New Releases by Charles C. Mann

Subtitle in pre-publication: Two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions of tomorrow''s world.

"A Triangle Square book for young readers"--Title page verso.

«Das beste Sachbuch des Jahres.» TIME Die Entdeckung Amerikas war für das Leben auf unserem Planeten das folgenreichste Ereignis seit dem Aussterben der Dinosaurier. Denn: Millionen Jahre waren die Hemisphären weitgehend voneinander isoliert gewesen. Mit Kolumbus traten sie in einen Austausch. Menschen und Pflanzen, Tiere und Krankheiten gelangten per Schiff in neue Lebensräume und schufen eine Welt, in der nichts blieb, wie es einmal gewesen war. Das hatte auch gravierende politische Konsequenzen: Der «kolumbische Austausch» trug mehr als alles andere dazu bei, dass Europa zur Weltmacht aufstieg und China verdrängte. Charles C. Mann zeichnet ein spannendes Panorama dieser Vorgänge, das Kontinente und Jahrhunderte umfasst. Ein großartiges Lesevergnügen für alle Wissensdurstigen! «Herausragend.» The New York Times «Ein faszinierendes und vielschichtiges Buch, das auf vorbildliche Weise sprechende Fakten mit gutem Geschichtenerzählen vereint.» The Washington Post

In vogelvlucht wordt een kleurrijk beeld gegeven van de veelheid aan rijke, oude culturen die op het Amerikaanse continent tot ontwikkeling waren gekomen voor de ontmoeting met de Europese ontdekkingsreizigers.

More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed totally different suites of plants and animals. Columbus''s voyages brought them back together--and marked the beginning of an extraordinary exchange of flora and fauna between Eurasia and the Americas.

A companion book for young readers based upon the explorations of the Americas in 1491, before those of Christopher Columbus.

« Cet ouvrage très documenté se lit comme le plus passionnant des romans, à ceci près qu''il relate une tragédie vraie. [...] Une véritable (re)découverte des Amériques. » Le Monde diplomatique Fruit du travail colossal d''archéologues, d''anthropologues, de scientifiques et d''historiens, ce livre nous montre pour la première fois le vrai visage des mondes précolombiens : une mosaïque de peuples, de langues, de cultures, d''empires, de cités puissantes, souvent plus riches et plus vastes que celles d''Europe ; un creuset de civilisations brillantes et évoluées, soucieuses de leur environnement - et non pas le continent vierge et sous-exploité que l''Histoire officielle a voulu nous présenter. De la forêt amazonienne aux plateaux andins des Incas, du Mexique maya, olmèque ou aztèque aux villages des Iroquois, 1491 rétablit une vérité historique longtemps niée et nous entraîne au coeur d''un voyage fantastique à travers les Amériques, que nous découvrons peut-être pour la première fois sous leur véritable jour.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492—from “a remarkably engaging writer” (The New York Times Book Review). Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

Hailed as "a chilling portrait" by The Boston Globe and "a crafty thriller" by Newsweek, this astonishing story of an obsessive hacker promises to change the way you look at the Internet forever. At Large chronicles the massive manhunt that united hard-nosed FBI agents, computer nerds, and uptight security bureaucrats against an elusive computer outlaw who broke into highly secured computer systems at banks, universities, federal agencies, and top-secret military weapons-research sites. Here is "a real-life tale of cops vs. hackers, by two technology writers with a flair for turning a complicated crime and investigation into a fast-moving edge-of-your-seat story" (Kirkus Reviews, starred). At Large blows the lid off the frightening vulnerability of the global online network, which leaves not only systems, but also individuals, exposed.

The Second Creation is a dramatic--and human--chronicle of scientific investigators at the last frontier of knowledge. Robert Crease and Charles Mann take the reader on a fascinating journey in search of "unification" with brilliant scientists such as Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg, and many others. They provide the definitive and highly entertaining story of the development of modern physics, and the human story of the physicists who set out to find the "theory of everything."

The authors suggest new principles for striking a balance between the needs of human beings and the rest of the world.

A photo-journey through the homes and lives of 30 families, revealing culture and economic levels around the world.

No drug in the world outsells aspirin. With billions of dollars at stake, and no medically significant differences among the hundreds of brands around the globe, rival drug makers have been driven to the extremes of corporate warfare. Authors Mann and Plummer look inside this world of relentless competition to show the ploys, the battles, the bursts of extraordinary marketing, advertising and litigation that have resulted - and relate the unique and little-known medical history of the drug itself. The Aspirin Wars penetrates the wilder shores of capitalism to reveal the essence of business competition at its canniest.