The Bookseller Blunder


Book Description

Tabitha Greene knows more about magic than most. She might not be able to cast a workable spell to save her life, but she has read every magical tome and text in existence. Or so she thought. But then she hears of another book. A rare volume delineating an even rarer type of magic. A type of magic that just might be Tabitha’s real calling. But when she tracks down the magical bookseller who owns the only known copy, she finds only a dead shop owner and no sign of the book. Maybe a random robbery gone wrong, but Tabitha doubts it. But either way, if she wants that book, she has to find the murderer first. With the help of her friends, she intends to do just that. But if the thief who stole the book killed the bookseller in order to hide the truth the text contained, Tabitha and all her friends face a dangerous threat.




Blunder


Book Description

This book is the first in-depth history of Britain's decision to invade Iraq since the Chilcot Inquiry released its report. The volume controversially argues that it was a blunder, or a careless failure of judgement.




The Bookseller


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The Book of Blunders


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One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End


Book Description

Taking its title from General William Tecumseh Sherman's blunt description, this book is a fresh inspection of what was the Civil War's largest operation between the Union Army and Navy west of the Mississippi River. Maps & photos.







The Bookseller


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Einstein's Greatest Blunder?


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This brief and witty book, by the award-winning science writer Donald Goldsmith, takes on key questions about the origin and evolution of the cosmos. By clearly laying out what we currently know about the universe as a whole, Goldsmith lets us see firsthand whether modern cosmology is in a state of crisis.




Brilliant Blunders


Book Description

Drawing on the lives of five great scientists, this “scholarly, insightful, and beautifully written book” (Martin Rees, author of From Here to Infinity) illuminates the path to scientific discovery. Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein all made groundbreaking contributions to their fields—but each also stumbled badly. Darwin’s theory of natural selection shouldn’t have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Lord Kelvin gravely miscalculated the age of the earth. Linus Pauling, the world’s premier chemist, constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a “Big Bang” origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein speculated incorrectly about the forces of the universe—and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps. As Mario Livio luminously explains in this “thoughtful meditation on the course of science itself” (The New York Times Book Review), these five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on earth, the evolution of the earth, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. “Thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written” (The Washington Post), Brilliant Blunders is a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists—and the mistakes as well as the achievements that made them famous.




Errors, Blunders, and Lies


Book Description

We live in a world that is not quite "right." The central tenet of statistical inquiry is that Observation = Truth + Error because even the most careful of scientific investigations have always been bedeviled by uncertainty. Our attempts to measure things are plagued with small errors. Our attempts to understand our world are blocked by blunders. And, unfortunately, in some cases, people have been known to lie. In this long-awaited follow-up to his well-regarded bestseller, The Lady Tasting Tea, David Salsburg opens a door to the amazing widespread use of statistical methods by looking at historical examples of errors, blunders and lies from areas as diverse as archeology, law, economics, medicine, psychology, sociology, Biblical studies, history, and war-time espionage. In doing so, he shows how, upon closer statistical investigation, errors and blunders often lead to useful information. And how statistical methods have been used to uncover falsified data. Beginning with Edmund Halley’s examination of the Transit of Venus and ending with a discussion of how many tanks Rommel had during the Second World War, the author invites the reader to come along on this easily accessible and fascinating journey of how to identify the nature of errors, minimize the effects of blunders, and figure out who the liars are.




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