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  Typhoid Mary: The Notorious Life...

  Charles River Editors

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  Outbreaks of disease, much like wars, inevitably produce a series of public figures who serve as emblematic heroes or villains of the era and event, and in the case of Mary Mallon, now known around the world as “Typhoid Mary,” only a few deaths and a relatively small group of infections actually occurred before she was arrested. That her small but deadly outbreak incited such a firestorm among New York’s health agencies was certainly driven by the fact that the “ghetto disease” had suddenly appeared in New York City’s wealthy neighborhoods. A further difficulty lay in the late discovery of a few individuals who were not susceptible to the disease of typhoid itself, but who were nevertheless carriers. Invisible but contagious, these rare cases spread the pathogen both prolifically and unwittingly. As a natural social conflict rose, public debate came to the fore over the civil rights of those apprehended for carrying major diseases.  
  	The phenomenon of a carrier immune to typhoid and other afflictions had been noted by the early 19th century and can be found in the journals of obscure researchers. However, even prominent medical practitioners were generally unaware of ever having observed such an individual, and the chances are slim that an uneducated domestic servant from a rural county in Ireland would encounter the research or possess the knowledge with which to identify the carrier. In fact, in a state of disbelief maintained throughout her adult life, Mallon defied the medical community’s depiction of her as infected at all. Originating in a culture where disease was still believed to be the result of noxious vapors, and where one was not sick unless she appeared so, Mallon viewed the entire investigation as pure persecution. Along the way, she did herself little good with an aggressive, explosive temper, and a general belligerence toward any idea of cooperation with medical personnel whom she took to be frauds.

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  The Everything Answer Book - How...

  Awit Goswami PhD

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  Goswami's basic premise is that quantum physics is not only the future of science, but is also the key to understanding consciousness, life, death, God, psychology, and the meaning of life. Quantum physics is an antidote to the moral sterility and mechanistic approach of scientific materialism and is the best and clearest approach to understanding our universe. In short, quantum physics is indeed the theory of everything.Here in seventeen chapters, Dr. Goswami and his friends and colleagues discuss, among other things, how quantum physics affects our understanding of:● Zen● Thoughts, feelings, and intuitions● Dreams● Karma, death, and reincarnation● God's will, evolution, and purpose

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  Ghost Work - How to Stop Silicon...

  Mary L. Gray, Siddharth Suri

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  Hidden beneath the surface of the web, lost in our wrong-headed debates about AI, a new menace is looming. Anthropologist Mary L. Gray and computer scientist Siddharth Suri team up to unveil how services delivered by companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Uber can only function smoothly thanks to the judgment and experience of a vast, invisible human labor force. These people doing "ghost work" make the internet seem smart. They perform high-tech piecework: flagging X-rated content, proofreading, designing engine parts, and much more. An estimated 8 percent of Americans have worked at least once in this "ghost economy," and that number is growing. They usually earn less than legal minimums for traditional work, they have no health benefits, and they can be fired at any time for any reason, or none. 
  There are no labor laws to govern this kind of work, and these latter-day assembly lines draw in—and all too often overwork and underpay—a surprisingly diverse range of workers: harried young mothers, professionals forced into early retirement, recent grads who can't get a toehold on the traditional employment ladder, and minorities shut out of the jobs they want. Gray and Suri also show how ghost workers, employers, and society at large can ensure that this new kind of work creates opportunity—rather than misery—for those who do it.

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  The Star Drive - The True Story...

  Phillip Hills

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  In May 2018 NASA called a press conference to announce the successful test-run of their tiny nuclear reactor KRUSTY (Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology). This revolutionary technology, which runs on heat alone, may have profound consequences for the future of mankind, enabling us to maintain permanent bases on the Moon, on Mars, and other planets, and eventually power a starship. On earth too it could have enormous benefits as a new way to generate power at a time when climate change is threatening our very existence.This book is the amazing story behind this invention, which began with Robert Stirling's original designs for a heat exchange engine in 1816. An invention truly ahead of its time, the practical application of the Stirling Engine has taxed the minds of scientists and inventors for almost 200 years. Only now is it possible for its full potential to be realized. Phillip Hills weaves science and history together to tell the story of one of the most exciting scientific developments the world has ever seen.

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  The Green Devotional - Active...

  Karen Speerstra

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  Our planet, our home, is in crisis plain and simple and this collection of quotes, poems, essays, and prayers will inspire all to actively reverse the man-made cause of global warming, stem the tide of environmental destruction, and to reconnect to the good earth. Short essays of topical interest introduce each of the eight sections of this book, and the 250 voices inside, most of them contemporary, began to harmonize together as they seem to call out for their own canonical structure — one bounded by the ancient elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water. This collection of voices is like a “green book of devotional hours,” reminiscent of the Books of Hours medieval people used to hold in their palms. It was called “a cathedral in your hands.” And like that medieval book, The Green Devotional reminds us that we are connected to something broader and wiser than ourselves. Included are selections from such people as Rachel Carson, Cornel West, Bill McKibben, Alice Walker, Sue Monk Kidd, Dean Koontz, Barbara Kingsolver, Daniel Pinchbeck, Arundhati Roy and many others. The Green Devotional ends with a section of “Closing Prayers” that prepare us no just to go to sleep but to rest up for another day of passionate action. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

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  Cosmocracy: Democracy for The...

  Henryk Skolimowski

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  Eco-philosopher Henryk Skolimowski suggests how answers to the big questions of life may be discovered within: "A new light that illumines our minds about the unity of the entire humankind." His theology of light looks ahead to our biological and spiritual evolution into beings that can subsist on light alone.

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