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Capitalism and Classical Social Theory: Fourth Edition
by John Bratton David DenhamCapitalism and Classical Social Theory offers a rigorous introduction to classical social theory, highlighting the enduring relevance of classical works for understanding the many crises of the contemporary world. This popular theory book introduces students to a selection of classical social thinkers and demonstrates the relevance of the classical canon in contemporary society – a society marked by social inequality, insecurity, transformative AI, and the climate emergency. The fourth edition features updated examples, data, and images throughout, as well as new material on early American sociology and new literature on classical social theorists from the past five years. It reintroduces a chapter on Georg Simmel and urbanism, and it includes a new chapter exploring the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and class, race, and gender. While attentive to historical context, Capitalism and Classical Social Theory argues that classical theorists speak directly to the present challenges of inequality, social change, and the climate crisis in the twenty-first century.
Capitalism, Degrowth and the Steady State Economy: Debating Future Economic Models (Palgrave Insights into Apocalypse Economics)
by Theodore P. LianosThis book examines the contemporary state of the capitalist economyand its future trajectory in a world characterized by multiple crises from population growth to ecological damage. Setting an understanding of modern capitalism in global historical context, chapters consider the uncertainty of capitalism’s future and argues that capitalism must adapt dramatically to survive.. The book examines the major problems that a capitalist system faces, including inequality, organized crime, uncontrolled technological development, polarizing geopolitics, food security and climate change. To address these multifaceted challenges andminimize the impact of capitalism in exacerbating them, the book discusses the potential viability of a ‘steady state’ economic model and a de-growth approach to the global economy. It also considers various alternative models for the future, including eco-socialism and participatory socialism. This book deftly weaves together perspectives on a wide variety of issues and will be a useful resource for scholars interested in Marxist economics and heterodox economics, political economy, economic development and economic thought.
Capsaicinoids: From Natural Sources to Biosynthesis and their Clinical Applications
by Mallappa Kumara Swamy Ajay KumarThis edited book brings out a comprehensive collection of information on capsaicinoids. Primarily, this book includes compiled knowledge on various aspects of capsaicin from ethnobotany to the most important clinical applications. This book covers topics emphasizing chemistry, biosynthesis, anticancer activities, bioavailability, currently undergoing experimental phases, and biotechnological methods, including cell cultures, and metabolic engineering in heterologous microbial and plant systems to enhance capsaicin production. Capsaicinoids are a group of important compounds that are particularly synthesized by various members of the genus Capsicum in their placenta. Capsaicin is the most abundant vanilloid compound among the different capsaicinoids in hot peppers. Other capsaicinoids include dihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin, homocapsaicin, and homodihydrocapsaicin. The capsaicin has been proven as an important bioactive molecule with several properties against many ailments, such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and diseases of the airway and urinary tract. Capsaicin interacts with TRPV1 receptors in humans. These compounds exert their functions by interacting with the TRPV receptors. This book summarises the increasing literature surrounding capsaicin and helps to pave the way for the development of novel targets for the prevention and treatment of many disorders. It is useful for scientists, clinicians, and industry specialists working in the field of herbal therapeutics. It also assists as supplementary reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of botany, biotechnology, biochemistry, bioengineering, pharmacology, and medicine.
The Captive Imagination: Addiction, Reality, and Our Search for Meaning
by Elias DakwarA 2024 "NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB" MUST-READA profound, humane, and revolutionary new framework for understanding and addressing addiction. Addiction has been called a moral failing, a social problem, a spiritual crisis, a behavioral disorder, and a brain disease. It has also been called a class issue, a supply problem, a problem of learning, a memory disorder, and a result of trauma. And some propose that addiction is neither a disease nor a problem, but a transgressive expression of freedom, a maligned sub-culture, a therapeutic relationship. Even the term ‘addiction’ is open to question. There are few human phenomena so elusive and intractable; after decades of neuroscientific research, we aren’t much closer to understanding addiction, nor to addressing it effectively. This profusion of interpretations, meanings, and models reflects a hidden truth about addiction: that it is profusely generative of meaning itself. In this bold reimagining, pioneering psychiatrist Elias Dakwar examines addiction as a sustained creative act—and specifically as a process of personal world-building, complete with its own rituals, systems of value, modes of suffering, and sources of support. In this regard, addiction is something we all do. But there is a crucial difference. In the case of those of us suffering from addiction explicitly, this meaningful world keeps us in clear captivity, worsening the suffering and confusion we hoped it would console. And we remain stuck because we have trouble imagining it differently.Drawing on vivid stories of his own patients, path-breaking research with meditation, psychotherapy, and psychedelics/hallucinogens, and decades of clinical experience, Dakwar explores this captivity at the heart of our addictions, and shows how we might move beyond its bounds to reclaim our freedom. He also relates addiction to our collective self-inflicted crises, from environmental destruction to militarism to social injustice, rendering this often stigmatized condition relevant to all of us. With fluid, rich, and often startling prose, The Captive Imagination offers a novel path for better understanding and overcoming addiction, as well as human suffering more generally.
Capturing a Deputy's Heart
by Adrian CrawfordOne evening Deputy Rob Davenport pulls over a car for speeding. While his patience is tested by a condescending driver, his heart is captured by the passenger in the car, Max Winters. They’re mutually attracted to one another but fail to connect due to the driver being arrested for a warrant. The next day, a chance encounter at their favorite restaurant gives Max and Rob a chance to shoot their shot and leads to Rob asking Max on a date. Weeks of dating blossom into a loving relationship.But two people are unhappy with this coupledom, including Randall Wilson, the car's driver who has crushed on Max since their freshman year of college, and Bryce Turner, who’s been in love with Rob since middle school. Both men join forces to see if they can end Max and Rob’s relationship by any means necessary. Will they accomplish their goal of getting the man they love? Or are Max and Rob simply meant to be?
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies: Towards More Sustainable Cities (Green Energy and Technology)
by Ali Elkamel Ali Ahmadian Ali AlmansooriThis book brings together cross-disciplinary research on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to examine the impact of implementing CCUS tools and technologies on emissions reduction and sustainable development in cities and large metropolitan areas. An expert group of global contributors provides in-depth technical discussions, case studies, and examples with an emphasis on the worldwide application of the latest developments in technology, protocols, implementation, and application of CCUS in power and energy systems.Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies: Towards More Sustainable Cities is an essential multidisciplinary reference for researchers and industry practitioners from engineering, energy, computer science, data science, economics, and operational research working in the energy and environmental fields.
Carbon Nanomaterials and their Composites as Adsorbents (Carbon Nanostructures)
by Sabu Thomas J. ThariniThis book elucidates fundamental concepts of nanomaterials and their pivotal role as nanoadsorbents in water purification. Key features include the latest trends in adsorption for metal, micro pollutants, food adulterants, aromatic compounds, pesticides, dyes, and oil particle removal. Additionally, the interdisciplinary aspects of adsorption and practical applications for hazardous chemical removal from water are explored. The book delves into various types of adsorption isotherms such as Langmuir, Freundlich, BET, and others, offering a deep understanding for water purification. Kinetic models including first, second, and third order kinetics are elucidated, empowering undergraduate students to grasp and optimize complex systems. The required background is basic knowledge in chemistry, biology, mathematics, and nanoscience at the first-year university level. Designed for both academics and industrial researchers, this book is divided into 17 chapters. Chapters 1-7 introduce nanomaterials, carbon nanoadsorbents, their synthesis, and surface modification. Chapters 8-9 cover fundamental adsorption isotherms, kinetic models, thermodynamic parameters, adsorption mechanism, and experimental techniques. Chapters 10-15 delve into the adsorption and desorption of various compounds like aromatic compounds, pesticides, heavy metals, micro pollutants, food adulterants, oil particles, and dyes molecules. The final chapter tackles the theoretical modeling of carbon nanomaterials for adsorption studies
Carbon-Neutral Architectural Design
by Pablo M. La RocheThe energy used to build and operate buildings is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. While it is possible to reduce emissions through low-carbon design, many architects are not trained to do this. Filling an urgent need for a design reference in this emerging field, this book describes how to reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions through appropriate design techniques. It presents strategies to achieve CO2 reductions, with an emphasis on control of energy flows through the building envelope and passive cooling and heating strategies. This new, revised edition is updated throughout and includes a new section on embodied carbon and new chapters on daylighting and nature-based cooling.Features: Adds new chapters on daylighting and nature-based cooling with numerous updates throughout the rest of the chapters Presents strategies, illustrated with examples, for new construction and existing buildings to reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions Explains the origins of CO2 emissions associated with the operation and fabrication of buildings: supplying water, disposing of waste from the building, and proposes strategies to reduce them Covers carbon calculations, thermal comfort, indigenous technology, climate‑responsive design, passive cooling and heating, solar design, air flow analysis, daylighting, building simulation and microclimate design with abundant examples Examines siting/location to design buildings that adapt and mitigate their effect on climate change
Carbon Societies: The Social Logic of Fossil Fuels
by Peter WagnerThe climate crisis is humanmade. Its main cause is the burning of fossil fuels. To combat climate change, we have to understand how we arrived at where we are. This book explores the reasons why human societies have embarked on the trajectory of ever-increasing use of fossil fuels.Population growth, desire for freedom from want and profit-seeking all played major roles in shaping human history, but there has been no inevitable drive towards heating up the atmosphere in the pursuit of social objectives. To sustain a growing population, more natural resources are required, but their use does not need to generate climate change. No logic of modernity links freedom with a kind of material abundance that requires the burning of fossil fuels. No logic of capital necessarily ties the search for profit to the extraction of fossil resources.Examining the critical junctures in human history when resource regimes changed, this book identifies the social problems that were meant to be solved by burning fossil fuels and the power hierarchies that shaped the decisions to use them. Wagner argues that the key choices that led to the climate emergency were made relatively recently, during the second half of the 20th century: they are close enough in time for us to undo the prevailing social logic of fossil fuels. By redefining the key problems that humankind is facing and reshaping the existing mechanisms of power, we can take the decisive action needed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and avert the worst consequences of climate change.
Carbon Superstructures: From Quantum Transport to Quantum Computation
by Somnath BhattacharyyaThis book covers how the understanding, as well as controllability, of the quantum electronic properties of carbon structures can be improved through a combined study of structural geometry, electronic properties, and dynamics of resonating valence bonds. It elaborates varied properties such as growth mechanism, exotic transport properties, namely unusual geometry of microstructures mixed with electron distribution and spin properties in carbon. Transport mechanisms and new applications including hybrid quantum technology based on the superconducting diamond and diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are discussed.Features:• Includes the theoretical and experimental aspects of carbon physics, various carbon nanostructures, and simulations.• Covers growth of carbon superstructures and various applications of their tunable electronic properties.• Discusses how nanocarbon systems can be used in emerging technologies, including spintronic and quantum computing.• Focuses on spin-related features and spin transport including the Kondo effect, spin-charge separation, spin-phonon coupling, anomalous Hall effect, and Luttinger liquid features.• Explores carbon superstructure growth and their tunable electronic properties.This book is aimed at students, researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering, materials science, electronics, and quantum technology.
Cardiac Amyloidosis: Diagnosis and Treatment
by Michele Emdin Giuseppe Vergaro Alberto Aimo Marianna FontanaCardiac amyloidosis (CA) is caused by the accumulation of amyloid fibrils in the extracellular space of the myocardium, with clinical manifestations including conduction disturbances and heart failure. CA has traditionally been considered a rare disease, lacking effective therapies and with a poor prognosis, but in recent years, increased possibilities for non-invasive diagnosis and greater awareness of the disease have led to the identification of a growing number of cases, challenging the concept of CA as a rare disease. This is why the ability to recognise and manage patients with CA should become part of the core curriculum of cardiologists, but also of internal medicine specialists, general practitioners, neurologists, nephrologists and haematologists. This book, written by leading experts in the field, will provide the state-of-the-art in the diagnosis and management of CA and will also discuss the latest research developments and future research directions. Thevolume appears to be a timely one, given the great interest of clinicians and researchers in CA and the exponential increase in publications in recent year, and will be of interest to cardiologists, internal medicine and other disciplines specialists who may encounter patients with CA in their clinical practice, as well as general practitioners.
Cardiovascular Exercises
by Pílula DigitalWhat's the FIRST thing you think of when you hear 'cardio'? Probably RUNNING or ELIPTIC exercises, stationary bike, or EVEN rowing, did I get it right? But there is much more to CARDIORRESPIRATORY exercises than RESISTANCE training in a static state. In this eBOOK, you will LEARN everything about CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES, Equipment, and PLANNING to GET a FITTER and STRONGER body! Good reading!
Career Journeys of Diverse Leaders in Higher Education: Climbing the Rough Side of the Mountain
by George Blumenthal Josefina Castillo Baltodano Currie, Ding-Jo H.This book provides a study of diverse leadership development through the extraordinary journeys of ten retired presidents and chancellors who have left an indelible impact on higher education.Representing a rich multicultural background, each chapter tells a personal story of transformation and triumph, highlighting the various, non-traditional paths to senior leadership. Hailing from both private and public, two- and four-year institutions across the United States, these trailblazers showcase that excellence knows no bounds. Contributors reflect on the struggles and engagements with racialized ethnic realities and growing awareness of gender inequities. Discussion questions supply rich ground for meaningful engagement in book clubs, leadership classes, workshops, and institutes, prompting readers to plumb the depths of their own experiences in confronting justice, equity, and inclusion.Filled with captivating narratives touching on the common threads of shared values and invaluable life lessons that weave through diverse experiences, this book is a testament to the power of inspiration and motivation for those considering or dismissing their aspirations to achieve leadership roles in higher education.
Career Paths of African American Directors: Pushing Boundaries
by Saundra McClain Clinton Turner DavisCareer Paths of African American Directors is a collection of in-depth conversations with African American directors.These conversations provide an insightful overview of the interviewees’ work and artistic vision and explore their personal influences, aesthetic philosophies, directorial styles, and some of the creative successes they achieved while navigating the obstacles, challenges, and biases encountered while establishing their careers in American theatre. The directors are presented with similar core questions as well as pertinent questions related to their own aesthetics, philosophy, and career. Often, these selected directors’ productions are grounded in a non-European aesthetic and philosophy, and their directorial styles are refracted through the prisms of ethnicity, gender, race, and culture, thus bringing a fresh approach to their work and the art of directing.Career Paths of African American Directors will be of interest to actors, early career and established directors, and students of Acting, Directing, and Theatre Studies.
Caribbean Courtships Collection: Three Caribbean Historical Romance Novels (Caribbean Courtships)
by Lydia San AndresEscape to a world of action, adventure, and steamy scandals with Lydia San Andres's Caribbean Courtships Collection."A sweet, satisfying, utterly intoxicating historical romance." - Olivia Waite, New York TimesCompromised into a Scandalous MarriageWhen heiress Paulina Despradel is banished from the family quinta in a storm, she seeks shelter with her dashing new neighbor, Sebastian Linares. Their attraction may be as electrifying as the lightning outside, but the night they spend together is totally innocent. Barely more than strangers, they must now marry. But left alone with their simmering chemistry, can they build a true union from the ashes of scandal?Alliance with His Stolen HeiressIn distancing himself from his nefarious wealthy family, Julian Fuentes has gained a rebellious reputation. Still, he&’s shocked when heiress Amalia Troncoso hires him to stage her kidnapping! Julian doesn&’t mind masquerading as a bandit to help Amalia get her inheritance from her tyrannical uncle, or spending time with the bold heiress who&’s captured his imagination. But will the truth that ties their families together prevent their alliance from becoming more? The Return of His Caribbean HeiressIt&’s been five years since the night Leandro Díaz kissed heiress Lucía Troncoso before she left for Europe. He&’d known they were from different worlds and would have to part, yet losing her still hurt… Now she&’s returned but Leo isn&’t the man he once was. Hardened by life, he holds Lucía at a distance and refuses to give in to their reignited attraction. Until danger hits and they&’re forced closer than ever before…
Carpal Instability: The Comprehensive Case-Based Approach
by Jeffrey YaoThis case-based guide is the most comprehensive, up-to-date work focusing on the topic of carpal instability. This work presents all aspects of the conditions including anatomy, physical examination, classification, kinematics, and nonsurgical and surgical methods of management. A wide variety of topics are presented, such as dynamic, static acute, and chronic reducible scapholunate ligament injury, subacute lunotriquetral ligament injury, perilunate injury, SLAC wrist, and more. For each topic, the traditional options as well as the most cutting-edge treatment modalities are discussed in detail, illustrated with numerous clinical and intraoperative photos. Written by a world-class international group of authors comprised of the most widely known experts in the field of carpal instability from around the world, this practical guide will serve as the authoritative resource for young and senior surgeons alike.
Carrying a Big Schtick: Jewish Acculturation and Masculinity in the Twentieth Century
by Miriam Eve MoraFor twentieth-century Jewish immigrants and their children attempting to gain full access to American society, performative masculinity was a tool of acculturation. However, as scholar Miriam Eve Mora demonstrates, this performance is consistently challenged by American mainstream society that holds Jewish men outside of the American ideal of masculinity. Depicted as weak, effeminate, cowardly, gentle, bookish, or conflict-averse, Jewish men have been ascribed these qualities by outside forces, but some have also intentionally subscribed themselves to masculinities at odds with the American mainstream. Carrying a Big Schtick dissects notions of Jewish masculinity and its perception and practice in America in the twentieth century through the lenses of immigration and cultural history. Tracing Jewish masculinity through major themes and events including both World Wars, the Holocaust, American Zionism, Israeli statehood, and the Six-Day War, this work establishes that the struggle of this process can shed light on the changing dynamics in religious, social, and economic American Jewish life.
The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care
by Dan KovalikIn 1948, the State of Israel was founded. While the philosophy of Zionism that advocated for a Jewish homeland in what was then known as Palestine dates back to 1897, the creation of Israel in 1948 was justified by the terrible crime of the Holocaust committed by Nazi Germany during WWII. Many defenders of Israel would like us to believe that the creation of Israel was a peaceful process on a barely populated land, however, this is far from true. Rather, the creation of Israel was accompanied by what is known by the Palestinians as the Nakba(catastrophe)—an operation in which 700,000 Palestinians were violently expelled from their land and their homes. Since that time, Israel has continued to usurp more and more land from the Palestinians who they falsely portray as a people without a history and without a culture. Israel has been particularly cruel to the people of Gaza—70 percent of whom are refugees from the 1948 Nakba. Gaza has been converted by Israel into what some call a giant open-air prison surrounded by barbed wire. It is in this context that we are currently witnessing the tragic violence between Israel and the people of Gaza—violence on a scale not seen in this land since the Nakba of 1948. Indeed, many Palestinians are calling this a second Nakba, with around 1.5 million Palestinians already displaced and thousands killed. All of this is being accomplished by Israel with critical military and diplomatic support from the United States. This second Nakba is also being facilitated by the mainstream press that both downplays and justifies what many believe to be genocidal violence against the Palestinian people. The Case for Palestine is written as a counternarrative, with the hope that, if the truth is told, this violence and displacement can be stopped before it is too late; before Gaza is no more.
Case Studies in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis: Treating Trauma, Anxiety and Aggression
by Christel AirasCase Studies in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis presents a wide range of full case presentations of children and adolescents undergoing psychoanalytic treatment, covering key issues such as trauma, aggression, depression and sexual development. The fascinating and touching cases throw the door open to the consulting room in a unique and unhindered fashion. The reader is afforded a fly-on-the-wall view of the intensive games, craft activities and conversations that take place between analyst and patient, and is able to witness how joy, anger, anxiety and sorrow can be expressed in a safe environment. The case studies paint a vivid picture of how the children and their analysts are able to approach, investigate and give form to the strongest and most painful of emotions. Each contributing analyst shows how the child they are treating gradually gains understanding of who they really are, or who they are becoming. The reader will gain valuable knowledge and insight through these observations and be given vital tools to take into their own practice.Including a foreword from Antonino Ferro, This book is a dynamic and much-needed resource for all analysts in practice and training working with child and adolescent patients, as well as policy makers looking at the mental wellbeing of young people and those interested in the curative factors of psychoanalytic treatment.
Case Studies in the Virtual Physical Chemistry Laboratory (Physical Chemistry in Action)
by Anthony J. DubenThis textbook provides a unique instructional resource in experimental Physical Chemistry with case studies based on data taken from the scientific literature. Platform-independent software that generates individualized data sets for student practice and assessment is included. Case Studies in the Virtual Physical Laboratory can be used to • Create online virtual laboratory courses in Physical Chemistry. • Supplement instruction in the lecture hall. • Complement hands-on projects in face-to-face laboratory courses. The case studies cover states of matter, thermochemistry, phase equilibria, reaction equilibria, chemical kinetics, electrolyte solutions, and activity coefficients. They are written to be self-contained to give flexibility in the choice of projects. The pedagogical approach in each case study is to use the given data in direct instruction followed by the analysis of the synthetic data as individualized tasks. Only open-source software tools are needed to analyze data. Each case study contains a thorough discussion of the theoretical principles underlying the experiment and data, the character of the data to be analyzed, and methods appropriate for the analysis of the data. The accompanying software has been written to allow the production of many data sets without risking duplication, yet the synthetic data can be regenerated if the files are lost or become corrupted. Software programs were written in Fortran 95 and are distributed as a suite of executable programs for Intel-based computers running Windows, MacOS, or Linux. This book will be of particular interest and usefulness to students and instructors in upper-division undergraduate physical chemistry courses.
Cases and Concepts in Occupational Adaptation: Translating Theory into Action
by Cynthia Lee Evetts Mary Frances BaxterTimely and updated to reflect the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, Fourth Edition (OTPF-4), Cases and Concepts in Occupational Adaptation: Translating Theory into Action contains all the pertinent information regarding occupational adaptation theory combined into one easy-to-digest textbook.Cases and Concepts in Occupational Adaptation: Translating Theory into Action expands upon the groundwork laid in Janette K. Schkade and Melissa McClung’s Occupational Adaptation in Practice: Cases and Concepts while leaving behind the workbook format in favor of an anthology focused on occupational adaptation theory, its history, and growth. Twenty years of research utilizing occupational adaptation theory is used in the text to show evidence of the use of theory in practice.What’s included in Cases and Concepts in Occupational Adaptation: The original “Try It On” component plus four additional worksheets to promote application and critical thinking Real-world clinical case reports and new practice models demonstrating how to use occupational adaptation theory across the life span, in various practice settings, and influencing systems or environments Neuroscience foundations that support the constructs of the theory and its use in practice Perfect for entry-level occupational therapy students in master’s or clinical doctoral programs, postprofessional students seeking to expand their theoretical repertoire, and practicing therapists who wish to ground their practice in theoretical constructs, Cases and Concepts in Occupational Adaptation: Translating Theory into Action stays true to the original while showcasing the changes to occupational adaptation theory from the past 20 years.
Cash Flow Analysis of Fiscal Regimes for Extractive Industries
by VernonA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Cast, Catch, Release: Finding Serenity and Purpose through Fly Fishing
by Marina GibsonFor readers of H Is for Hawk and Wild, a lyrical memoir and passionate ode to the art of fly fishing and how it can shape a life—by renowned female angler and conservationist Marina Gibson.As her twenty-first birthday approached, Marina Gibson received a unique gift suggestion from her parents, who offered her a choice between fishing rods or jewelry. In an unconventional decision, she opted for fishing rods. Her intention was to rekindle a childhood passion and carry on a family tradition initiated by her mother, who had dedicated years to pursuing salmon in the rivers of the Scottish Highlands. As fishing overtook Marina&’s life and evolved into a full-time career, she became enraptured by the silent mysteries of the river and the quiet magic of angling. The complexity of fly fishing and the rituals of casting provided her refuge from a failing marriage, giving her a reliable source of comfort that benefited both her mind and soul. It also revealed the barriers that exist for women trying to make it in a tradition-bound and male-dominated world. Tracing the epic, migratory journey of the Atlantic salmon alongside the ups and downs of her personal story, Cast, Catch, Release brings to life the joys of fishing, the spirited quest of the angler, and how these two paths meet on lakes and riverbanks around the world. A love letter to this exhilarating yet serene sport, Gibson shows what it means to find peace and purpose amidst the majesty of the great outdoors.
The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
by Thomas R. CechOne of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2024 Exploring the most transformative breakthroughs in biology since the discovery of the double helix, a Nobel Prize–winning scientist unveils the RNA age. For over half a century, DNA has dominated science and the popular imagination as the “secret of life.” But over the last several decades, a quiet revolution has taken place. In a series of breathtaking discoveries, the biochemist Thomas R. Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed that RNA—long overlooked as the passive servant of DNA—sits at the center of biology’s greatest mysteries: How did life begin? What makes us human? Why do we get sick and grow old? In The Catalyst, Cech finally brings together years of research to demonstrate that RNA is the true key to understanding life on Earth, from its very origins to our future in the twenty-first century. A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA’s spectacular powers, to Cech’s own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health. We learn how RNA—once thought merely to transmit DNA’s genetic instructions to the cell’s protein-making machinery—may have jump-started life itself, and how, at the same time, it can cut our individual lives short through viral diseases and cancer. We see how RNA is implicated in the aging process and explore the darker depths of the supposed fountain of youth, telomerase. And we catch a thrilling glimpse into how RNA-powered therapies—from CRISPR, the revolutionary tool that uses RNA to rewrite the code of life, to the groundbreaking mRNA vaccines that have saved millions during the pandemic, and more—may enable us to improve and even extend life beyond nature’s current limits. Written by one of our foremost scientists, The Catalyst is a must-read guide to the present and future of biology and medicine.
Catch Zoo Later: Field Trip Edition (The Very Worst Ever #3)
by Andy NonamusA very unlucky kid&’s suspiciously uneventful class trip to the zoo takes a turn for the unfortunate in the third book in The Very Worst Ever chapter book series!On a class field trip to the zoo, [REDACTED] can&’t help but feel a little worried. Not because of the razor-toothed tigers or gigantic, suspicious giraffes or even the way his friend Jake is eating way too many sweets, but because NOTHING IS GOING WRONG! The absence of his usual misfortune has him on edge, but when he walks into the reptile hideout, [REDACTED] quickly realizes this trip has been doomed from the gecko. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Very Worst Ever chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.