Academic English

An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.

Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data and poetry, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financiers, architects and advocates, help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from every one of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create.

It's What Makes Me... Me is an extraordinarily candid journey through what it means to be human. Amazon's bestselling and award-winning author Mark Shaiken unlocks his most personal thoughts, observations, and introspections through the highs and lows, youth and aging, and beauty and messiness of life. Laugh, reflect, and take in all the ins and outs that have uniquely combined to make Mark... Mark, and maybe, find a little of what makes you . . . you.

Self-made billionaire Sam Zell consistently sees what others don't. From finding a market for overpriced Playboy magazines among his junior high classmates, to buying real estate on the cheap after a market crash, to investing in often unglamorous industries with long-term value, Zell acts boldly on supply and demand trends to grab the first-mover advantage. And he can find opportunity virtually anywhere - from an arcane piece of legislation to a desert meeting in Abu Dhabi.

From their early days as tutor and scholar, discussing philosophy over Spartan dinners, to their work together to publish Einstein’s books in Europe, in Maurice Solovine Einstein found both an engaged mind and a loyal friend. While Einstein frequently shared his observations on science, politics, philosophy, and religion in his correspondence with Solovine, he was just as likely to express his feelings about everyday life.

Born in Boston, Stephen Bodio wandered into Magdalena, New Mexico, in the 1970s while on his way to Montana and never left. He was accompanied by Betsy Huntington, who was twenty years his senior; the couple had been inseparable from the day they met. After stumbling upon a vintage home along the highway, they settled into a country life; it was the perfect way for the two of them to make their lives together in an out-of-the-way place.

It’s time to stop surviving and start thriving. Meg Josephson, MSW, will tell you how. In Are You Mad at Me?, Josephson explodes the idea that people-pleasing is a personality trait. Instead, she illuminates how it’s actually a common trauma response (also known as “fawning”): an instinct often learned in childhood to become more appealing to a perceived threat in order to feel safe. Yet many people are stuck in this way of being for their whole lives.

Religions are diverse and different. In today’s world, getting a glimpse and understanding of other faith traditions breaks down barriers between people and facilitates peace between people who generally fear one another. Professor Cohen’s World Religions textbook examines major and minor world religions through an easy-to-read format. There is an emphasis on contemporary religion and beliefs that provide social, political, and ethical impacts across geopolitical boundaries. Professor Cohen’s book includes study questions and definitions to engage and reinforce learning.

Part memoir, part history, Burn Book is a necessary chronicle of tech’s most powerful players. This is the inside story we’ve all been waiting for about modern Silicon Valley and the biggest boom in wealth creation in the history of the world. When tech titans crowed that they would “move fast and break things,” Kara Swisher was moving faster and breaking news. While covering the explosion of the digital sector in the early 1990s, she developed a long track record of digging up and reporting the facts about this new world order.

This inside story of WeWork and its CEO tells the remarkable saga of one of the most audacious, and improbable, rises and falls in American business history. Veteran journalist Reeves Weideman dives deep into WeWork and its CEO's astronomical rise, from the marijuana and tequila-filled board rooms to cult-like company summer camps and consciousness-raising with Anthony Kiedis. Billion Dollar Loser is a character-driven business narrative that captures, through the fascinating psyche of a billionaire founder and his wife and co-founder, the slippery state of global capitalism. \

This is the extraordinary, behind-the-scenes tale of how Woodstock went from a pipe dream to the most iconic rock concert of all time. Elliot Tiber, then known as Eliyahu Teichberg, was a budding painter in the 1960s. He also happened to be head of his local chamber of commerce - and owner of the yearly permit to hold summer music concerts. The rest, as they say, is history.

8X Best-Selling & Award-Winning Author and Podcaster; Leadership, HR, Innovation, Future of Work, & Culture Global Thought Leader; Chair/Professor of Organizational Leadership; Change/OD/HR/Social Impact Consultant; Ranked in the top 20 of global researchers in the following topic areas - "Future of Work," "Global Leadership," "Organizational Development, "Public Service Motivation," and "Social Impact" (Google Scholar); ScholarGPS has ranked him the #18 scholar in the world for job satisfaction research. In Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-...

A brutal siege. A forgotten heroine. A war-torn romance. And a historian determined to uncover the truth. Untold millions who saw Band of Brothers can finally know the whole story of what happened to American soldiers and civilians in Bastogne during that arduous Winter of 1944/45. In the television version of Band of Brothers, a passing reference is made to an African nurse assisting in an aid station in Bastogne. When military historian Martin King watched the episode, he had to know who that woman was; thus began a multi-year odyssey.

A born naturalist and a fearless traveler, Vladimir Dinets wrote travel guides, conducted field research, and lived a couple of lives before he was accepted into the PhD program in zoology at the University of Miami. He thought crocodiles were a dead-end research topic - survivors from the age of the dinosaurs but not much else - until he witnessed groups of up to seventy alligators performing mating choruses that included infrasound vibrations - a form of communication extremely rare in nature.

A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism. Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet of steamships to lord of a railroad empire.

For as long as people have traveled to distant lands, they have brought home objects to certify the journey. More than mere merchandise, these travel souvenirs take on a personal and cultural meaning that goes beyond the object itself. Drawing on several millennia of examples—from the relic-driven quests of early Christians, to the mass-produced tchotchkes that line the shelves of a Disney gift shop—travel writer Rolf Potts delves into a complicated history that explores issues of authenticity, cultural obligation, market forces, human suffering, and self-presentation.

In 1984, soon-to-be college dropout Michael Dell hid signs of his fledgling PC business in the bathroom of his University of Texas dorm room. Almost 30 years later, at the pinnacle of his success as founder and leader of Dell Technologies, he found himself embroiled in a battle for his company’s survival. What he’d do next could ensure its legacy — or destroy it completely.

When he was six years old, Roger Penrose discovered a sundial in a clearing near his house. Through that machine made of light, shadow, and time, Roger glimpsed a “world behind the world” of transcendently beautiful geometry. It spurred him on a journey to become one of the world’s most influential mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists. Penrose would prove the limitations of general relativity, set a new agenda for theoretical physics, and astound colleagues and admirers with the elegance and beauty of his discoveries.

First, do no harm - doctors, nurses, and clinicians swear by this code of conduct. Yet in hospitals and doctors' offices across the country, errors are made every single day - avoidable, simple mistakes that often cost lives. Inspired by two medical mistakes that not only ended in unnecessary deaths but hit close to home, Dr. Peter Pronovost made it his personal mission to improve patient safety and make preventable deaths a thing of the past, one hospital at a time.

In the mad dash to move from mass-schooling to homeschooling, moms and dads often try to copy schools to guarantee success. There’s a better way to educate your students at home without mimicking the failing strategies often used outside of the home. Dr. Lybrand offers a radically different way to think about education and how to grow ‘happy adults’. The move to a successful homeschool comes from growing Independent Learners, kids who focus on the skills needed to learn how to learn. With five homeschoolers of their own, Dr. Fred & Jody (wife) set up an effective process to prepare ...