The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime


Miles Harvey - 2000
    When all was said and done, Gilbert Joseph Bland, Jr., had become the Al Capone of cartography. 20 illustrations throughout.

The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor


Marguerite Holloway - 2013
    (1787–1865) was an eccentric and flamboyant surveyor. Renowned for his inventiveness as well as for his bombast and irascibility, Randel was central to Manhattan’s development but died in financial ruin. Telling Randel’s engrossing and dramatic life story for the first time, this eye-opening biography introduces an unheralded pioneer of American engineering and mapmaking.Charged with “gridding” what was then an undeveloped, hilly island, Randel recorded the contours of Manhattan down to the rocks on its shores. He was obsessed with accuracy and steeped in the values of the Enlightenment, in which math and science promised dominion over nature. The result was a series of maps, astonishing in their detail and precision, which undergird our knowledge about the island today. During his varied career Randel created surveying devices, designed an early elevated subway, and proposed a controversial alternative route for the Erie Canal—winning him admirers and enemies.The Measure of Manhattan is more than just the life of an unrecognized engineer. It is about the ways in which surveying and cartography changed the ground beneath our feet. Bringing Randel’s story into the present, Holloway travels with contemporary surveyors and scientists trying to envision Manhattan as a wild island once again. Illustrated with dozens of historical images and antique maps, The Measure of Manhattan is an absorbing story of a fascinating man that captures the era when Manhattan—indeed, the entire country—still seemed new, the moment before canals and railroads helped draw a grid across the American landscape.

The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence


Stephen Kurczy - 2021
    Green Bank, West Virginia, is a place at once futuristic and old-fashioned: It’s home to the Green Bank Observatory, where astronomers search the depths of the universe using the latest technology, while schoolchildren go without WiFi or iPads. With a ban on all devices emanating radio frequencies that might interfere with the observatory’s telescopes, Quiet Zone residents live a life free from constant digital connectivity. But a community that on the surface seems idyllic is a place of contradictions, where the provincial meets the seemingly supernatural and quiet can serve as a cover for something darker.Stephen Kurczy embedded in Green Bank, making the residents of this small Appalachian village his neighbors. In The Quiet Zone, he introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters. There is a tech buster patrolling the area for illegal radio waves; “electrosensitives” who claim that WiFi is deadly; a sheriff’s department with a string of unsolved murder cases dating back decades; a camp of neo-Nazis plotting their resurgence from a nearby mountain hollow. Amongst them all are the ordinary citizens seeking a simpler way of living. Kurczy asks: Is a less connected life desirable? Is it even possible?

Outbreaks and Epidemics: Battling Infection in the Modern World


Meera Senthilingam - 2020
    Yet for all our advanced scientific knowledge, only one human disease – smallpox – has ever been eradicated globally.In recent years, outbreaks of Ebola and Zika have provided vivid examples of how difficult it is to contain an infection once it strikes, and the panic that a rapidly spreading epidemic can ignite. But while we chase the diseases we are already aware of, new ones are constantly emerging, initiating a new race to identify them. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance is harnessing infections that we once knew how to control, enabling them to thrive once more. Meera Senthilingam presents a timely look at humanity’s ongoing battle against infection, examining the successes and failures of the past, along with how we are confronting the challenges of today, and our chances of eradicating disease in the future.

Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System


Richard Corfield - 2007
    Planetary science has mainly been a descriptive science, but it is becoming increasingly experimental. The space probes that went up between the 1960s and 1990s were primarily generalists-they collected massive amounts of information so that scientists could learn what questions to pursue. But recent missions have become more focused: Scientists know better what information they want and how to collect it. Even now probes are on their way to Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto, with Europa-one of Jupiter's moons-on the agenda. In a sweeping look into the manifold objects inhabiting the depths of space, Lives of the Planets delves into the mythology and the knowledge humanity has built over the ages. Placing our current understanding in historical context, Richard Corfield explores the seismic shifts in planetary astronomy and probes why we must change our perspective of our place in the universe. In our era of extraordinary discovery, this is the first comprehensive survey of this new understanding and the history of how we got here.

Healthy at Last: A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses


Eric Adams - 2020
    After Adams woke up with severe vision loss one day in 2016, he learned that he was one of the nearly 5 million Black people living with diabetes-and, according to his doctor, he would have it for the rest of his life.A police officer for more than two decades, Adams was a connoisseur of the fast-food dollar menu. Like so many Americans with stressful jobs, the last thing he wanted to think about was eating healthfully. Fast food was easy, cheap, and comfortable. His diet followed him from the squad car to the state senate, and then to Brooklyn Borough Hall, where it finally caught up with him.But Adams was not ready to become a statistic. There was a better option besides medication and shots of insulin: food. Within three months of adopting a plant-based diet, he lost 35 pounds, lowered his cholesterol by 30 points, restored his vision, and reversed his diabetes. Now he is on a mission to revolutionize the health of not just the borough of Brooklyn, but of African Americans across the country.Armed with the hard science and real-life stories of those who have transformed their bodies by changing their diet, Adams shares the key steps for a healthy, active life. With this book, he shows readers how to avoid processed foods, cut down on salt, get more fiber, and substitute beef, chicken, pork, and dairy with delicious plant-based alternatives. In the process he explores the origins of soul food-a cuisine deeply important to the Black community, but also one rooted in the horrors of slavery-and how it can be reimagined with healthy alternatives.Features more than 50 recipes from celebrities and health experts, including Paul McCartney, Queen Afua, Jenn� Claiborne, Bryant Jennings, Charity Morgan, Moby, and more!The journey to good health begins in the kitchen-not the hospital bed!

Palm Beach Babylon: The Sinful History of America's Super-Rich Paradise


Murray Weiss - 1992
    Starting with the island's founder Henry Flagler, and updated for Kindle, "Palm Beach Babylon" chronicles the Kennedys, the Trumps, the Dodges, Helmsleys, Pulitzers, Vanderbilts, Mizners and Madoffs, and many more "Titans of Industry" and "Royalty." "The history is solid, the writing stylish," wrote renowned author Pete Hamill. "Riveting," exclaimed Nicholas Pileggi, author of "Wiseguy" and "Casino." The New York Times declared "Palm Beach Babylon" the best book ever written on the storied tropical island, where the "Rich and Famous" flock every winter to indulge in a world that only money can pierce. "Murray Weiss and Bill Hoffmann have . . . produced an intriguing account of the wagers of too much wealth and too much leisure time," wrote Dominick Dunne, the best selling novelist and true-crime expert. And as one reader posted along with 5-Stars: A REAL PAGE TURNER: I loved this book because it had all the allure of great fiction, yet it was about real people who, although they live in a real place (Palm Beach, FL), seem more like Great Gatsby characters than anything else! It also provides a fascinating historical perspective of the glamorous Palm Beach, how it was built, the man who built it, and the wealthy who flocked to it.

The Forgotten Storm: The Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925


Wallace E. Akin - 2002
    The amazing true story of the deadliest tornado in American history, as told by a survivor.

The Medusa File: Secret Crimes and Coverups of the U.S. Government


Craig Roberts - 1996
    During the period of 1940 to this day the power brokers, working from their positions of trust, have committed and then covered up the most heinous of crimes known to mankind. Investigative journalist Craig Roberts, author of "Kill Zone--a Sniper Looks at Dealey Plaza", now provides us with the results of his ten -year investigation regarding the secret crimes and coverups of the U.S. Government. You will read his case files on such subjects as the Japanese "Devil Unit 731" who experiments on American POWs in WWII with germ warfare weapons--and what happened when the war ended and the commanding officer was hired by the government instead of hanged for war crimes; Operation Paperclip in WWII when the U.S. brought Nazi scientists to America to work for us on our weapons programs instead of standing trial as war criminals; CIA and military mind control experiments on unsuspecting citizens--including children--without our knowledge; Secret drug and bacteriological weapons experiments on the American population; Atomic guinea pigs, Agent Orange, and the Gulf War Syndrome; what really happened to over 30,000 U.S. POWs after World War II, Korea and Vietnam; International assassinations, drug smuggling and money laundering; What the media did not tell you about the shoot down of TWA 800, the bombing of Pan AM 103, the Oklahoma City bombing, the crash of Arrow Air in Gander, Newfoundland, the derailment of the Sunset Limited in Arizona, the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and much more….

The Juice Master Juice Yourself Slim: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight Without Dieting


Jason Vale - 2008
    1 bestselling Juice Master. Containing over 50 fantastic soups, juices, salads and smoothie recipes PLUS the Life Long Rules for Success that will help you maintain your health and- the big one- keep you slim for life. Let the Juice Master help you discover delicious and simple recipes containing the ultimate super fuel for a super body and mind!Includes:The 5 Day Launch ProgrammeDid you know a space shuttle needs 90% of its energy to launch but only 10% to keep it in flight? Jason shows how the same principle can be applied to permanent weight loss through his launch pad to a life long programme. Kick start your system and give your energy levels a super boost by following his juice, soup and smoothie plan for 5 daysJuice Yourself SlimHaving successfully completed the Launch programme, it's now time to take things to new juicy heights with The Life Long Rules for Success, and with Jason's motivational tips and unique juicing programme it's the perfect recipe for a permanently slim, trim and healthy mind and body.Juice Yourself Slim also contains:10 'Souper' Slimming Fuel recipes15 Super Juice recipes15 Super Smoothie recipes10 Super Slimming Salad recipesAnd Super Fuel on the Go- a fantastic section packed with ideas for energy boosting healthy snacks.