{"title":"David Baker","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Baker’s works traverse a rich landscape of knowledge, blending meticulous historical insight with engaging explorations of science and culture. Readers can expect detailed narratives that illuminate complex topics such as space exploration and world history with clarity and depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the operational intricacies of NASA missions to thought-provoking studies of health, wellness, and the arts, Baker’s books invite readers to engage with subjects that shape our understanding of the world, past and present.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"apollo-13-manual-by-david-baker-9780857333872","title":"Apollo 13 Manual","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn 13 April 1970, Apollo 13 suffered a near-catastrophic explosion. The planned lunar landing was instantly called off, and the new challenge was to get the spacecraft safely back to Earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the carbon dioxide in the three astronauts' exhaled breath threatened to asphyxiate them, the crew improvised a filter device, which had been tested in Mission Control, to make the air breathable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnly hours before hurtling back into the atmosphere did they power up the Apollo spacecraft again—not knowing if it had been fatally damaged in the explosion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHere is the in-depth, inside technical story of how a potential disaster became NASA's finest hour, told by a member of the team working in Mission Control during the crisis to ensure the astronauts' safety.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"David Bateman Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46125125402860,"sku":"9780857333872","price":15.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780857333872.jpg?v=1737516359"},{"product_id":"the-shortest-history-of-the-world-by-david-baker-9781760643614","title":"The Shortest History of the World","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fascinating journey through life, the universe and everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow did time begin? What conditions led to humans evolving on Earth? Will we survive the Anthropocene? And is it really true that we're all made from stars?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Shortest History of the World\u003c\/em\u003e follows the continuum of historical change in the cosmos—from the Big Bang, through the evolution of life, to human history. Combining knowledge from chemistry, biology, and physics with insights from the social sciences and humanities, \u003cem\u003eThe Shortest History of the World\u003c\/em\u003e takes a bird's eye view of 13.8 billion years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this compelling and revealing book, David Baker traces the rise of complexity in the cosmos, from the first atoms to the first life and then to humans and the things we have made. He shows us how simple clumps of hydrogen gas transformed into complex human societies. This approach—Big History—allows us to see beyond the chaos of human affairs to the overall trajectory. Finally, Baker looks at the dramatic and sudden changes we're making to our planet and its biosphere and how history hints at what might come next.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'We have been the dominant species on this planet for the briefest flicker of our history, and until we understand that, we can't reckon meaningfully with the dramatic and sudden changes we're making to our planet and its biosphere.' - John Green\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContents:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART ONE - THE INANIMATE PHASE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eThe Big Bang\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eStars, Galaxies and Complexity\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eOrigin of the Earth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART TWO - THE ANIMATE PHASE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eLife and Evolution\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eExplosions and Extinctions\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003ePrimate Evolution\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART THREE - THE CULTURAL PHASE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eHuman Foragers\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eThe Dawn of Agriculture\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eAgrarian States\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eThe Unification of the World\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eThe Anthropocene\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePART FOUR - THE UNKNOWN PHASE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003eThe Near and Deep Future\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46343704150252,"sku":"9781760643614","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/23823083482814.jpg?v=1744004601"},{"product_id":"nasa-operations-manual-by-david-baker-9781785211157","title":"Nasa Operations Manual","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNasa Operations Manual\u003c\/em\u003e provides, for the first time, a comprehensive manual explaining how NASA works and operates its various programmes, opening the door to NASA facilities across the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe down-to-earth text provides a directory of information on the various facilities, what they do, the technical parameters of their equipment and laboratory assets, and how it all fits together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA full operations description is provided for each of the 13 primary NASA field centres, moving from a historical introduction to sections on each of the sites, and ending with appendices providing reference information on personnel levels, budgets (as a percentage of total US government expenditure each year), a list of NASA Administrators and relevant information.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book offers a fascinating insight into the US agency responsible for the civilian space programme, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853857837292,"sku":"9781785211157","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16726403482823.jpg?v=1759221503"},{"product_id":"transit-by-david-baker-9781324117476","title":"Transit","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe are all human and nonhuman on the move. The poems in \u003cem\u003eTransit\u003c\/em\u003e emerge from just such a walk through the world. In keenly observed verse, David Baker carries us across physical and emotional geographies, moving seamlessly from deep woods, city streets, and creek beds to the contours of his psyche and the larger cultural circumstances that mark off our lives. Several of the poems operate as field notes, drawn from Baker's work assessing bird migrations, streamflow, and geological movements alongside environmental scientists. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause of his ecological orientation, Baker's work is also grounded in a deep sense of home, which is captured in the double meaning of the collection's title. Each piece in the collection acts like the eyepiece of a surveyor's transit-a finely tuned short-range telescope, intricately balanced and calibrated to survey the surrounding geography. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough this lens, Baker pays studied attention to the topographies of the world around us and the terrain of the heart. Both an imaginative point of departure and a love letter to familiar places, \u003cem\u003eTransit\u003c\/em\u003e poses poignant questions about what we seek as we find our way through the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47031912792300,"sku":"9781324117476","price":51.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9db79874cdcbaab4728dd3a76fcd8a73.jpg?v=1764154014"},{"product_id":"sex-by-david-baker-9781760643829","title":"Sex","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe big history of sex from early life to sexbots\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'I hope the reader of this book doesn't blush easily. They're in for a bit of a wild ride . . .'\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow did sex begin? How did it evolve to be so varied and complex in humans? What influence does our genetic ancestry have on our love life today? And what might sex look like in the future?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSex\u003c\/em\u003e traces where all the facets of human sexuality came from, starting at the creation of sex approximately 2 billion years ago and chasing it down our evolutionary family tree—from dinosaurs to primates and the earliest humans—until we arrive at the present, revealing why humanity's baffling array of passions, impulses and fetishes are the way they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the basic chemical process of two microbes sharing DNA to the modern phenomena of Tinder and OnlyFans, author David Baker guides the reader towards a clear understanding of one of the deepest and most abiding forces of human nature. He looks at how sex changed for humans across the foraging, agrarian and modern eras, and how we arrived at a period in history where the present nature of our sex lives has no historical or evolutionary precedent. Baker then looks at the horizon to figure out where current trends may lead us, as humans navigate the brave new world of technology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a revealing and utterly unique insight into history and human behaviour—and the dance between Nature and Nurture in society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a foreword by Simon Whistler\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'This is a well-researched, superbly written, often punchy, sometimes speculative, and always entertaining \"big history\" of the sexual activities that keep all species going from generation to generation ... By describing sexual behaviour at the largest possible scales, Baker helps make sense of the revolutionary changes in sexual behaviour taking place today.' - David Christian, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eOrigin Story\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFuture Stories\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'David Baker's wonderful book offers information, entertainment, and insight.' - Susan Quilliam, co-author of \u003cem\u003eThe Joy of Sex- The Ultimate Revised Edition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082513072364,"sku":"9781760643829","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/49e05318be09a8ea0cebd831bcf86a2c.jpg?v=1765312002"},{"product_id":"swift-by-david-baker-9780393358179","title":"Swift","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Baker, acclaimed for his combination of “visionary scope” (\u003cem\u003eGettysburg Review\u003c\/em\u003e) and “emotional intensity” (\u003cem\u003eGeorgia Review\u003c\/em\u003e), is one of contemporary poetry's most gifted lyric poets. In \u003cem\u003eSwift\u003c\/em\u003e, he gathers poems from eight collections, including his masterful latest, \u003cem\u003eScavenger Loop\u003c\/em\u003e (2015); the prize-winning, intimate travelogues of \u003cem\u003eNever-Ending Birds\u003c\/em\u003e (2009); and the complications of history and home in \u003cem\u003eChangeable Thunder\u003c\/em\u003e (2001). Opening the volume are fifteen new poems that continue Baker's growth in form and voice as he investigates the death of parents, the loss of homeland, and a widening natural history, not only of his beloved Midwest but of the tropical flora and fauna of a Caribbean island.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTogether, these poems showcase the evolution of Baker's distinct eco-poetic conscience, his mastery of forms both erotic and elegiac, and his keen eye for the shifting landscapes of passion, heartbreak, and renewal. With equal curiosity and candor, Baker explores the many worlds we all inhabit—from our most intimate relationships to the wider social worlds of neighbourhoods, villages, and our complex national identity, to the environmental community we all share.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith his dazzling formal restlessness and lifelong devotion to landscapes both natural and human on full display, David Baker demonstrates why he has been called “the most expansive and moving poet to come out of the American Midwest since James Wright” (Marilyn Hacker).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47461441536236,"sku":"9780393358179","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780393358179-swift.jpg?v=1774968500"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/david-baker.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}