Research

A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.

"A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought."

*Los Angeles Times



"POWERFUL . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing."

*The Washington Post Book World



How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.



Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.



"COMPELLING."

*USA Today



"A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity."

*The Sciences



"PASSIONATE."

*San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

Add history about Nikola Tesla and Thomas Commerford Martin
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PREFACE.

rpHE electrical problems of the present day lie largely in the ** economical transmission of power and in the radical improvement of the means and methods of illumination. To many workers and thinkers in the domain of electrical invention, the apparatus and devices that are familiar, appear cumbrous and wasteful, and subject to severe limitations. They believe that the principles of current generation must be changed, the area of current supply be enlarged, and the appliances used by the consumer be at once cheapened and simplified. The brilliant successes of the past justify them in every expectancy of still more generous fruition.

The present volume is a simple record of the pioneer work done in such departments up to date, by Mr. Nikola Tesla, in whom the world has already recognized one of the foremost of modern electrical investigators and inventors. No attempt whatever has been made here to emphasize the importance of his researches and discoveries. Great ideas and real inventions win their own way, determining their own place by intrinsic merit. But with the conviction that Mr. Tesla is blazing a patli that electrical development must follow for many years to come, the compiler has endeavored to bring together all that bears the impress of Mr. Tesla's genius, and is worthy of preservation. Aside from its value as showing the scope of his inventions, this volume may be of service as indicating the range of his thought. There is intellectual profit in studying the push and play of a vigorous and original mind.

Althqugh the lively interest of the public in Mr. Tesla's work is perhaps of recent growth, this volume covers the results of full ten years. It includes his lectures, miscellaneous articles

and discussions, and makes note of all his inventions thus far known, particularly those bearing on polyphase motors and the effects obtained with currents of high potential and high frequency. It will be seen that Mr. Tesla has ever pressed forward, barely pausing for an instant to work out in detail the utilizations that have at once been obvious to him of the new principles he has elucidated. Wherever possible his own language has been employed.

It may be added that this volume is issued with Mr. Tesla's sanction and approval, and that permission has been obtained for the re-publication in it of such papers as have been read before various technical societies of this country and Europe. Mr. Tesla has kindly favored the author by looking over the proof sheets of the sections embodying his latest researches. The Work has also enjoyed the careful revision of the author's friend and editorial associate, Mr. Joseph Wetzler, through whose hands all the proofs have passed.

DECEMBER, 1893. T. C. M.
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CHAPTER I.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY.

As AN introduction to the record contained in this volume of Mr. Tesla' s investigations and discoveries, a few words of "a biographical nature will, it is deemed, not be out of place, nor other than welcome.

Nikola Tesla was born in 1857 at Smiljan, Lika, a borderland region of Austro-Hungary, of the Serbian race, w r hich has maintained against Turkey and all comers so unceasing a struggle for freedom. His family is an old and representative one among these Switzers of Eastern Europe, and his father was an eloquent clergyman in the Greek Church. An uncle is to-day Metropolitan in Bosnia. His mother was a woman of inherited ingenuity, and delighted not only in skilful work of the ordinary household character, but in the construction of such mechanical appliances as looms and churns and other machinery required in a rural community. Nikola was educated at Gospich in the public school for four years, and then spent three years in the Real Scliule. He was then sent to Carstatt, Croatia, where he continued his studies for three years in the Higher Real Scliule. There for the first time he saw a steam locomotive. He

Nobelist Eric Kandel's account of how his personal quest to understand memory intersected with the emergence of a new science.

In Search of Memory relates the astonishing story of how four different and distinct disciplines—behaviorist psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology—converged into a powerful new science of mind. Through its profound insights into thought, perception, action, recollection, and mental illness, this new science is revolutionizing our understanding of learning and memory while simultaneously showing great promise for more effective healing.

The narrative follows Eric R. Kandel through the last five decades, focusing on Vienna, where he became fascinated with memory. With intrepid scientific ardor, Kandel was captivated first by history and psychoanalysis, then by neurobiology, and finally by the biological processes of memory. His resulting, multifaceted perspective was the foundation for his path-breaking research that will continue to dominate modern thought—not only in science but in culture at large. 50 illustrations.

"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? . . . What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?" In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die.

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D., is internationally renowned not just for his bold insights about the human brain but also for the stunning simplicity of the experiments he devises to solve neurology cases that have baffled his peers (using such tools as Q-Tips, glasses of water, and mirrors).

Phantoms in the Brain is a fascinating journey into the deep architecture of the mind. In the bestselling tradition of Oliver Sacks, Dr. Ramachandran and his co-author, noted New York Times science writer Sandra Blakeslee, introduce us to a range of patients suffering from strange neurological afflictions, explain how Dr. Ramachandran's evaluations reveal what actually occurs in the brain, and explore what these findings reveal about our dreams, laughter, memory, depression, body image, and language -- in short, the very things that make us human.

These mesmerizing cases illuminate elusive aspects of the brain: why we think the way we do, how we reason, how we deceive ourselves, and perhaps even why we are so clever at philosophy, music, and art. Some examples:
-- A blind woman unerringly reaches out to grasp a pen -- and challenges us to find the true seat of vision.
-- A woman who believes that her paralyzed arm is lifting a tray of drinks offers a look at the neurology of delusion -- and a unique opportunity to test Freud's theories of denial.
-- A young man who insists that his parents are impostors reveals how the brain weaves meaning from the millions of incidents that compose a life.
-- A woman who hallucinates cartoon characters suffers from a disorder that may have spawned James Thurber's famed flights of visual fancy -- and illustrates how in a sense we are all hallucinating, all the time.

These are stories of inspired medical detective work that push the boundaries of medicine's last great frontier -- human mind -- and bring us face-to-face with new and provocative ideas about the "big questions" of the self.