内容简介 本书是关于我们如何从科学的视角重新认识这个世界的科普读物，阐述了宇宙、世界、生命科学视角下，对世界本源的认识，并结合生物学、数学、物理学和计算机科学知识，更加细致入微地解释我们观察到的世界中的各类现象。 在这本书中，作者希望表明我们的宇宙不仅仅是一座没有生命、毫无意义的数学机器。在我们真正了解意识和人类思想的奇迹之前，我们能真正了解宇宙吗？为了做到这一点，作者超越了物理世界去寻找答案。对于对生命、宇宙和一切事物的深层问题感到好奇的读者来说，《世界本身》是一本必不可少的读物。
For the student who has already mastered the basic postures,this book addresses itself to the philosophy behind the system ofmovements and to all the variations possible.
Written by an expert on alternative bodywork, this bookpresents techniques for manipulating the soft tissues of the backin a safe, simple manner. The method avoids the high velocity, lowamplitude thrusting techniques employed by chiropractors. Instead,it utilizes the intuitive sense of somatic bodyworkers combinedwith the proven theory and technique of Rolfing to provide safe andeffective treatment. Maitland shows how to elegantly release jointfixations in the spine, sacrum, pelvis, and ribcage by using subtlesoft tissue techniques, rather than the thrusting techniques that"pop" the joints. This gentler kind of individualized Rolfing workis thoroughly described within an explanation of biomechanics,aided by drawings and photographs which depict techniques andanatomy.
When Locke High School opened its doors in 1967, the residentsof Watts celebrated it as a sign of the changes promised by LosAngeles. But four decades later, first-year Teach for Americarecruits Rachelle, Phillip, Hrag, and Taylor are greeted by aschool that looks more like a prison, with bars, padlocks, andchains all over. With little training and experience, these four will be asked toproduce academic gains in students who are among the mostdisadvantaged in the country. Relentless Pursuit lays bare theexperiences of these four teachers to evaluate the strengths andpeculiarities of Teach for America and a social reality that hasbecome inescapable.
The story of the race to the North Pole is told throughmemoirs, letters, ships' logs, and diaries of Arctic explorers,documenting the motives, modes of travel, and remarkable men whoendured the extremes of physical hardship and grim competition,including Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Fridtjof Nans
This highly interdisciplinary book highlights many of the waysin which chemistry plays a crucial role in making life anevolutionary possibility in the universe. Cosmologists and particlephysicists have often explored how the observed laws and constantsof nature lie within a narrow range that allows complexity and lifeto evolve and adapt. Here, these anthropic considerations arediversified in a host of new ways to identify the most sensitivefeatures of biochemistry and astrobiology. Celebrating the classic1913 work of Lawrence J. Henderson, The Fitness of the Environmentfor Life, this book looks at the delicate balance between chemistryand the ambient conditions in the universe that permit complexchemical networks and structures to exist. It will appeal to abroad range of scientists, academics, and others interested in theorigin and existence of life in our universe.
A progressive program for those who want to learn to swim,as well as for swimmers at every level. Katz explains how to swimin detail and offers drills to improve stroke techniques, tops onimproving starts and turns, and a series of progressive workoutsdesigned to increase the athlete's strength and stamina. Linedrawings throughout.
Steven Pinker's riveting, myth-destroying new book reveals how,contrary to popular belief, humankind has become progressively lessviolent, over millenia and decades. Given the images of conflict we see daily on our screens, canviolence really have declined? And wasn't the twentiethcentury the most devastatingly brutal in history? Extraordinarily,however, as Steven Pinker shows, violence within and between societies - both murder and warfare - really has declined fromprehistory to today. We are much less likely to die at someoneelse's hands than ever before. Debunking both the idea of the 'noble savage' and aHobbesian notion of a 'nasty, brutish and short' life, StevenPinker argues that modernity and its cultural institutions aremaking us better people. He ranges over everything from art toreligion, international trade to individual table manners, andshows how life has changed across the centuries and around theworld - not simply through the huge benefits of organizedgovernment, but also because of the ex
“I like the surprise of the curtain going up, revealing what’sbehind it.” –John Schlesinger The British director John Schlesinger was one of the cinema’smost dynamic and influential artists. Now, in Conversations withJohn Schlesinger, acclaimed writer Ian Buruma, Schlesinger’snephew, reveals the director’s private world in a series ofin-depth interviews conducted in the later years of the director’slife. Here they discuss the impact of Schlesinger’s personal life on hisart. As his films so readily demonstrate, Schlesinger is awonderful storyteller, and he serves up fascinating and provocativerecollections of growing up in a Jewish family during World War II,his sexual coming-of-age as a gay man in conformist 1950s England,his emergence as an artist in the “Swinging 60s,” and theroller-coaster ride of his career as one of the most prominentHollywood directors of his time. Schlesinger also discusses his artistic philosophy and approach tofilmmaking, recounting stories from the sets of hi
The first collection of essays from renowned scientist andbest-selling author Richard Dawkins is an enthusiastic declaration,a testament to the power of rigorous scientific examination toreveal the wonders of the world. In these essays Dawkins revisitsthe meme, the unit of cultural information that he named and wroteabout in his groundbreaking work The Selfish Gene. Here also aremoving tributes to friends and colleagues, including a eulogy fornovelist Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to theGalaxy; correspondence with the evolutionary biologist Stephen JayGould; and visits with the famed paleoanthropologists Richard andMaeve Leakey at their African wildlife preserve. The collectionends with a vivid note to Dawkins's ten-year-old daughter,reminding her to remain curious, to ask questions, and to live theexamined life.
A young wife is home alone when the phone rings in "So Help MeGod." Is the strange voice flirting with her from the other end ofthe line her jealous husband laying a trap, or a stranger who knowsentirely too much about her? In "Madison at Guignol" an unhappyfashionista discovers a secret door inside her favorite clothingstore and insists the staff let her enter. But even her feveredimagination cannot anticipate the horror they have been hiding fromher. In these and other gripping and disturbing tales, women areconfronted by the evil around them and surprised by the evil theyfind within themselves. With wicked insight, Joyce Carol Oatesdemonstrates why the females of the species--be they six-year-oldgirls, seemingly devoted wives, or aging mothers--are by naturemore deadly than the males.
Esteemed historians of education David Tyack, Carl Kaestle,Diane Ravitch, James Anderson, and Larry Cuban journey throughhistory and across the nation to recapture the idealism of oureducation pioneers, Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann. We learn how,in the first quarter of the twentieth century, massive immigration,child labor laws, and the explosive growth of cities fueled schoolattendance and transformed public education, and how in the 1950spublic schools became a major battleground in the fight forequality for minorities and women. The debate rages on: Do today'sreforms challenge our forebears' notion of a common school for allAmericans? Or are they our only recourse today? This lavishly illustrated companion book to the acclaimed PBSdocumentary, School, is essential reading for anyone who caresabout public education.
In July 1845, Henry David Thoreau built a small cottage in thewoods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. During the twoyears and two months he spent there, he began to write Walden, achronicle of his communion with nature that became one of the mostinfluential and compelling books in American literature. Since itsfirst publication on August 9, 1854, by Ticknor and Fields, thework has become a classic, beloved for its message of living simplyand in harmony with nature. This edition of Walden featuresexquisite wood engravings by Michel McCurdy, one of America'sleading engravers and woodblock artists. McCurdy's engravings bringthe text to life--and illuminate the spirit of Thoreau's prose.Also included is a foreword by noted author, environmentalist, andnaturalist Terry Tempest Williams who reflects upon Thoreau'smessage that as we explore our world and ourselves, we draw evercloser to the truth of our connectedness.
Escape Your Desk Sentence! Dr. James Levine, one of the country’s top specialists inobesity, says America suffers from “sitting disease.” We spendnearly ten to fifteen hours of our day sitting–in cars, at ourdesks, and in front of the television. The age of electronics andthe Internet has robbed us of the chance to burn up to 1,500 to2,000 calories per day, leaving Americans less active (and muchheavier) than we were thirty years ago. We are facing a humanenergy crisis. What you need, according to this doctor’s orders, is to getmoving, or nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). NEAT is assimple as standing, turning, and bending. Research proves thatdaily NEAT activity burns more calories than a half hour running onthe treadmill. Just by the very act of standing and moving, you canboost your metabolism, lower your blood pressure, and increase yourmental clarity. It’s about using your body as it was meant to beused. Move a Little, Lose a Lot gives you literal step-by-stepinstru
The Vegetarian Way is the vegetarian bible.It is an authoritative， comprehensive， single-source reference bookfor the growing number of people who are embracing a vegetariandiet， as well as for more than 12 million Americans who are alreadycommitted vegetarians.
People decide about political parties by taking into accountthe preferences, values, expectations, and perceptions of theirfamily, friends, colleagues, and neighbours. As most people livewith others, members of their households influence each other'spolitical decisions. How and what they think about politics andwhat they do are the outcomes of social processes. Applying variedstatistical models to data from extensive German and Britishhousehold surveys, this book shows that wives and husbandsinfluence each other; young adults influence their parents,especially their mothers. Wives and mothers sit at the centre ofhouseholds: their partisanship influences the partisanship ofeveryone else, and the others affect them. Politics in householdsinteracts with competition among the political parties to sustainbounded partisanship. People ignore one of the major parties andvary their preference of its major rival over time. Electioncampaigns reinforce these choices.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Healing Your Heart and RebuildingYour Marriage Discovering that your husband has beenunfaithful can be emotionally devastating, leaving you reeling inpain and confusion. But take heart—this survival guide for womenoffers compassionate and practical solutions for coping with theaftermath of an affair. Drawing on their years of experience asprofessional therapists, authors Marcella Bakur Weiner and Armand DiMele explain how to heal the marriage bond andrestore trust between partners. Written with empathy andunderstanding, this book addresses such vital topics as: ·Coming to terms with the sense of loss and betrayal ·Coping with feelings of suspicion and the specter of "the otherwoman" ·Dealing with the children during and after the affair ·Understanding character traits of men who have affairs—and howdifferent women's personalities interact with them ·Finding the best sources of emotional support Also included are helpful exercises for self-healing andredeveloping mutual t
Designed to help parents avoid the miseducation of youngchildren. Dr. Elkind shows us the very real difference between themind of a pre-school child and that of a school age child.
Circle of Greed is the epic story of the rise and fall of BillLerach, once the leading class action lawyer in America and now aconvicted felon. For more than two decades, Lerach threatened,shook down and sued top Fortune 500 companies, including Disney,Apple, Time Warner, and—most famously—Enron. Now, the man whobrought corporate moguls to their knees has fallen prey to the samecorrupt impulses of his enemies, and is paying the price by servingtime in federal prison. If there was ever a modern Greek tragedy about a man and his times,about corporate arrogance and illusions and the scorched-earthtactics to not only counteract corporate America but to beat it atits own game, Bill Lerach's story is it.
Based on a nationwide survey and confidential interviews withmore than three thousand men, bestselling author of For WomenOnly , Shaunti Feldhahn, has written a startling andunprecedented exploration of how men in the workplace tend tothink, which even the most astute women might otherwise miss. In The Male Factor, Feldhahn investigates and quantifies theprivate thoughts that men almost never publicly reveal or admit to,but that every woman will want to know. Never before has an author gotten inside the hearts and minds ofmen in the workplace—from CEOs to managers, from lawyers to factoryworkers—to get a comprehensive and confidential picture of what mencommonly think about their female colleagues, how they viewflextime and equal compensation, what their expected “rules” of theworkplace are, what managing emotion means, and how that lowcut topis perceived. Because the men in the surveys and interviews wereguaranteed anonymity, they talk in a candid and uncensored wayabout their daily interactions
Following up on The Power of Nice, agent-attorney Shapiro andfellow negotiator Jankowski reiterate that book's tenets:Neutralize your emotions and stay rational; Identify the type ofdifficult person; Control the encounter; and Explore options. Usingexamples from their own lives as well as pop culture, they offeranecdotes and tips for analysis. The "situationally difficult"person may be temporarily overreacting, so empathy can be a sureroad to cordial defusion. The "strategically difficult" arecalculating (passive-aggressive, take it or leave it, etc.), butcan be countered if you pleasantly, even humorously make them awareyou're onto their game. The "simply difficult," using power as animperative (irrational, bullying, duplicitous, etc.) are thetoughest, but those facing them must recognize their ownpower—including the option to just walk away, a decision that mustbe approached carefully. While the title may be the best thingabout the book, its tips on steering toward win-win situations aremore than p
Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in 1827, a young musician namedFerdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. Inthose days, it was customary to snip a lock of hair as a keepsake,and this Hiller did a day after Beethoven's death. By the time hewas buried, Beethoven's head had been nearly shorn by the manypeople who similarly had wanted a lasting memento of the great man.Such was his powerful effect on all those who had heard hismusic. For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured Hiller familyrelic, and perhaps was destined to end up sequestered in a bankvault, until it somehow found its way to the town of Gilleleje, inNazi-occupied Denmark, during the darkest days of the Second WorldWar. There, it was given to a local doctor, Kay Fremming, who wasdeeply involved in the effort to help save hundreds of hunted andfrightened Jews. Who gave him the hair, and why? And what was thefate of those refugees, holed up in the attic of Gilleleje'schurch? After Fremming's death, his d
From the bestselling, National Book Award-nominated auhtor ofGenius and Chaos, a bracing new work about the accelerating pace ofchange in today's world. Most of us suffer some degree of "hurry sickness." a malady thathas launched us into the "epoch of the nanosecond," aneed-everything-yesterday sphere dominated by cell phones,computers, faxes, and remote controls. Yet for all the hours,minutes, and even seconds being saved, we're still filling our daysto the point that we have no time for such basic human activitiesas eating, sex, and relating to our families. Written with freshinsight and thorough research, Faster is a wise and witty look at aharried world not likely to slow down anytime soon.
