Christopher Kemp
Author
Summary
"An illuminating examination of how the brain helps us to understand and navigate space-and why, sometimes, it doesn't work the way it should. Navigation is one of the most complex tasks our brains perform. And we do it countless times a day-as we drive across town to the airport, or traverse the maze of a supermarket, or walk within our own homes. But why is it that some people are lost on their own street and others can seamlessly navigate a new...
Author
Summary
The tiny, lungless Thorius salamander from southern Mexico, thinner than a match and smaller than a quarter. The lushly white-coated Saki, an arboreal monkey from the Brazilian rainforests. The olinguito, a native of the Andes, which looks part mongoose, part teddy bear. These fantastic species are all new to science-at least newly named and identified; but they weren't discovered in the wild, instead, they were unearthed in the drawers and cavernous...
Author
Summary
Preternaturally hardened whale dung is not the first image that comes to mind when we think of perfume, otherwise a symbol of glamour and allure. But the key ingredient that makes the sophisticated scent linger on the skin is precisely this bizarre digestive by-productas ambergris. Despite being one of the world's most expensive substances (its value is nearly that of gold and has at times in history been triple it), ambergris is also one of the world's...