The 50 most significant principles and styles in architecture, each explained in half a minute. The bestselling 30-Second series offers a new approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Every title takes a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained using a mere two pages, 300 words, and one picture: all easily digested in only half a minute. 30-Second Architecture presents you with the foundations of architectural knowledge. Expert authors are challenged to define and describe both the principles upon which architects depend, and the styles with which they put those principles into practice. So, if you want to know your arch from your elevation, and your Baroque from your Brutalism, or you wish to top off your next dinner party with a stirring speech on how form follows function, this is the quickest way to build your argument.

Are you an art-movie buff or a blockbuster enthusiast? Can you reel off a list of New Wave masterpieces, or are you more interested in classic Westerns? Most of us love the movies in one form or another, but very few of us have the all-round knowledge we'd like. 30-Second Cinema offers an immersion course, served up in neat, entertaining shorts. These 50 topics deal with cinema's beginnings, with its growth as an industry, with key stars and producers, with global movements--from German Expressionism to New Hollywood--and with the movies as a business. By the time you've worked your way through, you'll be able to identify the work of George Melies, define auteur theory or mumblecore in a couple of pithy phrases, and you'll have broadened your knowledge of global cinema to embrace not only Bollywood but Nollywood, too. All in the time it takes to watch a couple of trailers.

If you are tired of London, are you really tired of life? 30-Second London agrees with Dr. Johnson's famous statement, taking the history of one of the most diverse cities on Earth and looking at the forces that shaped it, from the first traces of a Neanderthal settlement on the banks of the River Thames to today's vast and varied metropolis. Along the way, readers will discover underground London, secret London, suburban London, and much more, on a revealing whistlestop city tour.

Who invented photography first, Fox Talbot or Louis Daguerre? Who got the patent? Who made the most money? Who are the greatest photographers and what have their contributions been? This book takes the 50 most important aspects of photography – both the major styles and the key technical aspects that make them possible – and explains each in two pages, 300 words and one picture. The book also includes six profiles of the greatest names in the history of photography and shares their contributions. Whether you pick it up for 30-seconds at a time or read it from cover-to-cover, this book is guaranteed to have you thinking about your own and other people’s photography in a whole new way.

It's been said that the little things in life are what make the biggest difference. In the seconds it takes to make a decision, the lasting ramifications can change your life completely. Ron Kardashian should know. As a sickly child and a troubled youth, he turned to drugs and nearly self-destructed. Yet in spite of his poor medical and psychological prognosis, he beat the odds, transforming not only his health but his outlook and approach to life. Today Kardashian is one of the most respected fitness trainers and life coaches in the nation. With over a decade of experience and more than 12,000 hours of one-on-one life development consulting, he has helped improve the lives of people worldwide, from CEOs of major companies to diplomatic leaders and even royalty.

Decrypt the science behind coding, the language of computer programming, and understand how it can shape every aspect of modern technology.

The 50 most important achievements of a timeless civilization, each explained in half a minute. Ancient Greek civilization laid the foundations for so many aspects of modern western life, from architecture to philosophy. But can you recite the Classical orders with confidence (are you sure what an order actually is?), and would you be able to define the key contributions of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle? 30-Second Ancient Greece offers an engrossing tour of the Hellenic world, appealingly served up in easily absorbed nuggets. An internationally bestselling series presents essential concepts in a mere 30 seconds, 300 words, and one image; Presents a unique insight into one of the most creative and influential civilizations, where military might and architectural brilliance flourished; From temples and oracles to soldiers and slavery, from beautiful pottery to tragic drama, this is the key to understanding the 50 crucial ideas and innovations that developed and defined one of the world's greatest civilizations.