Böcker utgivna av Basic Books

Essential advice on problem solving from physics' clearest teacher

"Breezy and engaging...a book that debunks our intuitive justifications for our behaviour.... will not fail to entertain." -New Scientist

A perspective on urban culture in the latter part of the 20th century through the lens of the World Trade Center.

The natural and cultural history of the evolution of our sense of ethics, by a leading anthropologist of human morality.

From the cutting-edge young historian and reporter Christian Parenti, a vivid, chilling history of surveillance in American life-from the antebellum South to the computerized landscape of the futuristic present.

Why are controversies about such issues as abortion, welfare, persistent poverty, and environmental destruction so intractable? As anyone who has ever engaged in or tried to settle an argument on highly charged issues knows, facts rarely persuade in such situations. This innovative approach to intractable policy controversies shows how "reframing" the issues can succeed where simply appealing to facts often fails. In "Frame Reflections", two of his country's leading organizational theorists and policy analysts show how disputes that in abstract debate or negotiation seem insoluble can sometimes be resolved pragmatically by those who actually have to design and implement the specific programs. The authors illustrate their theory through a detailed examination of three specific programs: the evolution of early retirement programs in Germany; a statewide project for the homeless in Massachusetts; and the development of Project Athena, a large-scale experiment in the use of computers in undergraduate education at MIT. Policy stalemates are inevitable. Yet we know that people sometimes do change their minds, even in situations that at first appeared hopeless. How that happens is the subject of this pathbreaking book.

A psychiatrist's haunting memoir of her mother's suicide illuminates our understanding of family tragedy.

The world's response to climate change has been deeply flawed. The Climate Fix is where we begin to get it back on track, as science policy expert Roger Pielke, Jr. dissects the disastrous climate debate and offers a solution: expanding energy access and increasing energy security while lowering costs through technological innovation.

The renowned AIDS researcher Robert Gallo tells his story of scientific breakthrough in a riveting portrait of the people, the politics, and the pace of modern scientific discovery.

This book not only brings home the imminence of climate change but also examines the campaign of deception by big coal and big oil that is keeping the issue off the public agenda. It examines the vari

A unique glimpse into the remarkable life, and fascinating mindset, of the woman who broke records-and boundaries-for female athletes everywhere

The most comprehensive history yet of the last years of Russia's imperial family

A true adventure story that mixes personal anecdote and fascinating facts to bring women's recent political history to life, concluding with guidance to inspire a new generation of women risk takers.

Looks at the development of Social Pyschology through the personal histories of its most prominent living scholars.

"In Getting Beyond Race, Richard Payne takes the practical approach that race relations are ultimately about ordinary people interacting with each other. Payne argues that confrontation, blaming, and d"

Seeks to explain the minds and morality of all those who espouse rebellion, from political activists to terrorists, and works to define what types of rebellion are just.

Arising from a two-year project by the Council on Foreign Relations to articulate a next generation approach to American foreign policy, this study concludes that any conception of American security must change to address financial and technological opportunities, as well as emerging threats.

Argues that judges, lawyers, and law schools should emphasize experience and character over reason or arcane learning, to create a more democratic legal profession in tune with the public interest.

This is an explanation of how thieves exploit the U.S. health system and steal more than $100 billion each year. The author examines the effects of managed care on the problem, the government's attempts to grapple with fraud, and the campaign by provider associations to undermine those efforts.

A veteran White House reporter asks, Can a president's private life be separated from his performance in office?

Explores hypothetical situations in the realm of international security and predicts the probable U.S. response to them based on current politics and social norms.

Prostate cancer survivors discuss their experiences with the disease--from diagnosis, through treatment, to becoming informed patients working with their healthcare teams to ensure the best care. An essential and invaluable resource for all those affected by the disease, whether as patients, family members, friends, or healthcare providers.

Explores the historical link between mind-altering substances and religious experience in the United States.

A collection of over fifty articles originally published in Freedomways, one of the premier African American intellectual periodicals during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

"For Italian city builders more than a thousand years ago, the urban realm was the great theater where their best aspirations were played out, the place where society said the most substantial things a"

Illuminates the path down which our politics is headed in Clinton's second term and beyond.

A colorful first-person account of living on the fringes of Castro's Cuba, and a splendid evocation of the modern Cuban character

Inspirational stories of eleven low-income women who are moving their families out of poverty by starting their own businesses

First published in 1949 and now brought up-to-date, We Survived offers a dramatic and historical documentation of personal survival under the terror and persecution of the Third Reich