Distilling Ideas


Book Description

Mathematics is not a spectator sport; successful students of mathematics grapple with ideas for themselves. Distilling Ideas presents a carefully designed sequence of exercises and theorem statements that challenge students to create proofs and concepts. As students meet these challenges, they discover strategies of proofs and strategies of thinking beyond mathematics. In other words, Distilling Ideas helps its users to develop the skills, attitudes, and habits of mind of a mathematician, and to enjoy the process of distilling and exploring ideas. Distilling Ideas is an ideal textbook for a first proof-based course. The text engages the range of students' preferences and aesthetics through a corresponding variety of interesting mathematical content from graphs, groups, and epsilon-delta calculus. Each topic is accessible to users without a background in abstract mathematics because the concepts arise from asking questions about everyday experience. All the common proof structures emerge as natural solutions to authentic needs. Distilling Ideas or any subset of its chapters is an ideal resource either for an organized Inquiry Based Learning course or for individual study.




Distilling Ideas


Book Description

Introduction -- Graphs -- Groups -- Calculus -- Conclusion.




Distilling Knowledge


Book Description

Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution, between alchemy and chemistry was clean and abrupt, Moran literately and engagingly recaps what was actually a slow process. Far from being the superstitious amalgam it is now considered, alchemy was genuine science before and during the scientific revolution. The distinctive alchemical procedure--distillation--became the fundamental method of analytical chemistry, and the alchemical goal of transmuting "base metals" into gold and silver led to the understanding of compounds and elements. What alchemy very gradually but finally lost in giving way to chemistry was its spiritual or religious aspect, the linkages it discerned between purely physical and psychological properties. Drawing saliently from the most influential alchemical and scientific texts of the medieval to modern epoch (especially the turbulent and eventful seventeenth century), Moran fashions a model short history of science volume




Introduction to Mathematical Thinking


Book Description

"Mathematical thinking is not the same as 'doing math'--unless you are a professional mathematician. For most people, 'doing math' means the application of procedures and symbolic manipulations. Mathematical thinking, in contrast, is what the name reflects, a way of thinking about things in the world that humans have developed over three thousand years. It does not have to be about mathematics at all, which means that many people can benefit from learning this powerful way of thinking, not just mathematicians and scientists."--Back cover.




Ideaflow


Book Description

“Teams succeed to the degree that there is a free flow of ideas. Read this book to learn how to bring out the best in others—and in yourself.” — Scott Galloway, bestselling author of The Four and Post Corona Ideaflow: the number of ideas you or your team can generate in a set amount of time We all want great ideas, but few actually understand how they’re born. Innovation doesn’t come from a sprint or a hackathon--it’s a result of maximizing ideaflow. Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn of Stanford’s renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka the “d.school”) offer a proven strategy for coming up with great ideas by yourself or with your team, and quickly determining which are worthy. Drawing upon their combined decades of experience leading Stanford’s premier Launchpad accelerator and advising some of the world’s most innovative organizations, like Microsoft, Michelin, Keller Williams Realty, and Hyatt, they’ll teach you how to: • Overcome dangerous thinking traps • Find inspiration in unexpected places • Trick your own brain to be more creative • Design and deploy affordable experiments • Fill your innovation pipeline • Unleash your own creative potential, as well as the potential of others Perhaps you have experienced low ideaflow. Have you been in that quiet conference room, with a half-filled whiteboard, and an unmet business target?. With the proven system in this book, entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders will learn how to tap into surprising and valuable ideas on demand and fill the creative pipeline with breakthrough ideas.




Intrapreneurship Handbook for Librarians


Book Description

Do you have a great idea for an innovation in your library? From idea to execution, this book provides the information necessary to help you to become an intrapreneurial star at your library. Have you ever presented an idea to your boss and had it so firmly rejected that you never want to suggest anything again? Do you feel locked into a rigid hierarchy where bureaucracy has strangled all innovation? Are you motivated to shake things up in your organization to improve it, but are afraid of drowning in the waves you'll create? This book explains how any individual can be an effective change agent in his/her library, addressing topics such as getting started, handling difficult situations, creating partnerships both within and outside of your organization, cutting through bureaucratic red tape, and maintaining momentum with initiatives. Written by librarians who are both experienced entrepreneurs/intrapreneurs, Intrapreneurship Handbook for Librarians: How to Be a Change Agent in Your Library explains what being a library intrapreneur is all about: being empowered to find innovate ways to increase impact, grow resources, and develop new methods of leveraging the skills and perspectives of librarianship to enable the survival of libraries—all while enjoying your job more. The chapters guide readers through the intrapreneurial process—from writing a plan and selling it to administrators and other stakeholders, to securing funding for the idea and actualizing the plan—and answers tough questions such as "How do I let my clients know what my library can offer?", "How do we compete with the Internet?", and "How do I gain support for our services in a time of budget cuts?" This book will be a priceless resource for all librarians regardless of experience level or type of library as the principles and guidelines described are universal.




Philosophical Works


Book Description







Made to Stick


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to make your ideas stick. “Anyone interested in influencing others—to buy, to vote, to learn, to diet, to give to charity or to start a revolution—can learn from this book.”—The Washington Post Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas—entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists—struggle to make them “stick.” In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits. Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas—and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.