Book picks similar to
Posthuman Ecologies: Complexity and Process after Deleuze by Rosi Braidotti
cultural-rhetorics
ecology
phd-reading-list
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The Bush Crime Family: The Inside Story of an American Dynasty
Roger Stone - 2017
New York Times bestselling author Roger Stone lashes out with a blistering indictment, exposing the true history and monumental hypocrisy of the Bushes. In Stone’s usual “go for the jugular” style, this is a no-holds-barred history of the Bush family, comprised of smug, entitled autocrats who both use and hide behind their famous name. They got a long-overdue taste of defeat and public humiliation when Jeb’s 2016 presidential bid went down in flames.Besides detailing the vast litany of Jeb’s misdeeds — including receiving a $4 million taxpayer bailout when his father was vice president as well as his startlingly-close alignment with supposed “enemy” Hillary Clinton — Stone travels back to Bush patriarchs Samuel and Prescott, right on through to presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush to weave an epic story of privilege, greed, corruption, drug profiteering, assassination, and lies. A new preface to this paperback edition features explosive information, including the family’s Machiavellian plan to propel Jeb’s son George Prescott Bush forward as the family’s next political contender.The Bush Crime Family will have readers asking, “Why aren’t these people in prison?”
Knowing How to Know: A Practical Philosophy in the Sufi Tradition
Idries Shah - 1998
This is the paperback edition of Shah's companion volume to the The Commanding Self, wherein he sets out to illuminate the barriers which prevent deeper knowledge and understanding.
We Are All Stardust: Leading Scientists Talk About Their Work, Their Lives, and the Mysteries of Our Existence
Stefan KleinWalter Ziegänsberger - 2010
How does Jane Goodall’s relationship with her dog Rusty inform her thinking about our relationship to other species? Which time and place would Jared Diamond most prefer to live in, in light of his work on the role of chance in history? What does driving a sports car have to do with Steven Weinberg’s quest for the “theory of everything”? Physicist and journalist Stefan Klein’s intimate conversations with nineteen of the world’s best-known scientists (including three Nobel Laureates) let us listen in as they talk about their paradigm-changing work—and how it is deeply rooted in their daily lives. • Cosmologist Martin Rees on the beginning and end of the world • Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on egoism and selflessness • Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran on consciousness • Molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn on aging • Philosopher Peter Singer on morality • Physician and social scientist Nicholas Christakis on human relationships • Biochemist Craig Venter on the human genome • Chemist and poet Roald Hoffmann on beauty
Diver
Tony Groom - 2008
'Diver' is an honest, moving and sometimes hilarious account of a hair-raisingly exciting career, both in the Royal Navy and in commercial deep-sea diving-training.
A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms
Linda Hutcheon - 1985
Hutcheon identifies parody as one of the major forms of modern self-reflexivity, one that marks the intersection of invention and critique and offers an important mode of coming to terms with the texts and discourses of the past. Looking at works as diverse as Tom Stoppard's Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Brian de Palma's Dressed to Kill, Woody Allen's Zelig, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Hymnen, James Joyce's Ulysses, and Magritte's This Is Not a Pipe, Hutcheon discusses the remarkable range of intent in modern parody while distinguishing it from pastiche, burlesque, travesty, and satire. She shows how parody, through ironic playing with multiple conventions, combines creative expression with critical commentary. Its productive-creative approach to tradition results in a modern recoding that establishes difference at the heart of similarity. In a new introduction, Hutcheon discusses why parody continues to fascinate her and why it is commonly viewed as suspect-–for being either too ideologically shifty or too much of a threat to the ownership of intellectual and creative property.
Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use
Toshio Odate - 1984
A complete guide to the tools used by a shokunin, or master Japanese craftsman, this book is ideal for both beginning and professional woodworkers.
Boundary Waters: The Grace of the Wild
Paul Gruchow - 1997
Gruchow turns a naturalist's eye on a wilderness of wolves, moose, and loons as he visits national parks and other scenic spots. Drawing on the works of Thoreau and Wendell Berry, he explores the relationship of person to place.
Little Black Book for Stunning Success + Tools for Action Mastery
Robin S. Sharma - 2016
Discover the mindsets of the best, install the rituals of the icons, run the habits of the heroes and massive improvements will be yours for the taking. In The Little Black Book of stunning success, Robin Sharma - one of the true masters of leadership + elite performance on the planet - shares the potent insights that have helped so many people just like you do legendary work, live remarkable lives and lift everyone around them in the process. If you're truly ready to live your dreams, this book is your fuel. Dream. Dare. Lead. Learn. Craft. Create. Produce. Perfect. Iterate. Optimize. Inspire. Impact. Win. Repeat. Push. Rest. Love. Live.
The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us
Diane Ackerman - 2014
Humans have "subdued 75 per cent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness." We now collect the DNA of vanishing species in a "frozen ark," equip orangutans with iPads, create wearable technologies and synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. With her distinctive gift for making scientific discovery intelligible to the layperson, Ackerman takes us on an exciting journey to understand this bewildering new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating--perhaps saving--the future.The Human Ageis a surprising, optimistic engagement with the dramatic transformations that have shaped, and continue to alter, our world, our relationship with nature and our prospects for the future.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - A 20-minute Summary: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Instaread Summaries - 2014
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - A 20-minute Summary Inside this Instaread Summary: • Overview of the entire book• Introduction to the important people in the book• Summary and analysis of all the chapters in the book• Key Takeaways of the book• A Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Chapter 1 Gawande grew up in Ohio. His parents were immigrants from India and both were doctors. His grandparents stayed in India, and there were few older people in his neighborhood, so he had little experience with aging or death until he met his wife’s grandmother, Alice Hobson. Hobson was seventy-seven and living on her own in Virginia. She was a spirited widow who fixed her own plumbing and volunteered with Meals On Wheels. However, Hobson was losing strength and height steadily each year as her arthritis worsened.Gawande’s father enthusiastically adopted the customs of his new country, but he could not understand the way in which seniors were treated in the US. In India, the elderly were treated with great respect and lived out their lives with family.In the United States, Sitaram Gawande, Gawande’s grandfather, likely would have been sent to a nursing home like most of the elderly who cannot handle the basics of daily living by themselves. However, in India, Sitaram Gawande was able to live in his own home and manage his own affairs, with family constantly around him. He died at the age of one hundred and ten when he fell off a bus during a business trip.Until recently, most elderly people stayed with their families. Even as the nuclear family unit became predominant, replacing the multi-generational family unit, people cared for their elderly relatives. Families were large and one child, usually a daughter, would not marry in order to take care of the parents.This has changed in much of the world, where elderly people end up struggling to live alone, like Hobson, rather than living with dignity amid family, like Sitaram Gawande.One cause of this change can be found in the nature of knowledge. When few people lived to be very old, elders were honored. Their store of knowledge was greatly useful. People often portrayed themselves as older to command respect. Modern society’s emphasis on youth is a complete reversal of this attitude. Technological advances are perceived as the territory of the young, and everyone wants to be younger. High-tech job opportunities are all over the world, and young people do not hesitate to leave their parents behind to pursue them.In developed countries, parents embrace the concept of a retirement filled with leisure activities. Parents are happy to begin living for themselves once children are grown. However, this system only works for young, healthy retirees, but not for those who cannot continue to be independent. Hobson, for example, was falling frequently and suffering memory lapses. Her doctor did tests and wrote prescriptions, but did not know what to do about her deteriorating condition. Neither did her family… About the Author With Instaread Summaries, you can get the summary of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.
The Complete Philosophy Files
Stephen Law - 2011
Dip into any chapter and you will find lively scenarios and dialogues to take you through philosophical puzzles ancient and modern, involving virtual reality, science fiction and a host of characters from this and other planets. The text is interspersed on every page with lively cartoons, and there is a list of philosophical jargon at the end..Stephen Law has a gift for communicating complex ideas. He offers few answers, but his unstuffy, highly personal approach will have the reader thinking and arguing with as much pleasure as he does himself.
The Rights of Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics
Roderick Nash - 1989
“A splendid book. Roderick Nash has written another classic. This exploration of a new dimension in environmental ethics is both illuminating and overdue.”—Stewart Udall “His account makes history ‘come alive.’”—Sierra“So smoothly written that one almost does not notice the breadth of scholarship that went into this original and important work of environmental history.”—Philip Shabecoff, New York Times Book Review“Clarifying and challenging, this is an essential text for deep ecologists and ecophilosophers.”—Stephanie Mills, Utne Reader
Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
Guy Deutscher - 2010
But now, acclaimed linguist Guy Deutscher has dared to reopen the issue. Can culture influence language —and vice versa? Can different languages lead their speakers to different thoughts? Could our experience of the world depend on whether our language has a word for "blue"?Challenging the consensus that the fundaments of language are hard-wired in our genes and thus universal, Deutscher argues that the answer to all these questions is—yes. In thrilling fashion, he takes us from Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, from how to name the rainbow to why Russian water —a "she"— becomes a "he" once you dip a tea bag into her, demonstrating that language does in fact reflect culture in ways that are anything but trivial.
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson - 1962
The book documents the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting the industry's marketing claims unquestioningly.The book appeared in September 1962 and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.
Bereolaesque: The Contemporary Gentleman & Etiquette Book for the Urban Sophisticate
Enitan O. Bereola II - 2009
THIS TIME IT'S SEXY! The old-fashioned, repressed, bland man has been banished to the Himalayas and a new breed is taking center stage. He is a man of style, sophistication, and security, just as strong and confident as his predecessor, but far more diverse in his interests, his tastes, and, most importantly, his self-image. He may be seen at an NBA game one night and an art gallery opening the next. Bereolaesque is that much needed fusion between being a gentleman and being sexy. This savoir-faire man's guide walks every man through the stages of ordinary to excellence in just two hundred pages. Perfect for that coffee table discussion, Bereolaesque lends quality information to everyday people and celebrities alike. Beyond the book's mysteriously eye capturing cover are innovative and appealing ways to maneuver through life's crazes, while keeping cool and maintaining manners. In the midst of a world plagued with economic turmoil, tasteless politics and dark behavior, the gentleman is refreshing and necessary. Bereolaesque is for every man and every woman who believe that chivalry is NOT dead, and individuals who are willing to learn exactly how far something as simple as being a gentleman and proper etiquette can get you in life. Not to mention, ladies are always quite pleased to meet a real gentleman...
