-Titulo Original : Economics Rules The Rights And Wrongs Of The Dismal Science-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Review Economics Rules, by one of the worlds truly great economists, describes in fascinating and incredibly well-written detail what it means to be an economist. In so doing it explains why, and when, economists often get it right, but also why they also frequently go astray. George Akerlof, Nobel laureate in economicsThe best economists make the best methodologists, and Dani Rodrik is both. His Economics Rules is the single best source for explaining the strengths and weaknesses of economics to an outside audience. Tyler Cowen, George Mason University, author of The Great StagnationIn Economics Rules, enjoyment enhances learning, with lessons for economists and non-economists alike indeed, ten commandments for each. The book is a page-turner with every page carrying an important and memorable take-away. Margaret Levi, director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Rethinking economics, from the inside out.In the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession, economics seems anything but a science. In this sharp, masterfully argued book, Dani Rodrik, a leading critic from within, takes a close look at economics to examine when it falls short and when it works, to give a surprisingly upbeat account of the discipline.Drawing on the history of the field and his deep experience as a practitioner, Rodrik argues that economics can be a powerful tool that improves the world but only when economists abandon universal theories and focus on getting the context right. Economics Rules argues that the disciplines much-derided mathematical models are its true strength. Models are the tools that make economics a science.Too often, however, economists mistake a model for the model that applies everywhere and at all times. In six chapters that trace his discipline from Adam Smith to present-day work on globalization, Rodrik shows how diverse situations call for different models. Each model tells a partial story about how the world works. These stories offer wide-ranging, and sometimes contradictory, lessons just as children’s fables offer diverse morals.Whether the question concerns the rise of global inequality, the consequences of free trade, or the value of deficit spending, Rodrik explains how using the right models can deliver valuable new insights about social reality and public policy. Beyond the science, economics requires the craft to apply suitable models to the context.The 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers challenged many economists deepest assumptions about free markets. Rodrik reveals that economists model toolkit is much richer than these free-market models. With pragmatic model selection, economists can develop successful antipoverty programs in Mexico, growth strategies in Africa, and intelligent remedies for domestic inequality.At once a forceful critique and defense of the discipline, Economics Rules charts a path toward a more humble but more effective science. About the Author Dani Rodrik, a prize-winning economist, is the Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvards John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is the author of The Globalization Paradox and Economics Rules...

-Titulo Original : Energy For Future Presidents The Science Behind The Headlines-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: The author of Physics for Future Presidents returns to educate all of us on the most crucial conundrum facing the nation: energy. The near-meltdown of Fukushima, the upheavals in the Middle East, the BP oil rig explosion, and the looming reality of global warming have reminded the president and all U.S. citizens that nothing has more impact on our lives than the supply of and demand for energy. Its procurement dominates our economy and foreign policy more than any other factor. But the “energy question” is more confusing, contentious, and complicated than ever before. We need to know if nuclear power will ever really be safe. We need to know if solar and wind power will ever really be viable. And we desperately need to know if the natural gas deposits in Pennsylvania are a windfall of historic proportions or a false hope that will create more problems than solutions. Richard A. Muller provides all the answers in this must-read guide to our energy priorities now and in the coming years. 50 photographs About the Author Richard A. Muller is professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the best-selling author of Physics for Future Presidents. For his outstanding work in experimental cosmology, he was awarded a 1982 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and also a share of the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the discovery of dark energy...

-Titulo Original : The Euro How A Common Currency Threatens The Future Of Europe-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Review Much more than a demolition job. These chapters are full of constructive proposals - a glimpse of what the ‘rescues’ would have looked like had the troika, perish the thought, hired their critic Stiglitz to design them. Marin Sandbu, Financial Times[Stiglitz] is surely right. Without a radical overhaul of its workings, the euro seems all but certain to fail. The EconomistTerrific and clarifying. Peter Goodman, The New York TimesMany of Mr. Stiglitz’s most damning observations are on target. Wall Street JournalThe euro is a modern tragedy.…As its embarrassments have mounted, its supporters club has teemed with political romantics and Europhile journalists. Stiglitz’s message to such people is that they are inadvertently destroying what they most cherish. Paul Collier, Times Literary SupplementA cogent and urgent argument of compelling interest to economists and policymakers. Kirkus Reviews Can Europe prosper without the euro?In 2010, the 2008 global financial crisis morphed into the “eurocrisis.” It has not abated. The 19 countries of Europe that share the euro currency the eurozone have been rocked by economic stagnation and debt crises. Some countries have been in depression for years while the governing powers of the eurozone have careened from emergency to emergency, most notably in Greece.In The Euro, Nobel Prize-winning economist and best-selling author Joseph E. Stiglitz dismantles the prevailing consensus around what ails Europe, demolishing the champions of austerity while offering a series of plans that can rescue the continent and the world from further devastation.Hailed by its architects as a lever that would bring Europe together and promote prosperity, the euro has done the opposite. As Stiglitz persuasively argues, the crises revealed the shortcomings of the euro. Europe’s stagnation and bleak outlook are a direct result of the fundamental challenges in having a diverse group of countries share a common currency the euro was flawed at birth, with economic integration outpacing political integration. Stiglitz shows how the current structure promotes divergence rather than convergence. The question then is: Can the euro be saved?After laying bare the European Central Bank’s misguided inflation-only mandate and explaining how eurozone policies, especially toward the crisis countries, have further exposed the zone’s flawed design, Stiglitz outlines three possible ways forward: fundamental reforms in the structure of the eurozone and the policies imposed on the member countries; a well-managed end to the single-currency euro experiment; or a bold, new system dubbed the “flexible euro.”With its lessons for globalization in a world economy ever more deeply connected, The Euro is urgent and essential reading. About the Author Joseph E. Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and the best-selling author of Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti- Globalization in the Age of Trump, The Price of Inequality, and Freefall. He was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, chief economist of the World Bank, named by Time as one of the 100 most influential individuals in the world, and now teaches at Columbia University and is chief economist of the Roosevelt Institute...

-Titulo Original : A River Lost The Life And Death Of The Columbia-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: A River Lost is superbly reported and written with clarity, insight, and great skill. Washington Post Book World After a two-decade absence, Washington Post journalist Blaine Harden returned to his small-town birthplace in the Pacific Northwest to follow the rise and fall of the Wests most thoroughly conquered river. Hardens hometown, Moses Lake, Washington, could not have existed without massive irrigation schemes. His father, a Depression migrant trained as a welder, helped build dams and later worked at the secret Hanford plutonium plant. Now he and his neighbors, once considered patriots, stand accused of killing the river. As Blaine Harden traveled the Columbia-by barge, car, and sometimes on foot-his past seemed both foreign and familiar. A personal narrative of rediscovery joined a narrative of exploitation: of Native Americans, of endangered salmon, of nuclear waste, and of a once-wild river now tamed to puddled remains. Part history, part memoir, part lament, this is a brave and precise book, according to the New York Times Book Review. It must not have been easy for Blaine Harden to find himself turning his journalistic weapons against his own heritage, but he has done the conscience of his homeland a great service. Review Hardens bold and well-supported commentary is a welcome addition to the literature of the majestic river. About the Author Blaine Harden, an award-winning journalist, is a contributor to The Economist and a former foreign correspondent for the Washington Post. He lives in Seattle, Washington. From The Washington Post A River Lost is superbly reported and written with clarity, insight, and great skill...

-Titulo Original : Breakout Nations In Pursuit Of The Next Economic Miracles-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: International Bestseller One of Foreign Policys 21 Books to Read in 2012 A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business Book After a decade of rapid growth, the world’s most celebrated emerging markets are poised to slow down. Which countries will rise to challenge them?To identify the economic stars of the future we should abandon the habit of extrapolating from the recent past and lumping wildly diverse countries together. We need to remember that sustained economic success is a rare phenomenon.As an era of easy money and easy growth comes to a close, China in particular will cool down. Other major players including Brazil, Russia, and India face their own daunting challenges and inflated expectations. The new breakout nations will probably spring from the margins, even from the shadows. Ruchir Sharma, one of the world’s largest investors in emerging markets for Morgan Stanley, here identifies which are most likely to leap ahead and why.After two decades spent traveling the globe tracking the progress of developing countries, Sharma has produced a book full of surprises: why the overpriced cocktails in Rio are a sign of revival in Detroit; how the threat of the population bomb came to be seen as a competitive advantage; how an industrial revolution in Asia is redefining what manufacturing can do for a modern economy; and how the coming shakeout in the big emerging markets could shift the spotlight back to the West, especially American technology and German manufacturing.What emerges is a clear picture of the shifting balance of global economic power and how it plays out for emerging nations and for the West. In a captivating exploration studded with vignettes, Sharma reveals his rules on how to spot economic success stories. Breakout Nations is a rollicking education for anyone looking to understand where the future will happen. 12 photographs Review The head of Morgan Stanley’s emerging markets division conducts a brisk worldwide tour in search of new markets ready for takeoff. No first-book jitters for Sharma, longtime columnist for the likes of Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. His smooth, almost chummy style suits him ideally for guiding civilians through the sometimes-arcane thicket of the dismal science, looking for those emerging markets likely to disappoint or exceed expectations in the coming years... Confining his predictions to the near future, Sharma refreshingly comes across as that rare thing Harry Truman once sought: a one-handed economist willing to stake his reputation without resort to “on the other hand” equivocation. For investors looking to place their bets and for general readers looking to understand the global economic landscape in the wake of the Great Recession. Kirkus ReviewsBreakout Nations works best as a compilation of highly illuminating country vignettes similar, say, to Michael Lewis Boomerang... As with Mr. Lewis work on the European crisis, for sheer readability and insight on the various parts of the ongoing developing world drama, I dare say you wont find a better choice. Jonathan Anderson, Wall Street JournalBreakout Nations is basically an investors lonely planet guide to the world for the new century. Bloomberg On the Economy[A] country-by-country tour de force of what makes emerging markets tick. He is an excellent writer with a keen eye for detail and a lyrical prose sense... As with Michael Lewis’ Boomerang on the European crisis, for sheer readability and insight on the various parts of the ongoing emerging drama I daresay you won’t find a better choice. Jon Anderson, Wall Street JournalThis week’s Book of the Week is, Breakout Nations by Ruchir Sharma, one of the world’s leading emerging market investors. This is the best book on global economic trends I’ve read in a while. Fareed Zakaria, CNN GPSMr. Sharma’s intent is to help you find the best places around the world to invest, emphasizing that it will take some work...

-Titulo Original : Essays In Persuasion-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: The essays in this volume show Keyness attempts to influence the course of events by public persuasion over the period of 1919-40. In the light of subsequent history, Essays in Persuasion is a remarkably prophetic volume covering a wide range of issues in political economy. In articles on the Versailles Treaty. John Maynard Keynes foresaw all too clearly that excessive Allied demands for reparations and indemnities would lead to the economic collapse of Germany. In Keyness essays on inflation and deflation, the reader can find ideas that were to become the foundations of his most renowned treatise, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936). With startling accuracy Keynes forecast the economic fluctuations that were to beset the economies of Europe and the United States and even proposed measures which, if heeded at the time, might have warded off an era of world-wide depression. His views on Soviet Russia, on the decline of laissez-faire, and the possibilities of economic growth are as relevant today as when Keynes originally set them forth. About the Author John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) was one of the greatest economic theorists of the twentieth century. He was chairman of the liberal journal of opinion The Nation and economics advisor for more than thirty years to British governments. He wrote several books, including his masterpiece, The General Theory of Employment, Essays in Persuasion, Interest and Money, the two-volume Treatise on Money, and A Tract on Monetary Reform...

-Titulo Original : Breakout Nations In Pursuit Of The Next Economic Miracles-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: International Bestseller One of Foreign Policys 21 Books to Read in 2012 A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Business Book “The best book on global economic trends I’ve read in a while.” Fareed Zakaria, CNN GPS To identify the economic stars of the future we should abandon the habit of extrapolating from the recent past and lumping wildly diverse countries together. We need to remember that sustained economic success is a rare phenomenon. After years of rapid growth, the most celebrated emerging markets Brazil, Russia, India, and China are about to slow down. Which countries will rise to challenge them? In his best-selling book, writer and investor Ruchir Sharma identifies which countries are most likely to leap ahead and why, drawing insights from time spent on the ground and detailed demographic, political, and economic analysis. With a new chapter on America’s future economic prospects, Breakout Nations offers a captivating picture of the shifting balance of global economic power among emerging nations and the West. 12 photographs Review ... it s refreshing to read Breakout Nations, Ruchir Sharma s book on the Bric countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and the rest of the developing world... [H]is book offers a careful view that has little truck with forecasts of the relentless Bric-led rise of the emerging world. A book that combines keen on-the-ground reporting and economic and investment analysis with lively, lucid prose. A primer to guide us... this is a great road-map to the new and better-balanced world in which we will all live, and an encouraging one. At the core of this impressive book is the counter-intuitive argument that the boom of the mid-2000s was a blip in the long historical trend for emerging economies and that the next decade may be one of decelerating. In Sharma s view, the much-hyped decline of the West and emergence of the rest may take a lot longer than optimists would like to believe. Breakout Nations is basically an investors lonely planet guide to the world for the new century. It is really the focus of economic attention around the world. It is a whole new look at which economies are going to be winners and which are going to be losers. --Prannoy Roy, NDTVMr. Sharma s intent is to help you find the best places around the world to invest, emphasizing that it will take some work on your part. There is no better book for country-by-country accounts of emerging markets (and riskier ones called frontier markets). Its strong point is the author s reliance on grassroots experience in each country, avoiding statistical charts. This is among the best books to understand the emerging world and its positive and negative aspects. Sharma matches the brilliance of Thomas L Friedman, author of the widely cited The World is Flat. ... its refreshing to read Breakout Nations, Ruchir Sharmas book on the Bric countries--Brazil, Russia, India, China--and the rest of the developing world... [H]is book offers a careful view that has little truck with forecasts of the relentless Bric-led rise of the emerging world.Breakout Nations works best as a compilation of highly illuminating country vignettes--similar, say, to Michael Lewis Boomerang... As with Mr. Lewis work on the European crisis, for sheer readability and insight on the various parts of the ongoing developing world drama, I dare say you wont find a better choice. --Jonathan AndersonIn Breakout Nations, he takes us on a fascinating gallop through the countries at the edges of the developed world. Not only does he challenge the accepted wisdom--that China and India will motor on, ad infinitum--but he comes up with some surprising candidates for the next decades economic stars.Mr. Sharmas intent is to help you find the best places around the world to invest, emphasizing that it will take some work on your part.The head of Morgan Stanleys emerging markets division conducts a brisk worldwide tour in search of new market...

-Titulo Original : World On The Edge How To Prevent Environmental And Economic Collapse-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: In this urgent time, World on the Edge calls out the pivotal environmental issues and how to solve them now. We are in a race between political and natural tipping points. Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time? These are some of the issues Lester R. Brown skillfully distills in World on the Edge. Bringing decades of research and analysis into play, he provides the responses needed to reclaim our future. Review Lester Brown is one of the pioneers and heroes of global environmentalism. If the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize had been extended to a third recipient, the logical candidate would have been Lester Brown. --E. O. Wilson About the Author Lester R. Brown is the founder of the Earth Policy and Worldwatch Institutes. He has been honored with numerous prizes, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the United Nations Environment Prize, and twenty-five honorary degrees. He lives in Washington, D.C...

-Titulo Original : A Random Walk Down Wall Street The Time-tested Strategy For Successful Investing-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: The best investment guide money can buy, with over 1.5 million copies sold, now fully revised and updated. Especially in the wake of the financial meltdown, readers will hunger for Burton G. Malkiel’s reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free, and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio, A Random Walk Down Wall Street features new material on the Great Recession and the global credit crisis as well as an increased focus on the long-term potential of emerging markets. Malkiel also evaluates the full range of investment opportunities in today’s volatile markets, from stocks, bonds, and money markets to real estate investment trusts and insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets such as gold and collectibles. These comprehensive insights, along with the book’s classic life-cycle guide to investing, chart a course for anyone seeking a calm route through the turbulent waters of the financial markets. From Booklist In the tenth edition of A Random Walk down Wall Street, Malkiel evaluates and emphatically stands by his original investment thesis, that it is extremely rare for an individual investor to consistently beat the stock-market averages. Investors are better off buying and holding an index fund than attempting to buy and sell individual securities or actively managed mutual funds. An index fund which buys and sells all the stocks in a broad stock-market average is likely to outperform professionally managed funds whose high expense charges and large trading costs detract substantially from investor returns. With commentary on numerous investment issues, this readable investment guide for individuals offers information on the full range of new investment products available, the results of current research by academics and other marketplace professionals, and a section on investment strategies for retired investors or those anticipating retirement. This excellent book offers important information for individual investors and is a valuable resource for library patrons. --Mary Whaley Review Do you want to do well in the stock market? Here’s the best advice. Scrape together a few bucks and buy Burton Malkiel’s book. Then take what’s left and put it in an index fund. Los Angeles Times Talk to 10 money experts and you’re likely to hear 10 recommendations for Burton Malkiel’s classic investing book, now in its 10th edition. The Wall Street Journal Not more than half a dozen really good books about investing have been written in the past fifty years. This one may well belong in the classics category. Forbes Magazine A Random Walk has set thousands of investors on a straight path since it was first published in 1973. Even if you read the book then or more recently, a refresher course is probably in order…. A lucid mix of the theoretical and the pragmatic. Chicago Tribune Almost every list of must-read investment books…includes Malkiel’s Random Walk. Booklist If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to improve your personal finances, here’s a suggestion: Instead of picking up one of the scores of new works flooding into bookstores, reread an old one: A Random Walk Down Wall Street. New York Times An engagingly written and wonderfully argued tome. Money Magazine Imagine getting a week-long lesson on investing from someone with the common sense of Benjamin Franklin, the academic and institutional knowledge of Milton Friedman and the practical experience of Warren Buffett. That’s about what awaits you in the latest edition of this must-read by Burton Malkiel. Barrons A must-read for any investor. The Browser About the Author Burton G. Malkiel is the Chemical Bank Chairmans Professor of Economics Emeritus at Princeton University. He is a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers, dean of the Yale School of Management, and has served on...

-Titulo Original : Freefall America, Free Markets, And The Sinking Of The World Economy-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: The New York Times bestseller: A lucid account (New York Times) of the recent financial crisis and the way forward by the Nobel Prize-winning economist, with a new afterword. The Great Recession, as it has come to be called, has impacted more people worldwide than any crisis since the Great Depression. Flawed government policy and unscrupulous personal and corporate behavior in the United States created the current financial meltdown, which was exported across the globe with devastating consequences. The crisis has sparked an essential debate about America’s economic missteps, the soundness of this country’s economy, and even the appropriate shape of a capitalist system. Few are more qualified to comment during this turbulent time than Joseph E. Stiglitz. Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Stiglitz is “an insanely great economist, in ways you can’t really appreciate unless you’re deep into the field” (Paul Krugman, New York Times). In Freefall, Stiglitz traces the origins of the Great Recession, eschewing easy answers and demolishing the contention that America needs more billion-dollar bailouts and free passes to those “too big to fail,” while also outlining the alternatives and revealing that even now there are choices ahead that can make a difference. The system is broken, and we can only fix it by examining the underlying theories that have led us into this new “bubble capitalism.” Ranging across a host of topics that bear on the crisis, Stiglitz argues convincingly for a restoration of the balance between government and markets. America as a nation faces huge challenges in health care, energy, the environment, education, and manufacturing and Stiglitz penetratingly addresses each in light of the newly emerging global economic order. An ongoing war of ideas over the most effective type of capitalist system, as well as a rebalancing of global economic power, is shaping that order. The battle may finally give the lie to theories of a “rational” market or to the view that America’s global economic dominance is inevitable and unassailable. For anyone watching with indignation while a reckless Wall Street destroyed homes, educations, and jobs; while the government took half-steps hoping for a “just-enough” recovery; and while bankers fell all over themselves claiming not to have seen what was coming, then sought government bailouts while resisting regulation that would make future crises less likely, Freefall offers a clear accounting of why so many Americans feel disillusioned today and how we can realize a prosperous economy and a moral society for the future. Review Mr. Stiglitz uses his experience teaching to give the lay reader a lucid account of how overleveraged banks, a shoddy mortgage industry, predatory lending and unregulated trading contributed to the meltdown, and how, in his opinion, ill-conceived rescue efforts may have halted the freefall but have failed to grapple with more fundamental problems…. His prescience lends credibility to his trenchant analysis of the causes of the fiscal meltdown. Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Asks some basic and provocative questions… Freefall is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of the financial crisis. Stiglitz brilliantly analyzes the economic reasons behind the banking collapse, but he goes much further, digging down to the wrongheaded national faith in the power of free markets to regulate themselves and provide wealth for all. Chuck Leddy, Boston Globe As a Nobel Prize winner, member of the cabinet under former President Bill Clinton and chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, Joseph E. Stiglitz has some practical ideas on how to ease the pain of the Great Recession and maybe help prevent the next one. Carl Hartman, Associated Press Freefall is a spirited attack on Wall Street, the free market and the Washington consensus. David Smith, The Times [London] Stiglit...

-Titulo Original : The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations Why Some Are So Rich And Some So Poor-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Readers cannot but be provoked and stimulated by this splendidly iconoclastic and refreshing book. Andrew Porter, New York Times Book Review The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landess acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance. Rich with anecdotal evidence, piercing analysis, and a truly astonishing range of erudition, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is a picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight (Kenneth Arrow) as well as one of the most audaciously ambitious works of history in decades. Maps Review Powerful and lucid…There are few historians who would not be proud to be the author of this book. Eric Hobsbawm, Los Angeles Times Mr. Landes writes with verve and gusto…This is indeed good history. Douglass C. North, Wall Street Journal You cannot even begin to think about problems of economic development and convergence without knowing the story that Landes tells…I know of no better place to start thinking about the wealth and poverty of nations. J. Bradford DeLong, Washington Post Truly wonderful. No question that this will establish David Landes as preeminent in his field and in his time. John Kenneth Galbraith Enormously erudite and provocative…Never less than scintillating, witty, and brilliant. Kirkus Reviews A masterly survey…with verve, broad vision, and a whole series of sharp opinions that he is not shy about stating plainly. Robert Solow A picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight…embodied in a light and vigorous prose which carries the reader along irresistibly. Kenneth Arrow About the Author David S. Landes (1924 2013) was professor emeritus at Harvard University and the author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Bankers and Pashas, The Unbound Prometheus, and Revolution in Time...

-Titulo Original : Vaccine The Controversial Story Of Medicines Greatest Lifesaver-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: A timely, fair-minded and crisply written account. New York Times Book Review Vaccine juxtaposes the stories of brilliant scientists with the industrys struggle to produce safe, effective, and profitable vaccines. It focuses on the role of military and medical authority in the introduction of vaccines and looks at why some parents have resisted this authority. Political and social intrigue have often accompanied vaccination from the divisive introduction of smallpox inoculation in colonial Boston to the 9,000 lawsuits recently filed by parents convinced that vaccines caused their childrens autism. With narrative grace and investigative journalism, Arthur Allen reveals a history illuminated by hope and shrouded by controversy, and he sheds new light on changing notions of health, risk, and the common good. About the Author Arthur Allen has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, Science, and Slate. His books include Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver. He lives in Washington, where he writes about health for Politico...

-Titulo Original : The Influencing Machine Brooke Gladstone On The Media-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Mind-opening, thought-provoking and incredibly timely… An absolutely spectacular read. Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing A million listeners trust NPRs Brooke Gladstone to guide them through the complexities of the modern media. Bursting onto the page in vivid comics by acclaimed artist Josh Neufeld, this brilliant radio personality guides us through two millennia of media history, debunking the notion that The Media is an external force beyond our control and equipping us to be savvy consumers and shapers of the news. two-color illustrations Review It’s easy to imagine The Influencing Machine becoming mandatory reading in journalism classes around the country. Philadelphia Inquirer One of the coolest and most charming book releases of this year. The Atlantic A comic book with zest and brains and it just might help a reader understand the brave new world. The New Yorker A great book. Stephen Colbert About the Author Brooke Gladstone is the host of NPR’s On the Media and former senior editor of All Things Considered. She has won numerous awards for her work including two Peabody Awards and a National Press Club Award. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Josh Neufeld is the author of the New York Times bestseller A. D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and A Few Perfect Hours. He lives in Brooklyn, New York...

-Titulo Original : How Are You Feeling? At The Centre Of The Inside Of The Human Brain-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: A shocking, ethically dubious, disastrously funny, illustrated self-help book about why human beings behave in such peculiar, delightful, and unpleasant ways. The human brain can be a bizarre and disturbing instrument. Thankfully, David Shrigley is prepared to help you with the most vexing aspects of your psyche: alcoholism (“it is terrific fun, of course, but there are problems with it”); mental illness (“unlike a hairdryer, when a brain goes wrong ‘you cannot just throw it in the river and get another one’ ”); and neurology (“We all have internal wiring. Sometimes this wiring comes loose. . . . Check for loose wires and re-fasten them with glue.”). How Are You Feeling? takes readers on a journey between the ears, explaining how the brain decides what is right and wrong and why some people are very charming and others behave like monkeys. Dave Eggers has called Shrigley “probably the funniest gallery-type artist who ever lived.” His side-splitting illustrated handbook questions the stability of self, the meaning of help, and whether that self was ever worth helping. Color throughout From Publishers Weekly This humor book masquerading as a self-help volume is a cartoon guide to your mental problems, and though it doesnt provide much in the way of solutions, its good for some laughs. Shrigley (What the Hell Are You Doing?) is a British fine artist whose work resembles comics usually found taped to refrigerators. Here he tackles such diverse human predicaments as alcoholism (It is terrific fun of course, but there are problems with it), boxing (Kill him), and self-help books (Its hard to tell the good advice from the bad advice. You must guess). Shrigleys primitive, scratchy illustrations and scrawled lettering give the book a homey feel, as if it were his private notebook. A few of the short pieces are laugh-out-loud funny in their dry, acerbic British wit, and readers will be swept away by Shrigleys stream-of-consciousness Zen koans, accompanied by bleak, bare-bones illustration. The humor works best when taken in small doses, but the short texts and doodled art make it difficult not to read the book in a single sitting. (Sept.) Review I have no idea how to describe this book. Maybe this is what it feels like to be mad or maybe just human. Shrigley is an immensely talented graphic artist. These are the beautiful, grotesque insides of his head. Alexander Nazaryan, The Atlantic About the Author David Shrigley has worked as a sculptor, photographer, cartoonist, author, and illustrator, and has shown work in Londons Tate Gallery and in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has directed animated music videos for such artists as Blur and Bonnie Prince Billy. He lives in Glasgow, Scotland...

-Titulo Original : The Case Against Reality Why Evolution Hid The Truth From Our Eyes-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth? Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman grapples with these questions and more over the course of this eye-opening work. Ever since Homo sapiens has walked the earth, natural selection has favored perception that hides the truth and guides us toward useful action, shaping our senses to keep us alive and reproducing. We observe a speeding car and do not walk in front of it; we see mold growing on bread and do not eat it. These impressions, though, are not objective reality. Just like a file icon on a desktop screen is a useful symbol rather than a genuine representation of what a computer file looks like, the objects we see every day are merely icons, allowing us to navigate the world safely and with ease. The real-world implications for this discovery are huge. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see. 40 illustrations; 8 pages of color illustrations Review A masterpiece of logic, rationality, science, and mathematics. Read this book carefully and you will forever change your understanding of reality, both that of the universe and your own self. Deepak Chopra, author of The Healing Self Hoffman’s truly radical theory will force us to ponder reality in a completely different light. Handle with care. Your perception of the world around you is about to be dismantled! Chris Anderson, author of TED Talks Think you know what’s really out there? Read this breathtaking, whistle-stop tour of a book that illuminates all the profound weirdness masked by our experience and assumptions. David Eagleman, best-selling author of The Brain and Incognito A fresh view into who we truly are one that transcends the perceptions that we accept as reality. Hoffman unapologetically takes us down a rabbit hole where we learn that all reality is virtual and that truth lies solely in you, the creator. Rudolph Tanzi, coauthor of Super Brain Captivating and courageous…anyone who reads this book will likely never look at the world the same way again. Hoffman challenges us to rethink some of the most basic foundations of neuroscience and physics, which could prove to be exactly what we need to make progress on the most difficult questions we face about the nature of reality. Annaka Harris, author of Conscious In the mood to have your mind blown? In this fascinating, deeply original, and wonderfully engaging book, Hoffman takes us on a tour of the uncharted territory where cognitive science, fundamental physics, and evolutionary biology meet and where the nature of reality hangs in the balance. You’ll never look at the world or, rather, your interface the same way again. Amanda Gefter, author of Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn Woody Allen once said, ‘I hate reality, but . . . where else can you get a good steak dinner?’ Hoffman turns that joke on its head: What we have always been after is the steak dinner; what we call reality is our best adapted strategy for getting it. Sink your teeth into that! Christopher A. Fuchs, professor of physics, University of Massachusetts Boston This book is a must-read if you want to bring your understanding of ‘reality’ in sync with the way the World is. You are in for some major surprises and mind expanding. A good read that will set you thinking about...

-Titulo Original : The Glass Cage Automation And Us-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: At once a celebration of technology and a warning about its misuse, The Glass Cage will change the way you think about the tools you use every day. In The Glass Cage, best-selling author Nicholas Carr digs behind the headlines about factory robots and self-driving cars, wearable computers and digitized medicine, as he explores the hidden costs of granting software dominion over our work and our leisure. Even as they bring ease to our lives, these programs are stealing something essential from us. Drawing on psychological and neurological studies that underscore how tightly people’s happiness and satisfaction are tied to performing hard work in the real world, Carr reveals something we already suspect: shifting our attention to computer screens can leave us disengaged and discontented. From nineteenth-century textile mills to the cockpits of modern jets, from the frozen hunting grounds of Inuit tribes to the sterile landscapes of GPS maps, The Glass Cage explores the impact of automation from a deeply human perspective, examining the personal as well as the economic consequences of our growing dependence on computers. With a characteristic blend of history and philosophy, poetry and science, Carr takes us on a journey from the work and early theory of Adam Smith and Alfred North Whitehead to the latest research into human attention, memory, and happiness, culminating in a moving meditation on how we can use technology to expand the human experience. Review Nicholas Carr is among the most lucid, thoughtful, and necessary thinkers alive. He’s also terrific company. The Glass Cage should be required reading for everyone with a phone. Jonathan Safran Foer Artificial intelligence has that name for a reason it isn’t natural, it isn’t human. As Nicholas Carr argues so gracefully and convincingly in this important, insightful book, it is time for people to regain the art of thinking. It is time to invent a world where machines are subservient to the needs and wishes of humanity. Don Norman, author of Things that Make Us Smart and Design of Everyday Things, director of the University of California San Diego Design Lab Written with restrained objectivity, The Glass Cage is nevertheless scary as any sci-fi thriller could be. It forces readers to reflect on what they already suspect, but dont want to admit, about how technology is shaping our lives. Like it or not, we are now responsible for the future of this negligible planet circling Sol; books like this one are needed until we develop an appropriate operating manual. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, professor of psychology and management, Claremont Graduate University Engaging, informative …Carr deftly incorporates hard research and historical developments with philosophy and prose to depict how technology is changing the way we live our lives. Publishers Weekly Nick Carr is our most informed, intelligent critic of technology. Since we are going to automate everything, Carr persuades us that we should do it wisely with mindful automation. Carrs human-centric technological future is one you might actually want to live in. Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick for Wired Magazine and author of What Technology Wants Most of us, myself included, are too busy tweeting to notice our march into technological dehumanization. Nicholas Carr applies the brakes for us (and our self-driving cars). Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure Carr brilliantly and scrupulously explores all the psychological and economic angles of our increasingly problematic reliance on machinery and microchips to manage almost every aspect of our lives. A must-read for software engineers and technology experts in all corners of industry as well as everyone who finds himself or herself increasingly dependent on and addicted to gadgets. Booklist, Starred Review Fresh and powerful. Mark Bauerlein, We...

-Titulo Original : Growing A Revolution Bringing Our Soil Back To Life-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A call to action that underscores a common goal: to change the world from the ground up. Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate For centuries, agricultural practices have eroded the soil that farming depends on, stripping it of the organic matter vital to its productivity. Now conventional agriculture is threatening disaster for the world’s growing population. In Growing a Revolution, geologist David R. Montgomery travels the world, meeting farmers at the forefront of an agricultural movement to restore soil health. From Kansas to Ghana, he sees why adopting the three tenets of conservation agriculture ditching the plow, planting cover crops, and growing a diversity of crops is the solution. When farmers restore fertility to the land, this helps feed the world, cool the planet, reduce pollution, and return profitability to family farms. Review A Sand County Almanac of agriculture, a Walden Pond of loam and tilth. Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown and The Ecology of Commerce The insights gleaned add nuance to [Montgomery’s] pointed critiques of agrotechnology and organic farming, but it’s the findings on rapid soil restoration that compel. Nature In his reader-friendly style, Montgomery describes the environmental crossroads at which we stand, and shows us not only the devastation, but the potential solution, that exists right beneath our feet. Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl In the past couple of years, an awful lot of smart people have started talking very seriously about the state of the planet’s soil. If you want to understand what’s at stake, and learn about the exciting possibilities, this book is a fine starting point. Bill McKibben, author of Falter A wonderful read on how to make soil rich and prosperous! Estella B. Leopold, author of Stories from the Leopold Shack: Sand County Revisited This is a such an important book…thanks to those who told me to read it…Everyone interested in what we should eat and how we should farm should read it. James Rebanks, author of The Shepherds Life Brilliant, well researched, eloquent, and deeply hopeful. Denis Hayes, founder of Earth Day Montgomery has the rare talent of making complex scientific topics not only understandable but truly fascinating. Growing a Revolution is both exceptionally enlightening and tremendously enjoyable. Highly recommended reading. Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of Defending Beef and Righteous Porkchop Being a long time ‘doom bat’ regarding the fate of the natural world, Growing a Revolution gave me hope that there is a real possibility of revolutionizing agriculture with the result of growing more food, employing people, and putting carbon back into the ground. Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Montgomery has written another classic. Growing a Revolution is one of the most important books ever written an engaging and revealing service to human society and our planet. Amir Kassam, professor of agriculture, policy and development, University of Reading, UK Growing a Revolution presents a clear-eyed examination of a solution to the challenges we face in feeding the world. A joy to read with the bounce and flow of a great biography. I couldn’t recommend it more. Jerry Harrison, keyboardist and guitarist, Talking Heads From Plato to FDR, from George Washington to Gabe Brown, Montgomery shows how all roads lead to the soil and the potential it holds to redress some of our greatest challenges in the twenty-first century. Woody Tasch, founder of Slow Money and author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing As If Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered About the Author David R. Montgomery is a professor at the University of Washington, a MacArthur Fellow, a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and an internationally recognized authority on ge...

-Titulo Original : The Golden Spruce A True Story Of Myth, Madness, And Greed-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: A tale of obsession so fierce that a man kills the thing he loves most: the only giant golden spruce on earth. When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Northwest, they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbias Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his nights work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell. As vividly as John Krakauer puts readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North Americas last great forest. Review Worthy of comparison to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. . . . A story of the heartbreakingly complex relationship between man and nature. Entertainment Weekly Absolutely spellbinding. William Grimes, New York Times John Vaillant has written a work that will change how many people think about nature. Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm A haunting tale of a good man driven mad by environmental devastation.... [Grant Hadwins] appalling tree surgery is as vividly wrought as one of Patrick OBrians shipboard amputations. Frank Clifford, Los Angeles Times This tragic tale goes right to the heart of the conflicts among loggers, native rights activists, and environmentalists, and induces us to more deeply consider the consequences of our habits of destruction. Donna Seaman, Booklist Vaillant interlaces a well-reported murder mystery with elegantly spun cultural and native history, conjuring the spooky mood of the Northwest forests with the clarity of David Guterson or Jonathan Raban. Bruce Barcott, Outside Make some more space on the shelf of Essential Northwest Books. John Vaillant has crafted a debut book that is a stunning look at this regions history and environment. John Marshall, Seattle Post-Intelligencer From the Back Cover In the tradition of Krakauers Into the Wild, The Golden Spruce tells an astonishing true story of a furious mans obsessive mission against an industrial juggernaut, the struggle of the Haida people to save their world, and the mysterious golden tree that binds them all together. When a kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited Alaskan island just north of the Canadian border, they re-ignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest that made international news. On a winter night in 1997, a logger-turned-activist named Grant Hadwin plunged into the frigid waters of the Yakoun River in the Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw behind him. When he was done, a unique spruce tree -- 50 meters tall and covered with luminous golden needles -- was teetering on its massive stump. The tree, which baffled scientists, was sacred to the Haida on whose land it had stood for over 300 years. It was also beloved by local loggers who singled it out for protection in the midst of vast clear cuts. Since the 1970s, the mist-shrouded archipelago -- one of the continents most pristine and vibrant ecosystems -- has been a battleground with government officials and logging companies squaring off against the Haida and environmental groups. The loss of the mythic golden spruce united loggers, natives and environmentalists in sorrow and outrage. But while heroic efforts were made to revive the tree, Grant Hadwin, the trees confessed killer, disappeared under suspicious circumstances. John Vaillants article on the death of the golden spruce was published in 2002 in The New Yorker, and this book has grown out of it, dramatizing the destruction of a deeply conflicted man and thewilderness he loved; in so doing, it traces the rise, fall and rebirth of the Haida nation, and exposes the logging industry -- the most dangerous land-based job in North America -- from a point of view never explored in contemp...

-Titulo Original : American Small Sailing Craft Their Design, Development And Construction-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: From the author of Yacht Designing and Planning and Boatbuilding: the definitive history and survey of the great classic American small sailing craft. American Small Sailing Craft (originally published 1951) is considered the classic among small-boat builders and historians. In it Chapelle has documented many fast-vanishing working boats, making this the authoritative history of a passing maritime fleet. Illustrated throughout About the Author Howard I. Chapelle (1901-1975) was an American naval architect, and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian Institution. In addition, he authored many books and articles books on maritime history and marine architecture, including Y acht Designing and Planning, Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction, The History of American Sailing Ships,The History of the American Sailing Navy: The Ships and Their Development, American Small Sailing Craft, and many more...

-Titulo Original : Tugboats Illustrated History, Technology, Seamanship-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: A gorgeously detailed guide to the evolution, design, and role of tugboats, from the earliest days of steam to today’s most advanced ocean-going workboats. From river to harbor to ocean, tugboats are among the most ubiquitous but underappreciated craft afloat. Whether maneuvering ships out from between tight harbor finger piers, pushing rafts of forty barges up the Mississippi, towing enormous oil rigs, or just delivering huge piles of gravel to a river port near you, tugs exude a sense of genial strength guided by the wise experience of their crews. We can admire the precision of their coordination, the determination in their movements, the glow of signal lights at night, silently communicating their condition and intentions to vessels nearby. It is nearly impossible not to be intrigued and impressed by the way tugs work. In Tugboats Illustrated, Paul Farrell traces the evolution, design, and role of tugboats, ranging from the first steam-powered tug to today’s hyper-specialized offshore workboats. Through extensive photographs, dynamic drawings, and enlightening diagrams, he explores the development of these hard-working boats, always shaped by the demands of their waterborne environment, by an ever-present element of danger, and by advancements in technology. Whether making impossible turns in small spaces, crashing through huge swells, pushing or pulling or prodding or coaxing or escorting, we come to understand not only what tugs do, but how physics and engineering allow them to do it. From the deck layout of a nineteenth-century sidewheel tug to the mechanics of barge towing whether by humans, mules, steam or diesel engines to the advantages of various types and configurations of propulsion systems, to the operation of an oil rig anchor-handling tug/supply vessel, Tugboats Illustrated is a comprehensive tribute to these beloved workhorses of the sea and their intrepid crews. 300 color photos and drawings About the Author Paul Farrell, an architect with a lifelong enthusiasm for tugboats and the working waterfront, has spent twenty-five years writing and researching his first book. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

-Titulo Original : The Creation An Appeal To Save Life On Earth-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: The book that launched a movement: “Wilson speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all” (Oliver Sacks). Called “one of the greatest men alive” by The Times of London, E. O. Wilson proposes an historic partnership between scientists and religious leaders to preserve Earth’s rapidly vanishing biodiversity. Review A contemporary jeremiad ... at times searing, at times soaring. Tom Levinson, Chicago Tribune Rarely has the divide between secular science and revealed religion been bridged so gracefully. Robert Lee Holtz, Los Angeles Times Book Review The wise and lovely work of a truly learned man. Matthew Scully, New York Times Book Review Beautiful and passionate. David B. Williams, Seattle Times One of our greatest thinkers says we can only rescue the earth by starting with its smallest inhabitants. ... Read this book. The Times (London) If humankind finds a way to live in peace together, and in harmony with nature, E. O. Wilson will have played a unique role in that deliverance. Jeffrey Sachs About the Author Edward O. Wilson (1929-2021) was the author of more than thirty books, including Anthill, Letters to a Young Scientist, and The Conquest of Nature. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Wilson was a professor emeritus at Harvard University and lived with his wife in Lexington, Massachusetts...

-Titulo Original : Boatbuilding A Complete Handbook Of Wooden Boat Construction-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Boatbuilding is a practical handbook and boatshop assistant, designed and written to meet the needs of the builder, covering the complete process of wooden boat construction. The text covers all types of craft from flat-bottom rowboats to ocean cruisers and commercial vessels, and aids the builder in overcoming difficulties and discouraging delays resulting from the lack of easily available information on the practical side of boatbuilding. Boatbuilding gives detailed instructions, with many illustrations, on all phases of boatbuilding written out of actual boatbuilding practice and aids the builder in planning each job in its proper sequence in relation to those that follow. After a chapter discussing the choice of plans suitable for amateur work there are chapters on lofting, the backbone and setting up, flat-bottom hull construction, V-bottom hull construction, round-bottom hull construction, deck framing and building, special construction (plywood, strip planking, lap-strake, diagonal, ribband carvel, canvas), heavy construction, joiner-work, iron-work, and spar making. Each chapter is organized for easy and quick reference, and the book is completely indexed. An added feature is the inclusion of building plans for nineteen boats designed for this book and suitable for amateur building. Illustrated throughout From the Back Cover Boatbuilding is a practical handbook and boatshop assistant, designed and written to meet the needs of the builder, covering the complete process of wooden boat construction. The text covers all types of craft from flat-bottom rowboats to ocean cruisers and commercial vessels, and aids the builder in overcoming difficulties and discouraging delays resulting from the lack of easily available information on the practical side of boatbuilding. Boatbuilding gives detailed instructions, with many illustrations, on all phases of boatbuilding written out of actual boatbuilding practice and aids the builder in planning each job in its proper sequence in relation to those that follow. After a chapter discussing the choice of plans suitable for amateur work there are chapters on lofting, the backbone and setting up, flat-bottom hull construction, V-bottom hull construction, round-bottom hull construction, deck framing and building, special construction (plywood, strip planking, lap-strake, diagonal, ribband carvel, canvas), heavy construction, joiner-work, iron-work, and spar making. Each chapter is organized for easy and quick reference, and the book is completely indexed. An added feature is the inclusion of building plans for nineteen boats designed for this book and suitable for amateur building. About the Author Howard I. Chapelle (1901-1975) was an American naval architect, and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian Institution. In addition, he authored many books and articles books on maritime history and marine architecture, including Y acht Designing and Planning, Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction, The History of American Sailing Ships,The History of the American Sailing Navy: The Ships and Their Development, American Small Sailing Craft, and many more...

-Titulo Original : Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman Conservation Heroes Of The American Heartland-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: Now a feature-length documentary on the Discovery channel narrated by Tom Brokaw. “Lush, gorgeously written…A profoundly hopeful book.” Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award A Kirkus Best Book of 2016 Many of the men and women doing today’s most consequential environmental work restoring America’s grasslands, wildlife, soil, rivers, wetlands, and oceans would not call themselves environmentalists; they would be too uneasy with the connotations of that word. What drives them is their deep love of the land: the iconic terrain where explorers and cowboys, pioneers and riverboat captains forged the American identity. They feel a moral responsibility to preserve this heritage and natural wealth, to ensure that their families and communities will continue to thrive. Unfolding as a journey down the Mississippi River, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman tells the stories of five representatives of this stewardship movement: a Montana rancher, a Kansas farmer, a Mississippi riverman, a Louisiana shrimper, and a Gulf fisherman. In exploring their work and family histories and the essential geographies they protect, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman challenges pervasive and powerful myths about American and environmental values. 6 illustrations; 2 maps Review Miriam Horn weaves a picture of hope from the stories of five Americans whose work places them on the front lines of conservation. Their compelling stories illuminate the complexity of the challenges posed by a changing climate, and teach that the solutions must be grounded in humanity as well as in science. A marvelous and inspiring book. Frederic C. Rich, author of Getting to Green The most powerful, compelling, and eloquent solutions for our problems come from the inside. In this lush, gorgeously written book, Miriam Horn shows men and women preserving the natural world around them not out of an abstract sense of environmentalism, but because they love the land and water, their communities, and way of life. A profoundly hopeful book. Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, co-founder of Solutions Journalism Network Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman showcases the people I consider the real unsung heroes of conservation in America: the landowners themselves. Successful conservation in this country requires leadership by the people closest to the land, not just regulators in Washington, D.C.… Horn’s book should be required reading for everyone who is concerned about how we will sustain American food production and help feed the world while protecting our limited land and water resources. Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation A book of wide-screen vision and pinpoint detail, cinched tight to the middle of the country. With understanding, skill, and passion, Miriam Horn tells the stories of men and women who wrest their living from a varied environment while working hard to preserve it. Her writing is always enlightening, often a delight. Ian Frazier Refreshingly, in what could have been an extremely political title, Horn and her subjects go out of their way to illustrate how it is only through taking an apolitical and far-reaching view of environmental issues that true success can be found…interesting, even revolutionary ways…to approach conservation issues. Booklist (starred review) All of these valiant men and women, writes the author, are fiercely protective of the land and sea and its bounty not only because these delicately balanced ecosystems directly support their livelihoods, but because there is also an enduring love of the land itself and an allegiance to preserve it…An optimistic journal of promise for the future. Kirkus (starred review) Horn’s intimate profiles reveal undervalued environmental change makers while countering popular notions of what it means to be a conservationist. Publishers Weekly Horns prose...

-Titulo Original : The Perfect Vehicle What It Is About Motorcycles-Fabricante : W. W. Norton & Company-Descripcion Original: This book, a polished, winding meditation on the theory and fractiousness of motorcycles, celebrates both their eccentric history and the wary pleasures of touring. The New Yorker In a book that is a must for anyone who has loved a motorcycle (Oliver Sacks), Melissa Pierson captures in vivid, writerly prose the mysterious attractions of motorcycling. She sifts through myth and hyperbole: misrepresentations about danger, about the type of people who ride and why they do so. The Perfect Vehicle is not a mere recitation of facts, nor is it a polemic or apologia. Its vivid historical accounts-the beginnings of the machine, the often hidden tradition of women who ride, the tale of the defiant ones who taunt death on the racetrack-are intertwined with Piersons own story, which, in itself, shows that although you may think you know what kind of person rides a motorcycle, you probably dont. Review From my mother I learned to write prompt thank-you notes for a variety of occasions, Melissa Holbrook Pierson writes. From Mrs. Kings ballroom dancing school I learned a proper curtsy and, believe it or not, what to do if presented with nine eating utensils at the same place setting.... From motorcycles I learned practically everything else. Pierson, an intellectual New Yorker, is open to her own contradictions--she is bold and fearful, a motorcycle-crazed poet with a Ph.D., and these seeming incompatibilities are what make this book so good. She can write equally well about the visceral pleasures of riding and about the pains of heartbreak or her own displeasure with her fears. This is the motorcycle memoir for those who are sick of memoirs--or motorcycles. It is a book for people who dont know what the big deal is about riding, or why the Guggenheim Museum in New York, in a swirl of controversy, would exhibit motorcycles as works of modern art. Riding on a motorcycle can make you feel joyous, powerful, peaceful, frightened, vulnerable, and back out to happy again, Pierson writes, perhaps in the same ten miles. It is life compressed, its own answer to the question, Why? --Maria Dolan Review As Pierson tells us why she loves riding, many who share her passion will often feel themselves nodding, saying, Yeah, she caught it. Andy Solomon, Chicago Tribune The Perfect Vehicle uses motorcycles as a lens for examining risk, freedom, and most surprisingly, relationships between men and women. . . . Pierson comes through brilliantly, crafting her sentences with precision and a sure ear. Ann Marlowe, Village Voice This is an exceptionally sensitive and intelligent book. Robert Pirsig About the Author Melissa Holbrook Pierson is the author of The Perfect Vehicle, The Place You Love Is Gone, Dark Horses and Black Beauties, and The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing and The Secret History of Kindness. She lives in Shokan, New York...