- Table View
- List View
Sex and Vanity: A Novel
by Kevin KwanNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • The author of the international phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians takes us from Capri to NYC, where a young woman finds herself torn between two men—and two very different cultures."Another riveting tale of privilege, culture and romance ... extravagant fashion and deceit, resulting in one truly modern love story." —CNNOn her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can't stand him. She can't stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can't stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can't stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin Charlotte.The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucie is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment building, and, ultimately, herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world—and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change
by Chelsea Kwakye Ore Ogunbiyi'Brilliant' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of QUEENIE'Essential' BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER'Hugely important' PAULA AKPAN____________________________As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. Recent Cambridge grads Chelsea and Ore experienced this first-hand, and wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change.FOR BLACK GIRLS:Understand that your journey is unique. Use this book as a guide. Our wish for you is that you read this and feel empowered, comforted and validated in every emotion you experience, or decision that you make.FOR EVERYONE ELSE:We can only hope that reading this helps you to be a better friend, parent, sibling or teacher to black girls living through what we did. It's time we stepped away from seeing this as a problem that black people are charged with solving on their own.It's a collective effort.And everyone has a role to play.Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, Taking Up Space goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today.____________________________#Merky Books was set up by publishers Penguin Random House and Stormzy in June 2018 to find and publish the best writers of a new generation and to publish the stories that are not being heard. #Merky Books aims to open up the world of publishing, and this year has launched a New Writer's Prize and will soon be launching a #Merky Books traineeship. 'I know too many talented writers that don't always have an outlet or a means to get their work seen, and hopefully #Merky Books can now be a reference point for them to say "I can be an author", and for that to be a realistic and achievable goal... Reading and writing as a kid were integral to where I am today and I, from the bottom of my heart, cannot wait to hear your stories and get them out into the big wide world.'STORMZY
The Ship of Shadows: Secrets of the Stars
by Maria KuzniarPREPARE FOR PUZZLES, PERIL, AND PLENTY OF CAKE IN THE SECOND THRILLING ADVENTURE FOR ALEJA AND THE CREW OF THE LEGENDARY SHIP OF SHADOWSAleja and her fellow pirates are eager to embark on a new adventure to find the second piece of the missing magical map. But they soon find themselves panicking, bewildered by a series of confusing clues. And time is running out - fast.When she starts experiencing strange visions, Aleja realizes that someone is trying to tell her something. But can this new knowledge be trusted? And what will it cost her to find out? With the crew's loyalties tested and more secrets to unlock than ever, Aleja must find a way to beat the clock and prove herself truly worthy of her place on the ship's crew . . .Praise for The Ship of Shadows:"A sumptuous delight of a book" - Sophie Kirtley, author of The Wild Way Home"A feast for the imagination . . . an enthralling adventure." - Abi Elphinstone, author of Sky Song"This swashbuckling tale has it all . . . I loved it." - Alex Bell, author of The Polar Bear Explorers' Club READERS CAN'T WAIT FOR SECRETS OF THE STARS:"With a strong protagonist and a likeable crew of characters, I couldn't stay away from the story for long, and now I CRAVE a follow-up." Gavin Hetherington, waterstones.com"Thrilling, exciting and intriguing and I can't wait for the next instalment!" Rhiannon, waterstones.com"What a fantastic spellbinding book . . . A truly fascinating tale and we cannot wait for the second book to be released!" Eva Sneep, amazon.co.uk"Ship of Shadows was a fantastic book . . . I just loved everything that happened and it ended in such a way where you need the sequel asap." Emma Thompson, waterstones.com"The real treasure in this gem of a book lies in the crew . . . I can't wait to join the crew again for the next instalment of this thrilling tale." Stephanie, amazon.co.uk"I highly recommend diving into this novel. It's highly likely that you won't be able to wait for the next instalment." Tracy Curran, waterstones.com
Mantramangalya: ಮಂತ್ರಮಾಂಗಲ್ಯ
by Kuvempuನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದ ಋಷಿಗಳು, ದಾರ್ಶನಿಕರು ಮತ್ತು ಸಂತರು ರಚಿಸಿದ ಮಂತ್ರಗಳು, ಸ್ತೋತ್ರಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿವೆ.
The Psychology Major′s Handbook
by Tara L. KutherResearch shows that today′s students are unique. Whether anxious, overwhelmed, or too busy to ask for help, modern students trust and turn to the resources at their fingertips for guidance. Tara Kuther created The Psychology Major′s Handbook for this purpose, to bridge the gap between advisor and manual. Created to support and follow along with a student through college, this text provides the support of an advisor as students navigate choosing a major, learning how to study, writing papers, and deciding what to do after college. Within each chapter, Kuther supports learners in applying concepts to their own lives through embedded exercises. The updated Sixth Edition encourages students to take an active role in their education and explains all of the ways that students can influence their own college experiences. Three individual chapters emphasize academics and cover crucial study and college skills, such as writing a review paper, and an APA Style empirical paper. The final four chapters of the text focus on bachelor′s and graduate opportunities to help students to look past graduation.
The Psychology Major′s Handbook
by Tara L. KutherResearch shows that today′s students are unique. Whether anxious, overwhelmed, or too busy to ask for help, modern students trust and turn to the resources at their fingertips for guidance. Tara Kuther created The Psychology Major′s Handbook for this purpose, to bridge the gap between advisor and manual. Created to support and follow along with a student through college, this text provides the support of an advisor as students navigate choosing a major, learning how to study, writing papers, and deciding what to do after college. Within each chapter, Kuther supports learners in applying concepts to their own lives through embedded exercises. The updated Sixth Edition encourages students to take an active role in their education and explains all of the ways that students can influence their own college experiences. Three individual chapters emphasize academics and cover crucial study and college skills, such as writing a review paper, and an APA Style empirical paper. The final four chapters of the text focus on bachelor′s and graduate opportunities to help students to look past graduation.
Mrityu ke baad ka din: मृत्यु के बाद का दिन
by Nikhil Kushwahaयह पुस्तक, जैसा कि नाम से संकेत मिलता है, एक आत्मा के अनोखी यात्रा की कहानी है। एक कॉरपोरेट कंपनी के लिए काम करने वाला अर्पण अपने जीवन में बहुत व्यस्त है। अपनी नौकरी के अलावा उसे किसी की कोई परवाह नहीं, न ही उसकी पत्नी, भाई और न ही उसकी बेटी की। उसके लिए मूल्यवान है तो बस पैसा और उसके दोस्त व सहयोगी। और तो और वह एक नास्तिक भी है जिसे ना तो इस्वर में विश्वास है, ना तो कर्म या भाग्य मे। मृत्यु जीवन की ही तरह एक सच्चाई है, और एक दिन यह हमारे लिए अवश्य आएगा, लेकिन सवाल यह है कि कब। ये अब से दशकों बाद भी आ सकता है या कल भी। क्या होगा अगर हमारी मृत्यु कल हो गयी तो? हम सभी के पास कई योजनाएं हैं जैसे स्वस्थ योजना, सेवानिवृत्ति योजना, पर क्या हमारे पास मृत्यु की कोई योजना है? जीवन पश्चात हम कहां जाएंगे, किससे मिलें? मृत्यु के बाद का जीवन क्या है? इस कहानी में अर्पण हमारे जीवन के सबसे महत्वपूर्ण प्रश्नो के उत्तर की खोज करेंगे। वे उस दूसरी दुनिया के अनसुलझे रहस्यों का पर्दाफास करेंगे, हमें मौत के बाद की यात्रा कराएँग।
Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants
by Jacob KushnerA thrilling narrative investigation into the National Socialist Underground (NSU)—a German terror organization that targeted immigrants—and how a government failed to stop it. Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of deep uncertainty: some four million East Germans found themselves out of work. The friends began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. And, like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. From 2000 to 2011, they embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants. Look Away follows Beate Zschäpe and her two accomplices—and sometimes lovers—as they became radicalized within Germany&’s far-right scene, escaped into hiding, and carried out their terrorist spree. Unable to believe that the brutal killings and bombings were being carried out by white Germans, police blamed—and sometimes framed—the immigrants instead. Readers meet Gamze Kubaşık, whose family emigrated from Turkey to seek safety, only to find themselves in the terrorists&’ sights. It also tracks Katharina König, an Antifa punk who would help expose the NSU and their accomplices to the world. A masterwork of reporting and storytelling, Look Away reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.
Cats in Spring Rain: A Celebration of Feline Charm in Japanese Art and Haiku
by Aya KuschThis delightful little book pays homage to the cat through artfully curated Japanese poetry and prints.No one captures the graces and idiosyncrasies of cats quite like the painters, printmakers, and haiku masters of Japan. From the Edo to the Showa period, many artists turned their gaze toward an unlikely subject: their small feline companions. Closely observed portraits in words ad ink elevate the everyday adventures of cats: taking a nap on a Buddha statue's lap, daintily eating a rice ball, courting the neighbor's cat. This curated collection of poems, prints, and paintings will leave you inspired to cultivate the serenity and wonder embodied by these creators—and by the cats themselves. Presented as a sweet, jacketed paperback with thoughtful design touches, this volume includes each poem in both English and Japanese.THE ORIGINAL CAT LOVERS: Centuries before the emergence of cat memes and cat cafes, Japanese artists and writers perfected the practice of feline reverence. Cats played pivotal roles in folklore; they were the protectors of scriptures and symbols of good luck and wealth. They also proved to be a wonderful source of creative inspiration. This little compendium showcases Japan's rich cultural heritage.UNIQUE GIFT: Surprise your cat-loving friends and family with this unusual twist on the cat-themed gift.PERFECT FOR POETRY LOVERS: Whether they came to poetry through the works of Instagram poets, or have been reading the classics for decades, any lover of verse will enjoy this thoughtfully curated collection. The writers featured include Bashō, Chiyo-ni, Issa, Shiki, and more—all icons of the haiku form.ENCHANTING ART: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Yoshitoshi, and more: These artists masterfully captured the personalities of cats and their humans. These images, with their delicate lines and soothing colors, have endured through time to bring us quiet joy.Perfect for:• Cat lovers• Poets and poetry readers• Artists and art lovers• Anyone who appreciates Japan's arts and culture
The Little Witch's Book of Spells
by Ariel KusbyThe Little Witch's Book of Spells is an enchanting compendium of spells, potions, and activities for kids 8 to 12 years old.Young witches-in-training will discover spells to resolve problems, foster friendship, and engage with the natural world.This spellbinding book guides readers on how to craft a magic wand, befriend a fairy, and read tea leaves, as well as glossaries of magical terms and symbols.• A playful and immersive guidebook to all things magical• Filled with simple activities using easily found ingredients• Complete with lush illustrationsThe Little Witch's Book of Spells harnesses magic and the imagination to help little witches feel powerful, tap into creative energy, and practice self-love.Spells and activities include Best Friends Forever Spell, Jump Rope Protection Spell, Get Well Soon Elixir, Blanket Fort Magical Fortress Spell, How to Make a Magical Fairy Garden, and Mermaid Bath Spell.• Perfect for young readers interested in magic, fans of Harry Potter, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and fantasy series featuring witches• A mystical, fun, and empowering book of spells that will have any child enthralled by the magical world• Great for millennial parents who want to encourage imagination, creativity, and play• You'll love this book if you love books like The Book of the Secrets of Merlin Wizardology by Candlewick Press, Fairyopolis: A Flower Fairies Journal by Glen Bird and Liz Catchpole, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Spellbook: Wizard Training by Michael Gonzalez.
American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home
by Steven Kurutz&“I can confidently say this will be one of my favorite books of 2024.&” —Stephen King, bestselling author (and onetime millworker)&“American Flannel is a wonderful book--surprising, entertaining, vivid and personal, but also enlightening on the largest questions of America's economic and social future.&” —James Fallows, co-author of Our Towns The little-engine-that-could story of how a band of scrappy entrepreneurs are reviving the enterprise of manufacturing clothing in the United States. For decades, clothing manufacture was a pillar of U.S. industry. But beginning in the 1980s, Americans went from wearing 70 percent domestic-made apparel to almost none. Even the very symbol of American freedom and style—blue jeans—got outsourced. With offshoring, the nation lost not only millions of jobs but also crucial expertise and artistry. Dismayed by shoddy imported &“fast fashion&”—and unable to stop dreaming of re-creating a favorite shirt from his youth—Bayard Winthrop set out to build a new company, American Giant, that would swim against this trend. New York Times reporter Steven Kurutz, in turn, began to follow Winthrop&’s journey. He discovered other trailblazers as well, from the &“Sock Queen of Alabama&” to a pair of father-son shoemakers and a men&’s style blogger who almost single-handedly drove a campaign to make &“Made in the USA&” cool. Eye-opening and inspiring, American Flannel is the story of how a band of visionaries and makers are building a new supply chain on the skeleton of the old and wedding old-fashioned craftsmanship to cutting-edge technology and design to revive an essential American dream.
The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage
by Chris Kurtz“Move over Wilbur and Babe, there’s a new pig in town.” —School Library Journal (starred review)Flora’s a die-hard dreamer. She’s never left the farm, but she knows she was born for adventure. She’s determined to become a sled pig!A harrowing voyage to Antarctica, a bacon-loving cook, and a shipwreck in deadly conditions stand between Flora and her dream. What will happen to Flora, whose companions see her as more of a meal than an adventurer?As the ship’s captain says, you never know where brains and talent will come from. They just may come from this brave pig.
Living-Learning Communities in Practice: A Guide for Creating, Maintaining, and Sustaining Effective Programs in Higher Education
by Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas Mimi Benjamin Jody E. Jessup-AngerThis book offers a roadmap for developing, growing, and sustaining living-learning communities (LLCs) that promote student success and enhance the undergraduate experience.Drawing on the Best Practices Model presented in Living-Learning Communities That Work, as well as updated research and rich, real-life examples from LLC administrators, the authors offer a revised and improved model for effective LLC practice. Nuanced typologies guide stakeholders in developing and growing their own programs, from the foundational, to the intermediate, and to the advanced level. This text features an extended section on the assessment of LLCs, complete with a logic model for integrating program assessment with student learning outcomes, and concludes with lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and a look into the future of LLCs in higher education.At a time when colleges and universities struggle to create community for students, this book will be a valuable resource to practitioners, researchers, and institutional leaders to more effectively allocate resources to create and sustain LLCs and to realize the potential of these communities to improve undergraduate education.For more information about ACUHO-I membership, events, and resources, please visit acuho-i.org.
A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA
by Joshua KurlantzickThe untold story of how America&’s secret war in Laos in the 1960s transformed the CIA from a loose collection of spies into a military operation and a key player in American foreign policy.January, 1961: Laos, a tiny nation few Americans have heard of, is at risk of falling to communism and triggering a domino effect throughout Southeast Asia. This is what President Eisenhower believed when he approved the CIA&’s Operation Momentum, creating an army of ethnic Hmong to fight communist forces there. Largely hidden from the American public—and most of Congress—Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States. The brutal war lasted more than a decade, left the ground littered with thousands of unexploded bombs, and changed the nature of the CIA forever.With &“revelatory reporting&” and &“lucid prose&” (The Economist), Kurlantzick provides the definitive account of the Laos war, focusing on the four key people who led the operation: the CIA operative whose idea it was, the Hmong general who led the proxy army in the field, the paramilitary specialist who trained the Hmong forces, and the State Department careerist who took control over the war as it grew.Using recently declassified records and extensive interviews, Kurlantzick shows for the first time how the CIA&’s clandestine adventures in one small, Southeast Asian country became the template for how the United States has conducted war ever since—all the way to today&’s war on terrorism.
Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches From Kiev
by Andrey KurkovAcclaimed author Andrey Kurkov gives powerful insight into life in Kyiv following the 2013 protests and before the 2022 Russian invasion.-16°C, sunlight, silence. I drove the children to school, then went to see the revolution. I walked between the tents. Talked with revolutionaries. They were weary today. The air was thick with the smell of old campfires. Ukraine Diaries is acclaimed writer Andrey Kurkov's first-hand account of the ongoing crisis in his country. From his flat in Kyiv, just five hundred yards from Independence Square, Kurkov can smell the burning barricades and hear the sounds of grenades and gunshot. Kurkov's diaries begin on the first day of the pro-European protests in November 2013, and describe the violent clashes in the Maidan, the impeachment of Yanukovych, Russia's annexation of Crimea and the separatist uprisings in the east of Ukraine. Going beyond the headlines, they give vivid insight into what it's like to live through - and try to make sense of - times of intense political unrest, on the path to the current crisis.
The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence
by Stephen KurczyIn this riveting account of an area of Appalachia known as the Quiet Zone where cell phones and WiFi are banned, journalist Stephen Kurczy explores the pervasive role of technology in our lives and the innate human need for quiet.“Captures the complex beauty of a disconnected way of life.” —The NationWith a new afterword to the paperback editionDeep in the Appalachian Mountains lies the last truly quiet town in America. Green Bank, West Virginia, is a place at once futuristic and old-fashioned: It’s home to the Green Bank Observatory, where astronomers search the depths of the universe using the latest technology, while schoolchildren go without WiFi or iPads. With a ban on all devices emanating radio frequencies that might interfere with the observatory’s telescopes, Quiet Zone residents live a life free from constant digital connectivity. But a community that on the surface seems idyllic is a place of contradictions, where the provincial meets the seemingly supernatural and quiet can serve as a cover for something darker.Stephen Kurczy embedded in Green Bank, making the residents of this small Appalachian village his neighbors. He shopped at the town’s general store, attended church services, went target shooting with a seven-year-old, square-danced with the locals, sampled the local moonshine. In The Quiet Zone, he introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters. There is a tech buster patrolling the area for illegal radio waves; “electrosensitives” who claim that WiFi is deadly; a sheriff’s department with a string of unsolved murder cases dating back decades; a camp of neo-Nazis plotting their resurgence from a nearby mountain hollow. Amongst them all are the ordinary citizens seeking a simpler way of living. Kurczy asks: Is a less connected life desirable? Is it even possible?The Quiet Zone is a remarkable work of investigative journalism—at once a stirring ode to place, a tautly wound tale of mystery, and a clarion call to reexamine the role technology plays in our lives.
Blue Ruin
by Hari KunzruFrom one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty, power, and capital's influence on art and those who devote their lives to creating it. 'Blue Ruin is bracingly intelligent and often just plain beautiful. It&’s a reminder that fiction, at its best, is a place to encounter new experiences and dwell in big ideas. Kunzru is known for ambitious novels that bring politics to rich, imaginative life; Blue Ruin shows him at the top of his game.' Sandra Newman, Guardian 'Book of the Day' 'I read everything Hari Kunzru writes, for my highest pleasure and my deepest sustenance.' Rachel Kushner Once Jay was tipped for greatness, a rising star of the London art scene. Now, he lives out of his car and earns money delivery groceries to the wealthy of upstate New York, while all around a terrible pandemic rages. When Jay arrives at a house set in an enormous acreage of woodland, he is shocked to see somebody he thought forever lost to him. Standing on the porch is Alice, a lover from his art school days. Their relationship was tumultuous and destructive, ultimately ending when she left him for his best friend and fellow artist Rob. Alice and Rob have achieved the riches and success for which Jay once seemed destined. Ashamed and debilitated by the virus that has ravaged his body, Jay hopes she won't recognise him behind his dirty surgical mask. When she does, however, she invites him to recover on the property, setting in motion a reckoning decades in the making. Gripping and brilliantly orchestrated, Blue Ruin moves back and forth through time to deliver an extraordinary portrait of an artist as he reunites with his past and confronts the world he once loved and left behind. 'Kunzru's brilliance is his ability to fold vertiginous questions [...] into his storytelling. In its unnerving depiction of [...] uneasy relationships, Blue Ruin not only keeps pace with White Tears and Red Pill, but also confirms his status as a master choreographer of the present moment's creeping anxiety.' Literary Review &“[Blue Ruin] promises to be harrowing and darkly funny. Kunzru has a knack for the nightmarish present, and few things feel more nightmarish than a forced confrontation with the past in the early stages of the pandemic.&” Lit Hub, 'Most Anticipated Books of 2024' &“Kunzru&’s [Blue Ruin] is a triumph of beauty and a true ode to the artist.&” Oprah Daily, 'Most Anticipated Books of 2024' &“Kunzru takes on the excessive and rapacious tendencies of the art world in his dazzling latest . . . [Blue Ruin] is immensely satisfying.&” Publishers Weekly &“A lively, ever-intensifying story of race, immigration, work, and what it means to earn a living . . . [Blue Ruin is] a darkly ironic tale of two bubbles—an art world divorced from economic reality and a Covid era that segregated us from society . . . A dark, smart, provocative tale of the perils of art making.&” Kirkus &“Exquisite writing and keen insights into class tensions and creative dilemmas. Kunzru affirms that it&’s always a good time to live an examined life, even during a pandemic.&” Booklist
Blue Ruin: A novel
by Hari KunzruA MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • From one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating itOnce, Jay was an artist. After graduating from art school in London, he was tipped for greatness, a promising career taking shape before him. That was not to happen. Now, undocumented in the United States, having survived Covid, he lives out of his car and barely makes a living as an essential worker, delivering groceries in a wealthy area of upstate New York. One day, as Jay attempts to make a delivery at a house surrounded by acres of woods, he is confronted by his destructive past: Alice, a former lover from his art school days, and the friend she left him for. Recognizing Jay&’s dire circumstances, Alice invites him to stay on their property—where an erratic gallery owner and his girlfriend are isolating as well—setting in motion a reckoning that has been decades in the making.Gripping and brilliantly orchestrated, Blue Ruin moves back and forth through time, delivering an extraordinary portrait of an artist as he reunites with his past and confronts the world he once loved and left behind.
StarWords: The Celestial Roots of Modern Language (Springer Praxis Books)
by Daniel Kunth Elena TerlevichUnbeknownst to many, our modern language contains countless words that were inspired by human observations of the cosmos. We now use words like “zenith”, “Monday”, “disaster”, “dog days”, “starfish”, “lunatic”, flu, and so many others, without a second thought for their celestial roots. Famous French astrophysicist Daniel Kunth invites you on a linguistic and scientific journey through space and time to explore these forgotten origins. You will be astonished to rediscover cosmic language hidden in plain sight through this wonderful collection of historical and cultural stories, famous idioms and delightful puns, along with the real science behind each one. Elena Terlevich is a well known professional astronomer working at INAOE in Mexico, an honorary Professor at La Plata University in Argentina and a regular visitor at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (UK). Requiring no prior knowledge in astronomy or linguistics, this book’s universal contentsinvite the reader to ponder how our observations of the night sky have shaped our modern tongue and customs.
Laser-Assisted Machining: Processes and Applications (Innovations in Materials and Manufacturing)
by Sandip Kunar Prasenjit ChatterjeeLASER-ASSISTED MACHINING This unique book develops exhaustive engineering perceptions of different laser-assisted techniques, reviews the engineering context of different laser fabrication techniques, and describes the application of laser-assisted fabrication techniques. Lasers are essential in the area of material processing because they can produce coherent beams with little divergence. The fabrication process known as surface cladding includes joining (soldering, welding), material removal (laser-aided drilling, cutting, etc.), deformation (extrusion, bending), and material addition. Some remarkable advantages of laser-assisted material development include faster processing rates and preservation of essential alloying components. However, the lack of widespread understanding of various material phenomena and how laser parameters affect them prevents the technology from being widely accepted on an industrial scale. Among the subjects Laser-Assisted Machining covers include high-powered lasers in material processing applications, laser-based joining of metallic and non-metallic materials, direct laser cladding, laser surface processing, laser micro and nano processing, emerging laser materials processing techniques, solid-state lasers, laser cutting, drilling and piercing, laser welding, laser bending or forming, laser cleaning, laser automation and in-process sensing, femtosecond laser micromachining, laser-assisted micro-milling/grinding, laser-assisted jet electrochemical micro-machining, laser-assisted water jet micro-machining, hybrid laser-electrochemical micromachining process, quill and nonreciprocal ultrafast laser writing, laser surface engineering, ultrashort pulsed laser surface texturing, laser interference patterning systems, laser interference lithography, laser-guided discharge texturing. Audience The book will be used by researchers in the fields of manufacturing technology and materials science as well as engineers and high-level technicians for a better understanding of various innovative and novel techniques to cope with the need of micromachining, as well as microfabrication industries for successful implementation of microproduct manufacturing.
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.
Automated Diagnostic Techniques in Medical Microbiology
by Sunil Kumar Awanish KumarThis book will explore the knowledge of current diagnostic automation techniques applied in the field of clinical microbiology, tropical diseases, POCT, etc. There is no such type of book related to this topic. This book will help clinicians, microbiologists, and researchers to make diagnostic algorithms for infectious diseases and help them in early diagnosis. Automation in clinical microbiology has revolutionized routine practice in diagnostic cum research in medical microbiology. This book covers the recent updates and advances in diagnostic microbiology and provides new techniques related to Genomic, Proteomic, and metabolomics in microbiology. This book will intensely discuss the new and innovative automation techniques available for diagnosis in the microbiology laboratory. This book is more focused on automation techniques, which are used in the early detection of infectious diseases even caused by rare microorganisms. Furthermore, this book has complied with the chapters that provide insights to readers with comprehensive and usable knowledge on automation techniques in diagnostic microbiology.
Agro-Waste Derived Biopolymers and Biocomposites: Innovations and Sustainability in Food Packaging
by Santosh Kumar Avik Mukherjee Vimal KatiyarAGRO-WASTE DERIVED BIOPOLYMERS AND BIOCOMPOSITES This comprehensive book describes the fundamental principles and major advancements in the utilization of agro-waste for deriving biopolymers, and their applications to fabricate composite, nanocomposite, and hybrid food packaging films and coatings. The book serves as a complete, systematic, comprehensive account of the contemporary developments in the area of novel and environment-friendly valorization of agro- and food wastes into value-added products like biodegradable polymer and active functional agents for food packaging applications. It also describes the hurdles and challenges in the commercialization of these novel biopolymer-based materials, including their composites, their applications, safety, and legal ramifications. This book consists of fifteen chapters covering different aspects of agro- and food waste utilization, the development of biodegradable polymers, and their composites for sustainable food packaging applications. The first thirteen chapters detail the processing of various agro- and food wastes of plant and animal origin to synthesize different biopolymers, such as starch, cellulose, chitosan, silk proteins, pectin, etc., and their applications for the fabrication of sustainable food packaging materials and composites that are attractive alternatives to synthetic plastic packaging. These chapters also summarize the effectiveness of these biopolymers and their composites in developing active films and edible coatings for shelf-life extension and preservation of perishable foods. A chapter is devoted to issues of biodegradability, including analyses of various biodegradation reactions, such as depolymerization, mineralization, biochemical, and abiotic degradation both in soil and aquatic environments. The book concludes with a chapter addressing the concerns associated with the possible migration of components or additives from these biodegradable packaging into packaged food items. Audience The primary audience for this book is researchers, scientists, and engineers working in food science and technology, food engineering and technology, food biotechnology, sustainable food packaging, etc. Additionally, food entrepreneurs and associated businesses, such as the packaging and coatings industries, will also have a keen interest in the book.
Fourth Congress on Intelligent Systems: CIS 2023, Volume 1 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #868)
by Sandeep Kumar Balachandran K. Joong Hoon Kim Jagdish Chand BansalThis book is a collection of selected papers presented at the Fourth Congress on Intelligent Systems (CIS 2023), organized by CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India, under the technical sponsorship of the Soft Computing Research Society, India, during September 4–5, 2023. It includes novel and innovative work from experts, practitioners, scientists, and decision-makers from academia and industry. It covers topics such as the Internet of Things, information security, embedded systems, real-time systems, cloud computing, big data analysis, quantum computing, automation systems, bio-inspired intelligence, cognitive systems, cyber-physical systems, data analytics, data/web mining, data science, intelligence for security, intelligent decision-making systems, intelligent information processing, intelligent transportation, artificial intelligence for machine vision, imaging sensors technology, image segmentation, convolutional neural network, image/video classification, soft computing for machine vision, pattern recognition, human-computer interaction, robotic devices and systems, autonomous vehicles, intelligent control systems, human motor control, game playing, evolutionary algorithms, swarm optimization, neural network, deep learning, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, fuzzy logic, rough sets, computational optimization, and neuro-fuzzy systems.
Fourth Congress on Intelligent Systems: CIS 2023, Volume 2 (Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems #869)
by Sandeep Kumar K. Balachandran Joong Hoon Kim Jagdish Chand BansalThis book is a collection of selected papers presented at the Fourth Congress on Intelligent Systems (CIS 2023), organized by CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India, under the technical sponsorship of the Soft Computing Research Society, India, during September 4–5, 2023. It includes novel and innovative work from experts, practitioners, scientists, and decision-makers from academia and industry. It covers topics such as the Internet of Things, information security, embedded systems, real-time systems, cloud computing, big data analysis, quantum computing, automation systems, bio-inspired intelligence, cognitive systems, cyber-physical systems, data analytics, data/web mining, data science, intelligence for security, intelligent decision-making systems, intelligent information processing, intelligent transportation, artificial intelligence for machine vision, imaging sensors technology, image segmentation, convolutional neural network, image/video classification, soft computing for machine vision, pattern recognition, human-computer interaction, robotic devices and systems, autonomous vehicles, intelligent control systems, human motor control, game playing, evolutionary algorithms, swarm optimization, neural network, deep learning, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, fuzzy logic, rough sets, computational optimization, and neuro-fuzzy systems.