Download or read book How We Live and Why We Die The Secret Lives of Cells written by Lewis Wolpert and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2011-01-24 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed biologist Lewis Wolpert eloquently narrates the basics of human life through the lens of its smallest component: the cell. Everything about our existence— imagination and reproduction, birth and death—is governed by our cells. They are the basis of all life in the universe, from the tiniest of bacteria to the most complex of animals. Genes in developing embryos determine the makeup of individuals, and the rapid firing between nerve cells creates the spirit of who we are. When we age, our cells cannot repair the damage they have undergone; when we get ill, it is because cells are so damaged they stop working and die. In the tradition of Lewis Thomas’s science classic The Lives of a Cell, Wolpert, an internationally acclaimed embryologist, draws on the recent discoveries of genetics to demonstrate how human life derives from a single cell and then grows into a body: an incredibly complex society made up of billions of cells. Wolpert sensitively examines the science behind often controversial research topics that are much discussed by rarely understood—stem cell research, cloning, DNA, and mutating cancer cells—all the while illuminating how the intricacies of cellular behavior bear directly on human behavior. Wolpert isn’t afraid to tackle the tough questions, including how and why single cells evolved into complex organisms and, first and foremost, what gave rise to the original cell, the origin of all life. Lively and passionate, How We Live and Why We Die is both an accessible guide to understanding the human body and a deeply reverent meditation on life itself.
Download or read book What We Live For What We Die For written by Serhiy Zhadan and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to an original poetic voice from eastern Ukraine with deep roots in the unique cultural landscape of post-Soviet devastation "Everyone can find something, if they only look carefully," reads one of the memorable lines from this first collection of poems in English by the world-renowned Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan. These robust and accessible narrative poems feature gutsy portraits of life on wartorn and poverty-ravaged streets, where children tally the number of local deaths, where mothers live with low expectations, and where romance lives like a remote memory. In the tradition of Tom Waits, Charles Bukowski, and William S. Burroughs, Zhadan creates a new poetics of loss, a daily crusade of testimonial, a final witness of abandoned lives in a claustrophobic universe where "every year there's less and less air." Yet despite the grimness of these portraits, Zhadan's poems are familiar and enchanting, lit by the magic of everyday detail, leaving readers with a sense of hope, knowing that the will of a people "will never let it be / like it was before."
Download or read book Living Beautifully written by Pema Chödrön and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Instant bestseller: Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön shares life-changing practices for living with wisdom, confidence, and integrity amidst confusing situations and uncertain times We live in difficult times. Life so often seems like a turbulent river threatening to drown us and destroy our world. Why, then, shouldn’t we cling to the certainty of the comfortable—to our deep-seated habits and familiar ways? Because, Pema Chödrön teaches, that kind of fear-based clinging keeps us from the infinitely more powerful experience of being fully alive. The Buddhist teachings she presents here—known as the “Three Commitments”—provide a treasure trove of wisdom for learning to step right into the unknown, to completely and fearlessly embrace the groundlessness of being human, for people of all faiths. When we do, we begin to see not only how much better it feels to live an openhearted life, but we find that we begin to naturally and more effectively reach out to help and heal all those around us.
Download or read book Death by Living written by N. D. Wilson and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each of us is in the middle of a story. In this astoundingly unique book, bestselling author N.D. Wilson reminds us that to truly live we must recognize that we are dying. Cause of death: life. Death by Living is a poetic exploration of faith, futility, and the incredible joy of this mortal life. N.D. Wilson recounts stories from his life in poetic prose, giving perspective on the life we're given by God. Death by Living explores the topics of family, grappling with the death of loved ones, and how to live with intention to get the most out of our time on Earth. Wilson encourages us to live hard and die grateful, and to see Christ in every pair of eyes. To write a past we won’t regret. All of us must pause and breathe. See the past, see life as the fruit of providence and thousands of personal narratives. We did not choose where to set our feet in time, but we choose where to set them next. We stand in the now. God says create. Live. Choose. Shape the past. Etch your life in stone, and what you make will be forever. In Death by Living, you will: Experience life with renewed wonder Recognize mundane moments as opportunities Learn to live hard and die grateful Recognize death as a gift instead of something to be feared At once inspiring, humorous, and unbelievably moving, this a book that you will read again and again, finding fresh perspective each time you open it.
Download or read book How We Die Now written by Karla Erickson and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-27 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we live longer and die slower and differently than our ancestors, we have come to rely more and more on end-of-life caregivers. These workers navigate a changing landscape of old age and death that many of us have little preparation to encounter. How We Die Now is an absorbing and sensitive investigation of end-of-life issues from the perspectives of patients, relatives, medical professionals, and support staff. Karla Erickson immersed herself in the daily life of workers and elders in a Midwestern community for over two years to explore important questions around the theme of “how we die now.” She moves readers through and beyond the many fears that attend the social condition of old age and reveals the pleasures of living longer and the costs of slower, sometimes senseless ways of dying. For all of us who are grappling with the “elder boom,” How We Die Now offers new ways of thinking about our longer lives.
Download or read book The Wisdom of the Body written by Sherwin B. Nuland and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1997 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very few of us know much about the machinery and workings of our bodies. In an era when most educated people are up-to-date on such questions as gene research, or the male contraceptive pill, the depth of familiarity with our own organs (their structure and function) is surprisingly thin. Where is your spleen? And what does it do? And so forth. Sherwin Nuland's book explains the basic equipment of our body and shows how the human organism constructs its own strategies for survival. But Nuland goes much further than conventional biology. In writing the book, he became preoccupied by a question: what is the human spirit, and how does the structure and functioning of our physicals body explain it? He argues that the human spirit is as inseparable from the body as the mind is inseperable from the brain and results from the adaptive biological mechanisms that protect our species and perpetuate our existence. Written with the warmth, wit and intelligence that distinguished HOW WE DIE, Nuland's new book will became essential book for anyone who wants to understand how life keeps going.
Download or read book Living in the Light of Death written by Larry Rosenberg and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2001-09-18 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the Buddhist approach to facing the inevitable facts of growing older, getting sick, and dying. These tough realities are not given much attention by many people until midlife, when they become harder to avoid. Using a Buddhist text known as the Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection, Larry Rosenberg shows how intimacy with the realities of aging can actually be used as a means to liberation. When we become intimate with these inevitable aspects of life, he writes, we also become intimate with ourselves, with others, with the world—indeed with all things.
Download or read book Dying We Live written by Helmut Gollwitzer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Protestant pastor and a Catholic writer have collaborated with an American, Kathe Kuhn, by compiling the last words of those who, unwilling to condone or to obey injustice under the Nazi terror, were facing execution. Their letters and messages were addressed to their nearest and dearest, in a situation which calls forth the ultimate truth in each person. This collection is neither a mere historical or political record, but a deeply human one, and its effect on the reader, contrary to expectations, is strengthening rather than depressing. The chief debt of gratitude is owed to the recipients of the letters--the widows, children, parents, friends, and relatives of the writers. They have allowed us to make public what to them was exclusively their own, a sacred possession. Not since the time of the martyrs of the early Church, so it seemed to editor Helmut Gollwitzer, had there been such a wealth of testimonials of a faith triumphant in death. Kathe Kuhn (ADD German oomlaute over the 'a' if possible)
Download or read book How We Die written by Sherwin B Nuland and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-11-16 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens to us as we die? Discover the answers in this exclusive 25th anniversary edition of Sherwin B Nuland’s seminal book With a foreword by Paul Kalanithi, bestselling author of When Breath Becomes Air. There are many books intended to help people deal with the trauma of bereavement, but few which explore the reality of death itself. Sherwin B. Nuland - with over thirty years' experience as a surgeon - explains in detail the processes which take place in the body and strips away many illusions about death. The result is a unique and compelling book, addressing the one final fact that all of us must confront. 'I don't know of any writer or scientist who has shown us the face of death as clearly, honestly and compassionately as Sherwin Nuland does here' James Gleick, author of Chaos
Download or read book Taking the Leap written by Pema Chodron and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the Buddhist concept of shenpa in order to describe how to become free from the destructive energy experienced during moments of conflict.
Download or read book When Things Fall Apart written by Pema Chödrön and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2005-01-11 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes a traditional Buddhist approach to suffering and how embracing the painful situation and using communication, negative habits, and challenging experiences leads to emotional growth and happiness.
Download or read book Why We Live After Death written by Richard Steinpach and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why We Live After Death accomplishes what no other book on life after death does: Steinpach takes the basic Laws of Nature, and applies them to the ethereal realm. By doing so, he demystifies the world beyond. Accounts of people who had clinically "died" and then been brought back to life are no longer considered fantasy: they have been scientically proven. Why We Live After Death opens the door to a fuller understanding of the totality of our existence, and makes it possible for readers to answer the eternal question, "What is the meaning of life?"
Download or read book Let s Talk about Death written by Steve Gordon and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2015 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts in end-of-life care tell us that we should talk about death and dying with relatives and friends, but how do we get such conversations off the ground in a society that historically has avoided the topic? This book provides one example of such a conversation. The coauthors take up challenging questions about pain, caregiving, grief, and what comes after death. Their unlikely collaboration is itself connected to death: the murders of two of Irene's closest friends and Steve's support in perpetuating memories of those friends' lives and not just their violent ends. The authors share the results of a no-holds-barred discussion they conducted for several years over email. Readers can consider a range of views on complicated issues to which there are no right answers. Letting ourselves pose certain questions has the potential to profoundly change the way we think about death, how we choose to die, and, just as importantly, the way we live. Honest, probing, sensitive, and even humorous at times, the completely open discussions in this book will help readers deal with a topic that most of us try to avoid but that everyone will face eventually.
Download or read book The Pocket Pema Ch dr n written by Pema Chodron and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2017-08-01 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of short inspirational readings by "one of the world's wisest women"--O, the Oprah Magazine. Pema Chödrön, beloved Buddhist nun and best-selling author, offers this treasury of 108 short selections from her more than four decades of study and writings. Here she presents teachings on breaking free of destructive patterns; developing patience, kindness, and joy amid our everyday struggles; becoming fearless; and unlocking our natural warmth, intelligence, and goodness. Designed for on-the-go inspiration, this is a perfect guide to Buddhist principles and the foundations of meditation and mindfulness. This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.
Download or read book Practicing Peace in Times of War written by Pema Chöön and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "War and peace begin in the hearts of individuals," declares Pema Chodron in her inspiring and accessible new book, which draws on Buddhist teachings to explore the origins of aggression and war.
Download or read book Welcoming the Unwelcome written by Pema Chodron and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of When Things Fall Apart, an open-hearted call for human connection, compassion, and learning to love the world just as it is during these most challenging times. In her first new book of spiritual teachings in over seven years, Pema Chödrön offers a combination of wisdom, heartfelt reflections, and the signature mix of humor and insight that have made her a beloved figure to turn to during times of change. In an increasingly polarized world, Pema shows us how to strengthen our abilities to find common ground, even when we disagree, and influence our environment in positive ways. Sharing never-before told personal stories from her remarkable life, simple and powerful everyday practices, and directly relatable advice, Pema encourages us all to become triumphant bodhisattvas--compassionate beings--in times of hardship. Welcoming the Unwelcome includes teachings on the true meaning of karma, recognizing the basic goodness in ourselves and the people we share our lives with--even the most challenging ones, transforming adversity into opportunities for growth, and freeing ourselves from the empty and illusory labels that separate us. Pema also provides step-by-step guides to a basic sitting meditation and a compassion meditation that anyone can use to bring light to the darkness we face, wherever and whatever it may be.
Download or read book We Don t Die written by Sandra Champlain and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “We Don’t Die: A Skeptic’s Discovery of Life After Death” gives credible evidence of life after death. The goal of “We Don’t Die” is to have people believe that their deceased loved ones are still near them, help them navigate through the grieving process and educate that we are ‘eternal souls having a human experience. It is unique because it teaches people about the grieving process, keeping relationships whole, gives awe inspiring exercises that the reader experiences that we must be ‘more than our bodies.’ It gets readers in touch with the purpose of their lives and gets them on the path to producing results. Readers will no longer fear death, their pain of losing someone will be lessened, they will have hope, faith, and powerful access to live a successful life.
