Search results for ""Prometheus Books""
Prometheus Books The Mind of the Islamic State: ISIS and the Ideology of the Caliphate
Award-winning Australian intellectual Robert Manne presents an incisive analysis of the historical background and current ideology that motivates ISIS and their quest for domination in the Middle East and beyond. In the ongoing conflict with ISIS, military observers and regional experts have noted that it is just as important to understand its motivating ideology as to win battles on the ground. This book traces the evolution of this ideology from its origins in the prison writings of the revolutionary jihadist Sayyid Qutb, through the thinking of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, who planned the 9/11 terrorist attack, to today's incendiary screeds that motivate terrorism via the Internet. Chief among these recent texts are two documents that provide the foundation for ISIS terrorism. One is called The Management of Savagery, essentially a handbook for creating mayhem through acts of violence. The other is the online magazine of horror called Dabiq, which combines theological justifications with ultraviolent means, apocalyptic dreams, and genocidal ambitions. Professor Manne provides close, original, and lucid readings of these important documents. He introduces readers to a strange, cruel, but internally coherent and consistent political ideology, which has now entered the minds of very large numbers of radicalized Muslims in the Middle East, North Africa, and the West. However disturbing and unsettling, this book is essential reading for anyone concerned about terrorist violence.
£13.99
Prometheus Books What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite: Updated and Revised
Science writer David DiSalvo distills the latest research on how our brains work into easy-to-understand lessons that will give average readers insights into their habitual behavior. This book reveals a remarkable paradox: what your brain wants is frequently not what your brain needs. In fact, much of what makes our brains "happy" leads to errors, biases, and distortions, which cloud our judgment and muddle our decision making. Science writer David DiSalvo presents evidence from evolutionary and social psychology, cognitive science, neurology, and even marketing and economics. And he interviews many of the top thinkers in psychology and neuroscience today. From this research-based platform, DiSalvo draws out insights that we can use to identify our brains' foibles and turn our awareness into edifying action. Ultimately, he argues, the research does not serve up ready-made answers, but provides us with actionable clues for overcoming the plight of our advanced brains and, consequently, living more fulfilled lives. Newly revised to include the latest research on the workings of the brain, What Makes Your Brain Happy is an essential tool for understanding yourself.
£13.99
Prometheus Books Turning Points: How Critical Events Have Driven Human Evolution, Life, and Development
An accessible introduction to core concepts in evolution for lay readers, which shows that random events have played a critical role in the development of life Critical historical events--or "turning points"--have shaped evolution and continue to have a decisive effect on individual lives. This theme is explored and explained in this lucid, accessible book for lay readers. The author argues that, although evolution is the result of unpredictable events, these events have profound influences on subsequent developments. Life is thus a continuous interplay between unforeseeable events and their decisive consequences. As one example, the author cites the fusing of two chromosomes, which differentiated the human species from our closest animal relatives about 4 to 5 million years ago. This event was not predictable, but it had a profound effect on the evolution of our species thereafter. By the same token, certain unpredictable circumstances in the past enabled only Homo sapiens to survive to the present day, though we now know that other human-like species also once existed. The author contrasts such scientific concepts grounded in solid evidence with prevalent misconceptions about life: specifically, the religious notion that there is a plan and purpose behind life, the widespread perception that intelligent design governs the workings of nature, the persistent belief in destiny and fate, and the attribution of an overly deterministic role to genes. This excellent introduction for laypersons to core ideas in biology goes a long way toward dispelling such misconceptions and presents current scientific research in clearly understandable, jargon-free terms.
£17.09
Prometheus Books Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat
From Anders Breivik in Norway, who murdered scores of young people in a bombing and mass-shooting attack, to Omar Mateen, the Orlando killer who perpetrated the worst mass shooting in American history, lone wolves have demonstrated that they can be as dangerous as organized terrorist groups. Who are these terrorists and what can be done about them? An internationally renowned terrorism expert presents the first comprehensive treatment of this important issue. After delving into the diversity in motivations and backgrounds of lone wolf terrorists, Simon makes the following key points about this growing threat: lone wolves have proven to be more creative and dangerous than many terrorist groups; lone wolves are not just Islamist extremists but can be found among all types of political and religious ideologies; the Internet has provided the perfect breeding ground for isolated individuals with terrorist tendencies, but it may also prove to be their undoing; there are few women in this category, but this is likely to change in the coming years; and the common perception that nothing can be done about lone wolves is wrong. In fact, innovative strategies and policies can be developed to both prevent and respond to this type of terrorism. Drawing on his more than twenty-five years of experience studying terrorism, Simon has produced an insightful book that is essential reading for anyone concerned about the potential terrorist threats from violence-prone individuals in our midst.This paperback edition contains a new preface by the author, which reviews lone-wolf incidents since the publication of the original edition.
£13.99
Prometheus Books Virtual Billions: The Genius, the Drug Lord, and the Ivy League Twins behind the Rise of Bitcoin
Bitcoin, the digital currency, was introduced in 2009 with little fanfare; five years later, shocking the world, it was worth $14 billion. This book explores the cyber currency by focusing on the remarkable stories and intriguing personalities ofthose responsible for its sudden success: Satoshi Nakamoto, the reclusive and anonymous genius who created Bitcoin; Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, administrator of the largest and most successful Dark Web drug superstore, using Bitcoin to fuel online sale of drugs, hacking services, counterfeit money, and assassinations; and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Harvard graduates, successful litigants vs. Facebook, world-class Olympic rowers, and Bitcoin entrepreneurs who own 1 percent of all bitcoins in existence. Equal parts The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, and Breaking Bad, this absorbing narrative tells the stories of the reclusive geniuswho waged a one-man war against the global banking system (and he's winning); the quiet and affable computer geek who, until his arrest, profited handsomely from Silk Road, his online drug superstore; and the multitalented Harvard twins, who made a fortune from an intellectual-property suit against Mark Zuckerberg, and now are the chief promoters of Bitcoin as "the next big thing." Bitcoin has introduced us to coke-fueled coding gurus, anger-crazed hitmen-hiring millionaires, and canny "Bitcoin miners" avidly adding processing power to their chilly Icelandic server farms to generate millions of dollars every month. Absurd and almost unbelievable stories abound, and sweep the reader along through the living and breathing, passionate and paranoid insiders who made it all happen.
£17.09
Prometheus Books Everyone Is African: How Science Explodes the Myth of Race
What does science say about race? In this book a distinguished research geneticist presents abundant evidence showing that traditional notions about distinct racial differences have little scientific foundation.In short, racism is not just morally wrong; it has no basis in fact. The author lucidly describes in detail the factors that have led to the current scientific consensus about race. Both geneticists and anthropologists now generally agree that the human species originated in sub-Saharan Africa and darkly pigmented skin was the ancestral state of humanity. Moreover, worldwide human diversity is so complex that discrete races cannot be genetically defined. And for individuals, ancestry is more scientifically meaningful than race. Separate chapters are devoted to controversial topics: skin color and the scientific reasons for the differences; why ancestry is more important to individual health than race; intelligence and human diversity; and evolutionary perspectives on the persistence of racism. This is an enlightening book that goes a long way toward dispelling the irrational notions at the heart of racism.
£13.99
Prometheus Books The Paradox of Evolution: The Strange Relationship between Natural Selection and Reproduction
This book examines a little-noted contradiction inherent in the two essential elements of Darwin's theory of biological evolution--natural selection and reproduction. Physiologist Stephen Rothman makes the revolutionary claim that the evolution of life's complex and diverse reproductive mechanisms is not the consequence of natural selection. In so doing, he exposes the deepest question possible about life's nature--its reason for being. In meticulously detailed but accessible terms he lays out the crux of the paradox and offers an intriguing solution within a naturalistic framework. In an ostensibly purposeless universe, somehow purposeful life has evolved. For all living things there are two overarching purposes: survival and the creation of new life. Natural selection is about the survival of existing life, but has no interest in life's future, about whether it persists or perishes. By contrast, reproduction is only about the future of life, and has no interest in existing life except as a means to that end. Where do these purposes come from? As Rothman demonstrates, at every level life is wired to react to danger. Counterintuitively, without the danger to its existence, life would not have come into being. As for reproduction, nature's destructive forces drive the creation of new life. Written with great clarity and informed by deep learning, this elegant, thoughtful work tackles some of the most challenging questions raised by the theory of evolution, while calling to mind Darwin's famous words from the conclusion of On the Origin of Species: "There is a grandeur in this view of life."
£12.99
Prometheus Books Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the Public Health
This hard-hitting expose blows the lid off of everything you thought you knew about Big Pharma and Big Food. What goes on behind the scenes in these industries is more suspicious, more devious, more disreputable than you could have ever imagined. Rosenberg's message is clear: the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries are tainting public health through marketing disguised as medical education and research, aggressive lobbying, and high-level conflicts of interest. If you're concerned about the safety of the drugs you take and the food you eat, you owe it to yourself to read this important book. Having gained the trust of more than twenty doctors, researchers, and experts who were willing to come forward and finally tell all, reporter and editorial cartoonist Rosenberg presents us with her shocking findings. Explosive material from whistle-blowers, scientists, unsealed lawsuits, and Big Pharma's and Big Food's own marketers exposes how these industries put profits before public safety and how the government puts the interests of business before the welfare of consumers, creating a double whammy that "pimps" the public health. What Rosenberg reveals about government complicity, regulatory food- and drug-safety lapses, and legislative injustices will both shock and appall.
£17.99
Prometheus Books The Real World of a Forensic Scientist: Renowned Experts Reveal What It Takes to Solve Crimes
With the skyrocketing popularity of TV crime shows like CSI and CSI-Miami, interest in forensic science has reached unprecedented levels. However compelling these programs are as dramas, they spread many misconceptions about the real world of the forensic scientist. Students who wish to pursue a career in this field are often unaware of the many diverse career choices available or have superficial notions of the rigors involved. In this in-depth insider's guide to this crucial area of criminal investigation, renowned forensic scientist Henry C. Lee, along with veteran forensic experts Elaine M. Pagliaro and Katherine Ramsland, provides a realistic picture of the education, skills, challenges, and rewards involved in the many specialties that encompass forensic science. All are used to unravel seemingly baffling crimes. The first part of the book highlights Dr. Lee's personal story and forty-year career to demonstrate how forensic science developed in the twentieth century and came to be recognized by the courts and law enforcement as a crucial approach to investigating crimes. Dr. Lee shares many interesting stories about his experiences and those of his colleagues, who were instrumental in developing forensic science laboratories in the United States. The second part focuses on careers in forensic science, illustrated by descriptions of high profile cases that required different forensic disciplines, including engineering, accounting, psychology, crime scene investigation, and DNA analysis. These cases also underscore the importance of forensic evidence in criminal and civil cases, national security, environmental protection, and public safety. The third part presents the various specialties in forensic science created by the American Academy of Forensic Science; describes the types of evidence generally analyzed in each area; and lays out the steps one should take to prepare for a career in a particular specialty. Also included is useful information about professional organizations, certification programs and requirements, laboratory opportunities, and university forensic science programs. For those who wish to pursue a career in forensic science or for anyone who is interested in how criminal investigation is really done, this book is a must read.
£17.99
Prometheus Books I Miss You!: A Military Kid's Book About Deployment
Military families face stressful times that are unique to the military lifestyle. One of the most challenging situations, both for children and parents, is when a father, mother, or sibling is deployed for military service and must be away from the home. Children often experience sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, and loneliness, and they do not understand their own feelings or know how to express them. This book is designed to help children especially, but also their parents, during such difficult times. Based on many years of experience as a social worker, who has assisted military families experiencing stress, author Beth Andrews has created an excellent tool for allowing children and their loved ones to deal with the many emotions caused by deployment. The text and illustrations encourage children to discuss their feelings and to draw their own pictures to express themselves. The accompanying parents' guide is designed to validate parents' feelings and give them ways to help their children cope. Guided by this approach, a parent or caregiver can help their children understand why one of their parents or a sibling had to leave home, identify their reactions, cope with their feelings in a positive way, be assured that they are not alone, and try new activities to help themselves adjust. At a time when military families are asked to make many sacrifices in the service of their country, this reassuring book will be a welcome resource.
£9.99
Prometheus Books Lourdes
In this moving depiction of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the master French realist has created a novel of vivid characters and subtle commentary on suffering and the belief in miracles as the last desperate refuge from pain. Based on his own trip to the fabled grotto, the novel follows a simple five-part structure corresponding to the five-day train trip from Paris to Lourdes and back. Zola's brilliant observational powers are at their best as he moves from character to character describing in great detail the physical effects of their illnesses, their hopes, beliefs, fears, and above all endurance. The great novelist himself makes a brief appearance in the story, disguised as a skeptical reporter whose probing questions embarrass a doctor in charge of verifying the alleged miracles. In the end, amidst the tumult of emotions whipped up by religious fervor a miracle of a sort does take place, a psychosomatic cure of a woman suffering from hysterical paralysis. To a few skeptical observers in the entourage the event is a predictable natural occurrence, but to the majority of simple believers it is proof of divine intervention. In our age of televangelists and faith healers, this story has lost none of its relevance.
£11.99
Prometheus Books The Art of Hiring in America's Colleges and Universities
Edited by two respected university administrators, this book is indispensable for professional administrators, job seekers, and the general public. This ground-breaking work identifies all parties in the hiring process and clearly defines their roles. Attention is given to special concerns as the contributors offer helpful suggestions to those whose task it is to reach hiring decisions that could affect the quality of American education well into the next century.
£40.46
Prometheus Books A Letter Concerning Toleration
Ever since humankind raised its head toward the heavens in search of universal understanding and spiritual fulfillment, wars, pogroms, persecution, prejudice, and contempt have been the means of resolving the many and varied disagreements that have arisen over matters religious. In his Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke offers a compelling plea for freedom of conscience and religious expression. He outlines the limits of social and political incursion into the realm of personal belief or non-belief, discusses the dangers of mixing church and state, and strikes hard at those who would use the power of the state to fulfill religious or political goals. Rational persuasion is always to be encouraged in the hope that wayward souls may find a moral direction in life, but the use of force in such matters is unwarranted and unacceptable. Locke also addresses the question of denominational infighting and relations among the major religions. Talk of heresy and schism should be set aside in favor of understanding and cooperation to achieve mutually desirable social ends.
£9.99
Prometheus Books Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure
£17.99
Prometheus Books The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health
Why do we say we have zero tolerance for bullying, but adult society is rife with it and it is an epidemic among children? Because the injuries that all forms of bullying and abuse do to brains are invisible. We ignore them, fail to heal them, and they become cyclical and systemic.Bullying and abuse are at the source of much misery in our lives. Because we are not taught about our brains, let alone how much they are impacted by bullying and abuse, we do not have a way to avoid this misery, heal our scars, or restore our health. In The Bullied Brain readers learn about the evidence doctors, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists and neuroscientists have gathered, that shows the harm done by bullying and abuse to your brain, and how you can be empowered to protect yourself and all others. Not only is it critically important to discover how much your mental health is contingent on what has sculpted and shaped the world inside your head, it is also the first step in learning ways to recover. While your brain is vulnerable to bullying and abuse, it is at the same time remarkably adept at repairing all kinds of traumas and injuries. The first part of The Bullied Brain outlines what the research shows bullying and abuse do to your brain. The second part of the book, "The Stronger Brain" provides case studies of adults and children who have undergone focused training to heal their neurological scars and restore their health. These accessible and practical lessons can be integrated into your life. Strengthening your brain acts as an effective antidote to the bullying and abuse that are rampant in society. Foreword by Dr. Michael Merzenich, "the father of neuroplasticity," and he also contributes his knowledge, insights, and research in The Bullied Brain to help show you how to empower your brain to fulfill its power and potential.
£18.99
Prometheus Books Right from Wrong: Why Religion Fails and Reason Succeeds
Where does morality come from? Apologists—people who offer a formal defense of their religion—point to God as the answer. By inspiring scriptures that people can read, study, and teach, God supposedly gave humanity a guidebook for how to live.Award-winning scholar of religion and politics Mark Alan Smith shows the errors in this chain of assumptions. Apologists find themselves forced to accept a book that condemns same-sex love and authorizes slavery, genocide, capital punishment for minor offenses, and many other practices widely recognized today as immoral. Apologists try to protect their worldview by ignoring the offending passages, constructing strained reinterpretations, rationalizing the indefensible, or appealing to God’s mysterious ways.Is there a non-religious method for discovering the elements of an objective morality? Yes, Smith argues—the worldview of humanism. Humanists apply reason, logic, and, evidence to all subjects. Smith’s humanist approach to morality relies on discussion and debate among diverse participants as the best means to attain a moral code stripped of the biases of each individual, group, and society. The result is a hopeful portrait of how to build on the moral progress humans have achieved since the writing of religious scriptures
£17.99
Prometheus Books Making Medicine: Surprising Stories from the History of Drug Discovery
How do scientists design the medicine we use to improve our lives? It turns out that many are happy accidents or overlooked mixtures of carbon and hydrogen that go on to not only improve the lives of people the world over, but become million- and billion-dollar makers for pharmaceutical companies.In Making Medicine: Surprising Stories from the History of Drug Discovery, author Keith Veronese examines eighteen different molecules and their unlikely discovery –or in many cases, their second discovery –en route to becoming invaluable medications. From the famous story of Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, to lesser-known stories surrounding drugs like quinine (derived from the bark of the cinchona tree and responsible for saving the lives of millions in the fight against malaria), Veronese reveals the “how” and the “who” behind the pharmaceutical breakthroughs that continue to impact our world. With subjects including cancer-fighting therapies and over-the-counter pain relievers; hair regrowth creams and antidepressants; readers will no doubt have a personal connection to at least one molecule in this book.Like all discoveries made by mankind, the stories behind these breakthroughs and their introduction to the world are often messy, sometimes controversial, and always human. Take digoxin, which correctly prescribed can help heart efficiency, but in higher doses can prove fatal –a fact known all too well by Charles Cullen, a nurse who used digoxin to kill over forty patients. Making Medicine also details how modern pharmaceutical discovery works, highlighting the serendipitous nature of the discovery of these miracle molecules, along with how they do (or don't) interact with the human body to produce the desired result.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoonists
It’s no secret that most New Yorker readers flip through the magazine to look at the cartoons before they ever lay eyes on a word of the text. But what isn’t generally known is that over the decades a growing cadre of women artists have contributed to the witty, memorable cartoons that readers look forward to each week. Now Liza Donnelly, herself a renowned cartoonist with the New Yorker for more than twenty years, has written this wonderful, in-depth celebration of women cartoonists who have graced the pages of the famous magazine from the Roaring Twenties to the present day. An anthology of funny, poignant, and entertaining cartoons, biographical sketches, and social history all in one, VeryFunny Ladies offers a unique slant on 20th-century and early 21st-century America through the humorous perspectives of the talented women who have captured in pictures and captions many of the key social issues of their time. As someone who understands firsthand the cartoonist’s art, Donnelly is in a position to offer distinctive insights on the creative process, the relationships between artists and editors, what it means to be a female cartoonist, and the personalities of the other New Yorker women cartoonists, whom she has known over the years.Very Funny Ladies reveals never-before-published material from The New Yorker archives, including correspondence from Harold Ross, Katharine White, and many others. In addition, Donnelly has interviewed all of the living female cartoonists, many of their male counterparts, and editors and writers: David Remnick,Roger Angell, Lee Lorenz, Harriet Walden (legendary editor Harold Ross’s secretary), Bob Mankoff, Eldon Dedini, Dana Fradon, Frank Model, Bob Weber, Sam Gross, Gahan Wilson, Joe Farris, among others.Combining a wealth of information with an engaging and charming narrative, plus more than seventy cartoons, along with photographs and self-portraits of the cartoonists, Very Funny Ladies beautifully portrays the art and contributions of the brilliant female cartoonists in America’s greatest magazine.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Science in Black and White: How Biology and Environment Shape Our Racial Divide
This unflinching expose of racially biased research--the Alt-Right's "scientific wing"--debunks both old and emerging claims of inborn racial disparities. Racial groups differ in some of their social patterns, but the cause of those differences--nature versus nurture, or genetics versus environment-- remains fiercely debated. For the pro-nature camp-- sometimes aligned with white nationalism and eugenics, and often used to promote ideas of racial inferiority and superiority -- race-based biological determinism contributes significantly to the ethnic divide, especially the black/white gap in societal achievement. By contrast, pro-nurture supporters attribute ethnic variation in social outcomes primarily to environmental circumstances, ecological conditions, and personal experience. In this thoroughly researched book, science writer Alondra Oubre examines emerging scientific discoveries that show how both biology and environment interact to influence IQ--intelligence performance--and social behaviors across continental populations, or human races. She presents compelling evidence for why environmental and certain non-DNA-related biological phenomena overall seem to best explain black/white disparities in a gamut of social behaviors, including family structure, parenting, educational attainment, and rates of violent crime. As she demonstrates, nature still matters, but the biology that impacts racial variance in social behaviors extends beyond genetics to include other processes--epigenetics, gene expression, and plasticity--all of which are profoundly affected by a wide array of environmental forces. The complex, synergistic interplay of these factors combined, rather than just genes or just environment, appears to account for black/white divergence in a gamut of social behaviors.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Genius Weapons: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Weaponry, and the Future of Warfare
A technology expert describes the ever-increasing role of artificial intelligence in weapons development, the ethical dilemmas these weapons pose, and the potential threat to humanity. Artificial intelligence is playing an ever-increasing role in military weapon systems. Going beyond the bomb-carrying drones used in the Afghan war, the Pentagon is now in a race with China and Russia to develop "lethal autonomous weapon systems" (LAWS). In this eye-opening overview, a physicist, technology expert, and former Honeywell executive examines the advantages and the potential threats to humanity resulting from the deployment of completely autonomous weapon systems. Stressing the likelihood that these weapons will be available in the coming decades, the author raises key questions about how the world will be impacted. Though using robotic systems might lessen military casualties in a conflict, one major concern is: Should we allow machines to make life-and-death decisions in battle? Other areas of concern include the following: Who would be accountable for the actions of completely autonomous weapons--the programmer, the machine itself, or the country that deploys LAWS? When warfare becomes just a matter of technology, will war become more probable, edging humanity closer to annihilation? What if AI technology reaches a "singularity level" so that our weapons are controlled by an intelligence exceeding human intelligence? Using vivid scenarios that immerse the reader in the ethical dilemmas and existential threats posed by lethal autonomous weapon systems, the book reveals that the dystopian visions of such movies as The Terminator and I, Robot may become a frightening reality in the near future. The author concludes with concrete recommendations, founded in historical precedent, to control this new arms race.
£14.99
Prometheus Books Belief: What It Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling
An expert on the psychology of belief examines how our thoughts and feelings, actions and reactions, respond not to the world as it actually is but to the world as we believe it to be. This book explores the psychology of belief - how beliefs are formed, how they are influenced both by internal factors, such as perception, memory, reason, emotion, and prior beliefs, as well as external factors, such as experience, identification with a group, social pressure, and manipulation. It also reveals how vulnerable beliefs are to error, and how they can be held with great confidence even when factually false. The author, a social psychologist who specializes in the psychology of belief, elucidates how the brain and nervous system function to create the perceptions, memories, and emotions that shape belief. He explains how and why distorted perceptions, false memories, and inappropriate emotional reactions that sometimes lead us to embrace false beliefs are natural products of mental functioning. He also shows why it is so difficult to change our beliefs when they collide with contradictions. Covering a wide range -- from self-perception and the perceived validity of everyday experience to paranormal, religious, and even fatal beliefs--the book demonstrates how crucial beliefs are to molding our experience and why they have such a powerful hold on our behavior.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics
The story of two brilliant nineteenth-century scientists who discovered the electromagnetic field, laying the groundwork for the amazing technological and theoretical breakthroughs of the twentieth century Two of the boldest and most creative scientists of all time were Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). This is the story of how these two men - separated in age by forty years - discovered the existence of the electromagnetic field and devised a radically new theory which overturned the strictly mechanical view of the world that had prevailed since Newton's time. The authors, veteran science writers with special expertise in physics and engineering, have created a lively narrative that interweaves rich biographical detail from each man's life with clear explanations of their scientific accomplishments. Faraday was an autodidact, who overcame class prejudice and a lack of mathematical training to become renowned for his acute powers of experimental observation, technological skills, and prodigious scientific imagination. James Clerk Maxwell was highly regarded as one of the most brilliant mathematical physicists of the age. He made an enormous number of advances in his own right. But when he translated Faraday's ideas into mathematical language, thus creating field theory, this unified framework of electricity, magnetism and light became the basis for much of later, 20th-century physics. Faraday's and Maxwell's collaborative efforts gave rise to many of the technological innovations we take for granted today - from electric power generation to television, and much more. Told with panache, warmth, and clarity, this captivating story of their greatest work - in which each played an equal part - and their inspiring lives will bring new appreciation to these giants of science.
£17.99
Prometheus Books The Second Treatise on Civil Government
As one of the early Enlightenment philosophers in England, John Locke sought to bring reason and critical intelligence to the discussion of the origins of civil society. Endeavoring to reconstruct the nature and purpose of government, a social contract theory is proposed. The Second Treatise sets forth a detailed discussion of how civil society came to be and the nature of its inception. Locke's discussion of tacit consent, separation of powers, and the right of citizens to revolt against repressive governments, has made The Second Treatise one of the most influential essays in the history of political philosophy.
£9.99
Prometheus Books Islamic Fascism
This polemic against Islamic extremism highlights the striking parallels between contemporary Islamism and the 20th-century fascism embodied by Hitler and Mussolini. Like those infamous ideologies, Islamism today touts imperialist dreams of world domination, belief in its inherent superiority, contempt for the rest of humanity, and often a murderous agenda. The author, born and raised in Egypt and now living in Germany, not only explains the historical connections between early 20th-century fascist movements in Europe and extremist factions in Islam, but he also traces the fascist tendencies in mainstream Islam that have existed throughout its history. Examining key individuals and episodes from centuries past, the book shows the influence of Islam's earliest exploits on current politics in the Islamic world. The author's incisive analysis exposes the fascist underpinnings of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Shia regime in Iran, ISIS, Salafi and Jihadist ideologies, and more. Forcefully argued and well-researched, this book grew out of a lecture on Islamic fascism that the author gave in Cairo, resulting in a call for his death by three prominent Egyptian clerics.
£21.36
Prometheus Books Divided on D-Day: How Conflicts and Rivalries Jeopardized the Allied Victory at Normandy
Two historians--one American and one British--examine the ways in which rivalries and personality conflicts among Allied commanders adversely affected the D-Day invasion and its aftermath. In anticipation of the 75th anniversary of D-Day comes this fresh perspective on the Normandy invasion -- -the beginning of the end of World War II. The book highlights the conflicting egos, national rivalries, and professional abilities of the principal D-Day commanders who planned and executed the OVERLORD Operation and its aftermath. Two historians, one American and one British, show how lack of cooperation and bad decisions lengthened the war, increased casualties, and allowed the later Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. From their in-depth analysis of past D-Day literature, primary and archival sources, the authors provide insightful answers to the many controversies that have long surrounded the OVERLORD campaign. Among the questions addressed are: What caused the two-month delay for the Allied breakout from the Normandy beachhead. Why did the bulk of the German army escape from the Falaise Pocket? Who stopped Patton's August 1944 advance into Germany? Why did it take so long to open the Port of Antwerp needed for securing the required supplies for the Allied advance into Germany? The evidence presented in this book makes it clear that the problems raised by these questions and many other difficulties could have been avoided if the Allied commanders had been less contentious, a factor that sometimes led to catastrophic battlefield outcomes. Complete with maps that illustrate the campaign's progression and photographs of the commanders and the forbidding battlefield terrain, this new examination of the war in Europe makes a major contribution to our understanding of the decision-making behind these pivotal historic events.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Wild Connection: What Animal Courtship and Mating Tell Us about Human Relationships
Wild Kingdom meets Sex and the City in this scientific perspective on dating and relationships. A specialist in animal behavior compares the courtship rituals and mating behaviors of animals to their human equivalents, revealing the many and often surprising ways we are both similar to and different from other species. What makes an individual attractive to the opposite sex? Does size matter? Why do we tend to "keep score" in our relationships? From perfume and cosmetics to online dating and therapy, our ultimate goal is to successfully connect with someone. So why is romance such an effort for humans, while animals have little trouble getting it right? Wild Connection is full of fascinating and suggestive observations about animal behavior. For example, in most species smell is an important component of determining compatibility. So are we humans doing the right thing by masking our natural scents with soaps and colognes? Royal albatrosses have a lengthy courtship period lasting several years. These birds instinctively know that casual hook-ups are not the way to find a reliable mate. And older female chimpanzees often mate with younger males. Is this the evolutionary basis of the human "cougar" phenomenon? Fun to read as well as educational, this unique take on the perennial human quest to find the ideal mate shows that we have much to learn from our cousins in the wild.
£14.99
Prometheus Books The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem
The inside story of China's organtransplant business and its macabre connection with internment camps and killing fields for arrested dissidents, especially the adherents of Falun Gong. Mass murder is alive and well. That is the stark conclusion of this comprehensive investigation into the Chinese state's secret program to get rid of political dissidents while profiting from the sale of their organs--in many cases to Western recipients. Based on interviews with top-ranking police officials and Chinese doctors who have killed prisoners on the operating table, veteran China analyst Ethan Gutmann has produced a riveting insider's account--culminating in a death toll that will shock the world. Why would the Chinese leadership encourage such a dangerous perversion of their medical system? To solve the puzzle, Gutmann journeyed deep into the dissident archipelago of Falun Gong, Tibetans, Uighurs and House Christians, uncovering an ageless drama of resistance, eliciting confessions of deep betrayal and moments of ecstatic redemption. In an age of compassion fatigue, Gutmann relies on one simple truth: those who have made it back from the gates of hell have stories to tell. And no matter what baggage the reader may bring along, their preconceptions of China will not survive the trip.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Marie Curie: A Biography
There is probably no woman scientist more famous than Marie Curie (1867-1934). She made one of the most important theoretical breakthroughs of the twentieth century when she postulated that radiation was an atomic rather than a chemical property, an important milestone in understanding the structure of matter. Not only did she coin the term radioactivity, but her painstaking research culminated in the isolation of two new elements, polonium and radium. For her achievements she won two Nobel Prizes, one in physics (in 1903) and the other in chemistry (in 1911). This informative, accessible, and concise biography looks at Marie Curie not just as a dedicated scientist but also as a complex woman with a sometimes-tumultuous personal life. This historian of science describes Curie's life and career, from her early years in Poland, where she was born Maria Sklodowska; through her marriage to and collaboration with Pierre Curie; her appointment as the first female professor at Sorbonne University after his untimely death; and the scientific work that led to her recognition by the Nobel Prize committee. The author also candidly discusses the controversy that surrounded Marie when detractors charged that her work was actually performed by her late husband. Finally, she describes Curie's work in founding the radium institutes to study radiation and in establishing mobile X-ray units during World War I. Eventually, her long exposure to radium led to her death from aplastic anemia in 1934. A year later, Albert Einstein published a tribute to her in memoriam, praising both her intuition and her tenacity under the most trying circumstances. Ogilvie's appealing narrative brings the brilliant scientist and courageous woman to life in a story that will continue to inspire future scientists.
£12.99
Prometheus Books This Monstrous Obsession
£22.50
Prometheus Books The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airmen in World War II
When the First World War ended, hundreds of British veterans stayed in France to look after the graves of their fallen countrymen as part of the newly chartered Imperial War Graves Commission. Through the 1920s and 1930s, these veteran-gardeners married local women, raised bilingual children, and dedicated themselves to caring for their beloved dead. In 1940, the Second World War swept over Europe, stranding the gardeners in Nazi-occupied France. Their bosses explicitly ordered the gardeners to remain at their posts, even when their villages were under attack by the invading Germans. While some managed to escape on their own, nearly two hundred gardeners were arrested by the Nazis. A handful of others managed to stay free and join the French Resistance. With their English-language skills and their unshakable loyalty to the Allied cause, the gardeners and their families took on crucial roles in the effort to save British and American airmen who were shot down in France, serving as interrogators, couriers, and hosts, sheltering the airmen in their own homes and, in some cases, even in the First World War cemeteries.The Caretakers tells the surprising story of three of these unlikely heroes: Ben Leech, a 51-year-old barman from Manchester, became a cemetery gardener and joined the Resistance in Beaumont-Hamel, a tiny village whose name was synonymous with the disastrous British attack on the first day of the 1916 Somme campaign; Rosine Witton, the wife of a British gardener who was arrested and sent to a Nazi internment camp, became a key conductor on the famous Comet Line, a civilian network that rescued Allied airmen, personally guiding at least 75 airmen to safety before being arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the squalid Ravensbruck concentration camp; Robert Armstrong, an Irish cemetery gardener working in Valenciennes, avoided arrest for some time as Ireland never declared war on Nazi Germany, so was never technically classified as an enemy national during his time as a member of the Resistance. Author Caitlin Galante DeAngelis also offers a timely remembrance to the vulnerable and working-class members of the War Graves Commission who were abandoned behind enemy lines by the organization tasked with protecting them. With meticulous research in national archives and the archives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, along with personal interviews of the families of British gardeners and American airmen and never-before-published journals and papers of Resistance members, author Caitlin Galante DeAngelis reveals untold stories of human courage, resistance, and survival.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Edmond Halley: The Many Discoveries of the Most Curious Astronomer Royal
Edmond Halley is known far and wide thanks largely to the comet bearing his name, the nature of which he predicted in 1705. While that discovery is enough to make the career of any scientist, Halley’s massive contributions to the fields of astronomy, philosophy, history, mathematics, engineering, and actuarial science – the latter of which he founded single-handedly – as a young man and eventually as Astronomer Royal are mostly overlooked. Edmond Halley: The Astronomer Royal Who Brought the Universe to Earth is a revelatory and deeply researched biography of a man whose defining achievement isn’t even the half of it. A jack-of-all-trades when it came to scientific reasoning, an all-around academic, Renaissance man, and workaholic who couldn’t leave well enough alone, Halley was amazingly productive and prolific. He was behind some of the most groundbreaking pieces of discovery in human history: it was Halley who was the first to survey the skies and plot the stars of the southern hemisphere; he published Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, which many argue is the most important scientific text ever written; in the field of history, he translated the works of ancient Greek mathematician Apollonius and calculated the date of Julius Caesar’s arrival in Britain; he captained the ship Paramore on a scientific expedition to plot the Earth’s magnetic fields, not losing a single original crewmember on the mission; Halley was the first to calculate mortality annuities, creating the foundation for actuarial science; he made improvements to the diving bell, surveyed the tides of the English channel, and led the movement to accurately measure the distance between the Earth and Sun, unlocking the key to determining the distance to the nearest stars. In this incisive and surprising biography, author David K. Love reveals the boundless mind and endless curiosity of Edmond Halley, a man whom many readers may think they already know. From his inventions and innovations to his personal life, Edmond Halley firmly cements the legacy of the second Astronomer Royal among the first-rate scientists of his time.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Lies about Black People: How to Combat Racist Stereotypes and Why It Matters
In many ways, race has come to the forefront of contemporary American life. From the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by unarmed police shootings of black people to the health and economic disparities exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been forced to reckon with our country’s fraught history – and present – of racial bias and inequality. Now that we have scratched the surface on courageous conversations about race, many are wondering: what is the next step towards healing and justice? Lies About Black People: Challenging Common Racist Stereotypes on Our Path to Common Antiracist Understanding is designed for anyone who wants to examine their own biases and behaviors with a deeper critical lens in order to take action, make change, and engage positively in the fight for racial equality. In this honest and welcoming book, diversity and inclusion expert, professor, and award-winning speaker Dr. Omekongo Dibinga argues that we must embark on a massive undertaking to re-educate ourselves on the stereotypes that have proven harmful, and too often deadly, to the black community. Through personal anecdotes, nuanced historical inquiry, and engaging analysis of modern-day events and their historical context and implications, this invaluable guide will break down some of the most powerful lies told about black people. Whether those lies are pernicious, like the idea that “most black people are criminals,” or seemingly innocuous, like “black people can’t swim,” all of the lies and stereotypes combatted in this book are rooted in hate and continue to undermine not only black people in America, but our society as a whole. Beyond combatting these harmful lies, Dr. Dibinga also provides readers with powerful insights on our racial vocabulary, reflective hands-on exercises that will allow readers to confront and change their own biases, and an honest discussion about how to move beyond misplaced shame and use privilege to serve others.Featuring personal surveys alongside real-life interviews with those who have been affected by racial biases first-hand, this open and thoughtful guide will lead readers on a path to understanding, action, and change.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Solving The Price Is Right: How Mathematics Can Improve Your Decisions on and off the Set of America's Celebrated Game Show
The Price is Right is television’s longest-running game show. Since its inception in 1956, contestants have won cars, tropical vacations, diamond jewelry, even a live horse, and the hosts’ excited catchphrase “come on down!” has become part of our everyday vernacular. Part of the program’s enduring appeal is the apparent ease of the game, guessing the cash value of certain prizes. But, if that’s the case, then why do so many contestants come away from the show empty-handed?Solving The Price is Right is an in-depth exploration of the underlying probability theory of the popular television program that explores how biases and behavioral pitfalls limit our ability to successfully apply logic and math both on and off the show. With rigorous data and analysis compiled from Seasons 47 and 48 (356 total episodes), economist and popular mathematician Justin L. Bergner draws strategic and mathematical insights from all facets of the show, from Contestant’s Row bidding to the Showcase Showdown, and all 77 Pricing Games, using a combination of game theory, probability theory, statistics, and pattern recognition. In each section, Bergner summarizes contestant performance, highlights the biases leading to sub-par outcomes, and shows how outcomes can be improved by executing the right strategies while avoiding cognitive biases. Throughout, Bergner applies the lessons learned to the fields of business, finance, and our real lives, shedding light on themes of reverse psychology, strategic patience, and the importance of establishing what is sufficient for success in our pursuits. The result is a truly unique and meticulously researched book that uses Solving The Price is Right as a lens to examine our own choices – and how to make better ones.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Thirty-Thousand Steps: A Memoir of Sprinting toward Life after Loss
After author Jess Keefe ended things with her long-term boyfriend, she moved in with her brother Matt in hopes that family could help her not only heal from the break-up but also evolve into a healthy adult. But that fantasy ended when Matt’s heroin addiction came roaring back after lying dormant for years, leading to a fatal overdose on a warm October night.Thirty-Thousand Steps is a powerful and transformative memoir that interweaves the author’s obsessive training to becoming a distance runner, along with her singular, focused research into the science of addiction in the shadow of grief after the death of her brother.In the year that followed Matt’s death, Jess lived alone for the first time in her life while struggling with a loose, bereaved mind. She became obsessed with what happened to her brother and how things could have been different. She dove into research about addiction and drugs. She excavated their shared childhood and young adulthood for clues.During this time, she was also learning how to become a distance runner. Jess pushed her body to its limits to quiet the chaos in my mind. After losing Matt, she knew she’d never be the same. With propulsive narrative scenes, a unique voice, empathy, and even humor, Jess weaves her grieving experience together with explorations of the social, political, and scientific drivers that influenced what happened to her brother. Thirty-Thousand Steps explores the psychosocial risk factors that lead to addiction, the cudgel of Catholicism, the joy and shame in the early-aughts queer experience, and the extents to which one can push mind and body to regenerate after a major loss.
£17.99
Prometheus Books The Blessings of Disaster: The Lessons That Catastrophes Teach Us and Why Our Future Depends on It
Are we doomed? As individuals, certainly, eventually, inevitably. But as a species? As a civilization? Leading catastrophe engineer Michel Bruneau thinks perhaps not. The Blessings of Disaster draws on knowledge from multiple disciplines to illustrate how our civilization’s future successes and failures in dealing with societal threats—be they pandemics, climate change, overpopulation, monetary collapse, and nuclear holocaust—can be predicted by observing how we currently cope with and react to natural and technological disasters. Maybe most importantly, this entertaining and often counter-intuitive book shows how we can think in better ways about disasters, to strengthen and extend our existence as both individuals and as a species.When it comes to rare extreme events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, volcanic eruptions, technological accidents, terrorist attacks, pandemics, and even existential threats, it is in our nature to set ourselves up for disasters because the gamble may be worth it. But only maybe.The Blessing of Disaster is the very real story of the relationship between humans and disasters – and it’s not a simple one. Bringing together his decades-long career spanning the globe as an earthquake and disaster engineer, detailed catastrophe case studies from extreme events like Japan’s Kobe earthquake and category 5 hurricanes in the American South, along with thoughtful and practical solutions, Bruneau provides a thorough examination of the structural challenges that face today’s (and tomorrow’s) world.How we cope with today’s threats is indicative of what the future holds. Contrary to popular forecasts, it is not all gloom and doom – but some of it definitely is.
£27.00
Prometheus Books Monumental Fury: The History of Iconoclasm and the Future of Our Past
Recent years in America have seen Confederate monuments toppled, statues of colonizers vandalized, and public icons commemorating figures from a history of exploitation demolished. Some were alarmed by the destruction, claiming that pulling down public statues is a negation of an entire cultural heritage. For others, statue-smashing is justified vandalism against a legacy of injustice. Monumental Folly confronts the long-neglected questions of our relationship with statues, icons, and monuments in public spaces, providing a rich historical perspective on iconoclastic violence.Organized according to specific themes that provide insights into the erection and destruction of statues — from religion, war, and revolution to colonialism, ideology, art, and social justice — author Matthew Fraser examines the implications of our monuments from the Buddhas of Bamiyan to those of Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Vladimir Lenin, and many more. Above all, the book endeavors to frame moments of statue-toppling throughout history so we can better understand the eruptions of iconoclastic violence that we are witnessing today.Statues are erected as expressions of power, and the impulse to destroy them is motivated by a desire to defy, reject, and eradicate their authority. However, the symbolic power of statues can stubbornly persist even after their destruction. This enduring paradox — between destruction and resurrection – is at the heart of this book. Fraser concludes with reflections that propose new ways of thinking about our relationship with statues and monuments and, more practically, about how we can creatively integrate their legacy into our collective memory in a way that inclusively enriches shared historical experience.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Meat Me Halfway: How Changing the Way We Eat Can Improve Our Lives and Save Our Planet
We know that eating animals is bad for the planet and bad for our health, and yet we do it anyway. We’ve all heard the statistics: animal agriculture is responsible for at least 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions; we need to drop our meat consumption by 50 percent simply to feed the world’s estimated 10 billion people in 2050; a full third of the Earth’s arable land is devoted to growing crops for livestock; approximately 80 percent of deforested land in the Amazon is used solely for rearing livestock. Ask anyone in the plant-based movement and the solution seems obvious: Stop eating meat. But for many people, that stark solution is neither appealing nor practical. In Meat Me Halfway, author and founder of the reducetarian movement Brian Kateman puts forth a realistic and balanced goal: mindfully reduce your meat consumption. It might seem strange for a leader of the plant-based movement to say, but meat is here to stay. The question is not how to ween society off meat, but how to make meat more healthy, more humane, and more sustainable. In this book, Kateman answers the question that has plagued vegans for years: why are we so resistant to changing the way we eat, and what can we do about it? Exploring our historical relationship with meat, from the domestication of animals, to the early industrialization of meatpacking, to the advent of the one-stop grocery store, the science of taste, and the laws that impact our access to food, Meat Me Halfway reveals how humans have evolved as meat eaters. Featuring interviews with pioneers in the science of meat alternatives, investigations into new types of farming designed to lessen environmental impact, and innovations in ethical and sustainable agriculture, this down-to-Earth book shows that we all can change the way we create and consume food.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Soul Winners: The Ascent of America's Evangelical Entrepreneurs
Modern megachurches that dot the nation’s landscape may seem unorthodox with their stadium seating and showbiz flourishes, but they are deeply rooted in America’s history of mass evangelical movements that blend business principles and media savvy. In this even-handed and meticulously researched book, award-winning journalist and author David Clary traces the longstanding entrepreneurial roots of evangelicalism, and how America provided a perfect backdrop for the creation and proliferation of a movement and its enterprising preachers. In the beginning of the 19th century, George Whitefield transcended sectarianism and took his message to the people. Successors like Dwight L. Moody and ballplayer-turned-fundamentalist-preacher Billy Sunday united big business and revivalism. The flamboyant Los Angeles preacher Aimee Semple McPherson knew that radio’s intimacy was ideal for listeners seeking a personal relationship with Jesus and became the first American woman to hold a radio broadcasting license in 1924. Early to proponents the benefits of television, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts built multimedia empires with Graham embarking on worldwide crusades and counseling U.S. presidents. Protestant minister Norman Vincent Peale’s potent cocktail of psychology, self-help, and business tips framed by biblical guideposts sowed the seeds of today’s popular “prosperity gospel”. In the 1970s, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell took up the torch of televangelism while still engaging in the business of winning souls and advancing their political ideas (political ideas that run much deeper than any one president or politician). Today’s prosperity megachurches – most notably Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston – may seem crass, but their message that believers can improve their material fortunes through faith is a powerful and pervasive one in America.This legacy even informs today’s evangelical pastors, who are trained to impose a corporate structure upon their churches. Soul Winners is a thoughtful and informative history that reveals the longstanding connections between business, politics, and religion in America, and the profound effect that evangelism has had on the country.
£22.50
Prometheus Books To Light the Flame of Reason: Clear Thinking for the Twenty-First Century
To Light the Flame of Reason is all about the art of clear thinking, an art that is needed now more than ever in the world we now live in. Written for anyone who wants to navigate better in this world filled with populist dogmas, anti-science attitudes, and pseudo-philosophy, authors Christer Sturmark and Douglas Hofstadter provide a set of simple tools for clear thinking, as well as a deeper understanding of science, truth, naturalism, and morality. It also offers insights into the rampant problems of extremism and fundamentalism – and suggestions for how the world can move towards a new enlightenment. The book argues that we need to reawaken the basic values and ideals that defined the original age of enlightenment. We need to accept the idea that the world we inhabit is part of nature, and that it has no trace of supernatural or magical forces. Ethical questions should be detached from religion. This doesn’t mean that the questions become any easier— just that ideas are tested and judged without being profoundly tainted and constrained by religious dogmas.Such a form of secular humanism builds on the power of free thought — the power to investigate and understand the natural world. Although not everything can be investigated or understood, the sincere quest for knowledge and understanding establishes a flexible, nondogmatic attitude toward the world. Curiosity and openness lie at the core of such an attitude. The scientific method of careful and open- minded testing, as well as science’s creative and reflective ways of thinking, provides key tools. What clear, science-inspired thinking helps us to understand, among many other things, is that a person can be good and can be motivated to carry out morally good actions without ever bowing to, or being limited by, supposedly divine forces.To Light the Flame of Reason will appeal to adults who are trying to figure out how to deal with the ever-increasing daily bombardment of conflicting messages about what is right, true, sensible, or good, and it should appeal even more to teenagers and university students who are struggling to find a believable and reliable philosophy of life that can help guide them in their choices of what and whom to trust, and how to act, both on the personal and the social level.Today, more people have greater access to information and knowledge than ever was dreamt of before, and more people are concerned about the world situation. More people have the chance, through their own actions, to make a difference.Each one of us, as an individual, matters. It is thus vitally important that each of us should choose, in a conscious and reflective manner, our own views of reality, of the world, and of humanity. And this means that it is crucial for us all to train ourselves in the art of thinking clearly.Christer Sturmark along with Pulizer Prize winning author Douglas Hofstdter argue that we must refocus our efforts on cultivting a secular society, and in doing so, we will rediscover the values and ethics that are so foreign in today’s society.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Hateland: A Long, Hard Look at America's Extremist Heart
A former Department of Homeland Security analyst takes a long view on the domestic terrorism threat from radicalized individuals and hate groups of various ideologies.America is a land in which extremism no longer belongs to the country's shadowy fringes, but comfortably exists in the national mainstream. That is the alarming conclusion by intelligence analyst Daryl Johnson, an expert on domestic extremism with more than twenty-five years of experience tracking radicalized groups for the US government. In this book, Johnson dissects the rapidly expanding forms of American hatred and radicalization, including white nationalists, antigovernment militias, antifascists (Antifa), militant black nationalists, and extremist Islamic groups. The author develops a concise model that explains how extremists on both the far right and the far left use the same techniques to recruit and to radicalize individuals, turning them into violent offenders. He also examines the political forces that fuel this threat and have kept the US government from properly identifying and developing countermeasures to deal with it, including a disproportional emphasis on Islamic terrorism.Johnson concludes by recounting individual stories of deradicalization, each of which was the result of personal reevaluations of formerly held extremist convictions. He recommends more resources at the state and federal levels for combatting radical movements and urges greater communication and coordination between law enforcement agencies. This in-depth analysis of a growing menace that has taken America hostage throws a stark light on the darkest segments of American society and provides practical means for dealing with their violent threats.
£14.99
Prometheus Books To Live and Play in Dixie: Pro Football's Entry into the Jim Crow South
While the story of the reintegration of professional football in 1946 after World War II is a topic that has been covered, there is a little-known aspect of this integration that has not been fully explored.After World War II and up until the mid- to late 1960s, professional football teams scheduled numerous preseason games in the South. Once African American players started dotting the rosters of these teams, they had to face Jim Crow conditions. Early on, black players were barred from playing in some cities. Most encountered segregated accommodations when they stayed in the South. And when African Americans in these southern cities came to see their favorite black players perform, they were relegated to segregated seating conditions.To add to the challenges these African American players and fans endured, professional football gradually started placing franchises in still-segregated cities as early as 1937, culminating with the new AFL placing franchises in Dallas and Houston in 1960. That same year, the NFL followed suit by placing a franchise in Dallas. Now, instead of just visiting a southern city for a day or so to play an exhibition game, African American players that were on the rosters of these southern teams had to live in these still segregated cities. Many of these players, being from the North or West Coast, had never dealt with de jure or even de facto Jim Crow laws.Early on, if these African American players didn’t “toe the line” or fought back (via contract disputes, interracial relationships, requesting better living accommodations in the South, protesting segregated seating, etc.), they were traded, cut, and even blackballed from the league. Eventually, though, as the civil rights movement gained steam in the 1950s and 1960s, African American players were able to protest the conditions in the South with success. Much of what happened in professional football during this time period coincided with or mirrored events in America and the civil rights movement.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Mysteries and Secrets Revealed: From Oracles at Delphi to Spiritualism in America
Revealed uncovers the science behind mysteries of nature and secrets of frauds who have been fooling us for centuries. Beginning at the Greek oracle in Delphi, author Loren Pankratz, PhD. guides us through the mysteries of the ancient world, the rituals of the Renaissance Church, and the readings of early mystics and spiritualists of the modern world to expose the deception of those claiming to tap into supernatural realms. Quite often these deceptions were the product of powerful institutions, like Roman Oracles or the Church of the Enlightenment, used to suppress free-thinking and maintain a tight grip on power. From Galileo’s scientific discoveries of the cosmos to Bernard Fontenelle’s popular philosophical dialogue that helped common people understand the sun-centered universe, Pankratz profiles those who used reason to challenge the authority of their time.Soon after, mesmerists and hypnotists paraded subjects who demonstrated insensitivity to pain and powers of clairvoyance. One such clairvoyant, a Frenchman named Alexis Didier, was so compelling as to provoke claims that if a case for clairvoyance could not be made for him, then no case can be made for anyone. This declaration has not been previously challenged, and Didier’s secret methods are unraveled here through information in rare documents and privately printed pamphlets for the first time.Modern spiritualism started with simple rapping noises created by the Fox sisters, but these quickly escalated into an arms race of psychic manifestations like levitations and mysterious writing on slates. Scientists like Michael Faraday conducted clever experiments with magnets to show the deception at work –but the captivating power of the spiritualists was too much to overcome, and his results were shrugged off. We follow more individuals who devised tests to debunk these hucksters, even as mediums did everything possible to avoid exposure.Each story in Revealed captures the tension of mysterious conflict, the thrill of discovery, and the power of science to unmask frauds and fakes.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Anthill Economics: Animal Ecosystems and the Human Economy
Does modern economic theory violate some basic, fundamental laws of physics? That is the question that award-winning environmental and energy writer Nathanial Gronewold sets out to answer in Anthill Economics. Gronewold points out that the modern school of economics is missing a significant piece of the puzzle: energy. And not just oil, or natural gas or wind power, but rather the fundamental importance of energy in transforming matter into food, shelter, and material possessions. Ecologists have been using the principles of biophysics –population density, energy return on investment, and habitation patterns –to study ecosystems for centuries. But what if those same principles hold the key to the global human economy? After all, at its core, the global economy is simply humanity’s ecosystem.Anthill Economics puts forth an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach, asserting that biophysical laws are just as fundamental to the global economy as they are to zoology and entomology. The rollercoaster-like rise and fall of caribou population on a remote island can teach us about resource allocation and global inequality. The behavior of squirrels gathering nuts is a lesson in economic energy return on investment and wage stagnation. Could human traffic patterns mimic the daily pulse of ants in the forests marching in and out of their own central business districts? And, will global warming change these patterns for humans and insects alike? This clearly written book full of illuminating ecological analogies gives readers an informed and entertaining introduction to the cutting-edge field of biophysical economics –also known as thermoeconomics –that seeks to provide a more complete understanding of the global economy. The result is a radical new way of looking at the world and how the laws of physics and nature can be used to more precisely understand human demographics, population patterns, and economics.
£17.99
Prometheus Books Snow: A History of the World's Most Fascinating Flake
From "Winter Wonderland" to "Snowmageddon," we've had a long, love-hate relationship with snow. This entertaining look at snow in all its delightful and fearsome manifestations delves into science, history, economics, and popular culture to examine snow's enduring hold on the imagination. Through profiles and anecdotes, the author discusses the reactions throughout history to snowfall. Snow, beautiful and magical, was sometimes considered one of nature's blessings. But then it was also a nuisance needing to be managed and moved, and worse, a terrifying, sometimes-crippling catastrophe to be battled. Blizzards and high-volume snowfall presented a serious obstacle to progress, travel, growth, and industry. Readers will learn about the making and removing of snow, the psychology of winter, and the history of snow in literature, art, and popular culture. The author also summarizes the current scientific understanding of major winter weather events and what is known about the complex interplay between the jet stream and the Gulf Stream. Despite sophisticated computer modeling, accurate forecasting is still a challenge. Finally, the book considers the impact of global warming on snowfall and the potential for causing a water crisis in the West and major losses in the winter recreation industry. Whether you look forward to months on the ski slopes or loathe the effects of winter on your daily commute, you'll come away from this book with a new appreciation for this amazing and important natural phenomenon.
£17.09
Prometheus Books Interplanetary Robots: True Stories of Space Exploration
A NASA insider tells the exciting story of robotic space missions to explore the solar system. Exploring the planets has been a goal of America's space program since the dawn of the space race. This insider's perspective examines incredible missions of robotic spacecraft to every corner of our solar system and beyond. Some were flown into glory, while others were planned and relegated to dusty filing cabinets. All were remarkable in their aspirations. Award-winning science writer Rod Pyle profiles both the remarkable spacecraft and the amazing scientists and engineers who made them possible. From the earliest sprints past Venus and Mars to Voyager1's current explorations of the space between the stars, this exciting book sheds new light on ever-more ambitious journeys designed to increase the human reach into the solar system. Drawing on his perspective as a writer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ground zero for NASA's planetary exploration, the author further details plans now in development to look for signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa, submarines that will dive into the hazy hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's moon Titan, and intelligent spacecraft that will operate for months without human intervention on Mars and in the outer solar system well into the 2030s. Equally compelling are programs of exploration that were considered but never left the drawing board, such as automobile-sized biology laboratories designed for a Mars landing in the 1960s and plans to detonate atomic bombs on the moon. Complemented by many rarely-seen photos and illustrations, these stories of incredible engineering achievements, daring imaginations, and technological genius will fascinate and inspire.
£13.99
Prometheus Books Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention
This visionary book details the steep costs of our deepening crisis of distraction and reveals remarkable scientific discoveries that can help us rekindle our powers of focus and sustained attention. In the first edition of this groundbreaking book, Maggie Jackson sounded a prescient warning of a looming crisis: the fragmentation of attention that is eroding our abilities to problem-solve, innovate, and care for one another. Now in this updated edition with an incisive new preface, she offers both a renewed wake-up call and a path forward as we reckon with one of the most pressing problems of our time. How can we harness the technological marvels of our age more wisely and turn data into knowledge and distraction into skillful attention? How can we reset human bonds in a time of deep disconnection? We must, she argues, curb technological excess by cultivating the full gamut of our attentional capabilities. We must look first to the human behind the device. Jackson is our expert guide in exploring the historic roots of distraction, the perils we face in melding human and machine, and the cutting-edge science that reveals the attentional skills most needed in an age of overload. Timely and unforgettable, Distracted offers a harrowing yet hopeful account of the fate of our highest human capacity.
£13.99
Prometheus Books Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon
The whole story of laser weapons with a focus on its many interesting characters and sometimes bizarre schemes The laser--a milestone invention of the mid-twentieth century--quickly captured the imagination of the Pentagon as the key to the ultimate weapon. Veteran science writer Jeff Hecht tells the inside story of the adventures and misadventures of scientists and military strategists as they exerted Herculean though often futile efforts to adapt the laser for military uses. From the 1950s' sci-fi vision of the "death ray," through the Reagan administration's "Star Wars" missile defense system, to more promising developments today, Hecht provides an entertaining history. As the author illustrates, there has always been a great deal of enthusiasm and false starts surrounding lasers. He describes a giant laser that filled a Boeing 747, lasers powered like rocket engines, plans for an orbiting fleet of robotic laser battle stations to destroy nuclear missiles, claims that nuclear bombs could produce intense X-ray laser beams, and a scheme to bounce laser beams off giant orbiting relay mirrors. Those far-out ideas remain science fiction. Meanwhile, in civilian sectors, the laser is already being successfully used in fiber optic cables, scanners, medical devices, and industrial cutting tools. Now those laser cutting tools are leading to a new generation of laser weapons that just might stop insurgent rockets. Replete with interesting characters, bizarre schemes, and wonderful inventions, this is a well-told tale about the evolution of technology and the reaches of human ambition.
£17.09
Prometheus Books God and the Atom
This history of atomism, from Democritus to the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, chronicles one of the most successful scientific hypotheses ever devised.Originating separately in both ancient Greece and India, the concept of the atom persisted for centuries, despite often running afoul of conventional thinking. Until the twentieth century, no direct evidence for atoms existed. Today it is possible to actually observe atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope. In this book, physicist Victor J. Stenger makes the case that, in the final analysis, atoms and the void are all that exists. The book begins with the story of the earliest atomists - the ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus, and the Latin poet Lucretius. As the author notes, the idea of elementary particles as the foundation of reality had many opponents throughout history - from Aristotle to Christian theologians and even some nineteenth-century chemists and philosophers. While theists today accept that the evidence for the atomic theory of matter is overwhelming, they reject the atheistic implications of that theory. In conclusion, the author underscores the main point made throughout this work: the total absence of empirical facts and theoretical arguments to support the existence of any component to reality other than atoms and the void can be taken as proof beyond a reasonable doubt that such a component is nowhere to be found.
£17.09