Author: James Le Fanu Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0307378071 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 322
Book Description
In this daring treatise on the current state of scientific inquiry, James Le Fanu challenges the common assumption that further progress in genetic research and neuroscience must ultimately explain all there is to know about life and man’s place in the world. On the contrary, he argues, the most recent scientific findings point to an unbridgeable explanatory gap between the genes strung out along the Double Helix and the beauty and diversity of the living world—and between the electrical activity of the brain and the abundant creativity of the human mind. His exploration of these mysteries, and his analysis of where they might lead us in our thinking about the nature and purpose of human existence, form the impassioned and riveting heart of Why Us?
Author: Robert C. Berwick Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262533499 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 229
Book Description
Berwick and Chomsky draw on recent developments in linguistic theory to offer an evolutionary account of language and humans' remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire it. “A loosely connected collection of four essays that will fascinate anyone interested in the extraordinary phenomenon of language.” —New York Review of Books We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—“the language faculty”—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book by two distinguished scholars—a computer scientist and a linguist—addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky explain that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define “language” and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. Berwick and Chomsky discuss the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.
Author: Daniel J. Hopkins Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022653040X Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 307
Book Description
In a campaign for state or local office these days, you’re as likely today to hear accusations that an opponent advanced Obamacare or supported Donald Trump as you are to hear about issues affecting the state or local community. This is because American political behavior has become substantially more nationalized. American voters are far more engaged with and knowledgeable about what’s happening in Washington, DC, than in similar messages whether they are in the South, the Northeast, or the Midwest. Gone are the days when all politics was local. With The Increasingly United States, Daniel J. Hopkins explores this trend and its implications for the American political system. The change is significant in part because it works against a key rationale of America’s federalist system, which was built on the assumption that citizens would be more strongly attached to their states and localities. It also has profound implications for how voters are represented. If voters are well informed about state politics, for example, the governor has an incentive to deliver what voters—or at least a pivotal segment of them—want. But if voters are likely to back the same party in gubernatorial as in presidential elections irrespective of the governor’s actions in office, governors may instead come to see their ambitions as tethered more closely to their status in the national party.
Author: Paul R. Pillar Publisher: Columbia University Press ISBN: 0231540353 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
Being insulated by two immense oceans makes it hard for Americans to appreciate the concerns of more exposed countries. American democracy's rapid rise also fools many into thinking the same liberal system can flourish anywhere, and having populated a vast continent with relative ease impedes Americans' understanding of conflicts between different peoples over other lands. Paul R. Pillar ties the American public's misconceptions about foreign threats and behaviors to the nation's history and geography, arguing that American success in international relations is achieved often in spite of, rather than because of, the public's worldview. Drawing a fascinating line from colonial events to America's handling of modern international terrorism, Pillar shows how presumption and misperception turned Finlandization into a dirty word in American policy circles, bolstered the "for us or against us" attitude that characterized the policies of the George W. Bush administration, and continue to obscure the reasons behind Iraq's close relationship with Iran. Fundamental misunderstandings have created a cycle in which threats are underestimated before an attack occurs and then are overestimated after they happen. By exposing this longstanding tradition of misperception, Pillar hopes the United States can develop policies that better address international realities rather than biased beliefs.
Author: P. Scott Corbett Publisher: ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 1886
Book Description
U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.
Author: Michael C. Beckley Publisher: Cornell University Press ISBN: 1501724800 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 367
Book Description
Beckley demonstrates that no country is poised to upend American primacy, not economically, not militarily, and not technologically.... The evidence he assembles should be part of any serious debate about where we are headed.― The New York Times The United States has been the world's dominant power for more than a century. Now many analysts believe that other countries are rising and the United States is in decline. Is the unipolar moment over? Is America finished as a superpower? In this book, Michael Beckley argues that the United States has unique advantages over other nations that, if used wisely, will allow it to remain the world's sole superpower throughout this century. We are not living in a transitional, post-Cold War era. Instead, we are in the midst of what he calls the unipolar era—a period as singular and important as any epoch in modern history. This era, Beckley contends, will endure because the US has a much larger economic and military lead over its closest rival, China, than most people think and the best prospects of any nation to amass wealth and power in the decades ahead. Deeply researched and brilliantly argued, this book covers hundreds of years of great power politics and develops new methods for measuring power and predicting the rise and fall of nations. By documenting long-term trends in the global balance of power and explaining their implications for world politics, the book provides guidance for policymakers, businesspeople, and scholars alike.
Author: Michael Wilkerson Publisher: Post Hill Press ISBN: 1637587848 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 404
Book Description
Who are we? Where are we going? And why are we so divided? Why America Matters addresses these questions and argues that the place Americans call home is worth fighting for. The widely held belief of past generations—that America is special, with an extraordinary role to play in the world—remains true, but has been undermined by external adversaries, internal contradictions, and weakness of vision. Why America Matters reveals how the nation faces four crises: extraordinary circumstances, confused identity, corrupt institutions, and inept policy engagement. The idea of America is under attack, yet many of our wounds are self-inflicted. Powerful forces within our country—hostile to the ideals of America—seem to be winning. These agents seek to rewrite America’s history, undermine its institutions, and silence those who don’t agree. All the while, America’s foreign adversaries prey on our divisions and weaknesses. America is neither declining nor dying, but in a winter season. Our current political and social crises represent fertile ground for national springtime and renewal, a process the nation has gone through before. While the country has never been more divided on partisan, cultural, and ideological lines, there is a path to achieve the unity and vigor necessary to confront the twenty-first century’s challenges. Americans must recognize and reject false ideologies; resist surveillance and tyranny; take back our communities, schools, and families; and assert our enshrined rights to free speech and privacy. The world recognized that America was great because America was good. America’s founding ideals, timeless values, and distinctive national character are needed now more than ever. But we can’t simply go back to the past. A new century requires a new vision of American greatness. Why America Matters points the way. “Why America Matters is an astonishing achievement. Wilkerson’s masterful synthesis of our history as it relates to where we are right at this moment—and how we can and must go forward—is an inestimable gift, and can hardly be praised enough.” —Eric Metaxas is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, Is Atheism Dead?, If You Can Keep It, and Letter to the American Church, and founder and host of Socrates in the City “Why America Matters is a courageous book. Wilkerson confronts the powers—both political and ideological, that have conspired to destroy our nation and its values. Why America Matters holds an urgent and timely message for anyone who cares about the future of this nation. Why America Matters is a must read for anyone seeking to understand what is happening to America, and more importantly, how to fix it!” —Matt Schlapp, Chairman, Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) “Michael Wilkerson has pulled off a mean feat with Why America Matters. As much as it is a crisply written lament for our fractured national identity, his tour de force also is a blueprint for a new generation who will be left to rebuild the moral capital squandered by their forebears. America has never mattered more, and Wilkerson makes the powerful case for a new exceptionalism that will require men and women of courage and virtue to join the resistance against tyranny.” —Miranda Devine, New York Post correspondent and bestselling author of Laptop from Hell
Author: Ethan Sawyer Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN: 1492635138 Category : Study Aids Languages : en Pages : 257
Book Description
Let the College Essay Guy take the stress out of writing your college admission essay. Packed with brainstorming activities, college personal statement samples and more, this book provides a clear, stress-free roadmap to writing your best admission essay. Writing a college admission essay doesn't have to be stressful. College counselor Ethan Sawyer (aka The College Essay Guy) will show you that there are only four (really, four!) types of college admission essays. And all you have to do to figure out which type is best for you is answer two simple questions: 1. Have you experienced significant challenges in your life? 2. Do you know what you want to be or do in the future? With these questions providing the building blocks for your essay, Sawyer guides you through the rest of the process, from choosing a structure to revising your essay, and answers the big questions that have probably been keeping you up at night: How do I brag in a way that doesn't sound like bragging? and How do I make my essay, like, deep? College Essay Essentials will help you with: The best brainstorming exercises Choosing an essay structure The all-important editing and revisions Exercises and tools to help you get started or get unstuck College admission essay examples Packed with tips, tricks, exercises, and sample essays from real students who got into their dream schools, College Essay Essentials is the only college essay guide to make this complicated process logical, simple, and (dare we say it?) a little bit fun. The perfect companion to The Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020/2021. For high school counselors and college admission coaches, this is an essential book to help walk your students through writing a stellar, authentic college essay.
Author: James Le Fanu
Author: Robert C. Berwick
Author: Daniel J. Hopkins
Author: Paul R. Pillar
Author: P. Scott Corbett
Author: Warren W. Wiersbe
Author: Michael C. Beckley
Author: Michael Wilkerson
Author: Ethan Sawyer
Author: Susan A. Brewer