Bioseparations Science and Engineering

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Greg Steinmetz

"The life and times of the wealthiest man who ever lived--Jacob Fugger--the Renaissance banker who revolutionized the art of making money and established the radical idea of pursuing wealth for its own sake. Jacob Fugger lived in Germany at the turn of the sixteenth century, the grandson of a peasant. By the time he died, his fortune amounted to nearly two percent of European GDP. Not even John D. Rockefeller had that kind of wealth. Most people become rich by spotting opportunities, pioneering new technologies, or besting opponents in negotiations. Fugger did all that, but he had an extra quality that allowed him to rise even higher: nerve. In an era when kings had unlimited power, Fugger had the nerve to stare down heads of state and ask them to pay back their loans--with interest. It was this coolness and self-assurance, along with his inexhaustible ambition, that made him not only the richest man ever, but a force of history as well. Before Fugger came along it was illegal under church law to charge interest on loans, but he got the Pope to change that. He also helped trigger the Reformation and likely funded Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. His creation of a news service, which gave him an information edge over his rivals and customers, earned Fugger a footnote in the history of journalism. And he took Austria's Habsburg family from being second-tier sovereigns to rulers of the first empire where the sun never set. The ultimate untold story, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is more than a tale about the richest and most influential businessman of all time. It is a story about palace intrigue, knights in battle, family tragedy and triumph, and a violent clash between the 1 percent and everybody else. To understand our financial system and how we got it, it pays to understand Jacob Fugger"--

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Cyrus Bozorgmehr

Reveals how the Wu-Tang Clan secretly recorded a single-copy album before auctioning it for millions to one of the most hated men in America, detailing how they prevented leaks using strategies that reflect present-day views on creative property and music devaluation. "The untold story of the world's must controversial album--a surreal tale of secret recordings, baffled customs agents, the world's most hallowed art institutions, and a villain of comic book proportions. In 2007, the innovative young Wu-Tang producer, Cilvaringz, took an incendiary idea to his mentor the RZA. They felt that the impact of digitization threatened the sustainability of the record industry and independent artists, while shifting the perception of music from treasured works of art to disposable consumer products. Together they conceived a statement so radical that it would unleash a torrent of global debate--a sole copy of an album in physical form, encased in gleaming silver and sold through an auction house for millions as a work of contemporary art. The execution of this plan raised a number of complex questions: Would selling an album for millions be the ultimate betrayal of music? How would fans react to an album sold on the condition that it could not be commercialized? And could anyone ever justify the selling of the album to the infamous Martin Shkreli? As headlines flashed across the globe, the mystery only deepened. Opinions were sharply divided over whether this was high art or hucksterism--quixotic idealism or a cynical cash grab. Was it a noble act of protest, an act of cultural vandalism, an obscene symbol of greed, a subversive masterpiece, a profound mirror for our time, or a joker on capitalism's card table? As senior adviser to the project, Cyrus Bozorgmehr is uniquely placed to unlock the secrets behind the album and tell the full, unadulterated story. With explosive revelations about backroom plans made public tor the first time, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin charts the album's journey from inception to disruption in vivid style. An extraordinary adventure that veers between outlandish caper and urgent cultural analysis, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin twists and turns through the mayhem and mischief, while asking profound questions about our relationship with art, music, technology, and, ultimately, ourselves."--Jacket.

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John Felleman

The stewardship of land and water natural resources is ultimately the responsibility of the owners, managers, and users of these resources. The environmental movement addressed these complex issues through an ever growing complex of top down federal, state, and local regulations each focusing on a narrow topics such as water pollution . The information revolution, which paralled these regulations, compartmentalized the data and information used in regualtion into numerous independent "data silos". This non techniacal book provides a graphic approach to undertanding how this information system has evolved, and presents recommendations on how to bridge the information gap between bureaucratic processess and knowledge needs of the stewards.

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Roy E. Allen

"This book explains the rise and fall of economies in Asia, Central America and Europe since 1980 and discusses these crises in the context of continuing economic globalization." "Roy Allen provides policy recommendations for the G7, World Bank, IMF and various nations which will also prove invaluable to students and scholars of financial economics, international economics and international political economy."--BOOK JACKET.