Mastering Oracle SQL and SQL*Plus

The oracle and sanctuary of the Greek god Apollo at Delphi were known as the "omphalos"--The "center" or "navel" - of the ancient world for more than 1000 years. Individuals, city leaders, and kings c

The oracle and sanctuary of the Greek god Apollo at Delphi were known as the "omphalos"--the "center" or "navel"--of the ancient world for more than 1000 years. Individuals, city leaders, and kings ca

Applied econometrics, known to aficionados as 'metrics, encompasses the statistical methods economists use to untangle cause and effect in human affairs. Through accessible discussion and with a dose of kung fu-themed humor, Mastering 'Metrics presents the essential tools of econometric research and demonstrates why econometrics is exciting and useful.The five most valuable econometric methods, or what the authors call the Furious Five--random assignment, regression, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity designs, and differences in differences--are illustrated through well-crafted real-world examples (vetted for awesomeness by Kung Fu Panda's Jade Palace). Does health insurance make you healthier? Randomized experiments provide answers. Are expensive private colleges and selective public high schools better than more pedestrian institutions? Regression analysis and a regression discontinuity design reveal the surprising truth. When private banks teeter, and depositors take t

Applied econometrics, known to aficionados as 'metrics, encompasses the statistical methods economists use to untangle cause and effect in human affairs. Through accessible discussion and with a dose

After One-Hundred-and-Twenty provides a richly nuanced and deeply personal look at Jewish attitudes and practices regarding death, mourning, and the afterlife as they have existed and evolved from bib

Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and scope.

After One-Hundred-and-Twenty provides a richly nuanced and deeply personal look at Jewish attitudes and practices regarding death, mourning, and the afterlife as they have existed and evolved from bib

The influential economist and philosopher Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) was one of the most original and penetrating critics of American culture and institutions, and his work attracted and still attra

Plants and animals interact with each other and their surroundings, and these interactions--with all their complexity and contingency--control where species can survive and reproduce. In this comprehe

The influential economist and philosopher Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) was one of the most original and penetrating critics of American culture and institutions, and his work attracted and still attra

Britain hosts a diversity of freshwater environments, from torrential hill streams and lowland rivers to lakes and reservoirs, ponds and canals, and ditches and estuaries. Britain's Freshwater Fishes

Black--favorite color of priests and penitents, artists and ascetics, fashion designers and fascists--has always stood for powerfully opposed ideas: authority and humility, sin and holiness, rebellion

Tracing the origins of Britain's current malaise to the abandonment of social democracy What has happened to Britain? As drivers on its roads can attest, it is the pothole capital of Europe. Once-beautiful towns now feature peeling paint, weeds and broken railings. Public services are no longer fit for purpose. A malaise seems to infect every aspect of British life: its economy, polity, social order, sense of well-being, domestic regional relationships and place in the world. In The Land Where Nothing Works, the distinguished historian A. G. Hopkins offers an explanation, tracing Britain's current problems to decisions made in the 1980s that abandoned its postwar experiment in social democracy and mimicked policies of deregulation and privatisation promoted by the United States. In 1945, the new Labour government's development programme aimed at creating a social democracy that would benefit all members of society. The counterrevolution launched by Margaret Thatcher's government in 197

The landmark translation that introduced an ancient Chinese Classic to the West--more than one million copies sold The Wilhelm-Baynes translation of the I Ching, or Book of Changes, has inspired millions with its timeless insights into the changing nature of existence. First set down in the dawn of history as a book of oracles, the I Ching grew into a book of wisdom, eventually becoming one of the Five Classics of Confucianism and providing a common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy. With this groundbreaking translation, the ancient Classic came to the West, where it has influenced countless artists and writers, from Bob Dylan and Philip K. Dick to John Cage and Octavio Paz. Organized for easy reference, it presents the sixty-four hexagrams alongside their commentaries and interpretations, including the Ten Wings, supplemental writings traditionally ascribed to Confucius that provide indispensable perspectives on the symbolic structure of the hexagrams. Featuring C. G.

From bestselling cartoonist C. C. Tsai, a delightful graphic version of the stories and teachings of the important Chinese philosopher Mencius C. C. Tsai is one of Asia's most popular cartoonists, and his graphic editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. In A Cure for Chaos, he uses his virtuosic artistic skill and sly humor to create an entertaining and enlightening illustrated version of key selections from the Mencius, a profoundly influential work of Chinese philosophy. You cannot understand Chinese philosophy without understanding Mencius (fourth century BCE), who is known as the Second Sage, after Confucius, and whose ideas were for many centuries part of the standard Confucian curriculum. A Cure for Chaos is a playful and accessible comic that brings alive the clever stories and thought experiments that Mencius uses to convey his ideas. Through conversations with potentates and colorful episodes involving tigers, chicken thi

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose questions some of the most fashionable ideas in physics today, including string theory What can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy possibly have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe? Surely, theoretical physicists are immune to mere trends, dogmatic beliefs, or flights of fancy? In fact, acclaimed physicist and bestselling author Roger Penrose argues that researchers working at the extreme frontiers of physics are just as susceptible to these forces as anyone else. In this provocative book, he argues that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential in physics, may be leading today's researchers astray in three of the field's most important areas--string theory, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. Arguing that string theory has veered away from physical reality by positing six extra hidden dimensions, Penrose cautions that the fashionable nature of a theory can cloud our judgment

An amazing journey into the hidden realm of nature's sounds The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life. At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge. We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon. We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and Sperm Whalish. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology of

How foreign lending weakens emerging nations In the nineteenth century, many developing countries turned to the credit houses of Europe for sovereign loans to balance their books and weather major fiscal shocks such as war. This reliance on external public finance offered emerging nations endless opportunities to overcome barriers to growth, but it also enabled rulers to bypass critical stages in institution building and political development. Pawned States reveals how easy access to foreign lending at early stages of state building has led to chronic fiscal instability and weakened state capacity in the developing world. Drawing on a wealth of original data to document the rise of cheap overseas credit between 1816 and 1913, Didac Queralt shows how countries in the global periphery obtained these loans by agreeing to "extreme conditionality," which empowered international investors to take control of local revenue sources in cases of default, and how foreclosure eroded a country's tax

A detailed historical look at how copyright was negotiated and protected by authors, publishers, and the state in late imperial and modern China In Pirates and Publishers, Fei-Hsien Wang reveals the unknown social and cultural history of copyright in China from the 1890s through the 1950s, a time of profound sociopolitical changes. Wang draws on a vast range of previously underutilized archival sources to show how copyright was received, appropriated, and practiced in China, within and beyond the legal institutions of the state. Contrary to common belief, copyright was not a problematic doctrine simply imposed on China by foreign powers with little regard for Chinese cultural and social traditions. Shifting the focus from the state legislation of copyright to the daily, on-the-ground negotiations among Chinese authors, publishers, and state agents, Wang presents a more dynamic, nuanced picture of the encounter between Chinese and foreign ideas and customs. Developing multiple ways for

Prescient essays about the state of our politics from the philosopher who predicted that a populist demagogue would become president of the United States Richard Rorty, one of the most influential intellectuals of recent decades, is perhaps best known today as the philosopher who, almost two decades before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, warned of the rise of a Trumpian strongman in America. What Can We Hope For? gathers nineteen of Rorty's essays on American and global politics, including four previously unpublished and many lesser-known and hard-to-find pieces. In these provocative and compelling essays, Rorty confronts the critical challenges democracies face at home and abroad, including populism, growing economic inequality, and overpopulation and environmental devastation. In response, he offers optimistic and realistic ideas about how to address these crises. He outlines strategies for fostering social hope and building an inclusive global community of trust, and urges us t

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal societyIn recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different,

A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of models and bottles to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men Million-dollar birthday parties, megayachts on the French Riviera, and $40,000 bottles of champagne. In today's New Gilded Age, the world's moneyed classes have taken conspicuous consumption to new extremes. In Very Important People, sociologist, author, and former fashion model Ashley Mears takes readers inside the exclusive global nightclub and party circuit--from New York City and the Hamptons to Miami and Saint-Tropez--to reveal the intricate economy of beauty, status, and money that lies behind these spectacular displays of wealth and leisure. Mears spent eighteen months in this world of models and bottles to write this captivating, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking narrative. She describes how clubs and restaurants pay promoters to recruit beautiful young women to their venues in order to at

The ultimate reference book for birdwatchers and bird lovers--the first single-volume book to illustrate all of the world's bird speciesThis is a book like no other--the only truly comprehensive, one-volume illustrated guide to all of the world's birds, covering the complete International Ornithological Congress World Bird List. Featuring more than 300 stunning large-format, full-color plates, this accessible and authoritative encyclopedic reference presents incredibly detailed, accurate, and beautiful paintings of more than 10,700 species by some of the world's best bird artists, led by the legendary Norman Arlott and Ber van Perlo. In addition, The Complete Birds of the World provides detailed but concise identification information about each species on facing pages--including facts about voice, habitat, and geographic distribution. The result is a visual and verbal feast that captures the astonishing variety of bird life around the planet--and that will be cherished by any birder.Il

A groundbreaking logic-based approach to bridging the scientific-constructivist divide in social science The Logic of Social Science offers new principles for designing and conducting social science research. James Mahoney uses set-theoretic analysis to develop a fresh scientific constructivist approach that avoids essentialist biases in the production of knowledge. This approach recognizes that social categories depend on collective understandings for their existence, but it insists that this recognition need not hinder the use of explicit procedures for the rational assessment of truth. Mahoney shows why set-theoretic analysis enables scholars to avoid the pitfalls of essentialism and produce findings that rest on a firm scientific foundation. Extending his previous work and incorporating new material, Mahoney presents specific tools for formulating and evaluating theories in the social sciences. Chapters include discussions of models of causality, procedures for testing propositions

The dramatic story of the last stand of a group of Jewish rebels who held out against the Roman Empire, as revealed by the archaeology of its famous site Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children--the last holdouts of the revolt against Rome following the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple--reportedly took their own lives rather than surrender to the Roman army. This dramatic event, which took place on top of Masada, a barren and windswept mountain overlooking the Dead Sea, spawned a powerful story of Jewish resistance that came to symbolize the embattled modern State of Israel. Incorporating the latest findings, Jodi Magness, an archaeologist who has excavated at Masada, explains what happened there--and what it has come to mean since. Featuring numerous illustrations, this is an engaging exploration of an ancient story that continues to grip the imagination today.

A remarkable look at how the growth, technology, and politics of high-frequency trading have altered global financial markets In today's financial markets, trading floors on which brokers buy and sell

A gorgeous expanded edition of Werner's Nomenclature of Colours, a landmark reference book on color and its origins in nature First published in 1814, Werner's Nomenclature of Colours is a taxonomical

An intimate reckoning with aquifer depletion in America's heartland The Ogallala aquifer has nourished life on the American Great Plains for millennia. But less than a century of unsustainable irrigation farming has taxed much of the aquifer beyond repair. The imminent depletion of the Ogallala and other aquifers around the world is a defining planetary crisis of our times. Running Out offers a uniquely personal account of aquifer depletion and the deeper layers through which it gains meaning and force. Anthropologist Lucas Bessire journeyed back to western Kansas, where five generations of his family lived as irrigation farmers and ranchers, to try to make sense of this vital resource and its loss. His search for water across the drying High Plains brings the reader face to face with the stark realities of industrial agriculture, eroding democratic norms, and surreal interpretations of a looming disaster. Yet the destination is far from predictable, as the book seeks to move beyond th

How China's Communist government maintains its grip on power by both repressing and responding to its people Since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has maintained unrivalled control over the co

From one of the leading policy experts of our time, an urgent rethinking of how we can better support each other to thrive Whether we realize it or not, all of us participate in the social contract every day through mutual obligations among our family, community, place of work, and fellow citizens. Caring for others, paying taxes, and benefiting from public services define the social contract that supports and binds us together as a society. Today, however, our social contract has been broken by changing gender roles, technology, new models of work, aging, and the perils of climate change. Minouche Shafik takes us through stages of life we all experience--raising children, getting educated, falling ill, working, growing old--and shows how a reordering of our societies is possible. Drawing on evidence and examples from around the world, she shows how every country can provide citizens with the basics to have a decent life and be able to contribute to society. But we owe each other more

The work of renowned contemporary artist Daniel Arsham blurs the lines between art, architecture, archeology, and design. In his distinctive style, he takes ancient art works and objects from twentiet

The gripping story of how the end of the Roman Empire was the beginning of the modern world The fall of the Roman Empire has long been considered one of the greatest disasters in history. But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome's dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe's economic rise and the creation of the modern age. Ranging across the entire premodern world, Escape from Rome offers new answers to some of the biggest questions in history: Why did the Roman Empire appear? Why did nothing like it ever return to Europe? And, above all, why did Europeans come to dominate the world? In an absorbing narrative that begins with ancient Rome but stretches far beyond it, from Byzantium to China and from Genghis Khan to Napoleon, Scheidel shows how the demise of Rome and the enduring failure of empire-building on European soil launched an economic transformation that changed the continent and ultimately the world.

Abloh-isms is a collection of essential quotations from American fashion designer, DJ, and stylist Virgil Abloh, who has established himself as a major creative figure in the worlds of pop culture and

New York Times BestsellerWall Street Journal BestsellerA New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceLonglisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the YearFrom economist Anne Case and

Futura is a living legend―a world-renowned painter, designer, and photographer who was a pioneer of graffiti art and New York City’s “subway school.” His radical abstract work in the street and on can

An examination of China's participation in the World Trade Organization, the conflicts it has caused, and how WTO reforms could ease them China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 200

"Essential quotations from renowned artist and pop icon Keith Haring"--

An illustrated record book of sauropod facts and figures-the hugest, the oldest, the most intelligent, and moreThe sauropod dinosaurs roamed the planet for millions of years, with creatures ranging from the smallest of the sauropods, Magyarosaurus, to the huge Argentinosaurus. This illustrated book of records is an essential compendium of sauropod facts and figures-from the biggest and the oldest to the smallest and the rarest. It covers every known species and features more than 2,000 diagrams and technical drawings along with hundreds of full-color reconstructions of specimens.The book is divided into sections that put numerous amazing sauropod facts at your fingertips."Comparing Species" is organized by taxonomic group and gives comparisons of the size of species, how long ago they lived, and when they were discovered. "Mesozoic Calendar" includes page spreads showing the positions of the continents at different geological time periods and reconstructions of creatures from each peri

A stunningly illustrated natural history of spidersSpiders are among the most versatile creatures on the planet, inhabiting six of the seven continents and thriving in environments ranging from desert

The Stata edition of Imai’s groundbreaking textbook on data analysis and statistics for the social sciences and allied fieldsQuantitative analysis is an increasingly essential skill for social science