Most Popular Books by Charles Murray

Long Hard Road: The Lithium-Ion Battery and the Electric Car provides an inside look at the birth of the lithium-ion battery, from its origins in academic labs around the world to its transition to its new role as the future of automotive power. It chronicles the piece-by-piece development of the battery, from its early years when it was met by indifference from industry to its later emergence in Japan where it served in camcorders, laptops, and cell phones. The book is the first to provide a glimpse inside the Japanese corporate culture that turned the lithium-ion chemistry into a commercial product. It shows the intense race between two companies, Asahi Chemical and Sony Corporation, to develop a suitable anode. It also explains, for the first time, why one Japanese manufacturer had to build its first preproduction cells in a converted truck garage in Boston, Massachusetts. Building on that history, Long Hard Road then takes readers inside the auto industry to show how lithium-ion solved the problems of earlier battery chemistries and transformed the electric car into a viable competitor. Starting with the Henry Ford and Thomas Edison electric car of 1914, it chronicles a long list of automotive failures, then shows how a small California car converter called AC Propulsion laid the foundation for a revolution by packing its car with thousands of tiny lithium-ion cells. The book then takes readers inside the corporate board rooms of Detroit to show how mainstream automakers finally decided to adopt lithium-ion. Long Hard Road is unique in its telling of the lithium-ion tale, revealing that the battery chemistry was not the product of a single inventor, nor the dream of just three Nobel Prize winners, but rather was the culmination of dozens of scientific breakthroughs from many inventors whose work was united to create a product that ultimately changed the world.

This is a story of a man living an ordinary life, or so he thought. But reflecting back after seventy-five years, he realized how extraordinary it really was. He knew, like others, the answer to any question is always no until you ask the questions. In high school, his dream was to become a famous DJ. He was a DJ at the time but never really that famous. Then he wanted to be a TV celebrity. He worked in TV but never became world famous. He wanted to become a captain for a major airline, he managed to become a private pilot and that ended there. He wanted to be a meteorologist, study severe storms, hurricanes, and typhoons. He wanted to study all kinds of severe weather, maybe work for the National Hurricane Center. He studied these things, but never worked professionally on it. He had the same dreams of many young men and women. That''s how his life became extraordinary. It''s all in the book and all 100 percent true. Enjoy.

Translucent Building Skins explores the design of innovative building enclosure systems (or skins) in contemporary architecture and their precedents in earlier 20th century modern architecture. The book explores the tectonics, the history and the influence of translucency as a defining characteristic in architecture. Highly illustrated, the book analyzes works by renowned contemporary architects such as Steven Holl, Renzo Piano and Kengo Kuma, situating their designs within a trajectory that includes earlier work by such modern masters as Frank Lloyd Wright, Gordon Bunshaft, and Pierre Chareau.

"In Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture, building-technology historian and architect Scott Murray traces the evolution of the curtain wall, from early skeleton-frame structures of the past to today''s complex and technologically advanced configurations. Presenting twenty-four detailed case studies of exemplary structures completed in the last decade, he reveals the curtain wall as one of the most enduring and malleable concepts of contemporary architecture, capable of adapting intelligently to site constraints, utilizing resources efficiently, and offering unprecedented opportunities for innovations in digital design and fabrication, material detailing, and aesthetic expression." --Book Jacket.

Draws on archival material to chart the complex and often contradictory reactions of leading British missionary organizations to changing imperial realities around the globe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Explores pressures that contributed to the formation of imperial policy during a significant period of the evolution of the British empire, and shows that the leadership of British missionary societies was split between those who wanted to be treated without favoritism by the British government and those who had more aggressive expectations. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A Scottish lost treasures collection of four Scottish poetry anthologies all strongly influenced by the First World War. Bundled by subject matter rather than author, the anthologies complement each other to create a compelling collection to commemorate the anniversary of the First World War. "Palimpsest''s eClassics series, Scottish Lost Treasures, shows us how much poorer Britain''s cultural heritage would be without Scottish writers ... The best example I''ve seen of how curation and presentation can bring old books to new audiences" - The Observer "This strikes me as a fantastic venture, and one I hope will expand further" - Professor Willy Maley, University of Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday

A modern classic--back in print and available again. Originally published in 1988, this book draws on advances in psychology and sociology to explore the fundamental questions of what is meant by "success". Rich in fascinating case studies. Line drawings, graphs and tables.

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This essay challenges the view that that locking up criminals solves nothing and argues that prison works. Also included in this volume are critical responses to the thesis, including international comparisons and consideration of the behaviour of judges.