Life's Devices

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691209499
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Life's Devices by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Life's Devices written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This entertaining and informative book describes how living things bump up against non-biological reality. "My immodest aim," says the author, "is to change how you view your immediate surroundings." He asks us to wonder about the design of plants and animals around us: why a fish swims more rapidly than a duck can paddle, why healthy trees more commonly uproot than break, how a shark manages with such a flimsy skeleton, or how a mouse can easily survive a fall onto any surface from any height. The book will not only fascinate the general reader but will also serve as an introductory survey of biomechanics. On one hand, organisms cannot alter the earth's gravity, the properties of water, the compressibility of air, or the behavior of diffusing molecules. On the other, such physical factors form both constraints with which the evolutionary process must contend and opportunities upon which it might capitalize. Life's Devices includes examples from every major group of animals and plants, with references to recent work, with illustrative problems, and with suggestions of experiments that need only common household materials.

Life's Devices: The Physical World Of Animals And Plants

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Author :
Publisher : Universities Press
ISBN 13 : 9788173713569
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (135 download)

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Book Synopsis Life's Devices: The Physical World Of Animals And Plants by : S Vogel

Download or read book Life's Devices: The Physical World Of Animals And Plants written by S Vogel and published by Universities Press. This book was released on with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have You Ever Wondered About The Design Of Plants And Animals Around Us; Why A Fish Swims More Rapidly Than A Duck Can Paddle, Why Healthy Trees More Commonly Uproot Than Break, How A Shark Manages With Such A Filmsy Skeleton, Or How A Mouse Can Easily Survive A Fall Onto Any Surface From Any Height. This Entertaining And Informative Book Describes How Living Things Bump Up Against Nonbiological Reality; It Aims To Change How You View Your Immediate Surroundings. It Will Not Only Fascinate The General Reader But Will Also Serve As An Introductory Survey Of Biomechanics. Life S Devices Includes Examples From Every Major Group Of Animals And Plants, With References To Recent Work, With Illustrative Problems, And With Suggestions Of Experiments That Need Only Common Household Materials.

Comparative Biomechanics

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400847826
Total Pages : 639 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Comparative Biomechanics by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Comparative Biomechanics written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classic textbook on comparative biomechanics—revised and expanded Why do you switch from walking to running at a specific speed? Why do tall trees rarely blow over in high winds? And why does a spore ejected into air at seventy miles per hour travel only a fraction of an inch? Comparative Biomechanics is the first and only textbook that takes a comprehensive look at the mechanical aspects of life—covering animals and plants, structure and movement, and solids and fluids. An ideal entry point into the ways living creatures interact with their immediate physical world, this revised and updated edition examines how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, considers rules for fluid flow and structural design, and explores how organisms contend with environmental forces. Drawing on physics and mechanical engineering, Steven Vogel looks at how animals swim and fly, modes of terrestrial locomotion, organism responses to winds and water currents, circulatory and suspension-feeding systems, and the relationship between size and mechanical design. He also investigates links between the properties of biological materials—such as spider silk, jellyfish jelly, and muscle—and their structural and functional roles. Early chapters and appendices introduce relevant physical variables for quantification, and problem sets are provided at the end of each chapter. Comparative Biomechanics is useful for physical scientists and engineers seeking a guide to state-of-the-art biomechanics. For a wider audience, the textbook establishes the basic biological context for applied areas—including ergonomics, orthopedics, mechanical prosthetics, kinesiology, sports medicine, and biomimetics—and provides materials for exhibit designers at science museums. Problem sets at the ends of chapters Appendices cover basic background information Updated and expanded documentation and materials Revised figures and text Increased coverage of friction, viscoelastic materials, surface tension, diverse modes of locomotion, and biomimetics

Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds

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Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691138060
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates facets of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. It considers design-determining factors and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures.

The Life of a Leaf

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226859398
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (268 download)

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Book Synopsis The Life of a Leaf by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book The Life of a Leaf written by Steven Vogel and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-17 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its essence, science is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. In The Life of a Leaf, Steven Vogel illuminates this approach, using the humble leaf as a model. Whether plant or person, every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving fascinating ways of challenging those limits. Here, Vogel explains these interactions, examining through the example of the leaf the extraordinary designs that enable life to adapt to its physical world. In Vogel’s account, the leaf serves as a biological everyman, an ordinary and ubiquitous living thing that nonetheless speaks volumes about our environment as well as its own. Thus in exploring the leaf’s world, Vogel simultaneously explores our own. A companion website with demonstrations and teaching tools can be found here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/sites/vogel/index.html

Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People

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Author :
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393352951
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (933 download)

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Book Synopsis Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People written by Steven Vogel and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2000-01-17 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Full of ideas and well-explained principles that will bring new understanding of everyday things to both scientists and non-scientists alike."—R. McNeill Alexander, Nature Nature and humans build their devices with the same earthly materials and use them in the same air and water, pulled by the same gravity. Why, then, do their designs diverge so sharply? Humans, for instance, love right angles, while nature's angles are rarely right and usually rounded. Our technology goes around on wheels—and on rotating pulleys, gears, shafts, and cams—yet in nature only the tiny propellers of bacteria spin as true wheels. Our hinges turn because hard parts slide around each other, whereas nature's hinges (a rabbit's ear, for example) more often swing by bending flexible materials. In this marvelously surprising, witty book, Steven Vogel compares these two mechanical worlds, introduces the reader to his field of biomechanics, and explains how the nexus of physical law, size, and convenience of construction determine the designs of both people and nature. "This elegant comparison of human and biological technology will forever change the way you look at each."—Michael LaBarbera, American Scientist

Vital Circuits

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195082699
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis Vital Circuits by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Vital Circuits written by Steven Vogel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does dust collect on the blades of a fan? Why should you wear support hose on a long airplane flight? Vogel ranges across physics, fluid mechanics, and chemistry to show how an enormous system of pumps and pipes works to keep the human body functioning. Anyone curious about the workings of the body will want to read this book. 64 line drawings.

Life in Moving Fluids

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Life in Moving Fluids by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Life in Moving Fluids written by Steven Vogel and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both a landmark text and reference book, Steven Vogel's Life in Moving Fluids has also played a catalytic role in research involving the applications of fluid mechanics to biology. In this revised edition, Vogel continues to combine humor and clear explanations as he addresses biologists and general readers interested in biological fluid mechanics, offering updates on the field over the last dozen years and expanding the coverage of the biological literature. His discussion of the relationship between fluid flow and biological design now includes sections on jet propulsion, biological pumps, swimming, blood flow, and surface waves, and on acceleration reaction and Murray's law. This edition contains an extensive bibliography for readers interested in designing their own experiments.

Delicious

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691199477
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Delicious by : Rob Dunn

Download or read book Delicious written by Rob Dunn and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature, it has been said, invites us to eat by appetite and rewards by flavor. But what exactly are flavors? Why are some so pleasing while others are not? This book offers new perspectives on why food is enjoyable and how the pursuit of delicious flavors has guided the course of human history. The authors consider the role that flavor may have played in the invention of the first tools, the extinction of giant mammals, the evolution of the world's most delicious and fatty fruits, the creation of beer, and our own sociality

An Immense World

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Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 1473572738
Total Pages : 431 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (735 download)

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Book Synopsis An Immense World by : Ed Yong

Download or read book An Immense World written by Ed Yong and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-06-30 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **Winner of the 2023 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize** Discover the world as you've never seen it before - through the eyes of animals. 'Immersive and mind-blowing' Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving only a tiny sliver of this world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, welcoming us into previously unfathomable dimensions - the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. Showing us that in order to understand our world we don't need to travel to other places; we need to see through other eyes. The perfect Christmas gift for nature lovers. A NEW YORK TIMES, GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST, SPECTATOR, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT and NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR **Winner of 2023 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction** 'Suffused with magic' Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Song of the Cell 'A book that prompts awe at the world around us' Sunday Times

How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls

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Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691169861
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls by : David Hu

Download or read book How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls written by David Hu and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discovering the secrets of animal movement and what they can teach us Insects walk on water, snakes slither, and fish swim. Animals move with astounding grace, speed, and versatility: how do they do it, and what can we learn from them? In How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls, David Hu takes readers on an accessible, wondrous journey into the world of animal motion. From basement labs at MIT to the rain forests of Panama, Hu shows how animals have adapted and evolved to traverse their environments, taking advantage of physical laws with results that are startling and ingenious. In turn, the latest discoveries about animal mechanics are inspiring scientists to invent robots and devices that move with similar elegance and efficiency. Hu follows scientists as they investigate a multitude of animal movements, from the undulations of sandfish and the way that dogs shake off water in fractions of a second to the seemingly crash-resistant characteristics of insect flight. Not limiting his exploration to individual organisms, Hu describes the ways animals enact swarm intelligence, such as when army ants cooperate and link their bodies to create bridges that span ravines. He also looks at what scientists learn from nature’s unexpected feats—such as snakes that fly, mosquitoes that survive rainstorms, and dead fish that swim upstream. As researchers better understand such issues as energy, flexibility, and water repellency in animal movement, they are applying this knowledge to the development of cutting-edge technology. Integrating biology, engineering, physics, and robotics, How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls demystifies the remarkable mechanics behind animal locomotion.

The Study of Plant Life

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Author :
Publisher : Good Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 283 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (596 download)

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Book Synopsis The Study of Plant Life by : Marie Carmichael Stopes

Download or read book The Study of Plant Life written by Marie Carmichael Stopes and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marie Carmichael Stopes's 'The Study of Plant Life' is a seminal work that delves into the intricate world of botany with a keen eye for detail and scientific accuracy. The book is a comprehensive guide to understanding plant anatomy, physiology, and growth behaviors, making it an essential read for students and enthusiasts alike. Stopes's writing style is both informative and engaging, with clear explanations and vivid descriptions that bring the subject matter to life. This book serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to deepen their knowledge of the natural world and appreciate the beauty of plant life in all its forms. Stopes's expertise in botany shines through in this meticulously researched and thoughtfully composed work, making it a timeless classic in the field of plant science. 'The Study of Plant Life' is a must-read for anyone with a passion for botany or a curiosity about the natural world.

Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds

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Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400833868
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds by : Steven Vogel

Download or read book Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds written by Steven Vogel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-24 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds offers an eye-opening look into how the characteristics of the physical world drive the designs of animals and plants. These characteristics impose limits but also create remarkable and subtle opportunities for the functional biology of organisms. In particular, Steven Vogel examines the size and scale, and trade-offs among different physical processes. He pays attention to how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, and he explores the unique constraints and possibilities provided by fluid flow, structural design, and environmental forces. Each chapter of the book investigates a facet of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. Vogel considers design-determining factors all too commonly ignored, and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures. Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds contains a wealth of accessible information related to functional biology, and requires little more than a basic background in secondary-school science and mathematics. Drawing examples from creatures of land, air, and water, the book demonstrates the many uses of biological diversity and how physical forces impact biological organisms.

The Botany of Desire

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Author :
Publisher : Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 0375760393
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (757 download)

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Book Synopsis The Botany of Desire by : Michael Pollan

Download or read book The Botany of Desire written by Michael Pollan and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2002-05-28 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Pollan shines a light on our own nature as well as on our implication in the natural world.” —The New York Times “A wry, informed pastoral.” —The New Yorker The book that helped make Michael Pollan, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Your Mind, Cooked and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, one of the most trusted food experts in America Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?

The Equations of Life

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Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 154164459X
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)

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Book Synopsis The Equations of Life by : Charles S. Cockell

Download or read book The Equations of Life written by Charles S. Cockell and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking argument for why alien life will evolve to be much like life here on Earth We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it's made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn't. In The Equations of Life, biologist Charles S. Cockell makes the forceful argument that the laws of physics narrowly constrain how life can evolve, making evolution's outcomes predictable. If we were to find on a distant planet something very much like a lady bug eating something like an aphid, we shouldn't be surprised. The forms of life are guided by a limited set of rules, and as a result, there is a narrow set of solutions to the challenges of existence. A remarkable scientific contribution breathing new life into Darwin's theory of evolution, The Equations of Life makes a radical argument about what life can -- and can't -- be.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

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Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309214459
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis A Framework for K-12 Science Education by : National Research Council

Download or read book A Framework for K-12 Science Education written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.

Sophie's World

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Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 1466804270
Total Pages : 599 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (668 download)

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Book Synopsis Sophie's World by : Jostein Gaarder

Download or read book Sophie's World written by Jostein Gaarder and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-03-20 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.