True Professional

What happens when a person's reputation has been forever damaged? This riveting biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert medalist and Newbery Honor winner Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life. How she was treated by medical and legal officials reveals a lesser-known story of human and constitutional rights, entangled with the science of pathology and enduring questions about who Mary Mallon really was. How did her name become synonymous with deadly disease?

The World Wars of the 20th century caused massive upheavals all over the world. Often overlooked by history are the extraordinary true-life stories of the brave women from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand who enlisted in the Allied forces in their thousands to serve as nurses behind the front lines, at great danger to themselves.

This book captures the stories of five doctors who have killed their patients, including, Harold Shipman, Marcel Petiot, Michael Swango, H.H. Holmes, and John Bodkin Adams. It is amazing that these people chose a profession to help save lives, but preferred to kill. Is it not their job to curtail suffering and death? We sometimes put our lives in the hands of doctors, trusting that our best interests are the most important to them. Thankfully, there are only a handful of doctors who have been inclined to murder their patients.

A collection of hilarious, heartbreaking, and terrifying encounters with wild black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Rangers, scientists, wildlife photographers, wilderness guides, tourists, and others do all the wrong things when meeting one of the world famous icons of the Smokies. Wake up from a nap and discover a bear sleeping next to you, see a bear driving a car through the park, or hear a ranger whisper a warning that there's a bear in the stall next to you in the ladies room. It's all so emBEARrassing.

A possible genius, a smidgen of madness, a twist of science, and an invention that very nearly changed the world - all collide in a giddy, unbelievably true mystery set in turn-of-the-century Paris.

With excerpts from Tesla’s autobiography and insight from those who knew him best, this book aims to shed new light on the unique visionary and inspire the next generation of scientists. The story of Tesla will leave you feeling mournful for his sad fate, moved by his never-ending pursuit of a better future, and inspired by his enthusiasm.

An Invented Life shares the story of Alan Amron, a visionary inventor. Even as a child, Alan found it fascinating to create new things, always exploring and trying to understand how everything worked. In the book, Alan tells his story and shares snippets from his childhood and youth in Brooklyn, how he always looked at things differently with deeper insight. This is his journey. Even though he is the inventor of the Post-it sticky notes, he was ripped off of his invention due to an unfortunate set of events. But accepting defeat is not in his nature, so he kept fighting.

In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking “nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade - ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death.

Philip's remarkable career in law in London led to recommendations from which he gained unprecedented access to leading lights in politics and the trade unions. He warns about the many pitfalls that trap the unwary, even what happened to a High Court judge! He recounts many fascinating events, beginning with a landmark case while articled, all the way through acting for such colourful clients as impresarios, actors, airline captains, and members of both houses of Parliament, to ultimately being chosen out of thousands of solicitors by the Prime Minister himself for his Party's prestigious new London headquarters.