Extraordinary Leaves

Extraordinary Leaves PDF Author: Dennis Schrader
Publisher: Firefly Books
ISBN: 9780228103752
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
A collaboration between a master nature photographer and a botanist that celebrates the astonishing varieties of leaves. Topics include color, pattern, texture and shape, and included among the plants are coleus, kale, caladium and ferns.

Extraordinary Leaves

Extraordinary Leaves PDF Author: Dennis Schrader
Publisher: Firefly Books
ISBN: 9780228103752
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
A collaboration between a master nature photographer and a botanist that celebrates the astonishing varieties of leaves. Topics include color, pattern, texture and shape, and included among the plants are coleus, kale, caladium and ferns.

Extraordinary Leaves

Extraordinary Leaves PDF Author: Dennis Schrader
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book

Book Description
A stunning collaboration between a master nature photographer and a horticulturalist. Leaves are everywhere, appearing in an astonishing variety of shapes, colors and textures. They are the unappreciated gifts of nature, worthy of far more extensive study by all. Extraordinary Leaves is a celebration of one of nature's miracles. As Dennis Schrader explains: "To prepare this book, I have been obligated to take a more intimate look at all aspect of leaves -their many uses, their place in history, the science behind what's going on in a leaf and the unadulterated, simple beauty of the leaf itself." Photographer Stephen Green-Armytage discovered the beauty of leaves while browsing in a greenhouse. The more he looked at the intricate patterns, the more fascinated he became. His photography in this book is the result of years of study, and it is strikingly beautiful. Through words and images, Extraordinary Leaves provides an insightful tour. Topics include color, pattern, texture and shape. Among the specific plants covered are coleus, kale, caladium and ferns.

Extraordinary Knowing

Extraordinary Knowing PDF Author: Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0553382233
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book

Book Description
In 1991, when her daughter’s rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayer’s familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser—a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose—and almost as a joke—Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found. Deeply shaken, yet driven to understand what had happened, Mayer began the fourteen-year journey of discovery that she recounts in this mind-opening, brilliantly readable book. Her first surprise: the dozens of colleagues who’d been keeping similar experiences secret for years, fearful of being labeled credulous or crazy. Extraordinary Knowing is an attempt to break through the silence imposed by fear and to explore what science has to say about these and countless other “inexplicable” phenomena. From Sigmund Freud’s writings on telepathy to secret CIA experiments on remote viewing, from leading-edge neuroscience to the strange world of quantum physics, Dr. Mayer reveals a wealth of credible and fascinating research into the realm where the mind seems to trump the laws of nature. She does not ask us to believe. Rather she brings us a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications not just for scientific inquiry but also for the ways we go about living in the world.

Extraordinary Minds

Extraordinary Minds PDF Author: Howard E Gardner
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786723211
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book

Book Description
Fifteen years ago, psychologist and educator Howard Gardner introduced the idea of multiple intelligences, challenging the presumption that intelligence consists of verbal or analytic abilities only -- those intelligences that schools tend to measure. He argued for a broader understanding of the intelligent mind, one that embraces creation in the arts and music, spatial reasoning, and the ability to understand ourselves and others. Today, Gardner's ideas have become widely accepted -- indeed, they have changed how we think about intelligence, genius, creativity, and even leadership, and he is widely regarded as one of the most important voices writing on these subjects. Now, in Extraordinary Minds , a book as riveting as it is new, Gardner poses an important question: Is there a set of traits shared by all truly great achievers -- those we deem extraordinary -- no matter their field or the time period within which they did their important work? In an attempt to answer this question, Gardner first examines how most of us mature into more or less competent adults. He then examines closely four persons who lived unquestionably extraordinary lives -- Mozart, Freud, Woolf, and Gandhi -- using each as an exemplar of a different kind of extraordinariness: Mozart as the master of a discipline, Freud as the innovative founder of a new discipline, Woolf as the great introspect or, and Gandhi as the influencer. What can we learn about ourselves from the experiences of the extraordinary? Interestingly, Gardner finds that an excess of raw power is not the most impressive characteristic shared by superachievers; rather, these extraordinary individuals all have had a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses, for accurately analyzing the events of their own lives, and for converting into future successes those inevitable setbacks that mark every life. Gardner provides answers to a number of provocative questions, among them: How do we explain extraordinary times -- Athens in the fifth century B.C., the T'ang Dynasty in the eighth century, Islamic Society in the late Middle Ages, and New York at the middle of the century? What is the relation among genius, creativity, fame, success, and moral extraordinariness? Does extraordinariness make for a happier, more fulfilling life, or does it simply create a special onus?

The Unexpected Houseplant

The Unexpected Houseplant PDF Author: Tovah Martin
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 160469243X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Get Book

Book Description
It's time for plant lovers to dust off their houseplants, update their image, and discover just how exciting, trendy, and crucial plants can be in the home. The Unexpected Houseplant, by renowned plant authority Tovah Martin, isn't your typical, old-fashioned, dowdy houseplant book. Martin's approach is revolutionary—picture brilliant spring bulbs by the bed, lush perennials brought in from the garden, quirky succulents in the kitchen, even flowering vines and small trees growing beside an easy chair. Martin brings an evangelist's zeal to the task of convincing homeowners that indoor plants aren't just a luxury—they're a necessity. In addition to design flair, houseplants clean indoor air, which can be up to ten times more polluted. Along with loads of visual inspiration, readers will learn how to make unusual selections, where to best position plants in the home, and valuable tips on watering, feeding, grooming, pruning, and troubleshooting, season by season.

From the Other Side of the World

From the Other Side of the World PDF Author: Elmira Bayrasli
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 161039304X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
Elmira Bayrasli’s worldview was turned upside down when a woman in Bosnia told her, “thanks for the help. But we need work and jobs, not foreign aid.” That prompted Bayrasli to embark on a worldwide quest to find how talented people have overcome insurmountable obstacles to build high-growth businesses that are driving wealth and building communities, regions and countries. Through seven remarkable stories, Elmira Bayrasli shows why the next Steve Jobs and the next Apple, Google or Facebook is as likely to come from Nigeria, Pakistan or Mexico as Silicon Valley. She discovers that what distinguishes techies in Silicon Valley from women selling bamboo stools in Bangladesh isn’t their sophistication but simply the conditions that are necessary to sustain and scale business ideas. In the absence of these obstacles, global entrepreneurship can flourish. Bayrasli paints compelling stories of extraordinary entrepreneurs creatively battling corruption, lack of infrastructure, capital shortages and underdeveloped supplier and customer networks. She offers solutions that can be utilized by entrepreneurs everywhere, and shows why micro-finance, social entrepreneurship, and foreign aid are not enough. Most importantly, she shows how the key to building successful entrepreneurial ecosystems is to provide the framework that enables start-ups to scale.

Extraordinary, Ordinary People

Extraordinary, Ordinary People PDF Author: Condoleezza Rice
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307888479
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Get Book

Book Description
This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl--and a young woman--trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world, of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community that made all the difference. Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman--and the first black woman ever--to serve as Secretary of State. But until she was 25 she never learned to swim, because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he'd rather shut down the city's pools than give black citizens access. Throughout the 1950's, Birmingham's black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last. But by 1963, Birmingham had become an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told--or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing. So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did? Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news--just shortly before her father’s death--that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor. As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling.

A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves

A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves PDF Author: Jason DeParle
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143111191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Get Book

Book Description
One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year "A remarkable book...indispensable."--The Boston Globe "A sweeping, deeply reported tale of international migration...DeParle's understanding of migration is refreshingly clear-eyed and nuanced."--The New York Times "This is epic reporting, nonfiction on a whole other level...One of the best books on immigration written in a generation."--Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted The definitive chronicle of our new age of global migration, told through the multi-generational saga of a Filipino family, by a veteran New York Times reporter and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. When Jason DeParle moved into the Manila slums with Tita Comodas and her family three decades ago, he never imagined his reporting on them would span three generations and turn into the defining chronicle of a new age--the age of global migration. In a monumental book that gives new meaning to "immersion journalism," DeParle paints an intimate portrait of an unforgettable family as they endure years of sacrifice and separation, willing themselves out of shantytown poverty into a new global middle class. At the heart of the story is Tita's daughter, Rosalie. Beating the odds, she struggles through nursing school and works her way across the Middle East until a Texas hospital fulfills her dreams with a job offer in the States. Migration is changing the world--reordering politics, economics, and cultures across the globe. With nearly 45 million immigrants in the United States, few issues are as polarizing. But if the politics of immigration is broken, immigration itself--tens of millions of people gathered from every corner of the globe--remains an underappreciated American success. Expertly combining the personal and panoramic, DeParle presents a family saga and a global phenomenon. Restarting her life in Galveston, Rosalie brings her reluctant husband and three young children with whom she has rarely lived. They must learn to become a family, even as they learn a new country. Ordinary and extraordinary at once, their journey is a twenty-first-century classic, rendered in gripping detail.

The Book of Leaves

The Book of Leaves PDF Author: Allen J. Coombes
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022617686X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2007

Get Book

Book Description
Of all our childhood memories, few are quite as thrilling, or as tactile, as those of climbing trees. Scampering up the rough trunk, spying on the world from the cool green shelter of the canopy, lying on a limb and looking up through the leaves at the summer sun almost made it seem as if we were made for trees, and trees for us.Even in adulthood, trees retain their power, from the refreshing way their waves of green break the monotony of a cityscape to the way their autumn transformations take our breath away. In this lavishly illustrated volume, the trees that have enriched our lives finally get their full due, through a focus on the humble leaves that serve, in a sense, as their public face. The Book of Leaves offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most impressive and beautiful leaves from around the world. Each leaf is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the range, distribution, abundance, and habitat of the tree on which it’s found. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each tree and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. The Henry’s Maple, for instance, found in China and named for an Irish doctor who collected leaves there, bears little initial resemblance to the statuesque maples of North America, from its diminutive stature to its unusual trifoliolate leaves. Or the Mediterranean Olive, which has been known to live for more than 1,500 years and whose short, narrow leaves only fall after two or three years, pushed out in stages by the emergence of younger leaves. From the familiar friends of our backyards to the giants of deep woods, The Book of Leaves brings the forest to life—and to our living rooms—as never before.

This Book Is a Planetarium: And Other Extraordinary Pop-Up Contraptions (Popup Book for Kids and Adults, Interactive Planetarium Book, Cool Books for Adults)

This Book Is a Planetarium: And Other Extraordinary Pop-Up Contraptions (Popup Book for Kids and Adults, Interactive Planetarium Book, Cool Books for Adults) PDF Author: Kelli Anderson
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 9781452136219
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Never has humble paper had such radical ambitions. Defying every expectation of what a book can be, this pop-up extravaganza transforms into six fully functional tools. Artist Kelli Anderson contributes enlightening text alongside each pop-up, explaining the scientific principles at play in her constructions and creating an interactive experience that's as educational as it is extraordinary. Inspiring awe that lasts long after the initial pop, This Book Is a Planetarium leaves readers of all ages with a renewed appreciation for the way things work—and for the enduring magic of books. This Book is a Planetarium is an interactive book for adults and kids that turns into: A working planetarium book projecting constellations on the ceilings and walls A musical instrument with strings to strum A geometric drawing generator An infinite calendar A message decoder A speaker that amplifies sound If you've enjoyed Matthew Reinhart's A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes and Robert Sabuda's Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up, then you'll love This Book is a Planetarium. This collection of cool popup fun makes for the perfect roommate gifts for girls and guys and falls under the following book categories: Adult Popup Books Pop Up Science Books Paper Toys Books