The Meeting that Changed the World


Book Description

The Council of Jerusalem, which committed Christianity to offering to gospel to all of humanity, was the most important moment in the history of the Church. Michael Knowles argues that the Church needs to rediscover the Council and its message for the sake of its own credibility today.




One Christmas in Washington


Book Description

Herwig and Bercuson grippingly recreate the dramatic days of the Washington War Conference of 1941-42, using the diaries, meeting notes and personal letters of the key characters. One Christmas in Washington is the authoritative and emotional story of two proud and accomplished men struggling to overcome their own biases, suspicion, and hubris to create what turned out to be a war-winning alliance.




When Montezuma Met Cortès


Book Description

A dramatic rethinking of the encounter between Montezuma and Hernando Cortés that completely overturns what we know about the Spanish conquest of the Americas On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction—the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas—has long been the symbol of Cortés’s bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened? In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses “the Meeting”—as Restall dubs their first encounter—as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. Drawing on rare primary sources and overlooked accounts by conquistadors and Aztecs alike, Restall explores Cortés’s and Montezuma’s posthumous reputations, their achievements and failures, and the worlds in which they lived—leading, step by step, to a dramatic inversion of the old story. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself.




A Changed World Box Set


Book Description

Meet the good-hearted folks of High Meadow as they struggle through sickness, raiders, wildfires and food shortages in an effort to establish a sustainable community in a world brutally changed. Book 1 - Lethal Seasons - In the near future, a virus has whittled down the human race. Cities are empty, farms deserted, factories abandoned. The world is running on a skeleton crew in a land ravaged by extreme weather. Nick lives at High Meadow med center. The people there stay hopeful as they work toward self-sufficiency. He counts survivors for Angus's research. He wants his life to stay as normal as possible in a world he barely understands. Wisp is a fugitive biobot. He lives off the land, moving from town to town, hiding his extrasensory skills. Silence and subterfuge keep him alive. Lily is a young girl with long brown hair and eyes the color of ripe cherries. She is searching for her brother. She is part of something that started before her birth. When these three lives intersect, a chain reaction of death and violence will change the course of the future and impact the very survival of the human race. Book 2 - Scattered Seeds - As High Meadow deals with troublemakers, Wisp sets out to rescue Nick. In the search for answers, Nick discovers the country's infrastructure is teetering on the brink of collapse. Angus predicts that the high mortality rate from flu could cause disruptions causing people to flee. Tillie scrambles to plan for winter without train food. They once more have to learn how to live in a changed world. Book 3 - Gleanings - As starving people overrun High Meadow, Tillie and Angus must do a delicate dance to keep the doors open. Angus has set the new boundaries. Martin works to keep it safe. Tillie struggles to get everyone fed while keeping an eye on the stores for winter. Within the flood of people, not all are who they seem to be. The people of High Meadow need to prepare for war or lose what they cherish most. Book 4 - Lessons Learned - The president arrives at High Meadow with his entourage of bureaucrats and faux-military. Tillie and Angus don't have time for any distractions as a massive wildfire bears down on their settlement. At a time when they most need to work together, the outsiders are creating divisiveness. It will take more than hard work and good intentions to get them through this catastrophe. Book 5 - Desperate Measures - The stability of the Survivor's Alliance is still fragile. They made it through the winter, but now it's flu season. Tillie and Angus try to prepare for every scenario, even the possibility that they will be the first to go. Nick works to bridge the gap until the spring crops come in. But there are changes coming that no one expected.




The Soul of Genius


Book Description

A prismatic look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil. In 1911, some of the greatest minds in science convened at the First Solvay Conference in Physics, a meeting like no other. Almost half of the attendees had won or would go on to win the Nobel Prize. Over the course of those few days, these minds began to realize that classical physics was about to give way to quantum theory, a seismic shift in our history and how we understand not just our world, but the universe. At the center of this meeting were Marie Curie and a young Albert Einstein. In the years preceding, Curie had faced the death of her husband and soul mate, Pierre. She was on the cusp of being awarded her second Nobel Prize, but scandal erupted all around her when the French press revealed that she was having an affair with a fellow scientist, Paul Langevin. The subject of vicious misogynist and xenophobic attacks in the French press, Curie found herself in a storm that threatened her scientific legacy. Albert Einstein proved an supporter in her travails. They had an instant connection at Solvay. He was young and already showing flourishes of his enormous genius. Curie had been responsible for one of the greatest discoveries in modern science (radioactivity) but still faced resistance and scorn. Einstein recognized this grave injustice, and their mutual admiration and respect, borne out of this, their first meeting, would go on to serve them in their paths forward to making history. Curie and Einstein come alive as the complex people they were in the pages of The Soul of Genius. Utilizing never before seen correspondance and notes, Jeffrey Orens reveals the human side of these brilliant scientists, one who pushed boundaries and demanded equality in a man’s world, no matter the cost, and the other, who was destined to become synonymous with genius.




The Fourth Industrial Revolution


Book Description

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.




Real Democracy


Book Description

Relying on an astounding collection of more than three decades of firsthand research, Frank M. Bryan examines one of the purest forms of American democracy, the New England town meeting. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them. And although these meetings are natural laboratories for democracy, very few scholars have systematically investigated them. A nationally recognized expert on this topic, Bryan has now done just that. Studying 1,500 town meetings in his home state of Vermont, he and his students recorded a staggering amount of data about them—238,603 acts of participation by 63,140 citizens in 210 different towns. Drawing on this evidence as well as on evocative "witness" accounts—from casual observers to no lesser a light than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn—Bryan paints a vivid picture of how real democracy works. Among the many fascinating questions he explores: why attendance varies sharply with town size, how citizens resolve conflicts in open forums, and how men and women behave differently in town meetings. In the end, Bryan interprets this brand of local government to find evidence for its considerable staying power as the most authentic and meaningful form of direct democracy. Giving us a rare glimpse into how democracy works in the real world, Bryan presents here an unorthodox and definitive book on this most cherished of American institutions.







The Surprising Science of Meetings


Book Description

No organization made up of human beings is immune from the all-too-common meeting gripes: those that fail to engage, those that inadvertently encourage participants to tune out, and those that blatantly disregard participants' time. In The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steven G. Rogelberg draws from extensive research, analytics and data mining, and survey interviews to share the proven techniques that help managers and employees change the way they run meetings and upgrade the quality of their working hours.




The Art of Gathering


Book Description

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.