Search results for ""unknown""

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution barrels forward and the pace of disruption accelerates, all organizations must operate with agility. But this urgent priority, now widely-accepted by senior leaders, presents a major challenge: In business, government, and warfare, agility is a buzzword. There is no common understanding of what it means, or of what it takes to be consistently agile.In this groundbreaking book, Leo Tilman and Charles Jacoby offer the first comprehensive assessment of the fundamental nature of organizational agility and then describe the essential leadership practices for achieving it. They show that agility is far superior to mere speed or adaptability. Pinpointing its distinctive features, they define agility as the ability to detect and assess changes in the competitive environment in real time and then take decisive action. They demonstrate that agility enables an organization to outmaneuver competitors by seizing opportunities; better defending against threats; and acting as a well-orchestrated collective of teams that are empowered to take disciplined initiative.Combining their personal experience of building and leading agile organizations, Tilman in the realm of business and finance and Jacoby in battlefield command and homeland security, they present a powerful approach to fostering agility up and down an organization, and out to its very edges. They show how to detect opportunities and threats by fighting for risk intelligence; how to pierce through complexity and unleash creativity by nurturing a culture of honesty and trust; how to meld top-down vision and planning with decentralized execution; and how to enhance strategy by recognizing organizations as dynamic portfolios of risk.In a world where leaders and their teams must brave the unknown and step confidently forward – or risk extinction – Agility provides a vital roadmap for seizing the unprecedented possibilities of the new age and dominating change instead of being dominated by it.

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A better approach to investing. This is not a typical investment book. It is an experiential guide on cultivating the mindset and behaviour necessary to weather inherently uncertain and unpredictable markets. It doesn’t just tell you how to invest but how to think better about investing. Referencing studies on psychology, decision making, and investment behaviour, Jennings provides a no-nonsense analysis of the financial markets and a roadmap to navigating its inevitable twists and turns. Jennings uses mental models to create a latticework of wisdom that will help you evaluate investment advice and learn better behaviour in the face of uncertainty. To name a few: ignore expert predictions, be wary of stories, and try to invest like a dead person. An engaging dive into investing psychology and best practices, The Uncertainty Solution is an authoritative, accessible guide for both lay investors and professionals inundated with financial news and data. Read this book to improve your thinking about investing, practice better investment behaviour, and ultimately, have more money.

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Discover the secret method used to build the world...For millennia, humans have used one simple method to solve problems. Whether it's planting crops, building skyscrapers, developing photographs, or designing the first microchip, all creators follow the same steps to engineer progress. But this powerful method, the "engineering method", is an all but hidden process that few of us have heard of-let alone understand-but that influences every aspect of our lives.Bill Hammack, a Carl Sagan award-winning professor of engineering and viral "The Engineer Guy" on Youtube, has a lifelong passion for the things we make, and how we make them. Now, for the first time, he reveals the invisible method behind every invention and takes us on a whirlwind tour of how humans built the world we know today. From the grand stone arches of medieval cathedrals to the mundane modern soda can, Hammack explains the golden rule of thumb that underlies every new building technique, every technological advancement, and every creative solution that leads us one step closer to a better, more functional world. Spanning centuries and cultures, Hammack offers a fascinating perspective on how humans engineer solutions in a world full of problems.A book unlike any other, The Things We Make is a captivating examination of the method that keeps pushing humanity forward, a spotlight on the achievements of the past, and a celebration of the potential of our future that will change the way we see the world around us.

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What is algebra? For some, it is an abstract language of x's and y's. For mathematics majors and professional mathematicians, it is a world of axiomatically defined constructs like groups, rings, and fields. Taming the Unknown considers how these two seemingly different types of algebra evolved and how they relate. Victor Katz and Karen Parshall explore the history of algebra, from its roots in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, and India, through its development in the medieval Islamic world and medieval and early modern Europe, to its modern form in the early twentieth century. Defining algebra originally as a collection of techniques for determining unknowns, the authors trace the development of these techniques from geometric beginnings in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and classical Greece. They show how similar problems were tackled in Alexandrian Greece, in China, and in India, then look at how medieval Islamic scholars shifted to an algorithmic stage, which was further developed by medieval and early modern European mathematicians. With the introduction of a flexible and operative symbolism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, algebra entered into a dynamic period characterized by the analytic geometry that could evaluate curves represented by equations in two variables, thereby solving problems in the physics of motion. This new symbolism freed mathematicians to study equations of degrees higher than two and three, ultimately leading to the present abstract era. Taming the Unknown follows algebra's remarkable growth through different epochs around the globe.

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There's a whole universe out there...Imagine you had a spacecraft capable of travelling through interstellar space. You climb in, blast into orbit, fly out of the solar system and keep going. Where do you end up, and what do you see along the way?The answer is: mostly nothing. Space is astonishingly, mind-blowingly empty. As you travel through the void between galaxies your spaceship encounters nothing more exciting than the odd hydrogen molecule. But when it does come across something more exotic: wow!First and most obviously, stars and planets. Some are familiar from our own backyard: yellow suns, rocky planets like Mars, gas and ice giants like Jupiter and Neptune. But there are many more: giant stars, red and white dwarfs, super-earths and hot Jupiters. Elsewhere are swirling clouds of dust giving birth to stars, and infinitely dense regions of space-time called black holes. These clump together in the star clusters we call galaxies, and the clusters of galaxies we call... galaxy clusters.And that is just the start. As we travel further we encounter ever more weird, wonderful and dangerous entities: supernovas, supermassive black holes, quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, black dwarfs, quark stars, gamma ray bursts and cosmic strings.A Journey Through The Universe is a grand tour of the most amazing celestial objects and how they fit together to build the cosmos. As for the end of the journey - nobody knows. But getting there will be fun.ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

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The tragedies of World War II are well known. But at least one has been forgotten: in September 1939, four hundred thousand cats and dogs were massacred in Britain. The government, vets, and animal charities all advised against this killing. So why would thousands of British citizens line up to voluntarily euthanize household pets? In The Great Cat and Dog Massacre, Hilda Kean unearths the history, piecing together the compelling story of the life and death of Britain's wartime animal companions. She explains that fear of imminent Nazi bombing and the desire to do something to prepare for war led Britons to sew blackout curtains, dig up flower beds for vegetable patches, send their children away to the countryside and kill the family pet, in theory sparing them the suffering of a bombing raid. Kean's narrative is gripping, unfolding through stories of shared experiences of bombing, food restrictions, sheltering, and mutual support. Soon pets became key to the war effort, providing emotional assistance and helping people to survive a contribution for which the animals gained government recognition. Drawing extensively on new research from animal charities, state archives, diaries, and family stories, Kean does more than tell a virtually forgotten story. She complicates our understanding of World War II as a "good war" fought by a nation of "good" people. Accessibly written and generously illustrated, Kean's account of this forgotten aspect of British history moves animals to center stage forcing us to rethink our assumptions about ourselves and the animals with whom we share our homes.

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The tragedies of World War II are well known. But at least one has been forgotten: in September 1939, four hundred thousand cats and dogs were massacred in Britain. The government, vets, and animal charities all advised against this killing. So why would thousands of British citizens line up to voluntarily euthanize household pets? In The Great Cat and Dog Massacre, Hilda Kean unearths the history, piecing together the compelling story of the life—and death—of Britain’s wartime animal companions. She explains that fear of imminent Nazi bombing and the desire to do something to prepare for war led Britons to sew blackout curtains, dig up flower beds for vegetable patches, send their children away to the countryside—and kill the family pet, in theory sparing them the suffering of a bombing raid. Kean’s narrative is gripping, unfolding through stories of shared experiences of bombing, food restrictions, sheltering, and mutual support. Soon pets became key to the war effort, providing emotional assistance and helping people to survive—a contribution for which the animals gained government recognition. Drawing extensively on new research from animal charities, state archives, diaries, and family stories, Kean does more than tell a virtually forgotten story. She complicates our understanding of World War II as a “good war” fought by a nation of “good” people. Accessibly written and generously illustrated, Kean’s account of this forgotten aspect of British history moves animals to center stage—forcing us to rethink our assumptions about ourselves and the animals with whom we share our homes.

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THE GRIPPING STORY OF LIES AND MURDER HAUNTING THE DARKEST CORNERS OF TOKYO, SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE 2020 OLYMPICS . . .'Japan-set noir doesn't get any darker or more twisted than this' Sunday Times Crime Club 'Masterpiece' JEFFERY DEAVER 'A stunning achievement' CRIME TIME, BOOK OF THE MONTH ________ He is a completely unremarkable man.Who wears the same black suit every day.Boards the same train to work each morning.And arrives home to his wife and son each night.But he has a secret.He likes to kill people.________Exiled detective Kosuke Iwata is asked back to the neon-drenched streets of Tokyo.An English exchange student has been murdered, the Olympics are just days away and those high up want this case closed fast.But Kosuke Iwata is not a man to be hurried. What he doesn't realise is that out there is a killer so apparently unremarkable he's impossible to find . . . ________ Praise for Nicolás Obregón: 'Masterpiece' Jeffery Deaver 'I'm awestruck' A. J. Finn 'A dark, brutal ride' Anthony Horowitz

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Leo Zagami’s groundbreaking study of aliens and UFOs explores where we come from and which mysterious figures have guided humanity's political and religious choices. From the prophets to the initiates and magicians, all ages have drawn from a common source of ultra-terrestrial and magical knowledge, passed down for millennia. This text reveals the identity of the unknown superiors, secret chiefs, and invisible masters who have guided Freemasonry, the Illuminati, and others. Zagami speaks of the existence of multidimensional doors used by the various Illuminati to let other beings into our world, while alluding to the latest discoveries of quantum physics for support. This shocking text will be embraced by those willing to look beyond the everyday to analyze our world's most puzzling circumstances.

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Breakthrough methods to solve for the unknown on the path to innovation, creativity, and business growth, while avoiding bureaucracy and stagnationWhat sits above any person, project, function, or strategy in your organization? What impacts your company’s performance for years and decades? What shows up in nearly every interaction and decision in your organization? Like it or not, there are systems at work in your organization that standardize how people think, collaborate, and make decisions. These systems affect everything, yet they’re rarely discussed, managed, or even thought about.In Decision Sprint, innovation and growth expert Atif Rafiq argues that while talent is critically important to any company’s success, the systems through which collaboration and decision-making happen are what separate industry leaders from the rest—and that systems designed to embrace unknowns are quickest and most enduring way to foster growth, continuous innovation, and realization of strategy.This groundbreaking guide walks readers through the process of embracing unknowns from the start of a bright idea, strategic project, or new initiative through the steps of alignment and decision making with sponsors and executives. He distills his knowledge into 13 “superpowers” that rewire how people think, collaborate, and decide in order to foster fearless interaction with the unknown, constructive questioning, team-based problem solving, and a collective IQ lift for everyone involved in strategic or innovation initiatives.These superpowers include: Moving Upstream—to feed and smooth the way for downstream execution Establishing Decision Sprints—to tap into the power of questioning, gather the right input and defeat the fear of unknowns Crafting Workflows—to bring decision sprint to life and streamline meetings and collaboration Socializing Knowledge—to solidify buy-in, creating alignment and “drama” free decision-making for important initiatives Landing and Expanding to Achieve Adoption—to drive change one initiative at a time, starting at the team level Leveraging Digital Tools—to utilize game changing software to enable decision sprints and pave the way for a goldmine of data about upstream work Preparing for AI—to assist leader and management with new level of radar and signal about the momentum or lack of it when it comes to translating strategy into action Distilling years of experience working in the upper echelons of both long-established corporations and Silicon Valley organizations, Atif Rafiq has learned that when a system works to embrace the unknowns that come with new growth and market opportunities, the results can be extraordinary.Leverage Rafiq’s superpowers to make innovation and creativity part of your company’s DNA—and build your organization into an industry leader that constantly makes the leap from identification of whitespaces, innovation, and growth opportunities to taking decisive action on them.

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The story of an uncovered voyage as colorful and momentous as any on record for the Age of Discovery—and of the Black mariner whose stunning accomplishment has been until now lost to history It began with a secret mission, no expenses spared. Spain, plotting to break Portugal’s monopoly trade with the fabled Orient, set sail from a hidden Mexican port to cross the Pacific—and then, critically, to attempt the never-before-accomplished return, the vuelta. Four ships set out from Navidad, each one carrying a dream team of navigators. The smallest ship, guided by seaman Lope Martín, a mulatto who had risen through the ranks to become one of the most qualified pilots of the era, soon pulled far ahead and became mysteriously lost from the fleet. It was the beginning of a voyage of epic scope, featuring mutiny, murderous encounters with Pacific islanders, astonishing physical hardships—and at last a triumphant return to the New World. But the pilot of the fleet’s flagship, the Augustine friar mariner Andrés de Urdaneta, later caught up with Martín to achieve the vuelta as well. It was he who now basked in glory, while Lope Martín was secretly sentenced to be hanged by the Spanish crown as repayment for his services. Acclaimed historian Andrés Reséndez, through brilliant scholarship and riveting storytelling—including an astonishing outcome for the resilient Lope Martín--sets the record straight.

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The Library of America inaugurates its Elmore Leonard edition with four funny, street-smart early masterpieces, gathered in one volume for the first time: Blending gritty toughness and unpredictable violence with wild humor and an uncanny ear for the rhythms of ordinary speech, Elmore Leonard (1925–2013) was the most widely and enthusiastically admired crime novelist of his time. His genius for scene and dialogue led Time magazine to describe him as “a Dickens of Detroit,” and Newsweek called him “the best American writer of crime alive, possibly the best we’ve ever had.” Now The Library of America inaugurates a three-volume edition of Leonard’s greatest work, prepared in consultation with the author shortly before his death and edited by his long-time researcher Gregg Sutter. The four novels collected in this first volume re-invented the American crime novel and cemented Leonard’s reputation. All are set in his hometown Detroit, a hard-working “shot and a beer” kind of place whose lawless underside becomes a stage for an unforgettable cast of rogues, con artists, and psychopaths. Fifty-Two Pickup (1974), fast and sharply written, is an insidiously brutal book about an adulterous businessman who runs afoul of a crew of murderous blackmailers. Swag (1976) finds Leonard moving for the first time into the more comic mode that would become his signature, as he charts the small-time criminal careers of an amiable ex-con and an ambitious car salesman who share a bachelor pad and pursue their hedonistic dream of the good life through a string of armed robberies. Unknown Man No. 23 (1977) spins a complex web of crisscrossing rip-offs and con games, with process server Jack Ryan, a typically laid-back Leonard protagonist, caught in the middle. In The Switch (1978), one of Leonard’s funniest books, Mickey Dawson, a discontented housewife held for ransom, manages to turn the tables on her kidnappers while exacting overdue revenge on her scheming husband. This volume also contains a newly researched chronology of Elmore Leonard’s life, drawing on materials in his personal archive, and detailed annotations, which include as a special bonus a scene from the typescript for Swag that did not appear in the published book.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

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This book deals with the documentation and interpretation of the rock sites located in La Mancha center (Spain), from the detailed study of the symbols that have been engraved in the rock. These sites, from historical times, can provide valuable information for the study of the mentalities and beliefs of the popular classes during the Modern Age, strongly influenced by the atmosphere created after the Counter-Reformation. Crosses, calvaries, orbs, human and animal representations, letters, cup-marks and game boards make up an authentic symbolic universe, of clear Christian roots, whose understanding is possible to achieve even though it requires collaboration between multiple fields of knowledge such as archaeology, theology, numismatics, heraldry, architecture, sculpture, painting... Unfortunately, researchers have paid scant attention to the issue at hand, assuming paradigms that from our point of view should be reviewed, such as the authorship of the petroglyphs or their chrono-cultural affiliation. The study of the rock formations located in La Mancha center can shed light on these and other subjects, providing a good starting point in order to improve the documentation and interpretation of historical rock engravings in other parts of the world.

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The Enlightenment in modern Greece is, without exception, characterised in our recent literature as a period of outstanding significance for the cultural history of modern Hellenism. For those who research the character of contemporary Hellenism it is, moreover, a composite field of study which can only be approached with great difficulty. First and foremost, the period is, without doubt, one of great importance for our literature and for the history of the ideas underpinning our cultural life. In its entirety, however, it influenced the whole history of modern Greece and, in many respects, still today defines our thoughts and actions. The adoption of the ideas of the Enlightenment depended on the gigantic efforts of towering intellectuals, whose genius shone out from the fall of Constantinople right up to the middle of the 19th century. In respect of our cultural history, it continued and brought to a peak the endeavours of men of letters to assimilate Western philosophy during the last two centuries of the expiring Byzantine empire. Greek language text. 8 b&w illustrations.

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Eclectic essays on ethics, education, and much else besides.Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. AD 45–120, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned. Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the forty-six Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch’s many other varied extant works, about sixty in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics, and religion. The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts. Volume XVI is a comprehensive Index.

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The "Joint Declaration of Twenty-two States", signed in Paris on 19 November 1990 by the Chiefs of State or Government of all the countries which participated in World War Two in Europe, is the closest document we will ever have to a true "peace treaty" concluding World War II in Europe. In his new book, retired United States Ambassador John Maresca, who led the American participation in the negotiations, explains how this document was quietly negotiated following the reunification of Germany and in view of Soviet interest in normalizing their relations with Europe. With the reunification of Germany which had just taken place it was, for the first time since the end of the war, possible to have a formal agreement that the war was over, and the countries concerned were all gathering for a summit-level signing ceremony in Paris. With Gorbachev interested in more positive relations with Europe, and with the formal reunification of Germany, such an agreement was -- for the first time -- possible. All the leaders coming to the Paris summit had an interest in a formal conclusion to the War, and this gave impetus for the negotiators in Vienna to draft a document intended to normalise relations among them. The Joint Declaration was negotiated carefully, and privately, among the Ambassadors representing the countries which had participated, in one way or another, in World War Two in Europe, and the resulting document -- the "Joint Declaration" -- was signed, at the summit level, at the Elysée Palace in Paris. But it was overshadowed at the time by the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe -- signed at the same signature event -- and has remained un-noticed since then. No one could possibly have foreseen that the USSR would be dissolved about one year later, making it impossible to negotiate a more formal treaty to close World War II in Europe. The "Joint Declaration" thus remains the closest document the world will ever see to a formal "Peace Treaty" concluding World War Two in Europe. It was signed by all the Chiefs of State or Government of all the countries which participated in World War II in Europe.

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Financial Times -- 'An extraordinary, enticing fusion of fiction and natural history. The artwork alone [...] is stunning.'Kate Winslet -- 'Breathtakingly beautiful... every young adventurer should read this book.'The Oldie -- 'The second thrilling voyage for the Unknown Adventurer.’Are you ready to take part in an adventure? To face danger at every turn? To venture into unknown lands? If you are, then Journey to the Last River may be the perfect adventure book for you.‘I would mention the area’s name, but I can’t. All I can say is that this map would lead the two of us on an expedition into the heart of the unknown, hoping to find the last river for ourselves. What we discovered deep within the rainforest was enough to make me remove or change the place names in this journal - just like the map maker. Soon, you will know and understand.…'Join the Unknown Adventurer again on this thrilling adventure into the Amazon, which begins with a map discovered in the Royal Geographical Society showing a river that has been mysteriously rubbed out. It leads the Unknown Adventurer and his companion Bibi into a search for this ‘last river’ that will change their understanding of nature forever. This book is a thrilling tale of a voyage into the Amazon rainforest that looks exactly like a real scrap book inside, with smudged pages, handwritten-looking text and even die-cut piranha bite marks from a previous scrape. The gripping story features encounters with caiman and anacondas, incredible flora and fauna, survival tips and much, much more. The first title in a new series of spin-off adventures from The Lost Book of Adventure. Praise for The Lost Book of Adventure:Bear Grylls -- 'Packed FULL of adventures' The Guardian -- ‘A clarion call to the child explorer [...] a spectacular immersion in the life of the wild.' Daily Express -- ‘Exquisitely illustrated [...] children will treasure it for years to come.'

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New Town House brings together a collection of some of the more interesting and creative town house projects which have been recently constructed. The focus on recently completed projects allows for an analysis of the challenges of integrating new buildings in existing residential areas. All of the featured projects share one main characteristic their ability to make the most out of limited spaces in creative ways. Within the basic typology of a flat building between parallel walls, a world of possibilities is opened up: spaces full of light, endless staircases, curtain walls, facades which spread completely out to the street or enclose mysterious gardens and interior patios.

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