Computers

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line

by Neal Stephenson

This is "the Word" -- one man's word, certainly -- about the art (and artifice) of the state of our computer-centric existence. And considering that the "one man" is Neal Stephenson, "the hacker Hemingway" (...

Mental Floss: Genius Instruction Manual

by Editors of Mental Floss

Remember that time you bumped into Stephen Hawking at the clambake and his monologue on string theory went completely over your head? Man, was that awkward. Or remember the time you were at a party and someone...

Mental Floss: What's the Difference?

by Editors of Mental Floss

Enlighten Up Already!

Monet? Manet? Who can even tell the difference? Well, with the help of the newest mental_floss tome, you can! Want to learn how to tell egg rolls from spring rolls, nuclear bombs from dirty...

The Teen Whisperer

by Gary Brozek & Mike Linderman

Mike Linderman is a teen therapist unlike any other. A real-life cowboy, he wakes up at the crack of dawn, works the cattle on his ranch, and then counsels some of the country's most troubled teens, approaching...

Mental Floss: Cocktail Party Cheat Sheets

by Editors of Mental Floss

Friends? Romans? Countrymen?

You never know whom you'll have to impress

at your next corporate shindig or keg party.

Whatever the target audience, mental_floss knows staring facedown into the punch bowl isn't the...

Mental Floss: Scatterbrained

by Editors of Mental Floss

The bathroom read to end all bathroom reads!

What does Greece (the country) have to do with Grease (the movie)? And what does Grease (the movie) have to do with greasy food? Plenty, if you ask the folks at mental_floss...

What Is Your Dangerous Idea?

by John Brockman

From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences....

The Long Pursuit

by Roy Morris Jr.

In this compelling narrative, renowned historian Roy Morris, Jr., expertly offers a new angle on two of America's most towering politicians and the intense personal rivalry that transformed both them and the...

Alexis de Tocqueville

by Joseph Epstein

Alexis de Tocqueville was among the first foreigners to recognize and trumpet the grandness of the American project. His two-volume classic, Democracy in America, published in 1835, not only offered a vivid...

Love Cemetery

by China Galland

By the eve of the Civil War, there were four million slaves in North America, and Harrison County was the largest slave-owning county in Texas. So when China Galland returned to research her family history there,...

Second Acts

by Stephen M. Pollan & Mark Levine

Second Acts is a guide to reinventing your life. Whether you wish to change careers, move to a more desirable part of the country, start a business, write a novel, or drop everything to pursue a life dream,...

Have a Nice Doomsday: Why Millions of Americans are Looking

by Nicholas Guyatt

In Have a Nice Doomsday, Nicholas Guyatt searches for the truth behind a startling statistic: 50 million Americans have come to believe that the apocalypse will take place in their lifetime. They're convinced...

Beyond Genetics

by Glenn McGee

Genetic science is about to radically alter our lives. Sooner than you can imagine, human beings will be capable of diagnosing their own illnesses, designating the sex of their children, even designing the food...

The People Speak

by Howard Zinn

To celebrate the millionth copy sold of Howard Zinn's great People's History of the United States, Zinn drew on the words of Americans -- some famous, some little known -- across the range of American history....

Tete-a-Tete

by Hazel Rowley

They are one of the world's legendary couples. We can't think of one without thinking of the other. Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre -- those passionate, freethinking existentialist philosopher-writers...

A Broom of One's Own

by Nancy Peacock

For the twice-published novelist, reading an article about herself in the National Enquirer—under the headline "Here's One for the Books: Cleaning Lady Is an Acclaimed Author"—was more than a shock. It was...

A Week in the Zone

by Barry Sears & Deborah Kotz

A national bestseller for more than three years in hardcover, The Zone has introduced millions of people worldwide to a breakthrough approach to dieting based on Novel Prize–winning scientific research. Treating...

Use The News

by Maria Bartiromo

Explaining the methods that have made her -- and her stock picks -- famous, Maria Bartiromo tells investors how to use hot information to make money in any market, raging bull or lumbering bear. Packed with...

Augustine

by James J. O'Donnell

Saint Augustine -- the celebrated theologian who served as Bishop of Hippo from 396 C.E. until his death in 430 C.E. -- is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world. His autobiography,...

Stupid Wars

by Michael Prince & Ed Strosser

When winners write history, they sometimes "forget" to include their own embarrassing misjudgments. Fortunately, this take-no-prisoners edition of history isn't going to let the winners (or the losers) forget...