Science Imagination

In this highly original book, Russell Blackford discusses the intersection of science fiction and humanity’s moral imagination. With the rise of science and technology in the 19th century, and our continually improving understanding of the cosmos, writers and thinkers soon began to imagine futures greatly different from the present. Science fiction was born out of the realization that future techno-scientific advances could dramatically change the world.

In this companion volume to The Discoverers, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel J. Boorstin brings to life more than three thousand years of human artistic achievement, examining painting, sculpture, architecture, theology, philosophy, history, poetry, drama, literature, dance, music, and film.

Prize-winning essayist turns to the imagination as a spiritual guide and material method of living through climate disruption, as climate change and broad extinction forever alter our place on the planet and our lives together.

The ultimate uncharted frontier is the human mind. Dream Phaze: Imagination explores these extreme boundaries through engineered dreams as mainstream entertainment. We all dream...but what are the psychological consequences of creating an immersive environment indistinguishable from reality where everything is possible?

A rich, sweeping, and compelling work of botanical history, The Cabaret of Plants explores dozens of plant species that for millennia have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Going back to the beginnings of human history, Richard Mabey shows how flowers, trees, and plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace, life and death.

In this groundbreaking exploration of science, spirituality, and self-realization, Wayne D. Russell reveals a bold new understanding of reality: everything is made of Intelligent Electromagnetic Energy (IEME pronounced I'm)—and you are the manifestation of IEME. Drawing from the laws of physics, sacred geometry, fractals, vibration, and the subconscious mind, Russell unites ancient wisdom with cutting-edge insight to show that reality is not happening to you—it’s being generated by you.

The singular, enchanting debut story collection from Elizabeth McCracken, now back in print as part of Ecco’s “Art of the Story” series, and with a new introduction from the author. Called “astonishingly assured” by The Guardian, the nine stories that make up Elizabeth McCracken’s...

Allyce thought when the most popular kids in school asked her to be their friend, she was finally going to come into their own. And then they murdered her. Now, ten years later on the anniversary of her death, Allyce has pulled herself from the grave for a long-awaited reunion with her so-called friends. Prose Novel.

We depend on - we believe in - algorithms to help us get a ride, choose which book to buy, execute a mathematical proof. It's as if we think of code as a magic spell, an incantation to reveal what we need to know and even what we want. Humans have always believed that certain invocations - the marriage vow, the shaman's curse - do not merely describe the world but make it.

Drawing from a vast array of creation myths - Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more - this concise book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe. Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination.

Engines of Empire tells the story of the complex relationship between Victorians and their wondrous steamships, following famous travelers like Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Jules Verne as well as ordinary spectators, tourists, and imperial administrators as they crossed oceans bound for the colonies. Rich with anecdotes and wry humor, it is a fascinating glimpse into a world where an empire felt powerful and anything seemed possible if there was an engine behind it.

Oswald doesn’t want a new friend either, especially not a book-loving, bed-making, broccoli-eating boy. But when an imaginary friend gets a new assignment, they’re stuck there until the kid no longer needs them. And with Oswald’s home world of Imagination mysteriously crumbling away into nothing, befriending Reggie seems like a safer bet than disappearing with it. But when Oswald forgets Reggie’s birthday, Reggie runs away to Imagination.

Phantasmagoria...where all the forgotten dreams go, where all the imagined things, both good and bad, make their home. Join Tom, Katie, Chad, Melissa, and Sharice as they adventure through Phantasmagoria, encountering everything from long-winded trolls to upside-down rivers, on their search for three artifacts...before time runs out.

Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time—fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them—and still living them—today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called "modern myths." But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did.

The American Open Road offers a rich exploration of how the mythos of the open road has shaped, and been shaped by, American culture. Beginning with the post-World War II boom that solidified car culture as central to American life, Melton reflects on how roads, automobiles, and landscapes have been represented in literature, film, and other cultural texts, highlighting the interplay between mobility and narrative.

Adam Childers is a 17-year-old closeted gay high school student in middle America. When Jara, a mysterious little girl from another world, reveals to Adam that he was born a Gatemaker, one of very few in all creation able to open doorways from one world to another, everything changes. Jara's world suffers at the hands of a mighty warlord, and when she makes her way to Adam's world she sees in him potential that he could never see in himself. Together, Jara, Adam, and Adam's friends must travel to Onus and confront both danger and their own fears if they are to set Jara's world free.

Rooted in rhythm-and-blues pioneered by black musicians, 1950s rock and roll was racially inclusive and attracted listeners and performers across the color line. In the 1960s, however, rock and roll gave way to rock: a new musical ideal regarded as more serious, more artistic-and the province of white musicians. Decoding the racial discourses that have distorted standard histories of rock music, Jack Hamilton underscores how ideas of "authenticity" have blinded us to rock's inextricably interracial artistic enterprise.

Dr. Peter Andresen is a broken man. Once a highly respected psychiatrist, he lives alone, suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder that he steadfastly denies. As the story begins, Peter walks alone on a deserted beach. He doesn't know where he is or what he's doing until he encounters a beautiful young woman named Holly Be. She knows his story and it is her assigned mission to restore meaning to his life. But she fails to maintain the emotional distance required to prevent them from falling in love.

Everything is possible. Everything except survival. Four individuals share an impossible ability. They can accomplish anything they fear or imagine. Everything appears theirs for the taking, except their world isn't real. They live only in the mind of a coma patient. If he wakes up, will they die?

Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Michael McCaul, has spent years in Washington watching the administration turn a blind eye to the most pressing possible threats to the country. Now, in Failures of Imagination, McCaul turns away from the over-sensationalized, unrealistic fears circulated through the media in order to expose the most legitimate and looming national security threats, which have long been swept under the rug by the administration.