A haunting account by an award-winning cultural historian that addresses still pertinent issues, such as nature vs. nurture, the acquisition of language in children, and the socialization of deaf and mute children.
Fermentation is an ancient way of preserving food as an aid to digestion, but the centralization of modern foods has made it less popular. Katz introduces a new generation to the flavors and health benefits of fermented foods. Since the first publication of the title in 2003 he has offered a fresh perspective through a continued exploration of world food traditions, and this revised edition benefits from his enthusiasm and travels.
How can we create schools that reinforce each child's joy of life, curiosity, individuality, the natural conviction of his or her own self-worth and the worth of others--and that meet the highest academic standards as well? Rebeca Wild, a principal in a Pestalozzi school in Ecuador--the model for a grassroots educational movement in several European countries--reveals how the children in her Pesta classroom experience reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as art, music, geography, the natural sciences, social issues, even matters of life and death. Rebeca Wild shares the organic process by which the Pesta method evolved and explains how the Pesta experience transforms not only the children--including many diagnosed with various psychological problems and learning disabilities--but the parents and teachers as well.
The New York Times bestseller about what would happen if two statistics-minded outsiders were allowed to run a professional baseball team. It’s the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies -- with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That’s what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. Their story in The Only Rule is it Has to Work is unlike any other baseball tale you've ever read. We tag along as Lindbergh and Miller apply their number-crunching insights to all aspects of assembling and running a team, following one cardinal rule for judging each innovation they try: it has to work. We meet colorful figures like general manager Theo Fightmaster and boundary-breakers like the first openly gay player in professional baseball. Even José Canseco makes a cameo appearance. Will their knowledge of numbers help Lindbergh and Miller bring the Stompers a championship, or will they fall on their faces? Will the team have a competitive advantage or is the sport’s folk wisdom true after all? Will the players attract the attention of big-league scouts, or are they on a fast track to oblivion? It’s a wild ride, by turns provocative and absurd, as Lindbergh and Miller tell a story that will speak to numbers geeks and traditionalists alike. And they prove that you don’t need a bat or a glove to make a genuine contribution to the game.
In 2013 the Marine Corps needed facts to inform the integration of female Marines into direct ground combat units. This was a time filled with emotion, speculation, and opinions. In response, the Marine Corps formed a task force whose sole purpose was to explore a future with gender integrated direct ground combat units. This story filled with anecdotes about Marines, researchers, and statisticians is told by the researchers who lived it. During the 18-months, from the inception of the task force idea until completion, it would become for many who participated...The Experiment of a Lifetime.