The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity

The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity

Author: Robert K. Merton

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-11-28

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1400841526

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From the names of cruise lines and bookstores to an Australian ranch and a nudist camp outside of Atlanta, the word serendipity--that happy blend of wisdom and luck by which something is discovered not quite by accident--is today ubiquitous. This book traces the word's eventful history from its 1754 coinage into the twentieth century--chronicling along the way much of what we now call the natural and social sciences. The book charts where the term went, with whom it resided, and how it fared. We cross oceans and academic specialties and meet those people, both famous and now obscure, who have used and abused serendipity. We encounter a linguistic sage, walk down the illustrious halls of the Harvard Medical School, attend the (serendipitous) birth of penicillin, and meet someone who "manages serendipity" for the U.S. Navy. The story of serendipity is fascinating; that of The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity, equally so. Written in the 1950s by already-eminent sociologist Robert Merton and Elinor Barber, the book--though occasionally and most tantalizingly cited--was intentionally never published. This is all the more curious because it so remarkably anticipated subsequent battles over research and funding--many of which centered on the role of serendipity in science. Finally, shortly after his ninety-first birthday, following Barber's death and preceding his own by but a little, Merton agreed to expand and publish this major work. Beautifully written, the book is permeated by the prodigious intellectual curiosity and generosity that characterized Merton's influential On the Shoulders of Giants. Absolutely entertaining as the history of a word, the book is also tremendously important to all who value the miracle of intellectual discovery. It represents Merton's lifelong protest against that rhetoric of science that defines discovery as anything other than a messy blend of inspiration, perspiration, error, and happy chance--anything other than serendipity.


The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity

The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity

Author: Robert King Merton

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 9780691117546

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"The book charts where the term went, with whom it resided, and how it fared. We cross oceans and academic specialties and meet those people, both famous and now obscure, who have used and abused serendipity. We encounter a linguistic sage, walk down the illustrious halls of the Harvard Medical School, attend the (serendipitous) birth of penicillin, and meet someone who "manages serendipity" for the U.S. Navy."--Jacket.


Serendipity

Serendipity

Author: Fern Michaels

Publisher: eKensington

Published: 2014-05-15

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 1601830734

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A woman trying to find herself finds love with her ex-husband’s best friend in this novel by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author. Six years ago, Jory Ryan fled Philadelphia after a brief, tragic marriage to wealthy Ross Landers. Now Jory has come home to make peace with the past. But the future invites trouble when Jory falls precipitously for Ross’s best friend—and becomes entangled with the Landers family and the business she fled. Suddenly Jory finds herself at the helm of an empire, confronted with changes and choices she never dreamed possible, and ready to meet a new life ripe with the promise of lasting love. Praise for Fern Michaels and Her Novels “Heartbreaking, suspenseful, and tender.” —Booklist on Return to Sender “A big, rich book in every way . . . I think Fern Michaels has struck oil with this one.” —Patricia Matthews on Texas Rich “Michaels just keeps getting better and better with each book . . . She never disappoints.” —RT Book Reviews on Forget Me Not


Robert K. Merton

Robert K. Merton

Author: Craig Calhoun

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2010-09-14

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0231151128

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Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.


Being an Interdisciplinary Academic

Being an Interdisciplinary Academic

Author: Catherine Lyall

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-29

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 3030186598

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This book highlights the importance of interdisciplinarity in the academic landscape, and examines how it is understood in the context of the modern university. While interdisciplinarity is encouraged by research funders, academics themselves receive mixed messages about how, when and whether to follow this route. Building upon a series of career history interviews with established interdisciplinary researchers, the author reveals fundamental misunderstandings about the nature of interdisciplinary knowledge, how this is shared, and the skills these researchers bring. The book addresses these issues on both a personal and systemic level, identifying how a resilient researcher can craft their own research trajectory to view interdisciplinarity as a truly embedded approach.


Young Adult Development at the School-to-Work Transition

Young Adult Development at the School-to-Work Transition

Author: E. Anne Marshall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-01-18

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0190941529

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The school-to-work transition is a critical part of the human life-span for young adults, their families, and society. The timing of the transition varies greatly and its co-occurrence with a number of other life transitions make it challenging to summarize or generalize. Individual differences and normative developmental factors, as well as external contextual factors such as global pandemics, changing economic circumstances, workplace demands, and cultural shifts, intersect to create a range of challenges and opportunities for those navigating this transition. Written by internationally renowned scholars in developmental psychology, applied psychology, counseling, and sociology, the chapters in this book highlight the trends, issues, and actions that researchers, academics, practitioners, and policy makers need to consider in order to effectively support young adults' transition to work pathways. This volume provides an explicitly international perspective on this area, broad coverage of psychological topics on the school-to-work transition, and an inclusive focus on sub-groups and minority groups, making it a must-read for those who support young adults as they move from school to work.


Nobel Prizes and Life Sciences

Nobel Prizes and Life Sciences

Author: Erling Norrby

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 9814299367

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The Nobel Prizes m natural sciences have achieved the reputation of being the ultimate accolade for scientific achievements. This honk gives a unique insight into the selection of Nobel Prize recipients, in particular the life sciences. The evolving mechanisms of selection of prize recipients are illustrated by reference to archives, which have remained secret for 1) years. Many of the prizes subjected to particular evaluation concern awards given for discoveries in the field of infectious diseases and the interconnected field of genetics. The book illustrates the individuals and environments that are conducive to scientific creativity. Nowhere is this enigmatic activity'-- the mime mover in advancing the human condition highlighted as lucidly as by identification individuals worthy of Nobel Prizes. --Book Jacket.


Utopia Is Creepy: And Other Provocations

Utopia Is Creepy: And Other Provocations

Author: Nicholas Carr

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0393254550

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A freewheeling, sharp-shooting indictment of a tech-besotted culture. With razor wit, Nicholas Carr cuts through Silicon Valley’s unsettlingly cheery vision of the technological future to ask a hard question: Have we been seduced by a lie? Gathering a decade’s worth of posts from his blog, Rough Type, as well as his seminal essays, Utopia Is Creepy is “Carr’s best hits for those who missed the last decade of his stream of thoughtful commentary about our love affair with technology and its effect on our relationships” (Richard Cytowic, New York Journal of Books). Carr draws on artists ranging from Walt Whitman to the Clash, while weaving in the latest findings from science and sociology. Carr’s favorite targets are those zealots who believe so fervently in computers and data that they abandon common sense. Cheap digital tools do not make us all the next Fellini or Dylan. Social networks, diverting as they may be, are not vehicles for self-enlightenment. And “likes” and retweets are not going to elevate political discourse. Utopia Is Creepy compels us to question the technological momentum that has trapped us in its flow. “Resistance is never futile,” argues Carr, and this book delivers the proof.