K.C. Cole

How do we reclaim our innate enchantment with the world? And how can we turn our natural curiosity into a deep, abiding love for knowledge? Frank Oppenheimer, the younger brother of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, was captivated by these questions, and used his own intellectual inquisitiveness to found the Exploratorium, a powerfully influential museum of human awareness in San Francisco, that encourages play, creativity, and discovery—all in the name of understanding. In this elegant biography, K. C. Cole investigates the man behind the museum with sharp insight and deep sympathy. The Oppenheimers were a family with great wealth and education, and Frank, like his older brother, pursued a career in physics. But while Robert was unceasingly ambitious, and eventually came to be known for his work on the atomic bomb, Frank’s path as a scientist was much less conventional. His brief fling with the Communist Party cost him his position at the University of Minnesota, and he subsequently spent a decade ranching in Colorado before returning to teaching. Once back in the lab, however, Frank found himself moved to create something to make the world meaningful after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was inspired by European science museums , and he developed a dream of teaching Americans about science through participatory museums. Thus was born the magical world of the Exploratorium, forever revolutionizing not only the way we experience museums, but also science education for years to come. Cole has brought this charismatic and dynamic figure to life with vibrant prose and rich insight into Oppenheimer as both a scientist and an individual.

Mathematics, that breathtaking invention of ours that reveals the tiniest particles of matter and takes us to the outermost reaches of the cosmos, is found by many people to be intimidating. In The Universe and the Teacup, K. C. Cole demystifies mathematics and shows us-with humor and wonderfully accessible stories-why math need not be frightening. Using the O. J. Simpson trial, the bell curve, and Emmy Noether, the nineteenth-century woman scientist whose work was essential for Einstein's theory of relativity, Cole helps us see that more than just being a tool, math is a key to understanding the beauty of everything from rainbows to relativity.

An adventure into the heart of Nothing by best-selling author K. C. Cole.Once again, acclaimed science writer K. C. Cole brings the arcane and academic down to the level of armchair scientists in The Hole in the Universe , an entertaining and edifying search for nothing at all. Open the newspaper on any given day and you will read of a newly discovered planet, star, and so on. Yet scientists and mathematicians have spent generations searching the far reaches of the universe for that one elusive state—nothingness.Although this may sound like a simple task, every time the absolute void appears within reach, something new is discovered in its a black hole, an undulating string, an additional dimension of space or time—even another universe. A fascinating and literary tour de force, The Hole in the Universe is a virtual romp into the unknown that you never knew wasn't there.

For many of us, physics, like math, has always been a thing of mystery and complexity. In First You Build a Cloud, K. C. Cole provides cogent explanations through animated prose, metaphors, and anecdotes, allowing us to comprehend the nuances of physics-gravity and light, color and shape, quarks and quasars, particles and stars, force and strength. We also come to see how the physical world is so deeply intertwined with the ways in which we think about culture, poetry, and philosophy. Cole, one of our preeminent science writers, serves as a guide into the world of such legendary scientific minds as Richard Feynman, Victor Weisskopf, brothers Frank Oppenheimer and J. Robert Oppenheimer, Philip Morrison, Vera Kistiakowsky, and Stephen Jay Gould.

The universe comes down to earth in K. C. Cole's Mind Over Matter, a fresh and witty exploration of physics, cosmology, mathematics, astronomy, and more. Like no other science writer, Cole demystifies scientific concepts and humanizes the people who study them. Beginning with a discussion of how "the mind creates reality as well as muddles it," she then peeks into the stories behind science's great minds and into their playful side, and concludes by illuminating the relationship between science and society. Cole's remarkable work brings science to the reader's doorstep, revealing the universe to be elegant, intriguing, and relevant to politics, art, and every dimension of human life.

An introduction to physics examines the theoretical principles developed by Galileo, Bohr, Newton, and other great physicists and explains how the laws of physics pervade all facets of everyday human life

Interviews with mothers revealing their opinions, feelings, and experiences during their pregnancies illuminate the folklore of childbirth, the emotional side of pregnancy, and the role of the pregnant working woman

The Exploratorium is a science museum dedicated to discovery— a place to go sightseeing among natural and scientific phenomena. We have over 600 interactive exhibits that let you explore, experiment, and experience the interconnecting physical principles of the world around you.This book discusses phenomena demonstrated by exhibits in the Exploratorium. It is not a guidebook in the usual sense, since it does not tell how to operate the exhibits. It is more than a catalog that merely lists and describes the exhibits. This book is a text that can be used to better understand the phenomena behind the exhibits, as well as the exhibits themselves. Although the discussion relates to specific exhibits at the Exploratorium, the phenomena are basic ones and the book can be used independently of this museum. The book will be particularly useful to teachers planning a course or a class visit to the Exploratorium, or to any museum or laboratory where similar demonstrations are available.Throughout the text, names of Exploratorium exhibits, such as Relative Motion Swing, are set in boldface. Names of other books published by the Exploratorium, such as Vision: In the Eye of the Bebolder, are set in italics.

Brynn worked hard to start a new life for herself and leave her past behind her. She saved to follow her dream of opening her own bakery and prove to herself she wasn't going to be held back by anyone. That didn't even last a day before Mad, the number two in a local gang forced her into being a front for their money laundering. She hates him but more than that she hates that he brings out her secret desires to stray from the straight and narrow path she set herself on. Friday updates!!