Academic Life

Recalling remarkable cases - and people - from a career launched in the first days of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Paul Seward leads us in his memoir through suspenseful diagnoses and explorations of anatomy. Within the conditions of great stress and rapid decision-making that are routine in the ER, Dr. Seward tells us that medical staff must be more than technicians of the body: They must be restorers of the human.

There are many ways of telling the story of a life and how we've got to where we are. The questions of why and how we think the way we do continues to preoccupy philosophers. In The Stuff of Life, Timothy Morton chooses the objects that have shaped and punctuated their life to tell the story of who they are and why they might think the way they do. From the looming expanse of Battersea Power Station to a packet of anti-depressants and a cowboy suit, Morton explores why 'stuff' matters and the life of these things have so powerfully impinged upon their own.

Vincent Di Maio, MD, son of a famous New York City medical examiner, is one of the lions of forensic science. In this clear, gritty, and enthralling narrative, Di Maio himself guides us into the inner sanctum, through the cases that have made him famous, from the exhumation of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and the racially charged shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin to the unmasking of a serial baby killer and the mysterious death of troubled genius Vincent van Gogh.

John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man of all time, amassed a fortune as he led the Standard Oil Company to an unprecedented position of power in the industrial markets. In addition to being a successful businessman, he was also a generous philanthropist. But somewhere between the money he earned and the money he gave away lies a mystery that remains unsolved. How could someone so generous have been so hated in his time? Was Rockefeller a villain or a hero?

These are strange times. A time of climate crises. Health crises. Collapsing systems. Influencers. And yes—Jordan Peterson. We are currently living in a (Post) Peterson Paradigm. This book–12 Rules for (Academic) Life—explores what has happened to teaching, learning and politics through this odd and chaotic time. Deploying feminism, this lens offers a glass-sharpened view of this moment in international higher education. It is organized through twelve mantras for a university sector searching for a purpose in this interregnum.

In a penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the First Man, as an astronaut and as an individual. In First Man, the personal, technological, epic, and iconic blend to form the portrait of a great but reluctant hero who will forever be known as history's most famous space traveler.

Throughout the Old Testament and into the New, God not only demands righteousness from his people but also showers on grace that enables them to act. Jesus, of course, provides the ultimate fulfillment of these twin aspects of God’s relationship to humanity. In biblical terms, Jesus is the King who demands righteous obedience from his followers, and Jesus is the Servant who provides the grace that enables this obedience.

The rock star of public speaking. Vusi Thembekwayo has been called many things. Join him in his inspiring journey from the township to the top echelons of South African business, to becoming one of youngest directors of a listed company and CEO of a boutique investment firm. As a Dragons' Den judge and a sought-after public speaker across the globe, Vusi doesn't just talk business - he lives it. Now you can learn the secret of his success and how to shape your own destiny.

In the world of philosophy and spirituality, few figures stand as distinctively as Alan Watts. With a charismatic and eloquent demeanor, he effortlessly blended insights from Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and other spiritual traditions with Western thought, challenging conventional perspectives and encouraging a deeper understanding of oneself and the universe.

Claude C. Hopkins fut l'un des pionniers de la publicité moderne et copywriter de génie. Il était persuadé que la publicité n'existait que pour vendre quelque chose et que ses effets devaient être mesurables. Ce modeste fils de marchand de chandelles a été imprimeur, journaliste, essayiste, éditeur de livres, de journaux populaires, homme de lettres et fondateur d'associations. Un vrai touche-à-tout ! Parti de rien, jusqu' à devenir le Père fondateur des États-Unis, cette biographie révèle les chemins qui l'ont mené au succès et à la gloire.

Rahul Bajaj is a billionaire businessman, the chairman emeritus of the Bajaj Group and a former member of Parliament. This book is not just the story of Rahul Bajaj but the story of India. The author takes us through the country's transformation from the time Rahul Bajaj's mother was imprisoned during the freedom struggle to the prism of his eventful life. Based on unrestricted interviews, the book is full of anecdotes, business learnings and political asides. It is, at its core, a moving human story.

The trajectory of Zahra Al-harazi’s life defies expectations. In this electrifying book that travels from a small village in Yemen to a small town in Minnesota to a Calgary suburb, Al-harazi describes surviving two civil wars; her years as a young, stay-at-home immigrant mother with little education; and how she became one of Canada’s most successful businesswomen. Navigating two worlds, Al-harazi has struggled to find her own way between East and West, religion and belief, freedom and obligation, family and desire, love and honor, despair and gratitude, war and war again.

Like Henry Ford, Sam Walton, or Steve Jobs in the early years of Ford, Walmart, and Apple, Jeff Bezos is the business story of the decade. Bezos, the richest man on the planet, has built one of the most efficient wealth-creation machines in history with 2% of US household income being spent on nearly 500 million products shipped from warehouses in 17 countries.

Karen Fine always knew that she wanted to be a vet and wasn't going to let anything stop her: not her allergy to cats, and not the fact that in the '80s veterinary medicine was still a mostly male profession. Inspired by her grandfather, a compassionate doctor who paid house calls to all his (human) patients, Dr. Fine persevered, and brought her Oupa's principles into her own practice, which emphasizes the need to understand her patients’ stories to provide the best possible care.

Living in the Belgian Congo with her husband in the 1960s, Fran’s mother became pregnant with a daughter. However, right after she gave birth in the hospital, she felt strange. Unbeknownst to anyone, another daughter was on the way, but before anybody responded, an hour had passed. Because of the delay, Fran was born with cerebral palsy. Growing up with her siblings in Africa, Fran always felt different. When everyone else was playing and having fun, she would watch and wish she could join in.

JFK's Secret Doctor tells a thrilling story of adventure and a historic medical career. Set against the grand panorama of 20th century world events, it captures the remarkable life and spirit of climber and medical visionary Hans Kraus (1905–1996). Kraus was taught English by writer James Joyce, escaped Nazi-dominated Europe, and was JFK's secret back specialist.

Before he had a driver's license, Ryan Merket was leading a global software cracking group from his Texas bedroom—the only business school he ever attended. Hacker's Edge is the improbable story of how that unconventional education propelled him from the digital underground to the halls of Facebook, Amazon, and Reddit. But this is not a story about stock options and catered lunches. It's an unflinching look at the brutal cost of ambition.

Most would not expect a book about a stroke to be entertaining, but this memoir will force you to laugh through a tragedy, then cry, then laugh again. Avrel Seale was fifty, did not smoke or drink, had low blood pressure, and had hiked more than two hundred miles the year a stroke nearly ended his life. In an instant, he was teleported into the body of an old man—unbalanced, shaky, spastic, and half-paralyzed. Overnight, he was plunged into a world of brain surgeons, nurses, insurance case managers, and an abundance of therapists.

As a girl in New York City in the 1940s, Mildred "Millie" Dresselhaus was taught that there were only three career options open to women: secretary, nurse, or teacher. In Carbon Queen, science writer Maia Weinstock describes how, with curiosity and drive, Dresselhaus defied expectations and forged a career as a pioneering scientist and engineer. Dresselhaus made highly influential discoveries about the properties of carbon and other materials and helped reshape our world in countless ways—from electronics to aviation to medicine to energy.

A hopeful look at coping with the ravages of serious chronic illness by an accomplished journalist, a contributing columnist for the New York Times, and former senior producer of the CBS Evening News.