Karl Giberson takes us on a fascinating guided tour of planets and protons, galaxies and gamma rays. For many, even those who do not embrace religious faith, it looks like the expression of a grand plan - a cosmic architecture capable of both supporting life such as ours, and of inspiring observers like us to seek out a creator.

In this, his 45th book, Dr Karl goes full kolour, with brilliant and funny illustrations to match his dress sense. So take a technikolour trip through science with the intrepid Dr Karl, Australia's favourite science guru. Q: HOW MANY DR KARL BOOKS ARE THERE IN THE UNIVERSE? A: MORE THAN A MILLION! Dr Karl is on a mission to track down Awe and Wonder in the Universe. Why do wombats poo cubes? What nearly destroyed humanity on Halloween 2015? How do you use an incinerating toilet? Find out why we've sent a spacecraft with Dr Karl's name on it to kiss the Sun, whether cannibalism is nutritious, and the answer to the Biggeset Question of All - why does spaghetti always break into three pieces? Plus a whole lot more. So strap in and get ready for a random ride through the Universe. Who knows where you'll end up!

Do you know what a Solanum caule inermi herbaceo, foliis pinnatis incises, racemis simplicibus is?* Carolus (Karl) Linnaeus started off as a curious child who loved exploring the garden. Despite his intelligence—and his mother's scoldings—he was a poor student, preferring to be outdoors with his beloved plants and bugs. As he grew up, Karl's love of nature led him to take on a seemingly impossible task: to give a scientific name to every living thing on earth. The result was the Linnaean system—the basis for the classification system used by biologists around the world today. Backyard sciences are brought to life in beautiful color. Back matter includes more information about Linnaeus and scientific classification, a classification chart, a time line, source notes, resources for young readers, and a bibliography. *it's a tomato! A handsome introductory book on Linnaeus and his work — Booklist, starred review A good introduction to a man in a class by himself — Kirkus Reviews Lends significant humanity to the naturalist — Publisher's Weekly The biographical approach to a knotty scientific subject makes this a valuable addition to STEM and biography collections — School Library Journal

“Fascinating . . . memorable . . . revealing . . . perhaps the best of Carl Sagan’s books.”—The Washington Post Book World (front page review) In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time. Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race. “Takes readers far beyond Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity’s future in the stars.”—Chicago Tribune

Science fiction roman.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Doctor Karl: where oddities are embraced, facts reign supreme, curiosity is king and brightly coloured shirts are compulsory!In his brand new book, our much beloved and National Living Treasure Doctor Karl Kruszelnicki applies his trademark straight-talkin'-no-high-falutin' scientific sense to a brand new range of Big Questions that you never knew you even wanted to ask, but now desperately need to know the answers to.Have you ever walked into a room and immediately forgotten the reason you're there? A solid thought convinced your legs to move, but by the time you reach your destination, you realise the thought has abandoned you en route. No, it's not dementia. It's the doorway. Impress your friends (and potential dates) by being able to answer such questions as:- Why is the sky blue? - Why is it dark at night?- Why does lunacy erupt under a full moon?- What's the truth about spinach and Popeye?In this ever-changing, fast-paced and sometimes crazy world, few things are certain. But what is certain is that Dr Karl is here to help us battle our way through half-baked scientific myths and rumours, so that we may emerge smarter, stronger and viewing the world with more wonder than ever before.