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  • Book cover of Animal Signals

    Why are animal signals reliable? This is the central problem for evolutionary biologists interested in signals. Of course, not all signals are reliable; but most are, otherwise receivers of signals would ignore them. A number of theoretical answers have been proposed and empirical studies made, but there still remains a considerable amount of confusion. The authors, one a theoretician the other a fieldworker, introduce a sense of order to this chaos. A significant cause of confusion has been the tendency for different researchers to use either the same term with different meanings, or different terms with the same meaning. The authors attempt to clarify these differences. A second cause of confusion has arisen because many biologists continue to assume that there is only one correct explanation for signal reliability. The authors argue that the reliability of signals is maintained in several ways, relevant in different circumstances, and that biologists must learn to distinguish between them. In this book they explain the different theories, give examples of signalling systems to which one or another theory applies, and point to the many areas where further work, both theoretical and empirical, is required.

  • Book cover of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

    John Maynard Keynes is the great British economist of the twentieth century whose hugely influential work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and * is undoubtedly the century's most important book on economics--strongly influencing economic theory and practice, particularly with regard to the role of government in stimulating and regulating a nation's economic life. Keynes's work has undergone significant revaluation in recent years, and "Keynesian" views which have been widely defended for so long are now perceived as at odds with Keynes's own thinking. Recent scholarship and research has demonstrated considerable rivalry and controversy concerning the proper interpretation of Keynes's works, such that recourse to the original text is all the more important. Although considered by a few critics that the sentence structures of the book are quite incomprehensible and almost unbearable to read, the book is an essential reading for all those who desire a basic education in economics. The key to understanding Keynes is the notion that at particular times in the business cycle, an economy can become over-productive (or under-consumptive) and thus, a vicious spiral is begun that results in massive layoffs and cuts in production as businesses attempt to equilibrate aggregate supply and demand. Thus, full employment is only one of many or multiple macro equilibria. If an economy reaches an underemployment equilibrium, something is necessary to boost or stimulate demand to produce full employment. This something could be business investment but because of the logic and individualist nature of investment decisions, it is unlikely to rapidly restore full employment. Keynes logically seizes upon the public budget and government expenditures as the quickest way to restore full employment. Borrowing the * to finance the deficit from private households and businesses is a quick, direct way to restore full employment while at the same time, redirecting or siphoning

  • Book cover of Mozart

    A biography of eighteenth-century Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, discussing his childhood, his talent as a composer and musician, his tumultuous career and personal life, and his early death.

  • Book cover of Essays in Persuasion

    In 'Essays in Persuasion,' John Maynard Keynes articulates his cogent analyses of economic policies and theory during the tumultuous periods between the two world wars. The collection offers an intimate examination of the societal and political implications of fiscal strategies and the human consequences they can harbor. Keynes' prose combines incisive argumentation with eloquent rhetoric, inviting readers into a contemplation of economics as a deeply humanist discipline. These essays not only delineate the evolution of Keynesian thought but also contextualize it within the broader literary and economic conversations of the early 20th century, resonating with the concerns of contemporaneous intellectuals and policymakers. John Maynard Keynes stands as a towering figure in the landscape of economic philosophy, his ideas shaping the policies of nations and the course of global finance. His profound insights in 'Essays in Persuasion' mirror his experiences as a participant in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and his disappointments with the Versailles Treaty. Keynes' passion for economic reform and stabilization was driven by his conviction that sound economic policy could serve as a bulwark against the societal upheavals and the tribulations of the interwar years. 'Essays in Persuasion' is a compelling read for anyone with interest in the forces that sculpt our economic realities. It is an essential addition to the libraries of economists, historians, and political scientists. With clarity and conviction, Keynes does not merely inform; he challenges and entices the reader to engage with the ideological underpinnings of economic decisions and their pervasive influence on the fabric of society. For contemporary audiences, Keynes' visionary ideas offer a timeless reflection on the application of economic thought to practical problems and the enduring quest for a just and prosperous world order.

  • Book cover of The Theory of Evolution

    A century ago Darwin and Wallace explained how evolution could have happened in terms of processes known to take place today. This book describes how their theory has been confirmed, but at the same time "transformed", by recent research.

  • Book cover of Beethoven

    Hailed as a masterpiece for its original interpretations of Beethoven's life and music. This edition takes into account the latest information and literature. Includes a 30-page bibliographical essay, numerous illustrations, and a full-color pictorial biography of the composer.

  • Book cover of Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves

    Despite all of his acknowledged greatness, almost no one reads Edmund Spenser (1552-99) anymore. Roy Maynard takes the first book of the 'Faerie Queene, ' exploring the concept of Holiness with the character of the Redcross Knight, and makes Spenser accessible again. He does this not by dumbing it down, but by deftly modernizing the spelling, explaining the obscurities in clever asides, and cuing the reader towards the right response. In today's cultural, aesthetic, and educational wars, Spenser is a mighty ally for twenty-first century Christians. Maynard proves himself a worthy mediator between Spenser's time and ours. (Gene Edward Veith)

  • Book cover of Evolution and the Theory of Games

    This 1982 book is an account of an alternative way of thinking about evolution and the theory of games.

  • Book cover of At Home in the World
    Joyce Maynard

     · 2010

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Labor Day comes At Home in the World, an honest and shocking memoir of falling in love—at age 18—with one of America's most reclusive literary figures, J. D. Salinger. With a new preface. When it was first published in 1998, At Home in the World set off a furor in the literary world and beyond. Joyce Maynard's memoir broke a silence concerning her relationship—at age eighteen—with J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, then age fifty-three, who had read a story she wrote for The New York Times in her freshman year of college and sent her a letter that changed her life. Reviewers called her book "shameless" and "powerful" and its author was simultaneously reviled and cheered. With what some have viewed as shocking honesty, Maynard explores her coming of age in an alcoholic family, her mother's dream to mold her into a writer, her self-imposed exile from the world of her peers when she left Yale to live with Salinger, and her struggle to reclaim her sense of self in the crushing aftermath of his dismissal of her not long after her nineteenth birthday. A quarter of a century later—having become a writer, survived the end of her marriage and the deaths of her parents, and with an eighteen-year-old daughter of her own—Maynard pays a visit to the man who broke her heart. The story she tells—of the girl she was and the woman she became—is at once devastating, inspiring, and triumphant.

  • Book cover of Beethoven Essays

    This book contains virtually all of my important Beethoven essays, most of which were written during the past ten years. Primarily, these are depth studies of psychological, historical, and creative issues whose implications cannot be fully explored within the confines of a narrative biography.