Society of Midland Authors Literary Award Finalist in Biography & Memoir Award-winning journalist Michele Weldon provides a potent antidote to the harried single mom stereotype in this beguiling memoir of raising three sons alone in the face of cancer, an ambitious career, and the shadow of her ex. Untethered from a seemingly idyllic life with a handsome but abusive attorney husband, Weldon relates the challenges and triumphs of the years that followed her divorce as she maneuvers through a complicated life of long daily commutes, radiation treatments, supporting the boys' all-consuming high school wrestling careers, and trying to mitigate their hurt and resentment at an absent father. By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Weldon describes facing her fears and failures honestly, guided by a belief in the power of staying calm, doing one's best, and asking for help. She provides a graceful example of how a single mother, and her children, can succeed when others—neighbors, family, teachers, and in this case an incredible high school wrestling coach—step in to fill the void and she can stay the course with common sense and dutiful love.

A Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuries The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.

Most scientists and researchers aren’t prepared to talk to the press or to policymakers—or to deal with backlash. Many researchers have the horror stories to prove it. What’s clear, according to Nancy Baron, is that scientists, journalists and public policymakers come from different cultures. They follow different sets of rules, pursue different goals, and speak their own language. To effectively reach journalists and public officials, scientists need to learn new skills and rules of engagement. No matter what your specialty, the keys to success are clear thinking, knowing what you want to say, understanding your audience, and using everyday language to get your main points across. In this practical and entertaining guide to communicating science, Baron explains how to engage your audience and explain why a particular finding matters. She explores how to ace your interview, promote a paper, enter the political fray, and use new media to connect with your audience. The book includes advice from journalists, decision makers, new media experts, bloggers and some of the thousands of scientists who have participated in her communication workshops. Many of the researchers she has worked with have gone on to become well-known spokespeople for science-related issues. Baron and her protégées describe the risks and rewards of “speaking up,” how to deal with criticism, and the link between communications and leadership. The final chapter, ‘Leading the Way’ offers guidance to scientists who want to become agents of change and make your science matter. Whether you are an absolute beginner or a seasoned veteran looking to hone your skills, Escape From the Ivory Tower can help make your science understood, appreciated and perhaps acted upon.

Last year, according to The Institute of Medicine, Americans spent in excess of $33 billion on weight-loss products and services. However, the economic cost of obesity in the USA was about $117 billion during this same time period. Obviously a dilemma exists. Why? If all we needed to do was take a magic pill, exercise 10 minutes a day, or eliminate carbs from our diet, as so many "Get-Thin-Quick" schemes suggest, then why are so many of us still vastly overweight? Because such easy schemes do not tell the whole story about what we need to do to get fit and stay fit. And because we're all different. We think differently, we eat differently, and we exercise (or don't) differently. So we need diet and exercise plans designed especially for us. Whether we're 10 pounds overweight or 25 pounds overweight. Whether we like to exercise or whether we loathe exercise. Whether we can stick to a diet six days a week or 3 days a week. Whether we can exercise every day or twice a week. Escape Your Weight gives you a choice of eating plans and exercise plans that fit you, your likes and dislikes, your strengths and your weaknesses. With expertly photographed exercise plans that are easy even for beginners, along with minimal, inexpensive equipment (no gym required), Escape Your Weight will explain what YOU need to do and what YOU need to eat to become slim and fit.

Velocity is the most commonly used metric in agile software delivery. It is also perhaps the least effective metrics in agile software delivery. In "Escape Velocity", Doc Norton walks the reader through common issues with metrics and how to avoid them, altermative metrics that not only help agile teams perform better, but enable them to continuously improve, and techniques for forecasting that vastly outperform the use of velocity. In a quirky, casual, and information dense style, Doc Norton makes the topic of tracking data entertaining and shows us how to be more effective in the pursuit of excellent software.

The ESCAPE symposia address the applications of computer aids to all aspects of process engineering. The primary objective is the interchange of information on industrial needs, new technology developments and research opportunities. With industrialists and academia contibuting from all over the world, this set of proceedings provides an overview of current international computer-aided process engineering (CAPE). This book is intended for chemical and process engineers, design engineers and computer-aided specialists.

Collected here in Escape Velocity, edited by Jay Jennings, is his "miscellany" †“†“ journalism, short fiction, memoir, and even the play Delray's New Moon, published for the first time in this volume.  Portis covers topics as varied as the civil rights movement, road tripping in Baja, and Elvis' s visits to his aging mother for publications such as the New York Herald Tribune and Saturday Evening Post.  Fans of Portis’s droll Southern humor and quirky characters will be thrilled at this new addition to his library, and those not yet familiar with his work will find a great introduction to him here.  Also included are tributes by accomplished authors including Donna Tartt and Ron Rosenbaum.