Who isn’t fascinated by the sheer size of the universe? Stars offers a straightforward guide to what we know and how we know it—from the Big Bang to star nurseries andto the beginnings of life on planet Earth. Find out why you can’t draw a diagram of the solar system to scale, discover how gravity holds our planet together, and learn why we’re all made of stardust.
 
Included inside:
• season-by-season guide to stargazing
• double-sided star chart covering the northern and southern hemispheres
• pull-out activities, including Test Your Eyesight cards and a “What do you weigh on other planets?” spinning wheel, plus four sheets of stickers

Over the years, vermouth has fallen from grace, but the truth is, without vermouth, your martini is merely an iced vodka or gin. Now, once again, vermouth is being touted as the hottest trend in spirits. It is showing up in copious amounts on the best cocktail menus in the best cocktail lounges around the country. Vermouth has a rich history, deeply intertwined with that of America, and this book offers the first-ever detailed look into the background of this aromatized, fortified wine, as well as vermouth's rise, fall, and comeback in America.

Beginning Amazon Web Services with Node.js teaches any novice Node.js developer to configure, deploy, and maintain scalable small to large scale Node.js applications in Amazon Web Services. Hosting a Node.js application in a production environment usually means turning to PaaS hosting such as Heroku or AppFog, but this approach brings problems. Deploying Node.js directly to AWS solves the problems you encounter in these situations, enabling you to cut out the middle man.

You will begin with a basic RESTful web service in Node.js, using the popular Express.js framework, pre-built and ready to run in your local environment. You will be introduced to the most powerful tools in AWS, and learn how to configure your project to take advantage of them. You will be guided through the steps of getting the various key components to work together on AWS. Through code samples using the AWS JavaScript SDK and tutorials in the AWS console, you will gain the knowledge to incorporate secure user authentication, server auto-scaling, a load balancer, CDN, customized caching behavior, and outage monitoring.

Node.js is single-threaded, and designed to run high input / high output applications, making it ideal for the cloud environment. If your main task is handling a high volume of requests over HTTP / the web, it will scale very well in proportion to the computing power you allocate to it. Amazon Web Services offers a broad set of services that help organizations move faster, lower costs, and scale applications. Trusted by the largest enterprises and start-ups alike, AWS powers a wide variety of workloads across a broad spectrum. If leveraged properly, you can build a Node.js app on AWS which can automatically power itself up to handle a massive volume of traffic, and then scale back down to a lighter configuration when user demand has dropped. Amazon Web Services offers a broad set of services that help organizations move faster, lower costs, and scale applications. Get started with Node.js and AWS using this book today.

This colourful guide will explain the fundamentals of growing plants, whether you are taking a Level 3 RHS, City and Guilds or Edexcel course, are a grower or gardener in the industry, or are just a keen amateur. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book covers the principles that underpin plant production, the use of growing media and crop protection, but with reference also to the same practices in the garden or allotment. With highlighted definitions, key points, and illustrated in full colour, this book will be a useful companion as you progress in the study and practice of horticulture.

Complete with a companion website which includes extended horticultural information, questions and exercises to test your knowledge, syllabus cross-referencing and downloadable tutor and student support materials. Available at www.routledge.com/cw/adams

This colourful guide will introduce you to the fundamentals of horticulture, whether you are taking a Level 2 RHS, City and Guilds or BTEC course, are a keen amateur or seasoned gardener. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book covers the principles that underpin growing plants for the garden and on the allotment, with reference to how these are tackled by professionals. With highlighted definitions, key points, and illustrated in full colour, this book will be a useful companion as you progress in the study and practice of horticulture.

Complete with a companion website which includes extended horticultural information, questions and exercises to test your knowledge, syllabus cross-referencing and downloadable tutor and student support materials. Available at www.routledge.com/cw/adams

Now in Paperback!

Updated and revised to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, Eyewitness World War I takes an in-depth look at the battles fought, the weapons used, and the lives lost. From the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, to life in the trenches, and Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points to the Treaty of Versailles, Eyewitness: World War I highlights the highs and lows of this four year battle in a format appropriate for readers from 8-12 years of age.

For over 25 years, DK's Eyewitness books have been the most trusted nonfiction series in classrooms, libraries, and homes around the world. In summer 2014 this award-winning series will get a fresh new look both inside and out. The introduction of paperback editions, eye-catching jackets, and updated interiors ensure that the Eyewitness series will continue to be relevant in the ever-changing world of education and remain the go-to source for homework help, research projects, reluctant readers, ESL students, and, as always, to satisfy the minds of curious kids.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.

Now in Paperback!

Discover the war that shaped the modern world in Eyewitness: World War II. From the pre-war rise of Nazi Germany to the start of the war with the invasion of Poland in 1939 to Japan singing the surrender agreement in 1945, all aspects of the deadliest conflict in human history are covered in great detail with content that is accessible and appropriate for young readers.

For over 25 years, DK's Eyewitness books have been the most trusted nonfiction series in classrooms, libraries, and homes around the world. In summer 2014 this award-winning series will get a fresh new look both inside and out. The introduction of paperback editions, eye-catching jackets, and updated interiors ensure that the Eyewitness series will continue to be relevant in the ever-changing world of education and remain the go-to source for homework help, research projects, reluctant readers, ESL students, and, as always, to satisfy the minds of curious kids.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.

Updated and revised to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, Eyewitness World War I takes an in-depth look at the battles fought, the weapons used, and the lives lost. From the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, to life in the trenches, and Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points to the Treaty of Versailles, Eyewitness: World War I highlights the highs and lows of this four year battle in a format appropriate for readers from 8-12 years of age.

For over 25 years, DK's Eyewitness books have been the most trusted nonfiction series in classrooms, libraries, and homes around the world. In summer 2014 this award-winning series will get a fresh new look both inside and out. The introduction of paperback editions, eye-catching jackets, and updated interiors ensure that the Eyewitness series will continue to be relevant in the ever-changing world of education and remain the go-to source for homework help, research projects, reluctant readers, ESL students, and, as always, to satisfy the minds of curious kids.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.

Discover the war that shaped the modern world in Eyewitness: World War II. From the pre-war rise of Nazi Germany to the start of the war with the invasion of Poland in 1939 to Japan singing the surrender agreement in 1945, all aspects of the deadliest conflict in human history are covered in great detail with content that is accessible and appropriate for young readers.

For over 25 years, DK's Eyewitness books have been the most trusted nonfiction series in classrooms, libraries, and homes around the world. In summer 2014 this award-winning series will get a fresh new look both inside and out. The introduction of paperback editions, eye-catching jackets, and updated interiors ensure that the Eyewitness series will continue to be relevant in the ever-changing world of education and remain the go-to source for homework help, research projects, reluctant readers, ESL students, and, as always, to satisfy the minds of curious kids.

Supports the Common Core State Standards.

"How scientists are closer than ever to not only uncovering the mystery of how life was created, but to replicating that moment Within the first billion years after this planet formed, a spark of life spontaneously ignited, turning inanimate chemicals into what we now would recognize as a living thing: a cell. Four billion years later, science has catalogued more than a million species. Science writer Adam Rutherford shows how unprecedented advances in our understanding of life have equipped us with the ability to create entirely new life-forms: goats that produce spider silk in their milk, bacteria that excrete diesel, genetic codes that identify and destroy cancer cells. This new synthetic biology is poised to offer radical new solutions to the crises of food shortage, pandemic disease, and climate change. By charting the history of our evolution, questioning what life really is, and identifying the milestones in our understanding of biological processes, Rutherford shows how this frontier of science will kickstart an industrial revolution that will dominate the rest of this century"--Provided by publisher.

Viewing music as a language, Ockelford, a composer, performer, researcher, and professor of music who has worked with children with special needs in the UK, draws on his research with blind children to propose that autistic children are also affected by an exceptional early cognitive environment (in which musical skills are more likely to flourish), and contends that exceptional musical interests and abilities should be nurtured in these children. He describes the nature of autism, how it is identified, and its main theories; how verbal language works and the features that autistic people find challenging; how music functions, how its abstract patterns make sense, and why these patterns are likely to appeal to children with autism; the nature of musical development and a framework of six stages across three domains of engagement that can be used to plan and deliver music curricula; the development of communication and how musicality corresponds to this, including how music can be used as an augmentative strategy to improve communication and support social development; the impact of early exceptional cognitive environments caused by autism in the context of music; and how to identify and teach children with perfect pitch. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)