Complete Catalog 148 Result(s)

Living for science, music and peace

The great physicist Victor Weisskopf (1908–2002) studied under Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger in Leipzig and Berlin. He was forced to leave his native Austria before the Nazi occupation on account of his Jewish heritage. He subsequently joined the team of scientists on the Manhattan Project in the USA, where he was involved in the development of the atom bomb. By the time he fully realized the consequences of his work, however, it was already too late. From then on, he became a vocal opponent of nuclear weapons. A belated realization in the moral dilemma of atomic physics, or a logical conclusion for the man who later became a professor at MIT and the director of CERN? An enthralling, well-founded biography of this physicist and passionate pianist.

Hanns Zischler traces the fascinating success story of the pencil – the simplest, most versatile and most ephemeral means of putting our words on paper.

According to Hanns Zischler, the modern era began with the pencil as much as with the printing press. As commonplace as it is indispensable, the pencil shapes our handwriting; we need it for quick notes, for underlining in our books, for drawings and lists. We love its different degrees of hardness and tips – and the fact that its mark can be erased. The exciting history of the pencil stretches from the discovery of graphite in 1564 to industrial production since the 18th century and right up to the present day. Along the way, we explore ‘pencil territories’, discover the new genre of sketching, meet Alice in Wonderland and learn all about a ‘parasitic ally’: the eraser.

Ebba D. Drolshagen weaves surprising details, cultural-historical knowledge and personal passion into a wonderful little book.

This is about more than two sticks and a very, very long thread. Ebba D. Drolshagen recounts an incredible wealth of stories in a knowledgeable and entertaining way: from the knitting Madonna by the painter Meister Bertram to the invention of the eight-pointed Norwegian star, from patterns that migrate to guerrilla knitting, from sheep and reindeer wool to the Norwegian Sweater Curse and the web community called Ravelry. She reports on knitting as a livelihood, as a hobby, as a means of disciplining unruly girls, as a political statement and, of course, as a proven way to keep warm.

An entertaining and realistic account of life as part of an intentional community.

Our homes have a big impact on what kind of lives we lead—whether we are lonely, how much we are contributing to climate change, how hard we have to work to cover the cost of our housing. When Barbara Nothegger started looking for a new home for her young family, she became fascinated by these very questions. Despite many objections, she decided to risk an experiment, moving with her family into a communal living project in Vienna. A hundred people built a home for themselves, which included various shared areas and open spaces for residents to come together, share and interact. After more than ten years in the building, Nothegger explores in this humorous guidebook what makes modern communities succeed, and how being a good neighbour can help facilitate climate-friendly living.

True stories: tracking down unknown heirs.

A homeless person bequeaths £100,000—but to whom? An heir in Australia turns down a huge inheritance because he doesn’t want it to change his life, and a nun inherits a brothel—life writes the best stories. Some are tragic, like the tale of two sisters who were separated as children and never reunited, even though they lived only a few streets away. The tumult of history and the twists of personal fate are intertwined again when there is money to inherit but no obvious heirs. The Family Research Office tracks down these heirs across the whole world. This book is an account of the stories, coincidences and curiosities they come across in the course of their work.

Moving everyday stories from a year of chaos

Spring, 1945: caught between the advancing Allied armies, Austria was temporarily transformed into a political no-man’s land. There was chaos, hope and fear. Drawing on the everyday lives of ordinary people, Kurt Bauer vividly explores this tumultuous year. There is the Wehrmacht soldier who takes a long and winding road home; the Jewish emigre forced into exile in 1938, returning to his home town as part of the victorious army—only to find that the old Vienna of his childhood is gone; the Jewish woman who survived the war in Vienna and now wants to get to the USA as quickly as possible … a multifaceted and gripping book.

Death, wood and eternal life

Few things are as diverse as deadwood. So much more than the remnants of old trees on the forest floor, it comes in an array of forms, providing habitats for insects and other organisms. Dead roots under the water, wooden coffins buried beneath the ground in urban spaces – this close interplay of decay and new life is all around us. If we look closely, we can see how the once-extinct beaver is now paving the way for other species, like the endangered saproxylic beetle. Deadwood also teaches us to have a positive outlook for our coexistence with local biodiversity, showing that there have already been a number of improvements in the past hundred years. An exciting journey through the secret world of insects, fungi and other creatures that live in the deadwood in our forests, parks and gardens.

Viktor Frankl’s long-time collaborator prompts readers to think more closely about answers to life’s most important questions.

What is it that really matters in life? Are there traces of meaning in my life that I can explore further? How can I make time for that? Are there other ways we can obtain a deeper understanding of ourselves? Or get answers to life’s big questions? This book addresses the big-ticket questions as well as everyday problems and issues of meaning in brief fragments. Meditative questions prompt an individual and creative approach to a broad range of themes in the search for life, fulfilment and meaning. These prompts encourage readers to think, to question, to draw connections with their own experiences, to consider their own answers— often leading to unexpected new paths, as well as old ones.

A legendary linguistic legacy – in a new, extended edition complete with foreword and new word-pictures to celebrate what would have been Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s 95th birthday.

One of the keys to Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s artistry was his ingenious talent for conveying musical content in verbal images. Author and choral singer Sabine M. Gruber – both a participant and an observer – kept a record of Harnoncourt’s rehearsal instructions in her notes for 30 years. Combining original quotes with essays, she sheds light on the personality of the man and artist, while exploring the essence of his musical and artistic process. A book full of humour, musical truth and essential wisdom.

The ultimate questions in one book

Should we follow those who seek the truth, or those who say they have found it? Sven Michaelsen’s answer is clear: the key to whether we consider our lives successful or misspent is in asking ourselves and our neighbours the right questions. Opinions and claims aren’t what bring insights; the curvy question mark is what matters. Whether love or happiness, loneliness or shame, desire or fidelity: the art of living means adopting a different approach to the fraught space between contradictory answers, perceiving it as poetry of thought and the basis for smart choices. After 777 questions, we understand: unless we are willing to face ourselves, we will not find anyone else, either.