As Americans and citizens of other industrializing countries began to enjoy lives of increasing affluence and ease during the first half of the 20th century, a rising tide of heart attacks and strokes displaced infectious diseases as the leading cause of death, killing millions in the United States and throughout the world. Although cardiovascular disease remains serious and widespread, the significant decline of per capita deaths is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern public health and medicine. Death rates from heart attack and stroke have fallen dramatically by 80% in the past 50 years -- the progress has been hard won by a combination of basic and applied laboratory research, broad and far-reaching epidemiological studies by physicians, scientists, and public health experts. Cardiovascular disease is no longer viewed as an as an inevitable feature of the natural course of aging, and complacency has given way to hope. This book focuses on developments that influenced the rise and decline of cardiovascular mortality since 1900, but also includes insider insights from the author, a 42-year NIH employee.
“A literary pulp fiction that flays and skewers post-Millennial New York and along the way reinvents the American detective novel.” —Evan Wright, New York Times–bestselling author Harry Bloch is a ghost—ghostwriter, that is. He’s the man behind your favorite pulpy barbarians-in-space novels and vampire romances. He’s no bestselling success, but he’s eked out a living as a freelancer, living in Queens in his late mother’s apartment. Until now. Dollar signs start dancing in his head when he comes to the attention of Darian Clay, the imprisoned serial killer who tortured and beheaded four women in New York City. Having exclusive access to Clay’s story—just before his execution date—would give Bloch’s career the lift he’s been waiting for. Morality aside, it’s a win-win situation. But then women start dying—in the exact same manner as Clay’s previous victims. And Bloch is the one finding them dead, making him the prime suspect unless he can track down the copycat killer. Bloch knows that nice guys finish last, but now it’s his chance to prove that mediocre ones should never be underestimated. “An impressive debut.” —Los Angeles Times “An irreverent and funny twist on the classic whodunit—the kind of pulp-fiction mystery that made the careers of such writers as Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett.” —GQ.com “Seldom has a serial-killer story been as richly textured and laugh-out-loud funny as this one.” —Booklist (starred review)
Introducing Joe the Bouncer in “a tour-de-force, ranging from underworld crime to a unique caper and a terrorist plot . . . an outstanding new voice” (Robert Crais, #1 New York Times bestselling author). In David Gordon’s diabolically imaginative thriller, The Bouncer, nothing and no one is as expected—from a vial of yellow fragrance to a gangster who moonlights in women’s clothes. Joe Brody is just your average Dostoevsky-reading, Harvard-expelled strip club bouncer who has a highly classified military history and whose best friend from Catholic school happens to be head mafioso Gio Caprisi. FBI agent Donna Zamora, the best shot in her class at Quantico, is a single mother stuck at a desk manning the hotline. Their storylines intersect over a tip from a cokehead that leads to a crackdown on Gio’s strip joint in Queens and Joe’s arrest—just one piece of a city-wide sweep aimed at flushing out anyone who might have a lead on the various terrorists whose photos are hanging on the wall under Most Wanted. Outside the jailhouse, the Fed and the bouncer lock eyes, as Gordon launches them both headlong into a nonstop plot that goes from back-road gun show intervention to high-stakes perfume heist and manages to touch everyone from the CIA to the Flushing Triads. Beneath it all lurks a sinister criminal mastermind whose manipulations could cause chaos on a massively violent scale. “A brilliantly goofy caper novel in the grand tradition of Donald E. Westlake.”—The New York Times Book Review “[An] impressive crime novel . . . Gordon’s sharply drawn supporting cast adds a nice balance to all the action.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
This book is an analysis of shifts in dominant media forms and their effects on the sensibilities of the culture as a whole. Many of those shifts have profound, and unfortunate, effects on preaching. T. David Gordon has identified a problem, one that affects all preachers (indeed, all public speakers) and needs fixing. Our preaching is just not communicating properly anymore. Fortunately, Gordon not only explains the causes of this failure but also shows us how to make things better. - Publisher.
An impressive and important cross-cultural study that has vast implications for history, religion, anthropology, folklore, and other fields. . . . Remarkably wide-ranging and extremely well-documented, it covers (among much else) the following: medieval Christian legends such as the 14th-century Ethiopian Gadla Hawaryat (Contendings of the Apostles) that had their roots in Parthian Gnosticism and Manichaeism; dog-stars (especially Sirius), dog-days, and canine psychopomps in the ancient and Hellenistic world; the cynocephalic hordes of the ancient geographers; the legend of Prester John; Visvamitra and the Svapacas ("Dog-Cookers"); the Dog Rong ("warlike barbarians") during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods; the nochoy ghajar (Mongolian for "Dog Country") of the Khitans; the Panju myth of the Southern Man and Yao "barbarians" from chapter 116 of the History of the Latter Han and variants in a series of later texts; and the importance of dogs in ancient Chinese burial rites. . . . Extremely well-researched and highly significant."—Victor H. Mair, Asian Folklore Studies
Since the early 1980s, economic experts have recommended "downsizing" as the best way for U.S. corporations to remain competitive. Reducing unnecessary staff would lower costs, increase profits, and transform these companies into lean, mean production machines. As many American businesses pursued this strategy—often in the wake of mergers and acquisitions that left them with an unwieldy layer of middle management—and raised their bottom line, it seemed the experts were right. Yet as David M. Gordon shows in this iconoclastic book, most of them have really only gone halfway. They are "mean," but far from lean. Tracing the overall employment patterns of the past decade, Gordon shows that most American companies actually employ more managers and supervisors than ever before. These ever-increasing functionaries control company payrolls and pay themselves generous salaries—at the expense of average workers. For despite a steadily growing economy the real wages of the American worker have been falling for the past 20 years. To explain this decline and the much-debated "wage gap" that resulted, pundits and professors invoke various causes ranging from the flow of production jobs overseas to the average worker's lack of the technological skills needed in today's "knowledge economy." But Gordon exposes the single greatest factor in this decline, a corporate strategy that penalizes line workers and hinders businesses from competing effectively in world markets: the simultaneous overstaffing of management hierarchies and the inadequate compensation of workers. Instead of sharing profits with their employees, thus encouraging them to work harder, management has more often opted to prod workers by instilling fear of layoffs. Gordon unerringly plots the shortsighted and disastrous course of U.S. corporations, and documents the tremendous social and personal costs to their employees. Yet in addition to telling the harsh truth about downsizing, he suggests policies to ensure fairer business practices. Wages can increase— indeed, they must—as the economy begins to perform more efficiency. U.S. corporations have become fat and mean. They need to become lean and decent—not just for the sake of their workers, but for the sake of their competitive advantage. This provocative and original book shows how they can.
“To merge a deep understanding of dream work with the mindfulness techniques of Buddhist practice brings a new light to bear on each of these subjects.” —Jean Campbell, president, International Association for the Study of Dreams In Mindful Dreaming, psychologist David Gordon shows how every dream corresponds to one of the four universal stages of healing and growth that Joseph Campbell called the Mythic “search for bliss.” Dreams teach us to recognize the spiritual lessons of each phase of the Journey and urge us to learn ten perennial steps to mindfulness taught by spiritual traditions throughout the millennia. A breakthrough in the field of mindfulness practice and dreamwork, Mindful Dreaming teaches you the simple language of dreams and how they promote mindfulness in our everyday lives. Relaxing our grip on control, our dreams open us to guidance from the Source. Helping us see through the illusion of permanence, they teach us to release attachments and grieve the limitations and losses that life imposes. Mindful of our destructive rush to judgment, our dreams move us to embrace compassion for our own suffering—not just that of others. Finally, dreams teach us mindfulness of our impatience so that we may live more consciously and awake in the present moment. Relying on thought-provoking exercises and abundant examples from the life-changing dreams of the author, his clients and friends, Mindful Dreaming demonstrates how dreams provide a non-judgmental and compassionate mirror that reflect our ongoing progress on the Journey to mindfulness. Mindful dreaming leads us to overcome the emotional blocks that keep us feeling stuck and conflicted in love relationships, frustrated in work, or stagnating in our creative goals.
In the hotly-anticipated sequel to David Gordon's critically-acclaimed and "brilliantly goofy" (New York Times) The Bouncer, New York City's most hardened mob bosses team up once again, this time to pull off a high-stakes drug heist.
Joe the Bouncer's search for a stolen racing pigeon sends him into a warren of assassins in this thrilling caper from David Gordon. Harvard dropout and ex-Special Forces operative Joe Brody is climbing the ranks in the criminal underworld. After successfully executing multiple missions for the various crime syndicates that run New York City, he has come to earn the trust and respect of the city's most dangerous denizens. Which is why his newest task - retrieving a pet pigeon snatched from a rooftop coop in Brooklyn - has Joe puzzled ... until he learns that the bird is valued at close to a million dollars. Joe hatches a plan to sneak into the luxury apartment building where the pigeon is held captive. But the plan takes a deadly turn when he stumbles upon a nest of international war criminals. Fearing that Joe's entry into the building has somehow compromised their nefarious scheme, they put a bounty on his head. In New York, Joe is untouchable, but his new foes come from outside the flock, and he'll need a wing and a prayer to elude their assassins. Reviewers on David Gordon 'David Gordon brings an outstanding new voice to the contemporary crime novel.' Robert Crais 'A unique and worthwhile series' CrimeReads 'Gordon knows how to write a potboiler.' LA Times 'In the caper tradition popularized by Donald E. Westlake and Lawrence Block, Gordon uses humour to good effect.' Publishers Weekly
In their struggle for self-determination the newly independent countries of the Third World are reestablishing links with their precolonial pasts and determining their present identities and future possibilities. To demonstrate this, David Gordon brings together, interprets, and synthesizes the thought of contemporary Arab historiographers. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
An updated edition of a classic: an indispensable companion for a new era in cycling. The bicycle is almost unique among human-powered machines in that it uses human muscles in a near-optimum way. This essential volume offers a comprehensive account of the history of bicycles, how human beings propel them, what makes them go faster—and what keeps them from going even faster. Over the years, and through three previous editions, Bicycling Science has become the bible of technical bicycling not only for designers and builders of bicycles but also for cycling enthusiasts. After a brief history of bicycles and bicycling that demolishes many widespread myths, this fourth edition covers recent experiments and research on human-powered transportation, with updated material on cycling achievements, human-powered machines for use on land and in air and water, power-assisted bicycles, and human physiology. The authors have also added new information on aerodynamics, rolling drag, transmission of power from rider to wheels, braking, heat management, steering and stability, power and speed, and other topics. This edition also includes many new references and figures. With racks of bikeshare bikes on city sidewalks, and new restrictions on greenhouse gas–emitting cars, bicycle use will only grow. This book is the indispensable companion for a new era in cycling.
A richly illustrated tapestry of interwoven studies spanning some six thousand years of history, Dæmons Are Forever is at once a record of archaic contacts and transactions between humans and protean spirit beings—dæmons—and an account of exchanges, among human populations, of the science of spirit beings: dæmonology. Since the time of the Indo-European migrations, and especially following the opening of the Silk Road, a common dæmonological vernacular has been shared among populations ranging from East and South Asia to Northern Europe. In this virtuoso work of historical sleuthing, David Gordon White recovers the trajectories of both the “inner demons” cohabiting the bodies of their human hosts and the “outer dæmons” that those same humans recognized each time they encountered them in their enchanted haunts: sylvan pools, sites of geothermal eruptions, and dark forest groves. Along the way, he invites his readers to reconsider the potential and promise of the historical method in religious studies, suggesting that a “connected histories” approach to Eurasian dæmonology may serve as a model for restoring history to its proper place at the heart of the discipline of the history of religions.
Since the 1960s, yoga has become a billion-dollar industry in the West, attracting housewives and hipsters, New Agers and the old-aged. But our modern conception of yoga derives much from nineteenth-century European spirituality, and the true story of yoga’s origins in South Asia is far richer, stranger, and more entertaining than most of us realize. To uncover this history, David Gordon White focuses on yoga’s practitioners. Combing through millennia of South Asia’s vast and diverse literature, he discovers that yogis are usually portrayed as wonder-workers or sorcerers who use their dangerous supernatural abilities—which can include raising the dead, possession, and levitation—to acquire power, wealth, and sexual gratification. As White shows, even those yogis who aren’t downright villainous bear little resemblance to Western assumptions about them. At turns rollicking and sophisticated, Sinister Yogis tears down the image of yogis as detached, contemplative teachers, finally placing them in their proper context.
The second edition of a comprehensive textbook that introduces turbomachinery and gas turbines through design methods and examples. This comprehensive textbook is unique in its design-focused approach to turbomachinery and gas turbines. It offers students and practicing engineers methods for configuring these machines to perform with the highest possible efficiency. Examples and problems are based on the actual design of turbomachinery and turbines. After an introductory chapter that outlines the goals of the book and provides definitions of terms and parts, the book offers a brief review of the basic principles of thermodynamics and efficiency definitions. The rest of the book is devoted to the analysis and design of real turbomachinery configurations and gas turbines, based on a consistent application of thermodynamic theory and a more empirical treatment of fluid dynamics that relies on the extensive use of design charts. Topics include turbine power cycles, diffusion and diffusers, the analysis and design of three-dimensional free-stream flow, and combustion systems and combustion calculations. The second edition updates every chapter, adding material on subjects that include flow correlations, energy transfer in turbomachines, and three-dimensional design. A solutions manual is available for instructors. This new MIT Press edition makes a popular text available again, with corrections and some updates, to a wide audience of students, professors, and professionals.
It is a central claim of the New Atheists that evolutionary theory disproves theism and demonstrates the truth of metaphysical naturalism. This book examines this claim and explores the implications of evolutionary theory for metaphysics.
Right Here, Right Now! A Journey from Darkness into the Light is an inspiring work in spiritual and emotional enlightenment. Drawing upon a lifetime of insights and experience, David Gordon lays out a cathartic path to discovering lasting happiness, success, and to accessing our innate power to create magnificent lives right now in the present moment. Providing the tools and the toolbox we need to mine our extraordinary potential, he explores how the body, mind, and spirit must be unified, how the paths to our destinies must be clear, and how the choices we make must reflect our highest intentions. David Gordon drives home the reality that our lives unfold one moment at a time, whether we are present and engaged or not, and that by striving for excellence in each moment, we remain firmly on our paths. Positive, engaging, and uplifting, Right Here, Right Now is an empowering meditation on the possibilities open to all of us if we take the time to discover the path within.
This book offers an alternative to perspectives of distributive justice which fail to resolve economic inequality and exacerbate social problems by ignoring the real causes of inequality. The main impact of the book is to highlight the importance of self-ownership and private property, showing how market participation advances liberty and prosperity. The idea that we should pay reparations to disadvantaged racial groups as compensation for historical injustice is deeply contested. The debates often focus on the practical implications of paying reparations, but overlook more fundamental questions about the meaning of justice. What is justice? What are the implications of wealth redistribution for individual liberty and the rule of law? This book answers these questions through an analysis of classical liberal perspectives in law, philosophy and economics. The book questions whether economic inequality stems from historical injustice, and explores the wider implications of attempting to create equal outcomes through legislative mandates. The book argues that free markets, resting on libertarian rights, are the best way to help disadvantaged members of society and to create the conditions more likely to advance economic equality. The book will be of interest to researchers and students of economics, law, politics and philosophy.
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