In their second collaboration, biographers Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman present the story of Claude Shannon???one of the foremost intellects of the twentieth century and the architect of the Information Age, whose insights stand behind every computer built, email sent, video streamed, and webpage loaded. Claude Shannon was a groundbreaking polymath, a brilliant tinkerer, and a digital pioneer. He constructed the first wearable computer, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots. He also wrote the seminal text of the digital revolution, which has been called ???the Magna Carta of the Information Age.??? In this elegantly written, exhaustively researched biography, Soni and Goodman reveal Claude Shannon???s full story for the first time. With unique access to Shannon???s family and friends, A Mind at Play brings this singular innovator and always playful genius to life.
In this intimate portrait of an extraordinary father???son relationship, Mark K. Shriver discovers the moral principles that guided his legendary father and applies them to his own life,When Sargent “Sarge” Shriver???founder of the Peace Corps and architect of President Johnson’s War on Poverty???died in 2011 after a valiant fight with Alzheimer’s, thousands of tributes poured in from friends and strangers worldwide. These tributes, which extolled the daily kindness and humanity of “a good man,” moved his son Mark far more than those who lauded Sarge for his big-stage, headline-making accomplishments. After a lifetime searching for the path to his father’s success in the public arena, Mark instead turns to a search for the secret of his father’s joy, his devotion to others, and his sense of purpose. Mark discovers notes and letters from Sarge; hears personal stories from friends and family that zero in on the three guiding principles of Sarge’s life???faith, hope, and love???and recounts moments with Sarge that now take on new value and poignancy. In the process, Mark discovers much about himself, as a father, as a husband, and as a social justice advocate. A Good Man is an inspirational and deeply personal story about a son discovering the true meaning of his father’s legacy.
One of the most famous science books of our time, the phenomenal national bestseller that “buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist” (Science Digest).,Richard P. Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. In this lively work that ???can shatter the stereotype of the stuffy scientist??? (Detroit Free Press), Feynman recounts his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets???and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature. In his stories, Feynman???s life shines through in all its eccentric glory???a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.
The , best-selling sequel to ,???,Like the “funny, brilliant, bawdy” (,) , this book???s many stories???some funny, others intensely moving???display Richard P. Feynman???s unquenchable thirst for adventure and unparalleled ability to recount important moments from his life.,Here we meet Feynman???s first wife, Arlene, who taught him of love???s irreducible mystery as she lay dying in a hospital bed while he worked on the atomic bomb at nearby Los Alamos. We listen to the fascinating narrative of the investigation into the space shuttle ,???s explosion in 1986 and relive the moment when Feynman revealed the disaster???s cause through an elegant experiment: dropping a ring of rubber into a glass of cold water and pulling it out, misshapen. In , one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century lets us see the man behind the genius.
From the author of ,and, Anna Quindlen???s classic reflection on a meaningful life is the perfect gift for graduation, or any occasion.,???,In this treasure of a book, Anna Quindlen, the bestselling novelist and columnist, reflects on what it takes to ???get a life??????to live deeply every day and from your own unique self, rather than merely to exist through your days. ???Knowledge of our own mortality is the greatest gift God ever gives us,??? Quindlen writes, ???because unless you know the clock is ticking, it is so easy to waste our days, our lives.??? Her mother died when Quindlen was nineteen: ???It was the dividing line between seeing the world in black and white, and in Technicolor. The lights came on for the darkest possible reason. . . . I learned something enduring, in a very short period of time, about life. And that was that it was glorious, and that you had no business taking it for granted.??? But how to live from that perspective, to fully engage in our days? In , Quindlen guides us with an understanding that comes from knowing how to see the view, the richness in living.
The true story of Kim Philby, the Cold War’s most infamous spy, from the master espionage writer and author of The Spy and the Traitor.,Who was Kim Philby? Those closest to him???like his fellow MI6 officer and best friend since childhood, Nicholas Elliot, and the CIA???s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton???knew him as a loyal confidant and an unshakeable patriot. Philby was a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain???s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union. Together with Elliott and Angleton he stood on the front lines of the Cold War, holding Communism at bay. But he was secretly betraying them both: He was working for the Russians the entire time. ,Every word uttered in confidence to Philby by his colleagues in the West made its way to Moscow, leading countless missions to their doom and subverting American and British attempts to subdue the Soviet threat. So how was this cunning double-agent finally exposed? In A Spy Among Friends, Ben Macintyre expertly weaves the heart-pounding tale of how Philby almost got away with it all???and what happened when he was finally unmasked.,Based on personal papers and never-before-seen British intelligence files, this is Ben Macintyre???s epic telling of one of the greatest spy stories ever, a Cold War history that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The remarkable tale of six brothers growing up in the ???50s and ???60s as their father???a highly respected Mayo Clinic surgeon???slowly goes insane.,Author Luke Longstreet Sullivan has a simple way of describing his new memoir: ???It???s like , . . . only funnier.??? , tells the astonishing story of Sullivan???s father and his descent from one of the world???s top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel room. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were characterized by turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction; but somehow they were also a time of real happiness for Sullivan and his brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter.,Through the 1950s and 1960s, the six brothers had a wildly fun and thoroughly dysfunctional childhood living in a forbidding thirty-room mansion, known as the Millstone, on the outskirts of Rochester, Minnesota. The many rooms of the immense home, as well as their mother???s loving protection, allowed the Sullivan brothers to grow up as normal, mischievous boys. Against a backdrop of the times???the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, JFK???s assassination, and the Beatles???the cracks in their home life and their father???s psyche continue to widen. When their mother decides to leave the Millstone and move the family across town, the Sullivan boys are able to find solace in each other and in rock ???n??? roll.,As , , follows the story of the Sullivan family???at times grim, at others poignant???a wonderful, dark humor lifts the narrative. Tragic, funny, and powerfully evocative of the 1950s and 1960s, , is a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can???t always provide the answers.
In his major New York Times bestseller, Jimmy Carter looks back from ninety years of age and ???reveals private thoughts and recollections over a fascinating career as businessman, politician, evangelist, and humanitarian??? (Booklist).,At ninety, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming. He adds detail and emotion about his youth in rural Georgia that he described in his magnificent An Hour Before Daylight. He writes about racism and the isolation of the Carters. He describes the brutality of the hazing regimen at Annapolis, and how he nearly lost his life twice serving on submarines and his amazing interview with Admiral Rickover. He describes the profound influence his mother had on him, and how he admired his father even though he didn???t emulate him. He admits that he decided to quit the Navy and later enter politics without consulting his wife, Rosalynn, and how appalled he is in retrospect.,In his ???warm and detailed memoir??? (Los Angeles Times), Carter tells what he is proud of and what he might do differently. He discusses his regret at losing his re-election, but how he and Rosalynn pushed on and made a new life and second and third rewarding careers. He is frank about the presidents who have succeeded him, world leaders, and his passions for the causes he cares most about, particularly the condition of women and the deprived people of the developing world.,???Always warm and human???even inspirational??? (Buffalo News), A Full Life is a wise and moving look back from this remarkable man. Jimmy Carter has lived one of our great American lives???from rural obscurity to world fame, universal respect, and contentment. A Full Life is an extraordinary read from a ???force to be reckoned with??? (Christian Science Monitor).
Categories: | Biographies & Memoirs, non-fiction |
---|
Recommended By | |
---|---|
Published By |
It may be well that I should put a short preface to this book. In the summer of 1878 my father told me that he had written a memoir of his own life. He did not speak about it at length, but said that he had written me a letter, not to be opened until after his death, containing instructions for publication. This letter was dated 30th April, 1876. I will give here as much of it as concerns the public: “I wish you to accept as a gift from me, given you now, the accompanying pages which contain a memoir of my life. My intention is that they shall be published after my death, and be edited by you. But I leave it altogether to your discretion whether to publish or to suppress the work;-and also to your discretion whether any part or what part shall be omitted. But I would not wish that anything should be added to the memoir. If you wish to say any word as from yourself, let it be done in the shape of a preface or introductory chapter.” At the end there is a postscript: “The publication, if made at all, should be effected as soon as possible after my death.” My father died on the 6th of December, 1882…
Categories: | Biographies & Memoirs, non-fiction |
---|
Recommended By | |
---|---|
Published By |
It may be well that I should put a short preface to this book. In the summer of 1878 my father told me that he had written a memoir of his own life. He did not speak about it at length, but said that he had written me a letter, not to be opened until after his death, containing instructions for publication. This letter was dated 30th April, 1876. I will give here as much of it as concerns the public: “I wish you to accept as a gift from me, given you now, the accompanying pages which contain a memoir of my life. My intention is that they shall be published after my death, and be edited by you. But I leave it altogether to your discretion whether to publish or to suppress the work;-and also to your discretion whether any part or what part shall be omitted. But I would not wish that anything should be added to the memoir. If you wish to say any word as from yourself, let it be done in the shape of a preface or introductory chapter.” At the end there is a postscript: “The publication, if made at all, should be effected as soon as possible after my death.” My father died on the 6th of December, 1882…
For people who are readers, reading is important to them.
©2020 All Books. All rights reserved
Designed by Hassam Ali