 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.
Your Ableton Live Studio
by Chris Buono
YOUR ABLETON LIVE STUDIO will show you step-by-step how to use Ableton Live as the central component of your home-based audio-production studio. What's more, YOUR ABLETON LIVE STUDIO will help you create a mobile-based studio so you can take your music...
( read more)
Your Price
$29.99
New - Trade Paper
The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You
by Eli Pariser
An eye-opening account of how the hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling-and limiting-the information we consume. In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly...
( read more)
Your Price
$10.98
Sale - Hardcover
Mac Os X Tiger Edition (OS 10.4) (Missing Manuals)
by David Pogue
You can set your watch to it: As soon as Apple comes out with another version of Mac OS X, David Pogue hits the streets with another meticulous Missing Manual to cover it with a wealth of detail. The new Mac OS X 10.4, better known as Tiger, is faster...
( read more)
Your Price
$5.95
Used - Trade Paper
The Photographic Card Deck of the Elements: With Big Beautiful Photographs of All 118 Elements in the Periodic Table
by Theodore Gray
This gorgeous photographic card deck is a more portable version of Theodore Gray's bestselling book The Elements, and it's just as impossible to stop flipping through. With a beautifully represented element on every card, this deck is a wonderful...
( read more)
Your Price
$24.95
New - Miscellaneous
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...
( read more)
Your Price
$16.95
New - Trade Paper
The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
by Brian Greene
In the first chapter of The Hidden Reality, Brian Greene writes, "There was a time when 'universe' meant 'all there is.' Everything. The whole shebang." Well, those days are over. From string theory to the Inflationary Multiverse scenario to artificial...
( read more)
Your Price
$9.00
Used - Trade Paper
IPT's Pipe Trades Handbook
by Robert A. Lee
IPT's PIPE TRADES HANDBOOK sets the standard for piping handbooks. It contains all the necessary information previously combined in other reference books, plus much more. It includes information on: pipe and tube data; valves; fittings, flanges and...
( read more)
Your Price
$24.75
New - Trade Paper
Introduction to Stirling Engines
by James R. Senft
An Introduction to Stirling Engines covers the subject of hot air engines and their modern counterparts from the beginning. The book starts with the elementary ideas that underly all heat engines and builds up to clear explanations of how all Stirling...
( read more)
Your Price
$12.95
New - Trade Paper
|
This Day in Tech History
Friday, February 3
Opening of Lowell
observatory
(Arizona) first in US
Jerrie Mock
becomes first woman
to fly solo
around the world 1964
Powell's buys quality used scientific and technical books. Click here for more information.
Be warned: it's addictive. Shuffle through Powells.com's selection of
used technical books and find some unbeatable deals.
|
Don't Miss
