Biographien

Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was an exceptional woman in an age rich in strong personalities. A feminist, intrepid traveller and sportswoman, she wrote nine volumes of autobiography, recounting a life packed with incident. Her writings, abridged by Ronald Crichton, and including a catalogue of her music, are full of brilliant portraits.

The story of molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn and her groundbreaking research on telomeres and what it reveals about the resourceful opportunism that characterizes the best scientific thinking.Molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn—one of Time magazine's 100 “Most Influential People in the World” in 2007—made headlines in 2004 when she was dismissed from the President's Council on Bioethics after objecting to the council's call for a moratorium on stem cell research and protesting the suppression of relevant scientific evidence in its final report. But it is Blackburn's groundbreaking work on telomeric DNA, which launched the field of telomere research, that will have the more profound and long-lasting effect on science and society. In this compelling biography, Catherine Brady tells the story of Elizabeth Blackburn's life and work and the emergence of a new field of scientific research on the specialized ends of chromosomes and the enzyme, telomerase, that extends them. In the early stages of telomere research, telomerase, heralded as a potential cure for cancer and diseases related to aging, attracted the voracious interest of biotech companies. The surrounding hype succeeded in confusing the role of telemorase in extending the life of a cell with a mechanism that might extend the lifespan of an entire organism. In Brady's hands, Blackburn's story reveals much about the tension between pure and applied science, the politicking that makes research science such a competitive field, and the resourceful opportunism that characterizes the best scientific thinking.Brady describes the science accessibly and compellingly. She explores Blackburn's struggle to break down barriers in an elite, male-dominated profession, her role as a mentor to other women scientists (many of whom have made their mark in telomere research), and the collaborative nature of scientific work. This book gives us a vivid portrait of an exceptional woman and a new understanding of the combination of curiosity, imaginative speculation, and aesthetic delight that powers scientific discovery.

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall StreetAt the age of twenty, Milwaukee native Chris Gardner, just out of the Navy, arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm than Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him as part of the city's working homeless and with a toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving among shelters, "e;HO-tels,"e; soup lines, and even sleeping in the public restroom of a subway station. Never giving in to despair, Gardner made an astonishing transformation from being part of the city's invisible poor to being a powerful player in its financial district. More than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

Includes 100 people who range from former slaves such as Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley to more contemporary individuals such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison. This book summarizes the person's life, work, and importance. It is accompanied by a black-and-white photograph or illustration.

Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovske and Laverne Pavlinac for the rape and murder of Taunja Bennett. There was just one problem. They had the wrong people. Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long haul truck driver and the murderer of eight women, including Taunja Bennett. This is his story.

Villy blev kun 43 år gammel. Levede et omtumlet liv med fysisk handicap der bevirkede skæv skolestart, flytning fra trygge omgivelser til København, mobning, forældrenes skilsmisse og tilbage til hjemegnen, hvor han aldrig kom i gang med noget. Forfatteren, der er Villys halvbror, fortæller, ved at opsøge de gamle steder, med vendsysselsk underfundig humor, om deres fælles oplevelser i drenge- og ungdomsårene. Villy rages herefter ind i meget dramatiske begivenheder, og hans død er for meget for Lau og Linda, der slet ikke kan klare at leve videre. Bogen er baseret på erindringer, dog krydret med fiktion.

A sexual sadist, the Zodiac's pleasure was torture and murder. He taunted the authorities with mocking notes telling where he would strike next. The official tally of his victims was six. He claimed 37 dead. He was never caught. This book tells the inside story of the hunt for the hooded killer, and finally reveals his possible true identity.

Django Reinhardt was arguably the greatest guitarist who ever lived, an important influence on Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B B King, Jerry Garcia, Chet Atkins, and many others. Capturing the extraordinary life and times of one of the great musicians of the twentieth century, this work offers a portrait of this great guitarist.

Harvey Cushing was the leading figure in the creation of modern neurosurgery. This biography traces his medical school education; his hospital-based surgical career; and his career as a battlefield surgeon during World War I. He has an enduring place in the field of medicine and his name has become part of medical lexicography.

In the Shadow of the Bomb narrates how two charismatic, exceptionally talented physicists--J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans A. Bethe--came to terms with the nuclear weapons they helped to create. In 1945, the United States dropped the bomb, and physicists were forced to contemplate disquieting questions about their roles and responsibilities. When the Cold War followed, they were confronted with political demands for their loyalty and McCarthyism's threats to academic freedom. By examining how Oppenheimer and Bethe--two men with similar backgrounds but divergent aspirations and characters--struggled with these moral dilemmas, one of our foremost historians of physics tells the story of modern physics, the development of atomic weapons, and the Cold War. Oppenheimer and Bethe led parallel lives. Both received liberal educations that emphasized moral as well as intellectual growth. Both were outstanding theoreticians who worked on the atom bomb at Los Alamos. Both advised the government on nuclear issues, and both resisted the development of the hydrogen bomb. Both were, in their youth, sympathetic to liberal causes, and both were later called to defend the United States against Soviet communism and colleagues against anti-Communist crusaders. Finally, both prized scientific community as a salve to the apparent failure of Enlightenment values. Yet, their responses to the use of the atom bomb, the testing of the hydrogen bomb, and the treachery of domestic politics differed markedly. Bethe, who drew confidence from scientific achievement and integration into the physics community, preserved a deep integrity. By accepting a modest role, he continued to influence policy and contributed to the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. In contrast, Oppenheimer first embodied a new scientific persona--the scientist who creates knowledge and technology affecting all humanity and boldly addresses their impact--and then could not carry its burden. His desire to retain insider status, combined with his isolation from creative work and collegial scientific community, led him to compromise principles and, ironically, to lose prestige and fall victim to other insiders. Schweber draws on his vast knowledge of science and its history--in addition to his unique access to the personalities involved--to tell a tale of two men that will enthrall readers interested in science, history, and the lives and minds of great thinkers.

Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto is the moving account of the horror of the Warsaw GhettoΓÇöwritten by the recognized archivist and historian of the area while he lived through it. Through anecdotes, stories, and notationsΓÇösome as brief as was slapped today in Zlota StreetΓÇöthere emerges the agonizing, eyewitness accounts of human beings caught in the furor of senseless, unrelenting brutality. In the Journal, there is the whole of life in the Ghetto, from the erection of the Wall, in November 1940, for hygienic reasons, through the brief period of deceptive calm to the eventual mass murders. It is a portrait of man tested by crisis, stained at times by the meanness of avarice and self-preservation, illumined more often by moments of nobility.Language Notes: English, Yiddish (translation)Emmanual Ringelblum was 39 when he began his notes. When the Germans first invaded Poland, Ringelblum, who could have stayed abroad and escaped, returned to Warsaw from Switzerland knowing that his was an historical event of importance for his people and a moment in time that must be forever a part of written history. As the recognized archivist of the Ghetto he gathered around him a staff, and assigned each to cover a specific part of Ghetto life. From these reports and this notes, he assembled his Journal. On March 7, 1944, Emmanual Ringelblum was executed among the ruins of Warsaw, together with his wife, his son, and thirt-eight others who shared his hiding place.

In the decades before the Civil War, the miserable living conditions of New York City's lower east side nurtured the gangs of New York.

Examines the notorious Nazi's life.

A memoir that offers a picture of the author's growing up in a bourgeois French family, rebelling as an adolescent against the conventional expectations of her class, and striking out on her own with an intellectual and existential ambition exceedingly rare in a young woman in the 1920s.

A story, in which the author takes us on a journey through his childhood and adolescence, along Jerusalem's war-torn streets in the 1940s and '50s, and into the infernal marriage of two kind, well-meaning people: his fussy, logical father, and his dreamy, romantic mother.

173 B/W PHOTOS

Silent screen goddess Clara Bow was the embodiment of the Roaring Twenties, Hollywood's first sex symbol and a natural talent with an independent heart.

A Muslim girl, imprisoned by her religion and severe disability, is healed and set free by God.

The Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith describes his life and career.

In this gripping narrative history, Lesley Hazleton tells the tragic story at the heart of the ongoing rivalry between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, a rift that dominates the news now more than ever. Even as Muhammad lay dying, the battle over who would take control of the new Islamic nation had begun, beginning a succession crisis marked by power grabs, assassination, political intrigue, and passionate faith. Soon Islam was embroiled in civil war, pitting its founder's controversial wife Aisha against his son-in-law Ali, and shattering Muhammad's ideal of unity. Combining meticulous research with compelling storytelling, After the Prophet explores the volatile intersection of religion and politics, psychology and culture, and history and current events. It is an indispensable guide to the depth and power of the Shia-Sunni split.

A seminal biography, essential reading for anyone studying the philosophy of history's most enigmatic and fascinating thinker.

A nationally known spokesperson for the mentally ill offers hope and inspiration in this moving story of his decades-long struggle with schizophrenia and his remarkable recovery

Moab is My Washpot is in turns funny, shocking, tender, delicious, sad, lyrical, bruisingly frank and addictively readable.

Patrimony is a true story about the relationship between a father and a son. Philip Roth watches as his eight-six-year-old father, famous for his vigour, his charm and his skill as a raconteur - lovingly called 'the Bard of Newark' - battles with the brain tumour that will kill him.

An incredible, breathtaking true adventure of Alaskan dog-racing and of the mesmerising Arctic landscape

The dramatic and inspiring story of one woman's incredible journey into the heart of a man and his nation.

"Drengeår og knøsekår" er en fortsættelse af de erindringer, som Jeppe Aakjær begyndte i bogen "Fra min bitte-tid". Den begynder i 1879, da han kun havde et års tid tilbage i skolen og slutter med et højskoleophold på Askov i 1887, som bestemt ikke får en rosende omtale. Blandt bogens hovedpunkter er et ophold på Blaagaard Seminarium 1884-86, hvor han tog en præliminæreksamen, som kostede faderen 1500 kr. Beretningen indeholder mange gode detaljer om datidens københavnerliv, for Aakjær var en interesseret ung mand, der opsøgte begivenhederne. I den forbindelse er der f.eks. fine beskrivelser af Georg Brandes, og hvis vi går i en hel anden retning, får han selv et gevaldigt nakkedrag under en politisk demonstration i 1885. Endnu fyldigere er dog omtalen af Estrups forsøg på at knægte ytringsfriheden ved at fængsle politiske modstandere. Her blev Aakjær således varetægtsfængslet 17 dage under kummerlige forhold i Viborg i 1887, anklaget for at have afholdt et revolutionært foredrag. Og så var forklaringen endda, at foredraget kun havde omhandlet Den franske Revolution i 1789.

"Fra min bitte tid" er Jeppe Aakjærs barndomserindringer, der i detaljer beskriver dagliglivet i 1870erne i en ganske almindelig bondefamilie. Helt konkret foregår det i en landsby syd for Skive, men forholdene var de samme i resten af Danmark. Vi møder børnene, moderen, faderen, tjenestefolkene og aftægtsmanden, den gamle, sure Jeppe. Både de daglige, men også de mere specielle arbejdsopgaver i en af datidens stort set selvforsynende bondefamilier ruller frem som perler på en snor. Desuden er der levende beskrivelser af bygningernes indretning, børneopdragelse, skolegang m.m. Det er kulturhistorie, når det er bedst!