Book picks similar to
A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane
history
non-fiction
woodworking
americana
The Hidden Life of Trees: The Illustrated Edition
Peter Wohlleben - 2016
Now this new, breathtakingly illustrated edition brings those wonders to life like never before.With compelling selections from the original book and stunning, large-format photographs of trees from around the world, this gorgeous volume distills the essence of Wohlleben’s message to show trees in all their glory and diversity. Through rich language highlighting the interconnectedness of forest ecosystems, the book offers fascinating insights about the fungal communication highway known as the “wood wide web,” the difficult life lessons learned in tree school, the hard-working natural cleanup crews that recycle dying trees, and much more. Beautiful images provide the perfect complement to Wohlleben’s words, with striking close-ups of bark and seeds, panoramas of vast expanses of green, and a unique look at what is believed to be the oldest tree on the planet.Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
E.D. Hirsch Jr. - 1989
With more than six thousand entries,The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy is that invaluable source. Wireless technology. Gene therapy. NAFTA. In addition to the thousands of terms described in the original Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, here are more than five hundred new entries to bring Americans' bank of essential knowledge up to date. The original entries have been fully revised to reflect recent changes in world history and politics, American literature, and, especially, science and technology. Cultural icons that have stood the test of time (Odysseus, Leaves of Grass, Cleopatra, the Taj Mahal, D-Day) appear alongside entries on such varied concerns as cryptography, the digital divide, the European Union, Kwanzaa, pheromones, SPAM, Type A and Type B personalities, Web browsers, and much, much more. As our world becomes more global and interconnected, it grows smaller through the terms and touchstones that unite us. As E. D. Hirsch writes in the preface, "Community is built up of shared knowledge and values -- the same shared knowledge that is taken for granted when we read a book or newspaper, and that is also taken for granted as part of the fabric that connects us to one another." A delicious concoction of information for anyone who wants to be in the know, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy brilliantly confirms once again that it is "an excellent piece of work . . . stimulating and enlightening" (New York Times) -- the most definitive and comprehensive family sourcebook of its kind.
To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design
Henry Petroski - 1985
More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer Is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life."Alert, inquisitive, unspecialized, wholly human...refreshingly eclectic." --The Spectator"Henry Petroski is an ardent engineer, and if he writes more good books like this, he might find himself nominated to become the meistersinger of the guild. [This is] a refreshing plunge into the dynamics of the engineering ethos...as straightforward as an I-beam."--Science
Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century
Nicholas A. Basbanes - 2002
Sharing the superb insight he has gathered from booksellers over the years, Nicholas Basbanes offers a refresher course on the fundamentals that endure, while questioning certain practices of doubtful validity. Topics include how to determine if a book is a first edition, how to spot book club editions, the importance of dust jackets, scouting the flea markets, how to work the book fairs, and the importance of handling the goods, as well as discussing less tangible issues like spotting trends and having a focus. Then he takes a long look at the pros and cons of Internet buying, illuminating how you can use these electronic tools to your advantage and making this the book no modern collector will want to be without.
Holy Bible: The One Year Chronological Bible
Anonymous - 1995
In addition, The Daily Walk Bible features 365 daily devotional readings from Walk Thru the Bible Ministries within the Bible text.-- Popular New International Version text-- 365 daily readings to help you read the entire Bible chronologically in one year-- Scripture index in canonical order
Towards a New Architecture
Le Corbusier - 1923
The present volume is an unabridged English translation of the 13th French edition of that historic manifesto, in which Le Corbusier expounded his technical and aesthetic theories, views on industry, economics, relation of form to function, the "mass-production spirit," and much else. A principal prophet of the "modern" movement in architecture, and a near-legendary figure of the "International School," he designed some of the twentieth century's most memorable buildings: Chapel at Ronchamp; Swiss dormitory at the Cité Universitaire, Paris; Unité d'Habitation, Marseilles; and many more.Le Corbusier brought great passion and intelligence to these essays, which present his ideas in a concise, pithy style, studded with epigrammatic, often provocative, observations: "American engineers overwhelm with their calculations our expiring architecture." "Architecture is stifled by custom. It is the only profession in which progress is not considered necessary." "A cathedral is not very beautiful . . ." and "Rome is the damnation of the half-educated. To send architectural students to Rome is to cripple them for life."Profusely illustrated with over 200 line drawings and photographs of his own works and other structures he considered important, Towards a New Architecture is indispensable reading for architects, city planners, and cultural historians―but will intrigue anyone fascinated by the wide-ranging ideas, unvarnished opinions, and innovative theories of one of this century's master builders.
Wisconsin Death Trip
Michael Lesy - 1973
Lesy has collected and arranged photographs taken between 1890 and 1910 by a Black River Falls photographer, Charles Van Schaik.
Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump — And Democrats from Themselves
Rick Wilson - 2020
Donald Trump is exactly the disaster we feared for America. Hated by a majority of Americans, Trump's administration is rocked by daily scandals, and he's embarrassed us at home and abroad.Trump can't win in 2020, right?Wrong. As 2016 proved, Trump can't win, but the Democrats can sure as hell lose. Only one thing can save Trump, and that's a Democratic candidate who runs the race Trump wants them to run instead of the campaign they must run to win in 2020.Wilson combines decades of national political experience and insight in his take-no-prisoners analysis, hammering Trump's destructive and dangerous first term in a case-by-case takedown of the worst president in history and describing the terrifying prospect of four more years of Trump.Like no one else can, Wilson blows the lid off Trump's 2020 Republican war machine, showing the exact strategies and tactics they'll use against the Democratic nominee... and how the Democrats can avoid the catastrophe waiting for them if they fall into Trump's trap.Running Against the Devil is sharply funny, brutally honest, and infused with his biting commentary. It's a vital indictment of Trump, a no-nonsense, no-holds-barred road map to saving America, and the guide to making Donald Trump a one-term president.The stakes are too high to do anything less.
What Color Is Your Brain: A Fun and Fascinating Approach to Understanding Yourself and Others
Sheila N. Glazov - 2007
Discovering and understanding our own strengths and idiosyncrasies while adapting to others can be an overwhelming task.In response to this common frustration,
What Color Is Your Brain? A Fun and Fascinating Approach to Understanding Yourself and Others
explains the similarities and differences that impact our thoughts and actions. Rather than offer an excuse for people’s behavior, this book helps to explain why our perspectives differ from or relate to the viewpoints of others. Enjoyable, insightful, and easy-to-read,
What Color Is Your Brain?
is a guide to exploring who we are, why others see us the way they do, and how the four “brain colors” or personality types play a role in our everyday lives.Sheila Glazov has created colorful personality profiles that simplify the complex nature of our traits and talents. With its entertaining anecdotes, innovative perspectives, and resonating concepts,
What Color Is Your Brain?
is a fun and fascinating book that promotes both self-awareness and acceptance of others.Written for readers of all ages, genders, and backgrounds, this book is intended to facilitate effective communication and cooperation while minimizing frustration in numerous aspects of our everyday lives—at work and home, in dating and marital relationships, with team projects, among family members and friends, and within a mixture of other interpersonal connections.
What Color Is Your Brain?
offers the essential pieces of the puzzle that is human interaction, teaching us how to recognize and appreciate a spectrum of personality types. With the help of this dynamic book, discovering your own brain color and learning to adapt to others is bound to be a no-brainer.
A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land
P.J. O'Rourke - 2020
O'RourkeP. J. O'Rourke says we've worked ourselves into a state of anger and perplexity, and it's no surprise because perplexed and angry are what Americans have been since the Roanoke Colony got lost. This astute and entertaining look at the state of these United States includes essays on everything from our fraught history ("Oh Beautiful for . . . Pilgrim Feet?") to the political effects of social media, ("Whose Bright Idea Was It to Make Sure that Every Idiot in the World Is in Touch with Every Other Idiot?"). A plan is advanced to reform federal poverty programs, "Just Give Them the Money." And a rant is made against the "Internet of Things" because your juicer is sending fake news to your Fitbit about what's in your refrigerator.Included is a quiz to determine whether you're a "Coastal" or a "Heartlander" (you know organic, fair-traded, locavore, and gluten-free, but do you know hay from straw?), an impassioned plea to license politicians (we license beauticians!), and much more. This is P. J. at his finest.
Under This Roof: The White House and the Presidency--21 Presidents, 21 Rooms, 21 Inside Stories
Paul Brandus - 2015
Kennedy was murdered, was a blood-red carpet installed in the Oval Office? If Abraham Lincoln never slept in the Lincoln Bedroom, where did he sleep?Why was one president nearly killed in the White House on inauguration day—and another secretly sworn in? What really happened in the Situation Room on September 11, 2001?History leaps off the page in this “riveting,” “fast-moving” and “highly entertaining” book on the presidency and White House in Under This Roof, from award-winning White House-based journalist Paul Brandus. Reporting from the West Wing briefing room since 2008, Brandus—the most followed White House journalist on Twitter (@WestWingReport)—weaves together stories of the presidents, their families, the events of their time—and an oft-ignored major character, the White House itself.From George Washington—who selected the winning design for the White House—to the current occupant, Barack Obama—the story of the White House is the story of America itself, Brandus writes. You’ll walk with John Adams through the still-unfinished mansion, and watch Thomas Jefferson plot to buy the Louisiana Territory Feel the fear and panic as British invaders approach the mansion in 1814—and Dolley Madison frantically saves a painting of Washington Gaze out the window with Abraham Lincoln as Confederate flags flutter in the breeze on the other side of the Potomac Be in the room as one president is secretly sworn in, and another gambles away the White House china in a card gameStand by the presidential bed as one First Lady—covering up her husband’s illness from the nation—secretly makes decisions on his behalf Learn how telephones, movies, radio, TV changed the presidency—and the nation itselfThrough triumph and tragedy, boom and bust, secrets and scandals, Brandus takes you to the presidential bedroom, movie theater, Situation Room, Oval Office and more. Under This Roof is a “sensuous account of the history of both the home of the President, and the men and women who designed, inhabited, and decorated it. Paul Brandus captivates with surprising, gloriously raw observations.”
Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden
Jessica Walliser - 2020
Plant Partners
delivers a research-based rationale for this ever-popular growing technique, offering dozens of ways you can use scientifically tested plant partnerships to benefit your whole garden. Through an enhanced understanding of how plants interact with and influence each other, this guide suggests specific plant combinations that improve soil health and weed control, decrease pest damage, and increase biodiversity, resulting in real and measurable impacts in the garden.
The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris
Peter Beinart - 2010
As with everything Beinart writes, it is lucid, thoughtful and strikingly honest.” — Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World“Peter Beinart has written a vivid, empathetic, and convincing history of the men and ideas that have shaped the ambitions of American foreign policy during the last century—a story in which human fallibility and idealism flow together. The story continues, of course, and so his book is not only timely; it is indispensible.” — Steve Coll, author of Ghost WarsPeter Beinart, one of the nation’s leading political writers, offers a provocative and strikingly original account of American hubris throughout history—and how we learn from the tragedies that result.
In Defense of Elitism
William A. Henry III - 1994
But here, at long last, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic William A. Henry III takes on, and debunks, some basic, fundamentally ingrained ideas: that everyone is pretty much alike (and should be); that self-fulfillment is more important than objective achievement; that everyone has something significant to contribute; that all cultures offer something equally worthwhile; that a truly just society would automatically produce equal success results across lines of race, class, and gender; and that the common man is almost always right. Henry makes clear, in a book full of vivid examples and unflinching opinions, that while these notions are seductively democratic they are also hopelessly wrong.
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record
Stanley Appelbaum - 1980
More than 27 million visitors entered the grounds (now Jackson Park) to marvel at the exhibits and displays housed in some 200 buildings, including those of 79 foreign governments and 38 states. Although the Fair had its share of "firsts" (original Ferris wheel, first midway, Edison's kinetoscope, etc.), its chief marvel was its architecture. It is that aspect which is emphasized in this striking photographic record. Beginning with an overview of the fair's planning and conceptual stages, Stanley Appelbaum's well-researched text then proceeds to a fascinating discussion of the personalities, regional rivalries, and intense controversy surrounding the Beaux-Arts architecture (the "White City" style) of the fair, including its enormous impact on subsequent American architecture. The contributions of such outstanding architects and firms as R. M. Hunt; McKim, Mead and White; Frederick Law Olmsted; and Peabody and Stearns are described. The book then becomes a building-by-building walking tour of the fair — imaginatively reconstructed with the help of 128 sharply reproduced rare contemporary photographs, printed on fine coated stock, and a concise, fact-filled text. The placid basins, ponds, and Lagoon that graced the fairgrounds lend a serene aura to these priceless views of the great buildings and sights of the fair: the Beaux-Arts glories of the Administration and Agriculture Buildings; Daniel Chester French's statue of the Republic; the Columbian Fountain by Frederick MacMonnies; the Golden Door of Louis Sullivan's Transportation Building; the Peristyle; Mary Cassatt's mural in the Woman's Building; the pure classicism of the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry); numerous state and foreign pavilions, and of course, the Midway — the first separate amusement area at a World's Fair, and the reputed location of Little Egypt's celebrated danse du ventre. In the concluding section, the author touches on other memorable aspects of the fair and its times: the Panic of 1893; the Pullman Strike; famous visitors (Archduke Ferdinand, the Spanish Infanta, etc.); cultural and social congresses, and finally, the disastrous fires that ultimately destroyed many of the buildings. For social and cultural historians, Chicagoans, and anyone interested in the special magic of a world's fair, this book is a loving and nostalgic look back — to a time bathed in the golden light of the fin-de-siècle years, when a colossal spectacle of human achievement in art, science, and industry captured the world's attention for one magic and unforgettable moment.