FRITZ HABER -- a Nobel laureate in chemistry, a friend of Albert Einstein, a German Jew and World War I hero -- may be the most important scientist you have never heard of. The Haber-Bosch process, which he invented at the turn of the twentieth century, revolutionized agriculture by converting nitrogen to fertilizer in quantities massive enough to feed the world. The invention has become an essential pillar for life on earth; some two billion people on our planet could not survive without it. Yet this same process supplied the German military with explosives during World War I, and Haber orchestrated Germany's use of an entirely new weapon -- poison gas. Eventually, Haber's efforts led to Zyklon B, the gas later used to kill millions -- including Haber's own relatives -- in Nazi concentration camps.
Haber is the patron saint of guns and butter, a scientist whose discoveries transformed the way we produce food and fight wars. His legacy is filled with contradictions, as was his personality. For some, he was a benefactor of humanity and devoted friend. For others, he was a war criminal, possessed by raw ambition. An intellectual gunslinger, enamored of technical progress and driven by patriotic devotion to Germany, he was instrumental in the scientific work that inadvertently supported the Nazi cause; a Jew and a German patriot, he was at once an enabler of the Nazi regime and its victim.
Master Mind is a thought-provoking biography of this controversial scientist, a modern Faust who personifies the paradox of science, its ability to create and to destroy. It offers a complete chronicle of his tumultuous and ultimately tragic life, from his childhood and rise to prominence in the heady days of the German Empire to his disgrace and exile at the hands of the Nazis; from early decades as the hero who eliminated the threat of starvation to his lingering legacy as a villain whose work led to the demise of millions.

Master Mind: The Rise and Fall of Fritz Haber, the Nobel Laureate Who Launched the Age of Chemical Warfare

Biographies & Memoirs

Charles, Daniel

Community & Culture

Ecco

Lighthouses exert a special fascination: to mariners they are a constant reminder of the perils of the sea; for the rest of us they are places of romantic isolation. This comprehensive study traces the history and development of the lighthouse from the birth in Alexandria and relates the fascinating myths and legends surrounding them. For each of the six geographical regions covered, the author recreates the history of 231 lighthouses and beacons, and explores the maritime activities of which they were the focus.

Lighthouses of the Atlantic

Cassell Illustrated*

One of America's great twentieth-century composers in a series of wide-ranging conversations.

For the Birds: John Cage in Conversation with Daniel Charles

Arts & Photography

CAGE, JOHN

Music

Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd

Once confined to the research laboratory, the genetic engineering of plants is now a big business that is changing the face of modern agriculture. Giant corporations are creating designer crops with strange powers-from cholesterol-reducing soybeans to plants that act as miniature drug factories, churning out everything from vaccines to insulin. They promise great benefits: better health for consumers, more productive agriculture-even an end to world hunger. But the vision has a dark side, one of profit-driven tampering with life and the possible destruction of entire ecosystems. In Lords of the Harvest, Daniel Charles takes us deep inside research labs, farm sheds, and corporate boardrooms to reveal the hidden story behind this agricultural revolution. He tells how a handful of scientists at Monsanto drove biotechnology from the lab into the field, and how the company's opponents are fighting back with every tool available to them, including the cynical manipulation of public fears. A dramatic account of boundless ambition, political intrigue, and the quest for knowledge, Lords of the Harvest is ultimately a story of idealism and of conflicting dreams about the shape of a better world.

Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food

History

Charles, Dan

World

Basic Books

A passionate visual journey highlighting 230 of the greatest light-houses in Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Spain, Portugal, and ending at the gates of Africa. Lighthouses have fired the imagination for more than 200 years. They represent daring, knowledge, a ray of hope, and the first hint of a port of call. Lighthouses of Europe captures not only the mystical structures of over 230 great lighthouses, but also salutes a way of life that may soon cease to exist. The book starts with a historical overview of Europe's greatest lighthouses and the myths and legends surrounding them. For each geographical region, the author recreates the fascinating, age-old history of the lighthouses, their beacons, and the fascinating maritime activities they became involved in. Descriptions of each of these historical monuments are followed by spectacular photography, including dramatic views from land, sea, and sky as well as incredible interior shots. Readers will also become enthralled with the passionate tales of the lighthouse keepers who, as automation arrives, are the last set of eyes responsible for the light shining from land. • Only book available in the United States about European lighthouses • Includes stunningly gorgeous photography of over 200 lighthouses on the Atlantic coast of Western Europe, from Scotland to the gates of Africa • Topographical maps illustrate each lighthouse location geographically • Provides detailed information about each lighthouse, including: region, position, year of construction, engineer, height, altitude, and more

Lighthouses of Europe

Travel

Plisson, Guillaume

Europe

Watson/Guptill

Exhibition catalog. Lavishly illustrated. Artists include Manet, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Caillebotte, Cezanne, Signac, and others. 244p.

Impressionists on the Water

Cate, Phillip Dennis

Lloyd,Christopher

History & Criticism

Skira/Rizzoli

Liberating today's chicken from cartoons, fast food, and other demeaning associations, "The Chicken Book" at once celebrates and explains this noble fowl. As it traces the rise and fall of "Gallus domesticus" from the jungles of ancient India to the assembly-line hatcheries sprawled across modern America, this original, frequently astounding book passes along a trove of knowledge and lore about everything from the chicken's biology and behavior to its place in legend and mythology. The book includes lively discussions of the chicken's role in literature and history, the cruel attractions of cockfighting, the medicinal uses of eggs and chicken parts, the details of the egg-laying process, the basics of the backyard coop, recipes, and much more. Entertaining and insightful, "The Chicken Book" will change the way we regard this too often underappreciated animal.

The Chicken Book

Politics & Social Sciences

Page Smith

Social Sciences

NORTH POINT PRESS

Gloses sur John Cage (10/18 [i.e. Dix/dix-huit] ; 1212 : Série Esthétique) (French Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Union générale d'éditions

The Monster Within

Literature & Fiction

Charles, Daniel Mark

Genre Fiction

Independently published

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Books by Charles, Daniel