A world-class mathematician and regular contributor to the New York Times hosts a delightful tour of the greatest ideas of math, revealing how it connects to literature, philosophy, law, medicine, art, business, even pop culture in ways we never imagined Did O.J. do it? How should you flip your mattress to get the maximum wear out of it? How does Google search the Internet? How many people should you date before settling down? Believe it or not, math plays a crucial role in answering all of these questions and more. Math underpins everything in the cosmos, including us, yet too few of us understand this universal language well enough to revel in its wisdom, its beauty — and its joy. This deeply enlightening, vastly entertaining volume translates math in a way that is at once intelligible and thrilling. Each trenchant chapter of The Joy of x offers an “aha!” moment, starting with why numbers are so helpful, and progressing through the wondrous truths implicit in p, the Pythagorean theorem, irrational numbers, fat tails, even the rigors and surprising charms of calculus. Showing why he has won awards as a professor at Cornell and garnered extensive praise for his articles about math for the New York Times , Strogatz presumes of his readers only curiosity and common sense. And he rewards them with clear, ingenious, and often funny explanations of the most vital and exciting principles of his discipline. Whether you aced integral calculus or aren’t sure what an integer is, you’ll find profound wisdom and persistent delight in The Joy of x .

A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation. For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself. Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume. The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.

Five Works In One Collection - Also available for paperback and Audible! Story 1: The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin The deficiencies of the economic systems of capitalism and feudalism are proposed to be how the whole of society is kept in poverty and scarcity and, therefore, under the control of the wealthy few. Written in the late 1800s, this prophetic book reveals the truths of the many abuses against human rights caused by the centralization of industry. Story 2: Mutual A Factor of Evolution by Peter Kropotkin Mutual aid, otherwise known as mutually beneficial cooperation, is explored as having an essential role in both the animal kingdom and human society in the survival of everyone. Supporting the theory and foundation for anarchist communism, Peter presents an altruistic view of society, comparing it to the natural laws of biology and evolution. Story 3: Fields, Factories and Workshops by Peter Kropotkin Focused on the decentralization of industry, Fields, Factories and Workshops connects anarchism with science based on behavioral trends and tendencies of people. He delivers an economical approach to the formation of a stateless society in which all citizens participate in meeting the needs of the community. Story 4: An Appeal to the Young by Peter Kropotkin Kropotkin’s most famous pamphlet An Appeal to the Young addresses young professionals entering the workforce, encouraging them to join the cause to incite radical societal change.  Story 5: The Life of Kropotkin by CSA Publishing This is an original biography about the prolific thought leader in communist anarchism. Kropotkin tirelessly approached a cause which he believed would benefit humanity and continued to inspire his fellow countrymen to join the movement until his death in 1921.

Charlotte Davenport is a woman on a singular mission: get onto a ship bound for Atlantis by any means necessary, and get home to her sister. When she joins the crew of the Malediction, she has no idea she's made herself an unwitting captive of its pirate captain. Lirian Jurel is cocky and secretive and infuriatingly handsome, and she can't shake the feeling that he's laughing at her . . . but Charlotte has a secret of her own, and she'll do anything to keep it. After all, who could possibly understand the life of a monster? Captain Lirian Jurel has only one thing on his mind — the next adventure. Fucking, feasting, and fighting — it's a pirate's life for him, and he loves the watery path he's chosen. He's never been able to stay away from danger, and Charlotte Davenport — the impudent little witch disguising herself as a member of his crew — seems like the most dangerous creature he's ever encountered. Striking a bargain to bring her home is an easy trade for having her warm in his bed . . . But bringing her home means saying goodbye, which is harder than he anticipated. When you're a vicious sea monster like him, being alone is the wisest course of action, but once they reach Atlantis, Lirian vows to help Charlotte see her journey through — wherever it leads.

The sizzling chemistry of Brynne Weaver and laugh-out-loud humor of Kimberly Lemming meet Jenna Levine and Jeneane O'Riley's fresh spin on paranormal tropes in this wickedly funny, warm-hearted demon romance with just the right amount of spice from the bestselling author of SANCTUARY OF THE SHADOW. DELUXE LIMITED FIRST EDITION featuring stenciled edges, full color inside cover printing with exclusive art, and special design features. Preorder now - available only while supplies last! Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, just wants to play music. Jazz, specifically. Unfortunately, he's a demon. And he's supposed to be evil. Clearly, for Ash, a career as a musician isn't exactly an option. Plus, he's cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth. But it's harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tail . . . The four rogues quickly become the Underworld's Most Wanted, and if they're caught, the consequences will be dire. Yet everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. It must be too good to be true, but, no matter the risk, he has to have her. Evangeline Gregory is just your average human. She works at a jazz bar, plays gigs on weekends . . . and, apparently, hallucinates demons. At least that's what Eva tells herself when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a 7-foot-tall monster. Not believing her own eyes, Eva decides to investigate and soon finds herself caught in the middle of a supernatural clusterf**k of epic proportions. But Ash isn't the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change the course of her life forever. Or maybe just doom it. Eva and Ash will learn the path to love can be complete Hell.

The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy in this swoony, witty, and heart-stoppingly romantic sequel to instant New York Times bestseller The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy. This stunning hardcover features a cover with foil, beautifully designed endpapers, and a black-and-white interior map! Osric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Order’s motto is Harm to none. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark . . . Until they don’t. When Osric first bribed Aurienne to heal him, he never imagined those lines would begin to blur. But every healing session draws them closer together. He finds himself developing unwanted feelings for Aurienne as her capable hands heal his body—and his heart. Aurienne’s perfect life has been flung into chaos in the form of a devastatingly handsome assassin. She should be in her research lab, not illicitly healing a Fyren every full moon—nor wrestling an attraction to him that threatens to slip into something else. Things go superbly sideways when Osric and Aurienne discover more about the deadly Pox deliberately unleashed through the Tīendoms. The plague may be t

A global exploration of the many writing systems that are on the verge of vanishing, and the stories and cultures they carry with them.If something is important, we write it down. Yet 85% of the world's writing systems are on the verge of vanishing - not granted official status, not taught in schools, discouraged and dismissed.When a culture is forced to abandon its traditional script, everything it has written for hundreds of years - sacred texts, poems, personal correspondence, legal documents, the collective experience, wisdom and identity of a people - is lost.This Atlas is about those writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them. From the ancient holy alphabets of the Middle East, now used only by tiny sects, to newly created African alphabets designed to keep cultural traditions alive in the twenty-first from a Sudanese script based on the ownership marks traditionally branded into camels, to a secret system used in one corner of China exclusively by women to record the songs and stories of their inner this unique book profiles dozens of scripts and the cultures they encapsulate, offering glimpses of worlds unknown to us - and ways of saving them from vanishing entirely.

Full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Stories is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar. With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose. Full of Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Hugo Award-winning and nominated stories, Seasons of Glass and Stories includes "Seasons of Glass and Iron," "The Green Book," "Madeleine," "The Lonely Sea in the Sky," "And Their Lips Rang with the Sun," "The Truth About Owls," "A Hollow Play," "Anabasis," "To Follow the Waves," "John Hollowback and the Witch," "Florilegia, or, Some Lies About Flowers," "Pockets," and more.

The first adult epic fantasy novel from multi-million copy bestselling author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris. The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. It tells the story of Loki's recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself. Using her life-long passion for the Norse myths, Joanne Harris has created a vibrant and powerful fantasy novel. Loki, that’s me. Loki, the Light-Bringer, the misunderstood, the elusive, the handsome and modest hero of this particular tissue of lies. Take it with a pinch of salt, but it’s at least as true as the official version, and, dare I say it, more entertaining. So far, history, such as it is, has cast me in a rather unflattering role. Now it’s my turn to take the stage. With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge. From his recruitment by Odin from the realm of Chaos, through his years as the go-to man of Asgard, to his fall from grace in the build-up to Ragnarok, this is the unofficial history of the world’s ultimate trickster.