students over the past three years. Your positive reception has been an incredible encouragement, especially in light of the short life of the Case Files series. It was rewarding to work together with Andre Campbell, the endowed chair of surgical education at...

Cast off the curse of calculus!

Students no longer have anything to fear: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Calculus, Second Edition, is here. Like its predecessor, it was created with an audience of students working toward a non-science related degree in mind. A non-intimidating,...

The brain, more complex than any computer that has ever been invented, is a unique and special organ: It is what makes us human. The science of the brain—neuroscience—has emerged as one of the most exciting fields of research and now occupies a central role as a substrate for clinical medicine. At the heart of...

Any folklorist who saw the 1998 Columbia Pictures film Urban Legend will probably remember the library scene for its depiction of one aspect of folklore research. In this scene the beautiful student Natalie (played by Alicia Witt) suspects that recent campus mayhem was inspired by urban legends, the same kind of stories...

Every mathematician (beginner, amateur, and professional alike) thrills to find simple, elegant solutions to seemingly difficult problems. Such happy resolutions are called ``aha! solutions,'' a phrase popularized by mathematics and science writer Martin Gardner. Aha! solutions are surprising, stunning, and scintillating: they reveal the beauty...

… a splendid book … a good reference for current undergraduates...