Curling is a fascinating sport, full of contradictions, where heavy granite stones are slid great distances on ice but with such great precision that sweeping a broom across the path can make the difference between a well-made shot and a complete miss. Learn all about this fast-growing sport with detailed instructions and explanations on executing the core skills, with light-hearted humour sprinkled throughout. Perfectly suited for beginners and those looking to improve their game, this walkthrough can help get you up to speed all on its own. It also serves as a complement for a learn-to-curl program at your local curling club. It includes explanations for why we do things the way we do in curling (such as current theories on directional sweeping), and will help you improve your game in this wonderful, quirky sport. Written by John Robertson, a curling club coach in Unionville, Ontario, and a technical writer who specializes in explaining complex topics for regular people.

'The Gap-Year Guidebook 2010' has comprehensive advice on travelling, volunteering, working round the world, languages, sports courses, office skills, career breaks and life after the gap year.

Curling is a fascinating sport, full of contradictions, where heavy granite stones are slid great distances on ice but with such great precision that sweeping a broom across the path can make the difference between a well-made shot and a complete miss. Learn all about this fast-growing sport with detailed instructions and explanations on executing the core skills, with light-hearted humour sprinkled throughout. Perfectly suited for beginners and those looking to improve their game, this walkthrough can help get you up to speed all on its own. It also serves as a complement for a learn-to-curl program at your local curling club. It includes explanations for why we do things the way we do in curling (such as current theories on directional sweeping), and will help you improve your game in this wonderful, quirky sport. Written by John Robertson, a curling club coach in Unionville, Ontario, and a technical writer who specializes in explaining complex topics for regular people.

When Benjamin Franklin adopted John Bartram's 1739 idea of bringing together the "virtuosi" of the colonies to promote inquiries into "natural secrets, arts and syances," the result was, in 1743, the founding of the American Philosophical Society. Bell records the early years of the Society through sketches of its first members, those elected between 1743 and 1769. This volume includes biographies of some of the Society's best known members such as Franklin, David Rittenhouse, John Bartram, Benjamin Rush, John Dickinson, Thomas Hopkinson and many lesser known merchants, artisans, farmers, physicians, lawyers and clergymen with familiar surnames such as Biddle, Colden, and Morris. Illustrations.

Your complete practical guide to this fast-paced and addictive sport. Kiteboarding has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, and interest is only set to increase with its inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In this book, Andy Gratwick (Head of Training for British Kitesports) gets you started with the kite and takes you through to flying it on the water, jumping, tricks and racing, as well as covering weather, wind and tide theory, and helping you select the right kit. Sections cover: - The origins of kiteboarding and massive rise in popularity in recent years - How a kite flies and basic weather principles as well as background on tides and currents, waves, and wind vs tide - Getting started on land – LEI rigging, assembly, launching and flying, body-dragging - How to master your board skills – turns, stopping, rules of the road - Going upwind, riding toeside, turning and transition - Moving fast and riding waves; learning to tack and gybe - Details on all kiteboarding disciplines from speed kiting to kiting on land - How to improve your performance and enjoy incredible airtime! For this second edition there's a new chapter devoted to all things foiling, as well as new text on latest kit, more effective techniques, tips on higher jumps, and new photography throughout. Packed with step-by-step photo sequences explaining the basic moves all the way through to more advanced tricks, and including information on competitions and becoming an instructor, this is a book no kiter will want to be without.