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The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State
by William McCantsBased almost entirely on primary sources in Arabic--including ancient religious texts and secret al-Qaeda and Islamic State letters that few have seen--William McCants's The ISIS Apocalypse explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State's past and foreshadow its dark future. The Islamic State is one of the most lethal and successful jihadist groups in modern history, surpassing even al-Qaeda. Thousands of its followers have marched across Syria and Iraq, subjugating millions, enslaving women, beheading captives, and daring anyone to stop them. Thousands more have spread terror beyond the Middle East under the Islamic State's black flag. How did the Islamic State attract so many followers and conquer so much land? By being more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state-building than its competitors. The shrewd leaders of the Islamic State combined two of the most powerful yet contradictory ideas in Islam-the return of the Islamic Empire and the end of the world-into a mission and a message that shapes its strategy and inspires its army of zealous fighters. They have defied conventional thinking about how to wage wars and win recruits. Even if the Islamic State is defeated, jihadist terrorism will never be the same.
The ITU and Managing Satellite Orbital and Spectrum Resources in the 21st Century
by Audrey L. AllisonAccess to satellite orbits and spectrum is managed by the ITU, a United Nations body that strives to extend the benefits of new technologies to the world, while ensuring equitable access to these resources. This book explores how the ITU approaches these dual missions in light of the increasing saturation of the geostationary orbit by a vibrant global satellite industry and the rising interests of developing countries in accessing these limited resources. These issues were the subject of debate at the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference. This book describes and assesses various regulatory approaches undertaken to manage the increasing requests for access to space and especially access to spectrum and orbital locations in the geosynchronous or "The Clarke" orbit.
The Ice Book: Cool Cubes, Clear Spheres, and Other Chill Cocktail Crafts
by Camper EnglishCrystal clear spheres, cubes you can read through, embossed, branded, and blinged-out chunks, chips, blocks, and 'bergs: it's time to elevate your ice! In The Ice Book, internationally renowned cocktail icepert Camper English details how to use directional freezing to make perfectly pure ice in a home freezer, carve it up into giant diamonds and other shapes, and embed it with garnishes, including edible orchids and olives. You'll learn how to create a frozen bowl for Negroni punch, serve a Manhattan inside an ice sphere, and infuse cubes with colors and flavors to create cranberry cobblers, a color-changing Gin and Tonic, and other awesome drinks. Featuring striking color photos throughout, this handy guide—and great gift—offers easy directions for dozens of ice projects and suggestions for further freezer fun. Both instructional and inspirational, The Ice Book will help you take your nonalcoholic and boozy beverages to the next level.
The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
by Sam KeanFrom New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold history of science's darkest secrets, &“a fascinating book [that] deserves a wide audience&” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn&’t everything, it&’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra&’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison&’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren&’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book (Jerry Pallotta's Alphabet Books)
by Jerry PallottaLearn your ABCs in this &“icky&” exploration of all the creepy crawly insects from A to Z. Best-selling author Jerry Pallotta delivers a fun first concepts book that helps children discover why farmers like pray mantis, why fireflies light up the sky, or how water spiders breathe underwater. Pallotta&’s signature witty yet scientific text paired with Masiello&’s vivid and detailed illustrations make this alphabetic exploration one that will keep curious readers intrigued and engaged as they learn about the natural world of bugs.
The Icky Bug Counting Book (Jerry Pallotta's Counting Books)
by Jerry PallottaLearn to count in this &“icky&” introduction to bugs and numbers. For most children, insects and the small world they inhabit is endlessly creepy, crawly, and fascinating. Best-selling author Jerry Pallotta delivers a fun first concepts book that uncovers the wild world of bugs and insects. From the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly to Yellowjacket Flies, readers will learn intriguing facts while practicing their numbers. Pallotta&’s signature witty yet scientific text paired with Masiello&’s vivid and detailed illustrations makes this exploration of all things creepy-crawly one that will keep readers engaged and curious as they learn about the natural world of bugs.
The Iconoclastic Imagination: Image, Catastrophe, and Economy in America from the Kennedy Assassination to September 11
by Ned O'GormanBloody, fiery spectacles--the Challenger disaster, 9/11, JFK's assassination--have given us moments of catastrophe that make it easy to answer the "where were you when" question and shape our ways of seeing what came before and after. Why are these spectacles so packed with meaning? In The Iconoclastic Imagination, Ned O'Gorman approaches each of these moments as an image of icon-destruction that give us distinct ways to imagine social existence in American life. He argues that the Cold War gave rise to crises in political, aesthetic, and political-aesthetic representations. Locating all of these crises within a "neoliberal imaginary," O'Gorman explains that since the Kennedy assassination, the most powerful way to see "America" has been in the destruction of representative American symbols or icons. This, in turn, has profound implications for a neoliberal economy, social philosophy, and public policy. Richly interwoven with philosophical, theological, and rhetorical traditions, the book offers a new foundation for a complex and innovative approach to studying Cold War America, political theory, and visual culture.
The Idea Machine: My Inventor's Journal
by Max Grossman Jeffrey B. FuerstMax is a boy inventor searching for his next bright idea. He keeps a journal to help him find his eureka moment. Read Max's journal to find out what he comes up with.
The Idea of War and Peace: The Experience of Western Civilization (Comparative Policy Evaluation Ser.)
by Irving HorowitzModern theorists and their ideas on war and peace are here presented, interpreted, and evaluated with scholarship and clarity of expression. In examining the main currents in modern social theory, the author has gone directly to the works of the leading philosophic figures. This book is a carefully documented analysis based on primary sources. Its republication in an expanded version after more than a half century since its initial appearance is a welcome addition to the literature on conflict and conflict resolution.In this 2007 greatly expanded third edition of The Idea of War and Peace, Irving Louis Horowitz provides a sense of substance to the character of Western Civilization. The book permits the reader to better understand what the "clash of civilizations" is about. It provides a broad outline of both European and American twentieth century social philosophies as they relate to the issue of war and peace. It also offers a new concluding section that explores in depth this same theme in the first decade of the twenty-first century.Such major figures as Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, Jacques Maritain, Albert Einstein, and Vladimir Lenin, reviewed in earlier editions, are now joined by examinations of the work of Raymond Aron, Harold D. Lasswell, and other contemporaries. The Idea of War and Peace is not just one more manual of how to conduct or avoid conflict, and even less, a guideline to policy-making. Instead, the work offers a profound sense of the theories and values that underline manuals and guides.This third edition is graced by a consideration of major figures in the second half of the twentieth century and a retrospective on the work of Niccolo Machiavelli on the nature of warfare. It also includes chapters on the relationship of war, peace, and the democratic order--and a postscript on new forms of state power and terrorism. This new edition links past and present and serves as an analytical bridge between cen
The Idea of the Brain: A History
by Matthew CobbThis is the story of our quest to understand the most mysterious object in the universe. Today we tend to picture the brain as a computer. Earlier scientists thought about it in their own technological terms: as a telephone switchboard, or a clock, or all manner of fantastic mechanical or hydraulic devices. Could the right metaphor unlock the brain's deepest secrets once and for all?Galloping through centuries of wild speculation and ingenious, sometimes macabre anatomical investigations, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb reveals how we came to our present state of knowledge. Our latest theories allow us to create artificial memories in the brain of a mouse, and to build AI programmes capable of extraordinary cognitive feats. A complete understanding seems within our grasp.But to make that final breakthrough, we may need a radical new approach. At every step of our quest, Cobbshows that it was new ideas that brought illumination. Where, he asks, might the next one come from? What will it be?
The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience
by Matthew CobbA powerful examination of what we think we know about the brain and why -- despite technological advances -- the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery. For thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The Idea of the Brain, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb traces how our conception of the brain has evolved over the centuries. Although it might seem to be a story of ever-increasing knowledge of biology, Cobb shows how our ideas about the brain have been shaped by each era's most significant technologies. Today we might think the brain is like a supercomputer. In the past, it has been compared to a telegraph, a telephone exchange, or some kind of hydraulic system. What will we think the brain is like tomorrow, when new technology arises? The result is an essential read for anyone interested in the complex processes that drive science and the forces that have shaped our marvelous brains.
The Idea of the Sciences in the French Enlightenment: A Reinterpretation (G - Reference, Information And Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.)
by G. Matthew AdkinsThis book traces the development of the idea that the sciences were morally enlightening through an intellectual history of the secrétaires perpétuels of the French Royal Academy of Sciences and their associates from the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Academy secretaries such as Fontenelle and Condorcet were critical to the emergence of a central feature of the narrative of Enlightenment in that they encouraged the notion that the “philosophical spirit” of the Scientific Revolution, already present among the educated classes, should guide the necessary reformation of society and government according to the ideals of scientific reasoning. The Idea of the Sciences also tells an intellectual history of political radicalization, explaining especially how the marquis de Condorcet came to believe that the sciences could play central a role in guiding the outcome of the Revolution of 1789. Published by University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.
The Idea of the Sciences in the French Enlightenment: A Reinterpretation (G - Reference, Information And Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.)
by G. Matthew AdkinsThis book traces the development of the idea that the sciences were morally enlightening through an intellectual history of the secrétaires perpétuels of the French Royal Academy of Sciences and their associates from the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Academy secretaries such as Fontenelle and Condorcet were critical to the emergence of a central feature of the narrative of Enlightenment in that they encouraged the notion that the “philosophical spirit” of the Scientific Revolution, already present among the educated classes, should guide the necessary reformation of society and government according to the ideals of scientific reasoning. The Idea of the Sciences also tells an intellectual history of political radicalization, explaining especially how the marquis de Condorcet came to believe that the sciences could play central a role in guiding the outcome of the Revolution of 1789. Published by University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.
The Ideal Result
by Jack HippleThe Ideal Final Result introduces the TRIZ Inventive Problem Solving Process in a way that allows readers to make immediate use of its most basic concepts. The Ideal Final Result reviews the basics of this left brained, but at the same time, very creative process for problem solving that uses a basic algorithm developed through the study of millions of patents. As opposed to psychologically based tools relying on the generation of hundreds of ideas to be sorted through to find the few of value, TRIZ rigorously defines the problem and assists the problem owner in identifying the existing inventive principles that are already known to solve that class of problems. This book reviews the most basic of the TRIZ algorithm tools and provides templates for readers to use in analyzing their difficult problems and provides a mental framework for their solution. It also describes TRIZ techniques for basic strategic planning in a business sense.
The Ideal of Nature: Debates about Biotechnology and the Environment
by Gregory E. KaebnickIn this provocative anthology, scholars consider the meaning and merits of “nature” in debates about biotechnology and the environment.Drawing on philosophy, religion, and political science, this book asks what the term “nature” means, how it should be considered, and if it is—even in part—a social construct. The contributors question if the quality of being “natural” is intrinsically valuable. They also discuss whether appeals to nature can and should affect public policy and, if so, whether they are moral trump cards or should instead be weighed against other concerns.Though consensus on these questions remains elusive, this should not be an obstacle to moving the debate forward. By bringing together disparate approaches to addressing these concepts, The Ideal of Nature suggests the possibility of intermediate positions that move beyond the usual full-throated defense and blanket dismissal found in much of the debate. Scholars of bioethics, environmental philosophy, religious studies, sociology, public policy, and political theory will find much merit in this book’s lively discussion.
The Ideal of Parliament in Europe since 1800 (Palgrave Studies in Political History)
by Henk Te Velde Remieg Aerts Carla Van Baalen Margit van der Steen Marie-Luise ReckerThis edited collection explores the perceptions and memories of parliamentarianism across Europe, examining the complex ideal of parliament since 1800. Parliament has become the key institution in modern democracy, and the chapters present the evolution of the ideal of parliamentary representation and government, and discuss the reception and value of parliament as an institution. It is considered both as a guiding concept, a Leitidee, as well as an ideal, an Idealtypus. The volume is split into three sections. The establishment of parliament in the nineteenth century and the transfer of parliamentary ideals, models and practices are described in the first section, based on the British and French models. The second part explores how the high expectations of parliamentary democracy in newly-established states after the First World War gradually started to subside into dissatisfaction. Finally, the last section attests to its resilience after the Second World War, demonstrating the strength of the ideal of parliament and its power to incorporate criticism. Examining the history of parliament through concepts and ideals, this book traces a transnational, European exchange of models, routines and discourse.
The Ideals of Joseph Ben-David: The Scientist's Role and Centers of Learning Revisited
by Liah GreenfeldJoseph Ben-David died twenty-five years ago, in January 1986. An eminent sociologist of science, and a co-founder of this sub-discipline, he was only sixty-five years old. Few social scientists are remembered after they die and can no longer parlay their influence into the goods of this world for colleagues and acquaintances. This was not Ben-David's fate. His work continues to be taught and referred to by scholars spread far and wide (in terms of both countries and disciplines). His students never forgot him, his books were republished, and his essays appeared in new collections. Ben-David's legacy includes ideas and ideals. Its central tenet is the autonomy of science, its right--and duty--to be value-free. Scholarship oriented to any goal other than the accumulation of objective knowledge about empirical reality, for him, was science no longer and did not have its authority. In this light, the life of scholarship was one of moral dedication, with nothing less than the fate of liberal democratic society depending on it. And for science to thrive, the university, its home, had to be the embodiment of the cardinal virtue of this society: the virtue of civility. In the spirit of Ben-David, believing that scholarly debate advances common good, and rational discourse wins whichever way arguments in it are settled, this festschrift debates such core issues as the nature of science, its changing definition and position in Western society, the forms of organization optimal for scientific creativity, and the ability of the research university to foster scientific growth, while also performing its educational role.
The Ideas of Biology (Dover Books on Biology)
by John Tyler Bonner"The great achievement of this book," observed the distinguished science writer Gerald Wendt, "is that it presents the basic concepts of biology in concise, lucid, orderly form and thus gradually and understandably transforms the miracle of life into a succession of miraculously simple processes." John Tyler Bonner's series of concise essays explores the foundations of modern biology: the cell, genetics, development, and evolution. "Biologists are fortunate in having such a scientist and author interpret these facts, for Dr. Bonner's style of writing contributes greatly to the success of the work," noted Library Journal, adding, "The drawings which accompany the text are excellent." Since evolution provides the framework for life, the author makes it his central theme, with introductory material on the living machine itself and succeeding chapters on heredity, embryonic development, and ultimately, relations between organisms and their environment. Written as a supplement to classroom biology texts, this volume can be read independently.
The Ideas of Particle Physics
by James E. Dodd Ben GripaiosThis book is a comprehensive introduction to particle physics, bridging the gap between traditional textbooks on the subject and popular accounts that assume little background knowledge. This fourth edition is fully revised, including the most recent ideas and discoveries, and the latest avenues of research. The development of the subject is traced from the foundations of quantum mechanics and relativity, through the formulation of quantum field theories, to the standard model. Research now continues with the first signs of physics beyond the standard model and with the formulation of modern string theory which aims to include a quantum theory of gravity for the first time. This book is intended for anyone with a background in physical sciences who wishes to learn about particle physics. It is also valuable to students of physics wishing to gain an introductory overview of the subject.
The Identity of the History of Science and Medicine (Variorum Collected Studies)
by Andrew CunninghamIn these essays, Andrew Cunningham is concerned with issues of identity - what was the identity of topics, disciplines, arguments, diseases in the past, and whether they are identical with (more usually, how they are not identical with) topics, disciplines, arguments or diseases in the present. Historians usually tend to assume such continuous identities of present attitudes and activities with past ones, and rarely question them; the contention here is that this gives us a false image of the very things in the past that we went to look for.
The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking
by Leor ZmigrodNamed a best book of the year by The Guardian and The TelegraphWhy do some people become radicalized? How do ideologies shape the human brain? And how can we unchain our minds from toxic dogmas?In The Ideological Brain, Leor Zmigrod reveals the deep connection between political beliefs and the biology of the brain. Drawing on her own pioneering research, she uncovers the complex interplay between biology and environment that predisposes some individuals to rigid ways of thinking, and explains how ideologies take hold of our brains, fundamentally changing the way we think, act and interact with others. She shows how ideologues of all types struggle to change their thought patterns when faced with new information, culminating in the radical message that our politics are not superficial but are woven into the fabric of our minds.This authoritative, accessible and playful blend of psychology, politics and philosophy explores the cutting-edge of the emerging field of political neuroscience. Zmigrod examines its historical roots before she looks to the future, considering the broader social and political implications of her groundbreaking research. Guiding readers through her experiments, she eventually describes what a free, authentic, and tolerant brain looks like, and explains how anyone can keep their mind open and flexible in the face of extremist ideologies.
The Ideological War on Terror: Worldwide Strategies For Counter-Terrorism (Political Violence)
by Graeme P. Herd Anne AldisThis edited book addresses the appropriateness of US and other counter-terrorist (CT) strategies in Europe and Eurasia, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region and in Latin America, with a view to improving their effectiveness. The book has three main objectives: to re-examine terrorists' strategic goals and sources of legitimacy and the nature of their ideological support to analyze current US and regional CT strategies and assess their success in de-legitimizing terrorists and undermining their support to provide a strategic synthesis and policy recommendations in light of the research findings. This book will be of interest to students of political violence and terrorism, security studies and international relations in general.
The Ideology of the Offensive
by Jack SnyderJack Snyders analysis of the attitudes of military planners in the years prior to the Great War offers new insight into the tragic miscalculations of that era and into their possible parallels in present-day war planning. By 1914, the European military powers had adopted offensive military strategies even though there was considerable evidence to support the notion that much greater advantage lay with defensive strategies. The author argues that organizational biases inherent in military strategists attitudes make war more likely by encouraging offensive postures even when the motive is self-defense. Drawing on new historical evidence of the specific circumstances surrounding French, German, and Russian strategic policy, Snyder demonstrates that it is not only rational analysis that determines strategic doctrine, but also the attitudes of military planners. Snyder argues that the use of rational calculation often falls victim to the pursuit of organizational interests such as autonomy, prestige, growth, and wealth. Furthermore, efforts to justify the preferred policy bring biases into strategists decisions biases reflecting the influences of parochial interests and preconceptions, and those resulting from attempts to simplify unduly their analytical tasks. The frightening lesson here is that doctrines can be destabilizing even when weapons are not, because doctrine may be more responsive to the organizational needs of the military than to the implications of the prevailing weapons technology. By examining the historical failure of offensive doctrine, Jack Snyder makes a valuable contribution to the literature on the causes of war.
The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head Is Really Up To
by Dean BurnettThe brain may be the seat of consciousness and the engine of all human experience, but it’s also messy, fallible and disorganized. It’s undeniably impressive, but it’s far from perfect, and these imperfections influence everything that humans say, do and experience. In The Idiot Brain, Dean Burnett celebrates the downright laughable things our minds do to us, as well as exposing the fact that people are often way off in their thinking about how the brain works. For example, did you know thatyour memory is egotistical?stress can actually increase your performance at a task?conspiracy theories and superstitions stem from your brain’s insistence that the world isn’t random?the brain’s limitations mean you really can miss something that’s right under your nose?the way the brain’s processing works means that time really does fly if you’re having fun?alcohol can sometimes improve your memory?Dean Burnett’s unpredictable and entertaining first book explores the unexpected side of everyday life, highlighting where conventional thinking is wrong and how our brains trip us up at every turn. This is lucid, funny and smart: in short, the best kind of popular science.
The Illusion of God's Presence
by John C. WatheyAn essential feature of religious experience across many cultures is the intuitive feeling of God's presence. More than any rituals or doctrines, it is this experience that anchors religious faith, yet it has been largely ignored in the scientific literature on religion.Starting with a vivid narrative account of the life-threatening hike that triggered his own mystical experience, biologist John Wathey takes the reader on a scientific journey to find the sources of religious feeling and the illusion of God's presence. His book delves into the biological origins of this compelling feeling, attributing it to innate neural circuitry that evolved to promote the mother-child bond. Dr. Wathey, a veteran neuroscientist, argues that evolution has programmed the infant brain to expect the presence of a loving being who responds to the child's needs. As the infant grows into adulthood, this innate feeling is eventually transferred to the realm of religion, where it is reactivated through the symbols, imagery, and rituals of worship. The author interprets our various conceptions of God in biological terms as illusory supernormal stimuli that fill an emotional and cognitive vacuum left over from infancy. These insights shed new light on some of the most vexing puzzles of religion, like the popular belief in a god who is judgmental and punishing, yet also unconditionally loving; the extraordinary tenacity of faith; the greater religiosity of women relative to men; religious obsessions with sex; the mysterious compulsion to pray; the seemingly irrepressible feminine attributes of God, even in traditionally patriarchal religions; and the strange allure of cults. Finally, Dr. Wathey considers the hypothesis that religion evolved to foster reproductive success, arguing that, in an age of potentially ruinous overpopulation, magical thinking has become a luxury we can no longer afford, one that distracts us from urgent threats to our planet.Deeply researched yet elegantly written in a jargon-free and accessible style, this book presents a compelling interpretation of the evolutionary origins of spirituality and religion.From the Hardcover edition.