Best of
Academics
2016
Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide
Altair Peterson - 2016
Everything You Need to Ace Math . . . covers everything to get a student over any math hump: fractions, decimals, and how to multiply and divide them; ratios, proportions, and percentages; geometry; statistics and probability; expressions and equations; and the coordinate plane and functions. The BIG FAT NOTEBOOK™ series is built on a simple and irresistible conceit—borrowing the notes from the smartest kid in class. There are five books in all, and each is the only book you need for each main subject taught in middle school: Math, Science, American History, English Language Arts, and World History. Inside the reader will find every subject’s key concepts, easily digested and summarized: Critical ideas highlighted in neon colors. Definitions explained. Doodles that illuminate tricky concepts in marker. Mnemonics for memorable shortcuts. And quizzes to recap it all. The BIG FAT NOTEBOOKS meet Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and state history standards, and are vetted by National and State Teacher of the Year Award–winning teachers. They make learning fun and are the perfect next step for every kid who grew up on Brain Quest.
Rare and Beautiful Things
Giselle Fox - 2016
A virgin at 32, the willowy, redheaded PhD finds romance far more baffling. So when she meets gorgeous, athletic shipwreck diver Nikki Sharpe off the coast of Belize, her curiosity is mixed with a strong dose of caution.Nikki can’t help being intrigued by Amber’s innocence and intellect. When the pair discover a long-lost journal preserved in a sunken ship, the unexpected story in its pages sets them on their own journey toward intimacy.But Amber doesn’t want to get her heart broken by a woman who won’t be around for long. Can Nikki overcome Amber’s doubts and show her there’s more than one kind of hidden treasure?
Dispossessed Lives: Enslaved Women, Violence, and the Archive
Marisa J. Fuentes - 2016
Marisa J. Fuentes creates a portrait of urban Caribbean slavery in this colonial town from the perspective of these women whose stories appear only briefly in historical records. Fuentes takes us through the streets of Bridgetown with an enslaved runaway; inside a brothel run by a freed woman of color; in the midst of a white urban household in sexual chaos; to the gallows where enslaved people were executed; and within violent scenes of enslaved women's punishments. In the process, Fuentes interrogates the archive and its historical production to expose the ongoing effects of white colonial power that constrain what can be known about these women.Combining fragmentary sources with interdisciplinary methodologies that include black feminist theory and critical studies of history and slavery, Dispossessed Lives demonstrates how the construction of the archive marked enslaved women's bodies, in life and in death. By vividly recounting enslaved life through the experiences of individual women and illuminating their conditions of confinement through the legal, sexual, and representational power wielded by slave owners, colonial authorities, and the archive, Fuentes challenges the way we write histories of vulnerable and often invisible subjects.
Sauptik: Blood and Flowers
Amruta Patil - 2016
The sequel to Adi Parva, which was chosen as one of 2012's Best Graphic Novels by comic book historian Paul Gravett, this book combines breath-taking art with classic storytelling. Based on the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the tradition of oral storytellers, Sauptik is also very contemporary. The narrative, with its lush visuals, emphasizes, over and over, our forgotten connection with the soil, with rivers, with forests, with fire. In book one, Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean, the celestial river Ganga narrates events from the beginning of time and in its sequel, Sauptik: Blood and Flowers, Ashwatthama carries the story forward after surviving the Kurukshetra battle.
The Only Academic Phrasebook You'll Ever Need: 600 Examples of Academic Language
Luiz Otávio Barros - 2016
It was written for both graduate and undergraduate students who already know the basics of academic writing but may still struggle to express their ideas using the right words. The Only Academic Phrasebook You’ll Ever Need contains 600 sentence templates organized around the typical sections of an academic paper. Here are some examples: 1. Establishing a research territory: The last few years have seen an increased interest in ____. 2. Describing research gaps: To date, no study has looked specifically at ____. 3. Stating your aims: The aim of this study is to discuss the extent to which ____. 4. Describing the scope and organization of your paper: In chapter ____ , the concept of ____ is further explored. 5. General literature review: A number of scholars have attempted to identify ____. 6. Referencing: In his 1799 study, Smith argued that ____. 7. Sampling and data collection: Participants were randomly selected based on ____. 8. Data analysis and discussion: The data provide preliminary evidence that ____. The Only Academic Phrasebook You’ll Ever Need also contains 80 grammar and vocabulary tips for both native and non-native speakers. For example: 1. What's the difference between "effect" and "affect"? “Imply” and “infer”? "They're", "their" and "there"? 2. Is "irregardless" correct? 3. Do you say "the criteria was" or "the criteria were"? The Only Academic Phrasebook You’ll Ever Need is NOT a comprehensive academic writing textbook. It will NOT teach you key academic skills such as choosing the right research question, writing clear paragraphs, dealing with counter arguments and so on. But it will help you find the best way to say what you want to say so you can ace that paper!
The Google Infused Classroom
Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith - 2016
In this book, Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith, explore the ways in which technology can be purposefully used to amplify and disrupt the learning experience. This beautifully designed book walks teachers through the process of rethinking the delivery model of instruction and is focused around the ideas of using technology to make student thinking visible, give every student a voice and allowing them to share their work. The Google Infused Classroom is packed full of examples of how you can use just ten simple online tools, to completely transform your classroom. In addition, it includes a special section on student digital portfolios.
Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge
Daniel Rachel - 2016
The following sixteen years saw politics and pop music come together as never before to challenge racism, gender inequality and social and class divisions. For the first time in UK history, musicians became instigators of social change and their political persuasion as important as the songs they sang.Through the voices of campaigners, musicians, artists and politicians, Daniel Rachel charts this extraordinary and pivotal period between 1976 and 1992, following the rise and fall of three key movements of the time: Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge, revealing how they both shaped, and were shaped by, the music of a generation.Consisting of new and exclusive in-depth conversations with over 100 contributors, including Pauline Black, Billy Bragg, Jerry Dammers, Phill Jupitus, Neil Kinnock, Linton Kwesi-Johnson, Tom Robinson, Clare Short, Tracey Thorn and many more, Walls Come Tumbling Down is a fascinating, polyphonic and authoritative account of those crucial sixteen years in Britain's history, from the acclaimed writer of Isle of Noises.Walls Come Tumbling Down also features more than 150 images – many rare or previously unpublished – from some of the greatest names in photography, including Adrian Boot, Chalkie Davies, Jill Furmanovsky, Syd Shelton, Pennie Smith, Steve Rapport and Virginia Turbett.
From Notes to Narrative: Writing Ethnographies That Everyone Can Read
Kristen R. Ghodsee - 2016
So it is ironic that most scholars who do research on the intimate experiences of ordinary people write their books in a style that those people cannot understand. In recent years, the ethnographic method has spread from its original home in cultural anthropology to fields such as sociology, marketing, media studies, law, criminology, education, cultural studies, history, geography, and political science. Yet, while more and more students and practitioners are learning how to write ethnographies, there is little or no training on how to write ethnographies well. From Notes to Narrative picks up where methodological training leaves off. Kristen Ghodsee, an award-winning ethnographer, addresses common issues that arise in ethnographic writing. Ghodsee works through sentence-level details, such as word choice and structure. She also tackles bigger-picture elements, such as how to incorporate theory and ethnographic details, how to effectively deploy dialogue, and how to avoid distracting elements such as long block quotations and in-text citations. She includes excerpts and examples from model ethnographies. The book concludes with a bibliography of other useful writing guides and nearly one hundred examples of eminently readable ethnographic books.
The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft
Tom Griffiths - 2016
Historians scour their own societies for vestiges of past worlds, for cracks and fissures in the pavement of the present, and for the shimmers and hauntings of history in everyday action.In The Art of Time Travel, eminent historian and award-winning author Tom Griffiths explores the craft of discipline and imagination that is history. Through portraits of fifteen historians at work, including Inga Clendinnen, Judith Wright, Geoffrey Blainey and Henry Reynolds, he observes how a body of work is constructed out of a life-long dialogue between past evidence and present experience.Riveting, beautiful and elegantly written, this landmark book conjures fresh insights into the history of Australia and revitalises our sense of the historian’s craft – what Tom Griffiths calls “the art of time travel”.
Three Plus One
Ann McMan - 2016
. . snow.Lots of it.Join our dynamic duo as they battle the elements, quirky friends and family, and two marauding dogs in their annual ill-fated attempts to enjoy a quiet Christmas alone.Originally published in 2014, this Christmas collection features the short stories, Nevermore!, A Christmas Tree Grows in Baltimore, and Blended Families.But wait!There';s more!In the Bywater Books reissue of Three, you get a (plus one)!This updated edition of Ann McMan's romantic comedy classic includes the fourth tale of Diz and Clarissa, 'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas.This trilogy (plus one) is a holiday omnibus not to be missed!
Chineasy Everyday: Learning Chinese Through Its Culture
Shaolan Hsueh - 2016
She introduced her revolutionary teaching methodology and graphic language in her bestseller, Chineasy.In this standalone guide, she expands her scope to include all facets of Chinese life and culture, including Numbers, Time & Dates, The Solar System & the Five Elements, People, Nature, Animals, How to Describe Things, Health & Well-being, Travel, City & Country, Shopping, Food & Drink, and Internet & Technology. She begins all twelve sections with an overview of key Chineasy characters, then presents the specific symbols relevant to each—providing insight into how Chinese thinking has shaped its language and civilization in a way that anyone can understand and appreciate.Whether you are a student learning Mandarin, an executive pursuing business ties to Chinese companies, or a curious tourist traveling to China, this single-volume encyclopedia will stimulate the mind, enchant the culturally minded and inspire everyone who seeks new experiences and a wider understanding of our world.
Immortal for Quite Some Time
Scott Abbott - 2016
Rather, this is a fraternal meditation on the question: ‘Are we friends, my brother?’ The story is uncertain, the characters are in flux, the voices are plural, the photographs are as troubled as the prose. This is not a memoir.” Thus Scott Abbott introduces the reader to his exploration of the life of his brother John, a man who died of AIDS in 1991 at the age of forty. Writing about his brother, he finds he is writing about himself and about the warm-hearted, educated, and homophobic LDS family that forged the core of his identity. Images and quotations are interwoven with the reflections, as is a critical female voice that questions his assertions and ridicules his rhetoric. The book moves from the starkness of a morgue’s autopsy through familial disintegration and adult defiance to a culminating fraternal conversation. This exquisitely written work will challenge notions of resolution and wholeness.Winner of the book manuscript prize in creative nonfiction in the Utah Arts Council’s Original Writing Competition. Winner of the 15 Bytes Book Award for Creative Nonfiction.
The Things I Learned in College: My Year in the Ivy League
Sean-Michael Green - 2016
Each Ivy has its own history and personality, and each attracts brilliant and accomplished students from around the world. These students flock to idyllic campuses in the northeast to learn, live, and party with their peers. Over the course of an academic year, Sean-Michael Green embarks on an adventure to explore the Ivy League. He spends 30 days at each of the eight schools – attending classes, participating in campus life, and meeting with students. He explores the myths and secrets of the institutions. His travels lead him from fraternity parties and strip clubs to cutting-edge research and engaging professors to historical landmarks and cherished traditions. This is the funny and inspiring tale of what he learned along the way.
How to be a modern scientist
Jeffrey Leek - 2016
It is no longer sufficient to just publish or perish. We are now in an era where Twitter, Github, Figshare, and Alt Metrics are regular parts of the scientific workflow. Here I give high level advice about which tools to use, how to use them, and what to look out for. This book is appropriate for scientists at all levels who want to stay on top of the current technological developments affecting modern scientific careers. The book is based in part on the author's popular guides including guides forReviewing papersReading papersCareer planningGiving talksThe book is probably most suited to graduate students and postdocs in the sciences, but may be of interest to others who want to adapt their scientific process to use modern tools. About the author: Jeff Leek is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is a co-founder and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization on Coursera that has enrolled over 3 million aspiring data scientists. His research has helped contributed to our understanding of the genomic basis of brain development, blunt force trauma, and cancer. He is blogs at Simply Statistics and can be found on twitter at @jtleek and @simplystatsThe book is also available through Leanpub (https://leanpub.com/modernscientist), if the book is purchased on that platform you are entitled to lifetime free updates
Hell-Knights
Hayden Thorne - 2016
But something in the distant past had turned it into a murky, putrid dreamscape instead, a crumbling city haunted by a scourge of revenants whose origins and purpose now seem destined to be hidden in the shadows forever. Not even the brave, dogged attempts at fighting midnight creatures by the descendants of a select bloodline can rid the city of the near-daily threat.Michele De Santis is a young minor sorcerer, a reluctant champion who, along with his twin sister and his cousin, has lost too much through the years and has resigned himself to a life of endless midnight hunts while selling healing and protection spells and artifacts during the day. A life of loneliness, of a forced solitude in a desperate bid at keeping collateral damage at a minimum appears to be his only future.When long-dead corpses suddenly turn without vampire bites, logical patterns no longer hold true, leaving the weary hunters baffled and unsure for the first time. Decima's bronze guardians fall silent for no reason, a dark, binding spell muting their warnings. A long-abandoned church shows signs of life in the most grotesque ways imaginable. And everything seems to point to an unknown threat, one that's long lain dormant but has been awakened by the arrival of a young English heir and his amateur antiquarian uncle.Romance and the gothic layer 'Hell-Knights' with the dark, rich textures of an alternate universe Europe, a nineteenth century world where magic reigns supreme, and love knows no gender
Eureka!: An Infographic Guide to Science
Tom Cabot - 2016
Following each stage of the development of the material Universe, from the first cataclysmic moments to the emergence of human and machine intelligence, Eureka! presents the unfolding science that lies behind and between then and now.Starting from the point of physical origin, the book moves through quarks, atoms, molecules and stars; to planet building, organic chemistry, the emergence of life, sentience; and finally on to the human mind and its quest to understand the Universe through exploration and science.Spectacular visuals reveal unexpected insights into how the world really works, covering all the major branches of scientific understanding. Using vast amounts of information to cross-reference a breadth of different subject areas, the book features physics, cosmology, chemistry, earth science, biology, nano-science, medicine, engineering and computer technology. It illuminates, inspires and amazes us with visually striking and information-rich infographics.
Adjusted Margin: Xerography, Art, and Activism in the Late Twentieth Century
Kate Eichhorn - 2016
Paper jams, mangled pages, and even fires made early versions of this clunky office machine a source of fear, rage, dread, and disappointment. But eventually, xerography democratized print culture by making it convenient and affordable for renegade publishers, zinesters, artists, punks, anarchists, queers, feminists, street activists, and others to publish their work and to get their messages out on the street. The xerographic copier adjusted the lived and imagined margins of society, Eichhorn argues, by supporting artistic and political expression and mobilizing subcultural movements.Eichhorn describes early efforts to use xerography to create art and the occasional scapegoating of urban copy shops and xerographic technologies following political panics, using the post-9/11 raid on a Toronto copy shop as her central example. She examines New York's downtown art and punk scenes of the 1970s to 1990s, arguing that xerography—including photocopied posters, mail art, and zines—changed what cities looked like and how we experienced them. And she looks at how a generation of activists and artists deployed the copy machine in AIDS and queer activism while simultaneously introducing the copy machine's gritty, DIY aesthetics into international art markets.Xerographic copy machines are now defunct. Office copiers are digital, and activists rely on social media more than photocopied posters. And yet, Eichhorn argues, even though we now live in a post-xerographic era, the grassroots aesthetics and political legacy of xerography persists.
Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam, 2017 Edition
The Princeton Review - 2016
History Exam with The Princeton Review's comprehensive study guide--including thorough content reviews, targeted strategies for every question type, access to our AP Connect portal online, and 2 full-length practice tests with complete answer explanations. Written by the experts at The Princeton Review, Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam arms you to take on the test and achieve your highest possible score.Techniques That Actually Work.- Tried-and-true strategies to help you avoid traps and beat the test- Tips for pacing yourself and guessing logically- Essential tactics to help you work smarter, not harderEverything You Need to Know to Help Achieve a High Score.- Detailed coverage of the short-answer questions and source-based multiple-choice questions- In-depth guidance on the document-based and long essay questions- Up-to-date information on the 2017 exam- Access to AP Connect, our online portal for helpful pre-college information and exam updatesPractice Your Way to Excellence.- 2 full-length practice tests with detailed answer explanations- End-of-chapter review questions to test your retention of the material- Pacing drills to help you maximize your points
Capital Gains: Business and Politics in Twentieth-Century America
Richard R. John - 2016
Capital Gains collects some of the most innovative new work in the field. The chapters explore the influence of business on American politics in the twentieth century at the federal, state, and municipal levels. From corporate spending on city governments in the 1920s to business support for public universities in the postwar period, and from business opposition to the Vietnam War to the corporate embrace of civil rights, the contributors reveal an often surprising portrait of the nation's economic elite.Contrary to popular mythology, business leaders have not always been libertarian or rigidly devoted to market fundamentalism. Before, during, and after the New Deal, important parts of the business world sought instead to try to shape what the state could accomplish and to make sure that government grew in ways that were favorable to them. Appealing to historians working in the fields of business history, political history, and the history of capitalism, these essays highlight the causes, character, and consequences of business activism and underscore the centrality of business to any full understanding of the politics of the twentieth century--and today.Contributors Daniel Amsterdam, Brent Cebul, Jennifer Delton, Tami Friedman, Eric Hintz, Richard R. John, Pamela Walker Laird, Kim Phillips-Fein, Laura Phillips Sawyer, Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, Eric Smith, Jason Scott Smith, Mark R. Wilson.
Reading the Market: Genres of Financial Capitalism in Gilded Age America
Peter Knight - 2016
In Reading the Market, Peter Knight explores the Gilded Age origins and development of this peculiar interest. He tracks the historic shift in market operations from local to national while examining how present-day ideas about the nature of markets are tied to past genres of financial representation.Drawing on the late nineteenth-century explosion of art, literature, and media, which sought to dramatize the workings of the stock market for a wide audience, Knight shows how ordinary Americans became both emotionally and financially invested in the market. He analyzes popular investment manuals, brokers' newsletters, newspaper columns, magazine articles, illustrations, and cartoons. He also introduces readers to fiction featuring financial tricksters, which was characterized by themes of personal trust and insider information. The book reveals how the popular culture of the period shaped the very idea of the market as a self-regulating mechanism by making the impersonal abstractions of high finance personal and concrete.From the rise of ticker-tape technology to the development of conspiracy theories, Reading the Market argues that commentary on the Stock Exchange between 1870 and 1915 changed how Americans understood finance--and explains what our pervasive interest in Wall Street says about us now.
Beer of Broadway Fame: The Piel Family and Their Brooklyn Brewery
Alfred W. McCoy - 2016