Bøger udgivet af Prometheus Books

Most books on the Roman and Greek Empires deal with famous figures or events, but Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants focuses on things that seldom appear in history books: myths and magic, barbers and birth control, fine wine and the daily grind. This book, based on questions Roman historian Garrett Ryan, PhD gets most often on Quora and the popular Reddit forum, AskHistorians, reveals the nitty gritty details on how Romans and Greeks lived in a series of short and engaging essays, organized into six categories: Daily Life, Society, Beliefs, Sports and Leisure, and Legacies

An astrophysicist presents an in-depth yet accessible tour of the universe for lay readers, while conveying the excitement of astronomy--

Did the ancient Greeks and Romans have conspiracy theories? Did they come close to an industrial revolution? Did they drink beer?In a series of fast-paced essays, this book answers forty questions that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has been asked in the classroom and through his popular YouTube channel ToldinStone. As in Dr. Ryan's previous book. Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants, the emphasis is on the fascinating details of daily life in the classical world.Discover the answers to: Did the ancient Greeks and Romans have tattoos?Did they practice Buddhism?Did they know when the Pyramids were built?Did a tsunami inspire the story of Atlantis?How deadly was the eruption that destroyed Pompeii?What was it like to live through the fall of the Roman Empire?Why are ancient cities buried?What happened to the treasures of the Roman emperors?How much was lost when the Library of Alexandria burned?

Actions have consequences--and the ability to learn from them revolutionized life on earth. While it's easy enough to see that consequences are important (where would we be without positive reinforcement?), few have heard there's a science of consequences, with principles that affect us every day. Despite their variety, consequences appear to follow a common set of scientific principles and share some similar effects in the brain--such as the "e;pleasure centers."e; Nature and nurture always work together, and scientists have demonstrated that learning from consequences predictably activates genes and restructures the brain. Applications are everywhere--at home, at work, and at school, and that's just for starters. Individually and societally, for example, self-control pits short-term against long-term consequences. Ten years in the making, this award-winning booktells a tale ranging from genetics to neurotransmitters, from emotion to language, from parenting to politics, taking an inclusive interdisciplinary approach to show how something so deceptively simple can help make sense of so much.

Represents Mead's philosophy of experience, so central to his outlook. The present as unique experience is the focus of this analysis of the basic structure of temporality and consciousness. Mead emphasises the novel character of both the present and the past.

Dealing with some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, forensic neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Richard Lettieri gives a behind-the-scenes look at criminal psychology through case studies from his over 30 years of experience as a court-appointed and privately retained psychologist.With cases like Michael, who stabbed his mother in the back believing she was the evil force causing the sun to descend upon the earth and gobble him up, and Tina, who seriously injured her boyfriend and stabbed his son to death, Decoding Madness is filled with gripping stories and forensic analysis. Through psychological examination, it is the author's job to conclude whether these individuals are truly guilty and understand their actions are wrong, or if these individuals are not guilty by reason of insanity and instead require treatment.Decoding Madness offers a nuanced psychological understanding of defendants and their personal complexities beyond the usual clinical accounts. The book introduces the novel idea of the daimonic as a basic force of human nature that is the source of our constructive and destructive capacities and argues for an update to the criminal justice system's perspective on rationality and conscious thinking.Featuring new findings and personal insights, Dr. Lettieri presents an engrossing view of the psychology of defendants accused of committing heinous crimes and the insight that they provide towards the human mind.

Featuring cutting-edge research and in-depth reporting, this paradigm-shifting book shows us how to skillfully confront the unexpected and unknown, and how to seek not-knowing in the service of curiosity, wisdom, and discovery.

Many people grapple with destructive thought processes or a "e;critical inner voice"e; that directs their behavior and, to varying degrees, limits their lives. Using deeply personal and very human stories based on his own clinical practice, noted psychologist Robert W. Firestone illustrates the struggles of his clients to give words to this "e;enemy within,"e; and in the process overcome its damaging influence. These revealing and captivating stories offer glimpses into the uniquely human relationship that develops in the therapeutic encounter and demonstrate the powerful impact that the experience has on both client and therapist. Dr. Firestone is the originator of a therapeutic method called "e;Voice Therapy,"e; by which clients learn to identify the language of the defense system and eventually separate their own point of view from its harmful effects. Each story provides an intimate look into one person's life, illuminates aspects of his or her "e;dark side,"e; and highlights an important insight into the therapeutic process. This sensitively written book will evoke emotional responses in readers, and inspire them to take action to challenge the dictates of their own inner critic. Taken together, these stories underscore the distinctive merits and continuing relevance of the therapeutic process, especially in our distracted, technological world increasingly detached from feeling.

A USA Todaybestseller and book club favorite!College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same.Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl's conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it's too late to escape the fallout?

This book reveals a remarkable paradox: what your brain wants is frequently not what your brain needs. In fact, much of what makes our brains "e;happy"e; leads to errors, biases, and distortions, which make getting out of our own way extremely difficult. Author David DiSalvo presents evidence from evolutionary and social psychology, cognitive science, neurology, and even marketing and economics. And he interviews many of the top thinkers in psychology and neuroscience today. From this research-based platform, DiSalvo draws out insights that we can use to identify our brains' foibles and turn our awareness into edifying action. Ultimately, he argues, the research does not serve up ready-made answers, but provides us with actionable clues for overcoming the plight of our advanced brains and, consequently, living more fulfilled lives.

A CHILLING FOLLOW-UP TO THE POPULAR TRUE CRIME BOOK THE ANATOMY OF EVILRevisiting Dr. Michael Stone's groundbreaking 22-level Gradations of Evil Scale, a hierarchy of evil behavior first introduced in the book The Anatomy of Evil, Stone and Dr. Gary Brucato, a fellow violence and serious psychopathology expert, here provide even more detail, using dozens of cases to exemplify the categories along the continuum. The New Evil also presents compelling evidence that, since a cultural tipping-point in the 1960s, certain types of violent crime have emerged that in earlier decades never or very rarely occurred. The authors examine the biological and psychiatric factors behind serial killing, serial rape, torture, mass and spree murders, and other severe forms of violence. They persuasively argue that, in at least some cases, a collapse of moral faculties contributes to the commission of such heinous crimes, such that "evil" should be considered not only a valid area of inquiry, but, in our current cultural climate, an imperative one. They consider the effects of new technologies and sociological, cultural, and historical factors since the 1960s that may have set the stage for "the new evil." Further, they explain how personality, psychosis, and other qualities can meaningfully contribute to particular crimes, making for many different motives.Relying on their extensive clinical experience, and examination of writings and artwork by infamous serial killers, these experts offer many insights into the logic that drives horrible criminal behavior, and they discuss the hope that in the future such violence may be prevented.

Was Jesus of Nazareth a real historical person or a fictional character in a religious legend? What do the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about the origins of Christianity? Has there been a conspiracy to suppress information in the Scrolls that contradicts traditional church teaching? This book addresses these and many other questions.

Comparing the lived world with the ideal world, noted American philosophical naturalist, poet, and literary critic George Santayana (1863-1952) seeks in this influential compilation of his earlier works to outline the ancient ideal of a well-ordered life, one in which reason is the organizing force that recognizes the need to allocate science, religion, art, social concerns, and practical wisdom their proper role and appropriate emphasis within the fully developed human experience.

Includes an insightful critique that helps immunize readers against the wiles of cultists, religious and political zealots, conspiracy theorists, and various other nutcases by clearly setting out the tricks of the trade by which such insidious belief systems are created and sustained.

Includes 100 people who range from former slaves such as Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley to more contemporary individuals such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison. This book summarizes the person's life, work, and importance. It is accompanied by a black-and-white photograph or illustration.

Provides an explanation of self-esteem and self-acceptance, examining the thinking of great religious teachers, philosophers, and psychologists. This work also includes exercises for training oneself to change self-defeating habits to the healthy, positive approach of self-acceptance.

Bigfoot - huge, hairy, foul smelling, this legendary apelike animal has captivated the public's imagination. This book tells the story of Roger Patterson of Yakima, Washington. A part-time rodeo rider, chronically unemployed and dying of cancer, Patterson propelled himself into short-lived fame by exploiting his obsession with the Bigfoot subject.

Proclaims that ethics needs to be liberated from its philosophical bondage and developed as a distinct branch of sociology.

Published in 1933, at a time of widespread unemployment and bank failures. By 'revolutionary interpretation', this book meant quite literally that Marx's main objective was to stimulate revolutionary opposition to class society. It also describes Marx as a thinker and a fighter for freedom.

Leading psychologist Dr. Janet Shibley Hyde shows that in order to understand the challenges posed by sensible gun reform legislation, we must first understand the psychology of gun ownership, gun violence, and gun culture in America.

Space to Live deals with the important contemporary issues of the accelerating search for the existence of life forms beyond Earth, the threats to human life on Earth in the near or distant future due to one or more global catastrophes, and the growing push towards the establishment of a human presence on the Moon and Mars, and perhaps elsewhere in or beyond the Solar System.Space to Live responds to all three of these imperatives by discussing why human life on Earth is not assured in the short and medium term, options for colonisation of moons and planets elsewhere within and outside the Solar System, the implications for human survival on these potential platforms/planets, and what this means for the definition of "humanity' itself. It discusses the current and potential future technologies by means of which we might attempt to get to these platforms, and considers the physical, psychological, social, political, and spiritual challenges that would need to be overcome in so doing.

Why are some of us male and others female? What makes us short or tall, blond or brunette, light-skinned or dark? What causes defects in our biochemistry that lead to debilitating illnesses and physical or other handicaps? The answer is genetics. This title provides readers with an overview of this complex area of science.

Presenting a history of science, this book chronicles the intrepid explorations of scientists and adventurers who studied the transits of Venus in the quest for scientific understanding.

Metaphysics is the study of existence at the highest level of generality. It is traditionally characterized as the study of "being qua being"--of being in general rather than specifically of this or that sort. Accordingly, the salient task of the field is to achieve a clearer understanding of the concepts and principles of being, existence, and reality. As such, metaphysics has been an established sector of philosophy since the time of Aristotle's initial systematization of the subject in the fourth century B.C.E. In line with tradition, distinguished philosopher Nicholas Rescher presents key topics that have always figured on the agenda of metaphysics: the nature and rationale of existence, the differentiation of what is actual from the unreal and mere possibility, and the prospects and limits of our knowledge of the real.A central theme of Rescher's approach to metaphysics is the inherent complexity of actual existence and the consequent limitedness of our knowledge of the world. In the introduction, he states that the ideal of perfected knowledge--of a grasp on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth--is just that, an inherently unrealizable ideal. Nonetheless, he emphasizes that partial understanding and approximate explanation are certainly better than no explanation at all. He thus rejects the nihilistic brand of skepticism, endorsing instead a fallibilism that is realistic in insisting that our efforts to understand reality will always remain imperfect and incomplete. It is in the spirit of being realistic in this sense of the term that his exploration of metaphysics is conducted.Though a work of philosophical sophistication and logical rigor, Metaphysics displays a clarity of exposition that makes it suitable for use as a text or supplementary reader in upper-class undergraduate and graduate philosophy courses.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has shown the world the critical importance of whether and how to punish heads of state, heads of government, and sundry strong men when accused of crimes of aggression, genocide, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity. In The End of Immunity, former President of the International Criminal Court, Chile Eboe-Osuji, probes the history and theory of the concept of immunity for heads of state, underscoring tribunal achievements, pointing out gaps in the existing framework of accountability and the hypocrisies that produced them, and offering workable solutions to the loopholes that government leaders still use to escape consequences today.Eboe-Osuji traces the development of international law from the pre-World War I era that left wars of aggression as the prerogative of sovereigns able to wage them through the peacetime conferences of the Hauge at the turn of the 20th century, the momentous Article 227 of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, which communicated the resolve of the Allies and Associated Powers to prosecute German Emperor and King of Prussia Kaiser Wilhelm II before an international tribunal, how the legal norms applied in the post-WWII Nuremberg trial transformed the norms of modern international law, how 1990's Africa breathed new life into arguments against immunity for heads of state, and how modern-day Russia flouts those laws with Putin's war of aggression on Ukraine. Going as far back as the Middle Ages and the ancient doctrine of the divine right of kings, and concluding with a fresh new proposal for the ways in which international law can be shored up to prosecute those leaders who wage wars of aggression, Eboe-Osuji investigates the journey of international law's rejection of immunity for anyone - including heads of state in particular - when they are suspected or accused of atrocities that international law has proscribed as crimes. The result is the definitive account of a profoundly vital principle for international relations and global humanity.