The Odds of Lightning
The Odds of Lightning

Author: Jocelyn Davies

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2016-09-20

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1481440551

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A bolt of lightning inspires an incredible adventure in this charming, magical realism story that takes four teens on an all-night journey through the streets of New York City. Extraordinary things happen when we least expect them. Tiny, Lu, Will and Nathaniel used to be best friends. Then life-defining events the summer before high school tore them apart. Now, three years later, they hardly talk anymore. Nathaniel has become obsessed with winning the prestigious science scholarship that his genius older brother once won. Will has risen from anonymity to popular soccer star. Lu grew into a brash, impetuous actress. And shy, poetic Tiny has slowly been fading away. But fate weaves their lives together again the night before the SATs, during a wild thunderstorm that threatens to shut down New York City. And lightning strikes. Before they know what's hit them, the four teens embark on an epic all-night adventure to follow their dreams, fall in and out of love, reconcile the past, and overcome the fears that have been driving them since that one lost summer. And by the time the sun rises, odds are they’ll discover that there’s a fine line between science and magic, and that the mysteries of love and friendship can’t be explained.

The Book of Odds
The Book of Odds

Author: Amram Shapiro

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2014-01-21

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0062343068

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the popular Book of Odds website, this stylish and accessible reference book offers a fascinating peek at the probabilities that govern every aspect of human life Did you know that your odds of dying from drowning are higher than the odds of meeting your mate on a blind date? That the odds a child has seen Internet porn are the same as the odds a person is right-handed? That nearly one in three adults believes in UFOs and nearly one in six has reported seeing one? Drawing from a rigorously researched trove of more than 400,000 statements of probability, based on the most accurate and current data available, The Book of Odds is a graphic reference source for stats on the everyday, the odd, and the outrageous—from sex and marriage, health and disease, beliefs and fears, to wealth, addiction, entertainment, and civic life. What emerges from this colorful and captivating volume is a rich portrait of who we are and how we live today.

Struck by Lightning
Struck by Lightning

Author: Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-04-28

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780309097345

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From terrorist attacks to big money jackpots, Struck by Lightning deconstructs the odds and oddities of chance, examining both the relevant and irreverent role of randomness in our everyday lives. Human beings have long been both fascinated and appalled by randomness. On the one hand, we love the thrill of a surprise party, the unpredictability of a budding romance, or the freedom of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. We are inexplicably delighted by strange coincidences and striking similarities. But we also hate uncertainty's dark side. From cancer to SARS, diseases strike with no apparent pattern. Terrorists attack, airplanes crash, bridges collapse, and we never know if we'll be that one in a million statistic. We are all constantly faced with situations and choices that involve randomness and uncertainty. A basic understanding of the rules of probability theory, applied to real-life circumstances, can help us to make sense of these situations, to avoid unnecessary fear, to seize the opportunities that randomness presents to us, and to actually enjoy the uncertainties we face. The reality is that when it comes to randomness, you can run, but you can't hide. So many aspects of our lives are governed by events that are simply not in our control. In this entertaining yet sophisticated look at the world of probabilities, author Jeffrey Rosenthal-an improbably talented math professor-explains the mechanics of randomness and teaches us how to develop an informed perspective on probability.

The Lightning Queen
The Lightning Queen

Author: Laura Resau

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0545800862

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A stunningly rendered mystical novel, set in the remote mountains of Mexico in the 1950s, illuminates the power of an unlikely friendship that blends cultures, magic, and possibilities.

Path Lit by Lightning
Path Lit by Lightning

Author: David Maraniss

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-06-06

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 147674842X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete that “goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty” (Los Angeles Times), by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered. Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind. But despite his awesome talent, Thorpe’s life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” His gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball, and his supposed allies turned away from him when their own reputations were at risk. His later life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. He roamed from state to state and took bit parts in Hollywood, but even the film of his own life failed to improve his fortunes. But for all his travails, Thorpe survived, determined to shape his own destiny, his perseverance becoming another mark of his mythic stature. Path Lit by Lightning “[reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss” (The Wall Street Journal).

Too Like the Lightning
Too Like the Lightning

Author: Ada Palmer

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: 2016-05-10

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1466858745

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the winner of the 2017 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Ada Palmer's 2017 Compton Crook Award-winning political science fiction, Too Like the Lightning, ventures into a human future of extraordinary originality Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer--a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away. The world into which Mycroft and Carlyle have been born is as strange to our 21st-century eyes as ours would be to a native of the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia built on technologically-generated abundance, and also on complex and mandatory systems of labelling all public writing and speech. What seem to us normal gender distinctions are now distinctly taboo in most social situations. And most of the world's population is affiliated with globe-girdling clans of the like-minded, whose endless economic and cultural competition is carefully managed by central planners of inestimable subtlety. To us it seems like a mad combination of heaven and hell. To them, it seems like normal life. And in this world, Mycroft and Carlyle have stumbled on the wild card that may destablize the system: the boy Bridger, who can effortlessly make his wishes come true. Who can, it would seem, bring inanimate objects to life... Terra Ignota 1. Too Like the Lightning 2. Seven Surrenders 3. The Will to Battle At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Blue Sky Lightning
Blue Sky Lightning

Author: Jeff Kuhn

Publisher:

Published: 2018-12-04

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9781544512310

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Jeff Kuhn survived the unthinkable: burns on over 80 percent of his body and a rare neurological muscular disease. Despite it all, Jeff found the courage to keep moving on. In Blue Sky Lightning, he shares his unbelievable journey through trauma and what those experiences taught him. You are not alone. Your mental fortitude is stronger than you think. Small victories make huge differences. Unconditional love lives in unexpected places (sometimes, even in non-human hearts). And, as long as the odds are not zero, you can win. Blue Sky Lightning is a beacon of hope for the hopeless, a call to share your own inspiring story, and proof that anyone can overcome even the most dire catastrophies." -- back cover.

Lightning in a Mirror
Lightning in a Mirror

Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2022-01-18

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0593337751

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The final installment in the chilling Fogg Lake trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz. Olivia LeClair's experiment with speed dating is not going well. First there was the nasty encounter with the date from hell who tried to murder her and now the mysterious Harlan Rancourt—long believed dead—sits down at her table and tells her she's the only one who can help him locate the Bluestone Project’s legendary Vortex lab. This is not what Olivia had in mind when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed package offered by the dating agency. She doesn't have much choice, though, because her psychic investigation firm works for the mysterious Foundation and Victor Arganbright, the director, is adamant that she assist Harlan. There's just one problem—no one knows Harlan's real agenda. His father once ran the Foundation like a mob organization, and Harlan was destined to be his heir. There's a real possibility Harlan has returned to claim his inheritance. For now, however, it's a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend because others are after the secrets of the long-lost lab. Unfortunately for Olivia, the one thing friend and foe have in common is that everyone is convinced she is the key. Her unique psychic talent is required to defuse the ticking time bomb that is Vortex. Neither trusts the other but Olivia and Harlan soon realize they must work together to survive and unlock the Bluestone Project's most dangerous secrets before more innocent people die.

Lightning in a Bottle
Lightning in a Bottle

Author: David D. Minter

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781402207341

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This resource presents Minter and Reid's simple seven-step system for creating ideas that work--one that improves new-product success rates from the standard one in ten to one in two or better. It also explains the top ten reasons ideas fail, plus the dirty secrets of the research world.

Truly Like Lightning
Truly Like Lightning

Author: David Duchovny

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2021-02-02

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 0374722455

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the New York Times–bestselling author David Duchovny, an epic adventure that asks how we make sense of right and wrong in a world of extremes For the past twenty years, Bronson Powers, former Hollywood stuntman and converted Mormon, has been homesteading deep in the uninhabited desert outside Joshua Tree with his three wives and ten children. Bronson and his wives, Yalulah, Mary, and Jackie, have been raising their family away from the corruption and evil of the modern world. Their insular existence—controversial, difficult, but Edenic—is upended when the ambitious young developer Maya Abbadessa stumbles upon their land. Hoping to make a profit, she crafts a wager with the family that sets in motion a deadly chain of events. Maya, threatening to report the family to social services, convinces them to enter three of their children into a nearby public school. Bronson and his wives agree that if Maya can prove that the kids do better in town than in their desert oasis, they will sell her a chunk of their priceless plot of land. Suddenly confronted with all the complications of the twenty-first century that they tried to keep out of their lives, the Powerses must reckon with their lifestyle as they try to save it. Truly Like Lightning, David Duchovny’s fourth novel, is a heartbreaking meditation on family, religion, sex, greed, human nature, and the vanishing environment of an ancient desert.