From backyard miracles to cosmic conundrums, enter the incredible world of Isaac Asimov. Spanning twenty-three years of Asimov's amazing career, these stories display to the full the exhilarating power of one of science fiction's most astonishing writers. Each tale is accompanied by Asimov's own intriguing account of how and why it came to be Darwinian Pool Room (1950) Day of the Hunters (1950) Shah Guido G. (1951) Button, Button (1953) The Monkey's Finger (1953) Everest (1953) The Pause (1954) Let's Not (1954) Each an Explorer (1956) Blank! (1957) Does a Bee Care? (1957) Silly Asses (1958) Buy Jupiter (1976) A Statue for Father (1959) Rain, Rain, Go Away (1959) Founding Father (1965) Exile to Hell (1968) Key Item [Multivac] (1968) The Proper Study (1968) 2430 A.D. (1970) The Greatest Asset (1972) Take a Match (1972) Thiotimoline to the Stars [Thiotimoline 4] (1973) Light Verse (1973)

This book is the fourth of six that describe mysteries solved by the Black Widowers, based on a literary dining club he belonged to known as the Trap Door Spiders. It collects twelve stories by Asimov, together with a general introduction and an afterword following each story by the author. Nine of the stories were previously published; "The Driver," "The Wrong House" and "The Intrusion" are new to this collection. Each story involves the club members' knowledge of trivia. Nearly every story here is about decoding a riddle, each of which provides a clue based on dying or last words, misunderstood words, forgotten words, or withheld words. A few are based on facts that are, perhaps, not generally known to the public Asimov was a frequent writer of popular science and his inclination to explain anything and everything for the general public carried over into other fields, such as history and sociology but all the mysteries play fair with the reader, who is given either enough information to figure out the solution or a satisfying conclusion that is based on previously given facts and personality qualities.

Selected and annotated by Gertrude Himmelfarb, a distinguished historian of Victorian thought, the writings in this volume address a wide range of subjects, including religion, politics, history, science, art, socialism, and feminism, by eminent figures of the Victorian era.

This is the largest collection of limericks ever published, erotic or otherwise. Of the 2750 printed here, none is otherwise. The limerick is the only fixed poetic form native to the English language. "Hickory Dickory Dock" was a limerick remember?), but that was the last time the limerick ever saw a nursery. Don Marquis is reported to have divided limericks into three kinds: "Limericks to be told when ladies are present, limericks to be told when ladies are absent and clergymen are present, and LIMERICKS." Ladies have changed, and so have clergymn, but the LIMERICK, as this collection will attest, is authentic erotic folklore at its most ribald. Arnold Bennett said, in the 1920s, that the best limericks were entirely unprintable. Until now, we might add. For here are printed, for the first time, 2750 NEW LIMERICKS (plus another 100 in the Notes) most of which have never before seen the light of day. From aardvarks to yaks and zebras, every error of mankind-and womankind-is celebrated here in verses of five hilarious yet pathetic lines. Wild, witty, sad and outrageous: Read 'em and weep! Nothing is repeated from THE LIMERICK (First Series) and for good measure an entirely new subject is now presented for the first time, the Science Fiction Limericks that so neatly sum up our Interplanetary Age, still with the same age-old aspirations and inspirations, by means of which the unpardonable now commit the unmentionable. The limerick is the bawdiest thing to happen to an ancient literary form since graffiti were found in Pompeii. Clean limericks were a fad in the mid-1800s, and lasted only five years. Few of them will be found here. But there's an index of Geographical and Personal names, so you can find your real favorites, and a list of subjects, from Buggery to Zoophily and beyond. If you have a favorite, it's here. If you don't have a favorite yet, you soon will.

Publisher's description: History has recorded the horrors of ethnic cleansing, but until now, America's own efforts to create a master race have been largely overlooked. In War Against the Weak, investigative journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller IBM and the Holocaust Edwin Black reveals that eugenics-sham science made up to justify ethnic cleansing-had an incredible foothold in America in the early twentieth century, and was in fact championed and funded by America's social, political, and academic elite. Even more shocking, Black traces the flow of ideas, research, and money from Cold Spring Harbor (Long Island) to Germany, in the process proving that it was America's eugenics program that gave Hitler the scientific justification to escalate his virulent anti-Semitism into all-out genocide. Black's team of dozens of researchers scoured scores of archives in four countries, unearthing some 50,000 documents, which collectively prove that the eugenics agenda was funded by esteemed philanthropies such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Institution; taught at Yale, Harvard, and Princeton; lauded by leading progressive thinkers such as Margaret Sanger, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Woodrow Wilson; and even sanctioned by the U.S. Supreme Court. With this kind of backing, American eugenics was quickly able to move beyond the theoretical in its quest to eliminate social "undesirables," getting cruel and racist laws enacted in 27 U.S. states. Ultimately, more than 60,000 Americans were sterilized against their will, and tens of thousands of others were institutionalized and/or denied the right to marry whom they chose. In the last year or so, governors from five states-Virginia, Oregon, California, North Carolina, and South Carolina-have apologized for their states' official efforts to wipe out their unwanted citizens. Surprisingly, the victims of eugenics weren't limited to the groups that have regularly suffered from prejudice in the U.S.; they were also the poor, epileptics, alcoholics, people who wore glasses, petty criminals, the mentally ill, and those deemed "shiftless." War Against the Weak details how those at the forefront of the movement worked tirelessly to establish the biological rationales for persecution, with the goal of continuously eradicating the "lower tenth" until only a pure Nordic super race remained. To achieve that end, eugenics contaminated many otherwise worthy causes, from the birth control movement to the development of psychology and IQ testing, and beyond.After Nuremberg declared eugenics to be genocide and a crime against humanity, the American eugenics movement did not disappear; it simply went underground, changed its name, and reappeared as "human genetics." War Against the Weak closes by bringing its analysis into the present day, pointing out that our increasing knowledge in the realm of genetic selection and gene-mapping is rife with opportunity for misuse.

On 14 March 1964 Richard Feynman, one of the greatest scientific thinkers of the 20th Century, delivered a lecture entitled 'The Motion of the Planets Around the Sun'. For thirty years this remarkable lecture was believed to be lost. But now Feynman's work has been reconstructed and explained in meticulous, accessible detail, together with a history of ideas of the planets' motions. The result is a vital and absorbing account of one of the fundamental puzzles of science, and an invaluable insight into Feynman's charismatic brilliance.

The economics profession has become a favourite punching bag in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Economists are widely reviled and their influence derided by the general public. Yet their services have never been in greater demand. To unravel the paradox, we need to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of economics. Dani Rodrik argues that the multiplicity of theoretical frameworks - what economists call 'models' that exist side by side is economics' great strength. Economists are trained to hold diverse, possibly contradictory models of the world in their minds. This is what allows them, when they do their job right, to comprehend the world, make useful suggestions for improving it, and to advance their stock of knowledge over time. In short, it is what makes economics a 'science' a different kind of science from physics or some other natural sciences, but a science nonetheless. But syncretism is not a comfortable state of mind, and economists often jettison it for misplaced confidence and arrogance, especially when they confront questions of public policy. Economists are prone to fads and fashions, and behave too often as if their discipline is about the search for the model that works always and everywhere, rather than a portfolio of models. Their training lets them down when it comes to navigating among diverse models and figuring out which one applies where. Ideology and political preferences frequently substitute for analysis in choosing among models.

The Ultimate Guide to Identifying, Treating, and Overcoming Depression and Anxiety Two world-renowned psychiatrists have created a comprehensive and empowering guide to the science and treatment of anxiety and depression. At the heart of their message is the idea that treatment can and must be tailored to the individual and that armed with the right information, patients can get the support they need from their health-care providers. Practical and authoritative, The Peace of Mind Prescription has been unanimously praised as a valuable resource that offers hope to millions of sufferers. Dennis S. Charney, M.D., is the Dean of Research and the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor in the departments of psychiatry, neuroscience, and pharmacology and biochemistry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., is the Reunette W. Harris Professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University's School of Medicine.

"An extraordinary history of the perils and promise of every breath we take" - James Nestor, bestselling author of Breath "Another brilliant work from one of the very best science writers, Air-Borne will leave you agog at the incredible world that floats unseen around us" - Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World -------------------------------------- Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air - and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. In Air-Borne , award-winning New York Times columnist and Baillie Gifford-shortlisted author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments, and meet NASA scientists who send balloons even higher, to search for life in the stratosphere. Zimmer chronicles the dark side of aerobiology with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of biological weapons designed to spread anthrax and smallpox. Air-Borne prompts us to look at the world with new eyes - as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind. Weaving together spellbinding history with the latest reporting on airborne threats to global health, this masterwork makes visible an invisible world.

'This crazy redhead is on to something. Her pink Rambler story alone is worth the price of the book.' -- Elmore Leonard 'Amy Alkon is intellectually promiscuous--and funny as hell.' -- Paleopsychologist Howard Bloom, author of The Lucifer Principle We all just suck it up every day. You leave the house for a latte and somebody'll flip you the bird on your way and force their loud cellphone conversation on you once you're there. It doesn't have to be that way, says award-winning syndicated columnist Amy Alkon. Her hilarious stories of her in-your-face encounters with rude people and businesses will inspire you to stand up to the boors in your own world. Alkon not only gives the offenders a taste of their own medicine, she delves into anthropology, psychology, and behavioral science to figure out why we're rude and how we can stop all the intruding, shoving, and shouting. She ensures that all these rude people get their comeuppance: -Lax parents -Internet bullies -Rude drivers -Negligent businesses -Telemarketing executives -Car thieves -Parking space hogs -That loud jerk in the drugstore line In this funny, ferocious and freewheeling expose, Alkon gives you the tools you need to confront these abusers and restore common courtesy, respect and good manners to society...one chastened cellphone shouter at a time.

When we hear such expressions as feelings of inferiority & insecurity, striving for self-enhancement & power, woman's revolt against her feminine role, the oversolicitous mother, the dethronement of the first-born, the need for affection; when maladjustment is spoken of as self-centeredness, psychological health as other-centeredness; psychiatry as the science of interpersonal relations, neurotic symptoms as ego-defenses & forms of aggression, to mention only a few instances—we are meeting ideas in which Alfred Adler was the pioneer from 1907, the date of his first important publication, until his death in 1937. The purpose of the present volume is to make Adler's contributions to the theory & practice of psychology available in a systematic & at the same time authentic form. To this end we made selections from his writings & organized them with the aim of approximating the general presentation of a college textbook. Because every word in the main body of the work is Adler's, the outcome of our efforts, if we have been successful, should be the equivalent of a textbook by Adler on Individual Psychology, the name which he gave to his system.

Revision of the classic text in the field, adding two new chapters and thoroughly updating all others. The original structure is retained, and the book continues to serve as a combined text/reference.

Counter The Postmodern Turn gathers together in one volume some of the most important statements of the postmodern approach to human studies. In addressing postmodern social theory and emphasising the social role of knowledge, this book abandons the disciplinary boundaries separating the sciences and the humanities. The first collection of its kind, it provides the classic essays of authors such as Lyotard, Haraway, Foucault and Rorty. Contributors include well-known theorists in the fields of sociology, anthropology, women's and gay studies, philosophy, and history.

"In every sense a true and thrilling novel."-- New York Times Book Review The heroic story of resistance during the Armenian genocide. When the Turkish government ordered the deportation of Armenians, several villages in the mountains chose not to obey. Instead, they fortified a plateau on the slopes of Musa Dagh and repelled Turkish soldiers and military police during the summer of 1915 while holding out hope that the warships of the Allies would save them. An international bestseller when first published in 1933, and the first novel in modern times to capture genocide by a state, Franz Werfel's masterpiece brought the world's attention to this devastating crime against humanity and the Armenian people.

"... Tells the gripping, high-stakes story of the CIA through the first quarter of the twenty-first century, revealing how the agency fought to rebuild the espionage powers it lost during the war on terror--and finally succeeded in penetrating the Kremlin. The struggle has life-and-death consequences for America and its allies. The CIA must reclaim its original mission: know thy enemies. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance"-- Provided by publisher.

A hard-hitting look at power dynamics from the first female president of the Harvard Law Review and the author of Making the Case for Yourself offers deep insight into the sexual divide in American culture and politics. 40,000 first printing.

A classic of American politics returns. Sidney Blumenthal's seminal study of contemporary politics describes how the Republican Party built its infrastructure to arrive at the Reagan triumph in the years following Barry Goldwater's defeat and Nixon's cataclysmic resignation in 1974.

"At thirty-six, Sarah Hurwitz was a typical lapsed Jew. On a whim, she attended an introduction to Judaism class and was astonished by what she discovered: thousands of years of wisdom from her ancestors about what it means to be human. That class sparked a journey of discovery that transformed her life. Years later, as Hurwitz wrestled with what it means to be Jewish at a time of rising antisemitism, she wondered: Where had the Judaism she discovered as an adult been all her life? Why hadn't she seen the beauty and depth of her tradition in those dull synagogue services and Hebrew school classes she'd endured as a kid? And why had her Jewish identity consisted of a series of caveats and apologies: I'm Jewish, but not that Jewish . . . I'm just a cultural Jew . . . I'm just like everyone else but with a fun ethnic twist-a dash of neurosis, a touch of gallows humor-a little different, but not in a way that would make anyone uncomfortable. Seeking answers, she went back through time to discover how hateful myths about Jewish power, depravity, and conspiracy have worn a neural groove deep into the world's psyche, shaping not just how others think about Jews, but how Jews think about themselves. She soon realized that the Jewish identity she'd thought was freely chosen was actually the result of thousands of years of antisemitism and two centuries of Jews erasing parts of themselves and their tradition in the hope of being accepted and safe. In As a Jew, Hurwitz documents her quest to take back her Jewish identity, how she stripped away the layers of antisemitic lies that made her recoil from her own birthright and unearthed the treasures of Jewish tradition. With antisemitism raging worldwide, Hurwitz's defiant account of reclaiming the Jewish story and learning to live as a Jew, without apology, has never been timelier or more necessary"-- Provided by publisher.

"In his final book before his death, Primo Levi returns once more to his time at Auschwitz in a moving meditation on memory, resiliency, and the struggle to comprehend unimaginable tragedy. Drawing on history, philosophy, and his own personal experiences, Levi asks if we have already begun to forget about the Holocaust. His last book before his death, Levi returns to the subject that would define his reputation as a writer and a witness. Levi breaks his book into eight essays, ranging from topics like the unreliability of memory to how violence twists both the victim and the victimizer. He shares how difficult it is for him to tell his experiences with his children and friends. He also debunks the myth that most of the Germans were in the dark about the Final Solution or that Jews never attempted to escape the camps. As the Holocaust recedes into the past and fewer and fewer survivors are left to tell their stories, The Drowned and the Saved is a vital first-person testament. Along with Elie Wiesel and Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi is remembered as one of the most powerful and perceptive writers on the Holocaust and the Jewish experience during World War II. This is an essential book both for students and literary readers. Reading Primo Levi is a lesson in the resiliency of the human spirit."--Publisher description.

A powerful portrayal of Jeffrey Sachs's ambitious quest to end extreme global poverty, now a Signal paperback. "The poor you will always have with you," according to Matthew 26:11. But Jeffrey Sachs, economics superstar, special advisor to the Secretary General of the UN and the author of The End of Poverty , vehemently disagrees. In his view, poverty -- especially the extreme deprivation of sub-Saharan Africa -- can easily be eradicated. The vast sums spent in foreign aid over the decades has not come close to alleviating the dire subsistence problems of Africans. Sachs believed he knew the reason: the developed world simply hadn't spent enough. In 2006, Sachs, backed by tens of millions of donor dollars, launched the five-year Millennium Villages Project. Sachs would test his theories in villages in different African countries, then, with each success, scale up until until the program was continent-wide. His first village "make-over" was a small community in Sauri, Kenya, and the immediate effect was encouraging. With that first inkling of success achieved, Sachs rolled out a dozen model Millennium villages in ten countries. For the past six years, Nina Munk has reported deeply on the Project, following Sachs on official trips and listening in on conversations with heads of states, rival organisations and potential donors. And she has immersed herself in the lives of people in two of the remote villages: Ruhiira, in southwest Uganda, and Dertu, in the arid borderland between Kenya and Somalia. Accepting hospitality from these camel herders and smallhold farmers, and sharing in their struggles, Munk came to understand the on-the-ground issues challenging Sachs' one-size-fits-all approach to global poverty. The Idealist is the profound and moving story of what happened when the abstract theories of a brilliant, driven man met messy human reality.