Books with author Stewart Johnson

Did you drink a glass of water today? Did you turn on a light? Did you think about how miraculous either one of those things is when you did it? Of course not--but you should, and New York Times bestselling author Steven Johnson has. This adaptation of his adult book and popular PBS series explores the fascinating and interconnected stories of innovations--like clean drinking water and electricity--that changed the way people live.Innovation starts with a problem whose solution sets in motion all kinds of unexpected discoveries. That's why you can draw a line from pendulums to punching the clock at a factory, from ice blocks to summer movie blockbusters, from clean water to computer chips.In the lively storytelling style that has made him a popular, bestselling author, Steven Johnson looks at how accidental genius, brilliant mistakes, and unintended consequences shape the way we live in the modern world. Johnson's "long zoom" approach connects history, geography, politics, and scientific advances with the deep curiousity of inventors or quirky interests of tinkerers to show how innovation truly comes about. His fascinating account is organized into six topics: glass, cold, sound, clean, time, light. Johnson's fresh exploration of these simple, single-syllable word concepts creates an endlessly absorbing story that moves from lightning strikes in the prehistoric desert to the herculean effort to literally raise up the city of Chicago to laser labs straight out of a sci-fi movie. In other words, it's the story of how we got to now!

The outdoors inspires. Being Out There lends itself to creation, exploration, discovery, and sometime just the plain ol' accidental fun of getting lost in the woods and finding a whole new world. Never is this more evident and influential than to the curious and tireless mind of a kid. This book series celebrates those carefree moments in a fun and engaging presentation, with brother and sister main characters embarking on an adventure into a host of outdoor locales of different personalities, like a northern bog forest, high alpine mountains, coastal rainforest, or desert. Along the way they meet resident critters or perhaps a wise and storied local resident, and the kids learn about different habitats, life highlights of wildlife, the ins and outs of area flora, and much more. The story actively engages young readers with a tale of exploration and unique ways to learn and experience the place they're in, and the kids' own place within it all. A 'What We Learned' page closes the story, with some key moments and terms, and their definitions, readers might not have known before, along with some that stretch their knowledge base just enough to motivate them to discover the answers. This book invites and encourages kids to get out there and see the world around them, and provides an entertaining and effective approach to learning about what's right out the door.

LOSING IT ALLHood loses his job, his home, his wife - even his beloved daughter Bonnie Sue. He loses everything that matters to a man, including pieces of his mind - if not all of it.He blames all his troubles on the ultra rich - whom he calls "the fat cats" - and their heartless cutbacks.A KILLING SPREEBonnie Sue's death - due to poor health care and no health insurance - pushes Hood over the edge and he goes on a killing spree, targeting members of the upper 1 percent. The Forbes 400 becomes his personal "hit list."One by one, he begins knocking off fat cats and the rising death toll strikes fear in the hearts of the captains of industry and launches a national movement pitting the "haves" against the "have-nots." The good life is no longer that good for the ultra rich, now living in abject terror, fearful over who might be next, now living timid lives in every way, now making timid financial decisions, causing the stock market to slide, dealing serious damage to the economy.CAN HOOD BE STOPPED?Can Hood and the angry masses he has awakened be stopped? Addressing the national emergency, the president forms a special task force and authorizes it to use any means possible.Or will the killing that has shaken our great nation to its core continue - until it comes crashing down like a great house of cards? So much anger, so many common men - and they just keep coming and coming, so relentless in their pursuit of a better life, which they say they've been unfairly denied. They are mad as hell and blood-thirsty for revenge.Scroll up and find out how it all turns out with just one click.

"Where's my money, Pam?"Something's wrong with Mama and Jolly knows it. He wishes he could help, but he doesn't know how - and a dog can only do so much.All of Mrs Gracie's money is gone and she suspects her new keeper, Pam, who has been "really taking over" here lately, tricking her into signing some papers she doesn't really understand. "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile."Mary Grace Hornbuckle Moore of Jasper, Alabama, has Alzheimer's and she's not exactly at her best these days, but she's not going to take all this lying down because she's a tough little lady, a coal miner's widow, who had to learn how to take care of herself after the death of her beloved Chub from black lung - and she's not forgetting anytime soon.Mrs. Gracie named all her black cocker spaniels Jolly and several are now lying in her pet cemetery in graves marked by wooden crosses out by the apple trees. "I did that to remind myself to always be jolly like a fine Christian lady should."Remaining jolly is getting a lot tougher these days, however.

This is the story of two Confederate spies, Tom Harbin and Charlie Russell. Harbin, among the most wanted of all Confederate agents, was also one of the leaders in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln. It was Harbin who left a getaway horse for Booth outside Ford's Theatre, and Harbin who helped Booth escape across the Potomac. For a time there was a big price on Harbin's head, but he was never arrested. Tradition holds that he went into hiding, perhaps in Cuba or England, but this book demonstrates that he was again openly living and working in D.C. at least as early as 1866. The other half of this book presents a new Confederate spy: Tom Harbin's step-cousin Charlie Russell, a man who never talked and never left a paper trail. It was only while the author was conducting genealogical research into the Russell family of Clarksville, Virginia, that he stumbled across Russell's activities during the Civil War. Here the author presents a wealth of evidence to suggest that Russell, too, played a part in the dramatic history of Confederate espionage. Enhancing the life stories of both these men is detailed information on their genealogy and the lives of their forebears and descendants, many of whom were prominent in the history and society of Washington, D.C.

SOMETHING'S DIFFERENT ABOUT JONAHOther Civil War re-enactors thought all along there was something different about Jonah the way he corrected the placement of a line of Confederate riflemen, the way he took apart and reassembled an old cannon with ease, the way he walked over the battlefield like he'd been there before.Their suspicions were confirmed when he started firing live ammo into the Yankee lines. Find out if there are any additional casualties at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads more than 150 years after the last shots were fired.WHERE DID HE COME FROM?In the deepest mud at the bottom of the Tennessee River a great fish stirs. Awakened by a heat wave, worst since the Civil War, it moves toward the surface, starved for water richer in oxygen.Grayish-green from nose to tail, the mysterious fish crawls up on the bank and yawns and from its massive jaws comes the last Confederate, a man of honor in a dishonorable world. Naked and afraid, Jonah isn't too happy with what he finds but he doesn't mind setting a few things straight - if he can.General Wheeler has taught him well and he wouldn't want to disappoint the general or his daughter - the woman he loves, his darling Evangeline. A man with a mission, Jonah's back in uniform - one borrowed on a clandestine visit to the Wheeler museum along with a sword and pistol - and he's ready to ride.VIEWS OF AN HONORABLE MAN TRAPPED IN A DISHONORABLE WORLDJonah on smart phones: "I can't imagine what's in those little glass bricks that's so interesting people want to peer into them all day."Jonah on NFL players protesting: "Why are those slaves kneeling like that? Are they waiting to be punished? They're wearing gold chains so they must have rich masters."Jonah on Black Lives Matter: "Don't all lives matter? I thought we learned that at Shiloh." Jonah learns more about the Black Lives Matter movement when he helps and befriends Bud Knight, a black man beaten and wounded at a rally around the Emma Sansom statue in Gadsden, Alabama.Jonah on generals Wheeler and Forrest: "Their men would follow them inside the gates of hell to do battle with the devil himself but those two never did get along - too much jealousy."Jonah on the Rebel yell: "It can't be bought, sold or imitated. When it comes time to ride out from the trees onto the battlefield and you don't know whether you're going to live or die, it comes from somewhere deep within the heart of any man born south of the Mason-Dixon line."Jonah on Civil War letters: "We wrote them to our ladies right before battle to let them know we love them and we shed tears only moments before we shed blood."Jonah on honor: "A man of honor is an army of one."READY TO MOUNT UP?Jonah invites you to ride with him: "I'm ready to ride. How about you? Come along, if you'd like. But time's a-wasting. I ain't got all day."Read all about him with just one click.

Thank you for reading Bede's World, the second of my trilogy of books about Bede of Monkwearmouth/Jarrow. The first book, Bede's Well, introduced you to the idea of a fictional account of the boyhood of St. Bede. Little is known of his actual boyhood, so I used literacy licence to imagine what could have happened. Although I did a little research, I did say that my story would contain anachronisms, or events which could not have possibly happened, because they are out with the time line of his life or possibly refer to things which had not yet been discovered.This new book looks at Bede's life as a youth, or teenager, and contains references which may or may not have taken place. It focuses more on Monkwearmouth, as both it and Jarrow jealously claim Bede as their own. I think both places were equally important in his life. I have imagined that Bede travelled to Rome. We know that both Benet and Ceolfrith made numerous journeys to Rome from Monkwearmouth, so why not Bede too?Once again I have tried to use challenging vocabulary and I have examined issues which I feel early medieval Christians would have faced. Like the first book I have included biblical stories, as they become relevant to the individual characters.

From the dynamic thinker routinely compared to Malcolm Gladwell, E. O. Wilson, and James Gleick, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner with a real-life historical hero that brilliantly illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of viruses, rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry. These are topics that have long obsessed Steven Johnson, and The Ghost Map is a true triumph of the kind of multidisciplinary thinking for which he's become famous-a book that, like the work of Jared Diamond, presents both vivid history and a powerful and provocative explanation of what it means for the world we live in. The Ghost Map takes place in the summer of 1854. A devastating cholera outbreak seizes London just as it is emerging as a modern city: more than 2 million people packed into a ten-mile circumference, a hub of travel and commerce, teeming with people from all over the world, continually pushing the limits of infrastructure that's outdated as soon as it's updated. Dr. John Snow-whose ideas about contagion had been dismissed by the scientific community-is spurred to intense action when the people in his neighborhood begin dying. With enthralling suspense, Johnson chronicles Snow's day-by-day efforts, as he risks his own life to prove how the epidemic is being spread. When he creates the map that traces the pattern of outbreak back to its source, Dr. Snow didn't just solve the most pressing medical riddle of his time. He ultimately established a precedent for the way modern city-dwellers, city planners, physicians, and public officials think about the spread of disease and the development of the modern urban environment. The Ghost Map is an endlessly compelling and utterly gripping account of that London summer of 1854, from the microbial level to the macrourban-theory level-including, most important, the human level.

A Christmas activity and coloring book with 50 pages and 24 fun designs printed on one side that are safe for markers, colored pencils, or crayons. This coloring book has cute and fun designs that are suitable for children ages 3-8 years old with varying degrees of difficulty but simple enough for younger toddlers that are just learning to color as well. This fun coloring book allows for pages to be torn out after use to showcase your little ones more creative side to the whole family. Each page has a name and date entry that area that allows for your child to post their creative work for full display. Kids of all ages will have a blast this Christmas with this children's activity book. Get this gift for the Xmas holidays for a family member or a loved one.