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  With a Royal Engineers Field...

  V.F. Eberle

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  A memoir of the First World War from the rare perspective of an engineer. 
   
  VF Eberle MC joined up upon the outbreak of the war in No 2 Field Company Royal Engineers, 48th (South Midland) Division, the same company as his brother, who was a captain. He was commissioned before sailing for France at the end of March 1915 and remained with it for the rest of the war. In that time he saw action on the Somme and in the Advance to the Hindenburg Line before his Division took part for most of the Battle of Third Ypres (Passchendaele). Transferred to Italy at the end of 1917, he took part in the final stages of the war, including the Battle of Asiago. Besides his eloquent description of the work of a field company RE, he spends some time in outlining his role in the development of the Bangalore Torpedo. 
   
  Based on his wartime letters, diaries, and records—which can now be consulted in the Imperial War Museum—this book gives a detailed picture of the employment of a field company in war, during both periods of both relative tranquility and major offensives. There are relatively few memoirs of Royal Engineers’ officers, especially of those in his position, so close to the line. The memoirs benefit from his key eye for observation and his skillful use of the material available to him, making this a fine addition to the literature of the Great War.

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  Grateful Guilt - Living in the...

  Steven G. Taibbi

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  They've been cutting into Steven Taibbi since the day he was born, and they still haven't stopped. According to the doctors, Steven should have died years ago, and several times since. Born April 26, 1953, he was cyanotic—doctor-speak for what was commonly called blue baby, meaning his heart wasn’t pumping efficiently enough to properly oxygenate his blood. As if that wasn’t enough, he was also born with three birth defects, requiring three operations. There would be more operations to come—many more. Over time, he needed not one, but two heart transplants, feeling immensely grateful while struggling with survivor’s guilt. 
  "Grateful Guilt: Living in the Shadow of My Heart" is Steven’s story of determination, one he feels would benefit others who face serious challenges. He also carries guilt for the way his illness affected the family dynamic. 
  Without self-pity but with lots of humor, Steven shares his journey, one filled with physical and emotional pain yet comes out fulfilling many of his aspirations he dared to believe could happen, even while hooked up to wires and machines challenging such thoughts.

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  The Clean Coder - A Code of...

  Robert C. Martin

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  Programmers who endure and succeed amidst swirling uncertainty and nonstop pressure share a common attribute: They care deeply about the practice of creating software. They treat it as a craft. They are professionals. 
   
  In The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers, legendary software expert Robert C. Martin introduces the disciplines, techniques, tools, and practices of true software craftsmanship. This book is packed with practical advice-about everything from estimating and coding to refactoring and testing. It covers much more than technique: It is about attitude. Martin shows how to approach software development with honor, self-respect, and pride; work well and work clean; communicate and estimate faithfully; face difficult decisions with clarity and honesty; and understand that deep knowledge comes with a responsibility to act. 
   
  Listeners will learn: 
  - What it means to behave as a true software craftsman 
  - How to deal with conflict, tight schedules, and unreasonable managers 
  - How to get into the flow of coding, and get past writer's block 
  - How to handle unrelenting pressure and avoid burnout 
  - How to combine enduring attitudes with new development paradigms 
  - How to manage your time, and avoid blind alleys, marshes, bogs, and swamps 
  - How to foster environments where programmers and teams can thrive 
  - When to say "No"-and how to say it 
  - When to say "Yes"-and what yes really means 
    
  Great software is something to marvel at: powerful, elegant, functional, a pleasure to work with as both a developer and as a user. Great software isn't written by machines. It is written by professionals with an unshakable commitment to craftsmanship. The Clean Coder will help you become one of them-and earn the pride and fulfillment that they alone possess.

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  Robots In Space - Technology...

  Roger D. Launius, Howard E. McCurdy

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  A look into the history of space exploration and its possible future, and just where exactly robotics fit into it all. 
   
  Given the near incomprehensible enormity of the universe, it appears almost inevitable that humankind will one day find a planet that appears to be much like the Earth. This discovery will no doubt reignite the lure of interplanetary travel. Will we be up to the task? And, given our limited resources, biological constraints, and the general hostility of space, what shape should we expect such expeditions to take? 
   
  In Robots in Space, Roger Launius and Howard McCurdy tackle these questions with rigorous scholarship and disciplined imagination, jumping comfortably among the worlds of rocketry, engineering, public policy, and science fantasy to expound upon the possibilities and improbabilities involved in trekking across the Milky Way and beyond. They survey the literature—fictional as well as academic studies—and outline the progress of space programs in the United States and other nations. They also assess the current state of affairs to offer a conclusion startling only to those who haven’t spent time with Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke: to traverse the cosmos, humans must embrace and entwine themselves with advanced robotic technologies . . . 
   
  2008 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine 
   
  Praise for Robots in Space 
   
  “This short volume manages to capture the history of U.S. space flight, to explain the underpinnings of U.S. space policy and to plot out the possibilities for our future in space in a style that most anyone can enjoy.” —Andrew McMichael, Park City Daily News

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  Our National Parks - A campaign...

  John Muir

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  'Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away ... God has cared for these trees ...  but he cannot save them from fools – only Uncle Sam can do that.'
  First published in 1901, Our National Parks is possibly the bestselling book of Muir's wilderness-discovery titles and was certainly the most influential published in his lifetime, with a strong focus on the preservation of forest reserves.
  With a strong political tone and shrewd, subtle manoeuvring, Muir uses Our National Parks to persuade his readership of the necessity of nature and national parks for human recreation and more importantly for health and wellbeing, as well as the – in his mind – obvious need for preservation of wild ecosystems.
  Cannily he counterbalances this with the acknowledgement of the need for timber and irrigation systems, in order that his message is taken seriously; Muir's passion is portrayed so vividly and flamboyantly that without his learned political and scientific reinforcement, he could be misconstrued as purely a radical and eccentric nonconformist. However, the two combined result in an engaging and convincing argument that these landscapes are our 'natural home', and 'fountains of life'.
  As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, 'Muir's tone can shift in this book from seductive persuasion, to charming details of creatures, flora and landscapes, to scientific information, to trail guide, to religious uplift, to a final political speech of startling ferocity.'
  John Muir's strategic yet genuine and beautiful conservationist essays were a first at the time of publication, and are still highly applicable to our attitudes and lifestyles today in the twenty-first century.

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  Know It All - 132...

  New NewScientist

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  Some of the craziest questions & answers from the magazine’s “Last Word” column, on subjects like Earth, space, meteorology, evolution, health, and more. 
   
  New Scientist magazine’s beloved “Last Word” column is a rare forum for “un-Google-able” queries: Readers write in, and readers respond! Know It All collects 132 of the column’s very best Q&As. The often-wacky questions cover physics, chemistry, zoology and beyond: When will Mount Everest cease to be the tallest mountain on the planet? If a thermometer was in space, what would it read? Why do some oranges have seeds, and some not? Many people suffer some kind of back pain. Is it because humans haven’t yet perfected the art of walking upright? And the unpredictable answers showcase the brainpower of New Scientist’s readers, like the anatomist who chimes in about back pain (“Evolution is not in the business of perfecting anything.”) and the vet who responds, “Quadrupeds can get backache too!” 
   
  A Guardian Top 10 Science and Technology book 
   
  Praise for Know It All 
   
  “An entertaining and intellectually stimulating read.” —Shelf Awareness 
   
  “The experts at New Scientist magazine have published a book that answers some of the oddest but most entertaining questions they’ve been asked.” —Daily Mail (UK) 
   
  “Explain[s] some of life’s great mysteries.” —Reveal (UK) 
   
  “Answers the questions you’ve probably wondered all your life.” —Wales Online (UK) 
   
  “Great answers to common dinner party questions.” —Good Housekeeping (UK)

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