Subjects

A book that aims to tell what happens in the forest, perceived through the five senses and translated into dance, poetry, song, and knowledge.

Through the exploration of forests in Italy and around the world, the author highlights the relationship between humans and trees–a relationship that unfolds in encounters that are sometimes harmonious, sometimes unbalanced, prompting reflection on a complete change of mindset. Originally, the word “forest” derives from “fores stare,” meaning to stay outside–outside the city, the community, and conventions, away from the light of torches, where it was dark, wild, dangerous, where there were wild beasts and bandits. Today, venturing into forests opens up a new dimension, as a place of refuge where one can seek a reconnection between humans and nature.

A fascinating tale about trees, told through the voices of researchers, mountaineers, artists, and naturalists.

With orbits increasingly crowded with satellites, debris and space junk, the use of circum-terrestrial space is in danger of becoming the Wild West of the new millennium.

The overbearing entry of private entrepreneurs into the world of space has multiplied the number of services provided by in-orbit instruments, causing the space economy to grow tumultuously. Orbits are filling up alarmingly, and we are only at the beginning of the proliferation of mega constellations created to provide planet-wide Internet connections. There are no laws to manage the number of satellites in orbit, which are growing at such a dizzying rate that there are fears of real orbital bottlenecks that could cause catastrophic collisions.

We need to extend the concept of sustainable use to the space around us, but also to the other bodies in the solar system, so as not to repeat the same mistakes we have made on the Earth’s surface. Looking further afield, to the Moon and Mars, human settlements will have to respect the ecosystem of celestial bodies. Particular attention must be paid to the risks of biological pollution. Explorers (both human and robotic) risk transporting terrestrial material. Likewise, our handling of extraterrestrial samples requires well-equipped laboratories and continuous surveillance.

Ecological consciousness was also born thanks to images of the Earth from space. Thus we have discovered the beauty and fragility of our planet; now it is time to think about a new space ecology.

A traitorous translation, a capital work in the history of thought and two great scientists: these are the ingredients of Mazzarello’s new book.

The work in question is Darwin’s Origin of Species. The translation is the French one, published in 1862, by Clémence Royer, a liberal and progressive philosopher, which came into the hands of a young Lombroso, a military doctor about to join the expedition to repress banditry in Calabria.

In contact with a harsh and savage world, the scientist was among the first - if not the first - to concretely apply Darwin’s theory to the study of nature in Italy. Having become a professor in Pavia and then in Turin, Lombroso never stopped using evolution as a cognitive tool. From a distant source sprang racial hierarchies, populations, abnormal and criminal behaviour, and the mental inferiority of women.

It is on this basis that Paolo Mazzarello re-reads Lombroso’s anthropological vision, offering an evocative and original interpretation, which also allows him to shed new light on the early spread of Darwinian theories in Europe.

Most of the Nobel Prizes in medicine have been awarded for research on the brain: the story of the winners is the story of great achievements in medicine and the neurobiology over the past hundred years.

How does the brain work? By what mechanisms do neurons receive signals from the world and transform them into sensations, anxieties, emotions, memories, with an electro-chemical communication code employed by all living species? And how does the brain produce hormones that regulate major functions of the body? Life and research of the forty Nobel Prize winners have provided crucial answers to these questions.

Authors recount the discovery and treatment of numerous diseases nervous and mental through a pathway that over the course of the twentieth century and the first two decades of this new millennium has opened Pandora’s box of the previously unknown mechanisms that serve us to think and be conscious.

What makes up the matter that surrounds us? How did planet Earth form? How does the Universe evolve? Three academics, a subatomic physicist, an astrophysicist and a geophysicist, face the challenge to explain reality, going from microcosm to macrocosm.

A book that examines from elementary particles to the stars: to show us that in the structure of matter there is nothing random and that our world is an infinitesimal point in the bottomless spaces of the Universe, among billions of stars. It is all enriched by the latest outcomes of the research project for which Bellini was a Nobel candidate: the Borexino experiment revealed the mystery of the neutrino, explaining why the sun and, in general all stars, shine.

With a foreword by Roberto Battiston, physicist inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Astronautic Federation.

The universe seen from within, according to the laws that govern it, summarised in a few fundamental mathematical formulae.

Beginning with the elementary model of the cosmos, the book goes through the doubts and ideas of the fathers of contemporary physics and cosmology, in a journey from the microcosm to the macrocosm, from Newton’s law of universal gravitation to elementary particles and the expansion of the universe.

The author addresses these issues of physics from a mathematical point of view, complementing his work with numerical examples and historical references to ideas and discoveries that are still valid, but often neglected.

This is a visual and explorative journey where we discover water as a common good and humankind’s right to water, while gaining insights into the eternal conflict for blue gold.

Water is crucial to life as we know it. it is a precious resource that has always been the object of struggles, conflicts and impoverishment.

This book is a modern-day atlas – both thematic and geopolitical, with a strong information-design orientation that raises awareness on the right to water as the future for our planet.

The book contains 14 chapters with signature features, charts and maps that provide precious geopolitical insights into the major criticalities concerning water systems: water cycles; water around us; the great rivers; the great lakes; seas and oceans; climate change; virtual water; farming and water safety; an electric drop; dams; water grabbing and human rights; health and hygiene; bottled water.

This book tells us how to look at, listen to and take care of the woods.

A ranger and an oceanographer explain why it is crucial to protect the balance between humankind and the environment, and how nature has the wondrous ability to regenerate itself. It is a compelling read packed with stunning, exclusive pictures that show us how trees are born, grow and die, and reminds us of what happens when we fail to protect the woods.

For instance, the north-east Vaia storm revealed undeniable signs of a teetering age-old balance, of forests no longer able to cope with environmental factors that have changed drastically over the centuries.

This smooth, fact-filled read takes us on a journey through the complexity of ecosystems, the value of biodiversity and the urgency of environmental issues. It is a crucial book to help us understand the message that the woods are sending us and to restore the magic that trees can generate.

Fifty years after man first set foot on the moon, we can now revisit the greatest space conquests through their protagonists’ own words.
The book features interviews to the astronauts and scientists who spearheaded humankind’s exploration of space, ordered by nationality and stage of the space exploration.
Readers will discover what went on behind each space mission and what people – experts and lay people alike – expected. The interview with Neil Armstrong is a chance to reflect on the state of the space race fifty years later.
The book is a compelling read that stretches as far as today.

Discover and understand the mysteries of matter, the universe and life, and what lies beyond our everyday world.
Science is an endless adventure. Unfortunately, it’s an adventure only scientists get to take part in when in fact, everyone should be aware of the basics of physics, astronomy, biology and neuroscience. For instance, we should all know that the Universe was born at the beginning of time and has been expanding since; that the origin of life on Earth is still unknown but that we all come from very basic organisms that lived on Earth billions of years ago. Popularising the fascinating discoveries of science through straight-forward but scientifically accurate explanations is the mission that drove five internationally renowned scientists to write this book.