The Hanson Conundrum


Book Description

The Hanson Trilogy - Book Two: The Hanson Conundrum The Hanson Conundrum is the sequel to The Hanson Legacy. Best described as a science-fiction/techno-thriller, inspiration for the trilogy of novels came from Dr. Messbarger's life-long fascination with exobiology, the study of extraterrestrial life, and the centuries-old UFO phenomenon. The Hanson Conundrum picks up at Dr. Hanson's death and the world's reaction to the revelation of alien visitation. Governments and politicians jockey for positions while Donna Hanson, Ben's brilliant daughter, also an accomplished aerospace engineer, accepts the now controversial position left vacant by the ruthless and vicious Project Director, Louis Hastings. UCLA Physicist, Dr. Timothy Alexander, joins her as Deputy Director and both begin the process of restoring the embattled and tortured project. Almost immediately, strange and ominous things begin to happen...




The Hanson Legacy


Book Description

"Cocheta" is a Native American word meaning "That you cannot imagine," an appropriate name for America's "blackest" research facility. Hidden inside a mountain in a remote and inhospitable region of the frigid Canadian Rockies, the massive complex is a high-tech laboratory for a handful of the most brilliant minds on earth. Together, they struggle to understand and duplicate exotic extraterrestrial technology before America's enemies do... or before an unspeakable horror arrives from deep space. Benjamin Hanson, PhD is the project's greatest resource... and a dying man. His ultimate goal: unite the world in developing a defense against what he believes to be a coming invasion. To make it happen, he needs a clever plan. One that will topple a well-established culture of secrecy, allow him to evade those who watch his every move and neutralize a ruthless bureaucrat before the cruel tentacles of incurable cancer rob him of his life. The Hanson Legacy chronicles Ben Hanson's life, from a humble childhood in a rural Oklahoma town to his climactic struggle with an evil, self-absorbed administrator determined to keep secret the other-worldly horrors hidden in Cocheta Mountain... and lethal "accidents" involving more than a dozen retired project scientists. The fate of the entire planet may very well rest on the outcome of Dr. Hanson's vital and final mission. Sacrifice, devotion, duty, honor... and a timeless, beautiful love story that endures vicious tragedy and desolate separation. The Hanson Legacy transcends the Sci-Fi genre and will leave you anxiously waiting for Book Two: The Hanson Conundrum! "The story grabbed me by the throat from the first page and left me almost breathless until the exciting climactic scenes. The characters are strong, superbly developed and totally believable... If you read this book, make sure you have a long flight or a few free days ahead of you --- you won't be able to put it down!" Andrew McLaughlin Editor - Australian Defence Business Review (ADBR) Editor - Defence Industry & Aerospace Report (DIAR.com) Military Editor - Australian Aviation




Modern Organizations and Emerging Conundrums


Book Description

The contributors to this book review the postindustrial subculture, emphasizing cross-disciplinary and cross-contextual inquiry, a central idiom of postindustrial organizational life. The essays consider alternative methods of understanding media that add variety to "meanings" within and without organizations. This multi-method approach in the search for meaning and the limits of words and symbols to express meaning generates a personally interpretive basis to science.







Intelligence Unbound


Book Description

Intelligence Unbound explores the prospects, promises, and potential dangers of machine intelligence and uploaded minds in a collection of state-of-the-art essays from internationally recognized philosophers, AI researchers, science fiction authors, and theorists. Compelling and intellectually sophisticated exploration of the latest thinking on Artificial Intelligence and machine minds Features contributions from an international cast of philosophers, Artificial Intelligence researchers, science fiction authors, and more Offers current, diverse perspectives on machine intelligence and uploaded minds, emerging topics of tremendous interest Illuminates the nature and ethics of tomorrow’s machine minds—and of the convergence of humans and machines—to consider the pros and cons of a variety of intriguing possibilities Considers classic philosophical puzzles as well as the latest topics debated by scholars Covers a wide range of viewpoints and arguments regarding the prospects of uploading and machine intelligence, including proponents and skeptics, pros and cons




The Body in the Fjord


Book Description

This time out, smalltown caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild's neighbor, Pix Miller, takes center stage, heading off to Norway to investigate the sudden disappearance of a family friend. Determined to discover the truth, Pix is drawn into a suspenseful world of intrigue, stolen antiques, secret histories, and deadly echoes from Norway's past and the Nazi occupation. Surrounded by the country's breathtaking beauty, the ever-resourceful New Englander perseveres -- until at last she finds herself face-to-face with a remorseless killer...with no way out.




The Elephant in the Brain


Book Description

Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather, but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus we don't like to talk or even think about the extent of our selfishness. This is "the elephant in the brain." Such an introspective taboo makes it hard for us to think clearly about our nature and the explanations for our behavior. The aim of this book, then, is to confront our hidden motives directly - to track down the darker, unexamined corners of our psyches and blast them with floodlights. Then, once everything is clearly visible, we can work to better understand ourselves: Why do we laugh? Why are artists sexy? Why do we brag about travel? Why do we prefer to speak rather than listen? Our unconscious motives drive more than just our private behavior; they also infect our venerated social institutions such as Art, School, Charity, Medicine, Politics, and Religion. In fact, these institutions are in many ways designed to accommodate our hidden motives, to serve covert agendas alongside their "official" ones. The existence of big hidden motives can upend the usual political debates, leading one to question the legitimacy of these social institutions, and of standard policies designed to favor or discourage them. You won't see yourself - or the world - the same after confronting the elephant in the brain.




AQ


Book Description




Puzzling Passages in Paul


Book Description

Few Christian writings have had the world-changing impact of St Paul’s epistles to the churches, and yet from the very beginning these works proved themselves to be tricky texts. The Second Letter of Peter, commenting about them, says: “There are some things in them that are hard to understand” (2 Pet 3:16). Indeed! To this day many issues of their interpretation remain highly contested. In this book, Anthony Thiselton grasps the nettle and examines forty puzzling passages from Paul’s epistles. He considers the various scholarly proposals about their meaning and offers his own reflections in the hope of dispersing fog and shedding light, and of expounding a coherent and self-consistent Paul.




The World's Chronicle


Book Description