Books about Armchair from Amazon.com

Witty economists are about as easy to find as anorexic mezzo-sopranos, natty mujahedeen, and cheerful Philadelphians. But Steven E. Landsburg ..is one economist who fits the bill. In a wide-ranging, easily digested, unbelievably contrarian survey of everything from why popcorn at movie houses costs so much to why recycling may actually reduce the number of trees on the planet, the University of Rochester professor valiantly turns the discussion of vexing economic questions into an activity that ordinary people might enjoy.

-- Joe Queenan, The Wall Street Journal

The Armchair Economist is a wonderful little book, written by someone for whom English is a first (and beloved) language, and it contains not a single graph or equation...Landsburg presents fascinating concepts in a form easily accessible to noneconomists.

-- Erik M. Jensen, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

...enormous fun from its opening page...Landsburg has done something extraordinary: He has expounded basic economic principles with wit and verve.

-- Dan Seligman, Fortune.
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A remarkably rare black orchid at a flower show lures Nero Wolfe from his comfortable brownstone. But before the detective and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, can stop and smell the roses, a diabolically daring murder puts a blight on the proceedings The murderer to be weeded out is definitely not a garden-variety killer.

Wolfe must also throw his considerable weight into another thorny case, this one involving a rich society widow bedeviled by poison-pen letters -- and a poisonous plot as black as Wolfe's orchids with roots even more twisted.

"Like the orchids he so avidly cultivates, Nero Wolfe is one of mystery writing's most prized ornamentals." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board).
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This user-friendly book blends theory and practice, gently and concretely taking the reader through the first steps of contemplative prayer. Armchair Mystic begins with the necessary details of time and place to pray, then presents the maturation of the prayer life in four stages: Talking at God, Talking to God, Listening to God, and Being with God. Each chapter begins with an Orientation and ends with a concluding summary. Step-by-step exercises throughout the book provide concrete examples of how to use the concepts discussed..
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Chemists and science authors Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf have teamed up with Jack G. Goldsmith, fellow chemist and reserve police officer, to create another intriguing trek through the science of chemistry, this time using the fascinating field of forensic chemistry as their framework. All new hands-on demonstrations and fictional minute mysteries illustrate chemical concepts as the authors present the science--and the realities--of forensic chemistry in a narrative style that makes this timely topic accessible to the nonchemist. The authors lead you through actual and simulated forensic techniques such as · presumptive and confirmative drug testing · body fluid identification including luminol testing · DNA analysis · trace fiber and gun shot residue analysis · latent fingerprint development and collection · forensic soil analysis Through more than twenty-five demonstrations, using ordinary household products and items, you can become familiar with the basics of forensic chemistry and gain insights into the painstaking work that goes into criminal investigations that is rarely seen on TV.

If you're a fan of true-crime stories or mystery fiction, or interested in the science behind dramas like CSI, this informative and entertaining book is a must-have addition to your library..
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With more than 200 stunning color photographs by noted photographer Wendy McDougall, Classical Destinations takes readers on a tour of the history and geography of classical music, examining the lives of the great composers as related to their places of birth, education, triumphs, and failures. For today's traveler the book comes full-circle, describing how, through their achievements, the great composers came to influence the places where they lived and performed. In these pages readers can visit Venice when it was home to Vivaldi, Salzburg as Mozart's prodigious talents emerged, Leipzig during the time of Mendelssohn and Schumann, Prague as growing Czech nationalism gripped Smetana, and the Vienna where Beethoven faced incurable deafness. The reader will accompany J. S. Bach through the towns of central Germany and tour St. Petersburg as Tchaikovsky knew it. Beyond the cities, Classical Destinations includes the dramatic landscapes of Norway and Finland that made so much of an impression on the music of Grieg and Sibelius..
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Both entertaining and startling, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten offers one hundred philosophical puzzles that stimulate thought on a host of moral, social, and personal dilemmas. Taking examples from sources as diverse as Plato and Steven Spielberg, author Julian Baggini presents abstract philosophical issues in concrete terms, suggesting possible solutions while encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions:

Lively, clever, and thought-provoking, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten is a portable feast for the mind that is sure to satisfy any intellectual appetite. BACKCOVER: “Thinking again is what this taut, incisive, bullet-hard book is dedicated to promoting.”
—The Sunday Times (London)

“This book is like the Sudoku of moral philosophy: apply your mind to any of its ‘thought experiments’ while stuck on the Tube, and quickly be transported out of rush-hour hell.”
—New Statesman.
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Written by experts but designed for the novice, the Armchair series provides accurate, concise, and witty overviews of some of the most profound moments and theologians in Christian history. These books are essential supplements for first-time encounters with primary texts, lucid refreshers for scholars and clergy, and enjoyable reads for the theologically curious.

This volume introduces readers to the life and thought of Karl Barth (1886-1968), one of the most important theologians since the Reformation era. Featuring the Armchair series' characteristic whimsical illustrations, Barth for Armchair Theologians surveys Barth's theology as it emerges and culminates in his monumental Church Dogmatics as well as how his theology continues to be interpreted in the present day..
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