Discovery History

Yellowstone is America's premier national park. Today Yellowstone is often a byword for conservation, natural beauty, and a way for everyone to enjoy the great outdoors. But it was not always this way. Wonderlandscape presents a new perspective on Yellowstone, the emotions that various natural wonders and attractions evoke, and how this explains the park's relationship to America as a whole.

For the first time in history, the human species has the technology to destroy itself. But having developed that power, humans are also able to leave Earth and voyage into the vastness of space. After millions of years of evolution, we’ve arrived at the point where we can settle other worlds and begin the process of becoming multi-planetary. How did we get here? What does the future hold for us?

Secrets lie buried at Parker Plantation, known only to its last owner who took them to his grave. When magazine photographer Carson Hudson arrives for a shoot, he finds more than just Georgian architecture through his lens. Local historian Bailey Barrows accompanies him, driven by her own mysterious connection to the property. As they delve into the history and discover the forgotten archives, they uncover a web of family secrets that leads straight to Bailey's ancestors. The discovery forces her to confront not just her heritage, but also the careful walls she's built around her heart. ...

As Brits we pride ourselves as stoic defenders, boasting a record of resistance dating back to 1066. Yet, even a cursory examination of the natural world reveals that while interlopers of the human variety may have been kept at bay, our islands have been invaded, conquered and settled by an endless succession of animals, plants, fungi and other alien lifeforms that apparently belong elsewhere. Indeed it’s often hard to work out what actually is native, and what is foreign.

A powerfully built man more than six feet tall, Amundsen’s career of adventure began at the age of fifteen (he was born in Norway in 1872 to a family of merchant sea captains and rich ship owners); twenty-five years later he was the first man to reach both the North and South Poles. Lynne Cox, adventurer and swimmer, author of Swimming to Antarctica (“gripping”—Sports Illustrated) and Grayson (“wondrous, and unforgettable”—Carl Hiaasen), gives us in South with the Sun a full-scale account of the explorer’s life and expeditions.

True Raiders tells the untold true story of Monty Parker, a British rogue nobleman who, after being dared to do so by Ava Astor, the so-called “most beautiful woman in the world,” headed a secret 1909 expedition to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Like a real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this incredible story of adventure and mystery has almost been completely forgotten today. Using recently uncovered records from the original expedition and several newly translated sources, True Raiders is the first retelling of this group’s adventures.

Charles Darwin’s theories, first published more than 150 years ago, still set the paradigm of how we understand the evolution of life--but scientific advances of recent decades have radically altered that. Now two pioneering scientists draw on their years of experience in paleontology, biology, chemistry, and astrobiology to deliver an eye-opening narrative using a generation’s worth of insights culled from new research.

From the author of Ghosts in the Fog comes a story that will appeal to lovers of history, adventure, and dogs. Byrd & Igloo is the first narrative nonfiction audiobook to tell the daring adventures of legendary polar explorer and aviator Richard Byrd and his lovable dog explorer, Igloo. Byrd is known for being the first to fly a plane over the North and South Poles, while Igloo is famous for being the only dog to explore both the North and South Poles.

In this unique synthesis of science and culture, former astrophysicist and writer Joanne Baker charts the global history of humanity’s relationship with the cosmos. Starting with the nearby Moon before venturing through the solar system to the stars and beyond, she unveils a rich mosaic of stories and research that illuminate the significance of celestial bodies in our everyday lives.

The year 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the majestic river that bears his name. Just in time for this milestone, Douglas Hunter, sailor, scholar, and storyteller, has written the first book-length history of the 1609 adventure that put New York on the map. Hudson was commissioned by the mighty Dutch East India Company to find a northeastern passage over Russia to the lucrative ports of China. But the inscrutable Hudson, defying his orders, turned his ship around and instead headed west....

On May 25, 1961, less than two months after a Soviet cosmonaut had made the very first space flight, President John F. Kennedy told Congress, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

Published in 1920, America First: One Hundred Stories from Our History by Lawton B. Evans (1862-1934) is a collection of stories meant for the young, containing highlights from America's history, and biographical sketches of prominent Americans of the past. It covers the history from the first visit to North America by the Viking, Leif Ericsson the Lucky, through the conquest of the Midwest and the settlement of California and the Pacific Coast, to the end of World War I.

July 20, 1969. It’s a day that has earned a spot in history. It’s the day that America was the first nation to succeed in sending two astronauts - Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong - to the moon. But what led to this unforgettable event? What were the stakes riding on the Apollo 11’s safe landing? In acclaimed author Douglas Brinkley’s first young readers' edition, space fans will get the riveting and factual backstory of arguably the most significant achievement of the 20th century.

In the mid-1800s a dreaded illness swept through the tropical regions of the globe. Malaria was a prevalent and often deadly parasite. It caused fever, chills, headaches, even confusion, seizures, and sometimes death. A cure needed to be found but this quest would lead to an unexpected discovery.

On a cold, cloudy day in early February 1985, Shelley Wachsmann, then resident nautical archaeologist for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, drove to Kibbutz Ginosar, an agricultural settlement near the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Two brothers, avid amateur archaeologists, had found a boat buried in the lake, its outlines revealed by receding lake waters. The boat was "possibly ancient," according to the handwritten note placed on Wachsmann's desk a day or two before.

The ubiquitous picture of the Vikings as horn-helmeted, brutish, hairy giants that mercilessly marauded among the settlements of Northern Europe is based on a smattering of facts combined with an abundance of prejudicial historical writing by those who were on the receiving end of Viking depredations. At the same time, much of the popular picture of the Vikings is a result of the romantic imagination of novelists and artists. However, the Vikings' reputation for ferocious seaborne attacks along the coasts of Northern Europe is no exaggeration.

El relato del conocimiento del universo inabarcable, desde la mirada al cielo con el ojo desnudo hasta las sondas enviadas a años luz de la Tierra: una historia que tiene más de 3.600 años de antigüedad.La tarea de resumir más de tres milenios de investigaciones sobre el cielo parece imposible, más difícil aún parece presentarla de modo que pueda ser conocido por cualquier tipo de oyente, independientemente del conocimiento del mismo.

The story of the Ethiopian Eunuch: Shaba was a great warrior and elder of the city of Napata. He could think of no other way to bring prosperity back to Napata than to offer a sacrificial gift to the Queen. Shaba, and the elders of Napata decide that gift must be Alamani, Shaba’s only son. But before they present Alamani to Queen Amanitore, he is made a eunuch to be more useful in her service. Join Alamani’s journey as he rises from being a lowly servant to a man of great importance in the kingdom of Nubia. Alamani will be schooled in mathematics, engineering and Greek, and then trained...

We all have a typical image of Vikings, from the horns on their helmets to the beards and the clothes they wear. Their ships have a certain charm, and their reputation is that they were brutal, raw, and believed in multiple gods. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore some of the details about the Viking history. What did they do? How did they treat their women? Where did they go to conquer other nations? These are some of the questions we will answer.

When I set out to write this book, my goal was simple: I wanted to tickle brains. As the ninth volume in my explorative 50-book series spanning science, philosophy and adventure, I knew this collection needed to delight and intrigue. I embarked on a journey of discovery, relying on AI chatbots to rapidly search the internet and unearth fascinating facts for me to transform into succinct essays. Peppered with my own perspectives stemming from a lifelong curiosity about the world, together we explored the everyday and the cosmic. From the nuts and bolts of sleep cycles to the existential ...