and Exploits by James C. Foster (Networking)
7. Linux in a Nutshell by Stephen Figgins (Unix)
8. WordPress 2: Visual Quickstart Guide by Maria Langer (Internet)
9. Geek Logik by Garth Sundem (Featured Titles)
10. Introduction to Low Temperature Differential Stirling Engines by James Senft (Energy)

Technica
By Carole

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