In the Restricted Access Nations (RANs) of the Arabian Peninsula, evangelical missionaries must conceal their core identity and purposes as evangelists and church planters. As “tentmakers,” they present a vocational identity on the field instead, leading a life often characterized by secrecy in order to protect themselves, the missionary community, and those they disciple. In an age of ubiquitous surveillance technology and global online connectivity, one slip could mean deportation, impri...

"Democracy: The Political Tale" pulls readers into an exciting exploration of government complexities, directed by the author's own intimate experiences with democracy and tyranny. Leaning upon real-life events, the account digs deep into the profound effects of being forced out from a dictatorship nation and thereafter growing up in a democracy. The striking distinction between these structures influences the author's thorough study of representative democracy.This book points out...

What is the origin of life? Molecular biology shows us one kind, but in thinking about it we must consider those generalised aspects of living organisation that are common to all conceivable forms of life. The author believes that only a combination of general biological theory and particular chemical knowledge can solve the problems of the origin and re-creation of life. This book does not fall into either the classical Haldane or Oparin schools of thought on the origin of life, but advan...

Rene Ketchler stood looking out through the kitchen window of her home to the back porch where Jack Frost had etched fern-fronds on the outside of the storm windows. Beyond that artistry laid the beauty of a snow-white world. She had never heard of snow in southern Illinois in October!! But then so many unusual things had transpired in the last few weeks. Could it be that such a short time had passed since her world had turned topsy-turvy, and in that turning brought more turmoil than one ...

What happens when what was built to last forever will be demolished in just 180 days?Tomas Araeta and Naomi Curran are nearing their tenth year of marriage-and on the cusp of adopting a child-when Tomas, an aspiring architect, strays with a client. Discovering the infidelity, Naomi files for divorce, but California has a mandatory six-month waiting period before the divorce can be finalized. The clock is ticking: Tomas has 180 days to win Naomi back.This kicks off a fraught...

How can we reconcile Shakespeare's account of human behavior and that of modern brain science? That's the central question addressed by the noted Glasgow chemist A.G. Cairns-Smith in this provocative, witty, and highly accessible discussion of conscious awareness, free will, and science. Written in a conversational style, Secrets of the Mind is not only a splendid introduction for the general reader to the central questions of consciousness and brain scie...

Reviews key challenges and solutions in improving the health and welfare of organic farm animalsAddresses how organic livestock farming can build on smallholder systems such as pastoralism and agroforestryIncludes case studies on improving organic farming of dairy and beef cattle, sheep and goats, pig and poultry

Life is an enduring mystery. Yet, science tells us that living beings are merely sophisticated structures of lifeless molecules. If this view is correct, where do the seemingly purposeful motions of cells and organisms originate? In Life's Ratchet, physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale.Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what Hoffmann calls the molecular storm -- specialized mol...

The inimitable Garrison Keillor spins "a Christmas tale that makes Dickens seem unimaginative by comparison" (Charlotte Creative Loafing)Snow is falling all across the Midwest as James Sparrow, a country- bumpkin-turned-energy-drink-tycoon, and his wife awaken in their sky- rise apartment overlooking Chicago. Even down with the stomach bug, Mrs. Sparrow yearns to see The Nutcracker while James yearns only to escape-the faux-cheer, the bitter cold,...

Candid, provocative, and disarming, this is the widely-praised memoir of the co-discoverer of the double helix of DNA.

Quantum Evolution presents a revolutionary new scientific theory by asking: is there a force of will behind evolution? In his astonishing first book, Johnjoe McFadden shows that there is.‘McFadden’s bold hypothesis that quantum physics plays a key role in the origin and evolution of life looks increasingly plausible. The weird behaviour of matter and information at the quantum level could be just what is needed to explain life’s astonishing properties. If these ideas are right, the...

The processes in a single living cell are akin to that of a city teeming with molecular inhabitants that move, communicate, cooperate, and compete. In this Very Short Introduction, Philip Ball explores the role of the molecule in and around us - how, for example, a single fertilized egg can grow into a multi-celled Mozart, what makes spider's silk insoluble in the morning dew, and how this molecular dynamism is being captured in the laboratory, promising to reinvent chemistry as the centra...