When the explorer René Caillié returned to France from Africa in 1828, he published a sketch of the legendary city he had discovered - Timbuctoo. But neither that simple drawing nor his matter-of-fact description gave Caillié's countrymen a sufficiently colorful picture to match their preconceptions of how Africa should look. They turned their backs on the young explorer, ignored his accomplishments, and let him die neglected. Here are the epic adventures of the European explorers who open...

When curious storytellers Rowlan and Vespera uncover dusty guidebooks in their museum attic, they embark on a whirlwind pilgrimage to the world’s most famous landmarks. At each site—from Pisa’s tilted tower to Dubai’s sky-scraping Burj Khalifa—they spin playful legends of wind gods, water sprites, and stone guardians, while weaving in real engineering marvels and cultural facts. Along the way, they befriend local children, collect family tales, and post illustrated adventures on their Land...

In the fog-covered town of Mistvale, Ava and her friends set out to create a lantern that can cut through the thick fog that has been growing year after year. With teamwork, creativity, and a little bit of humor, they build a lantern that not only guides the way but also lights up new paths to unity, understanding, and innovation. The Lanterns That Led the Way is a fun and inspiring story about leadership, problem-solving, and the power of working together to bring clarity to unce...

On the eve of the Twilight Festival, the legendary Silver Lantern vanishes from the town’s shrine, threatening to cast the celebration into darkness. Resourceful twins Soren and Avia volunteer to retrieve it, following elusive chimes through moonlit alleys, starlit rooftops, and hidden garden mazes. Along the way they learn to listen for secret melodies from a mysterious wind-whistler and to express stories through silent dance with a dusk-dancer’s graceful steps. When they finally track t...

Performance Computing: Modern Systems and Practices is a fully comprehensive and easily accessible treatment of high performance computing, covering fundamental concepts and essential knowledge while also providing key skills training. With this book, students will begin their careers with an understanding of possible directions for future research and development in HPC, domain scientists will learn how to use supercomputers as a key tool in their quest for new knowledge, and practicing e...

High Performance Computing: Modern Systems and Practices is a fully comprehensive and easily accessible treatment of high performance computing, covering fundamental concepts and essential knowledge while also providing key skills training. With this book, domain scientists will learn how to use supercomputers as a key tool in their quest for new knowledge. In addition, practicing engineers will discover how supercomputers can employ HPC systems and methods to the design and simulation of ...

It was about 13,000 years ago that the First Americans, people who came from Asia, worked their way past the melting glaciers of the last Ice Age and began spreading across North, Central, and South America - lands previously unscarred by humans and teeming with mammoths, giant bison, saber-toothed tigers, and beavers the size of a cow. But it's only recently that scientists have pieced together the elusive, compelling saga of that epic migration. And the more we learn about them, the more...

Most of us still know less about Africa's past and peoples than we do about the continent's wild animals. And what we do know is colored by romance - safaris and treks and camel caravans, Solomon's mine and Tutankhamun's curse, the shores of Tripoli and the snows of Kilimanjaro. Yet the ancestor of all humankind may have lived in Africa. The world's longest-lived, literate civilization was African. Through the ages, great civilizations rose and fell in what was once called "darkest" Africa...

Critics said Ferdinand de Lesseps's ambitious scheme to link the waters of the Mediterranean and Red seas - thus cutting 5,800 miles off the India to Europe ocean voyage - was impractical, unwise, and even foolish. The hostile, empty desert of the Isthmus of Suez posed a seemingly insurmountable geographical challenge to the builder's ingenuity and persistence. During the ten years of its construction, from 1859 to 1869, the Suez Canal was the focus of worldwide attention. Around the globe...

Here, from New York Times bestselling author Robert Wernick, is the unforgettable story of the Byzantine Empire, which dominated the world for more than 1,000 years. Here, too, are the stories of the extraordinary emperors and generals who brought the empire into being and ultimately presided over its demise. We witness the glittering city of Constantinople from its rise to greatness through its deadly conclusion. Though Byzantium has faded away, its everlasting contributions to our world ...

Today, the great cathedrals of Europe stand as beautiful, imposing monuments - the pride of parishioners and the wonder of tourists. It is difficult for us now, even with all our engineering and architectural skills, to imagine the extraordinary ways these medieval houses of worship were constructed. Midway through the twelfth century, the building of cathedrals became a crusade to erect awe-inspiring churches across Europe. In their zeal, bishops, monks, masons, and workmen created the ar...

Here, from New York Times bestselling historian Vincent Cronin, is the extraordinary story of Italy - from the birth of the Roman Empire to the rise of the city-states through the Renaissance and the making of modern Italy.