For every successful mining district celebrated in history, there were failed dozens whose stories have been largely forgotten. The Mechanics of Optimism documents, in rare detail, the boom-bust cycle of Hot Spring District, a mid-1860s Montana gold camp that did not pay, despite early predictions of a sure thing. Historian Jeffrey J. Safford examines how gold mining ventures were developed and financed during and after the Civil War, and how men, primarily Easterners with scant knowledge of mining, were willing to invest large sums in gold mines that promised quick and lucrative returns. Safford explains how these mining companies were organized and underwritten, and why a little-known district in southwestern Montana was chosen as a center of operations. Relying on extensive primary sources, Safford addresses the mind-set of the businessmen, the expectations and realities of new mining technology, the financial strategies, and the universality of the Hot Spring experience.

Optimism is your secret weapon in business and in life. It is custom-designed specifically for you, and it is capable of bringing you everything you want. Optimism can overcome financial problems, physical disabilities, and personal challenges. In Jim Stovall’s latest book, The Art of Optimism, he uses stories, studies, and personal experience to illustrate how adopting an attitude of optimism can change your life. Read this book and learn: How to fuel optimism How to find opportunity through optimism How to overcome negative circumstances How to maintain optimism in business and in life How optimism is your most important asset And much more! “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston Churchill

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The father of positive psychology draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to show you how to overcome depression, boost your immune system, and make yourself happier. "Vaulted me out of my funk.... So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book." —The New York Times Book Review Offering many simple techniques anyone can practice, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an “I–give–up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue. With generous additional advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practical—and valuable for every phase of life.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The father was upset that his newborn daughter did not respond to noise. He was sure she was deaf. The mother explained to him that it was too soon to say anything like that, and that the baby’s eyes hadn’t yet developed enough to focus on anything. #2 The difference between optimists and pessimists is how they view bad events. Pessimists believe that bad events will last a long time, are their own fault, and believe that they can never overcome them. Optimists believe that defeat is not their fault, and that circumstances, bad luck, or other people are to blame. #3 The core of pessimism is helplessness, which is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you. Personal control is the ability to change things by your voluntary actions, whereas helplessness is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you. #4 If we are constantly pessimistic, we will be more likely to get sick, accomplish less than our potential, and graduate less than we should. We will also believe that our misfortunes are our own fault, which will make us feel even worse.

This is a sustained argument about the idea of science fiction by a renowned critic. Overturning many received opinions, it is both controversial and stimulating Much of the controversy arises from Westfahl's resurrection of Hugo Gernsback - for decades a largely derided figure - as the true creator of science fiction. Following an initial demolition of earlier critics, Westfahl argues for Gernsback's importance. His argument is fully documented, showing a much greater familiarity with early American science fiction, particularly magazine fiction, than previous academic critics or historians. After his initial chapters on Gernsback, he examines the way in which the Gernsback tradition was adopted and modified by later magazine editors and early critics. This involves a re-evaluation of the importance of John W. Campbell to the history of science fiction as well as a very interesting critique of Robert Heinlein's Beyond the Horizon, one the seminal texts of American science fiction. In conclusion, Westfahl uses the theories of Gernsback and Campbell to develop a descriptive definition of science fiction and he explores the ramifications of that definition. The Mechanics of Wonder will arouse debate and force the questioning of presuppositions. No other book so closely examines the origins and development of the idea of science fiction, and it will stand among a small number of crucial texts with which every science fiction scholar or prospective science fiction scholar will have to read.