Full AspenCat Catalog

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro...

While on a camping trip, Ted Kerasote met a dog--a Labrador mix--who was living on his own in the wild. They became attached to each other, and Kerasote decided to name the dog Merle and bring him home. There, he realized that Merle's native intelligence would be diminished by living exclusively in the human world. He put a dog door in his house so Merle could live both outside and in. This portrait of a remarkable dog and his relationship with the...

As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families...

"Scientific methods, tools, and discoveries have shaped modern civilization and created the landscape we've built for ourselves on which to live, work, and play. Tyson shows how an infusion of science and rational thinking renders worldviews deeper and more informed than ever before-and exposes unfounded perspectives and unjustified emotions. With crystalline prose and an abundance of evidence, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette...

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World was a blockbuster bestseller. It spawned three children's books, and is the basis for an upcoming movie. Now Dewey is back, with even more heartwarming moments and life lessons to share. Dewey's Nine Lives offers nine funny, inspiring, and heartwarming stories about amazing felines - including Dewey - all told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom," librarian Vicki Myron.

"Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. Over his lifetime, Black Bart held up at least twenty-nine stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger. Such behavior earned him the title of a true 'gentleman bandit.' His real name was Charles E. Boles, and in the public eye, Charles...

"From Grammy-Award winning music superstar and actor Tim McGraw comes a one-of-a kind lifestyle book that melds his personal fitness transformation story with practical advice to inspire healthy changes in readers' lives. Tim McGraw is as well-known for his unparalleled accomplishments in the entertainment industry as he is for his boundless energy--he is the embodiment of vitality and success. But only a decade ago, he found himself struggling with...

"Heat is the first order threat that drives all other impacts of the climate crisis. And as the temperature rises, it is revealing fault lines in our governments, politics, economy, and values. The hotter it gets, the deeper and wider our fault lines will open. The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. Goodell's...

A gripping, painfully honest, and ultimately inspirational memoir from global superstar and creator of the Red Table Talk series Jada Pinkett Smith. In a media driven landscape that crafts narratives for our celebrities, Smith recounts her story in an intimate conversation with readers. Along the way, she explores her path to accepting her power as a woman, and her discovery that a strong sense of self is every woman's right and saving grace. An impactful...

"The United States is in a fifty-states-wide couples' counseling session, thinking about filing for divorce. But is that really what we want? Can a nation composed of states that are so different possibly hang together? Overstated calls us out state by state, identifying hypocrisies inherent in what we claim to believe and what we actually do. Within a framework of thinking about systems of government, to dead-on observations about the quirks...