The Enigmatic Academy is a provocative look at the purpose and practice of education in America. Authors Christian Churchill and Gerald Levy use three case studies—a liberal arts college, a boarding school, and a Job Corps center—to illustrate how class, bureaucratic, and secular-religious dimensions of education prepare youth for participation in American foreign and domestic policy at all levels. The authors describe how schools contribute to the formation of a bureaucratic character; how middle and upper class students are trained for leadership positions in corporations, government, and the military; and how the education of lower class students often serves more powerful classes and institutions. Exploring how youth and their educators encounter the complexities of ideology and bureaucracy in school, The Enigmatic Academy deepens our understanding of the flawed redemptive relationship between education and society in the United States. Paradoxically, these three studied schools all prepare students to participate in a society whose values they oppose.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades—all before his suicide at age forty-one. This New York Times bestselling biography of the founder of computer science, with a new preface by the author that addresses Turing’s royal pardon in 2013, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life. Capturing both the inner and outer drama of Turing’s life, Andrew Hodges tells how Turing’s revolutionary idea of 1936—the concept of a universal machine—laid the foundation for the modern computer and how Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. The book also tells how this work was directly related to Turing’s leading role in breaking the German Enigma ciphers during World War II, a scientific triumph that was critical to Allied victory in the Atlantic. At the same time, this is the tragic account of a man who, despite his wartime service, was eventually arrested, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to undergo a humiliating treatment program—all for trying to live honestly in a society that defined homosexuality as a crime. The inspiration for a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, Alan Turing: The Enigma is a gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution.
Books 1 - 4 in the wildly successful (and swoon-inducing) Academy Ghost Bird Series, together for the first time at a low price. This bundle includes an exclusive that fans have been begging for: Meeting Sang, an alternate POV story of how it all began. Introductions–Book 1 With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang Sorenson abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. What she craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary, because for her, being different meant being cast out alone. When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys, each nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have friends. Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers her friends are far from what she’d expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another? Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy. The Academy, ever vigilant. First Days–Book 2 As a new student to Ashley Waters High School, Sang Sorenson hopes her new friends will be the change she’s been craving and will make fitting in a breeze. But Academy students aren’t there to take it easy at the overcrowded school rife with violence. When fights begin, Sang will uncover the true reason the boys traded in their private school lives for public ones. This year, Sang will no longer be invisible. This year, Sang is a target. The principal and vice principal are hot to take Sang down, and her own mother is determined to entrap Sang forever in her belief that the safest place to be is in the shadows. Despite this, Nathan, Luke, Kota, North, Silas, Victor, and Gabriel will discover Sang’s unyielding loyalty. And they will sorely need it. The Academy, supremely influential. Friends vs. Family–Book 3 Sang Sorenson is forced to suffer through another of her mother’s extreme punishments that almost kills her. The Academy boys vow it will be the last. They're determined to keep Sang safe, especially from her own family. Their solution: complete infiltration into her life. Kota, Luke, Silas, Nathan, Victor, Gabriel and North do everything within their power to show Sang what true loyalty means. It takes more than blood to make a family and they want Sang in theirs. Sang experiences a taste of freedom and what it’s like to truly be cared for, wanted. Sang learns a bit more about the boys’ broken families and they discover more than they ever imagined about Sang’s. The Academy was the answer to their problems. Could it be hers? Sang’s actions force her mother to reveal a startling truth that will change Sang’s and the boys’ lives in unpredictable ways. Forever. The Academy, Allegiance Forgiveness and Permission–Book 4 Sang Sorenson’s abusive mother is secure in a hospital and her father has vanished to a new family of his own, leaving Sang and her sister to fend for themselves. But Sang is never really alone. The Academy team has stepped in, promising to protect and care for her. Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North take over, showing Sang they can be depended on for anything. But just because her parents are away, doesn’t mean Sang’s life has become any easier. The newfound freedom will have a higher price than any of them could have imagined. Principal Hendricks now wants to use Sang to exploit Academy secrets. Mr. McCoy has his own dark plans for her. Enemies are closing in. Sang will need to believe in the boys, and the boys will need to trust her if they want to survive their rivals. And each other. The Academy, Relentless Trust
"During the 20th Century Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a sweeping cultural transformation. Between 1900 and 2000 the Christian population in Kenya alone grew from less than one percent to approximately eighty percent. Behind this astonishing cultural revolution were the evangelical missionary movement and the critical support network that gave the movement its energy and staying power. Central to this network were the schools established around Africa for the children of missionaries. "School in the Clouds" is the story of the oldest and largest missionary boarding school in Africa. However, as a driving force behind this dramatic larger narrative, the history of the Rift Valley Academy is more than the story of an institution and the lives that made it up. It is a microcosm of one of the most remarkable cultural transformations in world history."--Back cover
First Days is the second book in The Academy Ghost Bird Series. Sang Sorenson used to be the invisible girl in class. As a new student to Ashley Waters High School, Sang hopes that her new friends will be the change she’s been craving and will make fitting in a breeze. But Academy students aren’t there to take it easy. The high school is overcrowded and rife with violence. When fights begin, Sang will uncover the true reason the boys traded in their private school life for a public one. This year, Sang will no longer be invisible. This year, Sang is a target. The principal and vice principal are hot to take Sang down, and her own mother is determined to entrap Sang forever in her belief that the safest place to be is in the shadows. Despite this, Nathan, Luke, Kota, North, Silas, Victor, and Gabriel will discover Sang’s unyielding loyalty. And they will sorely need it. The Academy, supremely influential. Keywords: spies, family, young adult, child abuse, coming of age, friendship, action, adventure, YA, mysteries, thrillers, Charleston, academy, menage, reverse, harem, dysfunctional, relationships, social situations, sleuth, private detective, neglect, family, families, high, school, sibling, bullies, bullying, love, romantic, romance, teen, drama, love triangle, contemporary, secrets
The Dan Brown Enigma is an insightful look into the world of Dan Brown that will not only enthral and entertain, but will unlock the secrets of one of the world's most exciting and enigmatic writers. Dan Brown is already one of the bestselling authors that the world has ever seen.Due to the success of his gripping novels Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol, he has become a household name. But how did he achieve this? What's his secret? This in-depth biography reveals how, with a heady mix of science, religion, fact and fiction, he has captured the public's imagination and secured his place in the history of the popular thriller. Despite his enormous success, Dan Brown is an unassuming man. This book includes a look at his early years -- long before the fame and fortune that came with the success of The Da Vinci Code -- when he was a musician, teacher and writer of humour titles. It also examines the crucial role that his wife, Blythe Brown, plays in his life and work. His skilful storytelling, with its intricate, twisting plotlines, is certainly something that sets him apart from other thriller writers. The Dan Brown Enigma also looks at his extraordinary attention to detail and reveals how important research is to each of his books. Through hours and hours of careful study, he brings to light ancient rites and rituals that are buried deep within our collective subconscious. This combination of Brown's imagination with the secret truths, myths and legends from a variety of ancient institutions -- including the Freemasons and the Catholic Church -- are perhaps why his novels are so successful...and, at times, controversial.
Faithful to Leonardo da Vinci's prophetic visions, this tarot set draws upon his notebooks, drawings, and ideas to enable the readers to use the included deck of tarot cards, lavishly illustrated with da Vinci's artwork, to discover fresh ways of looking at personal experience.
This volume brings together many of South Africa’s leading scholars of education and covers the full range of South African schooling: from financing and policy reform to in-depth discussions of literacy, numeracy, teacher development and curriculum change. The book moves beyond a historical analysis and provides an inside view of the questions South African scholars are now grappling with: Are there different and preferential equilibria we have not yet thought of or explored, and if so what are they? In practical terms, how does one get to a more equitable distribution of teachers, resources and learning outcomes? While decidedly local, these questions resonate throughout the developing world. South Africa today is the most unequal country in the world. The richest 10% of South Africans lay claim to 65% of national income and 90% of national wealth. This is the largest 90-10 gap in the world, and one that is reflected in the schooling system. Two decades after apartheid it is still the case that the life chances of most South African children are determined not by their ability or the result of hard-work and determination, but instead by the colour of their skin, the province of their birth, and the wealth of their parents. Looking back on almost three decades of democracy in South Africa, it is this stubbornness of inequality and its patterns of persistence that demands explanation, justification and analysis. "This is a landmark book on basic education in South Africa, an essential volume for those interested in learning outcomes and their inequality in South Africa. The various chapters present conceptually and empirically sophisticated analyses of learning outcomes across divisions of race, class, and place. The book brings together the wealth of decades of research output from top quality researchers to explore what has improved, what has not, and why." Prof Lant Pritchett, Harvard University “There is much wisdom in this collection from many of the best education analysts in South Africa. No surprise that they conclude that without a large and sustained expansion in well-trained teachers, early childhood education, and adequate school resources, South Africa will continue to sacrifice its people’s future to maintaining the privileges of the few.” Prof Martin Carnoy, Stanford University "Altogether, one can derive from this very valuable volume, if not an exact blueprint for the future, then certainly at least a crucial and evidence-based itinerary for the next few steps.” Dr Luis Crouch, RTI
Two striking discoveries made 1740 a turning point in the history of 18th-century biology. Charles Bonnet established that aphids could reproduce without male fertilization. Shortly afterwards Abraham Trembley proved that a tiny aquatic animal, the fresh water polyp, or hydra, could regenerate from cuttings like some plants. The discovery of the polyp was important because of the disturbing metaphysical issues that it raised. In their letters written during the decade of the 1740s to Reaumur, the great French Academician, both Trembley & Bonnet referred to the polyp as an enigma. Not only did it seem to present a new mode of animal reproduction, previously unsuspected, but it called into question the prevailing mechanistic view of animal biology & brought into focus the problem of animal soul. Drawing on some of the most illuminating letters from the private archives of the Trembley family, this study focuses on the discovery of the polyp, using the correspondence of Bonnet & Trembley to understand their common Genevan background & their possible differences in approach from that of Reaumur.
