Download or read book Rita Levi Montalcini Pioneer and Ambassador of Science written by Francesca Valente and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “My experience in childhood and adolescence of the subordinate role played by the female in a society run entirely by men had convinced me that I was not cut out to be a wife.”—Rita Levi-Montalcini Self-assured from an early age, Rita knew that she was cut out for a number of other roles and the difference she could make in the lives of others. Prevailing over her father’s traditional values, Rita attended medical school and continued to study the development of the nervous system after graduating. But as a Jew in fascist Italy, her work came to a halt with discriminatory race laws and again later, when she was forced into hiding from the Nazis. In a makeshift lab built from black-market items, Rita continued her research in a small space she shared with her family. Rita’s courage to accept a fellowship in the United States when she didn’t speak the language was repaid when her six-month stay stretched into thirty-three years. When, at seventy-seven years old, she and Stanley Cohen won the Nobel Prize for their discovery of nerve growth factor—now used in search of cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases—Rita felt like her life was just beginning. Over the next two decades, she spoke around the globe as an ambassador for science and humanitarianism and accomplished more than most do during an entire lifetime.
Download or read book Rita Levi Montalcini written by Barbera Foundation and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Soldier Diplomat Archaeologist written by Peg A. Lamphier, PhD and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He fought for himself. He fought for his country. He fought for acceptance. As the son of an Italian count, Cavalry Colonel Louis Palma di Cesnola had more military experience than most of the leading officers in the Civil War. Objecting to his general’s orders, di Cesnola led his men into battle, earning himself a Medal of Honor. When di Cesnola was captured and thrown into the notorious Libby Prison, he was forced to examine his life decisions. Upon release, di Cesnola was torn between his desire to return to war or to his wife and daughter—a battle of his heart and his duty. Once the war ended, di Cesnola became America’s consul for archaeological excavators, and eventually became the first director of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. With every step of success, di Cesnola was forced to prove himself in a country that emphatically disapproved of immigrants. His plight forged a path of national acceptance of Italian-Americans throughout the entire country.
Download or read book The Dream of Life written by Kate Fuglei and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Too young to hear the drum beat of a world preparing for war, little Federico daydreamed on the shores of Italy's Adriatic Sea. At night the boy soared over his provincial town, his head swimming with fantastical visions unconstrained by earthly boundaries and limitations. As he came of age, Fellini found his soul in the heart of Rome. Through his work as a caricaturist and journalist he played a leading role in the city's avant-garde scene and soon found his inspiration behind the film camera. Fellini held tight to the world of childhood, imagination and the dream state. His ability to capture the frailty and wonder of what it is to be human, and to find irony, humor and beauty in the life of post war Italy earned him four best Foreign Language Oscars. Film directors worldwide study his craft in neo-realist masterpieces such as I Vitellonni, La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2 the magic of which gave birth to the well-familiar addition to our lexicon—Felliniesque.
Download or read book Building Wealth 101 written by Robert Barbera and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Money may not grow on trees and maybe there’s not a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. But in Building Wealth 101, entrepreneur and self-made real estate magnate Robert Barbera will show you how to take control of your finances and make your hard-earned money work for you and your future. By following easy to follow principles you can create independence and freedom and pave a path to your dreams. Strategies include how to: •Learn to budget •Avoid credit card debt •Pay for college•Start your own business •Buy a home•Understand simple and compound interest •Choose where to invest your hard-earned money •Plan for retirement
Download or read book A Boxing Trainer s Journey written by Jonathan Brown and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To train the greatest, he had to be the greatest. On the streets of South Philly, Angelo Dundee learned what it took to survive—a sense of purpose, a clear head, and sometimes . . . a powerful right uppercut. Boxing was the family business and the ring was his home. A skilled trainer and cut man, Dundee intuitively adapted to whatever his fighter needed, be it doctor, therapist, drillmaster, or friend. With gauze and liniment or a well-timed joke, Dundee knew how to keep his guy in the fight and instill confidence in the bleakest of final rounds. For the boxing legends of our time, including Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, there was no one else they wanted in their corner.
Download or read book Relentless Visionary written by Michael Berick and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If asked to list important inventors, few remember to include Alessandro Volta. Yet, his is a household name more spoken than that of Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, or even Thomas Edison. That’s because the terms “volt” and “voltage” can be attributed to Volta, the inventor of the “Voltaic pile,” which is recognized as the first electric battery. A product of the Age of Enlightenment—a time when ideas about reason, science, literature and liberty took center stage—Volta employed a very modern, hands-on approach to his work. Though he had no formal education, he was the first person to identify the gas known as methane, and created the first authoritative list of conducting metals. Alessandro Volta saw things not just as they were, but as what they could be. He was a disrupter, an innovator and a visionary. Above all, he was relentless. Without Volta’s hunger to create and his drive to invent and discover, we might not have electric cars, laptops, cellphones, and hearing aids today.
Download or read book The Faithful written by Collin Mitchell and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rule of power in Europe is changing... Born in Italy at the tumultuous end of France’s influence in Europe, Giuseppe Verdi would go on to become the world’s most recognizable name in opera. Set against the rise of the Italian states in the middle of the 19th Century, The Faithful depicts an artist bedeviled by his role not just as a composer, but as an unassuming icon of the Italian Unification and the birth of modern Italy. Through chance encounters in gilded Milanese salons and the hushed politics of the Italian opera, we experience the struggles of a man conflicted by his role as an artist and his commitment to a country yearning for independence.
Download or read book What a Woman Can Do written by Peg A. Lamphier, PhD and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weary of hearing what a woman couldn’t do, she had no choice but to show them what she could. Four centuries later, the world finally noticed. Though she was “just a girl,” Artemisia Gentileschi’s father recognized and nurtured his daughter’s raw talent and escorted her into the male-dominated elite circle of seventeenth-century fine artists. Later dishonored in the most humiliating way and betrayed by her father for the sake of his own reputation and fortune, the Caravaggio-inspired teenager summoned the fortitude to confront the monster who had stolen her virtue in a very public months-long trial. At a time when a woman’s reputation meant everything, Artemisia was considered damaged goods. Undeterred, she forged a daring path, earning a living through commissions from popes and cardinals, dukes and duchesses, kings and queens. Though traditionally objectified in art, Artemisia’s brushstrokes celebrated women’s strength and defiance. For centuries, her father got credit for many of her paintings, but today they stand on their own merit, their creator’s dishonor and personal tragedies lost to time. Until now.
Download or read book At Last written by Stacia Raymond and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The golden age of the Hollywood musical celebrated through the life of unsung hit-maker Harry Warren. Eliciting a swell of nostalgia, Harry Warren’s jaunty melodies lift our spirits as much today as they did for Depression-era moviegoers. Navigating a business already known for its glamour, excess, and ruthless business practices, Warren quietly but resplendently helped create a new American art form. A self-taught musician, Warren was nominated for eleven best original song Academy Awards and took home three Oscars. He composed twenty musicals including 42nd Street and unforgettable American standards such as "We’re in the Money," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and “That’s Amore.” At Last brings readers on a journey through yesteryear's Tin Pan Alley, Busby Berkeley set pieces, cocktails with the Gershwins, and the creative and collaborative process of a prolific musical genius.
Download or read book The Embrace of Hope written by Kate Fuglei and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. So hang in there! If doors opened for me, they can open for anyone.”—Frank Capra Crossing the Atlantic Ocean was going to be the biggest adventure of Frank Capra’s life, but the five-year-old Sicilian boy’s dreams were soon hobbled by the cramped steamship’s unsanitary conditions. Feverish and weak, Frank suffered the seemingly endless nightmare through rolling seas torn from his family and frightened in the isolated sick bay. Emerging from the darkness into a new world, Frank craned his neck to see the torch atop Lady Liberty’s reaching arm. Awestruck, his heart swelled with a hope and gratitude that came to define his life and his work. Frank Capra’s movies celebrated the individual’s power to define their own destiny through hard work and selflessness. Today, It Happened One Night, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and other classics elicit nostalgia for an America that was, and continue to inspire audiences with the deep-rooted sense of patriotism and optimism held by their creator.
Download or read book The Pirate Prince of Genoa written by Maurizio Marmorstein and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: His homeland invaded from all sides, 16th century admiral Andrea Doria defies mighty kingdoms and leads his people to defend their hard-won independence and freedom. Ever since Andrea Doria was a boy, the azure waters off Genoa’s coast had beckoned. But times were as turbulent as the sea. The divided and vulnerable city-states of the Italian peninsula had become battlefields where powerful empires warred for control. Conquering Doria’s hometown, a strategically located port, would be a consequential victory for any regime. In leading armies for popes and kings, Doria had proved a shrewd strategist and skilled general—on land. It wasn’t until middle-age that he took to the seas as an admiral, commanding daring victories against Ottoman Turks and Barbary Coast pirates. Devoted to protecting his beloved Genoa, Doria dedicated his life to ensuring her safety and liberty. But new enemies have surfaced. Sinister. Unidentified by uniforms. Faces he knows well. In betrayal, Doria faces the biggest battle of his life.
Download or read book The Divine Proportions of Luca Pacioli written by W.A.W. Parker and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Luca Pacioli stood beside the great Leonardo da Vinci and gazed at The Last Supper. He saw immediately that something was terribly wrong. An orphan from a small town in Italy, Pacioli came of age during the Renaissance seemingly destined for a life of struggle and obscurity. But Pacioli had the good fortune of meeting mentors who recognized his uncanny ability with numbers and introduced him to renowned artists and philosophers, royalty, and popes. At a time when many still used Roman numerals and colleges didn’t even teach mathematics, Pacioli was determined to share his passion and make it accessible and understandable. Apprentice to an artist, but a terrible artist himself, he became a master at calculating mathematical perspective in paintings. Tasked with teaching mathematics with no textbook, he wrote his own—followed by books on double-entry bookkeeping, chess, and the divine proportion. In this way, Luca Pacioli, “the father of accounting,” still has something to teach us—not just about mathematics—but about how we account for setbacks in our lives and how we determine what our legacy will be.
Download or read book The Judicious Use of Intangibles written by W.A.W. Parker and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of how a chance encounter with an Italian countess helped one man reach for the sky and bring us closer to the divine. Luck, talent, and hard work. Pietro Belluschi was blessed with all three—whether crossing paths with Ernest Hemingway or Ayn Rand, surviving World War I battlefields, or with the Ivy League scholarship that brought him to America. Belluschi’s designs at an Oregon architectural firm garnered national attention. Whether in homes, churches, or office buildings, his “judicious use of such intangibles as space, light, texture, and color” distinguishes him as a pioneer of modern architecture. His respect for the environment, carefully selected materials, and eloquent designs endure in the Equitable Building—the first constructed of aluminum and glass—the Pan Am Building (now Met Life), and thousands of others. Mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright and mentor to thousands as the dean of M.I.T.’s School of Architecture, Belluschi’s influence on the American landscape cannot be overstated.
Download or read book No Person Above the Law written by Cynthia Cooper and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The country faced a Constitutional crisis during the Watergate conspiracy. He stood firm to set the record straight. As the chief judge of the federal court in Washington D.C. in 1972, John J. Sirica took on the trial of burglars arrested while planting electronic bugs in the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex. Who had sent them? The defendants weren’t saying and President Nixon disavowed any knowledge of the conspirators. Sirica came to the law as the son of an Italian immigrant who lived a hardscrabble life. From these roots, he fought as a boxer while simultaneously going to law school. Practicing law in D.C., he defended criminals and prosecuted them, too. As a judge, he earned the nickname “Maximum John” for the maximum sentences he was apt to deliver. No Person Above the Law describes how Sirica was determined to see the truth come out during the Watergate scandal, even going toe-to-toe with the White House to order the release of secret tapes. Named Time Man of the Year, Judge Sirica held high the central promise of the U.S. Constitution: no person is above the law.
Download or read book Character Is What Counts written by Jonathan Brown and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faith. Fairness. Fortitude. And Football. Every time he confessed his sins, young seminarian Vince Lombardi sought forgiveness for the one he just couldn’t stop committing—playing football. Football was more than a game to Lombardi. It was life. And the values it took to succeed—“perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority”—were ones he lived by and inspired in others. Considered one of the best coaches of all time, whatever the sport, Lombardi was uncompromising in his expectations of himself and his players, both on the field and off. Sidelined and underestimated throughout his life because of his Italian heritage, Vince Lombardi took a brave stance against homophobia and racism. In a country and a sport divided by race the oft-quoted “Pope of Green Bay” had zero tolerance for bigotry and showed his players, fans, and other teams and coaches that character is what counts.
Download or read book Defying Danger written by Nicole Gregory and published by Barbera Foundation. This book was released on with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Forbidden City—home to the opium-addicted Ming Dynasty emperor and protected by thousands of ruthless eunuchs—no European had ever been inside. Would a simple Jesuit priest be the first? Armed with a homemade clock, a wealth of patience, and an uncompromising drive to share his faith with a new people, Father Matteo Ricci would overcome one barrier only to be met by another: treacherous seas, a complex language, and a culture with an unshakable mistrust of foreigners and rooted in the teachings of Buddha and Confucius.In sharing European understanding of astronomy, Ricci garnered the respect of the Chinese and despite the urgency he felt to talk about his beliefs, he tread carefully and respectfully, adopting their ways rather than imposing his own. He was one of the first Westerners to speak and read Mandarin and compiled the first Chinese-Western dictionary. By translating Greek mathematics texts into Chinese and Confucian works into Latin, as well as drawing the first world map with Chinese characters, Ricci forged a path for future scholars, explorers, and missionaries.
