The giant Alexander is as high as one telegraph post on top of another. He walks to London and spring-cleans Nelson's Column, and then goes to tea with the Lord Mayor. After many more adventures he invites hundreds of children to a special "giant treat", a vast breakfast of roast sausages, fried onions, and fried potatoes.

For a few decades now, They Might Be Giants' album Flood has been a beacon (or at least a nightlight) for people who might rather read than rock out, who care more about science fiction than Slayer, who are more often called clever than cool. Neither the band's hip origins in the Lower East Side scene nor Flood's platinum certification can cover up the record's singular importance at the geek fringes of culture. Flood's significance to this audience helps us understand a certain way of being: it shows that geek identity doesn't depend on references to Hobbits or Spock ears, but can instead be a set of creative and interpretive practices marked by playful excess-a flood of ideas. The album also clarifies an historical moment. The brainy sort of kids who listened to They Might Be Giants saw their own cultural options grow explosively during the late 1980s and early 1990s amid the early tech boom and America's advancing leftist social tides. Whether or not it was the band's intention, Flood's jubilant proclamation of an identity unconcerned with coolness found an ideal audience at an ideal turning point. This book tells the story.

?? Giant molecules are important in our everyday life. But, as pointed out by the authors, they are also associated with a culture. What Bach did with the harpsichord, Kuhn and Flory did with polymers. We owe a lot of thanks to those who now make this music accessible ??Pierre-Gilles de GennesNobel Prize laureate in Physics(Foreword for the 1st Edition, March 1996)This book describes the basic facts, concepts and ideas of polymer physics in simple, yet scientifically accurate, terms. In both scientific and historic contexts, the book shows how the subject of polymers is fascinating, as it is behind most of the wonders of living cell machinery as well as most of the newly developed materials. No mathematics is used in the book beyond modest high school algebra and a bit of freshman calculus, yet very sophisticated concepts are introduced and explained, ranging from scaling and reptations to protein folding and evolution. The new edition includes an extended section on polymer preparation methods, discusses knots formed by molecular filaments, and presents new and updated materials on such contemporary topics as single molecule experiments with DNA or polymer properties of proteins and their roles in biological evolution.

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."-- King James Bible, Genesis 6:4Who was the giant Goliath?The truth can be stranger and darker than fiction.David, the future king of Israel, is in danger.In ancient times, giants were real. The giant Goliath, a descendant of giant kings is one of the last of a dying breed of ancient rulers, cursed to near extinction. Prone to murderous rampages, tormented by events in his past - the bloodthirsty giant is an indomitable force and none can stand before him and live.The Philistine people are a proud race with sophisticated metal shops and a highly trained army. The king and queen of Gath rule over the mightiest of the Philistine cities, each harboring a burning desire to eradicate the countryside of the Israelite infestation, no method to devious to avoid consideration.Through it all, a shepherd's son unknowingly holds the power to save the over-matched Israelites and change the world forever, if only he can survive his own demons.An epic confrontation is brewing with more at stake than just a piece of land.