Original Thinkers

In our increasingly interconnected world, economics has become an ever more powerful, integrated, and dynamic force. In other words, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay there anymore. In fact, decisions made by economists in London or Shanghai may well determine the fate of savings accounts for people in Montreal, Manhattan, and Mogadishu. As economics is an admittedly complicated social science, this book uses biography as a teaching tool-profiling the most important economists-because often the best way to begin understanding a complicated and important field is by reading about the people behind the ideas.

This rich compendium examines revolutionary advances in mathematics, physics, science, chemistry, biology and medicine by revealing the lives of the people responsible for them. Just as each generation of new scientific pioneers stands upon the shoulders of the giants who came before them, these biographies build upon each other and tell a collective tale of the development of breakthroughs like the X-ray, radio waves, the Big Bang Theory, and evolution. Some of the most famous scientists of all time are featured--like Newton, Mendel, Curie, and Einstein--as well as lesser known but no less influential and innovative figures.

This compendium contains profiles of leaders, such as John Calvin, Ibn al-Arabi, Hillel the Elder, and Gobind Singh, who have had a major impact on religious thought. It also offers discussions of various concepts, such as monotheism, creationism, and deism, which give readers a broader understanding of religion. The book uses a broad non-deistic definition of religion and touches on Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, and more. An instructive, balanced volume on an often-contentious topic.

Medicine has long been considered the most noble of human professions. Years before we understood the intricate and complex workings of our cells, tissues, and organs, there were men and women who sought to heal the sick and ease their suffering. This book presents the life and work of 50 individuals who have shaped the history of medicine. In addition to these major figures, feature sections on ethical, scientific, and personal topics including epidemics, cloning, and animal experimentation, give an overview of 10 major issues in contemporary medicine.

Throughout time monarchies, empires, republics, democracies, dictatorships, and more have risen and fallen. But often, the leaders at their helm and the political philosophies they espoused have legacies that are far more enduring. The fifty individuals and ten political movements surveyed in this convenient handbook represent some of history's most critical schools of thought. Summarizing the lives of thinkers and leaders as diverse as Thomas Paine, Karl Marx, Genghis Khan, Catherine the Great, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, and Abraham Lincoln, this volume highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each as well as their lasting influence on political thinking.

Philosophy raises some fascinating and mind-boggling questions, thorny existential puzzles that have perplexed and troubled humanity for millennia. This concise book approaches fifty of the most perplexing problems of all time and shows how they have been addressed, if not solved, by some of the greatest minds in history. Readers enjoy lively biographical overviews of some of the most thought-provoking philosophers of the last 2000 years. Each chapter focuses on a featured theory and highlights the most intriguing thinkers working within that particular area and the most brilliant ideas that resulted from their inquiries.