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Grassroots Innovation: Discourse, Policy and Practice in the Global South (Routledge Studies in Innovation, Organizations and Technology)
by Gautam Sharma Hemant KumarThis book explores the process of grassroots innovation in the context of the Global South. It explains why these bottom-up solutions developed by common people are generated due to a lack of available or affordable technology to meet their needs and how they are included in the mainstream imagination of the economy by studying these innovations in India. It analyses the grassroots innovation process from idea generation to its implementation.Detailing both theoretical and practical dimensions of grassroots innovation, the book provides a holistic understanding of the phenomenon by tracing its history in the pre-independence discourse on development to the present-day policies for institutionalizing these innovations in the mainstream. It will provide the readers with a bottom-up commentary on innovation and development in the context of the Global South in general and India in particular. It adopts a qualitative research design with a wide range of data collected through interviews, participant observations, and field notes. The book contains seven chapters to describe the discourse, policy perspectives, and current practice of grassroots innovations in general.The interdisciplinary, timely book provides thoughtful analysis for scholars and upper-level students in the fields of technology and innovation management, development studies, and public management.
Artificial Intelligence Technology in Healthcare: Security and Privacy Issues (Advances in Smart Healthcare Technologies)
by Neha Sharma Deepak Sinwar Durgesh SrivastavaArtificial Intelligence Technology in Healthcare: Security and Privacy Issues focuses on current issues with patients’ privacy and data security including data breaches in healthcare organizations, unauthorized access to patients’ information, and medical identity theft. It explains recent breakthroughs and problems in deep learning security and privacy issues, emphasizing current state-of-the-art methods, methodologies, implementation, attacks, and countermeasures. It examines the issues related to developing artifiicial intelligence (AI)-based security mechanisms which can gather or share data across several healthcare applications securely and privately. Features: Combines multiple technologies (i.e., Internet of Things [IoT], Federated Computing, and AI) for managing and securing smart healthcare systems. Includes state-of-the-art machine learning, deep learning techniques for predictive analysis, and fog and edge computing-based real-time health monitoring. Covers how to diagnose critical diseases from medical imaging using advanced deep learning-based approaches. Focuses on latest research on privacy, security, and threat detection on COVID-19 through IoT. Illustrates initiatives for research in smart computing for advanced healthcare management systems. This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in bioengineering, artificial intelligence, and computer engineering.
Marriage & Masti: A Novel (If Shakespeare Were an Auntie #3)
by Nisha SharmaThe third and final installment in Nisha Sharma’s beloved Shakespeare-inspired rom-com trilogy—an ode to Twelfth Night—is the perfect friends to lovers romp featuring an accidental wedding, meddling families, and plenty of sizzling chemistry.Veera Mathur has been through a lot in the past year. Both of her friends found soul mates, the man she fell in love with got engaged to another woman, and her father fired her before selling the family company. When her twin sister, Sana, tells her there is no way of getting her old life back, Veera feels lost at sea: a single, unemployed mess with a bad tattoo and tons of talent, but nowhere to go.Deepak Datta hasn’t had the best luck either. To secure enough board votes for the CEO position at his family's company, Illyria Media, he’s ready to marry board member and famous beauty influencer, Olivia Gupta. That is until he wakes up to a get ready with me video announcing their separation. Despite his immediate relief, Deepak needs to do something fast to repair his image.After a series of convenient mishaps bring them together again—including a literal shipwreck, way too many drinks, and a sunset elopement on the beach—Deepak and Veera realize their accidental wedding might be the solution to their career aspirations. Together, they plot against the very company that ruined their lives in the first place.As they try to convince the world their friendship was a ruse for romance they’ve felt all along, the line between fake and real begins to blur. Now Veera and Deepak must ask themselves the terrifying question that has haunted them since the first time they met: will love ruin everything?With her signature humor and heartfelt storytelling, Nisha Sharma writes a messy, spicy romance about identity, family honor, and love. In Marriage & Masti, readers are sure to love the highly anticipated finale of this beloved trilogy.
Air Pollution: Science, Engineering and Management Fundamentals
by Prateek Sharma Mukesh Khare Sumanth Chinthala Sri Harsha KotaThis comprehensive and up-to-date textbook discusses fundamental aspects of air pollution with the help of solved and case examples within the chapter and review questions at the end of each chapter. The textbook discusses in depth the entire domain of air pollution, from the fundamentals, sources, types, effects, associated risks, ecology, meteorology, climatology, sampling, monitoring and instrumentation, laboratory quality control, data analysis and interpretation, modelling, control technologies and indoor air pollution, to the latest principles of air quality management and legislation, regulations and standards.This book: Covers fundamentals of air pollution, the atmosphere, air pollution meteorology, effects and control of air pollution Discusses engineering aspects of air quality management and includes concepts of ecology, growth, and sustainable development in the context of air pollution Explains air pollution mitigation philosophies, legislation, regulations, and standards Comprehensively discusses topics including air quality monitoring, sampling, air quality modelling and air quality data analysis Includes case examples for better understanding of the topics and solution manual for the benefit of instructors The text will be useful for senior undergraduate and post-graduate students in the fields of science and engineering. Pedagogical features including solution manual will be uploaded on the website.
Contested Airport Land: Social-Spatial Transformation and Environmental Injustice in Asia and Africa (Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design)
by Sneha Sharma Irit Ittner Isaac Khambule Hanna GeschewskiContested Airport Land draws attention to the accelerating airport development in the Global South. Empirical studies provide nuanced analysis of socioeconomic, administrative, and political dynamics on the land beyond the airport grounds, such as the project area of greenfield development, the airport city, or land resources reserved for future airport expansion.The authors in this book emphasise why airport construction is a politically sensitive issue in low-income and low-middle-income countries, which serve as the last development frontier of the aviation sector. They argue that observed airport development was rather motivated by the perception of airports as engines for national economic growth, while improving air mobility of national populations was not the main driver. Under dominant national development visions, airport-induced dynamics threatened local livelihoods by triggering economies of anticipation, the reconfiguration of land markets, rapid land use changes, a transition from rural to urban livelihoods, the displacement of communities, the perpetuation of human–wildlife conflicts, or inter-ethnic violence. The authors also highlight colonial path dependencies; legal pluralism in land tenure; the hegemonic relations between builders, investors, and the affected residents; as well as strategies of local protest movements.This book is recommended for readers interested in infrastructure-induced conflicts and environmental injustice.
Policies for Research and Innovation: Proceedings of NERC 2022
by Sukanya Sharma Ramgopal V. S. Uppaluri Vipul Dutta Abhishek KashyapThe book aims to incorporate key findings pertaining to Northeastern India. The papers selected will highlight policies that are critical for fostering research and innovation in critical areas of scientific, social sciences, humanities and associated research paradigms relevant for the North-east.
Future Crops and Processing Technologies for Sustainability and Nutritional Security
by Vasudha Sharma Soumya Ranjan Purohit Meena Kumari Kasi Muthukumarappan Joanna Kane-PotakaOur current food system faces challenges across the board – from ensuring food security and reducing environmental impact to managing costs and minimizing waste. Fortunately, cutting-edge food processing technologies play a critical role in paving the way for a more sustainable future. Taking a two-track approach, Future Crops and Processing Technologies for Sustainability and Nutritional Security presents sustainable technologies and emerging crops that are capable of ensuring nutritional security. There are various crops that are nutritious but under-utilized. Crops covered in the book are those that are climate resilient and exhibit less use of water and zero discharge to environment, such as millets and legumes like chickpea, groundnuts, and pigeon pea.KEY FEATURES: Provides a comprehensive literature review on the opportunities and challenges in achieving sustainability and nutritional security Presents compatible, relevant crops to address both sustainability and nutritional security Discusses the emerging technologies/crops/food products to justify sustainability and potential to ensure nutritional security This book also provides information on all aspects related to the processing and use of sustainable technologies and crops. The use of technologies like 3D printing, novel drying method, high pressure processing, high-voltage treatments, and the proper combination of conventional methods are addressed.
Doodh Na Bakshungi: दूध ना बख्शूंगी
by Ved Prakash Sharma"दूध ना बख्शूंगी" वेद प्रकाश शर्मा का एक प्रसिद्ध थ्रिलर उपन्यास है, जो बदले, न्याय और पारिवारिक संघर्षों की कहानी है। इस उपन्यास की कहानी एक महिला के प्रतिशोध पर आधारित है, जो अपने बेटे की मौत का बदला लेने के लिए कटिबद्ध है। कहानी में मुख्य पात्र एक ऐसी माँ है, जिसका बेटा एक षड्यंत्र का शिकार होकर मारा जाता है। इस सदमे के बाद, वह माँ कसम खाती है कि जब तक वह अपने बेटे की मौत का बदला नहीं ले लेती, तब तक वह किसी भी कीमत पर शांत नहीं बैठेगी। कहानी में कई उतार-चढ़ाव और रोमांचक घटनाएं हैं, जो पाठकों को बांधे रखती हैं। नायक की ताकत, साहस, और संघर्ष की यह गाथा एक रोमांचक यात्रा पर ले जाती है, जहां वह अपने दुश्मनों का सामना करती है और अपने बेटे की मौत का बदला लेने के लिए किसी भी हद तक जाती है। यह उपन्यास न केवल एक प्रतिशोध की कहानी है, बल्कि इसमें मां-बेटे के रिश्ते की गहराई, न्याय की लड़ाई और एक महिला के अदम्य साहस का भी वर्णन है।
Data-Driven Decision Making
by Vinod Sharma Chandan Maheshkar Jeanne PouloseThis book delves into contemporary business analytics techniques across sectors for critical decision-making. It combines data, mathematical and statistical models, and information technology to present alternatives for decision evaluation. Offering systematic mechanisms, it explores business contexts, factors, and relationships to foster competitiveness. Beyond managerial perspectives, it includes contributions from professionals, academics, and scholars worldwide, delivering comprehensive knowledge and skills through diverse viewpoints, cases, and applications of analytical tools. As an international business science reference, it targets professionals, academics, researchers, doctoral scholars, postgraduate students, and research organizations seeking a nuanced understanding of modern business analytics.
A New Philosophy of Opera
by Yuval SharonFrom “the most imaginative director in the US” (New York Times) comes this generational work with a vision for transforming opera into a powerhouse cultural phenomenon. "This book builds a compelling roadmap for the future of opera, and how it can truly be accessible for everyone." —Gustavo Dudamel Known as opera’s “disrupter-in-residence,” director Yuval Sharon has never adhered to the art form’s conventions. In his many productions in both the United States and Europe, he constantly challenges the perception of opera as aloof by urging, among other things: performing operas in “non-places,” such as parking lots; encouraging the use of amplification; and shuffling the traditional structure of classic works, like performing Puccini’s La bohème in reverse order, ending not with the tubercular heroine Mimi’s death but with her first falling in love. With A New Philosophy of Opera, Sharon has crafted a radical and refreshing book that can act as an introduction to the art form for the culturally curious, or as a manifesto for his fellow artists. In an engaging style that ranges from the provocative to the personal, Sharon offers a 360-degree view of the art form, from the audience experience to the artist’s process; from its socially conscious potential to its economic reality; and from its practical to its emotional and spiritual dimensions. Surveying the role of opera in the United States and drawing on his experiences from Berlin to Los Angeles, Sharon lays out his vision for an “anti-elite opera” that celebrates the imagination and challenges the status quo. With an illustrated and unconventional history of the art form (not following a straight line but tracing a fantastical “time-curve”) weaving throughout the book, Sharon resists the notion of the opera as “dying” and instead portrays it as a glorious chaos constantly being reborn and reshaped. With its advocacy of opera as an “enchanted space” and its revolutionary message, A New Philosophy of Opera is itself a work of art—a living book with profound philosophical implications—that will stand the test of time.
The True Memoirs of Little K: A Novel
by Adrienne SharpExiled in Paris, tiny, one-hundred-year-old Mathilde Kschessinska sits down to write her memoirs before all that she believes to be true is forgotten. A lifetime ago, she was the vain, ambitious, impossibly charming prima ballerina assoluta of the tsar's Russian Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. Now, as she looks back on her tumultuous life, she can still recall every slight she ever suffered, every conquest she ever made.Kschessinka's riveting storytelling soon thrusts us into a world lost to time: that great intersection of the Russian court and the Russian theater. Before the revolution, Kschessinska dominated that world as the greatest dancer of her age. At seventeen, her crisp, scything technique made her a star. So did her romance with the tsarevich Nicholas Romanov, soon to be Nicholas II. It was customary for grand dukes and sons of tsars to draw their mistresses from the ranks of the ballet, but it was not customary for them to fall in love.The affair could not endure: when Nicholas ascended to the throne as tsar, he was forced to give up his mistress, and Kschessinska turned for consolation to his cousins, two grand dukes with whom she formed an infamous ménage à trois. But when Nicholas's marriage to Alexandra wavered after she produced girl after girl, he came once again to visit his Little K. As the tsar's empire—one that once made up a third of the world—began its fatal crumble, Kschessinka's devotion to the imperial family would be tested in ways she could never have foreseen.In Adrienne Sharp's magnificently imagined novel, the last days of the three-hundred-year-old Romanov empire are relived. Through Kschessinska's memories of her own triumphs and defeats, we witness the stories that changed history: the seething beginnings of revolution, the blindness of the doomed court, the end of a grand, decadent way of life that belonged to the nineteenth century. Based on fact, The True Memoirs of Little K is historical fiction as it's meant to be written: passionately eventful, crammed with authentic detail, and alive with emotions that resonate still.
Geographies of Postcolonialism: Spaces of Power and Representation
by Joanne P SharpExtensively revised, the second edition of Geographies of Postcolonialism introduces the principal themes and theories related to postcolonialism. Written from a geographical perspective, the text includes extended explanations of the cultural and material spaces of the colonial and postcolonial power and representation. Exploring postcolonialism through the geographies of imagination, knowledge and power, the text analyses the history of western representations of the "Other" and engages with the important conceptual contributions of postcolonial theory. Comprehensive, accessible and illustrated with learning features throughout, Geographies of Postcolonialism will be the key resource for students interested in the geographical and spatial dimensions of colonialism and postcolonialism. Jo Sharp is Professor of Geography at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Geographies of Postcolonialism: Spaces of Power and Representation
by Joanne P SharpExtensively revised, the second edition of Geographies of Postcolonialism introduces the principal themes and theories related to postcolonialism. Written from a geographical perspective, the text includes extended explanations of the cultural and material spaces of the colonial and postcolonial power and representation. Exploring postcolonialism through the geographies of imagination, knowledge and power, the text analyses the history of western representations of the "Other" and engages with the important conceptual contributions of postcolonial theory. Comprehensive, accessible and illustrated with learning features throughout, Geographies of Postcolonialism will be the key resource for students interested in the geographical and spatial dimensions of colonialism and postcolonialism. Jo Sharp is Professor of Geography at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Primary Science: Teaching Theory and Practice (Achieving QTS Series)
by John Sharp Rob Johnsey Shirley Simon Alan Cross Diane Harris Graham A Peacock Robin James SmithAll you need to know about the theory and practice of teaching primary science. If you are training to be a primary school teacher, a knowledge of the primary science curriculum is not enough, you need to know HOW to teach science in primary schools. This is the essential teaching theory and practice text for primary science. It takes a focused look at the practical aspects of teaching and covers the important skills of classroom management, planning, monitoring and assessment, and relates them specifically to primary science. This new edition now includes a new chapter on creative curriculum approaches.
Primary Science: Teaching Theory and Practice (Achieving QTS Series)
by John Sharp Rob Johnsey Shirley Simon Alan Cross Diane Harris Graham A Peacock Robin James SmithAll you need to know about the theory and practice of teaching primary science. If you are training to be a primary school teacher, a knowledge of the primary science curriculum is not enough, you need to know HOW to teach science in primary schools. This is the essential teaching theory and practice text for primary science. It takes a focused look at the practical aspects of teaching and covers the important skills of classroom management, planning, monitoring and assessment, and relates them specifically to primary science. This new edition now includes a new chapter on creative curriculum approaches.
Primary Science: Knowledge and Understanding (Achieving QTS Series)
by John Sharp Rob Johnsey Debbie Wright Keira Sewell Graham A PeacockAll the subject knowledge you need to teach primary science. If you are training to be a primary school teacher, you need to understand what you need to know about primary science before you can teach it. To help you build your subject knowledge, this comprehensive text includes subject knowledge from each part of the primary science curriculum and comes with a wide range of resources so you can test you knowledge as you progress through the course. an online science subject knowledge audit with the ability to share results end of chapter self-assessment questions Interactive tasks a science subject knowledge checklist useful weblinks for primary science teaching Recommended further reading This new edition comes with a new chapter on science in curriculum.
Primary Science: Knowledge and Understanding (Achieving QTS Series)
by John Sharp Rob Johnsey Debbie Wright Keira Sewell Graham A PeacockAll the subject knowledge you need to teach primary science. If you are training to be a primary school teacher, you need to understand what you need to know about primary science before you can teach it. To help you build your subject knowledge, this comprehensive text includes subject knowledge from each part of the primary science curriculum and comes with a wide range of resources so you can test you knowledge as you progress through the course. an online science subject knowledge audit with the ability to share results end of chapter self-assessment questions Interactive tasks a science subject knowledge checklist useful weblinks for primary science teaching Recommended further reading This new edition comes with a new chapter on science in curriculum.
Between Lies And Revenge
by Hannah D. SharpeFor fans of Megan Miranda and Sally Hepworth, BETWEEN LIES AND REVENGE by Hannah D Sharpe is a gripping debut of domestic suspense, where a daring jewel heist becomes a lifeline for two women entangled in a web of deceit, pushing them to the brink of trust and betrayal in their quest for redemption and survival.Years after the death of her brother and the theft of her heirloom jewelry, ex-con Elle is on the run ... until she spots a stranger wearing a signature piece. Determined to take back what is hers, Elle stalks and befriends the woman, using her gemology skills as a ruse. Elle offers to appraise and clean the jewelry, replicating and replacing the pieces instead. Olivia is drowning. She maxes out credit cards behind her financially-strict husband's back in order to pay for fertility treatments, keep her blackmailing father at bay, and maintain appearances with her wealthy friends and their cultist MLM social circles. When Olivia meets Elle, she finally feels understood ... and inspired. With Elle&’s expertise and Olivia&’s connections, the two start a side-hustle by way of home jewelry appraisal parties. When this isn't lucrative enough, they develop the perfect con: switching rich housewives&’ gems with fakes. But their hidden truths get in the way of their success, and each other. Before their secrets bury them, they must confess their lies to one another and trust their final con will exact the revenge that&’ll secure their freedom, and their lives.
Daughters of the Witching Hill: A Novel
by Mary SharrattFrom the author of The Dark Lady, a novel of England&’s trial of the Pendle witches of 1612 and a family struggling to survive the hysteria.Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow living in Pendle Forest, is haunted by visions and gains a reputation as a cunning woman. Drawing on the Catholic folk magic of her youth, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future. As she ages, she instructs her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft, as well as her best friend, who ultimately turns to dark magic. When a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate, eager to make his name as a witch finder, plays neighbors and family members against one another until suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights. This e-book includes a sample chapter of Illuminations.&“Daughters of the Witching Hill offers a fresh approach with witches who believe in their own power and yet, in many ways, are still innocent. Sharratt&’s readers—like the magistrate who took the women&’s confessions—are likely to be spellbound by their stories.&”—San Francisco Chronicle &“Full of the reality of the day, this story is stark and real, but Sharratt&’s descriptions of landscape and the daily life of the poor at the time are rich enough to feed the senses. The author weaves this vast canvas of changing culture into the personal stories of these women, and in the process transports us to a distant land, a distant time—and deep into the story of people we sympathize with and care about.&”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Kosciuszko: The incredible life of the man behind the mountain
by Anthony SharwoodHeroes are hard to come by - but there's one man whose legend has stood the test of two centuries, and whose name sits on Australia's highest peak. Tadeusz Kosciuszko: freedom fighter, friend of Thomas Jefferson and champion of liberty on two continents. Bestselling author Anthony Sharwood finds out why he's the hero the world needs right now.Kosciuszko - our iconic highest mountain - is a name familiar to all Australians. But how many people know who the mountain is named after?Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who lived from 1746 to 1817, is the most famous person Australians probably know absolutely nothing about. A military engineer, freedom fighter, and champion of human rights, this extraordinary revolutionary was crucial to the success of the American War of Independence, then bravely led an uprising against Russia and other invaders in his native Poland, promising freedom and equality to all who joined his cause.In his day, Kosciuszko was loved and respected across Europe and America. His great friend Thomas Jefferson called him 'as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known', while Kosciuszko would later challenge Jefferson to live up to the famous words 'All men are created equal' by bequeathing his American funds to free enslaved people, including those on Jefferson's plantation.Bestselling author Anthony Sharwood (From Snow to Ash; The Brumby Wars) has spent a lifetime walking, skiing and writing about Kosciuszko National Park. Now he sets off on the trail of the man himself, travelling across the USA, Poland and Switzerland to key sites in Kosciuszko's life. Returning to Australia where a potential name change from Mt Kosciuszko to an Indigenous name is hotly debated, he walks with the area's traditional owners and discovers the ancient history of Australia's highest peak.Kosciuszko's life and legacy is enthralling, inspiring and indispensable. But is that reason enough to keep his name on the mountain?
The Tending Years: Understanding Your Child’s Earliest Rituals
by J. L. ShattuckEvery day you meet your child’s spiritual and emotional needs—you just don’t know it. In this short, accessible, and comforting book, expert J.L. Shattuck provides insight into your child’s earliest rituals. Have you ever wondered why your toddler will only drink from a specific cup, or only eat if you turn mealtime into a game? Have you ever found yourself following along with—and maybe even enjoying—your child’s increasingly elaborate bedtime routines? In The Tending Years: Understanding Your Child’s Earliest Rituals, J.L. Shattuck argues that these behaviors are not just habits but rituals—patterns of behavior young children naturally develop to reassure themselves they are safe and loved. Shattuck draws on child developmental theory and more than two decades of experience as a teacher, religious educator, and parent to explore the spiritual roots of this behavior. She demonstrates how adults and young children instinctively work together to support each other’s growth during this unique developmental period. Unlike parenting books that ask you to change the way you interact with your child, this easy-to-read volume details the ways in which you’re already tending to your child’s needs and offers inspiration and support to help you through the preschool years and beyond.
Managing Emerging Data Technologies: Concepts and Use
by Duncan R. ShawEmerging data technologies are one of several forces that are changing the world. This textbook shows how technologies such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and data analytics are altering business operations and strategy. Following a unique, three-part structure, the book offers: • a macro view of the environmental drivers which are changing organisations • a meso view of how organisations and business functions are responding • a micro view of the skills needed to take advantage of the new opportunities that these technologies bring A wide range of examples featuring well-known companies aid understanding, while practical activities help students to develop the skills they need in business. A downloadable teaching guide and PowerPoints are available for those using the book in their teaching. Managing Emerging Data Technologies: Concepts and Use is essential reading for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students of courses related to new digital data technologies in business, as well as anyone looking to use these technologies in their organisation. Duncan R. Shaw teaches business strategy and data technology strategy at business schools around the world, including Alliance Manchester Business School in Hong Kong, and Nottingham University Business School in the UK and Malaysia.
Managing Emerging Data Technologies: Concepts and Use
by Duncan R. ShawEmerging data technologies are one of several forces that are changing the world. This textbook shows how technologies such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and data analytics are altering business operations and strategy. Following a unique, three-part structure, the book offers: • a macro view of the environmental drivers which are changing organisations • a meso view of how organisations and business functions are responding • a micro view of the skills needed to take advantage of the new opportunities that these technologies bring A wide range of examples featuring well-known companies aid understanding, while practical activities help students to develop the skills they need in business. A downloadable teaching guide and PowerPoints are available for those using the book in their teaching. Managing Emerging Data Technologies: Concepts and Use is essential reading for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students of courses related to new digital data technologies in business, as well as anyone looking to use these technologies in their organisation. Duncan R. Shaw teaches business strategy and data technology strategy at business schools around the world, including Alliance Manchester Business School in Hong Kong, and Nottingham University Business School in the UK and Malaysia.
Reversing Entropy: Poems
by Luci ShawFrom the pen of beloved poet Luci Shaw comes a new collection that celebrates inspired creativity as an antidote to chaos. The poet's own words best describe the heart of this pinnacle collection of new work by beloved writer Luci Shaw: Entropy: A measure of the molecular disorder, or randomness, of a system, its lack of order or predictability, resulting in a gradual decline into disorder. Our universe, and the systems within it, constantly shift from their created states of order towards disorder, or chaos. The second law of thermodynamics asserts that entropy, or disorder, always increases with time. Creative human activities such as art, architecture, music, story or film are human efforts to halt and reverse this loss of meaning. Thus, smaller systems, like individual poems, become highly ordered as they receive energy from outside themselves, from the poet. They reverse entropy because they are moving from a state of disorder (all the random ideas, words and phrases available to the writer) into an orderly form designed by the writer to create meaningful images and concepts in the reader's mind (which is where the word "imag-ination" comes from.) This transfer of images, concepts and ideas into the mind of a reader is the task of poetry and the calling of the poet. Just as a composer of music gathers rhythms, notes, melodies, or harmony, organizing them into fugues or sonatas or concertos, so poets work and write to discover ways of arranging their responses to the world in words that introduce meaning and beauty in the mind of the reader. Which is what I've been trying to do for most of my life
Soft Assets in Smart and Resilient City Development (Disaster Risk Reduction)
by Rajib Shaw Eiko WatayaOver the past decade, building smarter, resilient cities is an established global trend in urban development, including developing countries. Unexpected external shocks, disasters and damage from climate change have major impacts on sustainable growth and well-being for citizens in today’s cities and requires comprehensive solutions. To deal with these negative events, cities predominantly invest in hard physical infrastructure, with less attention on non-physical soft assets which are intangible in nature and more difficult to quantify, but essential to achieve effective, balanced sustainable development. The value of soft assets can be substantial, and consistent implementation by cities can generate diverse value and be transformative for their urban development. For that purpose, cities need to establish an appropriate strategy, framework and structure to incorporate soft assets during the plan and implementation of hard infrastructure. This book argues that integrating soft assets in smart, resilient city development is critical to make the hard infrastructure work effectively and create value for cities. The literature review underlines that soft capital can be defined as: 1) human, 2) institutional, 3) external, 4) technology and information, and 5) social. The book also examines how soft assets can be effectively integrated into and create value for smart, resilient city development. Based on previous findings and original research, a unique approach is adopted through the verification of different city-level approaches using the concept of influential nodes, showcasing layered and composite value creation. The analysis addresses innovative implementation factors which enhance disaster resilience and the environment, which is particularly relevant for cities in developing countries. Drawing on previous research, in-depth reviews, new data, and case studies, the book provides new insights and specific policy and action measures to enhance the utilization of soft asset components in parallel with hard infrastructure in smart and resilient city in developing countries.