The Oddest Place on Earth

The Oddest Place on Earth PDF Author: Christopher Pala
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595214541
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 325

Get Book Here

Book Description
When Christopher Pala first landed at the North Pole, he fell so much in love with it that he took his girlfriend to ride the polar treadmill on what he mischievously called the First Expedition to Nowhere. For a week, the couple skied every day to the pole, pitched their tent and drifted away from it as they slept.Between his five trips to the pole, Pala used his journalistic skills to peel away the layers of myth surrounding its discovery and capture the untold story of the first men who indisputably stood there.Pala is the first to chronicle the transformation of one of the most remote places on earth into a new Mecca for adventure travelers. Flying in every April on Russian jets, he joined risk-lovers to parachute over it, balloon across it, attain it on skis and scuba-dive under it.But as he discovers, man’s presence at the pole is still ephemeral and there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the escape from ordinary constraints of time and space provided by this breathtakingly gorgeous place that is not a place.Excerpts of the book have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Blue Adventure, Polar Record and other publications.

The Oddest Place on Earth

The Oddest Place on Earth PDF Author: Christopher Pala
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595214541
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 325

Get Book Here

Book Description
When Christopher Pala first landed at the North Pole, he fell so much in love with it that he took his girlfriend to ride the polar treadmill on what he mischievously called the First Expedition to Nowhere. For a week, the couple skied every day to the pole, pitched their tent and drifted away from it as they slept.Between his five trips to the pole, Pala used his journalistic skills to peel away the layers of myth surrounding its discovery and capture the untold story of the first men who indisputably stood there.Pala is the first to chronicle the transformation of one of the most remote places on earth into a new Mecca for adventure travelers. Flying in every April on Russian jets, he joined risk-lovers to parachute over it, balloon across it, attain it on skis and scuba-dive under it.But as he discovers, man’s presence at the pole is still ephemeral and there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the escape from ordinary constraints of time and space provided by this breathtakingly gorgeous place that is not a place.Excerpts of the book have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Blue Adventure, Polar Record and other publications.

What's Weird on Earth

What's Weird on Earth PDF Author: Dorling Kindersley Publishing Staff
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780241317624
Category : Curiosities and wonders
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book Here

Book Description
Fact-hungry kids will love poring over these warped world maps full of unique and weird data. See how many lightning strikes hit parts of our planet, the wind patterns of the whole world, and even how the world map would look if global warming melted the ice caps! Covering everything from Pangea to the world's weirdest natural wonders, this is Earth in all its strange glory. What's Weird on Earth is an entirely new atlas adventure, with maps of UFO sightings, popular foods, every country resized according to population density, and their popularity as holiday destinations. Kids can spot the strangest features on every corner of Earth; from ancient patterns carved in the desert sand to the 29,000 bath toys that sailed the world's ocean currents after a shipwreck. Travel back in time to discover maps from previous centuries or turn the globe upside down - literally. Planet Earth will never seem the same again!

The Most Mysterious Places on Earth

The Most Mysterious Places on Earth PDF Author: Nick Redfern
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1477706852
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book Here

Book Description
Just what makes a locale one of the world's most mysterious places is a subject open to debate. But if Bigfoot, UFOs, and chain-rattling ghosts all appear in one particular location, time and again, along with a fantastic range of other bizarre phenomena, then this is highly suggestive that the place is truly weird and mysterious in the extreme. Readers will learn startling truths of these amazing, paranormal locations and uncanny hot spots. Included are eerie haunts scattered across the United States, Russia, Canada, and just about everywhere in between, including such infamous locales as Death Valley, the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness, and even the New York City subway. Also addressed are the various theories that have been posited to explain why such places have become so infinitely weird in the first place. This is a wild tour of the world and its many rich cultures and folklore that reveals the top twenty-five places on Earth that are...well...incredibly weird and mysterious.

The WEIRDest People in the World

The WEIRDest People in the World PDF Author: Joseph Henrich
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374710457
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 420

Get Book Here

Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020 A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020 A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world. Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar. Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world. Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, The WEIRDest People in the World explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history. Includes black-and-white illustrations.

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney PDF Author: Dawn Raffel
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1524744964
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A mosaic mystery told in vignettes, cliffhangers, curious asides, and some surreal plot twists as Raffel investigates the secrets of the man who changed infant care in America.”—NPR, 2018's Great Reads What kind of doctor puts his patients on display? This is the spellbinding tale of a mysterious Coney Island doctor who revolutionized neonatal care more than one hundred years ago and saved some seven thousand babies. Dr. Martin Couney's story is a kaleidoscopic ride through the intersection of ebullient entrepreneurship, enlightened pediatric care, and the wild culture of world's fairs at the beginning of the American Century. As Dawn Raffel recounts, Dr. Couney used incubators and careful nursing to keep previously doomed infants alive, while displaying these babies alongside sword swallowers, bearded ladies, and burlesque shows at Coney Island, Atlantic City, and venues across the nation. How this turn-of-the-twentieth-century émigré became the savior to families with premature infants—known then as “weaklings”—as he ignored the scorn of the medical establishment and fought the rising popularity of eugenics is one of the most astounding stories of modern medicine. Dr. Couney, for all his entrepreneurial gusto, is a surprisingly appealing character, someone who genuinely cared for the well-being of his tiny patients. But he had something to hide... Drawing on historical documents, original reportage, and interviews with surviving patients, Dawn Raffel tells the marvelously eccentric story of Couney's mysterious carnival career, his larger-than-life personality, and his unprecedented success as the savior of the fragile wonders that are tiny, tiny babies. A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title A Real Simple Best Book of 2018 Christopher Award-winner

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth PDF Author: Lindsey Lee Johnson
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 081299728X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
An unforgettable cast of characters is unleashed into a realm known for its cruelty—the American high school—in this captivating debut novel. The wealthy enclaves north of San Francisco are not the paradise they appear to be, and nobody knows this better than the students of a local high school. Despite being raised with all the opportunities money can buy, these vulnerable kids are navigating a treacherous adolescence in which every action, every rumor, every feeling, is potentially postable, shareable, viral. Lindsey Lee Johnson’s kaleidoscopic narrative exposes at every turn the real human beings beneath the high school stereotypes. Abigail Cress is ticking off the boxes toward the Ivy League when she makes the first impulsive decision of her life: entering into an inappropriate relationship with a teacher. Dave Chu, who knows himself at heart to be a typical B student, takes desperate measures to live up to his parents’ crushing expectations. Emma Fleed, a gifted dancer, balances rigorous rehearsals with wild weekends. Damon Flintov returns from a stint at rehab looking to prove that he’s not an irredeemable screwup. And Calista Broderick, once part of the popular crowd, chooses, for reasons of her own, to become a hippie outcast. Into this complicated web, an idealistic young English teacher arrives from a poorer, scruffier part of California. Molly Nicoll strives to connect with her students—without understanding the middle school tragedy that played out online and has continued to reverberate in different ways for all of them. Written with the rare talent capable of turning teenage drama into urgent, adult fiction, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual, but rich with sorrow, passion, and humanity. Praise for The Most Dangerous Place on Earth “Alarming, compelling . . . Here’s high school life in all its madness.”—The New York Times “Unputdownable.”—Elle “Impossibly funny and achingly sad . . . [Lindsey Lee] Johnson cracks open adolescent angst with adult sensibility and sensitivity.”—San Francisco Chronicle “[A] piercing debut . . . Johnson proves herself a master of the coming-of-age story.”—The Boston Globe “Entrancing . . . Johnson’s novel possesses a propulsive quality. . . . Hard to put down.”—Chicago Tribune “Readers may find themselves so swept up in this enthralling novel that they finish it in a single sitting.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Odd Volume

The Odd Volume PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Get Book Here

Book Description


A Thousand Sisters

A Thousand Sisters PDF Author: Lisa J Shannon
Publisher: Seal Press
ISBN: 1580052967
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Get Book Here

Book Description
The founder of the organization Run for Congo Women describes her visit to Congo and recounts the extreme hardships and tragic events in the lives of the women she meets there.

Rock Formations and Unusual Geologic Structures

Rock Formations and Unusual Geologic Structures PDF Author: Jon Erickson
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438109709
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
Examines geologic rocks and rocks structures, such as natural bridges, stone pillars, mountains and volcanoes, and their origins.

My Holiday in North Korea

My Holiday in North Korea PDF Author: Wendy E. Simmons
Publisher: Rosetta Books
ISBN: 0795347227
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Get Book Here

Book Description
“You remember Eat, Pray, Love and Under the Tuscan Sun? Yeah, this really isn’t like those. It’s better” (San Francisco Chronicle). Most people want out of North Korea. Wendy Simmons wanted in. In My Holiday in North Korea: The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth, Wendy shares a glimpse of North Korea as it’s never been seen before. Even though it’s the scariest place on Earth, somehow Wendy forgot to check her sense of humor at the border. But Wendy’s initial amusement and bewilderment soon turned to frustration and growing paranoia. Before long, she learned the essential conundrum of “tourism” in North Korea: Travel is truly a love affair. But, just like love, it’s a two-way street. And North Korea deprives you of all this. They want you to fall in love with the singular vision of the country they’re willing to show you and nothing more. Through poignant, laugh-out-loud essays and ninety-two never-before-published color photographs of North Korea, Wendy chronicles one of the strangest vacations ever. Along the way, she bares all while undergoing an inner journey as convoluted as the country itself. “Much of the humor and poignancy comes from the absurdity of a fun-loving free spirit taking a vacation that’s more rigidly scripted and controlled than a presidential motorcade . . . Simmons’ photos—including an eerie image of a classroom full of schoolgirls playing accordions—further illustrate the bizarre nature of a country that, whether for good or bad, has been carefully controlled for generations.” —San Francisco Chronicle “An irresistible read . . . A rare and fascinating look at the tourist’s North Korea in a work that is humorous, appalling, and very sad. A highly recommended and revealing glimpse into a secretive land.” —Library Journal