Across the world, among those who have any knowledge of the subject, the overwhelming answer to that would be — Nicholas II.
Yet it is the wrong answer. The real last Tsar of Russia, as this book will demonstrate beyond doubt, was his younger brother Michael.
But correcting an historical fact is not the primary purpose here. Although the Soviet Union airbrushed him from history, Michael remains an important figure, as growing numbers of Russians have come to agree. For he is the best means of closing that gap which exists between the end of the Tsarist Russia and the emergence of the Soviet Union. He is also not only a bridge to the past, but a bridge to the future, if Russia — as it must — is to come to terms with its own history.
Put simply, to know about Michael is to know what might have been, and thus to know what might yet be. For in rediscovering its last Tsar, Russia might also rediscover something of itself.
About the Author
Donald Crawford was co-author with his wife Rosemary of Michael & Natasha, the life and love of the last Tsar, published worldwide in five languages and 11 editions. A publisher, barrister, and former London journalist.
Release date: January 2, 2013The Insurgents is the inside story of the small group of soldier-scholars, led by General David Petraeus, who plotted to revolutionize one of the largest, oldest, and most hidebound institutions—the United States military. Their aim was to build a new Army that could fight the new kind of war in the post–Cold War age: not massive wars on vast battlefields, but "small wars" in cities and villages, against insurgents and terrorists. These would be wars not only of fighting but of "nation building," often not of necessity but of choice.
Based on secret documents, private emails, and interviews with more than one hundred key characters, including Petraeus, the tale unfolds against the backdrop of the wars against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the main insurgency is the one mounted at home by ambitious, self-consciously intellectual officers—Petraeus, John Nagl, H. R. McMaster, and others—many of them classmates or colleagues in West Point's Social Science Department who rose through the ranks, seized with an idea of how to fight these wars better. Amid the crisis, they forged a community (some of them called it a cabal or mafia) and adapted their enemies' techniques to overhaul the culture and institutions of their own Army.
Fred Kaplan describes how these men and women maneuvered the idea through the bureaucracy and made it official policy. This is a story of power, politics, ideas, and personalities—and how they converged to reshape the twenty-first-century American military. But it is also a cautionary tale about how creative doctrine can harden into dogma, how smart strategists—today's "best and brightest"—can win the battles at home but not the wars abroad. Petraeus and his fellow insurgents made the US military more adaptive to the conflicts of the modern era, but they also created the tools—and made it more tempting—for political leaders to wade into wars that they would be wise to avoid.
Release date: January 8, 2013"Magisterial . . . [A] rich portrait of ancient Egypt's complex evolution over the course of three millenniums."—Los Angeles Times ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post ? Publishers Weekly ? In this landmark volume, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its absorption into the Roman Empire. Drawing upon forty years of archaeological research, award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson takes us inside a tribal society with a pre-monetary economy and decadent, divine kings who ruled with all-too-recognizable human emotions. Here are the legendary leaders: Akhenaten, the "heretic king," who with his wife Nefertiti brought about a revolution with a bold new religion; Tutankhamun, whose dazzling tomb would remain hidden for three millennia; and eleven pharaohs called Ramesses, the last of whom presided over the militarism, lawlessness, and corruption that caused a political and societal decline. Filled with new information and unique interpretations, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt is a riveting and revelatory work of wild drama, bold spectacle, unforgettable characters, and sweeping history. ? "With a literary flair and a sense for a story well told, Mr. Wilkinson offers a highly readable, factually up-to-date account."—The Wall Street Journal ? "[Wilkinson] writes with considerable verve. . . . [He] is nimble at conveying the sumptuous pageantry and cultural sophistication of pharaonic Egypt."—The New York Times
Product Details
Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (January 8, 2013)
Visionary, prize-winning author Jared Diamond changed the way we think about the rise and fall of human civilizations with his previous international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse. Now he returns with another epic - and groundbreaking - journey into our rapidly receding past. In The World Until Yesterday, Diamond reveals how traditional societies around the world offer an extraordinary window onto how our ancestors lived for the majority of human history - until virtually yesterday, in evolutionary terms - and provide unique, often overlooked insights into human nature.
Drawing extensively on his decades working in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Diamond explores how tribal societies approach essential human problems, from childrearing to conflict resolution to health, and discovers we have much to learn from traditional ways of life. He unearths remarkable findings - from the reason why modern afflictions like diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer's are virtually non-existent in tribal societies to the surprising benefits of multilingualism. Panoramic in scope and thrillingly original, The World Until Yesterday provides an enthralling first-hand picture of the human past that also suggests profound lessons for how to live well today.
Release date: April 16, 2013Designers Abroad,Michele Keith's follow-up to her highly successful book Designers Here and There, features twenty-two vacation homes of today's top interior designers, exquisitely captured in over 200 lush color photographs.
For some, vacation homes offer an opportunity to escape from the office, to shut off, to wind down. For decorators, however, vacation homes mean just the opposite—they provide the opportunity to bring work home as they roam the globe, honing their design sensibilities and expanding collections of treasures. Designers Abroad takes the reader on a tour of the world, from Sri Lanka to South Africa to Sweden, by peeking into the gorgeously appointed homes of renowned interior designers. In lively and dynamic text, Michele Keith explores how they incorporate the distinct and native character a foreign land into their second homes, all the while expressing personal style. Embracing new cultures' climates, architectural traditions, and indigenous art, fabrics, and furniture, each designer creates a space at once comfortable and glamorous, a place of solace and inspiration.
Designers Abroad offers inside peeks into residences ranging from a chic studio in Paris to a house perched on windswept cliffs in Nova Scotia, from a beachside abode nestled among boulders in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to a former monastery outside Rome dating back to the fifteenth century. Each project is accompanied by the story of how its design was conceived and executed, and how the attributes of each country inspired its owners—including Lars Bolander, Alessandra Branca, Clodagh, Timothy Corrigan, Mica Ertegun, Fisher Weisman, Juan Pablo Molyneux, Juan Montoya, and Cortney and Robert Novogratz, among others. Designers Abroad demonstrates how these designers incorporate their passion for travel into their own interiors, and thus inspires readers to add a touch of the exotic to their own homes.
The bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals recounts his latest hilarious misadventures in the South Pacific, following in the footsteps of his unlikely idol, Robert Louis Stevenson
Readers and critics alike adore J. Maarten Troost for his signature wry and witty take on the adventure memoir. Hailed by Entertainment Weekly as a "funny, candid, and down-to-earth travel companion," Troost's bestselling debut, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, is an enduring favorite about life in the South Seas.
Headhunters on My Doorstep chronicles Troost's return to the South Pacific after his struggle with alcoholism and time in rehab left him numb to life. Deciding to retrace the path once traveled by the author of Treasure Island, Troost "follows" Robert Louis Stevenson to the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Tahiti, the Gilberts, and Samoa, explaining (and demonstrating) how these exotic locales earned nicknames like, "The Man Eating Isle," "The Refuge of Exiles," and "The Island of Merrymaking."
Somewhere en route from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Tahiti to exploring islands as Robert Louis Stevenson saw them, Troost gradually awakens to the beauty of life and reconnects with his family and the world.? Headhunters on My Doorstep is a funny yet poignant account of one man's journey to find himself that will captivate travel writing aficionados, Robert Louis Stevenson fans, and anyone who has ever lost his way.
Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World's Most Exciting City is the only guide to the city that is exclusively a walking guide, with lively text full of facts and stories that emphasize the history, culture, architecture and spirit of the city and its neighborhoods. On foot and by train or subway, it takes you through the most fascinating parts of the modern megalopolis, while making the shogun's city—the Edo of samurai and geishas, merchants and artisans—and the outlines of old Tokyo come alive. From famous historical sites like the Imperial Palace to unique attractions like the Tsukiji Fish Market, this book offers something for every visitor.
Many of us breathe a grateful TGIF when Friday rolls around, envisioning a weekend full of both productivity and refreshment. Yet too often our precious weekends seem to disappear, eaten up by unproductive work or leisure that fails to energize us. Monday morning comes too fast, finding us still unrested, with too much still undone.
Time management expert Laura Vanderkam, continuing her series on What the Most Successful People Do, shows how we can take control of our weekends to get necessary R&R, while also using our downtime as a springboard to a productive week. ? Drawing on real-life anecdotes and scientific research, Vanderkam explains why doing nothing can be more exhausting than doing something and why happy people make weekend plans in advance. She shares weekend tips gleaned from busy people such as politician and talk show host Mike Huckabee, former CEO Frank Baxter, and TV producer Aliza Rosen. She reveals the kind of weekend activities that make people happiest, explains why it's important to unplug at least for a little while, and shares the secret of why Sunday night may be the most important part of any weekend. ? ? What the Most Successful People Do On the Weekend??is a fun, practical guide that will inspire you to rethink your weekends and start your workweek refreshed, renewed, and on track.
The worksheets from "The New You Journal" section of A Whole New You are available for download at no cost: Click here to begin the download. "The New You Journal" is a companion guide to A Whole New You and should not be redistributed or resold individually. For customer service and support questions, please contact newyoujournal@amazon.com.
From the author of the best-selling book 52 Small Changes comes a smart, practical approach to reinventing any aspect of your life that's not working for you. Whether you want to start eating healthy, switch careers, or improve a relationship, Brett Blumenthal's A Whole New You will inspire you to take control of your life and live your very best.
Drawing on her own experience with personal reinvention, her professional work as a change management consultant, and her studies in the fields of psychology and human behavior, Blumenthal breaks down how to successfully reinvent your life in six steps. Each stage is comprehensively explained, with action items, tools, and resources to enable you to follow through and effect change in your life. In A Whole New You, Blumenthal will lead you through: ?????? The three times in your life when you're most ready for change, including during life transitions and after trauma ?????? The symptoms--rational, emotional and physical--that indicate you need change ?????? How to stay motivated by making an investment in your success ?????? Finding ways to capitalize on your strengths, making change easier
A Whole New You is for anyone who wants to make a change but is not sure where to begin, or for those who've tried to make a life improvement in the past but have failed. With the right tools and knowledge, you'll be able to reach your goals and live not just a good life or a better life--but your best life.
What are you afraid of? ? The old rules: Play it safe. Stay in your comfort zone. Find an institution, a job, a set of rules to stick to. Keep your head down. Don't fly too close to the sun. ? The new truth: It's better to be sorry than safe. You need to fly higher than ever. ? In his bravest and most challenging book yet, Seth Godin shows how we can thrive in an econ-omy that rewards art, not compliance. He explains why true innovators focus on trust, remarkabil-ity, leadership, and stories that spread. And he makes a passionate argument for why you should be treating your work as art. ? Art is not a gene or a specific talent. It's an atti-tude, available to anyone who has a vision that others don't, and the guts to do something about it. Steve Jobs was an artist. So were Henry Ford and Martin Luther King Jr. ? To work like an artist means investing in the things that scale: creativity, emotional labor, and grit. The path of the artist isn't for the faint of heart—but Godin shows why it's your only chance to stand up, stand out, and make a difference. ? The time to seize new ground and work without a map is now. So what are you going to do?
Publication Date: January 5, 2013 Both the activities and belongings we choose to surround ourselves with are supposed to support and complement our lives. Yet, when we have so many unread magazines, unopened mail, and well-intended projects piling up that are causing us fatigue before we do anything, how can that be beneficial to our health, well-being and peace of mind?
Clutter creates an illusion of 'busyness', but it represents the opposite: stagnation. In this transformational book, ClutterBusting for Busy Women,? Virginia shares her four-fold C.A.L.M. strategy with readers, empowering them to break free from their clutter and harness the energy of life -- not stuff -- to find personal fulfillment.
Product Details
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Let's Get It Straight LLC (January 5, 2013)
The No-Nonsense Meditation system has finally arrived…
Revealed a breakthrough process to start meditating the enlightened way almost immediately even against stronger more experienced and better spiritual gurus.
Astonishing "insider" short cut secrets to instantly discover how to be in the now finally revealed by the one expert many spiritual gurus want to keep hidden !
"I thought it was brilliant, very easy to follow and with outstanding results. There is no person who has revealed these amazing tips before " Stephen Hempkin Program Participant New Zealand
This is a powerful and incisive explanation of the rudiments of meditation which enables readers to reach the roots of their consciousness and discover inherent life-shaping abilities. Few greater gifts can be given to someone than to learn how to truly develop a method to grasp their own consciousness and unlock a remarkable scope of understanding of both themselves and the universe. Life-changing books are few in number, but here is one that conveys a remarkable breakthrough. No one will be the same after absorbing the contents of this mind-enlarging volume.
Sam Sheridan has traveled the world as an amateur boxer and mixed martial arts fighter; he has worked as an EMT, a wilderness firefighter, a sailor, a cowboy at the largest ranch in Montana, and in construction under brutal conditions at the South Pole. If he isn't ready for the Apocalypse and the fractured world that will likely ensue, we are all in a lot of trouble.
Despite an arsenal of skills that puts many to shame, when Sam became a father he was beset with nightmares about being unable to protect his son. With disaster images from movies, books, and the nightly news filling his head, he was slowly being driven to distraction. If a rogue wave hit his beach community, would he be able to get out? If the power grid went down and he was forced outside the city limits, could he survive in the wilderness? And let's not even talk about plagues, zombie hoards, and attacking aliens. Unable to quiet his mind, Sam decides to face his fears head-on and gain as many skills as possible.
The problem is each doomsday situation requires something unique. Trying to navigate the clogged highway out of town? Head to the best stunt driving school in the country. Need to protect your family, but out of ammunition? Learn how to handle a knife. Is your kid hurt or showing signs of mental strain? Better brush upon emergency medicine and the psychological effects of trauma. From training with an Olympic weight lifter to a down and dirty apprenticeship in stealing cars with an ex-gang member, from a gun course in the hundred-degree heat of Alabama to agonizing lessons in arctic wilderness survival, Sam leaves no stone unturned. Will it be enough if a meteor rocks the earth? Who's to say? But as Sam points out, it would be a damn shame to survive the initial impact only to die a few days later because you don't know how to build a fire.
A rollicking narrative with each chapter framed by a hypothetical catastrophic scenario, The Disaster Diaries is irresistible armchair adventure reading for everyone curious about what it might take to survive a cataclysmic event and those who just want to watch someone else struggling to find out.
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (January 24, 2013)
Release date: January 1, 2013 This perfect National Geographic Valentine's Day gift is filled with uplifting true love stories from the animal kingdom and heartwarming accounts of animal emotions, friendships, romance, sibling and parent-child love. Author Rachel Buchholz, a longtime editor with National Geographic Kids magazine, has been collecting amazing animal stories for more than a decade and has gathered her favorites to show the many kinds of love that animals share, from inseparable best friends to romantically devoted duos. Touching photographs, inspiring animal facts, and meaningful quotes about love round out the book--making it a special way to show someone the true meaning of love. Stories include:
SIBLING LOVE - Brother and sister bears: In Cooper Landing, Alaska, a fishing guide spotted brother and sister grizzly bears fishing in the river. The brother had an injured front paw from a gunshot wound (same hunter who had killed his mother) and couldn't catch salmon. Brother bear would charge, the fish would scatter, and he came up empty-pawed every time. The guide was worried about the cub until she saw his sister, who normally would've gone off on her own, stay by his side catching fish and dropping them at his feet. She stayed with her brother for 4 weeks to catch fish for him.
PARENTS & CHILDREN - Lioness supermom: When a little lion cub fell halfway down a cliff, a group of lionesses didn't know what to do. At the cliff's bottom lurked hungry crocodiles, and one false move could send them and the baby tumbling down to become prey. Four lionesses try and give up: the cliff is too treacherous for them. But the lion's mother climbs down the sheer cliff face, scoops him up in her mouth, and crawls up the cliff side to safety.
BEST FRIENDS - Bear the bobcat and Robi the caracal: In Sherwood, Oregon, Bear the bobcat was blind, grumpy, and friendless. He didn't get along with any of the other captive cats at his sanctuary. His keepers were worried about him until Robi the caracal moved into the enclosure next door. The bobcat perked up and started rubbing against the fence of his new neighbor. When the two were introduced to each other, Bear affectionately head-butted Robi and they became best friends forever. Now Robi serves as Bear's "guide cat."
ROMANCE - Jake and Jemima, ducks in love: In North Devon, England, Jake the Muscovy duck waddled for weeks to return to his sweetheart, Jemima. Their owner had given Jake to a friend eight miles away. But Jake overcame three snowstorms and animal threats to return to Jemima. Muscovy ducks can't fly very high--only a few feet--and he had to find his way around four-foot-high hedges and fences to get back to his girl. When he found Jemima again, his owner saw the two ducks cuddle up "like an old married couple."
Release date: January 8, 2013 From the author of the giant #1 New York Times bestseller Inside of a Dog comes an equally smart, delightful, and startling exploration of how we perceive and discover our world.
Alexandra Horowitz's brilliant On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes shows us how to see the spectacle of the ordinary—to practice, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it, "the observation of trifles." On Looking is structured around a series of eleven walks the author takes, mostly in her Manhattan neighborhood, with experts on a diverse range of subjects, including an urban sociologist, the well-known artist Maira Kalman, a geologist, a physician, and a sound designer. She also walks with a child and a dog to see the world as they perceive it. What they see, how they see it, and why most of us do not see the same things reveal the startling power of human attention and the cognitive aspects of what it means to be an expert observer.
As the million-plus readers of Inside of a Dog have discovered, Alexandra Horowitz is charmingly adept at explaining the mysteries of human perception. Trained as a cognitive scientist, she discovers a feast of fascinating detail, all explained with her generous humor and self-deprecating tone. On Looking presents the same engaging combination, this time in service to understanding how human beings encounter their daily worlds and each other.
Page by page, Horowitz shows how much more there is to see—if only we would really look. On Looking is nutrition for the considered life, serving as a provocative response to our relentlessly virtual ?consciousness. So turn off the phone and other electronic devices and be in the real world—where strangers communicate by geometry as they walk toward one another, where sounds reveal shadows, where posture can display humility, and the underside of a leaf unveils a Lilliputian universe—where, indeed, there are worlds within worlds within worlds.
Alexandra Horowitz's On Looking confirms her place as one of today's most illuminating observers of our infinitely complex world.
A globe-trotting tale that marks the very first time original Atlantic reporting is being published as an ebook, Battle at the End of Eden takes readers inside the fight to preserve the most delicate places on Earth.
All across the globe, on exotic islands far from view, the world's rarest animals are quietly dying off. To many, the vexing wave of extinction portends an ecological crisis. To a cadre of brash scientists who think they've discovered a solution, these desperate times call for desperate measures—a strategy involving guns, poison, traps, and a wholesale rethinking of modern conservation.
Publication Date: January 1, 2013 | ISBN-10: 0073386111 | ISBN-13: 978-0073386119 | Edition: 6th Revised edition ELEMENTARY STATISTICS: A BRIEF VERSION is for introductory statistics courses with a basic algebra prerequisite. The book is non-theoretical, explaining concepts intuitively and teaching problem solving through worked examples and step-by-step instructions. In recent editions, Al Bluman has placed more emphasis on conceptual understanding and understanding results, along with increased focus on Excel, MINITAB, and the TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus graphing calculators; computing technologies commonly used in such courses. The 6th edition of Bluman, Elementary Statistics: A Brief Version provides a significant leap forward in terms of online course management with McGraw-Hill's homework platform, Connect Statistics -- Hosted by ALEKS. Statistic instructors served as digital contributors to choose the problems that will be available, authoring each algorithm and providing stepped out solutions that go into great detail and are focused on areas where students commonly make mistakes. From there, the ALEKS Corporation reviewed each algorithm to ensure accuracy. The result is an online homework platform that provides superior content and feedback, allowing students to effectively learn the material being taught.
?Buddha's Book of Sleep is the first book to address sleep disturbances with techniques from mindfulness meditation. Yet this is a natural choice—mindfulness meditation has proven effective for psychological problems such as stress, depression, and anxiety, and these very issues are what become sleep problems when your head hits the pillow.
Divided into two sections, the book approaches sleep deprivation with a combination of wisdom and practical meditation exercises. The first section explains why mindfulness meditation, with its basis in self-awareness, is appropriate for dealing with sleeping problems, and details the practices of this increasingly popular form of meditation. The second section features seven specific exercises to do at bedtime or in the wee hours of the morning, or whenever your sleeping trouble occurs.
?Providing a new perspective on why you cannot fall asleep even when you feel exhausted, and arming you with easy-to-use mindfulness meditation exercises, Buddha's Book of Sleepwill help you calm your hurried thoughts, and go from feeling always sleepy to getting the rest you need.
How do you cope when facing life-threatening illness, family conflict, faltering relationships, old trauma, obsessive thinking, overwhelming emotion, or inevitable loss? If you're like most people, chances are you react with fear and confusion, falling back on timeworn strategies: anger, self-judgment, and addictive behaviors. Though these old, conditioned attempts to control our life may offer fleeting relief, ultimately they leave us feeling isolated and mired in pain. ? There is another way. Beneath the turbulence of our thoughts and emotions exists a profound stillness, a silent awareness capable of limitless love. Tara Brach, author of the award-winning Radical Acceptance, calls this awareness our true refuge, because it is available to every one of us, at any moment, no exceptions. In this book, Brach offers a practical guide to finding our inner sanctuary of peace and wisdom in the midst of difficulty. ? Based on a fresh interpretation of the three classic Buddhist gateways to freedom—truth, love, and awareness—True Refuge shows us the way not just to heal our suffering, but also to cultivate our capacity for genuine happiness. Through spiritual teachings, guided meditations, and inspirational stories of people who discovered loving presence during times of great struggle, Brach invites us to connect more deeply with our own inner life, one another, and the world around us. ? True Refuge is essential reading for anyone encountering hardship or crisis, anyone dedicated to a path of spiritual awakening. The book reminds us of our own innate intelligence and goodness, making possible an enduring trust in ourselves and our lives. We realize that what we seek is within us, and regardless of circumstances, "there is always a way to take refuge in a healing and liberating presence."
Advance praise for True Refuge ? "Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience as well as ten more years of personal experience on the path of awakening, Tara Brach's superb second book brings readers ever more deeply in touch with our true nature. This book is a precious gift, filled with insight, shared from heart to heart."—Thich Nhat Hanh ? "True Refuge is a magnificent work of heart. For anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of the mind and how to improve the quality of their life, this book offers unique insights and easily learned practices that literally can transform your life's path. Read, explore, and enjoy!"—Dan Siegel, author of Mindsight and The Whole-Brain Child ? "This is a special book, lovely, loving, wise, and helpful. It is like having a sage and caring friend sit with you, offering comfort, insight, and guidance for your own true journey home."—Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart ? "Tara Brach writes from the heart to the heart. With candor and calmness, she shares her own and others' struggles to overcome our deep and constant human dilemmas. Whenever I read Brach, I feel more peaceful and hopeful. I trust myself and the universe more. I feel more connected and grounded in what the Lakota Sioux call Wakan Tanka, The Great Mystery. True Refuge is itself a refuge and I thank the author for it."—Mary Pipher, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Green Boat and Reviving Ophelia
Publication Date: April 15, 2013 The launch in 1906 of HMS Dreadnought, the world's first all-big-gun battleship, rendered all existing battle fleets obsolete while at the same time wiping out the Royal Navy's numerical advantage. Britain urgently needed to build an entirely new battle fleet of these larger, more complex and more costly vessels. In this she succeeded spectacularly: in little over a decade fifty such ships were completed, almost exactly double what Germany achieved. This heroic achievement was made possible by the country's vast industrial nexus of shipbuilders, engine manufacturers, armament firms and specialist armor producers, whose contribution to the creation of the Grand Fleet is too often ignored.
Spherical trigonometry was at the heart of astronomy and ocean-going navigation for two millennia. The discipline was a mainstay of mathematics education for centuries, and it was a standard subject in high schools until the 1950s. Today, however, it is rarely taught. Heavenly Mathematics traces the rich history of this forgotten art, revealing how the cultures of classical Greece, medieval Islam, and the modern West used spherical trigonometry to chart the heavens and the Earth. Glen Van Brummelen explores this exquisite branch of mathematics and its role in ancient astronomy, geography, and cartography; Islamic religious rituals; celestial navigation; polyhedra; stereographic projection; and more. He conveys the sheer beauty of spherical trigonometry, providing readers with a new appreciation for its elegant proofs and often surprising conclusions.
Heavenly Mathematics is illustrated throughout with stunning historical images and informative drawings and diagrams that have been used to teach the subject in the past. This unique compendium also features easy-to-use appendixes as well as exercises at the end of each chapter that originally appeared in textbooks from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries.
