Derek Miller

For thousands of years, humans have used machines to accomplish tasks more efficiently and often to complete tasks people simply can't do on their own. Now, modern technology allows inventors to design robots capable of amazing feats that used to seem unthinkable. This cool book examines how automation revolutionized the world in the 1940s and has grown and changed over time. Readers learn how cutting-edge factories use robots, and the latest information about self-driving cars and drones. They'll evaluate the problems that robots solve, like disaster cleanup and exploring uninhabitable areas in outer space. This book also looks at what's next in the field of robotics, including lifelike social robots and advanced machine learning.

At top speeds of more than 250 miles per hour, high-speed trains are designed to carry passengers over long distances quickly and safely. Readers will explore how trains have evolved over time and how special tracks, powerful motors, and physics come together to get travelers where they want to go. Readers are encouraged to think critically about how trains stay on their tracks and how high-speed trains handle extreme friction. They'll be enthralled to learn about new advances like maglev trains, which use magnets to levitate.

Experts in the field of information science, librarians do much more than manage the checking out of books. This guidebook explores how librarians create welcoming, inclusive hubs in our communities and draw on their extensive training to help patrons solve problems, answer questions, and enjoy the world of books and reading. This book features descriptions of the tech tools that librarians use and new technologies available to community members in many libraries, including 3D printers and exciting software.

Experts in the field of information science, librarians do much more than manage the checking out of books. This guidebook explores how librarians create welcoming, inclusive hubs in our communities and draw on their extensive training to help patrons solve problems, answer questions, and enjoy the world of books and reading. This book features descriptions of the tech tools that librarians use and new technologies available to community members in many libraries, including 3D printers and exciting software.

In the nineteenth century, copyright law expanded to include performances of theatrical and musical works. These laws transformed how people made and consumed performances. Exploring precedent-setting litigation on both sides of the Atlantic, this book traces how courts developed definitions of theater and music to suit new performance rights laws. From Gilbert and Sullivan battling to protect The Mikado to Augustin Daly petitioning to control his spectacular 'railroad scene', artists worked with courts to refine vague legal language into clear, functional theories of drama, music, and performance. Through cases that ensnared figures including Lord Byron, Laura Keene, and Dion Boucicault, this book discovers how the law theorized central aspects of performance including embodiment, affect, audience response, and the relationship between scripts and performances. This history reveals how the advent of performance rights reshaped how we value performance both as an artistic medium and as property.

Long before astronauts ventured into space, scientists and philosophers used models to develop theories about Earth and what lies beyond it. This experimentation guide shows students how they too can create models to forge a deep understanding of topics like the scale of the solar system, how eclipses occur, and the cyclic patterns that govern life on our planet. Through the creation of models, readers learn how to develop and test hypotheses and how to represent their findings visually in graphs and charts.

In 1900, seventeen soccer players met at a local restaurant in Munich. Led by Franz John, they signed a document that created FC Bayern Munich. One hundred and twenty years later, FC Bayern Munich is a soccer powerhouse both in Germany and around the world. FC Bayern Munich traces the evolution of Germany's most famous soccer club from local team to global phenomenon. Packed with interesting facts, historical context, and photographs of the club in action, the book provides fans with an in-depth look at the team's triumphs, as well as the many ways the club has worked to bring Germans together in the face of today's polarizing political climate.

As climate change intensifies, it has become more important than ever for students to learn about weather systems and weather patterns. Provide your students with step-by-step instructions for creating models that demonstrate how greenhouse gases get trapped, the importance of the water cycle, and the methods experts use to make weather predictions. Readers are encouraged to refine their models, ask key questions, and synthesize what they've learned.

As climate change intensifies, it has become more important than ever for students to learn about weather systems and weather patterns. Provide your students with step-by-step instructions for creating models that demonstrate how greenhouse gases get trapped, the importance of the water cycle, and the methods experts use to make weather predictions. Readers are encouraged to refine their models, ask key questions, and synthesize what they've learned.

Everything contains energy, which manifests in ways such as motion, sound, light, heat, or electricity. Give your students the opportunity to create illustrative models that engage head-on with this phenomenon and its manifestations in areas like the food cycle, renewable energy, and kinetic and potential energy. This book provides essential background information about energy that is aligned to the NextGen Science Standards while also prompting readers to ask questions, think creatively, and apply what they've learned.

Four thousand years ago, people began collecting crude oil that bubbled up through the earth to make roads and buildings. Today, people refine crude oil for many purposes, not least of all to harness its energy to power modern transportation. This book takes readers through the process of extracting, refining, and selling gasoline and diesel, while discussing how these processes are affected by globalization. It also describes complex ideas like oil reserves, supply and demand, and environmental impacts in an easy-to-follow and engaging way.

Four thousand years ago, people began collecting crude oil that bubbled up through the earth to make roads and buildings. Today, people refine crude oil for many purposes, not least of all to harness its energy to power modern transportation. This book takes readers through the process of extracting, refining, and selling gasoline and diesel, while discussing how these processes are affected by globalization. It also describes complex ideas like oil reserves, supply and demand, and environmental impacts in an easy-to-follow and engaging way.

The world's largest smartphone assembly plant produces nearly 150,000 smartphones a day. Factories specialize in individual components, like cameras, chips, and phone cases, which are designed to fit perfectly together like a puzzle. From sourcing and mining rare earth metals to testing software and hardware, making smartphones is an international affair. This exploration volume describes the process from start to finish and introduces readers to essential social studies concepts like trade and globalization. It clearly demonstrates how these concepts power the science and technology that changes our world.

The world's largest smartphone assembly plant produces nearly 150,000 smartphones a day. Factories specialize in individual components, like cameras, chips, and phone cases, which are designed to fit perfectly together like a puzzle. From sourcing and mining rare earth metals to testing software and hardware, making smartphones is an international affair. This exploration volume describes the process from start to finish and introduces readers to essential social studies concepts like trade and globalization. It clearly demonstrates how these concepts power the science and technology that changes our world.

Sneakers have a long history, but modern technology has revolutionized the production of footwear. From uppers to rubber soles, the different parts of a sneaker work together. This cool volume explores how technology and durable materials join to make shoes for walking, running, and playing.

Baseballs are surprisingly complex. They are made of a variety of materials, including cork, yarn, rubber, and leather, providing baseballs with the aerodynamics required for America's pastime. This fun book explains how the different materials come together to give baseballs their unique characteristics, from bounce to spin.

The question of when to use military force is one of the most difficult that democracies face. What exactly constitutes self-defense and whether to intervene in a humanitarian crisis are questions that can quickly come to define a president's tenure in office. Readers will examine recent examples of military force around the world, whether they were justified, and their controversial legacies.

A book begins as a massive roll of paper. Through high-interest photographs and easy-to-follow text, this volume explores how these rolls of paper are cut, glued, and bound together. Along the way, readers are introduced to key vocabulary and science concepts.

From a graphite core to a metal ferrule that holds the eraser in place, pencils are simple but ingenious tools. Every part of a pencil serves a key role in letting students write, draw, and erase. This narrative shows readers how flat slats of wood are transformed into writing implements used in schools each day.