Caravaggio, 1571-1610


Gilles Lambert - 2000
    Though his name may be familiar to all of us, his work has been habitually detested and forced into obscurity. Not only was his theatrical realism unfashionable in his time, but his sacrilegious subject matter and use of lower class models were violently scorned. Michelangelo Mirisi de Caravaggio lived a life riddled with crime and scandal, producing a body of work that wouldn't be appreciated until centuries after his mysterious death. Though his body was never found, he is assumed to have been murdered by ruffians on a beach south of Rome-a fate strangely similar to that of controversial Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini who was, like Caravaggio, a homosexual.Caravaggio's reputation was decidedly poor during his lifetime; sometimes rich, sometimes penniless, when he wasn't in prison he was running away from the police or his enemies. Perhaps no other painter has suffered such injustice: his works were often attributed to more respected painters while he was given the credit for just about anything vulgar painted in the chiaroscuro style. Caravaggio's great work had the misfortune of enduring centuries of disrepute. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that he was rediscovered and, quite posthumously, deemed a great master.

Peter Norton's Introduction to Computers


Peter Norton - 1994
    It includes three entirely new chapters on the Internet, computer graphics, and multimedia. Thorough yet flexible, Introduction to Computers is appropriate for a full-semester course -- with or without a hands-on lab. The text is available with a student CD-ROM that contains interactive multimedia materials for each chapter. Also available are an Electronic Study Guide on CD-ROM, HyperGraphics package, and an Instructor's Productivity Center on CD-ROM.

Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival


Dave Canterbury - 2015
    Using the foundation you learned in Bushcraft 101, Canterbury shows you how to completely immerse yourself in the wilderness with advanced bushcraft and woodcraft techniques. He covers crucial survival skills like tracking to help you get even closer to wildlife, crafting medicines from plants, and navigating without the use of a map or compass. He also offers ways to improvise and save money on bushcraft essentials like fire-starting tools and packs. With Canterbury's expert advice and guidance, you will learn how to forgo your equipment, make use of your surroundings, and truly enjoy the wilderness. Whether you're eager to learn more after your first real outdoor adventure or have been exploring the backcountry for years, Advanced Bushcraft will help you take your self-reliance and wilderness experience to the next level.

The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World


Sean Carroll - 2012
    It had to be found. But projects as big as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider don’t happen without incredible risks – and occasional skullduggery. In the definitive account of this landmark event, Caltech physicist and acclaimed science writer Sean Carroll reveals the insights, rivalry, and wonder that fuelled the Higgs discovery, and takes us on a riveting and irresistible ride to the very edge of physics today.

PCs for Dummies


Dan Gookin - 1992
    They have also sprouted new and wondrous capabilities at a dizzying pace. This 11th Edition of the all-time bestselling PC guide has been polished and honed to deliver everything you need to know about your twenty-first-century PC -- from what plugs into what to adjusting your monitor to burning DVDs, and much more.Whether you want to go online, install a firewall, live the digital life, or finally get a handle on the whole computer software concept, this fun, plain-English handbook is here to answer all your questions PC questions. You'll find out why Windows Vista is the way to go and how to use it to get everywhere else. And, you'll pick up Web and email tricks and learn about all the new levels of PC security. Discover how to: Set up your PC Use Vista menus Store your stuff on Memory Cards Record live TV Download digital photos Connect to a wireless network Explore the Internet safely Print perfect documents, photos, and more Use your PC as the new hub of your digital worldComplete with helpful hints on how to avoid beginner mistakes, a list of extras and accessories you may want for your PC, and insider tips from a PC guru. PCs for Dummies, 11th Edition is the one PC accessory you can't do without.

The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants


U.S. Department of the Army - 2009
    The proper identification of these plants can mean the difference between survival and death. This book describes habitat and distribution, physical characteristics, and edible parts of wild plants—the key elements of identification. Hugely important to the book are its color photos. There are over one hundred of them, further simplifying the identification of poisonous and edible plants. No serious outdoors person should ever hit the trail without this book and the knowledge contained within it.

Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival


Mors Kochanski - 1988
    With clear instructions, extensive use of diagrams and a color photo supplement, this comprehensive reference includes all the practical skills and knowledge essential for you to survive and enjoy the wilderness: * Lighting and maintaining a fire * Chopping wood and felling a tree * Creating a shelter and keeping warm * Safe use of the axe and bush knife * Plants and animals important for survival * Food, water and outdoor cooking * Wilderness first aid. * This bestseller should be required reading for hikers, campers, hunters, foresters, backwoods adventurers, scouts, youth groups--anyone with a passion for the outdoors.

The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher


Bruno Ernst - 1976
    Escher, I am absolutely crazy about your work. In your print Reptiles you have given such a striking illustration of reincarnation.' I replied, 'Madame, if that's the way you see it, so be it, '" An engagingly sly comment by the renowned Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972)--the complex ambiguities of whose work leave hasty or single-minded interpretations far behind. Long before the first computer-generated 3-D images were thrilling the public, Escher was a master of the third dimension. His lithograph "Magic Mirror" dates as far back as 1946. In taking that title for this book, mathematician Bruno Ernst is stressing the magic spell Escher's work invariably casts on those who see it. Ernst visited Escher every week for a year, systematically talking through his entire oeuvre with him. Their discussions resulted in a friendship that gave Ernst intimate access to the life and conceptual world of Escher. Ernst's account was meticulously scrutinized and made accurate by the artist himself. Escher's work refuses to be pigeonholed. Scientific, psychological, or aesthetic criteria alone cannot do it justice. The questions remain. Why did he create the pictures? How did he construct them? What preliminary studies were necessary before he could arrive at the final version? And how are the various images Escher created interrelated? This book, complete with biographical data, 250 illustrations, and explications of mathematical problems, offers answers to these and many other questions, and is an authentic source text of the first order.

Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy


Desmond Morris - 1971
    With a masterful and entertaining eye, Desmond Morris, bestselling author of The Naked Ape and The Human Zoo, analyzes the roots of human intimacy, from the handshake through the twelve stages that people pass through on their way to the total sexual embrace. Morris contends that the months just before and after birth are when the seeds of intimacy are planted and are critical to development. From the loving attention of the mother, the child learns and responds with intimate gestures of his or her own. He argues that human adults follow certain patterns of intimate behaviour that are based on these infant experiences for their entire lives. In addition to sexual intimacy, Morris discussed social intimacy, intimacy substitutes, object intimacy, and self-intimacy. Complete with a new preface by the author, Intimate Behavior is a provocative view of humans need to touch and to be touched, to love and to be loved. At a crucial moment, a gentle embrace can still do more good than a thousand earnest discussions. Despite all our social and technological advances, the primeval body language of love still remains the most potent force we have for the expression of feelings of comfort and caring. Desmond Morris, from his new Preface

Spell of the Tiger: The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans


Sy Montgomery - 2009
    It is the only spot on earth where tigers routinely eat people--swimming silently behind small boats at night to drag away fishermen, snatching honey collectors and woodcutters from the forest. But, unlike in other parts of Asia where tigers are rapidly being hunted to extinction, tigers in the Sundarbans are revered. With the skill of a naturalist and the spirit of a mystic, Montgomery reveals the delicate balance of Sundarbans life, explores the mix of worship and fear that offers tigers unique protection there, and unlocks some surprising answers about why people at risk of becoming prey might consider their predator a god.

Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent


Jean-Claude Ellena - 1980
    12 b&w illustrations.

An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases


Moises Velasquez-Manoff - 2012
    But why are they on the rise?     Science writer Moises Velasquez-Manoff offers a new and controversial way of thinking about autoimmune disease—one that may foster a paradigm shift in the way we think about health and hygiene.     In the early twentieth century, the dawn of improved hygiene, water treatment, vaccines, and antibiotics saved countless lives, eradicating diseases that had plagued humanity for millennia. But in the wake of this triumph, a new threat arose: The human immune system began to malfunction.     A growing body of evidence suggests that the very steps we took to cure these maladies have also eradicated organisms that once kept our bodies in balance. To combat this “epidemic of absence,” a group of scientists has begun deliberately reintroducing parasitic worms—helminthes—to calm the immune system of their hosts. This book takes a close look at the scientists at the vanguard of “worm therapy,” which has been proven to not only preempt immune malfunction, but to send a number of disorders—from Crohn’s Disease to multiple sclerosis to asthma—into remission.     Exploring the greater context of rampant immune system dysfunction in the developed world, and its implications for developing countries, Velasquez-Manoff offers an eye-opening and elegant portrait of science’s new view of the human organism.

60 Ways to Lower Your Blood Sugar


Dennis Pollock - 2013
    Many today are well on their way to becoming a sad statistic in the war on obesity, high blood sugar, and the related diseases—including diabetes—that can result from a diet that’s seriously out of whack. In his previous bestselling book, Overcoming Runaway Blood Sugar, Dennis Pollock shared his personal experience with this deadly epidemic—including his success at lowering his runaway blood sugar to acceptable levels. Now Dennis offers readers the next step in the battle: 60 practical ways to manage their blood sugar without resorting to a bland unsatisfying diet of turnips and tuna fish. In this step by step, change by change plan, readers will learn how to: reduce their intake of carbs, exercise more effectively, and shed excess weight. A must-have book for readers serious about regaining their health while also lowering their weight and increasing their energy.

Edwardian Farm


Alex Langlands - 2010
    This time, Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands, and Peter Ginn take a leap forward in time to immerse themselves in an Edwardian community in the West Country. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Morwellham Quay was situated in a bustling and commercially prosperous region—a stunning rural landscape encompassing rolling farmland, wild moorland, tidal river, coast, and forest, which supported a vibrant and diverse economy. Ruth, Peter, and Alex will spend a year exploring all aspects of this working landscape—restoring boats, buildings, and equipment; cultivating crops; fishing; rearing animals; and rediscovering the lost heritage of this fascinating era as well as facing the challenges of increasingly commercial farming practices, fishing, and community events.

Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art


Nancy G. Heller - 2002
    Comparing modern art not only to pizzas but also to traditional and children's art, Heller shows us how we can refine analytical tools we already possess to understand and enjoy even the most unfamiliar paintings and sculptures.How is a painting like a pizza? Both depend on visual balance for much of their overall appeal and, though both can be judged by a set of established standards, pizzas and paintings must ultimately be evaluated in terms of individual taste. By using such commonsense examples and making unexpected connections, this book helps even the most skeptical viewers feel comfortable around contemporary art and see aspects of it they would otherwise miss. Heller discusses how nontraditional works of art are made--and thus how to talk about their composition and formal elements. She also considers why such art is made and what it means.At the same time, Heller reassures those of us who have felt uncomfortable around avant-garde art that we don't have to like all--or even any--of it. Yet, if we can relax, we can use the aesthetic awareness developed in everyday life to analyze almost any painting, sculpture, or installation. Heller also gives concise answers to the eight questions she is most frequently asked about contemporary art--from how to tell when an abstract painting is right side up to which works of art belong in a museum.This book is for anyone who agrees with art critic Clement Greenberg that All profoundly original art looks ugly at first. It's also for anyone who disagrees. It is for anyone who wants to get more out of a museum or gallery visit and would like to be able to say something more than just yes or no when asked if they like an artist's work.