Groups

Why has South Korea long been heralded as a Christian "success story" when only about 30 percent of its population identifies as Christian? Forging Protestant Allies shows that the popularization of South Korea's image as a Protestant stronghold took shape during the Korean War. As the conflict unfolded, mission societies and faith-based aid agencies in the United States sought to overcome American indifference toward a distant and unfamiliar country. To mobilize sympathy and support, they reimagined South Korea as a Christian ally on the front lines of the global struggle against communism. In this context, "forging" operated in two distinct ways. First, the war fostered new partnerships: not only between Korean churches and Western Protestant organizations, but also among the many mission boards, denominational agencies, and ecumenical relief groups that converged on the peninsula. These collaborations were real and often consequential. But "forging" also captures a second process --

The definitive history of Japanese organized crime, from its origins in samurai-era black markets and gambling rings to the shadowy syndicates of the present Japan's gangster groups, known collectively as the yakuza, are among the oldest underworld societies in the world. With military-style organization and a code of absolute obedience, they have run Japan's black markets for centuries. They have remained strikingly conspicuous in Japanese society, and as a cultural force beyond Japan, with movies and video games celebrating their exploits globally. Andrew Rankin offers the first comprehensive history of the yakuza, from their emergence out of seventeenth-century samurai gang culture to the present day. Though their activities have always encompassed illegal gambling and sex trafficking, the yakuza have also aggressively maintained business interests in private security, the construction industry, the entertainment industry, and debt collection. Yakuza bosses acquired a degree of legi

A paradigm-shattering exploration of how we fight and how we build healthy conflict, from the author of The Art of GatheringWe say we want community. Successful teams. High-performing colleagues and workplaces. Dynamic friend groups. Yet many of us don’t understand the crucial element we need to forge long-lasting communities in our lives: healthy conflict.In The Art of Fighting, Priya Parker explains that we can’t form and grow effective relationships without a fight. She rejects the idea that conflict is abnormal or that good groups don’t fight. All groups change and evolve; indeed, it’s because people disagree that good groups flourish.As she did in the now-classic The Art of Gathering, Parker draws on her far-reaching experience as a conflict facilitator, her own detailed research, and real-world examples to lay out the ways that people can identify disputes, determine how to address them, and what to do if they are insurmountable. Whether people disagree in the boardroom or the lo

Four ducks are tired of their small pond and set out for an adventure in the big lake.Walking at the back, Eric isn't sure. He’s heard there’s a monster in the lake, but his friends don’t believe a word of that old story! Eric reluctantly tags along, only to make a startling discovery and find himself in a wonderful underwater adventure.This large-format picture book features a detailed, fold-out, underwater world of mechanical marvels and sea creatures. The story of a nervous duck who finds courage and the overconfidence of groups will resonate with anyone who’s nervously dipped a toe in unknown waters.

提到人類血型，大部分的人能想到的就是ABO血型和Rh血型。不過，人類的血型種類其實極為的多樣，複雜，ABO和Rh僅僅是目前已知的48種人類血型系統中的2種。也很少人知道，人和人之間的不同血型究竟是如何產生的。在網路上還常可看到，哪種血型的人該怎麼吃才不易胖的種種謬論。由此可見，恐怕也很少人知道，不同的血型，不論在臨床醫學的實務上，或是對人體的正常生理性狀，也包括和某些疾病的關聯，對我們可能帶來的影響。本書是國立臺灣大學生化科學研究所教授，在歷經30多年的人類血型基因研究後所撰寫。作者是熱衷基礎科學領域的研究人員，跳入和臨床醫學息息相關的人類血型研究，如他所言，宛如跳入一個寶庫。作者以其生物化學和分子生物學的基礎科學角度，提供讀者對「血型」，這個在臨床醫學上最重要、最顯著的人和人之間的「多型性」，一個廣泛，又不失深度的敘述。書中除了細數血型發現的歷史，作者還以幾個重要血型，以及和台灣關係密切的特定血型，分別在紅血球表面的抗原結構、在生化合成的路徑、在基因的變異上，是如何導致人和人之間的不同，以此說明「血型」是什麼。也著重這些血型，在輸血安全和其他臨床醫學上的重要性，以及特定血型對人體正常生理的影響，或者和特定疾病的關聯；其中更有由作者本身和其他研究人員在台灣所做的研究貢獻。除了提供一般大眾科普的趣味外，本書對於學習生物化學、分子生物學領域的人，以及血型和輸血醫學領域的人，也提供了豐富的歷史底蘊和知識內涵。這本書更讓我們看到，台灣在血型的研究，以及輸血安全的實踐，和歐美各國相比實不遑多讓。