Education Biography

Rousseau was one of the key figures of the Enlightenment, a period in history when all aspects of politics and human rights underwent dramatic reinterpretation. His discourse on inequality is one of his earliest works, an examination of the state of nature of mankind and the way in which current society fell short of both its ideals and its potential. Rousseau was the most influential French writer of his age. His works gave rise to the ideals espoused during the French Revolution, and in no small part contributed to the American Revolution as well.

We all know what is wrong with today’s schools - or do we? Tracy Kidder spent a year in a fifth grade class in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The teacher is excellent, but something else is very wrong. Kidder skillfully presents the problems and leaves the listener to ponder the solutions.

Acclaimed essayist Mark Edmundson reflects on his own rite of passage as a high school football player to get to larger truths about the ways America's Game shapes its men. Football teaches young men self-discipline and teamwork. But football celebrates violence. Football is a showcase for athletic beauty and physical excellence. But football damages young bodies and minds, sometimes permanently. Football inspires confidence and direction. But football instills cockiness, a false sense of superiority.

RBG failed her driving test five times! She could do twenty push-ups when she was eighty years old! She was a terrible cook! Siblings Paige and Turner have collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the Supreme Court icon, from her childhood and school days to her rise through the United States legal system to become one of the most famous justices—and political figures—in history.

Author Bruce Jarett has put together a must-have entertaining guide for people who love to cook and want to know the inside scoop when it comes to professional cooking tips. His humorous advice on shopping methods, food preparation, serving guests, understanding recipes, and dealing with common kitchen mishaps, is enjoyably spot on - fun to listen to, and will prove to be an invaluable go-to manual for the home cook and for professional chefs.

August 21, 2013: A chemical weapons attack on the suburbs of Damascus reminds the world of the existence of the Syrian war. Hundreds of journalists from every corner of the world rush to the frontier only to leave disappointed when Obama decides not to bomb. They leave behind 200,000 estimated victims, and more than half of a population of 22 million people dispersed or refugeed in nearby countries: the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII according to the UN.

Have you ever used your imagination to solve a problem? When Albert Einstein was young, he was fascinated by the way magnetism made a compass work. As an adult, he used thought experiments to solve some of the universe's greatest mysteries. Einstein loved to think about math and science. He worked for a while at a patent office, but his mind wasn't focused on inventions. Instead, he thought about the universe. In 1905, Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity solved questions that scientists had grappled with for hundreds of years.

Margaret Mohrmann has devoted most of her professional life to caring for children, and in Attending Children she shares the remarkable education those children and their families have given her. Her narratives are both painful and hopeful, tragic and funny, full of remarkable characters and sometimes bizarre families.

In 2008, John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama, becoming a well-known national figure. But his presidential campaign was only one of the many inspirational things John accomplished in his lifetime! John was a decorated member of the US Navy who survived being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He served as an Arizona senator for thirty years, right up until his passing in 2018. Learn all about John McCain and his life as politician who always tried to work across the aisle and to treat people fairly in this book about the maverick patriot.

In the decades between the Great Depression and the advent of cable television, when daily newspapers set the conversational agenda in the United States, the best reporter in the business was a rumpled, hard-drinking figure named Homer Bigart. Despite two Pulitzers and a host of other prizes, he quickly faded from public view after retirement. Few today know the extent to which he was esteemed by his peers. Get the Damn Story is the first comprehensive biography to encompass all of Bigart's journalism, including both his war reporting and coverage of domestic events.

When William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old, his family told him that he must leave school and come home to work on the farm - they could no longer afford his fees. This is his story of how he found a way to make a difference, how he brought light to his family and village and hope to his nation.

How to Be a Writer is peppered with nuggets of practical advice for every person who is aspiring to write and be published, all told in Ruskin Bond's characteristic understated, tongue-in-cheek, humorous style. So, what is it that a person requires the most to become a writer? A love of books, of language, of life, an observant eye and a good memory, along with enthusiasm, optimism, and persistence. This book is an exclusive glimpse into the writing credo of Ruskin Bond, an author who has had an incredibly successful writing career spanning over 70 years.

Discover the origins of one of literature's most famous couples, Romeo and Juliet, and their creator, William Shakespeare, in this fun and informative addition to the What Is the Story Of? series.

Socrates: A Life Worth Living traces the life and ideas of one of Western civilization’s founding philosophers, whose influence is still felt more than two thousand years later. Socrates is famous for how he died, executed by the Athenian government for corrupting the youth of Athens, but his most important contribution was to challenge the people around him to test their ideas and beliefs in conversation with each other, in the belief that in this way we could become a society that knows the difference between truth and falsehood, and find what makes a life worthwhile.

Borges in His Own Words is a fascinating work that immerses the listener in the linguistic essence of the celebrated Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Through meticulous analysis, this book presents the 100 most used words by Borges, revealing the keys to his unique literary style and his profound worldview. Each word is explored in its context, intertwining the narratives and recurring themes that defined his work.

A lot happened while I was trying to get my Master's degree in Mathematics. I thought to share some of it with you, it will inspire you.

Pendant presque 25 ans, la journaliste Isabelle Richer a suivi les procès les plus marquants et les plus significatifs à titre de correspondante au palais de justice de Montréal. Couvrir ainsi la scène judiciaire, c’est côtoyer le pire de la nature humaine, rappelle-t-elle. C’est plonger au cœur de la violence, la détresse, la folie et la douleur. Être ainsi quotidiennement confronté à tant de drames laisse des traces.

Schreiben heißt für Doris Dörrie, das eigene Leben bewusst wahrzunehmen. Wirklich zu sehen, was vor unseren Augen liegt. Oder wiederzufinden, was wir verloren oder vergessen haben. Es ist Trost, Selbstvergewisserung, Anklage, Feier des Lebens. Doris Dörrie denkt auf diesem einzigartigen Hörbuch über das autobiographische Schreiben nach, gibt Tipps und kreative Anleitungen. Und sie legt gleich selbst los und erzählt hinreißend ehrlich von ihrem eigenen Leben.

As a child, Terry McDonell imagined epic stories about his father, a fighter pilot who died in World War II. But, as he discovers in this dazzling memoir, the real hero in his life was his mother, Irma, who moved with him to California hoping for a new life and raised him through difficult times.

The biggest crime story in American history began on the night of March 1, 1932, when the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was snatched from his crib in Hopewell, New Jersey. The news shocked a nation enthralled with the aviator, the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. American law enforcement marshalled all its resources to return “Little Lindy” to the arms of his parents - and perhaps even more energized were the legions of journalists catering to a public whose appetite for Lindbergh news was insatiable.