"Buzz, Woody, and friends take readers on a journey through the fascinating science of toys: how they are made and how they work. Readers will love learning about the things they play with every day."--

"Buzz, Woody, and friends take readers on a journey through the fascinating science of toys: how they are made and how they work. Readers will love learning about the things they play with every day."--

Super-smart Julian Calendar thinks starting junior high at a new school will mean he can shed his nerdy image-but then he meets Ben and Greta, two secret scientists like himself! The three form a secret club, complete with a high-tech lair. There, they can work to their hearts content on projects like the Stink-O-Meter, the Kablovsky Copter, and the Nightsneak Goggles. All that tinkering comes in handy when the trio discovers an evil scientist's dastardly plan to rob a museum. Can three inventors, armed with their wacky creations, hope to defeat this criminal mastermind?

Students, heed this little rhyme: When it's science project time, Do not make goop, or glop, or grime, And never mess with mutant slime.

What stops pregnant women from falling over all the time? What makes infant cries so captivating? How do sperm swim? The Secret Science of Baby answers these questions and many more, revealing the fascinating physics behind conception, birth, and babyhood. Parents and parents-to-be are bombarded with information, from what to expect to what to do (and not to do) when it happens. But what they may not realize is that from the chemistry of pregnancy tests to the vacuum physics of breastfeeding, there is fascinating science at the heart of every aspect of creating and raising a new human. Written by science journalist Michael Banks, The Secret Science of Baby won’t tell you how to raise a perfect violin-playing, mandarin-speaking toddler, but it will shed a new light on how and why things happen as they do—from conception and pregnancy to cooing and pooing. Exploring the hidden physics behind uterine contractions, the fluid dynamics of diapers, and more, both parents and curious non-parents (who, after all, were once babies themselves) will gain a fresh perspective on the infant universe . . . and the thrilling science that makes it possible. In these pages, readers will discover: The physics of the playground and common toys—from the swing to the Slinky What it really means to "sleep like a baby" The surprising shared vocal cord features of lions and (human) infants The miracle of a baby's first breath and how surface tension provided the key to helping preemies breathe Banks draws from his own experience, interviews with scientists, and the latest research (including some involving conception inside an MRI machine) to offer a book that focuses on “how?” rather than “how-to.” The result is an illuminating and hilarious journey through the everyday science of making, baking, and bringing up baby.

UPDATED FOR THE 2016 ELECTION The book Politico calls “Moneyball for politics” shows how cutting-edge social science and analytics are reshaping the modern political campaign. Renegade thinkers are crashing the gates of a venerable American institution, shoving aside its so-called wise men and replacing them with a radical new data-driven order. We’ve seen it in sports, and now in The Victory Lab, journalist Sasha Issenberg tells the hidden story of the analytical revolution upending the way political campaigns are run in the 21st century. The Victory Lab follows the academics and maverick operatives rocking the war room and re-engineering a high-stakes industry previously run on little more than gut instinct and outdated assumptions. Armed with research from behavioural psychology and randomized experiments that treat voters as unwitting guinea pigs, the smartest campaigns now believe they know who you will vote for even before you do. Issenberg tracks these fascinating techniques—which include cutting edge persuasion experiments, innovative ways to mobilize voters, heavily researched electioneering methods—and shows how our most important figures, such as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, are putting them to use with surprising skill and alacrity. Provocative, clear-eyed and energetically reported, The Victory Lab offers iconoclastic insights into political marketing, human decision-making, and the increasing power of analytics.