The story of a young man's efforts to cling to his inherited "magnificence" in spite of love, logic, and the laws of economics. He bullies his adoring mother into refusing an "upstart" industrialist whom she loves, and he loses the girl who loves him. In the end he loses everything but his conceit and his arrogance; and those yield at last to the hard facts of life.

"In this important and timely book, prize-winning historian Michael Bess provides a clear, nontechnical overview of cutting-edge biotechnology and paints a vivid portrait of a near-future society in which bioenhancement has become a part of everyday life. He surveys the ethical questions raised by the enhancement enterprise and explores the space for human agency in dealing with the challenges that these technologies will present."--Amazon.com.

Reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises. Diamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals - ranging from the forced opening of Japan by U.S. Commodore Perry's fleet, to the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, to a murderous coup or countercoup in Chile and Indonesia, to the transformations of Germany...

In 1953, the Langdon family at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch, Walter, who with his wife, Rosanna, sustained their farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children, now adults, looking to the future. Only one will remain in Iowa to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, D.C., California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of post-World War II optimism through the darker landscape of the...

Few would question that humankind is the crowning achievement of evolution - that history yields progress over time from the primitive and simple to the more advanced and complex - or that identifying an existing trend can be helpful in making important life decisions. We have always identified trends as bad or good. But Stephen Jay Gould argues that this mode of interpretation is a bias that needs correcting. In Full House, Gould presents the truth...

"Social justice work, we often assume, is raised voices and raised fists. It requires leading, advocating, fighting, and organizing wherever it takes place--in the streets, slums, villages, inner cities, halls of political power, and more. But what does social justice work look like for those of us who don't feel comfortable battling in the trenches? Sensitive souls--including those who consider themselves highly emotional, empathic, or introverted--have...

"The world is changing at such speed that it's hard to know how to think about the new kinds of dilemma that are springing up: Can robots be held responsible for their actions? Can science predict crime - and prevent it? Is the future gender-fluid? David Edmonds has put together a philosophical task force to get to grips with challenges like these."--Amazon.com.

Disruption explores a groundbreaking initiative that seeks to eradicate poverty by empowering women on government assistance programs in Colombia, Peru and Brazil to “save their way out of poverty.” The film interweaves women’s testimonies to the transformative power of financial education with the story of Fundación Capital, a group of dynamic activist-economists that believes when you invest in women you change society. As women share how...

A study of the downfall of some of history's greatest civilizations discusses the Anasazi, the Maya, and the Viking colony on Greenland, tracing patterns of environmental damage, poor political choices, and other factors in their demise.