Novelists, poets, artists, anthropologists, traditional elders, philosophers, and naturalists come together to create a geological portrait of the Earth -- from the violence of earthquakes and erupting volcanoes to epochal patterns in stone and the sinuous flow of rivers. With insights from many cultures and across time, Bedrock wonderfully illuminates the geology of our home planet. The book is organized into sections that deal with rock and stone; deep time; earthquakes and faults; volcanoes and eruptions; rivers to the sea; mountains and high�lands; wind and desert; the flow of ice; and the life of the Earth. Insightful, penetrating, and provocative, the works are written from many positions -- traditional and indigenous as well as Western scientific. Bedrock bridges specialized science and ordinary existence, providing a fascinating portrait of the forces that have shaped the Earth and giving readers a sense of the geologic experience encompassing their lives.

An ex-convict returns to his Chicago community a changed man—but maybe not for the better—in this “vivid, suspenseful, funny, and compassionate novel” (Booklist). One of Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels of the Year One of Roxane Gay’s Top 10 Books of the Year After fourteen years in prison, Gerald “Stew Pot” Reeves, age thirty-one, returns home to live with his mom in Parkland, a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. The residents are in a tailspin, dreading the arrival of the man they remember as a frightening delinquent. The anxiety only grows when Stew Pot announces that he experienced a religious awakening in prison. Most folks are skeptical, with one notable exception: Mrs. Motley, a widowed retired librarian and the Reeves’ next-door neighbor, who loans Stew Pot a Bible, which is seen by him and many in the community as a friendly gesture. With uncompromising fervor (and with a new pit bull named John the Baptist), Stew Pot soon appoints himself the moral judge of Parkland—and starts wreaking havoc on people’s lives. Before long, tension and suspicion reign, and this close-knit community must reckon with questions of faith, fear, and forgiveness . . . “[A] novel of epiphanies, tragedies, and transformations . . . perfect for book clubs.” —Booklist, starred review “May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery.” —Library Journal “A wonderful urban novel full of vitality and pathos and grit.” —Dennis Lehane

One of Fast Company’s Best Business Books of the Year: A new foundational guide to entrepreneurial success from the author of Startup Leadership. Here’s an astounding fact: Over half the working population will try their hand at being an entrepreneur during their working career. They may be motivated by a desire for fortune or fame, by a longing for freedom and control over their lives; by the urge to innovate and create jobs. But how can you know whether being an entrepreneur will end as a dream come true or a nightmare from which you cannot wake? Building on Bedrock helps answer that question. Based on research and revealed through the stories of American entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Estee Lauder, Ray Kroc, and others, Building on Bedrock will help you understand the elements most essential to taking the entrepreneurial leap and making a company last. Was it luck, talent, passion, charm, a rich uncle, or something else that was the key to this person’s success? Which might be the key to your success? What you learn may surprise you. “These days, entrepreneurship is often synonymous with tech startups and venture funding. But that's not the reality for a lot of business owners. CEO, entrepreneur, and business professor Derek Lidow gets into the heart of what it really takes to build a long-lasting business…and how to know whether you are suited to the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship.”—Fast Company, 7 best business books of 2018 “Flat out, the best book on entrepreneurship I have ever read.” —Roger Martin, author of Creating Great Choices

Can we all agree on some things about Jesus, regardless of our belief--or unbelief? Perhaps surprisingly, there is a lot upon which all scholars can agree. When surveying historical scholarship, there are certain truths about Jesus that Christians, agnostics, and skeptics must affirm. In The Bedrock of Christianity, Justin Bass shows how--regardless of one's feelings about Christianity--there lies a bedrock of truths about Jesus's life and ministry that are held by virtually all scholars of religion. Through an examination of each of these key facts, readers will encounter the unalterable truths upon which everyone can agree. Useful for both Christians and non-Christians alike, this study demonstrates what we can really know about the historical truth of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Become proficient in Amazon Bedrock by taking a hands-on approach to building and scaling generative AI solutions that are robust, secure, and compliant with ethical standards Key Features Learn the foundations of Amazon Bedrock from experienced AWS Machine Learning Specialist Architects Master the core techniques to develop and deploy several AI applications at scale Go beyond writing good prompting techniques and secure scalable frameworks by using advanced tips and tricks Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionThe concept of generative artificial intelligence has garnered widespread interest, with industries looking to leverage it to innovate and solve business problems. Amazon Bedrock, along with LangChain, simplifies the building and scaling of generative AI applications without needing to manage the infrastructure. Generative AI with Amazon Bedrock takes a practical approach to enabling you to accelerate the development and integration of several generative AI use cases in a seamless manner. You’ll explore techniques such as prompt engineering, retrieval augmentation, fine-tuning generative models, and orchestrating tasks using agents. The chapters take you through real-world scenarios and use cases such as text generation and summarization, image and code generation, and the creation of virtual assistants. The latter part of the book shows you how to effectively monitor and ensure security and privacy in Amazon Bedrock. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained a solid understanding of building and scaling generative AI apps using Amazon Bedrock, along with various architecture patterns and security best practices that will help you solve business problems and drive innovation in your organization.What you will learn Explore the generative AI landscape and foundation models in Amazon Bedrock Fine-tune generative models to improve their performance Explore several architecture patterns for different business use cases Gain insights into ethical AI practices, model governance, and risk mitigation strategies Enhance your skills in employing agents to develop intelligence and orchestrate tasks Monitor and understand metrics and Amazon Bedrock model response Explore various industrial use cases and architectures to solve real-world business problems using RAG Stay on top of architectural best practices and industry standards Who this book is for This book is for generalist application engineers, solution engineers and architects, technical managers, ML advocates, data engineers, and data scientists looking to either innovate within their organization or solve business use cases using generative AI. A basic understanding of AWS APIs and core AWS services for machine learning is expected.

Joshua Gert offers an original account of normative facts and properties, those which have implications for how we ought to behave. He argues that our ability to think and talk about normative notions such as reasons and benefits is dependent on how we respond to the world around us, including how we respond to the actions of other people.