Books with author Paula Johanson

"This book chronicles how since the Neolithic era of the Stone Age, agricultural tools evolved from pointed digging sticks to electron microscopes. Weeds evolved into wheat, carrots, and more as humans selected and designed foods. People farmed sustainably since the last Ice Age with fire and fish traps, and more recently, agriculture has evolved to produce more for a growing worldwide population"--

When we’re hungry, we are often more concerned with quashing the hunger than the quality of what we’re eating. This book looks at processed food, which might have started as whole, healthy foods, but are now milled, coated or mixed with salt and preservatives, and fried or cooked. Oftentimes this processed food is cleverly packed as wholesome, even when it isn’t. Readers will learn how fake food ingredients can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. Fake foods have also been linked to stomach and colon cancers, and to high blood sugar levels. The book provides suggestions for real food choices, creating a regime of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that are healthy and satisfying.

"Every time we check our feeds we create safety bubbles around ourselves. Thanks to technological algorithms, we are living an increasingly narrow existence, one in which the news we read, the products we purchase, and the people we interact with are tailor-made for each of us. We might feel informed and comfortable, but we are isolating ourselves from anything outside our bubble. Are online filters just an efficient way to connect, or do they spell the end of democracy?"--Amazon.com.

Eminent historian Paul Johnson dazzles with a rich, succinct portrait of Mozart and his musicAs he’s done in Napoleon, Churchill, Jesus, and Darwin, acclaimed historian and author Paul Johnson here offers a concise, illuminating biography of Mozart. Johnson’s focus is on the music—Mozart’s wondrous output of composition and his uncanny gift for instrumentation.Liszt once said that Mozart composed more bars than a trained copyist could write in a lifetime. Mozart’s gift and skill with instruments was also remarkable as he mastered all of them except the harp. For example, no sooner had the clarinet been invented and introduced than Mozart began playing and composing for it.In addition to his many insights into Mozart’s music, Johnson also challenges the many myths that have followed Mozart, including those about the composer’s health, wealth, religion, and relationships. Always engaging, Johnson offers readers and music lovers a superb examination of Mozart and his glorious music, which is still performed every day in concert halls and opera houses around the world.

Humans express love in countless ways—through physical actions, emotional reactions, or heartfelt words. Capturing the perfect words to show a person’s love can be challenging, yet poets have done it for hundreds of years. What is love to a poet? Author Paula Johanson discusses eight poems and poets, with chapters on William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, and five others. Accompanied by biographical information on the poet and end-of-chapter questions for further study, Johanson closely examines each poem, including detailed analysis of form, content, poetic technique, and theme, encouraging readers to develop the tools to understand and appreciate poetry.