About this product: As an ESL instructor for over 13 years, I have found this book rich with wonderful prompts generating creative and engaging dialogue amongst my ESL students. In my private tutoring groups Compelling Conversations produces lively group discussions that exercise the students' linguistic and cultural muscles.
Michael Cannon ESL Instructor
University of Southern California
About this product: In this expanded 8th edition, evidence that revolutionizes our understanding of origins is carefully explained. Part I discusses, in quick overview, 131 categories of evidence from biology, astronomy, earth science, and the physical sciences. Part II describes the hydroplate theory, developed during 35 years of study and research by Walt Brown. This theory explains a catastrophic event in Earth's history and solves a host of recognized problems. Some chapters in Part II deal with: the origin of the Grand Canyon, evidence that shows comets, asteroids, and meteroids came from Earth. the sudden freezing and burial of the frozen mammoths, if there was a global flood, where the water came from and where it went, and how mountain ranges, volcanoes, submarine canyons, ocean trenches, and coal and oil deposits were formed. Thirty-seven other frequently asked questions fill a fascinating Part III of Brown's book. A few of those questions are: Is global warming occurring? If so, what causes it? Have scientific tools detected genetic traces of Adam and Eve within us? How accurate is radiocarbon dating? What about the dinosaurs? What hydroplate theory predictions have been confirmed? Is evolution compatible with the Bible?
With Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader, the dedicated folks at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute offer fast-acting, long-lasting relief for their legions of fans who have been suffering without a new infusion of the series’ trademark trivia and obscure and fascinating facts. Number 18 in the series, this book is divided into short, medium, and long sections for any duration of stay. Readers can plunge into such pressing topics as the origin of Punk Rock, the true story behind all those celebrity jailbirds, whether dragons actually exist, strange diets of the rich and famous, great moments in bad TV, and more. This irresistible read, perfect for any mood, also contains a variety of puzzles and brainteasers for readers to ponder.
Remarkably, even though millions upon millions of us do believe in God, when we are asked why we have such faith, we become tongue-tied and struggle to give a reason for our hope. No wonder those who don't believe God exists remain unconvinced—there's too few of us ready to speak on God's behalf!
Ken Boa and Robert Bowman, have provided a resource that tackles the most profound arguments from philosophy, science, sociology, psychology, and history ... and presents twenty clear, concise, and compelling evidences that show that faith in God—and specifically Jesus Christ—is reasonable.
About this product: At the heart of any great computer game are expertly designed levels: the locales and stages that define gameplay. And at the core of any strong game development team are the level designers: the people who create the spaces and environments that you move through while playing the game. And because level design doesn’t require a fine arts or programming degree, it’s one of the best avenues into a career in game development. Level Design for Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences is the definitive guide to level design, both for aspiring game developers, and for industry pros looking for practical, best-practice tips and advice.
With over ten years of experience with some of the industry’s top developers, Phil Co starts the reader at the very beginning of the game development process, explaining the level designer’s role in the all-important preproduction phase. Co then moves into the production phase, using a fictional level to demonstrate how to create and refine your level.
Packed with screenshots, diagrams, and real-world examples, this book gives you all the tools you need to build your own professional-grade level, including level narratives, descriptions, diagrams, and templates. Chapter assignments help you practice what you’ve learned, and the demo of Epic’s UnrealEngine2 Editor (UnrealEd), included on the companion CD-ROM, gives you hands-on experience with an industry-standard tool.
Phil Co has a degree in architecture from the University of Virginia but opted instead for a career in video games. Starting out as a tester at SEGA, he’s been a level designer since 1996 for some of the best-regarded game developers in the industry, including Cyclone Studios, Blizzard, and Valve Software, makers of the hugely popular “Half-Life” series. Phil lives in Seattle with his wife and son.
“Anyone interested in a level design career should read this book. Phil does an excellent job covering all the aspects of level design across several game genres.” —Rob Pardo, Vice President of Game Design, Blizzard Entertainment
“An indispensable guide to the theory, process, and practice of level design.” —Robin Walker, Designer, Valve Software
“This book contains a wealth of valuable information for anyone interested in Level Design. It is one of the few books I would recommend to my gaming students.” —Todd Robinson, Game Design Instructor, Academy of Art University, San Francisco
About this product: True or False? Most PowerPoint presentations are: compelling illuminating informative clear and to the point Answer: False Make a change following the principles of Stephen Kosslyn: a world authority on the visual brain a clear and engaging writer Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable, and even enjoyable is not an obscure art. In this book, Stephen Kosslyn, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, presents eight simple principles for constructing a presentation that takes advantage of the information modern science has discovered about perception, memory, and cognition. Using hundreds of images and sample slides, he shows the common mistakes many people make and the simple ways to fix them. For example, never use underlining to emphasize a word--the line will cut off the bottom of letters that have descending lines (such as p and g), which interferes with the brain's ability to recognize text. Other tips include why you should state your conclusion at the beginning of a presentation, when to use a line graph versus a bar graph, and how to use color correctly. By following Kosslyn's principles, anyone will be able to produce a presentation that works!
About this product: As our understanding and awareness of who and what we are advances through the grueling gauntlet of scientific process, we continually face a debilitating dilemma: we must simultaneously question everything and at the same time proceed as if we know something. As a result we continually battle ourselves, questioning the ground on which we stand while using that same ground to prove our questions irrelevant. It's a gift, then, when a writer emerges who will grapple with any of these battles at the event horizon between science and conjecture and take himself wholly into the fray, reporting back to us the subtle forces at work within the storm and how those forces play upon him and the subject he explores.
In Old Souls, journalist Tom Shroder manages this feat and hands us a volume that is considerable and engaging. Not only do we explore the work of a brave and committed researcher on the slippery slope of reincarnation, we are also treated to a remarkable tour of worlds foreign to us: human existence in post-war Beirut and in the depths of poverty in India. Through the entire journey, Mr. Shroder keeps the primary question lively, carrying the reader through to a closing bit of personal memoir that brilliantly ties the book together into a provocative whole.
Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, you can't help but appreciate Mr. Shroder's disciplined, scrupulously fair, and soul-searching explication. Along the way, we learn immensely about the process as it is revealed and a great deal about exploration itself. The book works on many levels, and readers will benefit from them all. --Donald A. Freas
About this product: Here at last is a coherent, unintimidating introduction to the challenging and fascinating landscape of Western philosophy. Written expressly for "anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them," Think provides a sound framework for exploring the most basic themes of philosophy, and for understanding how major philosophers have tackled the questions that have pressed themselves most forcefully on human consciousness.
Simon Blackburn, author of the best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, begins by making a convincing case for the relevance of philosophy and goes on to give the reader a sense of how the great historical figures such as Plato, Hume, Kant, Descartes, and others have approached its central themes. In a lively and accessible style, Blackburn approaches the nature of human reflection and how we think, or can think, about knowledge, fate, ethics, identity, God, reason, and truth. Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the reader a self-contained guide through the problems that the philosophers have studied. Because the text approaches these issues from the gound up, the untrained reader will emerge from its pages able to explore other philosophies with greater pleasure and understanding and be able to think--philosophically--for him or herself.
Philosophy is often dismissed as a purely academic discipline with no relation to the "real" world non-philosophers are compelled to inhabit. Think dispels this myth and offers a springboard for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our virtually every aspect of our existence.
About this product: A breakthrough of enormous proportions, this multidisciplinary study examines evidence of a great catastrophe that occurred 11,500 years ago.
About this product: The United States is rapidly transforming into one of the most racially and ethnically diverse nations in the world. Groups commonly referred to as minorities - including Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska Natives - are the fastest growing segments of the population and emerging as the nation's majority. Despite the rapid growth of racial and ethnic minority groups, their representation among the nation's health professionals has grown only modestly in the past 25 years. This alarming disparity has prompted the recent creation of initiatives to increase diversity in health professions. "In the Nation's Compelling Interest" considers the benefits of greater racial and ethnic diversity, and identifies institutional and policy-level mechanisms to garner broad support among health professions leaders, community members, and other key stakeholders to implement these strategies. Assessing the potential benefits of greater racial and ethnic diversity among health professionals will improve the access to and quality of healthcare for all Americans.
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