Review and Recommendations

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson articulates an inspiring and persuasive argument for cultivating human creative potential. He is a fiercely intelligent and forceful advocate for changing traditional education systems, describing why they fail individuals and society and how they might be improved to develop an individual's native creative gifts. The biographic profiles in The Element are inspiring and insightful testimonials to the personal fulfillment and social value realized in nurturing and promoting creativity.

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The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson articulates an inspiring and persuasive argument for cultivating human creative potential. He is a fiercely intelligent and forceful advocate for changing traditional education systems, describing why they fail individuals and society and how they might be improved to develop an individual's native creative gifts. The biographic profiles in The Element are inspiring and insightful testimonials to the personal fulfillment and social value realized in nurturing and promoting creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D, is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources and a New York Times Best selling author. He works with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, as well as international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. Sir Ken is a passionate advocate for the arts, the role of creativity, and fundamental importance of music in the lives of all children. He spoke on the intrinsic value of the arts and music schools and in society.

Sir Ken Robinson received the George Peabody Medal from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University on May 22, 2008. In 2001, he was voted SfB Business Speaker of the Year by over 200 global and European companies. In 2005, he was named one of Time/Fortune/CNN's 'Principal Voices.' In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. "All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education" (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999.

Sir Ken's delivers his message in an impassioned and engaging style, which is reflected in his presentation at the TED conference in 2006, where he communicated a mission and an ethos that is more timely and relevant than ever. Ken Robinson's presentation can be viewed online: Ken Robinson at the TED Conference 2006.

Visit his web site to learn more about Sir Ken Robinson.

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The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Niall Ferguson

Financial historian Niall Ferguson is a prolific author whose detailed research into financial and economic development in civilized societies of the distant past through modern times provides both counterpoint and context for the current global financial calumny. He presents an engrossing historical narrative, deftly teasing intelligibility from an inherently complex subject. The persistent evocation of Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," evinces from nearly page in Ferguson's chronicle of how we got from there to here, from then to now. He provides a lucid exposition of economic evolutions and devolutions arising from the intricate choreography of economic theories, financial markets, banking systems, and political agenda, which in turn have been moderated by social drivers and the unpredictable foibles of human nature—from fear, ignorance and opportunism engendered from venal self-interest to confidence, inspiration and ingenuity born of situational exigency. He observes in the unfolding of events perfect or sometimes perfectly disastrous timing.

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The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Niall Ferguson

Financial historian Niall Ferguson is a prolific author whose detailed research into financial and economic development in civilized societies of the distant past through modern times provides both counterpoint and context for the current global financial calumny. He presents an engrossing historical narrative, deftly teasing intelligibility from an inherently complex subject. The persistent evocation of Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," evinces from nearly page in Ferguson's chronicle of how we got from there to here, from then to now. He provides a lucid exposition of economic evolutions and devolutions arising from the intricate choreography of economic theories, financial markets, banking systems, and political agenda, which in turn have been moderated by social drivers and the unpredictable foibles of human nature—from fear, ignorance and opportunism engendered from venal self-interest to confidence, inspiration and ingenuity born of situational exigency. He observes in the unfolding of events perfect or sometimes perfectly disastrous timing.

Ferguson dissects the booms and busts of the distant and recent past without special pleading to persuade the reader of their current relevance—the obvious parallels with the present situation and its potential consequences, depending on how it is managed, leaves the reader sufficient reference to entertain a myriad of potential scenarios and draw his or her own conclusions about their prospective efficacy. What is refreshing in Niall Ferguson's book is the fascinating origins of very old institutional legacies in which the reader is invited to consider and reflect on current events and the response to them as comprehensible and potentially familiar iterations in a very long history.

Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School. He is a resident faculty member of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, and he is also a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University, and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Visit his web site to learn more about Niall Ferguson.

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Geologica : the origins of the earth, landscapes, landforms, plants, animals
Robert Coenraads and John I. Koivula

The earth is covered with beautiful, untamed landscapes. But how were they formed? Geologica is a comprehensive, richly illustrated insight into the geological heritage of our planet. Mountain ranges, archipelagos, rift valleys, deltas, swamps, and geysers - and the geological processes that created them - are brought to life through pictures and mapping. Discover the glaciers and fjords of Alaska, Norway, New Zealand, and Chile; the massive cave systems of Europe, Asia, and the Americas; and the volcanoes that ring the Pacific Ocean. Featuring over 700 colour photographs of some of the world's most impressive landscapes, including aerial and satellite images, and over 100 detailed world and regional maps, Geologica is a useful resource for the student and an ideal reference book for the home library. —reproduced from www.stirling.wa.gov.au

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Geologica : the origins of the earth, landscapes, landforms, plants, animals
Robert Coenraads and John I. Koivula

The earth is covered with beautiful, untamed landscapes. But how were they formed? Geologica is a comprehensive, richly illustrated insight into the geological heritage of our planet. Mountain ranges, archipelagos, rift valleys, deltas, swamps, and geysers - and the geological processes that created them - are brought to life through pictures and mapping. Discover the glaciers and fjords of Alaska, Norway, New Zealand, and Chile; the massive cave systems of Europe, Asia, and the Americas; and the volcanoes that ring the Pacific Ocean. Featuring over 700 colour photographs of some of the world's most impressive landscapes, including aerial and satellite images, and over 100 detailed world and regional maps, Geologica is a useful resource for the student and an ideal reference book for the home library. —reproduced from http://www.stirling.wa.gov.au.

Robert Coenraads, a leading gemologist, geologist, and geophysicist, is a lecturer at the Gemmological Association of Australia.

John Koivula is chief gemologist at the GIA Laboratory in Carlsbad. A renowned authority on microscopy, photomicrography and gem inclusions, he is author of MicroWorld of Diamonds, co-author of the three-volume Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, and co-author of Geologica, a book on geological landforms. In addition to his many gemological diplomas, he holds bachelor's degrees in chemistry and mineralogy-geology from Eastern Washington State University. More about John Koivula »

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The Red Land: The Illustrated Archaeology of Egypt's Eastern Desert
Steven Sidebotham, Martin Hense and Hendrikje M. Nouwens

The Red Land is a detailed survey of the ancient sites in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt, located between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, including the sites that encompassed Smaragdus Mons, or "Emerald Mountain," the oldest emerald mines in the world, as well as the important polyglot trading port of Berenike on the Red Sea. Based on twenty years of archaeological fieldwork conducted in the Eastern Desert, The Red Land reveals the cultural, historical and economic significance that Egypt's southeastern desert resources, overland trade routes and Red Sea ports had in the world of international trade and cultural transmission between the classical world and far eastern cultures. A range of important archaeological sites dating from Prehistoric to the Byzantine period is discussed. Numerous black and white and color illustrations are featured.

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The Red Land: The Illustrated Archaeology of Egypt's Eastern Desert
Steven Sidebotham, Martin Hense and Hendrikje M. Nouwens

The Red Land is a detailed survey of the ancient sites in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt, located between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, including the sites that encompassed Smaragdus Mons, or "Emerald Mountain," the oldest emerald mines in the world, as well as the important polyglot trading port of Berenike on the Red Sea. Based on twenty years of archaeological fieldwork conducted in the Eastern Desert, The Red Land reveals the cultural, historical and economic significance that Egypt's southeastern desert resources, overland trade routes and Red Sea ports had in the world of international trade and cultural transmission between the classical world and far eastern cultures. A range of important archaeological sites dating from Prehistoric to the Byzantine period is discussed. Numerous black and white and color illustrations are featured.

Dr. Steven E. Sidebotham is professor of classical archaeology and ancient history at the University of Delaware. He is the author of Roman Economic Policy in the Erythra Thalassa 30BC – AD217 and co-editor of six volumes of archaeological fieldwork at Berenike. Martin Hense has been a freelance artist and archaeologist specializing in ancient metalwork on excavations in Syria and Egypt since 1994. Hendrikje M. Nouwens is an independent Egyptologist and archaeologist based in the Netherlands, where she regularly gives lectures and courses in Egyptology. She has worked on major archaeological excavations in Egypt since 1997.

Visit the web site to learn more about this book, The Red Land: The Illustrated Archaeology of Egypt's Eastern Desert.

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Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, vols. 1–3
Eduard Gübelin and John Koivula

The three volumes of theThe Photoatlas series is the product of a collaboration between the two leading gemological authorities on inclusions in gemstones. The fascinating and visually inspiring world of wonders of mineral and fluid inclusions enclosed in the small space of a gemstone captures both its most intimate secrets about its origin and identity, as well as the grandeur of Nature.

The Photoatlas series, featuring over 5350 color images and more than 2000 pages, represents the most comprehensive exploration, research, and highly specialized photomicrographic documentation of provenanced gem specimens published to date on gemstone inclusions, and so this three-volume reference set is indispensible for gemologists, students and researchers.

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Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, vols. 1–3
Eduard Gübelin and John Koivula

The three volumes of theThe Photoatlas series is the product of a colloboration between the two leading gemological authorities on inclusions in gemstones. The fascinating and visually inspiring world of wonders of mineral and fluid inclusions enclosed in the small space of a gemstone captures both its most intimate secrets about its origin and identity, as well as the grandeur of Nature.

The Photoatlas series, featuring over 5350 color images and more than 2000 pages, represents the most comprehensive exploration, research, and highly specialized photomicrographic documentation of provenanced gem specimens published to date on gemstone inclusions, and so this three-volume reference set is indispensible for gemologists, students and researchers.

The internal features contained within gemstones is becoming increasingly important to professionals who need to identify and separate treated stones and synthetics from the genuine, rare and valuable treasures produced by Nature. In the specialized world of gemstone microscopy, scientists, mineralogists and professionals in the gem trade appreciate that the microscopic exploration of gems illuminates a visual world of useful information. Like the preceding two volumes, Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, Volume 3, is a detailed photographic chronicle of the visually distinctive and informative features that identify a gem material or help to associate it with is geologic origin or differentiate natural, untreated gemstones from treated stones or their synthetic counterparts.

Read more about Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones vol. 1 4th edn., Opinio Verlag, Basel, 2004 532 pp., 1400+ color plates Hardbound; 9.75" x 8.5" x 1.75"

Read more about Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones vol. 2 Opinio Verlag, Basel, Dec. 2005 829 pp., 2200+ color plates Hardbound; 9.75" x 8.5" x 2"

Read more about Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones vol. 3 Opinio Verlag, Basel, Nov. 2008 672 pp., 1750+ color plates Hardbound; 9.75" x 8.5" x 1.75"

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