Benjamin Franklin : An American Life Editorial Reviews Benjamin Franklin, writes journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson, was that rare Founding Father who would sooner wink at a passer-by than sit still for a formal portrait. What's more, Isaacson relates in this fluent and entertaining biography, the revolutionary leader represents a political tradition that has been all but forgotten today, one that prizes pragmatism over moralism, religious tolerance over fundamentalist rigidity, and social mobility over class privilege. That broadly democratic sensibility allowed Franklin his contradictions, as Isaacson shows. Though a man of lofty principles, Franklin wasn't shy of using sex to sell the newspapers he edited and published; though far from frivolous, he liked his toys and his mortal pleasures; and though he sometimes gave off a simpleton image, he was a shrewd and even crafty politician. Isaacson doesn't shy from enumerating Franklin s occasional peccadilloes and shortcomings, in keepi

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Growing Up: Stories about Growing Up, Meeting Challenges, and Learning from Life Editorial Reviews About the Author Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California. Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Product Details Series: Chicken Soup for the Soul Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul; 1 edition (July 29, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 193509601X ISBN-13: 978-1935096016 Product

Society Of Mind 内容简介 Marvin Minsky -- one of the fathers of computer science and cofounder of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT -- gives a revolutionary answer to the age-old question: "How does the mind work?" Minsky brilliantly portrays the mind as a "society" of tiny components that are themselves mindless. Mirroring his theory, Minsky boldly casts The Society of Mind as an intellectual puzzle whose pieces are assembled along the way. Each chapter -- on a self-contained page -- corresponds to a piece in the puzzle. As the pages turn, a unified theory of the mind emerges, like a mosaic. Ingenious, amusing, and easy to read, The Society of Mind is an adventure in imagination. 编辑推荐 For some artificial intelligence researchers, Minsky's book is too far removed from hard science to be useful. For others, the high-level approach of The Society of Mind makes it a gold mine of ideas waiting to be implemented. The author, one of the undisputed

The Second Curve: Thoughts on Reinventing Society 内容简介 Charles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management including Understanding Organizations and Gods of Management have changed the way we view business. His work on broader issues and trends such as Beyond Certainty has changed the way we view society. In The Second Curve, Handy builds on a life's work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities lie ahead. He looks at current trends in capitalism and asks whether it is a sustainable system. He explores the dangers of a society built on credit. He challenges the myth that remorseless growth is essential. He even asks whether we should rethink our roles in life as students, parents, workers and voters and what the aims of an ideal society of the future should be. Provocative and thoughtful as ever, he sets out the questions we all need to ask ourselves and points us in the direction of some of the a

This Companion is an essential guide to all aspects of the organand its music. It examines in turn the instrument, the player andthe repertoire. The early chapters tell of the instrument's historyand construction, identify the scientific basis of its sounds andthe development of its pitch and tuning, examine the history of theorgan case, and consider the current trends and conflicts withinthe world of organ building. Central chapters investigate thepractical art of learning and playing the organ, introduce thecomplex area of performance practice, and outline the relationshipbetween organ playing and the liturgy of the church. The finalsection explores the vast repertoire of organ music, focusing on aselection of the most important traditions.

Some of the most innovative and spell-binding literature hasbeen written for young people, but only recently has academic studyembraced its range and complexity. This Companion offers astate-of-the-subject survey of English-language children'sliterature from the seventeenth century to the present. Withdiscussions ranging from eighteenth-century moral tales to modernfantasies by J. K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, the Companionilluminates acknowledged classics and many more neglected works.Its unique structure means that equal consideration can be given toboth texts and contexts. Some chapters analyse key themes and majorgenres, including humour, poetry, school stories, and picturebooks. Others explore the sociological dimensions of children'sliterature and the impact of publishing practices. Written byleading scholars from around the world, this Companion will beessential reading for all students and scholars of children'sliterature, offering original readings and new research thatreflects the latest dev

August Strindberg is one of the most enduring ofnineteenth-century dramatists, and is also an internationallyrecognised novelist, autobiographer, and painter. This Companionpresents contributions by leading international scholars ondifferent aspects of Strindberg's highly colourful life and work.The essays focus primarily on his most celebrated plays; theseinclude the Naturalist Dramas, The Father and Miss Julie; theexperimental dramas with which he created a true modernist theatre– To Damascus and A Dream Play; and the Chamber Plays of 1908which, like so much of his work, exerted a powerful influence onmuch later twentieth-century drama. His plays are contextualisedfor what they contribute both to the history of drama anddevelopments in theatre practice, and other essays clarify theenormous importance to these dramas of his other work, most notablythe autobiographical novel Inferno, and his lifelong interest inscience, the occult, sexual politics, and the visual arts. · Includes a detailed ch

This essential guide to etiquette in China will makeembarrassing social blunders a thing of the past! Whether you'retravelling for business or pleasure, whether your stay will be longor short, your visit to China will be more pleasurable andeffective if you understand your host culture and how to workwithin it. "Etiquette Guide to China" will be your very ownpersonal tour guide to the wonders - and potential pratfalls - ofyour time in the Middle Kingdom. How should you address people youmet on your travels? Should you bow or shake hands? How should youbehave if you're out on the town, in the boardroom, or attending awedding?Answers to these questions and many more will make thisbook the most indispensable item you'll carry on your trip. Thisinside look at Chinese social graces explains everything you needto know to be a successful, courteous traveller: hand gestures andbody language; how to address the Chinese; dining and restaurantmanners; gift giving and celebration in China; entering into andunderst

A towering figure in American culture and a globaltwentieth-century icon, Bob Dylan has been at the centre ofAmerican life for over forty years. The Cambridge Companion to BobDylan brings fresh insights into the imposing range of Dylan'screative output. The first Part approaches Dylan's outputthematically, tracing the evolution of Dylan's writing and hisengagement with American popular music, religion, politics, fame,and his work as a songwriter and performer. Essays in Part IIanalyse his landmark albums to examine the consummate artistry ofDylan's most accomplished studio releases. As a writer Dylan hascourageously chronicled and interpreted many of the culturalupheavals in America since World War II. This book will beinvaluable both as a guide for students of Dylan andtwentieth-century culture, and for his fans, providing a set of newperspectives on a much-loved writer and composer.

John Millington Synge was a leading literary figure of the IrishRevival who played a significant role in the founding of Dublin'sAbbey Theatre in 1904. This Companion offers a comprehensiveintroduction to the whole range of Synge's work from well-knownplays like Riders to the Sea, The Well of the Saints and ThePlayboy of the Western World, to his influential prose work TheAran Islands. The essays provide detailed and insightful analysesof individual texts, as well as perceptive reflections on hisengagements with the Irish language, processes of decolonisation,gender, modernism and European culture. Critical accounts oflandmark productions in Ireland and America are also included. Witha guide to further reading and a chronology, this book willintroduce students of drama, postcolonial studies, and Irishstudies as well as theatregoers to one of the most influential andcontroversial dramatists of the twentieth century.