Profile Books strana 20 z 28

How far would you go in your search for certainty? And once you get there, how do you convince others? From the medieval Islamic world to the recent pandemic, scientific progress has relied on different methods of establishing fact from fiction. Today, in the face of ever-increasing disinformation, how we prove things - to ourselves and others - has never felt more urgent. But there is far more to proof than axioms, theories and scientific laws: when demonstrating that an experimental medical treatment works, persuading a jury of someone's guilt, or deciding whether to trust a new type of financial transaction, weighing up evidence is rarely simple. Bestselling author, statistician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski ranges across science, politics, philosophy and economics to explore how truth emerges - and why it falters.

Explore the spectacular science of reproduction - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in between Let's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world. Whiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types - a veritable bonanza. Lixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.

This year, as they have for millennia, many people around the world will set out on pilgrimages. But these are not only journeys of personal and spiritual devotion - they are also political acts, affirmations of identity and engagements with deep-rooted historical narratives. Kathryn Hurlock follows the trail of pilgrimage through nineteen sacred sites - from the temples of Jerusalem to the banks of the Ganges, by way of Iona, Lourdes, Amritsar and Buenos Aires - revealing the many ways in which this ancient practice has shaped our religions and our world. Pilgrimages have transformed the fates of cities, anointed dynasties, provided guidance in hard times and driven progress in good. Filled with fascinating insights, Holy Places unveils the complex histories and contemporary endurance of one of our most fundamental human urges.

Newton's law explains why ketchup drips from your burger - but it can't explain why it happens whenever you wear a white shirt. That would be Murphy's law: if something can go wrong, it will. Just as the laws of physics govern the natural world, our working lives are shaped by unwritten rules that won't appear in textbooks, but whose impact remains significant. Here, the bestselling authors of The Decision Book bring together timeless principles and unwritten laws that determine success in today's workplace. Some are immediately intuitive, others are backed by long study. Some are world famous, others guarded secrets. But they all have one thing in common: they explain working life better than any MBA. From KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) to the IKEA Effect (we're biased towards things we've had a part in making), these models will help you think more clearly, make smarter decisions and survive any amount of stupidity the world throws at you.

Across the globe, democracy is in crisis - in the UK alone, it has been rocked by Brexit, the pandemic and successive attempts by governments to bypass legal norms. But how did this happen, and where might we go from here? Jonathan Sumption cuts through the political noise with acute analysis of the state of democracy today - from the vulnerabilities of international law to the deepening suppression of democracy activism in Hong Kong, and from the complexities of human rights legislation to the defence of freedom of speech. Timely, incisive and wholly original, Challenges of Democracy applies the brilliance of 'the cleverest man in Britain' to the most urgent and far-reaching political issue of our day.

Centuries ago, the myths say, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Northern India. But when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he is astonished to find water in the long-dry well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river and build a gleaming new city on its banks, and Satnam - adrift from his job, girlfriend and flat back in London - soon finds himself swept up in this ferment of Hindu nationalist pride. As the river alters Satnam's course, so it reveals buried ties to six distant relatives scattered across the globe - from an ambitious writer with her eye on legacy to a Kenyan archaeologist to a Bollywood stunt double - who are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Brimming with love, lush, violence and loos, Gurnaik Johal's magisterial debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories, our lands and each other.

Four very different people, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for a transformative experience - but not the kind they expected. Wine influencer Avery has given up her exploitative but fiercely fought sommelier job to be here, hoping it will earn her the prestige and funds she needs to survive. Rising-star sommelier Cosmo comes from privilege but is struggling to conceal that his life is in freefall. Millionaire Sonny earns scorn for dabbling in his tacky supermarket wine brand, while caustic French critic Maëlys hovers, poised to record their indiscretions. Finally, there's the enigmatic Master, who relishes the sway he holds over his guests almost as much as his partner, Tao, resents it. As glasses are emptied, rivalries fermented and secrets spilled, each must confront hard truths. Heady and subtly powerful, Lush is a bittersweet reckoning with class, beauty, hedonism and desire.

What makes a real salade niçoise? What type of cheese is officially France's stinkiest? Why does the sandy carrot have such a superior flavour? And who exactly are the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Giant Omelette? Leading expert on French food and culture Carolyn Boyd shares the stories behind the country's most fascinating foods and ingredients. Spanning every region of France and divided into 200 separate vignettes, each entry blends history and travel, personal anecdote and recipes. Amuse Bouche is a book to be devoured: a beautifully illustrated, joyous celebration of French food, and a charming, practical guide to inspire your own travels - whether you're a proud Francophile or don't know your ficelle from your flute.

This year, as they have for millennia, many people around the world will set out on pilgrimages. But these are not only journeys of personal and spiritual devotion - they are also political acts, affirmations of identity and engagements with deep-rooted historical narratives. Kathryn Hurlock follows the trail of pilgrimage through nineteen sacred sites - from the temples of Jerusalem to the banks of the Ganges, by way of Iona, Lourdes, Amritsar and Buenos Aires - revealing the many ways in which this ancient practice has shaped our religions and our world. Pilgrimages have transformed the fates of cities, anointed dynasties, provided guidance in hard times and driven progress in good. Filled with fascinating insights, Holy Places unveils the complex histories and contemporary endurance of one of our most fundamental human urges.

Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now... The students of Royal Hastings University's new Multimedia Art course have been trouble from day one. Acclaimed artist Alyson wants the department to revolve around her. Ludya struggles to balance her family and the workload. Jonathan has management experience but zero talent for art. Lovely Patrick can barely operate his mobile phone, let alone professional design software. Meanwhile blustering Cameron tries to juggle the course with his job in the City and does neither very well. Then there's Jem. A gifted young sculptor, she's a promising student... but cross her at your peril. The year-long course is blighted by accusations of theft, students setting fire to one another's artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an interactive art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong? The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students' essays and coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? And if so, who is dead, why were they killed, and who is the murderer? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now...

What is the history of ideas - and how has it shaped our world today? In this bold new follow-up to Confronting Leviathan, David Runciman unmasks modern politics and reveals the great men and women of ideas behind it. What can Samuel Butler's ideas teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies? How did Frederick Douglass not only expose the horrors of slavery, but champion a new approach to abolishing it? Why should we tolerate snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy, as Judith Shklar suggested? And what does Friedrich Nietzsche predict for our future? From Rousseau to Rawls, fascism to feminism and pleasure to anarchy, this is a mind-bending tour through the history of ideas which will forever change your view of politics today.

If we do what is right, everything else will follow: happiness, success, meaning, reputation, love. This is central to Stoic wisdom. The path isn't always easy, but it is essential, and the alternative - taking the easy route - leads only to cowardice and folly.In the third book in his bestselling Stoic Virtues series, Ryan Holiday explores the crucial role that integrity plays in every good life. From pillars of upright living like Ulysses S. Grant and Marcus Aurelius, to the cautionary tales of Napoleon and F. Scott Fitzgerald, this book shows us the power of owning our convictions and acting in accordance with our beliefs - and the perils of an ill-formed conscience.Our conscience, our sense of justice, is our first and our last strength: we can train it, hone it and fortify it, but above all, we must never lose it. This book shows us how.

What makes a real salade nicoise? What type of cheese is officially France's stinkiest? Why does the sandy carrot have such a superior flavour? And who exactly are the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Giant Omelette? Leading expert on French food and culture Carolyn Boyd shares the stories behind the country's most fascinating foods and ingredients. Spanning every region of France and divided into 200 separate vignettes, each entry blends history and travel, personal anecdote and recipes. Amuse Bouche is a book to be devoured: a beautifully illustrated, joyous celebration of French food, and a charming, practical guide to inspire your own travels - whether you're a proud Francophile or don't know your ficelle from your fl?te.

From the bestselling author of Chums comes an explorer's tale of a naif getting to understand a complex, glittering, beautiful and often cruel city. Simon Kuper has experienced Paris both as a human being and as a journalist. He has grown middle-aged there, eaten the croissants, taken his children to countless football matches on freezing Saturday mornings in the city's notorious banlieues, and in 2015 lived through two terrorist attacks on his family's neighbourhood. Over two decades of becoming something of a cantankerous Parisian himself, Kuper has watched the city change. This century, Paris has globalised, gentrified, and been shocked into realising its role as the crucible of civilisational conflict. Sometimes it's a multicultural paradise, and sometimes it isn't. This decade, Parisians have lived through a sequence of shocks: terrorist attacks, record floods and heatwaves, the burning of Notre Dame, the storming of the city by gilets jaunes, and the pandemic. Now, as the Olympics come to town, France is busy executing the 'Grand Paris' project: the most serious attempt yet to knit together the bejewelled city with its neglected suburbs. This is a captivating memoir of today's Paris without the clichés.

Democracy is future-oriented and self-correcting: today's problems can be solved, we are told, in tomorrow's elections. But the biggest issues facing the modern world - from climate collapse and pandemics to recession and world war - each apparently bring us to the edge of the irreversible. What happens to democracy when the future seems no longer open? In this eye-opening history of ideas, Jonathan White investigates how politics has long been directed by shifting visions of the future, from the birth of ideologies in the nineteenth century to Cold War secrecy and the excesses of the neoliberal age. As an inescapable sense of disaster defines our politics, White argues that a political commitment to the long-term may be the best way to safeguard democracy. Wide in scope and sharply observed, In the Long Run is a history of the future that urges us to make tomorrow new again.

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth? Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up. Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?