Hirst was a working archaeologist in the American midwest, American southwest and, for one heady season, in Mexico, before retiring in 2005 to write freelance science articles on archaeology, primarily for About.com. She loves a good quotation and has collected several hundred over the years. The material in her book come from academic papers and books on archaeology, as well as popular books and novels, movies, comic strips, music, and other pop culture (past and present).

Why am I so cranky in the morning? How effective is multitasking? When do I make the best decisions? Journalist Horstman reveals the answers to these questions and a lot more. She reviews a full day of brainwork by accounting for the mental processes of everyday activities, arranged by hour, beginning with 5 a.m. and "coming to consciousness." Horstman shows how, as hormone and neurotransmitter levels change throughout the day, there may be an optimal time for everything.

What's the difference between a frog and a toad? Turner explains and points out the western spadefoot toad, despite its common name, is actually a frog. The book focuses on Tyrone Hayes and his works trying to save the frogs from their drastic decline. A graduate of Harvard and Berkeley, he has already discovered that the most commonly used pesticides in the U.S. (atrazine) may play a role, as well as loss of habitat and a devastating fungal disease.

Levine is the Huffington Post's "Friendship Doctor," a psychologist, a journalist, and a professor at NYU School of Medicine. Men, jobs, children, personal crises, irreconcilable social gaps — these are just a few of the reasons that may cause a female friendship to end. "No matter what the circumstances, the breakup of a female friendship leaves a woman devastated and asking herself difficult questions," she writes. "Was someone to blame? Is the friendship worth fighting for? How can I prevent this from ever happening again?"