Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Empedocles - The Four Elements...

  Hector Davidson

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  Empedocles, a philosopher and poet from the ancient Greek city of Acragas (modern-day Agrigento, Sicily), lived during the 5th century BCE and is often regarded as one of the most original thinkers of his time. His life and works remain an intriguing fusion of science, mysticism, and poetry. Though much of what we know about Empedocles comes from fragments of his writings, his ideas have had a profound and lasting influence on philosophy, science, and even religion. 
    
  Empedocles is best known for his theory of the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—which he posited as the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Unlike his predecessors, who sought to explain the world through a singular substance (such as water for Thales or air for Anaximenes), Empedocles argued that these four elements combined and separated through two cosmic forces: Love (Philia) and Strife (Neikos). Love brings the elements together, fostering harmony and unity, while Strife pulls them apart, creating division and chaos. This cyclical process of combination and separation underlies the ongoing changes in the cosmos. 
    
  In addition to his materialistic philosophy, Empedocles incorporated spiritual and mystical elements into his worldview. He believed in the transmigration of souls, suggesting that human beings and other living creatures are bound to an endless cycle of reincarnation. According to Empedocles, the soul is trapped in a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and it can achieve liberation through purification and virtuous living. His philosophical system thus integrated both natural and ethical concerns, urging individuals to live in harmony with the forces of the cosmos and pursue a life of virtue.

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  Too Big for a Single Mind - How...

  Tobias Hürter, David Shaw -...

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  The epic, page-turning history of how a group of physicists toppled the Newtonian universe in the early decades of the twentieth century 
  The epic true story of how a global team of physics luminaries—Einstein, Curie, Schrödinger, and more—toppled the Newtonian universe amid the turmoil of two World Wars 
   
  There may never be another era of science like the first half of the twentieth century, when many of the most important physicists ever to live—Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Ernst Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, and others—came together to uncover the quantum world: a concept so outrageous and shocking, so contrary to traditional physics, that its own founders rebelled against it until the equations held up and fundamentally changed our understanding of reality. 
   
  In cinematic, page-turning chapters, Tobias Hürter takes us back to this uniquely momentous and harrowing time, when war and revolution upended the lives of his renegade scientists. As they crisscross Europe, Hürter reveals these brilliant thinkers anew, as friends and enemies, lovers and loners, and indeed, men and women just like us. Hürter compellingly casts quantum mechanics as a concept Too Big for a Single Mind—and its birth as a testament to the boundless potential of genius in collaboration.

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  J M Barrie and the Lost Boys -...

  Andrew Birkin

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  This literary biography is “a story of obsession and the search for pure childhood . . . Moving, charming, a revelation” (Los Angeles Times).   J. M. Barrie, Victorian novelist, playwright, and author of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, led a life almost as interesting as his famous creation. Childless in his marriage, Barrie grew close to the five young boys of the Davies family, ultimately becoming their guardian and surrogate father when they were orphaned.   Andrew Birkin draws extensively on a vast range of material by and about Barrie, including notebooks, memoirs, and hours of recorded interviews with the family and their circle, to describe Barrie’s life, the tragedies that shaped him, and the wonderful world of imagination he created for the boys. Updated with a new preface and including photos and illustrations, this “absolutely gripping” read reveals the dramatic story behind one of the classics of children’s literature (Evening Standard).   “A psychological thriller . . . One of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies.” —Time   “[A] fascinating story.” —The Washington Post

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  The Art of Living Dangerously -...

  Richard Bangs

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  In 1973, Richard Bangs founded Sobek Expeditions, the original and now the largest adventure travel company in the world, with over a million clients guided since its beginning. But this is not just a story of an unusual company, one that profoundly transformed the way we travel and experience the world. It presents true stories, both perilous and awe-inspiring, from the full array of adventure travel: trekking, climbing, sailing, diving, adventure cruising, kayaking, back-country skiing, mountaineering, biking, cultural immersions, canyoneering, and more. Sobek pioneered scores of adventures, from trekking in the Himalayas, to cruising the Galapagos and Antarctica, to first descents of some eighty rivers around the world. The author personally led thirty-five first river descents, capsizing on six continents (a unique, albeit dubious, distinction), and organized and led the first trips into North Korea, Libya, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, New Guinea, Iran, and even China back in 1978. Sobek clients have included Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mick Jagger, Barry Diller, and Daryl Hannah. It is the shadow company behind National Geographic Adventures, New York Times Active Journeys, and Smithsonian Expeditions. This book traces fifty years of adventure travel and how it has evolved through times of war and peace, terrorism, the rise of the internet, the pandemic, and the first virtual expeditions.

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  Bulelani Ngcuka - The Sting in...

  Marion Sparg

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  "Highly relevant today as prosecutors deal with the aftermath of State Capture. Fascinating from the first page to the last." - Albie Sachs, Former Justice, Constitutional Court
  Courageous, yet contested, Bulelani Ngcuka has always stood up for what he believes in. His decision in 2003 as National Director of Public Prosecutions not to prosecute then deputy president, Jacob Zuma, is a decision he still stands by to this day.
  In this sweeping biography, based on many hours of interviews with Ngcuka, author Marion Sparg uncovers the roots of his fearless activism and tells his side of the story. She goes back in time to his modest beginnings in the Eastern Cape, to his lawyering years with the formidable Griffiths Mxenge, his various periods of detention, exile, and his homecoming.
  Ngcuka played a critical role in establishing the National Prosecuting Authority, the elite crime-busting unit the Scorpions, and other mechanisms to tackle the country's crime and corruption problems. Soon he faced one of his most difficult tasks – confronting former comrades who had become involved in illegal activities.
  The Sting in the Tale is a first-hand account of our most recent legal and political history. It is also an intriguing story about political manoeuvrings, bombings and hijackings, urban-terror and "whispering" campaigns, lies, murder, alleged spies, intrigue, family, and love.

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  The Art of Listening to the Heart

  James Kenyon

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  In this memoir collection, retired veterinarian James Kenyon recalls his days in veterinary practice. From heartwarming to heartbreaking and everything in between, Kenyon writes of his care for beloved family pets, livestock, and their human caretakers. His memories illustrate a true devotion and love for veterinary work, as well as a passion for people and local history. Each chapter relates a specific memory of working with a quirky, loyal, and loveable animal, as well as the quirky, loyal, and lovable humans who owned them. The work offers not just insight into the work of a veterinarian, but to human nature and the manner in which people relate to and care for each other, as well as their animals. 

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