In 1900, Paris had no skyscrapers, no tourist helicopters, no drones. Yet well before aviation made aerial views more accessible, those who sought such vantages had countless options available to them. They could take in the vista from an observation ride, see a painting of the view from Notre-Dame, or overlook a miniature model city. In Aeroscopics, Patrick Ellis offers a history of the view from above, written from below. Richly illustrated and premised upon extensive archival w...

In a world of stupidity, the smart person is king. This may not be reality in this world, but that does not mean we cannot make it a reality. This book, this bible, is designed to make ignorant people smarter and to make intelligent people think. It is designed to make everyone see the world from a different point of view. It is designed to give a voice to those who want to say something but cannot. It is designed to make you laugh, make you mad, make you scream and make you change the wor...

Remnants of early films often have a story to tell.As material artifacts, these film fragments are central to cinema history, perhaps more than ever in our digital age of easy copying and sharing. If a digital copy is previewed before preservation or is shared with a researcher outside the purview of a film archive, knowledge about how the artifact was collected, circulated, and repurposed threatens to become obscured. When the question of origin is overlooked, the story can be los...

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has seemingly burst into public consciousness with sudden vigor. Previously relinquished to computer science journals, it erupted as the unrelenting topic of public media with most of the furor surrounding chatbots, like ChatGPT. Although many educators began worrying about the implications of AI in student learning and creative activity, this book will demonstrate that AI can be harnessed as a source of inspiration and meaningful instruction. With an emphas...

Relations between the United States and Russia have recently escalated from strained to outright aggressive. From imperial expansion in Ukraine to intervention in Syria to Russian hacking during the US election in 2016, it is clear that the United States must be prepared to defend itself and its NATO allies against Russian aggression.Resurgent Russia, researched and written by six residents and internationally experienced officers at the US Army War College, analyzes the c...

Times are changing at historic house museums and no one is more aware of this than the fourteen contributors to Interpreting Historic House Museums. These respected museum professionals consider the history of house museums and the need to look at familiar issues from new perspectives and using new methods. If your site isn't using a comprehensive interpretive plan, how can you create one? While doing so, how do you address contemporary issues like race and gender? Don't forget the physica...

Level Up Your Tabletop Adventures: The Ultimate Guide for Young GMsThe Game Master’s Book of Magic and Mayhem is the essential toolkit designed specifically for middle-grade gamers (ages 10-14). Whether they are fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or other popular tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), this companion guide provides the creative spark needed to build immersive wo...

StoriesThe Last Days of the Lotus Eaters – Leigh HarlenKeeping the Peace – Catriona Butler & Rob ButlerDeath Acceptance – Tony ClavelliApocalypse Beta Test Survey – Gregg ChamberlainSpirejack – Patrick WarnerLowland Clearances – Pippa GoldschmidtThe Last Moonshot – Vaughan StangerThe Sky is Alive – Michael F RussellThe Useless Citizen Act – Ellis S. J. SangsterInterview with Cory DoctorowSF Poetry by Marise Mor...

In recent decades, American universities have begun to tout the “diversity” of their faculty and student bodies. But what kinds of diversity are being championed in their admissions and hiring practices, and what kinds are being neglected? Is diversity enough to solve the structural inequalities that plague our universities? And how might we articulate the value of diversity in the first place?Transforming the Academy begins to answer these questions by bringing together a...

In just ten short, accessible, and inviting chapters, Rethinking Investing: A Very Short Guide on Very Long-Term Investing presents straightforward steps that ordinary people can take to better invest their money. This book dispels myths about the value of investment managers, highlights emotional tendencies that can cloud our financial judgment, explains why index funds are a savvy choice, and reveals secrets like why it's better to wait until age seventy to receive Social Securi...

Wild Seas, Wilder Cities is a ‘wild-seeded’ collection of short stories, poems, memoirs and environmental articles from 49 unique contributors, all concerned with showing the positive side of our relationship with the earth.Thanks to funding from Portsmouth Creates, this audiobook features 50 different voices from across the Portsmouth community and beyond. Our readers range from teenagers to those in their nineties, including experienced actors, writers and volunteers from the pub...

This book has information about highly evolved life from other worlds in our galaxy, visiting and observing Earth. There are channeling sessions between the author and his spirit guides (nicknamed GAGs as an abbreviation for Guardian Angel Guides), ETs in general and sessions with alien extraterrestrials visiting and observing Earth as the book was written, 2014 through early 2016.