Writing Chinese

Sample

Ethan J. Leib

From the publisher. Friendship is one of our most important social institutions. It is the not only the salve for personal loneliness and isolation; it is the glue that binds society together. Yet for a host of reasons -- longer hours at work, the internet, suburban sprawl -- many have argued that friendship is on the decline in contemporary America. In social surveys, researchers have found that Americans on average have fewer friends today than in times past. In Friend v. Friend, Ethan J. Leib takes stock of this most ancient of social institutions and its ongoing transformations, and contends that it could benefit from better and more sensitive public policies. Leib shows that the law has not kept up with changes in our society: it sanctifies traditional family structures but has no thoughtful approach to other aspects of our private lives. Leib contrasts our excessive legal sensitivity to marriage and families with the lack of legal attention to friendship, and shows why more legal attention to friendship could actually improve our public institutions and our civil society. He offers a number of practical proposals that can support new patterns of interpersonal affinity without making friendship an onerous legal burden. An elegantly written and highly original account of the changing nature of friendship, Friend v. Friend upends the conventional wisdom that law and friendship are inimical, and shows how we can strengthen both by seeing them as mutually reinforcing.

Sample

Yakov G. Sinai

Sinai's book leads the student through the standard material for ProbabilityTheory, with stops along the way for interesting topics such as statistical mechanics, not usually included in a book for beginners. The first part of the book covers discrete random variables, using the same approach, basedon Kolmogorov's axioms for probability, used later for the general case. The text is divided into sixteen lectures, each covering a major topic. The introductory notions and classical results are included, of course: random variables, the central limit theorem, the law of large numbers, conditional probability, random walks, etc. Sinai's style is accessible and clear, with interesting examples to accompany new ideas. Besides statistical mechanics, other interesting, less common topics found in the book are: percolation, the concept of stability in the central limit theorem and the study of probability of large deviations. Little more than a standard undergraduate course in analysis is assumed of the reader. Notions from measure theory and Lebesgue integration are introduced in the second half of the text. The book is suitable for second or third year students in mathematics, physics or other natural sciences. It could also be usedby more advanced readers who want to learn the mathematics of probability theory and some of its applications in statistical physics.

Sample

retold by Carl Bowen

Scientist Pierre Aronnax and his trusty servant set sail to hunt a sea monster. With help from the world’s greatest harpooner, the men discover that the creature is really a high-tech submarine with a mysterious leader, Captain Nemo.

Sample

John Robert Marlow

"Mitchell Swain is the richest man in the world, until he announces the "ultimate technological breakthrough." The world stops for the press conference--and sees him assassinated. No one knows what he was going to say. Almost no one. Jennifer Rayne intends to find out. A leading journalist covering high-tech, she was scheduled to interview Swain after the press conference. Instead, she investigates his murder. What she finds is a scientist to whom Swain has funneled billions, a desperate U.S. government following the same clues, and a bizarre technology that promises invincibility, immortality, and the ability to destroy any enemy--or the earth itself. Mankind has entered the final arms race. It will last two days"--Publisher's description.