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    When someone reads the right book at the right time in his life, it can have a profound effect. Such is the case for the people on this list, who come from all walks of life. These people have singled out a book that they read which had a life-changing effect on them. They, in turn, affected the worlds of science, technology and politics.

1). That Printer Of Udell's—Ronald Reagan

    One book that had a big effect on former President Ronald Reagan as a child was the Christian-book That Printer of Udell's, by Harold Bell Wright. The main character of the book, Dick Falkner, was born into a broken home with an alcoholic father. After losing both of his parents, Falkner moves to a bigger city, called Boyd City to make a living. However, everyone turns Dick down for a job, except for a printer. At the end of the book, Dick heads to Washington, D. C, to become a politician. It's said that the book showed him that good could defeat evil and that the good guys followed a code of morality, which can be seen as a driving factor in his presidency.

2). A Treatise Of Human Nature—Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds of all time. His name is synonymous with brilliance. So, what book had the biggest effect on such an important mind? It was A Treatise of Human Nature, by David Hume, which was published in 1738. Hume was a Scottish philosopher known for his contributions to philosophical skepticism(怀疑论). Einstein mentioned a few times that A Treatise of Human Nature had a large influence on him. He read the book just before coming up with his famous special relativity theory. In a letter, Einstein said that Treatise helped him formulate the ideas. It was like he already had the ideas in his brain, and Hume helped him to express them clearly.

3). The Aeneid—Mark Zuckerberg

    When Mark Zuckerberg first added his likes to his Facebook profile, he put the book Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, as a favorite book. Later, in an interview with The New Yorker, Zuckerberg clarified that the sci-fi classic was one he enjoyed, but it wasn't his favorite. He said that his favorite book is The Aeneid, by Virgil, a Latin epic poem that was written somewhere between 29 - 19 BC about a group of Trojan survivors. Zuckerberg said he first read the book when he was in high school while he was studying Latin and that one thing that stuck with him was Aeneas's drive to follow his fate to build a city that “knows no boundaries in time and greatness".

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    You carry a 1.3 kg mass of fatty material in your head that controls everything you will ever do. This fantastic control center lets you think, learn, create, and feel emotions. It also controls everything your body does. What is this amazing machine? It's your brain — a structure so amazing that the famous scientist James Watson called it ＂the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe＂.

    Imagine your kitten jumped onto the kitchen counter, and was about to step onto a hot stove. You would have only seconds to act. In situations like this, your brain reads the signals from your eyes and quickly calculates when, where and at what speed you need to run to save her. Then it tells your muscles to move. No computer can match your brain's great ability to download, process, and react to the flood of information from your eyes, ears and other sensory organs.

    If a bee lands on your foot, sensory neurons(神经元) in your skin send this information to your brain at a speed of more than 240 kilometers per hour. Your brain then uses motor neurons to send a message back to your foot: Shake the bee off quickly! Motor neurons can send this information at more than 320 kilometers per hour!

    Your brain contains about 100 billion tiny cells: neurons — it would take you more than 3,000 years if you tried to count them all. Whenever you dream, laugh, think, see or move, tiny chemical and electrical signals are racing between these neurons along billions of tiny neuron pathways. Believe it or not, the activity in your brain never stops. Countless messages fly around inside it every second, like a super-fast game of table tennis. Your neurons create and send more messages than all the phones in the entire world. And although a single neuron generates only a tiny amount of electricity, all your neurons together can generate enough electricity to power a light bulb.

    Last summer I got a real taste of Swiss life when I spent six weeks with a host family in the Bernese Alps.

    On arriving in Erlenbach where my host family live,I knew I couldn't have asked for a better setting: it was such a beautiful mountain village.

    And I couldn't have asked for a better host family,either.They made me feel like part of their family,rather than a tourist—I joined in my host family's day-to-day activities,whether helping pick berries in the garden or going to friends' houses.I wasn't only traveling around Europe seeing the major sights,but I lost myself in a different culture.

    While many Swiss cultures are similar to America's,there are lots of differences,too.For example,most Swiss leave their windows open—without screens—all the time.At first I thought all the bugs（虫子）were going to get in and eat me alive,and wondered why they didn't close the windows and turn on the air conditioner.But then I realized there weren't many bugs and I really enjoyed the fresh air.

    Probably my biggest shock was the language.I expected the Swiss to speak German,but they spoke a dialect called Swiss German,which has hardly anything in common with German.At times I was very frustrated（受挫的）because my three years of German did not help,but my bad mood did not last.Anyhow,many people knew English and were extremely willing to speak it.

    Signing up for a cultural exchange was probably the biggest risk I ever took,but it was also the most rewarding. When I left,I promised I would return to Erlenbach.There is more to Switzerland than cheese and watches.

    Their beautiful call suggests the arrival of spring, but the routes taken by cuckoos(杜鹃) during their annual migration(迁徙) have remained a mystery. Now, though, scientists from the British Trust for Omithology(BTO) have revealed the details of their remarkable 10,000-mile journey, with the help of tracking devices.

    Five male birds were caught in Norfolk last May and fitted with satellite-tagged "backpacks" before being released. The scientists then monitored their progress over 12 months as they flew to Africa in the autumn, and returned in the spring.

    The project was carried out to discover why every year fewer of the birds return to Britain. Between 1995 and 2010，the population of cuckoos spending summer here fell by almost half, and the number is continuing to decline. Previously, the lack of information about the cuckoos' long migration has hampered the understanding of how to help conserve the birds.

    Earlier this year, it was reported that cuckoos arrived in the UK much earlier than normal. Their call was recorded by ornithologists(鸟类专家) as early as February, a month ahead of their usual arrival.

    Like all migrating animals, cuckoos respond to the changing seasons. They depend on lush plants to provide the fruit and food for insects that they feed on. This reliance on seasonal patterns means that a changing climate could make an already challenging journey impossible for them.

    We were silently waiting on the platform in the late afternoon. There he was, my 80-year-old grandfather with his silvery hair. And there I was, a teenage girl in my jeans and T-shirt. His aged but still clear blue eyes were taking in the scene as I wondered how I was going to get through the next two days. Why did I ever agree to accompany my cranky grandpa on a train ride from New York to Georgia?

    No one else wanted to be the fellow traveler since my grandfather refused to fly. In contrast, I loved to fly since I wanted to get to the destination as quickly as possible. No matter what anyone told my grandfather about the comfort and safety of flying, he refused to book a flight, saying, "It's not just the trip; it's the adventure of getting there."

    With my first step onto the train, the journey was already different from what I expected. The train was modem and filled with friendly travelers. We settled into the club car, where we could enjoy food and drinks while watching the scenery pass. Instead of listening to my music, I became a willing audience and learned family history that I had never had the time or patience to learn. With teary eyes, he told me that going to family events was hard for him since my grandmother died. It always made him think about those who were no longer with us. For the first time I felt I understood him. I gained a new appreciation for our time together.

    In this fast-paced world, we often miss important moments. There is great significance in listening to elders who offer a piece of their history and experience. I may be more open to opportunities to stay with my grandpa. Life isn't just about the destination; it's about the journey.

    Climate change, pollution, overuse of water and development are killing some of the world's most famous rivers including China's Yangtze. India's Ganges and Africa's Nile. WWF said on Tuesday. At the global launch of its report "World's Top 10 Rivers at Risk", the group said many rivers could dry out. affecting hundreds of millions of people and killing unique aquatic (水生的) life.

    "If these rivers die, millions will lose their livelihoods, biodiversity (生物多样性) will be destroyed on a massive scale, there will be less fresh water and agriculture, resulting in less food security, "said. Rayi Singh, secretary—general of WWF—India. The report, launched ahead of "World Water Day" today, also cited the Rio Grande in. the United States, the Mekong and Indus in Asia, Europe's Danube, La Plata in South America and Australia's Murray—Darling as in need of greater protection.

    Rivers are the world's main source of fresh water and WWF says about half of the available supply is already being used up. Dams have destroyed habitats and cut rivers off from their flood plains, while climate change could affect the seasonal water flows that feed them, the report said. Fish populations, the top source of protein and overall life support for hundreds of thousands of communities worldwide, are also being threatened, it found. The Yangtze basin is one of the most polluted rivers in the world because of decades of heavy industrialization, damming and huge influxes (流入) of sediment (积淀) from land conversion.

    Climate change, including higher temperatures, also means serious consequences for fishery productivity, water supply and political security in Africa's arid Nile basin. Tributaries (支流) flowing into the Ganges are drying up because of irrigation, WWF said.