Introduction to JavaScript Object Notation

Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institutionthe nation’s original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America’s later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffere

Look closely at any typically “American” article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have ta

Saint Augustine is one of the most influential figures in all of Christianity, yet his path to sainthood was by no means assured. Born in AD 354 to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine spe

Shortly after assuming office in early 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt made the bold decision to take the United States off the gold standard. This was only the first act in his quest to use monetary poli

Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth?To be human is to want to know, but what we are able to observe is only a tiny portion o

From choosing the right pair of eyeglasses to properly coordinating a tie, shirt, and pocket square, getting dressed is an art to be mastered. Yet how many of us just throw on, well, whatever in the m

In this remarkable exploration of the Catholic world, the preeminent Catholic theologian George Weigel offers a luminous collection of letters to young Catholics, not-so-young Catholics, and curious s

Everyone has heard of the story of DNA as the story of Watson and Crick and Rosalind Franklin, but knowing the structure of DNA was only a part of a greater struggle to understand life’s secrets.Life’

What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But

In 1656, a Maryland planter tortured and killed an enslaved man named Antonio, an Angolan who refused to work in the fields. Three hundred years later, Simon P. Owens battled soul-deadening technologi

We generally associate scientific research and technological development with the promise of innovation and productivity?the goal is to create tools that will make our lives better, easier, and happie

Packed with step-by-step examples and illustrative case studies, and updated to reflect the latest changes in economic policy and the financial landscape,Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Manage

Our world todayfrom the phone in your pocket to the car that you drive, the allure of social media to the strategy of the Pentagonhas been shaped irrevocably by the technology of silicon transistors.

"From Illinois to Alabama, and from Florida to Utah, our laws and legal debates arise from distinctive local settings within our vast and varied nation. As the renowned scholar Akhil Amar explains, Ab

"From drone warfare in the Middle East to the NSA digital spying, the U.S. government has harnessed the power of cutting-edge technology to terrible effect. But what happens when ordinary people have

Danny Hillis offers a clear, easy-to-understand explanation of how computers perform their amazing feats.

A developmental psychologist argues that children who are freed to follow their own interests through self-directed play will become better learners and achievers than the way they learn in modern sch

Bruno Pontecorvo dedicated his career to hunting for the Higgs boson of his day: the neutrino, a nearly massless particle considered essential to the process of nuclear fission. His work on the Manhat

In this fifth edition of Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell revises and updates his popular book on common sense economics, bringing the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Drawing on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history, Sowell explains basic economic principles for the general public in plain English. Basic Economics, which has now been translated into six languages and has additional material online, remains true to its core principle: that the fundamental facts and principles of economics do not require jargon, graphs, or equations, and can be learned in a relaxed and even enjoyable way.

In its earliest days, the American-led war in Afghanistan appeared to be a triumph?a ?good war” in comparison to the debacle in Iraq. Thirteen years later, it has turned into the longest conflict in U

From the big bang to black holes, from dark matter to dark energy, from the origins of the universe to its ultimate destiny, The Edge of the Sky tells the story of the most important discoveries and m

When Abraham Lincoln helped create the Republican Party on the eve of the Civil War, his goal was to promote economic opportunity for all Americans, not just the slaveholding Southern planters who ste

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, eve

Is it safer to fly or take the train? How dangerous is skydiving? And is eating that extra sausage going to kill you? We’ve all heard the statistics for risky activities, but what do they mean in the

"Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth? To be human is to want to know, to understand our origins and the meaning of our lives

Whether rising to power or falling from grace, Jimmy Carter’s political fortunes were always tied to those of progressive Christianity. A former peanut farmer and born-again Christian, Carter won the

From the sidewalk to the catwalk, there’s no shortage of proof that Americans have lost the ability to dress well. It’s not that we dress poorly on purpose; instead, we lack the fashion know-how we ne

A string theorist and a citizen scientist instruct lay readers on elementary principles of physics and associated math that amateur enthusiasts should know in order to study more advanced topics, in a

Describes the history of the exotic islands made famous by Charles Darwin, long known to sailors and pirates as a home to fascinating wildlife and volcanic landscapes that has most recently become a h

"A rising China, climate change, terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a turbulent Middle East, and a reckless North Korea present serious challenges to our national security. But the biggest threat to the Unite

All too frequently, leadership is reduced to a dichotomy: the strong versus the weak. Yet, there are myriad ways to exercise effective political leadership?as well as different ways of failing. The my

The story of the rise of modern navigation technology, from radio location to GPS?and the consequent decline of privacyWhat does it mean to never get lost? You Are Here examines the rise of our techno

Humor, like pornography, is famously difficult to define. We know it when we see it, but is there any way to figure out what we really find funny? In this fascinating investigation into the science of

In 1905, Pope Pius X issued a groundbreaking decree, requiring children to begin confessing at seven rather than fourteen and urging Catholics to confess weekly or monthly instead of annually. This ra

We used to know how to know. We got our answers from books or experts. We'd nail down the facts and move on. But in the Internet age, knowledge has moved onto networks. There's more knowledge than eve

In 1656, a planter in colonial Maryland tortured and killed one of his slaves, an Angolan man named Antonio who refused to work the fields. Over three centuries later, a Detroit labor organizer named

"Matthew Hertenstein shows that by training ourselves to read facial and bodily cues, we can learn the art of previsioning--the ability to predict the thoughts and behaviors of others in almost every

Medicine has become a true information industry, with drug designers able to read every molecular letter of life’s code ? DNA ? and create miracle drugs to control it. Our understanding of DNA has ad

Winner of the 1975 National Book Award, this classic work is updated for the first time in 30 years. Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a foundational text in classical liberal thought, in which Robert Nozick created the intellectual underpinnings for what is now known as libertarianism. In his exhortation to limit the state to only the most minimal possible role, Nozick stirred tremendous controversy in an era predisposed to look to government as the solution to social injustice. When originally published in 1974, Anarchy, State, and Utopia was dismissed by many scholars as nothing more than a paean to the bourgeois status quo. But American politics have changed dramatically since then. Anarchy, State, and Utopia has become ever more relevant since the country has caught up with Nozick's ideas--as Clinton proclaimed, "the era of big government is over." With fierce argumentation and meticulous logic, Robert Nozick gave birth to a new way of thinking about the relationship between the citiz

"Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious-even liber