Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming: The NIPCC Report on Scientific Consensus


Craig D. Idso - 2015
    This claim is not only false, but its presence in the debate is an insult to science." With these words, the authors begin a detailed analysis of one of the most controversial topics of the day. The authors make a compelling case against claims of a scientific consensus. The purported proof of such a consensus consists of sloppy research by nonscientists, college students, and a highly partisan Australian blogger. Surveys of climate scientists, even those heavily biased in favor of climate alarmism, find extensive disagreement on the underlying science and doubts about its reliability. The authors point to four reasons why scientists disagree about global warming: a conflict among scientists in different and often competing disciplines; fundamental scientific uncertainties concerning how the global climate responds to the human presence; failure of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide objective guidance to the complex science; and bias among researchers. The authors offer a succinct summary of the real science of climate change based on their previously published comprehensive review of climate science in a volume titled Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science. They recommend that policymakers resist pressure from lobby groups to silence scientists who question the authority of the IPCC to claim to speak for climate science. More than 50,000 copies of the first edition were sold or given away in five months to elected officials, civic and business leaders, scientists, and other opinion leaders. The response from the science community and experts on climate change has been overwhelmingly positive. To meet demand for more copies, we have produced this second revised edition. Changes include a foreword by Marita Noon, at the time executive director of Energy Makes America Great, Inc. Some of the discussion in Chapter 1 has been revised and expanded thanks to feedback from readers of the first edition. Graphs in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are now full color, and new graphs have been added.

UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities


John B. Alexander - 2011
    Vallee Introduction by Burt Rutan Commentary by Tom Clancy A never-before-heard firsthand account of a government insider’s experience on the cutting edge of UFO exploration; includes a new afterword “Forget everything you think you know about UFOs - this insider's account exposes the reality... Packed with top grade information, insightful analysis and fascinating anecdotes, Alexander's interesting and controversial book sets the gold standard for titles on this subject.†–Nick Pope, author of Open Skies, Closed Minds “Changes the playing field for both true believers and skeptics alike. Alexander strongly warns, be careful what you wish for when asking for presidential intervention.  Success could set the field of ufology back decades.†--George Noory, host of Coast to Coast AM While still on active duty in the U.S. Army during the 1980s, Colonel John B. Alexander, Ph.D. created an interagency group to explore the controversial topic of UFOs. All members held Top Secret clearance. What they discovered was not at all what was expected. UFOs covers the numerous cases they saw, and answers questions like: • What was really in Hanger 18? • Did a UFO land at Holloman Air Force Base? • What happened at Roswell? • What is Majestic 12? • What is the Aviary? • What does the government know about UFOs? • What has happened with disclosure in other countries? • Has the U.S. reverse engineered a UFO? • Why don’t presidents get access to UFO info? UFOs is at once a complete account of Alexander’s findings, and a call to action. There are no conspiracy theories here—only hard facts—but they are merely the beginning.

Sinatra: Up and Running


Alan Harris - 2011
    With this concise book, you will quickly gain working knowledge of Sinatra and its minimalist approach to building both standalone and modular web applications. Sinatra serves as a lightweight wrapper around Rack middleware, with syntax that maps closely to functions exposed by HTTP verbs, which makes it ideal for web services and APIs. If you have experience building applications with Ruby, you’ll quickly learn language fundamentals and see under-the-hood techniques, with the help of several practical examples. Then you’ll get hands-on experience with Sinatra by building your own blog engine. Learn Sinatra’s core concepts, and get started by building a simple application Create views, manage sessions, and work with Sinatra route definitions Become familiar with the language’s internals, and take a closer look at Rack Use different subclass methods for building flexible and robust architectures Put Sinatra to work: build a blog that takes advantage of service hooks provided by the GitHub API

Guide to the Night Sky


Storm Dunlop - 2013
    A total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses the United States. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow will begin in the northern Pacific and cross the USA from west to east from Oregon to South Carolina. The Moon's penumbral shadow will produce a partial eclipse visible from most of North America. In fact, the 2017 full eclipse is such an important sky event that sky watchers in Europe are already planning trips to view it. 2017 Guide to the Night Sky provides all of the information needed to view this exciting eclipse and track its path. The time zones and transit of the eclipse will be noted inside the book's jacket for quick and easy reference.The night sky makes for exciting viewing any time of the year, and 2017 Guide to the Night Sky is the ideal guide to help amateur astronomers find their way for the entire 12 months. With monthly charts and other diagrams set for a latitude of 40 degrees North, it shows how the visible stars change from month to month and includes the many sky events that occur throughout the year. It is highly practical for beginning sky gazers because the objects and events may be observed with the naked eye, or nothing more complicated than a pair of binoculars.The month-by-month guides include sky activity charts and moon calendars; meteors (with dates of showers, including hourly rate of radiants); the Planets; ecliptic charts; diagrams of interesting events; plus sky and constellation maps throughout.An appendix includes a full glossary; the Greek Alphabet; the constellation genitives, abbreviations and English names; a table of common asterisms; further information; recommended astronomy journals, societies, institutions and organizations; software, and internet sources.Especially useful for beginning sky watchers, this guide will be fully updated to 2017. Its small and light format makes it the ideal portable reference for backyard astronomers.

Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew


Michael D. Leinbach - 2018
    And it would be Mike Leinbach who would be a key leader in the search and recovery effort as NASA, FEMA, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and dozens more federal, state, and local agencies combed an area of rural east Texas the size of Rhode Island for every piece of the shuttle and her crew they could find. Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, it would become the largest ground search operation in US history. For the first time, here is the definitive inside story of the Columbia disaster and recovery and the inspiring message it ultimately holds. In the aftermath of tragedy, people and communities came together to help bring home the remains of the crew and nearly 40 percent of shuttle, an effort that was instrumental in piecing together what happened so the shuttle program could return to flight and complete the International Space Station. Bringing Columbia Home shares the deeply personal stories that emerged as NASA employees looked for lost colleagues and searchers overcame immense physical, logistical, and emotional challenges and worked together to accomplish the impossible. Featuring a foreword and epilogue by astronauts Robert Crippen and Eileen Collins, this is an incredible narrative about best of humanity in the darkest of times and about how a failure at the pinnacle of human achievement became a story of cooperation and hope.

Strength Training Past 50


Wayne L. Westcott - 1997
    In the third edition of this best-selling guide, you'll find these topics:- 83 exercises for free weights, machines, bands, and balls- 30 workouts for increasing size, endurance, and strength- Sport-specific programs for tennis, golf, cycling, running, and more- Eating plans and nutrition advice for adding lean muscle and losing fatStrength Training Past 50 will keep you active, healthy, and looking great with workouts and programs designed just for you.

Becoming Human: Our Past, Present and Future


Scientific American - 2013
    

Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet


Curtis Manley - 2019
    An attractive and informative volume for young stargazers.” —Kirkus Reviews“Manley’s writing swings gracefully between factual descriptions … and more lyrical observations: “All stars twinkle, but some stars also seem to wink at us... as if saying, ‘I know a secret.’ ” … Richly informative prose and intimate yet expansive art show a child’s contagious enthusiasm for the book’s subject. Includes a timeline of astronomical discoveries and suggestions for further reading.” —Publishers WeeklyDo you wonder if humansare the only beingswho wonderif they are alone in the universe?Our sun is a star.In the night sky are all kinds of stars, and orbiting those starsare planets like the ones in our own solar system.Could those planets have lifelike we do on Earth?Planet Earth is not too big, not too small, not too hot, and not too cold. It's just right.Our very own Goldilocks planet . . . .Follow a young girlas she explores these questionsin this gorgeous book about the wondrous searchfor another Goldilocks planet.

Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity


David J. Kent - 2013
    Born of modest means in what is now Croatia and later becoming a naturalized American citizen, Tesla’s inventions include the alternating current (AC) that powers our homes today, radio, wireless transmission, X-rays, and the electrifying Tesla coil. He even worked on development of direct energy weapons (death rays) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. During his lifetime Tesla moved first to Paris, then to New York, and after a period of time in Colorado Springs back to New York City where he maintained two laboratories. Along the way he worked for Edison, then became his biggest rival, and formed friendships with such divergent personalities as George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, a pigeon, all while reflecting on a childhood cat. His idiosyncrasies included an obsession with numbers divisible by three, ardent gambling, and a near-pathological fear of germs. He rarely slept more than a few hours at a time, often going days without rest. While generally soft-spoken, he could be a consummate showman, often insisting that his Tesla coil be present while he lectured, seemingly shooting lightning bolts as he spoke. In the end he died alone and nearly penniless, having ceded perhaps billions of dollars in royalties to his friend George Westinghouse. This illustrated book takes us through Tesla’s life, his experiments and contributions to science, and brings us into his complex mind. Through ample use of his writings and interviews with the societies and inventors clubs that honor his name, we explore Tesla’s methods and discoveries, personality quirks, and his legacy for the modern world – both scientific and popular culture.

The Apollo Program: The History and Legacy of America’s Most Famous Space Missions


Charles River Editors - 2015
    Landing on the Moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government’s urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). In 1957, at a time when people were concerned about communism and nuclear war, many Americans were dismayed by news that the Soviet Union was successfully launching satellites into orbit. Among those concerned was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose space program was clearly lagging a few years behind the Soviets’ space program. From 1959-1963, the United States worked toward putting satellites and humans into orbit via the Mercury program, but Eisenhower’s administration was already designing plans for the Apollo program by 1960, a year before the first Russian orbited the Earth and two years before John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress and asked the nation to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Given America’s inability to even put a man in orbit yet, this seemed like an overly ambitious goal, and it isn’t even clear that Kennedy himself believed it possible; after all, he was reluctant to meet NASA Administrator James E. Webb’s initial funding requests. As Apollo 11’s name suggests, there were actually a number of Apollo missions that came before, many of which included testing the rockets and different orbital and lunar modules in orbit. In fact, it wasn’t until Apollo 8 that a manned vehicle was sent towards the Moon and back, and before that mission, the most famous Apollo mission was Apollo 1, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Over the decade, NASA would spend tens of billions on the Apollo missions, the most expensive peacetime program in American history to that point, and even though Apollo 11 was only one of almost 20 Apollo missions, it was certainly the crown jewel. only one of nearly 20 Apollo missions conducted by NASA. And to make Apollo 11 a success, it would take nearly a decade of planning by government officials, hard work by NASA scientists, intense training by the astronauts, and several missions preceding Apollo 11. It also cost over $20 billion, making the Apollo program the most expensive peacetime program in American history at the time. Apollo 12 successfully landed astronauts on the Moon just a few months after Apollo 11’s successful mission. Apollo 12 was actually more successful than Apollo 11 from the standpoint of fulfilling the mission objectives, but it was naturally overshadowed since it did not come first. Another reason Apollo 12 is mostly forgotten today can be credited to the dramatic and fateful Apollo 13 mission, which took twists and turns nobody could have predicted when it launched on April 11, 1970. Apollo 13’s mission was to land on the Moon near the Fra Mauro highlands, which were hills that had somehow formed in the middle of a huge crater tens of miles wide. The mission was supposed to test for seismic activity and take samples to analyze the crater and try to find an explanation for the formation of the hills.

The Old Farmer's Almanac 2016


Old Farmer's Almanac - 2015
    Thomas, and readers’ expectations. This edition is packed with wit, wisdom, tips, advice, facts, fun, and recipes, including: • traditionally 80 percent–accurate weather forecasts • how to make sausages at home • “creatures from hell” • grow your own beer (ingredients) • time- and money-saving tips • unmasked mysteries of plant seed dispersal • bale, key, and concrete block gardens • quirky origins of American horse breeds • history, lore, and more about birthstones Plus, Moon phases and other celestial sightings, tides, gardening tables, best days to do things, and more.   Added value this year: • 96 full-color pages • full-color winter and summer weather maps • updated Reference section Often imitated, but never equaled. Accept no substitutes!

Waking Up Blind Lawsuits Over Eye Surgery


Tom Harbin - 2009
    The shocking story of blinded eyes, and the medical school that allowed it.

Surviving AI: The promise and peril of artificial intelligence


Calum Chace - 2015
    If we get it right it will make humans almost godlike. If we get it wrong... well, extinction is not the worst possible outcome.“Surviving AI” is a concise, easy-to-read guide to what's coming, taking you through technological unemployment (the economic singularity) and the possible creation of a superintelligence (the technological singularity).Here's what some of the leading thinkers in the field have to say about it:A sober and easy-to-read review of the risks and opportunities that humanity will face from AI. Jaan Tallinn – co-founder of Skype Understanding AI – its promise and its dangers – is emerging as one of the great challenges of coming decades and this is an invaluable guide to anyone who’s interested, confused, excited or scared. David Shukman – BBC Science Editor We have recently seen a surge in the volume of scholarly analysis of this topic; Chace impressively augments that with this high-quality, more general-audience discussion. Aubrey de Grey – CSO of SENS Research Foundation; former AI researcher It's rare to see a book about the potential End of the World that is fun to read without descending into sensationalism or crass oversimplification. Ben Goertzel – chairman of Novamente LLC Calum Chace is a prescient messenger of the risks and rewards of artificial intelligence. In “Surviving AI” he has identified the most essential issues and developed them with insight and wit – so that the very framing of the questions aids our search for answers. Chace’s sensible balance between AI’s promise and peril makes “Surviving AI” an excellent primer for anyone interested in what’s happening, how we got here, and where we are headed. Kenneth Cukier – co-author of “Big Data” If you’re not thinking about AI, you’re not thinking.  “Surviving AI” combines an essential grounding in the state of the art with a survey of scenarios that will be discussed with equal vigor at cocktail parties and academic colloquia. Chris Meyer – author of “Blur”, “It’s Alive”, and “Standing on the Sun” The appearance of Calum Chace's book is of some considerable personal satisfaction to me, because it signifies the fact that the level of social awareness of the rise of massively intelligent machines has finally reached the mainstream. If you want to survive the next few decades, you cannot afford NOT to read Chace's book. Prof. Dr. Hugo de Garis – former director of the Artificial Brain Lab, Xiamen University, China “Surviving AI” is an exceptionally clear, well-researched and balanced introduction to a complex and controversial topic, and is a compelling read to boot. Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh – executive director of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk In “Surviving AI”, Calum Chace provides a marvellously accessible guide to the swirls of controversy that surround discussion of what is likely to be the single most important event in human history - the emergence of artificial super

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon


Jeffrey Kluger - 2017
    Sixteen weeks later, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders were aboard the first manned spacecraft to depart Earth’s orbit, reach the moon, and return safely to Earth, delivering a tear-inducing Christmas Eve message along the way.

Management Information Systems


Raymond McLeod Jr. - 1979
    Focusing on the role of managers within an organization, the volume emphasizes the development of computer-based Information Systems to support an organization's objectives and strategic plans. Focusing on the Systems Concepts, the Systems Approach is implemented throughout the text. The volume covers essential concepts such as using information technology to engage in electronic commerce, and information resources such as database management systems, information security, ethical implications of information technology and decision support systems with projects to challenge users at all levels of competence. For those involved in Management Information Systems.