Search results for ""Author Daniel Smith""

A unique insight into one of science’s greatest minds of the last half-century. Undoubtedly the most famous name in science and the very face of physics over the last half-century, Stephen Hawking was remarkable for many reasons. Not least because he continued to strive to achieve so much while being hindered by debilitating illness. He demonstrated categorically that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything, no matter your physical state. Of course, it helps if you happen to possess a mind such as he did. His work on black holes put him on the map, and he became globally famous for his A Brief History of Time, communicating the most difficult scientific ideas at a period when he’d lost the ability to speak.

Read more less

A cracking general knowledge test - The Quiz Addict blogWere your school exercise books adorned with huge ticks, glowing comments and gold stars? Did you win prizes for your awe-inspiring performances on the toughest of tests? Do you still think you know it all? This is your chance to prove it as you work your way through a vast array of general knowledge head scratchers in Think You Know It All? If you reckon you've got what it takes to list the capitals of Europe, name the 52 states of the USA, check off all 38 Shakespeare plays, or recall all the James Bond films (in order), let's find out. With space to scribble, tick and graffiti, as well as an answers section for when you admit defeat, this book will entertain and challenge in equal measure.

Read more less

For years, Daniel Smith suffered from bouts of acute anxiety, extended episodes without any apparent cause that seized control of his body and mind, leaving him an emotional wreck. Sleep was impossible and headaches and nausea haunted his days. Anxiety threatened his sanity and jeopardized his relationships. He had a prestigious job, a comfortable apartment, and caring friends-but, according to his therapists, nothing seemed to be wrong. Now in paperback, Monkey Mindis the story of how one man finally learned to live with-and laugh at-his own anxiety issues. Smith shares his own hilarious and heart-wrenching story from his first severe episode at age sixteen to his discovery of the author Philip Roth, who made anxiety seem noble, to his first job, which nearly drove him to distraction, to his struggle to give up the endless cycle of hand-wringing angst in order to keep the love of his life. Through medication, endless psychoanalysis, self-imposed isolation, and meditation, Smith finally makes peace with his restless mind and becomes the husband and father he longs to be. Whether you suffer from clinical anxiety or an overdose of modern life in our "Age of Anxiety," Monkey Mind's combination of wit, candour, and serious advice will help you live in the moment instead of inside your own head.

Read more less

What connects the discovery of America, the creation of Coca Cola and the art book bought for GBP50 that turned out to contain original Picassos? That's right: sheer blind luck. No matter how meticulously things are planned, time after time the most important bits of life are the product of simple, random chance. In wonderfully witty style, Daniel M. Smith gives us the stories of inventors, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, actresses, escapees, engineers, kings, architects, pop stars, criminals, supermodels, tennis champions, opera singers and many more who have benefited from happy serendipity. From the Japanese trader who made fortune after a share price typo to the German novelist who lost his manuscript on a train, and ended up buying some fish wrapped in his own pages at the station, "The Lucky Bugger's Casebook" is a celebration of the type of unexpected good fortune we all dream of - just ask Sir Paul McCartney, who awoke one morning with the tune to 'Yesterday' having arrived in his head overnight.

Read more less

The book has a unique status as an emblem of human culture and civilization. It is a vessel for sharing stories, dispersing knowledge, examining the nature of our extraordinary species and imagining what lies beyond our known world. Books ultimately provide an invaluable and comprehensive record of what it means to be human. This volume takes a curated list of fifty of the most influential books of all time, putting each into its historical context. From ancient game-changers like the Epic of Gilgamesh, through sacred texts and works of philosophical rumination by the likes of Confucius and Plato, via scientific treatises, historic ‘firsts’ (like the first printed book) and cultural works of enduring impact (think Shakespeare, Cervantes and Joseph Heller), these are volumes that are at once both products of their societies and vital texts in moulding those same civilizations. It would take a lifetime and more to read and absorb all of them. But this volume allows you to become ridiculously well read in just a fraction of the time. This isn’t a celebration of the canon, it’s about the books that have changed how we think and live – and which have changed the course of history.

Read more less

In July 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran a front-page story headlined: PEER AND A GANGSTER: YARD ENQUIRY. While the article withheld the names of the subjects, the newspaper reported that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police had ordered an investigation into an alleged homosexual relationship between ‘a household name’ from the House of Lords and a leading figure in the London underworld. Lord Boothby was the Conservative lord in question, and Ronnie Kray the infamous gangster. Yet within a couple of weeks the story had been killed off, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. Lord Boothby and the Krays carried on with business as usual. For the first time the full saga of the cover-up and its consequences can be revealed. Drawing upon recently released MI5 files, government papers, extensive interviews, and a wide array of contemporary reports and secondary sources, Daniel Smith pieces together how eminent figures from the political firmament, the Security Service, the Metropolitan Police, the legal profession and the media saw to it that the Sunday Mirror’s story was crushed almost as soon as it emerged.

Read more less

This title includes 17 essays by one of the world's leading commentators on the work of Gilles Deleuze. The articles in this volume have become frequent references for students and scholars working on Deleuze. In response to academic demand, we are now making them available in a single convenient volume. Several of the articles are touchstones in the field and a number of them have been often cited on the reception of French philosophy, especially the articles on Badiou and Derrida. It is an essential collection of essays that gets right to the heart of Deleuze's philosophy. It includes three new pieces, two of which were written specially for this collection 'The Open" and "Concepts, Truth and Time". It has exclusive focus on the philosophical themes of Deleuze's work. It analyses three important concepts used by Deleuze: the new, univocity, and the clinical. It contrasts Deleuze's work with that of four of his contemporaries: Derrida, Badiou, Lacan and Klossowski.

Read more less

So you’re good at the pub quiz ... you always have the right answer ... you’re known for the depth and breadth of your knowledge ... well, why not put those skills to the test with Think You Know It All? Genius Edition.In this fiendish and at times infuriating book of general knowledge questions, you’ll find a vast range of topics are covered, to give you a real challenge on subjects from maths to history, music to literature, cinema to sport. With all sorts of different types of question to keep you on your toes (and all the answers at the back for when you need them) this book will give you entertainment and be head-scratchingly annoying in equal measure ...... But then that’s the thing about knowledge: if you know the answer, it’s easy!

Read more less

From Socrates to Sartre, Avicenna to Angela Davis, this accessible guide will get you up to speed on the world’s greatest minds and help you to think like them.You’ve heard of Plato, but do you understand his Theory of Forms? What does René Descartes’ maxim ‘I think, therefore I am’ actually mean? And how is philosophy relevant to modern life?Drawing on the thoughts and words of iconic philosophers from the ancient world right through to the present day, each chapter deals with a specific philosophical theory. Explore the conflict between free will and determinism, the political concept of Machiavellianism, the difference between metaphysics and epistemology, and what dialectics actually is in this accessibly-written guide to the smartest minds in history.

Read more less

This book examines performances in the American film industry’s highest-earning and most influential films. Countering decades of discourse and the conventional notion that special effects are the real stars of Hollywood blockbusters, this book finds that the acting performances in these big-budget action movies are actually better, and more genre-appropriate, than reputed. It argues that while blockbusters are often edited for speed, thrills, and simplicity, and performances are sometimes tailored to this style, most major productions feature more scenes of stage-like acting than hyper-kinetic action. Knowing this, producers of the world’s highest-budgeted motion pictures usually cast strong or generically appropriate actors. With chapters offering unique readings of some of cinema’s biggest hits, such as The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Iron Man and The Hunger Games, this unprecedented study sheds new light on the importance of performance in the Hollywood blockbuster.

Read more less

In 1893, young army officer Cecil Hambrough was murdered at the sprawling Ardlamont estate in Scotland, unleashing one of the most gripping court cases Victorian Britain had ever known. Even more remarkably, the case brought together two pioneering forensic experts - Joseph Bell and Henry Littlejohn - two men upon whom Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes happened to be based. It is their involvement in the Ardlamont affair that reveals how the world’s most famous detective came to be: the worlds of crime fiction and crime fact were about to collide spectacularly.In this extraordinary book, Daniel Smith outlines the key roles of the two men whose powers of deduction had so inspired Doyle and explores the real-world origins of Sherlock Holmes through the prism of a mystery as engrossing as any case the Great Detective ever tackled.

Read more less

Tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations. From Henry VIII's lovelorn notes to Anne Boleyn and George IV's impassioned notes to his secret wife, to Queen Victoria's tender letters to Prince Albert and Edward VIII's extraordinary correspondence with Wallis Simpson - these letters depict romantic love from its budding passion to the comfort and understanding of a long union (and occasionally beyond to resentment and recrimination), all set against the background of great affairs of state, wars and the strictures of royal duty.Here is a chance to glimpse behind the pomp and ceremony, the carefully curated images of royal splendour and decorum, to see the passions, hopes, jealousies and loneliness of kings and queens throughout history. By turns tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations, whose actions (and passions) changed the course of history, for good and bad.This morning I received your dear, dear letter of the 21st. How happy do you make me with your love! Oh! my Angel Albert, I am quite enchanted with it! I do not deserve such love! Never, never did I think I could be loved so much. Queen Victoria to Prince Albert (28 November 1839)

Read more less

''A serious reinvestigation full of revealing background information that sheds additional light on what was then and now remains a shocking crime'' Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking''This riveting, eye-opening investigation of a 70-year-old murder mystery reads like a whodunit ... A true crime must-read'' Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream''As much social history as it is gripping true crime'' Jeremy Craddock, author of The Jigsaw Murders''A meticulously researched re-examination'' Caitlin Davies, author of Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths1950s France. A British establishment figure. A shocking crime. A miscarriage of justice. The search for truth.In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer''s son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies: a husband and wife shot dead, their ten-year-old daughter savagely beaten to death. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history.Sir Jack Dr

Read more less

Learn how to think like one of history's most iconic cultural figures: Winston Churchill. Follow in his footsteps and discover the essential principles behind his success. Remembered for his leadership during the Second World War, Churchill’s commitment to 'never surrender', along with his stirring speeches and radio broadcasts, helped inspire British resistance to the Nazi threat when Britain stood alone against an occupied Europe. But as well as a hugely successful politician, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a journalist, historian and a writer, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. How to Think Like Churchill reveals the essential principles behind this fascinating leader, exploring the defining moments and enduring speeches that have made him one of the most esteemed figures of the twentieth century.

Read more less

'You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.' Such were the words of the master detective Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson, as he noted how his friend failed to implement Holmes's techniques. In How to think like Sherlock you will learn how to increase your powers of observation, memory, deduction and reasoning using the tricks and techniques of the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. The book incorporates the latest techniques and theories across a range of topics: NLP, memory mapping, body language, information shifting and speed reading - this is a supremely practical book that will make you look at the world in a new light, and more importantly, impress those around you. Packed full of case studies, quotes and trivia from Arthur Conan Doyle's original novels and short stories, How to think like Sherlock also includes a series of fun tasks and games for you to complete that will ensure that when you reach the end of the book you will be thinking like Sherlock Holmes, the master of the science of deduction. You will never look at a shirt cuff, trouser hem or scuff of dirt on a shoe in the same way again!Other books in the series include: How to Think Like Stephen Hawking, How to Think Like Churchill and How to Think Like Steve Jobs

Read more less

From Andrew Carnegie and Oprah Winfrey to Steve Jobs and Sunil Mittal, this book will teach you how to think like the best minds in the business. Drawing on the stories, experiences and words of iconic business figures from around the globe and across the years, each chapter deals with a specific aspect of entrepreneurship and the lessons they can teach us, such as: – If you want to become big, you need to think big– Don't forget what makes your business scalable in the first place– Prepare your company for growing pains– Try to predict what lies ahead, but remember Warren Buffet's wise words: 'Forecasts usually tell us more of the forecaster than of the future' Informative, educational, thought-provoking and packed full of words of wisdom from and about the world's best entrepreneurs, How to Think Like an Entrepreneur presents the ideas and methods of the business greats, allowing the reader to expand their understanding of what drives and informs successful entrepreneurship.

Read more less

From Andrew Carnegie and Oprah Winfrey to Steve Jobs and Sunil Mittal, this book will teach you how to think like the best minds in the business. Drawing on the stories, experiences and words of iconic business figures from around the globe and across the years, each chapter deals with a specific aspect of entrepreneurship and the lessons they can teach us, such as: – If you want to become big, you need to think big– Don't forget what makes your business scalable in the first place– Prepare your company for growing pains– Try to predict what lies ahead, but remember Warren Buffet's wise words: 'Forecasts usually tell us more of the forecaster than of the future' Informative, educational, thought-provoking and packed full of words of wisdom from and about the world's best entrepreneurs, How to Think Like an Entrepreneur presents the ideas and methods of the business greats, allowing the reader to expand their understanding of what drives and informs successful entrepreneurship.

Read more less

In July 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran a front-page story headlined: PEER AND A GANGSTER: YARD ENQUIRY. While the article withheld the names of the subjects, the newspaper reported that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police had ordered an investigation into an alleged homosexual relationship between ‘a household name’ from the House of Lords and a leading figure in the London underworld. Lord Boothby was the Conservative lord in question, and Ronnie Kray the infamous gangster. Yet within a couple of weeks the story had been killed off, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. Lord Boothby and the Krays carried on with business as usual. For the first time the full saga of the cover-up and its consequences can be revealed. Drawing upon recently released MI5 files, government papers, extensive interviews, and a wide array of contemporary reports and secondary sources, Daniel Smith pieces together how eminent figures from the political firmament, the Security Service, the Metropolitan Police, the legal profession and the media saw to it that the Sunday Mirror’s story was crushed almost as soon as it emerged.

Read more less

Daniel Smith looks behind what we think we know about the well-known sleuth and reveals little-known facts of which every Sherlock aficionado should be aware.Consulting detective Sherlock Holmes has been fascinating generations of readers, watchers and listeners for over 130 years, since he first appeared in print in 1887. Now an internationally renowned cultural icon, his name appears on books, films, television dramas, radio plays, stage adaptations and the rest right across the world and he is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the most portrayed movie character’ in history. With all this material readily available, one might think there’s not much to find out about Sherlock, but in Sherlock Unlocked, Daniel Smith looks behind what we think we know about the well-known sleuth and reveals little-known facts of which every Sherlock aficionado should be aware. From the eccentric and odd characters to the bizarre plot twis

Read more less

The book has a unique status as an emblem of human culture and civilization. It is a vessel for sharing stories, dispersing knowledge, examining the nature of our extraordinary species and imagining what lies beyond our known world. Books ultimately provide an invaluable and comprehensive record of what it means to be human.This volume takes a curated list of fifty of the most influential books of all time, putting each into its historical context. From ancient game-changers like the Epic of Gilgamesh, through sacred texts and works of philosophical rumination by the likes of Confucius and Plato, via scientific treatises, historic ‘firsts’ (like the first printed book) and cultural works of enduring impact (think Shakespeare, Cervantes and Joseph Heller), these are volumes that are at once both products of their societies and vital texts in moulding those same civilizations. It would take a lifetime and more to read and absorb all of them. But this volume allows you to become ridiculously well read in just a fraction of the time. This isn’t a celebration of the canon, it’s about the books that have changed how we think and live – and which have changed the course of history.

Read more less

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE . . . Who was Jack the Ripper? Where did the Nazis stash their gold? Who are the real Men in Black? Did aliens send the 'WOW' signal? And how will the world end? 100 Things They Don't Want You to Know sets out to uncover the truth behind the world's most mysterious cover-ups and unexplained events that have been shrouded in secrecy for generations. From suspicious deaths and disappearances to enigmatic identities, from Cold War cover-ups to puzzling paranormal phenomena and from ancient artefacts to coded documents, 100 Things They Don't Want You to Know takes you on a quest to solve the greatest mysteries, strange disappearances, suspicious cover-ups and conspiracy theories.Including: Black Dahlia, the Marfa Lights, the Turin Shroud, Spontaneous Combustion, Lost Literature of the Mayan Civilisation, Disappearance of Jean Spangler, Shakespeare's True Identity, the Turin Shroud, the Easter Island Glyphs, the Death of Lee Harvey Oswald, the Mothman, The Flying Dutchman, the Secret Mission of Ruldolph Hess, the 'WOW" signal, Lewis Carroll's Lost Diaries, the Man in the Iron Mask and the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Read more less

Designed as a city dwelling for the modern age, Dolphin Square opened in London’s Pimlico in 1936. Boasting 1,250 hi-tech flats, a swimming pool, restaurant, gardens and shopping arcade, the complex quickly attracted a long list of the affluent and influential. But behind its veneer of respectability, the Square has become one of the country’s most notorious addresses; a place where the private lives of those from the highest of high society and the lowest depths of the underworld have collided and played out over the best part of a century.This is the story of the Square and its people, an ever-evolving cast of larger-than- life characters who have borne witness to, and played pivotal roles in, some of the most scandalous episodes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. **From Oswald Mosley and the Carry On gang to allegations of systematic sexual abuse, it is a saga replete with mysterious deaths, exploitation, espionage, illicit love affairs and glamour, shining a light on the changing nature of British politics and society in the modern age.**

Read more less

‘Compelling, authoritative and as readable as the best airport thriller. It fizzes with crime, fame, power and illicit sex.’ Jeremy Vine‘A timely and important book. It’s quite remarkable how one building has played host to such debauchery. If only the walls could talk…’ Iain DaleDesigned as a city dwelling for the modern age, Dolphin Square opened in London’s Pimlico in 1936. Boasting 1,250 hi-tech flats, a swimming pool, restaurant, gardens and shopping arcade, the complex quickly attracted a long list of the affluent and influential. But behind its veneer of respectability, the Square has become one of the country’s most notorious addresses; a place where the private lives of those from the highest of high society and the lowest depths of the underworld have collided and played out over the best part of a century.This is the story of the Square and its people, an ever-evolving cast of larger-than- life characters who have borne witness to, and played pivotal roles in, some of the most scandalous episodes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From Oswald Mosley and the Carry On gang to allegations of systematic sexual abuse, it is a saga replete with mysterious deaths, exploitation, espionage, illicit love affairs and glamour, shining a light on the changing nature of British politics and society in the modern age.

Read more less

For the first time, the most influential readings in the field of sport and exercise psychology are compiled here in one volume. Essential Readings in Sport and Exercise Psychology contains the most exciting, innovative, and diverse theoretical orientations and research perspectives generated in the first hundred years of this growing field. In this book, readers will find abridged versions of 50 readings that provide a concise reference to the history, growth, development, and future directions of the field.The book is written by an all-star cast of sport psychologists—all leading professionals from around the world who have been included in a variety of literature reviews and used as references in numerous sport psychology lectures. From the first research article in the field by Norman Triplett in 1898 to papers regarding the more recent challenges of professional practice in the field, the selections in this compilation are the backbone of sport and exercise psychology. Readers will learn about the development and application of commonly used instruments, such as the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-II, the Group Environment Questionnaire, and the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. This book contains one of Coleman Griffith's influential early writings, Rainer Martens' explorations of science and practice, Ken Ravizza's pioneering work on peak experience, and Robin Vealey's investigation of psychological skills training. These readings are only a few examples of the depth and richness of the content contained in this single volume.The field couldn't be more ready for this first-ever compilation of key readings. The diverse selection of writings is a sign of the field's maturity, and each reading provides valuable context to the progress of exercise and sport psychology. Professionals interested in the development of the subdiscipline will find this text to be an excellent single-volume reference of the important primary research documenting the evolution of the field. Anyone with a passion for sport psychology will benefit from this groundbreaking text. Sport psychology students will gain a solid background for future studies by reviewing proven primary research from the field's biggest names and gain an understanding of how various lines of study have evolved. Experienced scholars and practitioners will enjoy the convenience of having seminal articles all in one essential reference. Instructors will save time by using this inclusive single volume rather than searching for key articles individually.The 50 essential readings in the landmark text are organized in a logical structure that mirrors the path of many texts in the field. Introductions to each part and article orient the reader to the topic being discussed. Part I establishes the historical foundation of sport and exercise psychology. Part II addresses personal factors that affect our understanding of sport and exercise behavior. Part III focuses on environmental and situational factors that affect athletic behavior. Part IV emphasizes the importance of understanding group processes. Part V examines various concepts associated with performance enhancement. Part VI explores the influence psychological factors have on exercise, health, and wellness. Part VII studies how psychological development, growth, and well-being occur and may be facilitated as consequences of sport and exercise participation. The final section, part VIII, examines professional issues critical to any developing academic organization. Essential Readings in Sport and Exercise Psychology highlights the creativity and growth in the field and shows how the field will continue to evolve by viewing these readings as the building blocks for a brighter future. There is no better text for understanding the dynamic field of sport and exercise psychology and why it has matured so dramatically and quickly.

Read more less

How are greenways designed? What situations lead to their genesis, and what examples best illustrate their potential for enhancing communities and the environment? Designing greenways is a key to protecting landscapes, allowing wildlife to move freely, and finding appropriate ways to bring people into nature. This book brings together examples from ecology, conservation biology, aquatic ecology, and recreation design to illustrate how greenways function and add value to ecosystems and human communities alike. Encompassing everything from urban trail corridors to river flood-plains to wilderness-like linkages, greenways preserve or improve the integrity of the landscape, not only by stemming the loss of natural features, but also by engendering new natural and social functions. From 19th-century parks and parkways to projects still on the drawing boards, "Designing Greenways" is a fascinating introduction to the possibilities - and pitfalls - involved in these ambitious projects. As towns and cities look to greenways as a new way of reconciling man and nature, designers and planners will look to "Designing Greenways" as an invaluable compendium of best practices.

Read more less