Collects instructions drawn from the pages of String Figure Magazine explaining how to create such string "sculptures" as "Twinkling star," "Polar Bear," "Erupting volcano," and "Andromeda galaxy"

Diagrams and text illustrate the steps involved in creating over one hundred string figures while providing information on their origin and cultural background

Provides directions, illustrated with photographs, for making many different string figures-- from the fairly simple Jacob's Ladder to more complex Mt. Fuji-- along with information about their history and meaning.

Play 40 terrific games with only one piece of string!

THE FINE ART OF TOUGH LOVE. If you're lucky, somewhere in your past is that one person who changed your life forever. The one who pushed you to dream bigger and to reach higher, and who set you straight on what matters in life. Perhaps it was a coach, or a professor, or a family friend. For Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky, that person was a public-school music teacher, Jerry Kupchynsky, known as Mr. K--a Ukrainian-born taskmaster who yelled and stomped and screamed, and who drove his students harder than anyone had ever driven them before. Through sheer force of will, he made them better than they had any right to be. Strings Attached tells the inspiring, poignant, and powerful story of this remarkable man, whose life seemed to conspire against him at every turn and yet who was able to transform his own heartache into triumph for his students. Lyrically recounted by two former students -- acclaimed journalist Joanne Lipman and Mr. K's daughter, Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Melanie Kupchynsky -- Strings Attached takes you on a journey that spans from his days as a forced Nazi laborer and his later home life as a husband to an invalid wife, to his heart-breaking search for his missing daughter, Melanie's sister. This is an unforgettable tale -- a captivating narrative that is as absorbing as fiction -- about the power of a great teacher, but also about the legacy that remains long after the last note has faded into silence: lessons in resilience, excellence, and tough love. Strings Attached is for anyone indebted to a mentor and for those devoted to igniting excellence in others.

Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design - no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses - one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer - and will understand how to do it.

A Fields medalist recounts his lifelong effort to uncover the geometric shape—the Calabi-Yau manifold—that may store the hidden dimensions of our universe. Harvard geometer Shing-Tung Yau has provided a mathematical foundation for string theory, offered new insights into black holes, and mathematically demonstrated the stability of our universe. In this autobiography, Yau reflects on his improbable journey to becoming one of the world’s most distinguished mathematicians. Beginning with an impoverished childhood in China and Hong Kong, Yau takes readers through his doctoral studies at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War protests, his Fields Medal–winning proof of the Calabi conjecture, his return to China, and his pioneering work in geometric analysis. This new branch of geometry, which Yau built up with his friends and colleagues, has paved the way for solutions to several important and previously intransigent problems. With complicated ideas explained for a broad audience, this book offers not only insights into the life of an eminent mathematician, but also an accessible way to understand advanced and highly abstract concepts in mathematics and theoretical physics. “The remarkable story of one of the world’s most accomplished mathematicians . . . Yau’s personal journey—from escaping China as a youngster, leading a gang outside Hong Kong, becoming captivated by mathematics, to making breakthroughs that thrust him on the world stage—inspires us all with humankind’s irrepressible spirit of discovery.” —Brian Greene, New York Times–bestselling author of The Elegant Universe “An unexpectedly intimate look into a highly accomplished man, his colleagues and friends, the development of a new field of geometric analysis, and a glimpse into a truly uncommon mind.” —The Boston Globe “Engaging, eminently readable. . . . For those with a taste for elegant and largely jargon-free explanations of mathematics, The Shape of a Life promises hours of rewarding reading.” —American Scientist

The first biography in over sixty years of a great American artist whose paintings are more famous than the man who made them. George Catlin has been called the “first artist of the West,” as none before him lived among and painted the Native American tribes of the Northern Plains. After a false start as a painter of miniatures, Catlin found his calling: to fix the image of a “vanishing race” before their “extermination”—his word—by a government greedy for their lands. In the first six years of the 1830s, he created over six hundred portraits—unforgettable likenesses of individual chiefs, warriors, braves, squaws, and children belonging to more than thirty tribes living along the upper Missouri River. Political forces thwarted Catlin’s ambition to sell what he called his “Indian Gallery” as a national collection, and in 1840 the artist began three decades of self-imposed exile abroad. For a time, his exhibitions and writings made him the most celebrated American expatriate in London and Paris. He was toasted by Queen Victoria and breakfasted with King Louis-Philippe, who created a special gallery in the Louvre to show his pictures. But when he started to tour “live” troupes of Ojibbewa and Iowa, Catlin and his fortunes declined: He changed from artist to showman, and from advocate to exploiter of his native performers. Tragedy and loss engulfed both. This brilliant and humane portrait brings to life George Catlin and his Indian subjects for our own time. An American original, he still personifies the artist as a figure of controversy, torn by conflicting demands of art and success.

String gathers together every strand of information on string to weave a fantastic overview of this multi-faceted material. This book presents a captivating look at string, from its first development in prehistoric times and the ancient building of the pyramids through different cultural uses to the latest scientific applications and even touches on the "string theory." Throughout the book are practical uses of string, whether you need to secure a fishing hook or a shoelace, tie up your roast turkey, create an impressive "string figure," or simply play a game. Illustrated with over 200 2-color drawings, this quirky subject matter is embodied in the distinctive aesthetic of the book, complete with a string-tie binding. It will surprise most readers to discover that such a simple thing as string has so many varied and interesting uses, with a special appeal across ages and culture. The seven chapters include: * Roping Yarns: an overview of string including its long history, its varieties, and how its made * String-a-long: shows all the many fun games and crafts and includes other intriguing facts and statistics * Get Knotted: has step-by-step instructions that explain how to tie all the most useful knots * Loopy Science: reveals the ingenious ways in which string has helped, or occasionally hindered, scientific discoveries String will fascinate and inform readers on in almost every aspect of string from music and sports to science and games.

Relax and find your calm. Move your hands to still your mind. In this meditative take on the traditional game of cat's cradle, players use a looped string to inspire mental calm. The boxed set includes an instruction booklet with dreamy illustrations for 15 string games to play alone or with a friend. - Fans of adult coloring books, desktop Japanese Zen sand gardens, knitting, and other handwork/craft activities that have mindfulness or calming benefits will love this product. It's also a great way to start a meditation practice if traditional meditation hasn't worked for you. - The elegant packaging also makes this a lovely gift for anyone who has nostalgic childhood memories of playing cat's cradle. Includes: - Sturdy looped nylon cord - 88-page instruction booklet with 75+ illustrations, relaxation techniques, and step-by-step instructional text for 15 games, like the Celtic Knot, the Butterfly, the Lizard, the Well, and Three Diamonds