|
|
|
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject. For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you. Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan.
Price: $4.48
[Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas–business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others–struggle to make their ideas “stick.” Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the “human scale principle,” using the “Velcro Theory of Memory,” and creating “curiosity gaps.” In this indispensable guide, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds–from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony–draw their power from the same six traits. Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures)–the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of “the Mother Teresa Effect”; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas–and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick..
Price: $13.00
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
From Belly Fat to Belly Flat: How Your Hormones Are Adding Inches to Your Waist and Subtracting Years from Your Life -- the Medically Proven Way to Reset Your Metabolism and Reshape Your Body
Discover the hidden culprit behind the 'middle-age spread'--and the simple plan that's helped hundreds of women over 30 break the fat cycle!It's an all-too-common problem once you hit thirty: Despite your best efforts, you just can't seem to lose the extra weight around your middle, and you look in the mirror wondering what month and year you lost your waistline Medical research proves you're not alone--that the average American gains one to two pounds a year after age thirty--usually around the stomach. Not only does this excess belly fat make you look and feel bad, it's the most damaging kind of fat; a precursor to heart attacks and certain types of cancer. To the contrary of other diet books, C.W. Randolph, M.D., a champion for women's health, explains that the real reason behind this problem has less to do with calories, carbs, or crunches and everything to do with a little-known but very real medical problem called 'estrogen dominance.' By treating thousands of women safely and effectively for over two decades, Dr. Randolph has discovered why we are in the midst of an estrogen epidemic and how you can save your waistline . . . and your health . . . using his 3-step plan comprised of an anti-estrogenic diet, natural progesterone supplementation, and exercise. You'll learn: -How to self-diagnose estrogen dominance -The top ten belly-blasting foods that jump-start weight loss and maintain hormone balance -How your sleep patterns, exercise habits, and stress levels impact your hormone levels -Which vitamins and supplements support, not sabotage, your overall hormone balance The result? Well within four weeks you'll lose pounds and inches… and reveal the flat belly--and the health and vitality that go along with it..
Price: $9.99
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The World Without Us
A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity’s impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us. In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe. The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York’s subways would start eroding the city’s foundations, and how, as the world’s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dali Lama, and paleontologists---who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths---Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us. From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth’s tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman’s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn't depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has. .
Price: $13.89
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide: A Quick Reference to Foods & Their Effect on pH Levels
Over the last five years, there has been an explosion of bestselling acid/alkaline based diets. These have ranged from weight loss to diabetes management. While hundreds of thousands of people have gone on this diet that balances the pH level of your body, they have had to put up with the limited food guides contained in each book. Now, health experts Dr. Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri have created a complete resource for people wanting to widen their food choices. The Acid/Alkaline Food Guide offers dieters an easy-to-follow guide to the most common foods that influence your body's pH levels. The book begins by explaining what the acid/alkaline of your body has to do with the acid/alkaline influence of foods. It then explains how the pH of foods, once eaten, may change in your body—as citric acid fruits, once digested, become alkaline. As complicated as this process is, the authors provide the guidelines for the analysis of the foods covered in the book. This section is then followed by a listing of thousands of foods and their acid/alkaline ranges. Included are insets and groups that can help the reader better direct their food searches. This is the first complete acid/alkaline food guide to include today's modern diet. It will quickly become the first resource to turn to when preparing meals or ordering food..
Price: $4.00
[Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years,Updated and Expanded Edition
In this New York Times bestseller, authors Singer and Avery present the compelling concept that global temperatures have been rising mostly or entirely because of a natural cycle. Using historic data from two millennia of recorded history combined with natural physical records, the authors argue that the 1,500 year solar-driven cycle that has always controlled the earth's climate remains the driving force in the current warming trend..
Price: $7.25
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses (Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses)(10th Edition)
The new Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses, 10th Edition has easy-to-read, well-organized monographs that most clearly emphasize what students and nurses need to know. It includes even more new monographs and the latest FDA approvals. This updated edition is a book that students can count on with vital information for Peds as well as precautions for all vulnerable populations. From pediatrics to geriatrics and from pregnancy to breast feeding considerations, Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses addresses the entire lifespan. It's like having an experienced nurse at your side!.
Price: $33.91
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Mars and Venus Diet and Exercise Solution: Create the Brain Chemistry of Health, Happiness, and Lasting Romance
"The magic key to health, happiness, and romance is waiting for you in your local health food store," says relationship guru John Gray, Ph.D. Not only do men and women have different communication and love styles, they gain and lose weight differently and need different diets, asserts Gray, author of the bestselling Mars and Venus series. Though he does not have credentials in exercise, nutrition, or weight management, Gray creates a program that, he claims, balances each gender's brain chemistry, resulting in health, weight loss, stress management, and romance. Gray analyzes the specific brain chemicals, hormones, and reactions to stress that affect men and women differently and influence relationships. He recommends an eating plan involving at least three meals a day; replacing breakfast with a low-calorie, nutritious breakfast shake; taking amino acid supplements; drinking "cleansing nutrients"; and avoiding junk food. The exercise prescription is only seven pages long (out of 314), consisting of his "bounce, shake, breathe, and flex" program. This may stimulate brain chemicals, but it doesn't do much for cardiovascular or muscle conditioning. Gray seems more concerned with avoiding getting too much exercise than getting enough or the right kind (according to exercise professionals). --Joan Price.
Price: $3.84
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations
How the earth’s previous global warming phase, from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, reshaped human societies from the Arctic to the Sahara—a wide-ranging history with sobering lessons for our own time. From the tenth to the fifteenth centuries the earth experienced a rise in surface temperature that changed climate worldwide—a preview of today’s global warming. In some areas, including Western Europe, longer summers brought bountiful harvests and population growth that led to cultural flowering. In the Arctic, Inuit and Norse sailors made cultural connections across thousands of miles as they traded precious iron goods. Polynesian sailors, riding new wind patterns, were able to settle the remotest islands on earth. But in many parts of the world, the warm centuries brought drought and famine. Elaborate societies in western and central America collapsed, and the vast building complexes of Chaco Canyon and the Mayan Yucatan were left empty. As he did in his bestselling The Little Ice Age, anthropologist and historian Brian Fagan reveals how subtle changes in the environment had far-reaching effects on human life, in a narrative that sweeps from the Arctic ice cap to the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. The history of the Great Warming of a half millennium ago suggests that we may yet be underestimating the power of climate change to disrupt our lives today—and our vulnerability to drought, writes Fagan, is the “silent elephant in the room.” .
Price: $14.90
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
|
|
|