Most Popular Books by Ian MacDonald

In this book the Beatles are pinpointed, record by record, in precise and fascinating detail against the backdrop of that vibrant era.

Thin films of conducting materials, such as metals, alloys and semiconductors are currently in use in many areas of science and technology, particularly in modern integrated circuit microelectronics, which require high quality thin films for the manufacture of connection layers, resistors and ohmic contacts. These conducting films are also important for fundamental investigations in physics, radio-physics and physical chemistry.

Here, the author examines gossip as a form of ''verbal grooming'', and as a means of strengthening relationships. He challenges the idea that language developed during male activities such as hunting, and that it was actually amongst women that it evolved.

Leven en werk van de Russische componist (1906-1975).

This book grew from small beginnings as I began to find unexpected patterns emerging from the data in the literature. The more I thought about the way in which primate social systems worked, the more interesting things turned out to be. I am conscious that, at times, this has introduced a certain amount of complexity into the text. I make no apologies for that: what we are dealing with is a complex subject, the product of evolutionary forces interacting with very sophisticated minds. None the less, I have done my best to explain every thing as clearly as I can in order to make the book accessible to as wide an audience as possible. I have laid a heavy emphasis in this book on the use of simple graphical and mathematical models. Their sophistication, however, is not great and does not assume more than a knowledge of elementary probability theory. Since their role will inevitably be misunderstood, I take this opportunity to stress that their function is essentially heuristic rather than explanatory: they are designed to focus our attention on the key issues so as to point out the directions for further research. A model is only as good as the questions it prompts us to ask. For those whose natural inclination is to dismiss modelling out of hand, I can only point to the precision that their use can offer us in terms of hypothesis-testing.

Robin Dunbar asks whether science really is unique to Western culture, even to humankind. He suggests that our "trouble with science" may lie in the fact that evolution has left our minds better able to cope with day-to-day social interaction than with the complexities of the external world.

"This book covers the psychological aspects of human evolution with a table of contents ranging from prehistoric times to modern days. Dunbar focuses on an aspect of evolution that has typically been overshadowed by the archaeological record: the biological, neurological, and genetic changes that occurred with each "transition" in the evolutionary narrative"--

"This book was devised and produced by Multimedia Productions" Includes index.

"e;I hate having no breakfast!"e; cried Baby Bear. "e;I hate making the beds every day!"e; added Mama Bear. "e;And I hate mending broken chairs!"e; said Papa Bear. "e;ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"e; This series is based around famous fairy tales, but not in the form the reader might expect. These tales have been tweaked to enchant and amuse a modern audience, including a princess who prefers frogs to princes, an intergalactic Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks the vandal, a ragtag band of characters forming a superhero league and more. The balanced combination of low word count with imaginative plots ensures that reluctant readers are stimulated and drawn in to stories that they can realistically comprehend, providing much needed confidence going forwards.

Starting in July 1955 and carrying through to the spring of 1956, the Tupper Inquiry, which was investigating the activities of Chief Constable Walter Mulligan and the Vancouver Police Department, was front-page news. Every evening at 6:10 p.m. precisely, virtually every radio that could pick up the signal turned the dial to Jack Webster on CJOR. Could Mulligan really be in cahoots with local bookies? Could Vancouver''s chief constable be a ''top cop on the take?" The Mulligan affair had everything it takes to make headlines: death, graft, bootleggers, bookies, corruption, hookers, gambling, cops and politicians with memory loss and a veiled mystery lady.

Why do people resort to plastic surgery to look young? Why are stepchildren at greatest risk of fatal abuse? Why do we prefer gossip to algebra? Why must Dogon wives live alone in a dark hut for five days a month? Why are young children good at learning language but not sharing? Over the past decade, psychologists and behavioral ecologists have been finding answers to such seemingly unrelated questions by applying an evolutionary perspective to the study of human behavior and psychology. Human Evolutionary Psychology is a comprehensive, balanced, and readable introduction to this burgeoning field. It combines a sophisticated understanding of the basics of evolutionary theory with a solid grasp of empirical case studies. Covering not only such traditional subjects as kin selection and mate choice, this text also examines more complex understandings of marriage practices and inheritance rules and the way in which individual action influences the structure of societies and aspects of cultural evolution. It critically assesses the value of evolutionary explanations to humans in both modern Western society and traditional preindustrial societies. And it fairly presents debates within the field, identifying areas of compatibility among sometimes competing approaches. Combining a broad scope with the more in-depth knowledge and sophisticated understanding needed to approach the primary literature, this text is the ideal introduction to the exciting and rapidly expanding study of human evolutionary psychology.

The Work of Management demonstrates how the concepts, models and tools of Systems Leadership can be applied, enabling you to become a more effective manager by improving your own work to create a more positive and effective organisation. Positive organisations, where people come together to achieve a productive and personally satisfying purpose, and which provide the basis for a good society, do not occur by chance. They are created by the work of leaders and members who are dependent upon the way the organisation is designed and operates – its structure and systems. While the theory is explained, this book primarily presents the practical aspects – the specific values, methods and tools – that can be used to improve work and the work performance of direct reports. Building on the bestselling book Systems Leadership, this book provides leaders with a manual for the application of concepts as well as an introduction to Systems Leadership Theory, a method that has been used successfully by businesses from large multinational firms and banks, to SMEs, public agencies and NGOs. It provides a predictive capability, allowing a leader to predict what will work well and what is likely to fail, according to the context. It gives the benefit of foresight as decisions must be made. Designed as a leader’s manual for the application of the concepts around Systems Leadership, this book is for people who want to improve their own, and their organisation’s, work practices and performance.

This practical resource looks at the relationship between mental illness and substance use disorders in young people. While studies show the link between the two, drug use is often mistakenly viewed as ''deviant'' behaviour rather than as a coping mechanism for unmet needs. This book offers schools and youth settings a different approach to both supporting young people and implementing preventative measures. The concept of risk taking in young people is explored, as well as how stress, low self-esteem and body image issues can lead to substance use, including performance enhancing drugs and high caffeine drinks. Examples of how to address these issues through PSHE are addressed in each chapter, as well as tips for supporting individual pupils from expert practitioners and researchers in the field.

Explains how the distant past underpins our behavior. This book describes phenomena such as why Dunbar''s Number (150) is the maximum number of acquaintances you can have, why all babies are born premature and the science behind lonely hearts columns. It is suitable for understanding why humans behave as they do - what it is to be human.

Robin Dunbar uses economic models to explore the social behavior of the gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada), a unique species, whose social system is one of the most complex among the primates. His work illustrates the value of an approach that views social behavior as being ultimately concerned with reproduction and with the maximizing of an individual''s contribution to its species'' gene pool. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The new edition of this influential and bestselling book is concerned with how people come together to achieve a productive purpose. Survival and success in business and social terms have always depended upon our ability to form and sustain social organisations. People have a deep need to be creative and to belong. By creating positive organisations we can fulfil these needs and build a worthwhile society. One of the failures of organisations is precisely the lack of efficient and effective social organisation, which is what this whole book is about. Poor social organisation, including poor leadership, are major drivers of poor productivity and lead people to give up or retreat into a minimalist approach of just doing what is needed to get by and survive. The authors provide a language for developing, discussing, thinking and working with propositions about organisations and management. They do not tell you what decision to make but rather present tools to help you consider, analyse and predict the consequences of your decisions. This new edition is much broader in its application areas – public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It contains new models and propositions with regard to types of social organisation, domains of work and the nature and use of authority. It contains a range of new case studies, and throughout looks at how these ideas can be used to achieve an organisation’s purpose while encouraging creative working. It is not a book about fads or fashion but an integrated approach that offers the user the benefit of foresight.

In the wake of SARS and H1N1, this story of medical health officer Dr. Fred Underhill and his battle against the 1918 Spanish influenza that killed 25 to 50 million people worldwide is particularly relevant. Underhill is symbolic of the senior public health officers in cities across Canada and the U.S. who mounted the best defence they could against the killer flu. His vision, his tireless efforts, and his dialogue with colleagues in Seattle and elsewhere saved many lives. And his patient advice and findings are still relevant today as we await the new viral epidemics that undoubtedly lie ahead. In their enlightening account of the events of that era, authors O''Keefe and Macdonald have crafted a compelling story of people coming together in a time of crisis.

Scottish nursemaid Janet Smith was the victim of a 1924 tragedy that ignited racial tension in a very young Vancouver. At the core of the issue were the mysterious circumstances surrounding Smith''s death, particularly the fact that the only other adult in the house at the time was the Chinese houseboy. When Smith''s death was followed by the assassination of Davie Lew, a well-known Chinese man, it only strengthened the European view that Vancouver''s Asian community was a hotbed of violence and corruption. Newspaper editors and most of Vancouver''s white community raised an outcry, charging the police with incompetence and demanding arrests, while Presbyterian indignation called for law and order as well as an end to Chinese immigration. Before the summer was over, the tongs of Chinatown and the clans of Canada''s West Coast were set to defend their own, and one Scottish minister went so far as to declare it a time of "holy war."

Robert Bourassa, a pariah after losing power to the separatist Parti Québécois in the 1976 election, emerged a decade later from political exile to lead his party back to power. As he said: "I succeeded my successor." Claude Ryan, formerly the respected publisher of Le Devoir, had led the Quebec Liberal Party and the federalist coalition to a decisive victory in the 1980 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, but the uneasy alliance of Ryan and Pierre Trudeau did not survive the prime minister''s unilateral patriation of the Canadian constitution. This contributed to Ryan''s defeat in the 1981 Quebec election and to Bourassa''s restoration. First published to critical acclaim in 1984, this second edition of From Bourassa to Bourassa brings the story up-to-date, recounting Bourassa''s landslide election victory in 1985 and his subsequent role in the Meech Lake Accord and the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the two issues that largely defined the decade of the 1980s for Quebec and for Canada.

For thirty years Kolber was chairman of Cemp Investments, the Bronfman trust, and Cadillac Fairview Corporation, one of the largest real estate firms in North America. He charts his directorship of Dupont and other companies in which the Bronfmans held an important interest and reveals the inner workings of mega deals, including the Bronfman acquisition of MGM in the 1960s. The memoir also offers a sobering look at Edgar Bronfman Jr''s disasterous decision to sell Seagram''s 25 percent interest in DuPont in order to buy MCA-Universal Studios, a deal that Kolber strongly opposed and which signalled the dissolution of a great business empire.

Free Trade provides a historical framework for ongoing discussion of economic and environmental issues. While there is empirical evidence on trade flows - they increased dramatically in both directions - the debate on related issues continues. The impact of free trade on jobs and manufacturing productivity, the effectiveness of dispute settlement, the growth of foreign direct investment, the absence of adjustment programs, and the consequences for social programs are all issues for spirited discussion. Many of the leading actors in shaping both the FTA and NAFTA participated in the conference, including former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former President George Bush, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State James Baker, former Canadian Trade Ministers John Crosbie and Michael Wilson, former U.S. Trade Ambassadors Clayton Yeutter and Carla Hills, as well as former Mexican Trade Minister Jaime Serra Puche. Other senior officials included Canada''s Derek Burney and Simon Reisman. Donald S. Macdonald, chairman of the landmark Royal Commission that recommended the "leap of faith" of free trade, gave the keynote address. A Royal Bank of Canada impact study, "Two Cheers for the FTA," provided a baseline for discussion by a panel of eminent economists from all three NAFTA countries, and strong defences of positions against free trade included presentations by Andrew Jackson of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Jim Stanford of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), and Gerald Larose of Quebec''s Conseil des syndicats nationaux (CSN). Participants from the provinces included former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, while NAFTA and the environment were considered by a panel led by former Quebec Premier Pierre Marc Johnson and joined by Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest. Other participants included Jean Anderson, Laurent Beaudoin, Fernando Clavijo, Thomas d''Aquino, William Dymond, Francis Fox, Jonathan Fried, Michael Hart, Stanley Hartt, Richard Lipsey, Victor Lichtinger, John McCallum, Peter McPherson, Jacques Ménard, William Merkin, Simon Potter, Charles E. Roh, David Schorr, Charles Sirois, Guy Stanley, Yvonne Stinson, Peter Watson, William Watson, L.R. Wilson, and Paul Wonnacott. Free Trade: Risks and Rewards is an important reminder of why the issue was so passionately debated at the time and why it remains important.

"We taught our children to be delinquents." So wrote lifelong criminal Joe Gordon before he was hanged at British Columbia''s Oakalla Prison Farm in 1957 for shooting a policeman during a failed robbery. In a letter he scrawled in his jail cell, Gordon described his downfall and made a plea to parents to love and care for their children so they wouldn''t end up like him. "Born to Die" is the story of Gordon''s sensational trial, set against the backdrop of Vancouver''s seedy underworld amid a time of widespread police corruption. His final words are as relevant today as they were then, for although he lived and died in 1950s Vancouver, his tragic life and path to oblivion can be walked at any time and in any community in North America.

"For as long as history has been with us, religion has been a feature of human life. There is no known culture for which we have an ethnographic or an archaeological record that does not have some form of religion. Even in the secular societies that have become more common in the past few centuries, there are people who consider themselves religious and aspire to practise the rituals of their religion. These religions vary in form, style and size from small cults numbering a few hundred people centred around a charismatic leader to worldwide organizations numbering tens, or even hundreds, of millions of adherents with representations in every country. Some, like Buddhism, take an individualistic stance (your salvation is entirely in your own hands), some like the older Abrahamic religions view salvation as more of a collective activity through the performance of appropriate rituals, and a few (Judaism is one) have no formal concept of an afterlife. Some like Christianity and Islam believe in a single all- powerful God,