Geography, Resources and Environment, Volume 2


Book Description

Over the course of half a century, Gilbert F. White's work has served to shape and, in several instances, establish many of the fields that have come to be known as the environmental sciences. In this collection of original essays, a companion volume to White's selected writings (volume I), leading scholars in areas such as water supply, environmental hazards, and natural resource management interpret changes in these fields since White's work and assess present and future problems. With volume 1, this collection presents a complete and cogent picture of Gilbert White's contribution and the work he inspired.




Everything In Its Path


Book Description

The 1977 Sorokin Award–winning story of Buffalo Creek in the aftermath of a devastating flood. On February 26, 1972, 132-million gallons of debris-filled muddy water burst through a makeshift mining-company dam and roared through Buffalo Creek, a narrow mountain hollow in West Virginia. Following the flood, survivors from a previously tightly knit community were crowded into trailer homes with no concern for former neighborhoods. The result was a collective trauma that lasted longer than the individual traumas caused by the original disaster. Making extensive use of the words of the people themselves, Erikson details the conflicting tensions of mountain life in general—the tensions between individualism and dependency, self-assertion and resignation, self-centeredness and group orientation—and examines the loss of connection, disorientation, declining morality, rise in crime, rise in out-migration, etc., that resulted from the sudden loss of neighborhood.




De Magnete


Book Description

From the first great experimental scientist: the classic text, first published in Latin in 1600. Summarizes then-current knowledge of magnetism and electricity, offering insights into the origins of modern science.




Human Adjustment to Floods


Book Description




The Mortal Presidency


Book Description

The presidency is hazardous to your helth. Fully two-thirds of our presidents have died before reaching their life-expectancy- despite being wealthier, better educated, and better cared for that most Americans. In Mortal Presidency, the first complete account of death and illness in the White House, Robert E. Gilbert looks at modern presidents including Coolidge, FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan. He shows- in some cases, for the first time- that all suffered from debilitating medical problems, physical and/or psychological, which they frequently managed to conceal from the public but which, in important ways, affected their political lives. This edition is updated to include a brief look at Presidents Clinton and Bush, both of whom suffered sudden and unpleasant indispositions while in office which to some degree affected their presidencies.




Stumbling on Happiness


Book Description

A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy – and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.




The Holocaust


Book Description

Sets the scene with a brief history of anti-Semitism prior to Hitler, and documents the horrors of the Holocaust from 1933 onward, in an incisive, interpretive account of the genocide of World War II.




Bioethics and the New Embryology


Book Description

"This brief textbook of human development covers the events of fertilization, gestation, and sex determination, followed by descriptions of the science of cloning, stem cells, and genome sequencing. The chapter covering the science is juxtaposed with a chapter discussing ethical questions that arise, such as when does life begin, should assisted reproductive technologies be regulated, and should parents be allowed to choose their child's sex"--Provided by publisher.




Dual Transformation


Book Description

Game-changing disruptions will likely unfold on your watch. Be ready. In Dual Transformation, Scott Anthony, Clark Gilbert, and Mark Johnson propose a practical and sustainable approach to one of the greatest challenges facing leaders today: transforming your business in the face of imminent disruption. Dual Transformation shows you how your company can come out of a market shift stronger and more profitable, because the threat of disruption is also the greatest opportunity a leadership team will ever face. Disruptive change opens a window of opportunity to create massive new markets. It is the moment when a market also-ran can become a market leader. It is the moment when business legacies are created. That moment starts with the core dual transformation framework: Transformation A: Repositioning today’s business to maximize its resilience, such as how Adobe boldly shifted from selling packaged software to providing software as a service. Transformation B: Creating a new growth engine, such as how Amazon became the world’s largest provider of cloud computing services. Capabilities link: Fighting unfairly by taking advantage of difficult-to-replicate assets without succumbing to the “sucking sound of the core.” Anthony, Gilbert, and Johnson also address the characteristics leaders must embrace: courage, clarity, curiosity, and conviction. Without them, dual transformation efforts can founder. Building on lessons from diverse companies, such as Adobe, Manila Water, and Netflix, and a case study from Gilbert’s firsthand experience transforming his own media and publishing company, Dual Transformation will guide executives through the journey of creating the next version of themselves, allowing them to own the future rather than be disrupted by it.




Geography, Resources and Environment, Volume 1


Book Description

Gilbert F. White is the preeminent geographer of natural resources, hazards, and the human environment. During fifty years of professional work as civil servant, scientist, and educator, he authored numerous books and papers. This volume is the first collection of White's work, spanning his interests and career from 1934 to 1984. Individual introductions by the editors place each selection in historical perspective and assay its significance. With the companion volume, Theme from the Work of Gilbert F. White, White's writings, and the work that he inspired, are now readily accessible to all who share his concern for the stewardship of the earth.