John Brooks – författare

'The best business book I've ever read.' Bill Gates, Wall Street Journal'The Michael Lewis of his day.' New York TimesWhat do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety. These notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened.Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. John Brooks's insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history really does repeat itself.This business classic written by longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks is an insightful and engaging look into corporate and financial life in America.

The works of African American authors and artists are too often interpreted through the lens of authenticity. They are scrutinized for “positive” or “negative” representations of Black people and Black culture or are assumed to communicate some truth about Black identity or the “Black experience.” However, many contemporary Black artists are creating works that cannot be slotted into such categories. Their art resists interpretation in terms of conventional racial discourse; instead, they embrace opacity, uncertainty, and illegibility.John Brooks examines a range of abstractionist, experimental, and genre-defying works by Black writers and artists that challenge how audiences perceive and imagine race. He argues that literature and visual art that exceed the confines of familiar conceptions of Black identity can upend received ideas about race and difference. Considering photography by Roy DeCarava, installation art by Kara Walker, novels by Percival Everett and Paul Beatty, drama by Suzan-Lori Parks, and poetry by Robin Coste Lewis, Brooks pinpoints a shared aesthetic sensibility. In their works, the devices that typically make race feel familiar are instead used to estrange cultural assumptions about race. Brooks contends that when artists confound expectations about racial representation, the resulting disorientation reveals the incoherence of racial ideologies. By showing how contemporary literature and art ask audiences to question what they think they know about race, The Racial Unfamiliar offers a new way to understand African American cultural production.

The works of African American authors and artists are too often interpreted through the lens of authenticity. They are scrutinized for “positive” or “negative” representations of Black people and Black culture or are assumed to communicate some truth about Black identity or the “Black experience.” However, many contemporary Black artists are creating works that cannot be slotted into such categories. Their art resists interpretation in terms of conventional racial discourse; instead, they embrace opacity, uncertainty, and illegibility.John Brooks examines a range of abstractionist, experimental, and genre-defying works by Black writers and artists that challenge how audiences perceive and imagine race. He argues that literature and visual art that exceed the confines of familiar conceptions of Black identity can upend received ideas about race and difference. Considering photography by Roy DeCarava, installation art by Kara Walker, novels by Percival Everett and Paul Beatty, drama by Suzan-Lori Parks, and poetry by Robin Coste Lewis, Brooks pinpoints a shared aesthetic sensibility. In their works, the devices that typically make race feel familiar are instead used to estrange cultural assumptions about race. Brooks contends that when artists confound expectations about racial representation, the resulting disorientation reveals the incoherence of racial ideologies. By showing how contemporary literature and art ask audiences to question what they think they know about race, The Racial Unfamiliar offers a new way to understand African American cultural production.

Much of central Dartmoor is an uninhabited wilderness almost free of villages, farms, trees and roads making it outstanding environmental value. From this mass rise Dartmoor's rivers, including the Lyd, Tavy, East and West Dart, Bovey, Teign, Taw and Okement, nearly all of which flow southwards to the English Channel. The large numbers of tors that dominate Dartmoor are the remnants of hard masses of granite, drastically reduced in size and moulded into their present shapes by millions of years of weatherings. Bowerman's Nose, Hound Tor and Haytor Rocks are famous examples included on these walks.

The Cairngorms cover 300 sq miles, making it the most mountainous area in Britain, with an equally wide range of wildlife. The native pine forest, one of the final retreats of the red squirrel, supports small, uncommon birds like crested tits, redwings and crossbills. Loch Garten is the RSPB osprey breeding site where in summer the birds fly over a considerable tract of country in search of food. In scenic contrast, there is also an ascent to the summit of Carn Daimh, part of the Speyside Way, with its splendid panorama of the countryside surrounding Glenlivet.

This new book reviews critically recent studies of fire control, and describes the essentials of naval gunnery in the dreadnought era.With a foreword by Professor Andrew Lambert, it shows how, in 1913, the Admiralty rejected Arthur Pollen's Argo system for the Dreyer fire control tables. Many naval historians now believe that, consequently, British dreadnoughts were fitted with a system that, despite being partly plagiarised from Pollen's, was inferior: and that the Dreyer Tables were a contributory cause in the sinking of Indefatigable and Queen Mary at Jutland. This book provides new and revisionist accounts of the Dreyer/Pollen controversy, and of gunnery at Jutland. In fire control, as with other technologies, the Royal Navy had been open, though not uncritically, to innovations. The Dreyer Tables were better suited to action conditions (particularly those at Jutland). Beatty's losses were the result mainly of deficient tactics and training: and his battlecruisers would have been even more disadvantaged had they been equipped by Argo. It follows the development of the Pollen and Dreyer systems, refutes the charges of plagiarism and explains Argo's rejection. It outlines the German fire control system: and uses contemporary sources in a critical reassessment of Beatty's tactics throughout the Battle of Jutland.

Environmental Microbiology, Fourth Edition is the revised edition of a key, foundational text for the field of environmental microbiology which hits all the pillars of the field and takes into account the tremendous advances in environmental microbiology over past decade. It provides comprehensive information on traditional methodologies utilized to study environmental microbes, as well as state-of-the-art technologies. Emphasis is placed on molecular and bio-informatic approaches to the study of environmental microbes, including nucleic acid and ‘omic methodologies. The book is divided into seven parts that stretch across microbiology concepts, microbial environments, microbial methods and technologies, microbial transport, biogeochemistry, and bioremediation, water and foodborne pathogens, wastewater treatment and distribution, and urban microbiology. 1) “Environmental Microbiology” is the study of microbes within all habitats, and their beneficial and detrimental impacts on human health and welfare. This book illustrates the significance of environmental microbes in our daily lives in terms of not only the overall health of the planet, but also: what infects us; what heals us; what we drink; what we eat; and what we breathe.Includes balanced, yet thorough coverage of multiple aspects of environmental microbiologyExplores topics ranging from biogeochemical cycling through public health issues including methods and emerging topics such as wastewater-based epidemiology and environmental antimicrobial resistanceStructured as a multi-author textbook with each chapter written by leading expert(s) in their fieldOffers new case studies, question bank, information boxes and figures and images

Once in Golconda "In this book, John Brooks-who was one of the most elegant of all business writers-perfectly catches the flavor of one of history's best-known financial dramas: the 1929 crash and its aftershocks. It's packed with parallels and parables for the modern reader." -From the Foreword by Richard Lambert Editor-in-Chief, The Financial Times Once in Golconda is a dramatic chronicle of the breathtaking rise, devastating fall, and painstaking rebirth of Wall Street in the years between the wars. Focusing on the lives and fortunes of some of the era's most memorable traders, bankers, boosters, and frauds, John Brooks brings to vivid life all the ruthlessness, greed, and reckless euphoria of the '20s bull market, the desperation of the days leading up to the crash of '29, and the bitterness of the years that followed. Praise for Once in Golconda "A fast-moving, sophisticated account.embracing the stock-market boom of the twenties, the crash of 1929, the Depression, and the coming of the New Deal. Its leitmotif is the truly tragic personal history of Richard Whitney, the aristocrat Morgan broker and head of the Stock Exchange, who ended up in Sing Sing." -Edmund Wilson, writing in the New Yorker "As Mr. Brooks tells this tale of dishonor, desperation, and the fall of the mighty, it takes on overtones of Greek tragedy, a king brought down by pride. Whitney's sordid history has been told before..But in Mr. Brooks's hands, the drama becomes freshly shocking." -Wall Street Journal "It's all there in Once in Golconda-the avarice of an era that favored the rich; and the later anguish of myriads of speculators doomed by a bloated market, easy credit, and their own cupidity and stupidity." -Saturday Review

Once in Golconda "In this book, John Brooks-who was one of the most elegant of all business writers-perfectly catches the flavor of one of history's best-known financial dramas: the 1929 crash and its aftershocks. It's packed with parallels and parables for the modern reader." -From the Foreword by Richard Lambert Editor-in-Chief, The Financial Times Once in Golconda is a dramatic chronicle of the breathtaking rise, devastating fall, and painstaking rebirth of Wall Street in the years between the wars. Focusing on the lives and fortunes of some of the era's most memorable traders, bankers, boosters, and frauds, John Brooks brings to vivid life all the ruthlessness, greed, and reckless euphoria of the '20s bull market, the desperation of the days leading up to the crash of '29, and the bitterness of the years that followed. Praise for Once in Golconda "A fast-moving, sophisticated account.embracing the stock-market boom of the twenties, the crash of 1929, the Depression, and the coming of the New Deal. Its leitmotif is the truly tragic personal history of Richard Whitney, the aristocrat Morgan broker and head of the Stock Exchange, who ended up in Sing Sing." -Edmund Wilson, writing in the New Yorker "As Mr. Brooks tells this tale of dishonor, desperation, and the fall of the mighty, it takes on overtones of Greek tragedy, a king brought down by pride. Whitney's sordid history has been told before..But in Mr. Brooks's hands, the drama becomes freshly shocking." -Wall Street Journal "It's all there in Once in Golconda-the avarice of an era that favored the rich; and the later anguish of myriads of speculators doomed by a bloated market, easy credit, and their own cupidity and stupidity." -Saturday Review

The Go-Go Years "The Go-Go Years is not to be read in the usual manner ofWall Street classics. You do not read this book to see our presentsituation reenacted in the past, with only the names changed. Youread it because it is a wonderful description of the way thingswere in a different time and place."--From the Foreword by Michael Lewis The Go-Go Years is the harrowing and humorous story ofthe growth stocks of the 1960s and how their meteoric rise caused amultitude of small investors to thrive until the devastating marketcrashes in the 1970s. It was a time when greed drove the market andfast money was being made and lost as the "go-go" stocks surged andplunged. Included are the stories of such high-profilepersonalities as H. Ross Perot who lost $450 million in one day,Saul Steinberg's attempt to take over Chemical Bank, and the fallof America's "Last Gatsby," Eddie Gilbert. Praise for The Go-Go Years "Those for whom the stock market is mostly a spectator sportwill relish the book's verve, color, and memorableone-liners."--New York Review of Books "Please don't take The Go-Go Years too much for granted:as effortlessly as it seems to fly, it is nonetheless an unusuallycomplex and thoughtful work of social history."--New York Times "Brooks's great contribution is his synthesis of all theelements that made the 1960s the most volatile in Wall Streethistory . and making so much material easily digestible for theuninitiated."--Publishers Weekly "Brooks ... is about the only writer around who combines athorough knowledge of finance with the ability to perceive behindthe dance of numbers 'high, pure, moral melodrama on the themes ofpossession, domination, and belonging.'"--Time

The Go-Go Years "The Go-Go Years is not to be read in the usual manner ofWall Street classics. You do not read this book to see our presentsituation reenacted in the past, with only the names changed. Youread it because it is a wonderful description of the way thingswere in a different time and place."--From the Foreword by Michael Lewis The Go-Go Years is the harrowing and humorous story ofthe growth stocks of the 1960s and how their meteoric rise caused amultitude of small investors to thrive until the devastating marketcrashes in the 1970s. It was a time when greed drove the market andfast money was being made and lost as the "go-go" stocks surged andplunged. Included are the stories of such high-profilepersonalities as H. Ross Perot who lost $450 million in one day,Saul Steinberg's attempt to take over Chemical Bank, and the fallof America's "Last Gatsby," Eddie Gilbert. Praise for The Go-Go Years "Those for whom the stock market is mostly a spectator sportwill relish the book's verve, color, and memorableone-liners."--New York Review of Books "Please don't take The Go-Go Years too much for granted:as effortlessly as it seems to fly, it is nonetheless an unusuallycomplex and thoughtful work of social history."--New York Times "Brooks's great contribution is his synthesis of all theelements that made the 1960s the most volatile in Wall Streethistory . and making so much material easily digestible for theuninitiated."--Publishers Weekly "Brooks ... is about the only writer around who combines athorough knowledge of finance with the ability to perceive behindthe dance of numbers 'high, pure, moral melodrama on the themes ofpossession, domination, and belonging.'"--Time

This new book reviews critically recent studies of fire control, and describes the essentials of naval gunnery in the dreadnought era.With a foreword by Professor Andrew Lambert, it shows how, in 1913, the Admiralty rejected Arthur Pollen's Argo system for the Dreyer fire control tables. Many naval historians now believe that, consequently, British dreadnoughts were fitted with a system that, despite being partly plagiarised from Pollen's, was inferior: and that the Dreyer Tables were a contributory cause in the sinking of Indefatigable and Queen Mary at Jutland. This book provides new and revisionist accounts of the Dreyer/Pollen controversy, and of gunnery at Jutland. In fire control, as with other technologies, the Royal Navy had been open, though not uncritically, to innovations. The Dreyer Tables were better suited to action conditions (particularly those at Jutland). Beatty's losses were the result mainly of deficient tactics and training: and his battlecruisers would have been even more disadvantaged had they been equipped by Argo. It follows the development of the Pollen and Dreyer systems, refutes the charges of plagiarism and explains Argo's rejection. It outlines the German fire control system: and uses contemporary sources in a critical reassessment of Beatty's tactics throughout the Battle of Jutland.

This book places the careers and writings of four pioneering French social scientists-Theodule Ribot, Alfred Espinas, Pierre Janet and Emile Durkheim-in the context of academic philosophy. Thus, both the intellectual legacy of academic philosophy and the originality of the early social scientists appear in a new and surprising light.

This is a major new account of the Battle of Jutland, the key naval battle of the First World War in which the British Grand Fleet engaged the German High Seas Fleet off the coast of Denmark in 1916. Beginning with the building of the two fleets, John Brooks reveals the key technologies employed, from ammunition, gunnery and fire control, to signalling and torpedoes, as well as the opposing commanders' tactical expectations and battle orders. In describing Jutland's five major phases, he offers important new interpretations of the battle itself and how the outcome was influenced by technology, as well as the tactics and leadership of the principal commanders, with the reliability of their own accounts of the fighting reassessed. The book draws on contemporary sources which have rarely been cited in previous accounts, including the despatches of both the British and German formations, along with official records, letters and memoirs.

In recent years, the formation and impacts of biofilms on dairy manufacturing have been studied extensively, from the effects of microbial enzymes produced during transportation of raw milk to the mechanisms of biofilm formation by thermophilic spore-forming bacteria. The dairy industry now has a better understanding of biofilms and of approaches that may be adopted to reduce the impacts that biofilms have on manufacturing efficiencies and the quality of dairy products. Biofilms in the Dairy Industry provides a comprehensive overview of biofilm-related issues facing the dairy sector. The book is a cornerstone for a better understanding of the current science and of ways to reduce the occurrence of biofilms associated with dairy manufacturing. The introductory section covers the definition and basic concepts of biofilm formation and development, and provides an overview of problems caused by the occurrence of biofilms along the dairy manufacturing chain. The second section of the book focuses on specific biofilm-related issues, including the quality of raw milk influenced by biofilms, biofilm formation by thermoduric streptococci and thermophilic spore-forming bacteria in dairy manufacturing plants, the presence of pathogens in biofilms, and biofilms associated with dairy waste effluent. The final section of the book looks at the application of modelling approaches to control biofilms. Potential solutions for reducing contamination throughout the dairy manufacturing chain are also presented. Essential to professionals in the global dairy sector, Biofilms in the Dairy Industry will be of great interest to anyone in the food and beverage, academic and government sectors. This text is specifically targeted at dairy professionals who aim to improve the quality and consistency of dairy products and improve the efficiency of dairy product manufacture through optimizing the use of dairy manufacturing plant and reducing operating costs.

This book, originally published in 1978, makes use of and extends first-year macroeconomic theory to examine how governments attempt to use the instruments of macroeconomic policy in order to acheive their objectives. It begins with a discussion of the meaning and desirability of policy objectives, moves on to examine the workings of the main policy instruments and concludes with a chapter which outlines Tinbergen’s ‘fixed’ targets’ and Theil’s ‘flexible targets’ approaches to policy. A chapter on debt management considers the main theories of the term strcutyure of interet rates and their implications for debt management as an instrument of policy.

This book, originally published in 1978, makes use of and extends first-year macroeconomic theory to examine how governments attempt to use the instruments of macroeconomic policy in order to acheive their objectives. It begins with a discussion of the meaning and desirability of policy objectives, moves on to examine the workings of the main policy instruments and concludes with a chapter which outlines Tinbergen’s ‘fixed’ targets’ and Theil’s ‘flexible targets’ approaches to policy. A chapter on debt management considers the main theories of the term strcutyure of interet rates and their implications for debt management as an instrument of policy.

This is a major new account of the Battle of Jutland, the key naval battle of the First World War in which the British Grand Fleet engaged the German High Seas Fleet off the coast of Denmark in 1916. Beginning with the building of the two fleets, John Brooks reveals the key technologies employed, from ammunition, gunnery and fire control, to signalling and torpedoes, as well as the opposing commanders' tactical expectations and battle orders. In describing Jutland's five major phases, he offers important new interpretations of the battle itself and how the outcome was influenced by technology, as well as the tactics and leadership of the principal commanders, with the reliability of their own accounts of the fighting reassessed. The book draws on contemporary sources which have rarely been cited in previous accounts, including the despatches of both the British and German formations, along with official records, letters and memoirs.

The best business book I've ever read.' Bill Gates

Wall Street Journal 'The Michael Lewis of his day.' New York Times

What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety. These notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened. Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. John Brooks's insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history really does repeat itself.

This business classic written by longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks is an insightful and engaging look into corporate and financial life in America.

If you want to attract and retain users in the booming mobile services market, you need a quick-loading app that won't churn through their data plans. The key is to compress multimedia and other data into smaller files, but finding the right method is tricky. This witty book helps you understand how data compression algorithms work-in theory and practice-so you can choose the best solution among all the available compression tools. With tables, diagrams, games, and as little math as possible, authors Colt McAnlis and Aleks Haecky neatly explain the fundamentals. Learn how compressed files are better, cheaper, and faster to distribute and consume, and how they'll give you a competitive edge.Learn why compression has become crucial as data production continues to skyrocket Know your data, circumstances, and algorithm options when choosing compression tools Explore variable-length codes, statistical compression, arithmetic numerical coding, dictionary encodings, and context modeling Examine tradeoffs between file size and quality when choosing image compressors Learn ways to compress client- and server-generated data objects Meet the inventors and visionaries who created data compression algorithms