- Table View
- List View
The Sixth Element: How Carbon Shapes Our World
by Theodore P. Snow Don BrownleeA cosmic perspective on carbon—its importance in the universe and our livesWhen we think of carbon, we might first think of a simple element near the top of the periodic table: symbol C, atomic number 6. Alternatively, we might think of something more tangible—a sooty piece of coal or a sparkling diamond, both made of carbon. Or, as Earth&’s temperature continues to rise alarmingly, we might think of the role carbon plays in climate change. Yet carbon&’s story begins long ago, far from earthly concerns. In The Sixth Element, astronomers Theodore Snow and Don Brownlee tell the story of carbon from a cosmic perspective—how it was born in the fiery furnaces of stars, what special chemical and physical properties it has, and how it forms the chemical backbone of the planets and all life as we know it. Foundational to every part of our lives, from our bodies to the food, tools, and atmosphere that sustain our existence, carbon is arguably humankind&’s most important element.Snow and Brownlee offer readers the ideal introduction to the starry element that made our world possible and shapes our lives. They first discuss carbon&’s origin, discovery, and unique ability to bond with other elements and form countless molecules. Next, they reveal carbon&’s essential role in the chemical evolution of the universe and the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, and life, and then, more generally, its technological uses and its influence on Earth&’s climate. Bringing readers on a historical, scientific, and cross-disciplinary journey, The Sixth Element illuminates the cosmic wonder that is carbon.
Skeeters #2 (Skeeters #2)
by Bob Frantz Kevin CuffeCarla, JJ, and Luis battle their way through more bugs, bigger bugs, weird creatures, and gallons of gore. Unfortunately for them and the rest of Kankakee, Virginia, things continue to get weirder. Nothing a shotgun, a handgun, and some blunts can&’t solve, right?Skeeters is a comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature-features!
Skeeters #3 (Skeeters #3)
by Bob Frantz Kevin CuffeThe buzz surrounding the Kankakee Seafood Festival isn&’t good: it&’s already swarming with creatures, gore, and alien goo. Carla and co. arrive with guns (and blunts) a-blazin&’ only to find matters can still get much, much worse.Skeeters is a comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature-features!
Skeeters #4 (Skeeters #4)
by Bob Frantz Kevin CuffePuff, puff, pass the gun–it&’s the blazing and action-packed conclusion to Kankakee&’s bloodsucking nightmare! Carla and friends must fight their way through a literal hive of activity if they even hope to squash the alien queen and save their hometown. Skeeters is a comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature features!
Skeeters GN (Skeeters)
by Bob Frantz Kevin CuffeWhen giant mosquito-like alien creatures invade a rural seaside community, a frustrated sheriff and two oddball exterminators end up being the town&’s only hope for survival. A comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature-features!
The Skeleton House
by Katherine AllumMeg' s life is woven into the fabric of St Stephens. It' s a tapestry made of two precious children, a hidden truth and a husband whose ideas of a perfect wife do not match her own. When Meg puts her foot down on a third kid, gets a job and is empowered by the same book group that was meant to keep her in her place, her marriage begins to disintegrate. Set in a tiny Mormon community,this is a novel about resilience and courage – the fierceness of mother-love and the power that comes with never forgetting who you really are.
Skeletons
by Deborah LandauWitty and glam, Skeletons is a prismatic collection which shrugs off even the most disillusioned nihilist with humour and intimacy.
Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World
by Caroline AlexanderFrom the New York Times bestselling author, a breathtaking account of combat and survival in one of the most brutally challenging and rarely examined campaigns of World War IIIn April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air—meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. SKIES OF THUNDER is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on &“the Hump,&” the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route.They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war&’s arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill and their demanding, nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek.Caroline Alexander, who wrote the defining books on Shackleton&’s Endurance and Bligh's Bounty, is brilliant at probing what it takes to survive extreme circumstances. She has unearthed obscure memoirs and long-ignored records to give us the pilots&’ and soldiers&’ eye views of flying and combat, as well as honest portraits of commanders like the celebrated &“Vinegar Joe&” Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. She assesses the real contributions of units like the Flying Tigers, Merrill&’s Marauders, and the British Chindits, who pioneered new and unconventional forms of warfare. Decisions in this theater exposed the fault-lines between the Allies—America and Britain, Britain and India, and ultimately and most fatefully between America and China, as FDR pressed to help the Chinese nationalists in order to forge a bond with China after the war. A masterpiece of modern war history.
Sleep, Little Dozer: A Bedtime Book of Construction Trucks
by Diana MurrayLittle Dozer has had a busy day of revving and rumbling, and now it's time to get ready for bed in this sweet, rhyming bedtime book for kids who love construction vehicles. Perfect for children ages 3 to 7!When day speeds awayand the sun's going down, it's bedtime, it's bedtimein Rumbletruck Town. After a long day of rugged play, it's time for Little Dozer to get ready for bed. He has a bath to wash away the mud and snuggles into bed to start counting jeep after jeep... but Dozer needs his bedtime song, and Mama isn't home to sing it! Luckily, Papa knows most of the words...and as soon as Dozer drifts off to Dreamland, Mama is home to kiss him goodnight.Featuring adorable art, this tender bedtime story is perfect for fans of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
by Cal NewportA New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and IndieBound bestseller"Brilliant and timely" — Oliver Burkeman~ Do Fewer Things. Work at a Natural Pace. Obsess over Quality. ~ From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overloadOur current definition of &“productivity&” is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We&’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history&’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers – from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O&’Keefe – Newport lays out the key principles of &“slow productivity,&” a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for cultivating a slower, more humane alternative.From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.
Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy
by Ali VelshiA captivating family history that illustrates how small actions can have an outsized political impact.Small acts of courage matter. Sometimes, they change the world. Our history books are filled with the stories of those who fought for democracy and freedom—for idealism itself—against all odds, from Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. These iconic struggles for social change illustrate the importance of engagement and activism, and offer a template for the battles we are fighting today. But using the right words is often easier than taking action; action can be hard, and costly.More than a century ago, MSNBC host Ali Velshi’s great-grandfather sent his seven-year-old son to live at Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi’s ashram in South Africa. This difficult decision would change the trajectory of his family history forever. From childhood, Velshi’s grandfather was imbued with an ethos of public service and social justice, and a belief in absolute equality among all people—ideals that his children carried forward as they escaped apartheid, emigrating to Kenya and ultimately Canada and the United States.In Small Acts of Courage, Velshi taps into 125 years of family history to advocate for social justice as a living, breathing experience—a way of life more than an ideology. With rich detail and vivid prose, he relates the stories of regular people who made a lasting commitment to fight for change, even when success seemed impossible. This heartfelt exploration of how we can breathe new life into the principles of pluralistic democracy is an urgent call to action—for progress to be possible, we must all do whatever we can to make a difference.
Small Town Horror
by Ronald MalfiFive childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.Maybe this is a ghost story… Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.Coming home means returning to his late father&’s house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town&’s deputy sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol. Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them. Because Andrew and his friends have a secret. A thing they have kept to themselves for twenty years. Something no one else should know. But the past is not dead, and Kingsport is a town with secrets of its own.One dark secret...One small-town horror...
Smart Cities: Innovations, Challenges and Future Perspectives (S.M.A.R.T. Environments)
by Leonidas G. Anthopoulos Sushobhan Majumdar Vinay KandpalThis book aims to integrate new technologies and adaptation tools into the process of smart city planning. It also emphasizes the value and importance of modern technologies such as IoT and data science as a smart technology for the formation of a smart city. The authors believe that various technologies in a smart city will reduce all the problems for the sustainable growth and future prospects of the city. The first section of this book discusses the innovation of new technologies (AI, data science, block chain, etc.) that has flourished in recent decades which will make the city smarter. This section also describes that block chain and IoT (Internet of Things) are two transformative technologies that can greatly impact smart cities by enhancing security, improving transparency, and enabling efficient management of resources. The second section of the book explains about the uses of AI tools and smart technologies (like waste management, public safety and security) for the development and management of smart cities. This chapter also describes AI-powered systems that are integrated into smart buildings to optimize energy usage, enhance occupant comfort, and improve building management. These systems can adjust lighting and HVAC settings based on occupancy, learn user preferences, and provide personalized energy efficiency recommendations. The third portion of the book investigates the recent challenges and barriers of smart city that have been faced by the smart cities in the recent decades. This section also describes various challenges and barriers for the implementation of IoT sensor, AI technologies, etc., for the formation of a smart city. The future prospects of a smart city are the main theme of the last chapter. In this section, an attempt has been made about the future vision and outlook of the smart city. This chapter also describes different approaches (like smart grid, societal smart city, smart city model, etc.) for the future planning and management of the city.
Smart Learning Environments in the Post Pandemic Era: Selected Papers from the CELDA 2022 Conference (Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age)
by Demetrios G. Sampson Dirk Ifenthaler Pedro IsaíasThis edited volume presents the latest research focussing on current challenges on the deployment of smart technologies and pedagogies for supporting teaching and learning in the post-covid19 era. This is at the core of studying the evolution of the learning process, the role of technology-supported pedagogical approaches, and the progress of educational technology innovations in the context of digital transformation in education and professional training. A selection of the best papers from the Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) Conference, 2022 are included in this volume, bringing together high-quality research on Smart Pedagogies in the Post-Pandemic Era; Smart Learning Technologies in the Post-Pandemic Era; and Case Studies of Smart Learning Environments. The volume contributes to the discussion of current issues in digital education between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
Smart Learning Solutions for Sustainable Societies (Lecture Notes in Educational Technology)
by Cândida Silva Susana Silva Dulce Mota Paula PeresThis book showcases research and project results on technology, smart learning, and sustainability education and analyzes smart learning solutions for lifelong learning. It discusses their impact and potential for transfer and scaling and reviews how real solutions perform in the real world. Sustainable societies are built on twenty-first-century skills. Attaining the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals requires a focus on a new set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, as well as novel and smart strategies that leverage state-of-the-art technologies and make these skillsets widely available in our societies to all groups of people, at any time in their lives, in professional as well as academic settings. This book serves as a helpful resource for researchers, academics, practitioners, and consultants from around the world who are involved in the study, management and development of educational technology, smart learning, sustainability education, and related issues.
Smart Management: How Simple Heuristics Help Leaders Make Good Decisions in an Uncertain World
by Jochen Reb Shenghua Luan Gerd GigerenzerWhy successful leaders must embrace simple strategies in an increasingly uncertain and complex world.Making decisions is one of the key tasks of managers, leaders, and professionals. In Smart Management, Jochen Reb, Shenghua Luan, and Gerd Gigerenzer demonstrate how business leaders can utilize heuristics—simple decision-making strategies adapted to the task at hand. In a world that has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), the authors make the case against complex analytical methods that quickly reach their limits. This against-the-grain approach leads to decisions that are not only faster but also more accurate, transparent, and easier to learn about, communicate, and teach. Smart Management offers an evidence-based yet practical discussion of how business leaders can use smart heuristics to make good decisions in a VUCA world.Building on the fast-and-frugal heuristics program, Smart Management demonstrates the efficacy of heuristic decision making in a twofold approach. First, it introduces the concept of ecological rationality, which prescribes the environmental conditions under which specific heuristics work well. Second, the book describes a repertoire of heuristics, referred to as the adaptive toolbox, that leaders, managers, and professionals can develop and rely on to make a variety of decisions, such as on business strategy, negotiation, and personnel selection. The toolbox not only showcases the practical usefulness of these heuristics but also inspires readers to discover and develop their own smart heuristics.
Smart Materials for Science and Engineering
by Upendra Kumar Piyush Kumar SonkarSMART MATERIALS FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Smart materials, also known as advanced or creative materials, are described as advanced materials that react intuitively to environmental changes or as materials that can return to their original shape in response to certain stimuli. Smart materials are classified as either active or passive based on their characteristics. There are two types of active materials. The first kind cannot change its characteristics when subjected to outside stimuli, for example photochromatic spectacles that only alter their color when exposed to sunlight. The other, which includes piezoelectric materials, can change one sort of energy (thermal, electrical, chemical, mechanical, or optical) into another. When subjected to external pressure, it can generate an electric charge. As an example, optical fibers can transmit electromagnetic waves. In contrast, passive smart materials can transmit a specific sort of energy. They have some amazing qualities that set them apart from other materials, such as transiency, meaning they can react to different kinds of external stimuli immediately, self-actuation or the capacity to change their appearance and shape, selectivity where the response is divided and expected, directness when the response is limited to the activating event, shape-changing where the material can change its shape to external stimuli, their ability to determine their own health, also known as self-diagnosis, and their ability to self-heal. The ability to synthesize novel materials has substantially progressed thanks to science and technology over the past 20 years. They fall mostly into the following four categories: polymers, ceramics, metals, and smart materials. Among these, smart materials are gaining popularity since they have more uses than conventional materials. Smart materials are unusual substances that have the ability to alter their properties, such as those that can immediately change their phase when placed near a magnet or their shape simply by applying heat. Humanity will be significantly impacted by this new era of smart materials. For instance, some of them can adapt their properties to the environment, some have sensory capabilities, some can repair themselves automatically, and some can degrade themselves. These extraordinary properties of smart materials will have an effect on all facets of civilization. There are many different types of intelligent materials, including magnetorheological materials, electro-rheostat materials, shape memory alloys, piezoelectric materials, and more. This book describes many forms of smart materials and their possible uses in various fields. A literature survey discusses the different types of smart materials, such as based ceramics, polymers, and organic compounds and their needs, advantages, disadvantages, and applications will be comprehensively discussed. A discussion of well-established smart materials including piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, shape memory alloy, electro-rheological fluid, and magnetorheological fluid materials will be discussed with their present prospects.
Smart Trends in Computing and Communications: Proceedings of SmartCom 2024, Volume 4 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #948)
by Tomonobu Senjyu Chakchai So–In Amit JoshiThis book gathers high-quality papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Smart Trends in Computing and Communications (SmartCom 2024), organized by Global Knowledge Research Foundation (GR Foundation) from 12 to 13 January 2024 in Pune, India. It covers the state-of-the-art and emerging topics in information, computer communications, and effective strategies for their use in engineering and managerial applications. It also explores and discusses the latest technological advances in, and future directions for, information and knowledge computing and its applications.
Smart Trends in Computing and Communications: Proceedings of SmartCom 2024, Volume 5 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #949)
by Amit Joshi Tomonobu Senjyu Chakchai So–InThis book gathers high-quality papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Smart Trends in Computing and Communications (SmartCom 2024), organized by Global Knowledge Research Foundation (GR Foundation) from 12 to 13 January 2024 in Pune, India. It covers the state-of-the-art and emerging topics in information, computer communications, and effective strategies for their use in engineering and managerial applications. It also explores and discusses the latest technological advances in, and future directions for, information and knowledge computing and its applications.
Smart Trends in Computing and Communications: Proceedings of SmartCom 2024, Volume 3 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #947)
by Amit Joshi Tomonobu Senjyu Chakchai So–InThis book gathers high-quality papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Smart Trends in Computing and Communications (SmartCom 2024), organized by Global Knowledge Research Foundation (GR Foundation) from 12 to 13 January 2024 in Pune, India. It covers the state-of-the-art and emerging topics in information, computer communications, and effective strategies for their use in engineering and managerial applications. It also explores and discusses the latest technological advances in, and future directions for, information and knowledge computing and its applications.
Smell, Taste, Eat: The Role of the Chemical Senses in Eating Behaviour
by Lorenzo D. StaffordThis edited collection synthesises recent research into smell and taste and relates it to eating behaviour. Olfaction - the sense of smell - together with taste are known as the ‘chemical senses’ and are the oldest sensory system. It is paradoxical then that our knowledge (especially psychological) about these two systems remains far behind that of vision and audition. Nevertheless, the past twenty years has seen a significant increase in our understanding of these sensory systems and the contributors to this book, many of whom helped to reveal key findings in this research domain, explore theories which attempt to explain appetite control, associative odour learning and multisensory perception, among others. It further brings the reader up to date on the current state of knowledge on disordered eating and olfactory disorders. Finally, it bridges across different academic disciplines to reveal the importance of the chemical senses in indigenous people in Guyana.
Smoke and Mirrors (A Greer Hogan Mystery #4)
by M. E. HilliardLibrarian turned sleuth Greer Hogan is back on the case and headed to the big city in this fourth installment of M. E. Hilliard&’s smart, suspenseful mystery series, perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths and Louise Penny.Having spent months quietly investigating in the village of Raven Hill, Greer Hogan returns to New York City determined to find her husband&’s murderer. She secures a temporary gig at a private library inventorying the personal collection of a deceased magician. In her free time, Greer sleuths, leaving no stone unturned–even the ones which could be hiding deadly secrets.Four years earlier, Greer had discovered her husband Dan dead in their apartment. He&’d tried to tell her about something strange going on at his office, but she hadn&’t had time to listen until it was too late. Worse still, she has always suspected that the wrong man was convicted of the crime. Now, Greer has solved other murders and has a few tricks up her sleeve. She combs through belongings she packed away soon after Dan&’s death and interviews his former colleagues and people who were near the scene when he died. Soon, Greer is followed and attacked, so she knows she&’s struck a nerve—but whose?When two more people are killed and Greer realizes she can&’t escape the smoke and mirrors surrounding her suspects, she confides in one of her new colleagues, a magician named Grim with whom she&’s bonded over similar traumas. Though she knows he&’s got secrets of his own, the tricky Grim may be exactly the assistant Greer needs to pull a rabbit out of a hat and shine a spotlight on a killer before the curtains come down on her for good.
A Snake Called Monty
by Prg CollinsMonty saw some young boys playing with matches and lighting a fire in the bush, even though they knew they shouldn’t be doing it! When the fire got worse, and one of the boys, Andy, fell in its path as he tried to escape it, Monty had to quickly take his family to the safety of the river nearby as the boy’s father ran to help his frightened son. What happened to Andy? What lesson did he and the other boys learn?
Sneak Peek for Bringer of Dust
by J. M. MiroGet a sneak peek of the first three chapters of Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro. In this highly anticipated second book in the Talents Trilogy, the world of the dead is closer than you think.Bringer of Dust goes on sale September 17.
Sneak Peek for The Friend Zone Experiment
by Zen ChoFrom the renowned, award-winning author Zen Cho comes a delightfully funny romance about family, class, and love in modern London. Download a FREE sneak peek today!From the outside, Renee Goh’s life looks perfect. She’s thirty and beautiful, runs a glamorous—and profitable—women’s clothing company in London, and is dating a hot Taiwanese pop star.But Renee is lonely. Estranged from her family in Singapore, she practically lives at the office, and now she’s just been dumped by her supposed boyfriend. Who she never saw anyway, so why is she ruining her Instagram-ready makeup by crying?Before she can curl up on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Renee’s father calls. He’s retiring, and, thanks to the screw-ups of her wastrel brothers, he is considering her as the next CEO of the family business: Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia. That stamp of her father’s approval would mean everything to Renee, but can she cooperate with the brothers who drove her out of Singapore?But fate isn’t done with her. That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university. They spend a wonderful night together, but Ket Siong is pursuing a dangerous vengeance for his family. In the light of day is there any hope for the two of them?At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.