Why do we make things? Why do we choose the emotionally & physically demanding work of bringing new objects into the world with creativity & skill? Why does it matter that we make things well? What is the nature of work? & what is the nature of a good life? Part memoir part polemic part philosophical reflection this is a book about the process of creation & what it means to be a craftsman in a mass-produced world For woodworker Peter Korn the challenging work of bringing something new & meaningful into the world through one's own efforts is exactly what generates authenticity meaning & fulfilment for which many of us yearn This is not a how-to' book in any sense Korn wants to get at the why' of craft in particular & the satisfaction of creative work in general to understand its essential nature How does the making of objects shape our identities? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently in this heartfelt personal & revealing book ...

THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERTLS OBSERVER SUNDAY TIMES FT GUARDIAN DAILY MAIL & EVENING STANDARD BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017' Vital a life-raft' Guardian'A top sleep scientist argues that sleep is more important for our health than diet or exercise' The Times' It had a powerful effect on me' Observer'I urge you all to read this book' Times Higher Education Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life health & longevity & yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society with devastating consequences every major disease in the developed world
- Alzheimer's cancer obesity diabetes
- has very strong causal links to deficient sleep Until very recently science had no answer to the question of why we sleep or what good it served or why its absence is so damaging to our health Compared to the other basic drives in life
- eating drinking & reproducing
- the purpose of sleep remained elusive Now in this book the first of its kind written by a scientific expert Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies Why We Sleep delves in to everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine & alcohol affect sleep & why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence



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Have you ever found yourself alone with your thoughts? Have you ever been asked if the glass is half full or half empty? Do you wonder what true happiness is or how to attain it? Or maybe nothing really matters if everything is just an illusion or a dream? These ideas are some of the central questions of philosophical enquiry that have engaged troubled & exasperated some of the greatest minds throughout the history of human civilization provoking argument & debate in an attempt to broaden the horizons of human thought Author Alain Stephen seeks to explore some of these key questions by tracing their origins in the writings of prominent thinkers through the ages from the colonnades of ancient Greece to the intellectual salons of twentieth-century France & show how these ideas & concepts have developed over time Why We Think the Things We Think provides plenty of food for thought for both the amateur philosopher & enlightened thinker to digest ...

Mike doesn't get why people think he's boring Sure he doesn't have many friends (OK zero friends) & everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class & he's never invited to parties But one day Tschick the odd new boy at school shows up at Mike's house out of the blue He dares him to go on a road trip with him No parents no map no destination Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably Will they meet crazy people & get into serious trouble? Definitely But will they ever be called boring again? Not a chance ' You will see the world with different eyes after reading this novel' Rolling Stone Winner of the German Teen Literature Prize ...

Cities across the globe are growing fast Today many cities are simply unsustainable with polluted air excessive energy consumption & an absence of nature But big cities don't have to mean a dystopian future They can be turned around to be powerhouses of wellbeing & environmental sustainability
- if we empower women C40 Cities
- a global network of the largest & greenest cities across the planet
- is leading the world delivering practical environmental changes right now The mayors & city leaders of C40 are committed to make cities good for people & the planet To help realise this they have launched Women 4 Climate an initiative to promote & support women as climate leaders This book is a unique collaboration between C40 & Friends of the Earth showcasing pioneering city mayors key voices in the environmental & feminist movements & academics The articles & interviews collectively demonstrate both the need for women's empowerment for climate action & the powerful change it can bring Think of it as a rallying call
- for the planet for women for everyone



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In November 2011 an agreement brokered by the GCC brought an end to Yemen's tumultuous uprising The National Dialogue Conference has opened a window of opportunity for change bringing Yemen's main political forces together with groups that were politically marginalized Yet the risk of collapse is serious & if Yemen is to remain a viable state it must address numerous political social & economic challenges In this invaluable volume experts with extensive Yemen experience provide innovative analysis of the country's major crises centralized governance the role of the military ethnic conflict separatism Islamism foreign intervention water scarcity & economic development Published in association with the London Middle East Institute at SOAS & the British Yemeni Society ...

Combining science & photography Brian Dilg explores the reasons behind Why You Like This Photo 160 pages Dilg Brian ...

We are all desperate of course to marry the right person But none of us ever quite does The fault isn't entirely our own; it has to do with the devilish truth that anyone we're liable to meet is going to be rather wrong in some fascinating way or another because this is simply what all humans happen to be
- including sadly ourselves Yet
- as this darkly encouraging & witty essay proposes
- we don't need perfection to be happy So long as we enter our relationships in the right spirit we have every chance of coping well enough with & even delighting in the inevitable & distinctive wrongness that lies in ourselves & our beloveds


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Revised & updated for 2017 with ten extra tech questions Learn the secrets to excelling at interview direct from top interviewers & recruiters in Why You? by James Reed chairman of recruitment specialists REEDYou can't prepare an answer for every interview question So of the thousands of questions they might ask which ones will they ask? After extensive research among hundreds of interviewers & thousands of interviewees finally here's the book that will give you the answer Why You? is based on direct input from top interviewers in REED's unrivalled recruitment network It offers powerful preparation techniques the lowdown on how to answer the most common questions &
- above all
- how to adopt a winning mindset at interview one that will help you succeed on the day From classic questions like 'tell me about yourself' & 'what are your greatest weaknesses?' to puzzlers like 'sell me this pen' & 'how many traffic lights are there in London?' James Reed reveals what interviewers are really asking James Reed is the Chairman of REED the recruitment specialists He first joined the company in 1992 after graduating from Harvard Business School; since then REED has more than quadrupled in size & reedcouk has become the number one job site in the UK & Europe REED now receives more than 46 million job applications a year & has delivered over 100 programmes helping more than 140000 long-term unemployed people back into work James is co-author of Put Your Mindset to Work winner of the ' Commuter's Read' prize at the CMI Management Book Awards 2012 He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD)

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Why Your 5 Year Old Could Not Have Done That is Susie Hodges passionate & persuasive argument against the most common disparaging remark levelled at modern art In this enjoyable & thought-provoking book she examines 100 works of modern art that have attracted critical & public hostility from Cy Twomblys scribbled Olympia (1957) Jean-Michel Basquiats crude but spontaneous LNAPRK (1982) to the apparently careless mess of Tracey Emins My Bed (1998) & explains how far from being negligible novelties they are inspired & logical extensions of the ideas of their time She explains how such notorious works as Carl Andres Equivalent VIII (1966) the infamous bricks occupy unique niches in the history of ideas both showing influences of past artists & themselves influencing subsequent artists With illustrations of works from Hans Arp to Adolf Wolfli Hodge places each work in its cultural context to present an unforgettable vision of modern art This book will give you an understanding of the ways in which modern art differs from the realistic works of earlier centuries transforming as well as informing your gallery visits for years to come ...