Understand your genetic code and a lot more about evolution, ancestry, health, genomics and epigenetics with a leading consultant from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital who specialises in rare diseases and conditions with a genetic cause. In the big colour graphic layout Haynes Publishing is renowned for, explained simplistically but accurately is the history of DNA discovery, the law of dominance, segregation and independent assortment, inheritance patterns, gametes and zygosity. The DNA molecule is a double helix made up of two strands each containing a backbone of sugar and phosphate. Chromosomes are structures found inside the cell nucleus, tightly coiled strands of DNA, twisted around special proteins called histones. We should each have 46 chromosomes in total, 23 from our mother and 23 from our father. Females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y chromosome. The X chromosome contains about 800 genes and in comparison the Y has only about 70 including the so-called sex-determining genes that makes someone with a Y male. There are sections on sequencing the human genome, genetic disorders, gene editing and outstanding breakthroughs in archaeology and science which are informing us about our past and defining our future. The book tracks DNA's fates in defining many aspects of our lives today, includes practical experiments, DNA in crime investigation, human evolution and medical science and the latest debates on cloning, commercial genetic testing and the microbiome. In this way the book brings together all the fascinating strands of genetic science and how DNA is being mapped, classified, utilised and understood. 160 very large pages, 21.6 x 28cm approx. Hundreds of colour illus. and diagrams and flow charts.

Computers rule the world. Data floods from everything we do. Robots are building our products in factories. Our homes are computerised and we can talk to these digital home assistants, receiving detailed and coherent replies. Behind the scenes, artificial intelligence is making everything work and you cannot live in the modern world without it or being impacted by AI and robots. Every time you make a purchase, AIs are handling your money, checking for fraud, using your data to understand you better, recommending new products. Inside our homes we have smart TVs, computerised fridges, washing machines, central heating, air conditioning systems all AI robotic devices. Decisions about whether we should or should not be accepted for financial products are made by AIs. Our future anti-viral and antibacterial drugs are being designed by AI. Internet connections, utilities and mobile phones are all adjusted by smart AI algorithms that try to optimise supply while minimising waste. The book takes us on a short journey through the strange world of computers, robots and building brains and the surprisingly long life and ups and downs AI has already had. Leading expert Professor J. Bentley breaks down the fast-moving world of computers in the time of automata into 10 pivotal lessons, presenting the reader with the essential information, the origins and motivation behind AI and robotics, the smart algorithms that allow us to build good computers, how computers interpret sensory information and the challenges of emotional intelligence, unpredictable environments and imagination. 192pp, line art and short biographies of important figures such as Michael Maudlin or 'Fuzzy' and his creation, the Lycos web search engine and portal, launched in 1994.

A companion to code 94840 10 Short Lessons in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, here a research scientist in mathematics and astrophysics provides a timely look at the essential lessons learned from our voyages into outer space. In an era of rapidly developing technology and renewed ambition, the 21st century has ushered in an exciting new age of space flight, but what has brought us to this point in our exploration of the universe? Soon space travel will open itself up to paying members of the public and this short and essential guide describes how we will leave the planet, stay alive in space, when to let machines take over, space is big business, the next giant leap which has already begun, the small solar system and coverage of unmanned satellites and the chances of reaching the stars. Glossary, 184pp, line art and other illus.

With a passion for engineering history, John Hannavy has written extensively on railways, steam-powered machines, the history of photography and the Industrial Revolution of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Power without control is unusable power, and long after the invention of the steam engine, finding ways of applying that power to tasks where consistency was of paramount importance was the Holy Grail which many steam engineers sought to find. It was the centrifugal governor which brought precision to the application of steam power, and its story can be traced back to 17th century Holland and Christiaan Huygens' development of both the pendulum clock and system controls for windmills. Governors are still at the heart of sophisticated machinery today, albeit electronic rather than mechanical. As machine speed increased, the governor had to evolve to keep pace with the demands for greater precision. Over 100 British patents were applied for in the 19th century alone for 'improvements' in governor design, many of which could be fitted or retro-fitted to engines from every large manufacturer. This is the first book to deal with the subject, telling the story of the evolution of the original 'spinning-ball' governor from its first appearance to the point where it became a small device entirely enclosed in a housing to keep it clean, and thus hidden from view. Over 200 photographs, engravings, plans and diagrams, one of which is a series of colour photographs of one of the few large mill engines to survive, Wigan's 2500hp Trencher Field Mill Engine and some of the more than 60,000 spindles in operation, all belt-driven from the massive steam engine. Chapters include James Watt Harnessing Steam, Selected Patents 1698-1913, British Governor Makers and Suppliers and Places to See Governors at Work including Showman's Road Locomotive No.3555 the Busy Bee, pumping stations, Twyford Waterworks, the Robey Trust's New Perseverance Ironworks in Tavistock or the shiny red balls of the Armstrong Engines which provided hydraulic power at Ellesmere Port, now the National Waterways Museum. Packed with colour, 160 large pages, 21.6 x 28cm.
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