Bøger udgivet af Prometheus Books

"We live in a world where things come and go, rise and fall, grow and decay, tracing out cycles of change that are ordered and predictable. But amongst those well-behaved rhythms hide other phenomena, pulsing and fizzing and refusing to play by the same rules. Earth and the life upon it have evolved over billions of years to be right where we are now only because of feedbacks that pushed those systems until they broke. And then those systems adapted, reorganized, and rebuilt. With each new cycle of growth it was feedbacks that created order from disorder and gave rise to a world perfectly optimized for everything it needed to be. Now the latest scientific research is revealing that the exact same patterns that describe plate tectonics, evolution, and mass extinctions also emerge in the heartbeat of our everyday lives, underpinning everything from the cohesion of our social networks and personal relationships to our emotional well-being and spiritual beliefs. In FEEDBACK we embark on a backstage journey revealing how these lesser-known processes keep us operating right where we need to be, poised at the edge of chaos. In a world simultaneously threatened with social and environmental disasters this journey uncovers the hidden connections that unite us not just to those around us but also across vast scales of time and space to the very fabric of the universe"--

The Caretakers tells the powerful and profound story of the British cemetery gardeners who remained at their posts in France during the Nazi invasion of WWII, secretly aiding the French Resistance and providing safe haven for downed American airmen and safe passage for refugees.

Presenting a history of science, this book chronicles the intrepid explorations of scientists and adventurers who studied the transits of Venus in the quest for scientific understanding.

How do we explain the lurid fascination that most people experience when confronted by real or simulated acts of violence, murder, horror, and crime? This is the subject examined in this candid assessment of our dark vicarious thrills. Based on a series of interviews with perpetrators, victims, and "consumers" of violence, including several celebrities, the author of a best-selling book on serial killers explores what there is about this subject that draws such a wide audience. Unlike many other books that attempt to probe the murky psyches of deviant individuals, this book focuses on normal, average people who, despite themselves, enjoy getting close to the most forbidden, perverse side of destruction and evil. The persons interviewed range from homicide detectives and emergency room personnel to a heavyweight boxer and groupies of serial killers on death row. The author considers ideas from a variety of theories and research to explain our responses to violence, raises questions about the shifting line between normal and abnormal, evaluates the confusion and ambivalence that many people feel when witnessing others' suffering, and suggests future trends in society's attitudes toward violence.

In this enlightening and entertaining book, author and Skeptical Inquirer editor Kendrick Frazier takes readers on a journey to the contentious boundary zone between science and its antagonists: pseudoscience (pretend science) and anti-science (open hostility to science).

Spy With No Country tells the gripping story of a brilliant scientist whose information about the plutonium bomb, including detailed drawings and measurements, proved to be integral to the Soviet¿s development of nuclear capabilities.

Edmond Halley is known far and wide thanks largely to the comet bearing his name, the nature of which he predicted in 1705. While that discovery is enough to make the career of any scientist, Halley¿s massive contributions to the fields of astronomy, philosophy, history, mathematics, engineering, and actuarial science ¿ the latter of which he founded single-handedly ¿ as a young man and eventually as Astronomer Royal are mostly overlooked. Edmond Halley: The Astronomer Royal Who Brought the Universe to Earth is a revelatory and deeply researched biography of a man whose defining achievement isn¿t even the half of it. A jack-of-all-trades when it came to scientific reasoning, an all-around academic, Renaissance man, and workaholic who couldn¿t leave well enough alone, Halley was amazingly productive and prolific. He was behind some of the most groundbreaking pieces of discovery in human history: it was Halley who was the first to survey the skies and plot the stars of the southern hemisphere; he published Isaac Newton¿s Principia Mathematica, which many argue is the most important scientific text ever written; in the field of history, he translated the works of ancient Greek mathematician Apollonius and calculated the date of Julius Caesar¿s arrival in Britain; he captained the ship Paramore on a scientific expedition to plot the Earth¿s magnetic fields, not losing a single original crewmember on the mission; Halley was the first to calculate mortality annuities, creating the foundation for actuarial science; he made improvements to the diving bell, surveyed the tides of the English channel, and led the movement to accurately measure the distance between the Earth and Sun, unlocking the key to determining the distance to the nearest stars. In this incisive and surprising biography, author David K. Love reveals the boundless mind and endless curiosity of Edmond Halley, a man whom many readers may think they already know. From his inventions and innovations to his personal life, Edmond Halley firmly cements the legacy of the second Astronomer Royal among the first-rate scientists of his time.

Much has been written about the legendary flight of Apollo 11 and mankind¿s first tentative steps into deep space. It¿s often said that the world stopped, watching in awe as the crew of Apollo 11 completed their mission. It is true that in that moment, almost everyone had virtually gone to the moon as people around the world gazed in wonderment at the grainy black-and-white images of Neil Armstrong taking that first step onto the surface of another world. But that was a fleeting moment and just as quickly, the moment was gone¿ wars raged on, protestors filled the streets, and average Americans went back to their daily lives. Everyone¿s Gone to the Moon is a week-by-week journey through July 1969, one of the most pivotal months in human history ¿ in space and here on Earth. This unique book follows the crew of Apollo 11 and NASA as they prepare for the historic first lunar landing alongside the major global events buried beneath headlines covering the historic space mission. Interwoven with the story of Apollo 11 are the events on our home planet that made an equally important impact on who we were then and who we are today: the Life of Prince Charles was threatened by a terrorist attack in Wales; the storm dubbed the Ohio Fireworks Derecho ripped through the Midwest, killing dozens; the assassination of Kenyan Economic Minister Tom Myoba (of which Barack Obama Sr. was a key witness) undercut a nation just learning to stand on its own; Senator Ted Kennedy was involved in a mysterious accident in Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts; ARPANET, the first real ¿Internet¿ was unveiled; Monty Python was born; John Lennon and Paul McCartney released ¿Give Peace a Chance¿ during escalated Vietnam War tensions; Midnight Cowboy stunned the Academy Awards; and much more. Meanwhile, NASA was still scrambling. Everyone¿s Gone to the Moon features little known behind-the-scenes stories of the moon landing like how NASA had to grapple with media, the technical issues that still plagued the lunar module, and how the prior crew of Apollo 10 suffered incredible itching from their spacesuits that needed correcting before Apollo 11 could even be launched. This deep dive into the Apollo 11 mission¿s most crucial weeks and the little-known and rarely remembered events occurring simultaneously back on Earth gives a vivid new perspective to the month that launched humanity into the future.

No one present at the Battle of Cape Lopez in 1722 could have known that they were on the edge of history. There was no way to predict just how monumental an impact this obscure but fierce naval battle off the coast of West Africa would have on British colonies and the future of slavery in America. Gentlemen of Fortune is a groundbreaking exploration of the figures and events surrounding this lesser-known naval battle, the outcome of which signaled a major turning point in the Atlantic slave trade and triggered a deep and lasting legacy.Gentlemen of Fortune focuses on three fascinating figures whose fates would violently converge: Jan Conny, a charismatic leader of the Akan people who made lucrative deals with pirates and smugglers while making enemies out of the British and Dutch; the infamous pirate Black Bart, who worked his way from an anonymous navigator to a pirate king and one of the British Empire¿s most notorious enemies in the region; and British naval captain Chaloner Ogle, tasked by the Crown with hunting down and killing Black Bart at all costs. At the Battle of Cape Lopez, these three men and the massive historical forces at their backs would finally find each other¿and the world would be transformed forever.By defeating Black Bart at the Battle of Cape Lopez, the British Empire was able to achieve supremacy in the West African slave trade. Chattel slavery¿in which an enslaved person is considered fully the private property of an owner¿was born, and it was soon brought to America.In this landmark narrative history, historian Angela Sutton outlines the complex network of trade routes spanning the Atlantic Ocean trafficked by agents of empire, private merchants, and brutal pirates alike. Drawing from a wide range of primary historical sources, most of which¿because they are written in Dutch and German¿have not been engaged with by popular audiences, Sutton offers a new perspective on how a single battle played a pivotal role in reshaping the slave trade in ways that affect America to this day. Between its engaging narrative style filled with swashbuckling naval battles and tales of adventure at sea, its wide array of rigorous and detailed research, and its implications towards modern America, Gentlemen of Fortune is an essential addition to every history reader¿s shelves.

America in the early twentieth century was rife with threats. Organized crime groups like The Mafia, German spies embedded behind enemy lines ahead of World War I, package bombs sent throughout the country, and the 1920 Wall Street bombing dominated headlines. Yet the story of the one man tasked with combatting these threats has yet to be told. The Life and Times of William J. Flynn is the first book to tell the story of William J. Flynn, the first government official to bring down the powerful Mafia, uncover a sophisticated German spy ring in the United States, and launch a formal war on terrorism. As the Director of the Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner to the FBI), Flynn would become one of the most respected and effective law enforcement officials in American history.Long before Eliot Ness and the Untouchables went after Al Capone and the Italian mob in Chicago, Flynn dismantled the first Mafia family to exist in America. The success against the Mafia made Flynn famous, with front-page stories about him in newspapers across the country. His rise through the ranks was swift. As Chief of the Secret Service (then an organization devoted to intelligence rather than protecting the president), Flynn, nicknamed ¿the Bulldog¿ for his tenacity in pursuing leads, again won national acclaim when he uncovered a sophisticated German sabotage campaign in the United States on the eve of American entry into World War I. As the Director of the Bureau of Investigation, Flynn would devise the first counterterrorist strategy in U.S. history in his investigation of the anarchist terrorists leaving bombs across the country. He would also appoint an ambitious library clerk named J. Edgar Hoover to the Bureaüs newly created Radical Division. Flynn¿s distinguished career came to an inglorious end, however, when he was unable to find the perpetrators of the infamous Wall Street bombing in September 1920. He never again returned to government service, instead turning to editing a detective fiction magazine called Flynn¿s that became one of the most popular magazine publications of its time. In this riveting and well-researched biography, the first devoted to the man who became one of this country¿s greatest detectives, author and terrorism expert Jeffrey D. Simon reveals the fascinating, exciting, and at times tragic story of William J. Flynn.

Why are some of us male and others female? What makes us short or tall, blond or brunette, light-skinned or dark? What causes defects in our biochemistry that lead to debilitating illnesses and physical or other handicaps? The answer is genetics. This title provides readers with an overview of this complex area of science.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. With only about 4.5% of the world's population, it holds about 20% of the world's inmates. But that's only the tip of the punishment iceberg. One in five Americans have a criminal record. And every day the assembly line of punishment keeps its steady pace. Many who enter the criminal justice system are never able to fully shake it, and even those who emerge, carry its scars. Fear of crime and endless demands for punishment support an enforcement apparatus that distorts democracy, the economy, and our relationships with each other. Unequal enforcement of our laws leaves the poor and, particularly, African Americans underprotected and overpunished. Instead of making us safer, the current level of unending punishment undermines communities and children's health and well-being. A criminal record reinforces inequality as it forecloses employment opportunities and depresses wages. This book is both a comprehensive bird's eye view of the contours of the criminal justice system, and a critical analysis of its impact on our society. It weaves high-profile accounts-including the conviction and later exoneration of the Central Park 5, Jens Soering's decades-long effort to get out of prison alive, and Tina Bennis's confrontation with the state that took her car because of her husband's indecent behavior-together with data, history, and personal experiences-- to reveal an interconnected system driven by fear, money, power, and structural racism. The book also shows that despite these problems, change is possible. Scores of death row exonerations, and the cost of capital punishment, have decreased capital sentences by almost ninety percent in a quarter century. Despite the recent surge in executions of federal inmates, the death penalty itself is dying a slow death. Drug decriminalization and legalization are sweeping the country, promising to shrink the system's expanse. Yet, efforts to undo the war on drugs seem to trigger promises to crack down on violent and sex offenders. Despite the horrific deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which brought millions into the streets in the middle of a pandemic, true police reform is caught in an ideological struggle. COVID-19 revealed vast racial inequities in healthcare and the economy. Yet, when it ravaged America's prisons, which are disproportionately filled with people of color and the poor, the response remained muted. Early releases, even for the sick and elderly, still seemed unimaginable.

"Research from psychology and cognitive science has revealed a host of specific factors that contribute to misunderstanding. Some of these have to do with how our minds make sense of what we hear and read, while others are the result of cognitive, social, and cultural factors. The very structure of a given language can be problematic as well. In short, there is no one reason for miscommunication: there are a host of underlying causes. Issues of misunderstanding have only multiplied as new mediums for communication have arisen. Emails, texts, and social media posts are even more problematic because they are impoverished modes of communication. Without facial cues, tone of voice, gestures, and even the creative use of silence, our intentions in these text-only mediums are even more likely to go awry"--

"The book applies a biographical, narrative lens to explore what people in the past believed and why, and how and why those beliefs - about God, nature, history, and human agency - changed over time"--

From the Black Lives Matter movement to the health and economic disparities exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been forced to reckon with our country's fraught history - and present - of racial bias and inequality. Now that we have scratched the surface on courageous conversations about race, many are wondering: what is the next step towards healing and justice? Lies About Black People: How to Combat Racist Stereotypes and Why it Matters is designed for anyone who wants to examine their own biases and behaviors with a deeper critical lens in order to take action, make change, and engage positively in the fight for racial equality. In this honest and welcoming book, diversity and inclusion expert, professor, and award-winning speaker Dr. Omekongo Dibinga argues that we must embark on a massive undertaking to re-educate ourselves on the stereotypes that have proven harmful, and too often deadly, to the Black community. Through personal anecdotes, nuanced historical inquiry, and engaging analysis of modern-day events and their historical context and implications, this invaluable guide will break down some of the most powerful lies told about Black people. Whether those lies are pernicious, like the idea that "most black people are criminals," or seemingly innocuous, like the notion that "black people can't swim," all of the lies and stereotypes combatted in this book are rooted in hate and continue to undermine not only Black people in America, but our society as a whole. Beyond combatting these harmful lies, Dr. Dibinga also provides readers with powerful insights on our racial vocabulary, reflective hands-on exercises that will allow readers to confront and change their own biases, and an honest discussion about how to move beyond misplaced shame and use privilege to serve others. Featuring personal surveys alongside real-life interviews with those who have been affected by racial biases first-hand, this open and thoughtful guide will lead readers on a path to understanding, action, and change.

Like most aspects of modern existence, more and more of our financial lives have migrated wholly to the digital realm. With the benefits of ease that our Internet allows us, that transition also raises numerous ¿ and dangerous ¿ threats to national security, our money, and the systems we use to store and transfer it. Cybersecurity is one of the most formidable challenges that the world faces today. From cyberattacks by foreign adversaries like China and Russia, the explosion of cryptocurrency, the advancement of ransomware, phishing, surveillance apps, spying software, and logic bombs, and the increasing savvy and daring shown by Internet hackers, the next financial panic is likely to be delivered to us through use or abuse of technology. In Unhackable, author and financial services and technology expert Thomas P. Vartanian exposes the vulnerabilities of the many networks that we rely on today, as well as the threats facing the integrity of our national security and financial services sector. Recent cybersecurity failures like the Solar Winds attack, which gave hackers believed to be directed by Russian intelligence unprecedented access to federal agencies and private corporations, and the breach of Equifax, which compromised the data of nearly half of all US citizens, have revealed the inadequacies of our current computing systems and the dysfunction of the bureaucracy that oversees them. Even further, attacks like these underscore the need for a centralized and empowered government administration charged with protecting our country¿s data and information. Vartanian offers comprehensive solutions to the problems we face: fortifying our Internet with channels dedicated to financial transactions that use heightened authentication, governance, and enforcement; incorporating the benefits that blockchain has to offer; and investing more in the rapidly developing world of quantum computing are all necessary steps to shoring up our online security. This incisive and important book investigates the creation and history of our financial Internet, the vulnerabilities of our current data storage and sharing platforms, the pitfalls and potential that cryptocurrency holds, the promise that quantum computing and the blockchain offer, and how we can ¿ and must ¿ make a stronger and safer Internet.

Expanding on a concept from New York Times bestseller The God Delusion, former ordained minister and current atheist Dan Barker gives us a biblical play-by-play illustrating God's not-so-admirable qualities.

This page-turning narrative follows the twists and turns of the life of hostage-turned-diplomat James Leander Cathcart upon the international stage of diplomacy, trade, and maritime statecraft at a time when Americäs place in the world was hanging in the balance.

In Comet Madness, author and historian Richard J. Goodrich examines the 1910 appearance of Halley¿s Comet and the ensuing frenzy sparked by media manipulation, bogus science, and outright deception. The result is a fascinating and illuminating narrative history that underscores how we behave in the face of potential calamity ¿ then and now.

Have you ever recognized Mrs. Elton in an office colleague? Or caught a glimpse of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the neighborhood crank? Have you spotted a young Emma Woodhouse in your teenage daughters clique? Over two hundred years after their creation, Jane Austens mean girls are still alive and kicking.Bitches in Bonnets explores parallels between Austens world and our own, showing how modern social and behavioral scientists are just beginning to document and quantify what the author knew instinctively. Interweaving modern research and sociological experiments, author and Austen scholar Sarah Makowski looks beyond Austens texts for the sources of female aggression both during the Regency and today. Despite incredible advances in gender equality, women still face discrimination and bullying from creche to career. The cruelest assaults are those that are least expected from other women. Hardly a woman alive has not experienced a false friend whose opinions and affection bring both positive and destructive consequences. The very ordinariness of Austens stories leaves room for us to identify with her flawed heroines and make peace with their enemies. Bitches in Bonnets examines how six novels of quiet English life, penned by a parochial Regency spinster, still provide insight on female relationships after all these years and how Austen's writing and our reading of it offers solace to millions of fans worldwide.

If we were to judge humanity¿s greatest accomplishments, science is almost certainly at the top of the list. The Milestones of Science is a collection of the most important and impressive breakthroughs in the history of science ¿ as well as the scientists behind him ¿ from the ancient world to what the future of science may hold. Comprised of riveting and readable stories from along the path of scientific discovery in the fields of Astronomy, The Earth, Matter, Forces and Energy, Chemistry, Life, Genetics & DNA, The Human Body, Disease, and Science in the 21st Century, author James D. Stein showcases the most noteworthy achievements of our species in a compelling and comprehensive way. The Milestones of Science highlights key observations, experiments, luminaries, and theories including:The Astronomical work of Galileo, Newton, and EinsteinBlack Holes, Quasars, and PulsarsThe Theory of Plate TectonicsLord Kelvin¿s theory of The Age of the EarthPlanck¿s Quantum HypothesisFaraday, Maxwell, and the Theory of ElectromagnetismMendeleyev and The Periodic Table of ElementsDarwin, Wallace, and the Theory of EvolutionLouis Pasteur and The Germ TheoryThe modern discovery of the Higgs Boson particle¿ and many more. Concluding with a chapter that describes how the internet has changed the process of doing science in the twenty-first century, this essential book covers not just the science, but the people whose life work helps us better understand the world around us.

The Price is Right is television's longest-running game show. Since its inception in 1956, contestants have won cars, tropical vacations, diamond jewelry, even a live horse, and the hosts' excited catchphrase ';come on down!' has become part of our everyday vernacular. Part of the program's enduring appeal is the apparent ease of the game, guessing the cash value of certain prizes. But, if that's the case, then why do so many contestants come away from the show empty-handed?Solving The Price is Right is an in-depth exploration of the underlying probability theory of the popular television program that explores how biases and behavioral pitfalls limit our ability to successfully apply logic and math both on and off the show. With rigorous data and analysis compiled from Seasons 47 and 48 (356 total episodes), investor and math practitioner Justin L. Bergner draws strategic and mathematical insights from all facets of the show, from Contestant's Row bidding to the Showcase Showdown, and all 77 Pricing Games, using a combination of game theory, probability theory, statistics, and pattern recognition. In each section, Bergner summarizes contestant performance, highlights the biases leading to sub-par outcomes, and shows how outcomes can be improved by executing the right strategies while avoiding cognitive biases. Throughout, Bergner applies the lessons learned to the fields of business, finance, and our real lives, shedding light on themes of reverse psychology, strategic patience, and the importance of establishing what is sufficient for success in our pursuits. The result is a truly unique and meticulously researched book that uses Solving The Price is Right as a lens to examine our own choices and how to make better ones.

Depending on which doctor you speak with, or which websites you read, cannabis could be an appealing, low-risk medicine ¿ even an aid to wellness ¿ or an insidiously addictive drug rotting the brains of our youth. This dissonance confuses young people, distressed patients, and paralyzes politicians, all while inviting dubious sources of information and resulting in uninformed choices, enhanced polarization, and a fragmented national policy.Seeing Through the Smoke is an unflinching examination at the grossly misunderstood drug that uses data-driven medical science and a critical historical perspective to reveal the truth behind cannabis. In this balanced and measured investigation, Cannabis specialist and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School Dr. Peter Grinspoon untangles the reality behind cannabis, revealing how we ended up with radically divergent understandings of the drug and pointing a way toward a middle ground that we can all share.Moving through an illuminating tour of the social history and the medical science behind cannabis, Grinspoon unpacks the layers of disinformation left by a sordid history of government propaganda, racial suppression, and indifference from the medical community to answer questions like:Is cannabis addictive?What are its best-established medical uses? Can cannabis help cure cancer? How does cannabis affect memory? How dangerous is cannabis for teens? Is cannabis a safer treatment for ADHD and PTSD? What exactly is CBD and how is it different from marijuana?What are the most concerning side effects? By focusing on the most critical purported harms¿driving, pregnancy, addictiveness, memory¿and by focusing on the most commonly cited medical benefits¿relieving chronic pain, sleep, anxiety, PTSD, autism, and cancer¿Seeing Through the Smoke will help patients, parents, doctors, health experts, regulators, and politicians move beyond biased perceptions and arrive at a shared reality towards cannabis.

A Tale of Two Cranes will serve as a launching pad for better understanding the progress and pitfalls inherent in endangered species management, through 50 years of lessons learned since the landmark Endangered Species Act was enacted by the United States Congress in December 1973

A sensitive and loving story, Handle With Care is a sympathetic portrayal of the difficulties and trauma of caring for a parent suffering from the progressive deterioration of his or her mental facilities. Describing her mother's long, irreversible illness, Dorothy Brown candidly relates her feelings of shock, despair, and bewilderment and her later feelings of guilt, resentment, and sadness. More than just a personal account, this book is a valuable discussion of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, the options for care and/or treatment, and the financial and legal issues. Ms. Brown stresses the need for early diagnosis and points out that "senility" (a convenient catch-all term) is hardly accurate and is often misleading, allowing one to accept as inevitable what may in fact be treatable. She also describes the findings of research that hold out hope for better diagnosis and more effective treatment in the future.

This highly original book examines the personal and collective psychology behind the breakdown of rational decision-making during times of crisis and offers solutions to how we can be better prepared.