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  Beyond Measure - The Hidden...

  James Vincent

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  A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day. 
   
   
   
  From the cubit to the kilogram, the humble inch to the speed of light, measurement is a powerful tool that humans invented to make sense of the world. In this revelatory work of science and social history, James Vincent dives into its hidden world, taking listeners from ancient Egypt, where measuring the annual depth of the Nile was an essential task, to the intellectual origins of the metric system in the French Revolution, and from the surprisingly animated rivalry between metric and imperial, to our current age of the "quantified self." At every turn, Vincent is keenly attuned to the political consequences of measurement, exploring how it has also been used as a tool for oppression and control. 
   
   
   
  Beyond Measure reveals how measurement is not only deeply entwined with our experience of the world, but also how its history encompasses and shapes the human quest for knowledge.

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  The Private Lives of Public...

  Jack Gedney

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  A book to help the ordinary birdwatcher appreciate the fascinating songs, stories, and science of common birds. 
   
   
   
  Jack Gedney's studies of birds provide resonant, affirming answers to the questions: Who is this bird? In what way is it beautiful? Why does it matter? Masterfully linking an abundance of poetic references with up-to-date biological science, Gedney shares his devotion to everyday Western birds in fifteen essays. Each essay illuminates the life of a single species and its relationship to humans, and how these species can help us understand birds in general. A dedicated birdwatcher and teacher, Gedney finds wonder not only in the speed and glistening beauty of the Anna's hummingbird, but also in her nest building. He acclaims the turkey vulture's and red-tailed hawk's roles in our ecosystem, and he venerates the inimitable California scrub jay's work planting acorns. Knowing that we hear birds much more often than we see them, Gedney offers his expert's ear to help us not only identify bird songs and calls but also understand what the birds are saying. The crowd at the suet feeder will never look quite the same again. Join Gedney in the enchanted world of these not-so-ordinary birds.

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  Freemium - How Zoom HubSpot...

  Dave Boyce

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  Companies like Dropbox, Zoom, Slack, Atlassian, and DocuSign grew into multibillion-dollar companies using the three-step "Freemium" product strategy: (1) instead of hiring an expensive sales force, give away software for free; (2) let happy users tell others; (3) offer a premium subscription version, producing a recurring revenue stream. Over the last three decades, Freemium strategy has evolved into a practice known to tech industry insiders as "product-led growth." 
   
  Freemium is the authoritative guide to product-led growth, written by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Harvard MBA Dave Boyce, who teaches the first MBA-level course on the topic. Freemium explains how to develop a product that can sell itself, how to ward off competitors, and how to seamlessly move upmarket, selling to larger customers. It details how the product itself (instead of expensive employees) can be used for customer onboarding, customer service, and customer retention. Freemium also details how non-software companies and enterprise sales-led companies are combining product-led growth tactics with more traditional go-to-market initiatives. 
   
  Competing in nearly every tech-related industry today requires an understanding of the principles of product-led growth. Freemium is the comprehensive, practical handbook for this unicorn-building strategy.

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  Pandemics - A Very Short...

  Christian W. McMillen

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  The 2014 Ebola epidemic demonstrated the power of pandemics and their ability not only to destroy lives locally but also to capture the imagination and terrify the world. In 2019 and the years that followed, the coronavirus pandemic infected every continent and took the lives of millions. In this updated edition, Christian W. McMillen provides a concise yet comprehensive account of pandemics throughout human history, illustrating how pandemic disease has shaped history and, at the same time, social behavior has influenced pandemic disease.This Very Short Introduction describes history's major pandemics. McMillen discusses state responses to pandemics, such as quarantine, isolation, travel restrictions, and other forms of social control, and pays special attention to the rise of public health and the explosion of medical research in the wake of pandemics, especially as the germ theory of disease emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today, medicine is able to control all of these diseases, yet some of them are still devastating in much of the developing world. By assessing the relationship between poverty and disease and the geography of epidemics, McMillen offers an outspoken and thought-provoking point of view on the necessity for global governments to learn from past experiences and cooperate to prevent any future epidemic.

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  Urban Governance and Renewal -...

  Lyric Vale

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  In the complex architecture of city-making, governance represents the invisible framework that shapes urban development, mediates competing interests, and determines whose voices influence the evolution of metropolitan spaces. Beyond physical infrastructure and economic dynamics, the political dimensions of urban environments—the policies, power structures, and institutional arrangements that guide development decisions—profoundly shape the trajectory of cities and the lived experiences of their inhabitants. This comprehensive exploration delves into the intricate domains of Urban Policy and Governance, The Politics of Urban Development, and Urban Renewal, examining how formal and informal power systems determine which neighborhoods flourish, which communities face displacement, and how the benefits and burdens of urban change are distributed. 
  The narrative of urban governance is fundamentally a story of contested visions, where multiple stakeholders—from elected officials and corporate interests to community organizations and marginalized populations—engage in complex negotiations over the future of shared urban spaces. By examining the historical evolution, contemporary challenges, and emerging paradigms of urban governance, this book illuminates how policy frameworks, political processes, and renewal strategies reflect deeper power dynamics and ideological perspectives about what cities should be and whom they should serve. Readers will journey through diverse urban contexts—from the boardrooms where development decisions are made to the grassroots movements that challenge established power structures—discovering how governance approaches have evolved from top-down interventions to more collaborative, participatory models that recognize the plurality of urban stakeholders.

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  The Physics of Stars - Exploring...

  Mark Hedges

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  Stars are the fundamental building blocks of the universe, shaping the evolution of galaxies and influencing cosmic phenomena on vast scales. Understanding their physics requires a detailed study of the forces governing their formation, structure, and lifecycle. Stellar physics combines principles from thermodynamics, nuclear physics, and general relativity to explain the energy production, stability, and eventual fate of stars. Observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, provide insights into stellar composition, temperature, and behavior. 
  At the heart of stellar physics is the balance between gravitational collapse and outward pressure. Gravity continuously pulls the stellar material inward, while nuclear fusion generates energy that radiates outward, maintaining equilibrium. This delicate balance determines the longevity of a star, with more massive stars consuming their fuel rapidly, while lower-mass stars burn slowly over billions of years. The life cycle of a star is deeply connected to its initial mass, which dictates its energy output, structure, and eventual transformation into a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole. 
  Observing stars has been a cornerstone of astronomy for centuries, but modern telescopes and spectroscopy have revolutionized our understanding. Spectroscopy allows scientists to analyze starlight and determine the elements present in a star’s atmosphere. By studying absorption and emission lines, astronomers can infer a star’s composition, temperature, and motion. Advances in observational technology, such as space-based telescopes and high-resolution imaging, provide detailed views of stellar phenomena, revealing dynamic processes such as stellar flares, mass ejections, and pulsations.

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