New Releases by Michael

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was perhaps the most dramatic single event of the Cold War and a major turning point in history. Though it ended unsuccessfully, the spontaneous uprising of Hungarians against their country''s Communist party and the Soviet occupation forces in the wake of Stalin''s death demonstrated to the world at large the failure of Communism. In full view of the Western media—and therefore the world—the Russians were obliged to use force on a vast scale to subdue armed students, factory workers, and intellectuals in the streets of a major European capital. In October 1956, Michael Korda and three fellow Oxford undergraduates traveled to Budapest in a beat-up Volkswagen to bring badly needed medicine to the hospitals—and to participate, at street level, in one of the great battles of the postwar era. Journey to a Revolution is at once history and a compelling memoir—the author''s riveting account of the course of the revolution, from its heroic beginnings to the sad martyrdom of its end.

The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses. Oldstone begins with smallpox, polio, and measles. Nearly 300 million people were killed by smallpox in this century alone and the author presents a vivid account of the long campaign to eradicate this lethal killer. Oldstone then describes the fascinating viruses that have captured headlines in more recent years: Ebola, Hantavirus, mad cow disease (a frightening illness made worse by government mishandling and secrecy), and, of course, AIDS. And he tells us of the many scientists watching and waiting even now for the next great plague, monitoring influenza strains to see whether the deadly variant from 1918--a viral strain that killed over 20 million people in 1918-1919--will make a comeback. For this revised edition, Oldstone includes discussions of new viruses like SARS, bird flu, virally caused cancers, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile, and fully updates the original text with new findings on particular viruses. Viruses, Plagues, and History paints a sweeping portrait of humanity''s long-standing conflict with our unseen viral enemies. Oldstone''s book is a vivid history of a fascinating field, and a highly reliable dispatch from an eminent researcher on the front line of this ongoing campaign.

Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature—to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature? The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America’s preeminent moral and political thinkers.

Surveying the entire span of southern political history, Michael Perman takes a revealing and wide-ranging approach to the region''s politics. During the nineteenth century, the South experienced nearly continuous political crisis from nullificati

Saddam Hussein''s execution for his crimes against Iraq''s Shia not only brought an end to his reign of oppression, but also to the justice that was to be served to the Iraqi Kurds. The unspeakable atrocities visited by Saddam upon the Kurds of Iraq are explored here, together with the trials of Saddam by the Iraqi High Tribunal. However, this work is more than a litigation history. It is also an exploration of the motivations behind and the depths of organized evil in the context of a single, brutal despot at the helm of an artificially created multi-ethno/religious state lying atop massive oil wealth. Saddam''s background and the context of his rule explain much about his actions, but not all. He remained an unpredictable tyrant to the end of his reign. The Kurds have continually been subject to adversity since the end of World War I, when they were denied their own homeland, splitting them among three countries: Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. During Saddam''s 24-year reign, the Kurds of Iraq were frequently under the knife of injustice. Between 1987 and 1989, Saddam unleashed genocide, razing over 2,000 villages and murdering at least 50,000 Kurds. As his dictatorship came to an end, the Kurds long-awaited opportunity to hold Saddam responsible for the atrocities against them seemed to have come, only to be sidetracked by the Iraqi High Tribunal, the Iraqi government, and the U.S. government. While the Shia rejoiced in their victory, the Kurds continued to be left behind. Saddam''s death freed him of the charges against him by the Kurds. The world had turned its back on the Kurds in their age of genocide, and now appeared to turn a blind eye to the justice that was denied. The unspeakable atrocities visited by Saddam upon the Kurds of Iraq are explored here together with the trials of Saddam by the Iraqi High Tribunal—both the completed prosecution for the Dujail massacre against the Shites and the incomplete one for the Anfal Campaigns against the Kurds. However, this work is more than a litigation history. It is also an exploration of the motivations behind and the depths of organized evil in the context of a single, brutal despot at the helm of an artificially created multi-ethno/religious state lying atop massive oil wealth, but situated in the most dangerous part of the world. Saddam''s background and the context of his rule explain much about his actions, but not all. He remained an unpredictable tyrant to the end of his reign.

This guide converts current findings on brain research into fun and effective techniques for introducing brain-compatible learning and improving test results in the K–12 classroom.

#1 SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE “A picaresque, swashbuckling adventure.”—The Washington Post Book World They’re an odd pair, to be sure: pale, rail-thin, black-clad Zelikman, a moody, itinerant physician fond of jaunty headgear, and ex-soldier Amram, a gray-haired giant of a man as quick with a razor-tongued witticism as with a sharpened battle-ax. Brothers under the skin, comrades in arms, they make their rootless way through the Caucasus Mountains, circa a.d. 950, living as they please and surviving however they can—as blades and thieves for hire and as practiced bamboozlers, cheerfully separating the gullible from their money. But when they are dragooned into service as escorts and defenders to a prince of the Khazar Empire, they soon find themselves the half-willing generals in a full-scale revolution—on a road paved with warriors and whores, evil emperors and extraordinary elephants, secrets, swordplay, and such stuff as the grandest adventures are made of. Praise for Gentlemen of the Road “Within a few pages I was happily tangled in [Chabon’s] net of finely filigreed language, seduced by an old-school-style swashbuckling quest . . . laced with surprises and humor.”—San Francisco Chronicle “[Chabon] is probably the premiere prose stylist—the Updike—of his generation.”—Time “The action is intricate and exuberant. . . . It’s hard to resist its gathering momentum, not to mention the sheer headlong pleasure of Chabon’s language.”—The New York Times Book Review “[A] wild, wild adventure . . . abounds with lush language . . . This book roars to be read aloud.”—Chicago Sun-Times

Here''s a source of guidance on the analysis of the hemodynamic waveforms generated in the cardiac catheterization lab. It progresses from a review of basic monitoring principles and normal waveforms through an assessment of the waveform data associated with the full range of individual coronary diseases, providing the assistance needed to accurately interpret any findings encountered in practice. Its extremely clinically oriented approach makes it an ideal hands-on tool for any clinician involved in diagnosing cardiac problems using interventional cardiology.

The world''s second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America as the leading global economic powerhouse. But the country failed to recover from the staggering economic collapse of the early 1990s. Today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends, notably a population of more than one million hikikomori: the young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society. There is also a growing numbers of “parasite singles”: single women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children. In this trenchant investigation, Michael Zielenziger argues that Japan''s tradition-steeped society, its aversion to change, and its distrust of individuality are stifling economic revival, political reform, and social evolution. Shutting Out the Sun is a bold explanation of Japan''s stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.

Explains the characteristics of phosphorus, where it is found, how it is used by humans, and its relationship to other elements found in the periodic table.

Publisher Description

Offers insight into food consumption in the twenty-first century, explaining how an abundance of unlimited food varieties reveals the responsibilities of consumers to protect their health and the environment.

Over the last few decades there have been attempts at planned educational change. The benefits have not equalled the cost. Fullan distils from these experiences lessons about how to cope with, and influence, educational change.

In the late 4th and early 5th centuries of our era, Hypatia of Alexandria was the world''s greatest living mathematician and astronomer. This biography integrates all aspects of her life.

The papers, letters and ancillary manuscripts of the influential scientist, Robert Boyle (1627-91) have been at the Royal Society since 1769--a catalogue of them first published in 1992. This volume presents that catalogue in completely revised form, updated to do justice to the extensive use made of the archive in the definitive editions of Boyle''s Works and Correspondence published between 1999 and 2001. The book also includes studies of the history of the archive and its components, in which significant conclusions are drawn about the development of Boyle''s ideas. This book will be indispensable to anyone with a serious interest in Boyle.

This third edition of one of the most important and best selling textbooks in statistical physics, is a graduate level text suitable for students in physics, chemistry, and materials science.The discussion of strongly interacting condensed matter systems has been expanded. A chapter on stochastic processes has also been added with emphasis on applications of the Fokker-Planck equation.The modern theory of phase transitions occupies a central place. The chapter devoted to the renormalization group approach is largely rewritten and includes a detailed discussion of the basic concepts and examples of both exact and approximate calculations. The development of the basic tools includes a chapter on computer simulations in which both Monte Carlo method and molecular dynamics are introduced, and a section on Brownian dynamics added.The theories are applied to a number of important systems such as liquids, liquid crystals, polymers, membranes, Bose condensation, superfluidity and superconductivity. There is also an extensive treatment of interacting Fermi and Bose systems, percolation theory and disordered systems in general.

The first edition of Geographic Information Systems and Science has taken the GIS textbook market by storm, selling over 22,000 copies since publication. It is the most current, authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the field, that goes from fundamental principles to the big picture. GISS 2e builds on the success of the first edition: Completely revised with a new five part structure: Foundations; Principles; Techniques; Analysis; Management and Policy All new personality boxes of current GIS practitioners New chapters on Distributed GIS, Map Production, Geovisualization, Modeling, and Managing GIS Specific coverage of current hot topics: GIS and the New World Order Security, health and well-Being Digital differentiation in GIS consumption The core organizing role of GIS in geography The greening of GIS Grand challenges of GIS science Science and explanation A new suite of instructor resources including a companion website with an on-line lab resource and personal student sullabus and a cehensive Instructor’s Manual that maps the textbook to various disciplines and levels of courses.

We ask question after question of an indifferent universe that would just as soon remain mute; and slowly, patiently, one sentence at a time, we write our own version of the book of nature. It is called science, from the Latin word for knowledge, and it is a book everybody should read. With simplicity and elegance, Knowing interprets the book of nature for curious readers of all sorts--but especially for those hoping to appreciate the beauty of physics without getting lost in the mathematics. Indeed, there is a world of scientific understanding in the pages of this gracefully written and inviting book, where hundreds of little diagrams substitute for the equations that physicists otherwise need to tell their tale. Readers will discover the way things work: how big things (like Earth or Moon) come from small things (like quarks and electrons), how tiny particles push and pull, and how the world hangs in the balance. We learn how an "unbiased" observer and a fixed speed of light, nothing else, conjure up E=mc2 and four-dimensional space-time. We see how Newton''s clockwork universe of unwavering determination differs (but not in every respect) from Heisenberg''s quantum universe of hazy uncertainty. And we see how a world of chaos throws a wrench into everybody''s mechanical ideal. From tiny atoms to vast galaxies, the universe is ours to explore and to know: its particles, its interactions, its laws, its unending surprises. Heavily illustrated with explanatory drawings and diagrams--perhaps no other science book for general readers uses diagrams so extensively--Knowing takes us to the edge of modern science, allowing us to peer in further than we would have dreamed possible.

What is socialism? Does it have a future, or has it become an outdated ideology in the 21st century? Michael Newman examines and explains the successes and failures of modern socialism by taking an international perspective — ranging from communism in Cuba to social democracy in Sweden. Discussing its evolution from the industrial towns of the 19th century to its response to the feminist, green, and anti-capitalist movements today, Newman concludes that, with its values of equality, solidarity, and cooperation, socialism remains as relevant as ever but that it needs to learn lessons from the past. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

“How can I create an innovation engine that will consistently deliver substantial organic growth?” This question is the number-one issue for most CEOs and senior executives today. Innovation is a critical driver of organic growth, yet based on the authors'' research, only a small percent of companies effectively use innovation to sustain long-term, profitable growth. And the stakes couldn''t be higher-failure to create successful new products, services, and business models causes stagnating or declining profits. Now, for the first time, experts Michael George, James Works and Kimberly Watson-Hemphill explain the surprising and significant gap between the CEO''s growth goals and actual performance. The authors, who are experts at connecting strategy to execution, give you a complete blueprint for exploiting the strategic and operational dimensions of innovation. Using fresh insights about the true drivers of fast time-to-market and the inadequate success rate of innovation, Fast Innovation reveals: Why current approaches to innovation fail A new strategic and tactical plan that will help your company dramatically reduce time-to-market by 50 to 80 percent The secret for finding out what your customers really want (not just what they say they want) Tools and methods for turning customer insights into ideas that will generate significant ROI The key levers that senior leadership must engage to create innovation capability across the business You''ll receive specific actionable solutions for driving disruptive and sustaining innovation at the strategic, portfolio and project level. You''ll also learn how to improve how much time your innovation teams actually spend innovating, and discover the changes that must be launched at the corporate level in order to enable the whole business to embrace and get results from this approach.

In this groundbreaking book, Michael Tomasello presents a comprehensive usage-based theory of language acquisition. Drawing together a vast body of empirical research in cognitive science, linguistics, and developmental psychology, Tomasello demonstrates that we don’t need a self-contained “language instinct” to explain how children learn language. Their linguistic ability is interwoven with other cognitive abilities. Tomasello argues that the essence of language is its symbolic dimension, which rests on the uniquely human ability to comprehend intention. Grammar emerges as the speakers of a language create linguistic constructions out of recurring sequences of symbols; children pick up these patterns in the buzz of words they hear around them. All theories of language acquisition assume these fundamental skills of intention-reading and pattern-finding. Some formal linguistic theories posit a second set of acquisition processes to connect somehow with an innate universal grammar. But these extra processes, Tomasello argues, are completely unnecessary—important to save a theory but not to explain the phenomenon. For all its empirical weaknesses, Chomskian generative grammar has ruled the linguistic world for forty years. Constructing a Language offers a compellingly argued, psychologically sound new vision for the study of language acquisition.

A rare behind-the-scenes look at John Wayne: the legend, hero, and Hollywood icon of numerous epic Western films, including an Academy Award-winning performance in True Grit. No legend ever walked taller than “The Duke.” Now, author Michael Munn’s startling new biography of John Wayne sets the record straight on why Wayne didn’t serve in World War II, on director John Ford’s contribution to Wayne’s career, and the mega-star’s highs and lows: three failed marriages, and two desperate battles with cancer. Munn also discloses publicly, for the first time, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s plot to assassinate Wayne because of his outspoken, potentially influential anti-Communist views. Drawing on time spent with Wayne on the set of Brannigan—and almost 100 interviews with those who knew him—Munn’s rare, behind-the-scenes look proves this “absolute all-time movie star” was as much a hero in real life as he ever was on-screen.

John F. Kennedy creates an absorbing, insightful and distinguished biography of one of America''s most legendary Presidents. While current fashion in Kennedy scholarship is to deride the man''s achievements, this book describes Kennedy''s strengths, explains his shortcomings, and offers many new revelations. There are many specialized books on Kennedy''s career, but no first-class modern biography--one that takes advantage of the huge volume of recent books and articles and new material released by the JFK library. Ten years in the making, this is a balanced and judicious profile that goes beyond the clash of interpretations and offers a fresh, nuanced perspective.

This book shows how, though Suzhou entered the Ming defeated and suspect, interactions between the imperial state and local elites gave rise to a network of markets, centered on Suzhou, that fostered high-quality local specialization.

The Facilitator''s Guide helps you effectively lead others through dialogue, reflection, and application of Fullan''s work in a number of settings and group sizes.

The path from Jesus to Christianity is not as straight as we might think -- as Dan Brown''s sensational The Da Vinci Code hinted at. In herbest-selling books, scholar Elaine Pagels has explored some of the ancient Christian writings that were excluded from the New Testament. Now, for the first time, L. Michael White, one of the world''s foremost scholars on the origins of Christianity, provides the complete, astonishing story of how Christianity grew from the personal vision of a humble Jewish peasant living in a remote province of the Roman Empire into the largest organized religion in the world. Many take for granted that the New Testament is a single book representing God''s coherent, unwavering word on Jesus and his church. A closer reading reveals not one story, but many. The New Testament is a collection of books -- the result of a variety of influences on a number of faithful but very human visionaries, preachers, and storytellers. The texts contain a wealth of biographies, histories, novels, letters, sermons, hymns, church manuals, and apocalypses, providing a spectrum of views of Jesus, his message, and his movement. Given this diversity of people, stories, and drastically different points of view, how did Christianity ever become what we know it as today? White draws on the most current scholarship to bring alive these ancient people and their debates, showing in depth how their stories were formed into what the world has come to know as the New Testament. Rather than reading the New Testament straight through in its traditional order -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and so on -- White takes a historical approach, looking at the individual books in the sequence in which they were actually written. He explores what these books divulge about the disagreements, shared values, and unifying mission of the earliest Christian communities. White digs through layers of archaeological excavations, sifts through buried fragments of largely unknown texts, and examines historical sources to discover what we can know of Jesus and his early followers. It is this early, hidden history that shaped Christianity as it grew from an errant, messianic movement to a state religion and then into a world religion that has lasted for over two thousand years. White shows how the early debates spurred the evolution of Christianity as we know it. He delves into the arguments over how to understand Jesus as both human and divine, the role of women in the church, the diversity of beliefs among Christian communities, the Gnostic influences, and the political disputes that raged over which books would ultimately be included in the New Testament. Complete with illustrations, photos, charts, and maps, From Jesus to Christianity presents the fullest picture yet of the beginnings of what became the most popular religion on earth.

In this absorbing historical detective story, acclaimed broadcaster and historian Michael Wood takes an entirely fresh approach to the Bard''s life, vividly re-creating the turbulent times through which he lived and painting a more convincing and complete portrait of the artist than has ever before been thought possible. Drawing on an extensive range of sources, Wood takes us back into the staterooms and back alleys of Elizabethan England. Marked by murderous plots and government-sponsored terror, religious divisions and rebellious movements, the Spanish Armada and the colonization of the Americas, the dramatic world in which Shakespeare moved is here conjured up like never before. We enter the lodgings where he wrote his greatest plays and meet the real-life characters who inspired his work: doctors, landladies, musicians, foreigners, and members of London''s contemporary black population. With 130 illustrations, full-color and black-and-white, Shakespeare is a book to enjoy on many levels-as both a world-class work of historical investigation and a fascinating yet informative visual feast. Filled with fresh discoveries, Michael Wood''s pathbreaking work gloriously reinstates the image of William Shakespeare as a thinking artist, a man who held up a mirror to his age, but who was also, as his friend Ben Jonson said, "not of an age, but for all time."

In the depths of the Nevada desert, FBI agent Rachel Walling and former LAPD Detective Harry Bosch must confront The Poet, a terrifying serial killer who leads them down a dark and twisted path. FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she''s dreaded for years, the one that tells her the Poet has surfaced. She has never forgotten the serial killer who wove lines of poetry in his hideous crimes -- and apparently he has not forgotten her. Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too -- from the widow of an old friend. Her husband''s death seems natural, but his ties to the hunt for the Poet make Bosch dig deep. Arriving at a derelict spot in the California desert where the feds are unearthing bodies, Bosch joins forces with Rachel. Now the two are at odds with the FBI . . . and squarely in the path of the Poet, who will lead them on a wicked ride out of the heat, through the narrows of evil, and into a darkness all his own . . .

A monumental investigation of the Supreme Court''s rulings on race, From Jim Crow To Civil Rights spells out in compelling detail the political and social context within which the Supreme Court Justices operate and the consequences of their decisions for American race relations. In a highly provocative interpretation of the decision''s connection to the civil rights movement, Klarman argues that Brown was more important for mobilizing southern white opposition to racial change than for encouraging direct-action protest. Brown unquestioningly had a significant impact--it brought race issues to public attention and it mobilized supporters of the ruling. It also, however, energized the opposition. In this authoritative account of constitutional law concerning race, Michael Klarman details, in the richest and most thorough discussion to date, how and whether Supreme Court decisions do, in fact, matter.

''Attractively-written, wise and judicious, with touches of engaging wit. It is now the best introduction to Luther in English.'' - Diarmaid MacCulloch, University of Oxford This important biography portrays Luther, his concerns and his achievements with clarity and verve, and provides a comprehensive introduction for students, general readers and those seeking to understand the roots of the continuing discords in modern Christianity. Self-aware yet violently prejudiced, bigoted yet inspiring, Luther is presented here with unflinching candour and honesty.