Conversations on Science, Culture, and Time: Michel Serres with Bruno Latour


Michel Serres - 1992
    In these five lively interviews with sociologist Bruno Latour, this increasingly important cultural figure sheds light on the ideas that inspire his highly original, challenging, and transdisciplinary essays. Serres begins by discussing the intellectual context and historical events-- including the impact of World War II and Hiroshima, which for him marked the beginning of science's ascendancy over the humanities--that shaped his own philosophical outlook and led him to his lifelong mission of bringing together the texts of the humanities and the conceptual revolutions of modern science. He then confronts the major difficulties encountered by his readers: his methodology, his mathematician's fondness for "shortcuts" in argument, and his criteria for juxtaposing disparate elements from different epochs and cultures in extraordinary combinations. Finally, he discusses his ethic for the modern age--a time when scientific advances have replaced the natural necessities of disease and disaster with humankind's frightening new responsibility for vital things formerly beyond its control. In the course of these conversations Serres revisits and illuminates many of his themes: the chaotic nature of knowledge, the need for connections between science and the humanities, the futility of traditional criticism, and what he calls his "philosophy of prepositions"--an argument for considering prepositions, rather than the conventionally emphasized verbs and substantives, as the linguistic keys to understanding human interactions. For readers familiar with Serres's works as well as for the uninitiated, Conversations on a Life in Philosophy provides fascinating insights into the mind of this appealing, innovative and ardent thinker. Michel Serres has taught at Clermont-Ferrand, at the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes) and at the Sorbonne. He has served as visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and has been on the faculty of Stanford University since 1984. Bruno Latour, a philosopher and anthropologist, is Professor of Sociology, L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines in Paris. He has written several books and numerous articles on the ties between the sciences and the rest of culture and society. Roxanne Lapidus is Managing Editor of SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism. Conversations on a Life in Philosophy was originally published in France as Eclaircissements.

Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste


Pierre Bourdieu - 1979
    Bourdieu's subject is the study of culture, and his objective is most ambitious: to provide an answer to the problems raised by Kant's Critique of Judgment by showing why no judgment of taste is innocent."A complex, rich, intelligent book. It will provide the historian of the future with priceless materials and it will bring an essential contribution to sociological theory."— Fernand Braudel "One of the more distinguished contributions to social theory and research in recent years . . . There is in this book an account of culture, and a methodology of its study, rich in implication for a diversity of fields of social research. The work in some ways redefines the whole scope of cultural studies."— Anthony Giddens, Partisan Review"A book of extraordinary intelligence." — Irving Louis Horowitz, Commonweal“Bourdieu’s analysis transcends the usual analysis of conspicuous consumption in two ways: by showing that specific judgments and choices matter less than an esthetic outlook in general and by showing, moreover, that the acquisition of an esthetic outlook not only advertises upper-class prestige but helps to keep the lower orders in line. In other words, the esthetic world view serves as an instrument of domination. It serves the interests not merely of status but of power. It does this, according to Bourdieu, by emphasizing individuality, rivalry, and ‘distinction’ and by devaluing the well-being of society as a whole.”— Christopher Lasch, Vogue

The Book of Jerry Falwell: Fundamentalist Language and Politics


Susan Friend Harding - 2000
    Yet most Americans see their culture as secular, and the United States is viewed around the world as a secular nation. Further, intellectuals and journalists often portray born-again Christians, despite their numbers, as outsiders who endanger public life. But is American culture really so neatly split between the religious and the secular? Is America as "modern" and is born-again Christian religious belief as "pre-modern" as many think?In the 1980s, born-again Christians burst into the political arena with stunning force. Gone was the image of "old-fashioned" fundamentalism and its anti-worldly, separatist philosophy. Under the leadership of the Reverend Jerry Falwell and allied preachers, millions broke taboos in place since the Scopes trial constraining their interaction with the public world. They claimed new cultural territory and refashioned themselves in the public arena. Here was a dynamic body of activists with an evangelical vision of social justice, organized under the rubric of the "Moral Majority."Susan Harding, a cultural anthropologist, set out in the 1980s to understand the significance of this new cultural movement. The result, this long-awaited book, presents the most original and thorough examination of Christian fundamentalism to date. Falwell and his co-pastors were the pivotal figures in the movement. It is on them that Harding focuses, and, in particular, their use of the Bible's language. She argues that this language is the medium through which born-again Christians, individual and collective, come to understand themselves as Christians. And it is inside this language that much of the born-again movement took place. Preachers like Falwell command a Bible-based poetics of great complexity, variety, creativity, and force, and, with it, attempt to mold their churches into living testaments of the Bible. Harding focuses on the words--sermons, speeches, books, audiotapes, and television broadcasts--of individual preachers, particularly Falwell, as they rewrote their Bible-based tradition to include, rather than exclude, intense worldly engagement. As a result of these efforts, born-again Christians recast themselves as a people not separated from but engaged in making history. The Book of Jerry Falwell is a fascinating work of cultural analysis, a rare account that takes fundamentalist Christianity on its own terms and deepens our understanding of both religion and the modern world.

Memes in Digital Culture


Limor Shifman - 2013
    Thousands of its viewers responded by creating and posting their own variations of the video—“Mitt Romney Style,” “NASA Johnson Style,” “Egyptian Style,” and many others. “Gangnam Style” (and its attendant parodies, imitations, and derivations) is one of the most famous examples of an Internet meme: a piece of digital content that spreads quickly around the web in various iterations and becomes a shared cultural experience. In this book, Limor Shifman investigates Internet memes and what they tell us about digital culture.Shifman discusses a series of well-known Internet memes—including “Leave Britney Alone,” the pepper-spraying cop, LOLCats, Scumbag Steve, and Occupy Wall Street's “We Are the 99 Percent.” She offers a novel definition of Internet memes: digital content units with common characteristics, created with awareness of each other, and circulated, imitated, and transformed via the Internet by many users. She differentiates memes from virals; analyzes what makes memes and virals successful; describes popular meme genres; discusses memes as new modes of political participation in democratic and nondemocratic regimes; and examines memes as agents of globalization.Memes, Shifman argues, encapsulate some of the most fundamental aspects of the Internet in general and of the participatory Web 2.0 culture in particular. Internet memes may be entertaining, but in this book Limor Shifman makes a compelling argument for taking them seriously.

Biology [With MasteringBiology]


Neil A. Campbell - 2007
    The book's hallmark values-accuracy, currency, and passion for teaching and learning-have made Campbell/Reece the most successful book for readers for seven consecutive editions. More than 6 million readers have benefited from "BIOLOGY's"clear explanations, carefully crafted artwork, and student-friendly narrative style.Introduction: Themes in the Study of Life, The Chemical Context of Life, Water and the Fitness of the Environment, Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life, The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules, A Tour of the Cell, Membrane Structure and Function, An Introduction to Metabolism, Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy, Photosynthesis, Cell Communication, The Cell Cycle, Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles, Mendel and the Gene Idea, The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance, The Molecular Basis of Inheritance, From Gene to Protein, Control of Gene Expression, Viruses, Biotechnology, Genomes and Their Evolution, Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life, The Evolution of Populations, The Origin of Species, The History of Life on Earth, Phylogeny and the Tree of Life, Bacteria and Archaea, Protists, Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land, Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants, Fungi, An Introduction to Animal Diversity, Invertebrates, Vertebrates, Plant Structure, Growth, and Development, Transport in Vascular Plants, Soil and Plant Nutrition, Angiosperm Reproduction and Biotechnology, Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals, Basic Principles of Animal Form and Function, Animal Nutrition, Circulation and Gas Exchange, The Immune System, Osmoregulation and Excretion, Hormones and the Endocrine System, Animal Reproduction, Animal Development, Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling, Nervous Systems, Sensory and Motor Mechanisms, Animal Behavior, An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere, Population Ecology, Community Ecology, Ecosystems, Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology.For readers interested in learning the basics of Biology.

A World of Hurt: Fixing Pain Medicine's Greatest Mistake


Barry Meier - 2013
    

Truth and Method


Hans-Georg Gadamer - 1960
    An astonishing synthesis of literary criticism, philosophy, theology, the theory of law and classical scholarship, it is undoubtedly one of the most important texts in twentieth century philosophy. Looking behind the self-consciousness of science, he discusses the tense relationship between truth and methodology. In examining the different experiences of truth, he aims to "present the hermeneutic phenomenon in its fullest extent."

Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches


John W. Creswell - 1997
    Five actual journal articles are reproduced in the appendix as examples of the different research designs.

Billie Eilish: From e-girl to Icon: The Unofficial Biography


Adrian Besley - 2020
    

Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology


Hugh Coolican - 1990
    The book assumes no prior knowledge, taking the student through every stage of their research project in manageable steps. Advice on planning and conducting studies, analyzing data, and writing up practical reports is given, and examples are provided, as well as advice on how to report results in conventional (APA) style. Unlike other introductory texts, there is practical guidance on qualitative research, as well as discussion of issues of bias, interpretation, and variance. Content on qualitative methods has been expanded for the fifth edition and now includes additional material on widely used methods, such as grounded theory, thematic analysis, interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), and discourse analysis. The book provides clear coverage of statistical procedures, and includes everything needed at an undergraduate level from nominal level tests, to multi-factorial ANOVA designs, multiple regression, and log linear analysis. In addition, the book provides detailed and illustrated SPSS textbook. Each chapter contains a self-test glossary, key terms, and exercises, ensuring that key concepts have been understood. Students are further supported. Students are further supported by an accompanying website that provides additional exercises, revision flash cards, links to further reading, and data for use with SPSS. The website will also include updated coverage of SPSS should a new version be launched. The bestselling research methods text for over a decade, Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology remains an invaluable resource for students of psychology throughout their studies.

Re:cyclists: 200 Years on Two Wheels


Michael Hutchinson - 2017
    The calls to ban it were more or less instant.Re:cyclists is the tale of what happened next, of how we have spent two centuries wheeling our way about town and country on bikes--or on two-wheeled things that vaguely resembled what we now call bikes. Michael Hutchinson picks his way through those 200 years, discovering how cycling became a kinky vaudeville act for Parisians, how it became an American business empire, and how it went on to find a unique home in the British Isles. He considers the penny-farthing riders exploring the abandoned and lonely coaching roads during the railway era, and the Victorian high-society cyclists of the 1890s bicycle craze--a time when no aristocratic house party was without bicycles and when the Prince of Wales used to give himself an illicit thrill on a weekday afternoon by watching the women's riding-school in the Royal Albert Hall.Re:cyclists looks at how cycling became the sport, the pastime and the social life of millions of ordinary people, how it grew and how it suffered through the 1960s and '70s, and how at the dawn of the twenty-first century it rose again, much changed but still ultimately just someone careering along on two wheels.

The Road Most Traveled


Chuck Ragan - 2012
    There couldn't be a better person to put together this tome than Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan and here he's collected tales from members of the Gaslight Anthem, Rise Against, At The Drive-In and more, all of whom share their own unique perspective on travel. The road isn't always glamorous but for some of us it's in our blood. These are those stories.

Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary


Adrian Grant - 1995
    Illustrated with hundreds of photographs, this visual documentary of Michael Jackson presents all the facts and includes his records, concerts, videos and awards, his public appearances and performances, memorabilia and records you never knew existed.

Hello Sunshine


Ryan Adams - 2009
    He is proof that poetry will find its writer."—Mary-Louise Parker, actress"Ryan Adams, one of America's most consistently interesting singer/songwriters, has written a passionate, arresting, and entertaining book of verse. Fans are going to love it, and newcomers will be pleased and startled by his intensity and originality."—Stephen King, on Infinity BluesRyan Adams may be acclaimed primarily for albums such as Cardinology, Heartbreaker, Gold (which includes the popular hit songs "When the Stars Go Blue" and "New York, New York"), and Easy Tiger, but the world-renowned singer/songwriter has always been a poet and fiction writer at heart.With the release of Hello Sunshine, Ryan continues to break literary ground beyond what he established with his wildly popular first book, Infinity Blues. Ryan's new work provides perhaps an even deeper insight into the man than is revealed through the songs that have resonated with his hundreds of thousands of fans.Where his debut was characterized by the bitterness of heartbreak, Hello Sunshine is a graceful, sensual assertion of the other side of the emotional coin. This is a 2009 fever dream—inside Ryan's heart and mind—replete with unforgettable verse that will shock and delight those expecting a mere continuation of where Infinity Blues left off.Ryan Adams is known for his prolific nature, which in the last ten years has resulted in various international hit albums. Ryan has also produced Willie Nelson's album Songbird and contributed to records by Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton, the Wallflowers, Counting Crows, and Cowboy Junkies; additionally, he has appeared on CMT's Crossroads with Elton John.

The Expectant Dad's Handbook: All you need to know about pregnancy, birth and beyond


Dean Beaumont - 2013
    This exciting new book, from a leading expert in working with expectant dads, doesn’t sideline or speak down to men. Instead it provides an array of targeted information to fully prepare men for their new roles – as both birth partners and fathers.The Expectant Dad’s Handbook is a one-stop guide for men on their path to fatherhood. It provides practical answers to all the questions on the mind of a dad-to-be – from what to expect at each stage of pregnancy to how to cope with any worries and fears about becoming a dad. It also reveals unique insights into a dad’s role during labour, showing key strategies for improving the birth.Both practical and accessible, this guide will provide all the information and advice fathers need for the journey ahead.