A brilliant, lost feminist classic that is equal parts domestic drama and international intrigue. Shirley and Coenraad’s affair has been going on for decades, but her longing for him is as desperate as ever. She is a Toronto housewife; he works for an international organization known only as the Agency. Their rendezvous take place in Tangier, in Hong Kong, in Rome and are arranged by an intricate code based on notes slipped into issues of National Geographic. He recognizes her by her costume: a respectable black dress and string of pearls; his appearance, however, is changeable. But something has happened, the code has been discovered, and Coenraad sends Shirley (who prefers to be known as “Lola Montez”) to Toronto, the last place she wants to go. There the trail leads her through the sites of her impoverished immigrant childhood and sends her, finally, to her own house, where she discards her pearls and trades in her basic black for a dress of vibrant multicolored silk. Helen Weinzweig published her first novel when she was fifty-eight. Basic Black with Pearls, her second, won the Toronto Book Award and has since come to be recognized as a feminist landmark. Here Weinzweig imbues the formal inventiveness of the nouveau roman with psychological poignancy and surprising humor to tell a story of simultaneous dissolution and discovery.

A modern day Beauty and the Beast tale about a white skinned pearl in a world of dark skinned coals.

A Turing Award-winning computer scientist and statistician shows how understanding causality has revolutionized science and will revolutionize artificial intelligence "Correlation is not causation." This mantra, chanted by scientists for more than a century, has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and established causality -- the study of cause and effect -- on a firm scientific basis. His work explains how we can know easy things, like whether it was rain or a sprinkler that made a sidewalk wet; and how to answer hard questions, like whether a drug cured an illness. Pearl's work enables us to know not just whether one thing causes another: it lets us explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It shows us the essence of human thought and key to artificial intelligence. Anyone who wants to understand either needs The Book of Why.

A beautiful pearl necklace has passed from mother to daughter for seven generations on each daughter's wedding day.

Felix Klein, one of the great nineteenth-century geometers, rediscovered in mathematics an idea from Eastern philosophy: the heaven of Indra contained a net of pearls, each of which was reflected in its neighbour, so that the whole Universe was mirrored in each pearl. Klein studied infinitely repeated reflections and was led to forms with multiple co-existing symmetries. For a century these ideas barely existed outside the imagination of mathematicians. However in the 1980s the authors embarked on the first computer exploration of Klein's vision, and in doing so found many further extraordinary images. Join the authors on the path from basic mathematical ideas to the simple algorithms that create the delicate fractal filigrees, most of which have never appeared in print before. Beginners can follow the step-by-step instructions for writing programs that generate the images. Others can see how the images relate to ideas at the forefront of research.

"Bury Me with My Pearls is a real-life, roller-coaster ride of laughter, tears, and stomach-churning truths written by a professional speaker, humorist, and singer, who as Miss South Carolina, represented her state in the Miss America Pageant. Incorporating the analogy of pearls, this laugh-out-loud book bravely addresses difficult issues many in her audiences encounter within changing roles, self-actualization, and families."--Back cover

Whether you prefer a classic single strand or a funky combination of pearls and semi-precious materials, Simply Pearls shows you how to create necklaces that are easy to make yet look both expensive and professionally made. No longer the extravagance they used to be, pearls come in a variety of types - from freshwater to faux - that make these beautiful gems an affordable and elegant option. With projects designed for beginners and intermediate crafters - with a few more challenging designs for good measure - Simply Pearls is a volume that people will consult again and again for basic stringing, knotting and wire-work techniques; to find inspiration and project ideas, including tips on refreshing heirloom jewellery; and as a materials reference. Whether your look is modern and edgy or classic Chanel, Simply Pearls offers great how-to-wear-it ideas and beautiful projects that will give you the Tiffany s look at budget prices.