The medieval Catholic Church, widely considered a source of intolerance and inquisitorial fervor, was not anti-science during the Dark Ages -- in fact, the pope in the year 1000 was the leading mathematician and astronomer of his day. Called "The Scientist Pope," Gerbert of Aurillac rose from peasant beginnings to lead the church. By turns a teacher, traitor, kingmaker, and visionary, Gerbert is the first Christian known to teach math using the nine Arabic numerals and zero. In The Abacus and the Cross, Nancy Marie Brown skillfully explores the new learning Gerbert brought to Europe. A fascinating narrative of one remarkable math teacher, The Abacus and the Cross will captivate readers of history, science, and religion alike.

Traces the achievements of medieval Pope Sylvester II, revealing his lesser-known role in promoting scientific awareness throughout turn-of-the-first-millennium Catholicism, in a report that includes coverage of his humble origins and introduction of Arabic numerals to Europe.

This book is the first published statement of the fruits of some years' work of a largely philological nature. It presents a new appreciation of the relationship of the languages of the ancient world and the implication of this advance for our understanding of the Bible and of the origins of Christianity.

A breathtaking journey into the hidden history of medieval manuscripts, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to the ornate Psalter of Henry VIII “A delight—immersive, conversational, and intensely visual, full of gorgeous illustrations and shimmering description.” –Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status—part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a London-based government official first and a poet second. Other works by the less influential have narrowly avoided ruin, like the book of illiterate Margery Kempe, found in a country house closet, the cover nibbled on by mice. Scholar Mary Wellesley recounts the amazing origins of these remarkable manuscripts, surfacing the important roles played by women and ordinary people—the grinders, binders, and scribes—in their creation and survival. The Gilded Page is the story of the written word in the manuscript age. Rich and surprising, it shows how the most exquisite objects ever made by human hands came from unexpected places. “Mary Wellesley is a born storyteller and The Gilded Page is as good as historical writing gets. This is a sensational debut by a wonderfully gifted historian.” —Dan Jones, bestselling author of The Plantagenets and The Templars

Less comprehensive and more popularly written than the nine-volume Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan ( LJ 1/84), this single-volume work is nevertheless a valuable reference source. It is extremely current, including entries on such recent topics as the Recruit political scandal and current prime minister Kaifu Toshiki. While the articles in the Kodansha Encyclopedia are written by experts in the field and provide bibliographic references with nearly all of the entries, the present work is authored entirely by Perkins, whom the publisher identifies as ``an educator specializing in Buddhism and Japanese culture,'' and has only a general bibliography at the end. For its more comprehensive treatment, especially of historical topics and traditional culture, the Kodansha remains a standard source, but for its currency and value as a ready reference tool the Perkins volume will be a useful acquisition for most libraries as well. Its single-volume format and lower cost make it an excellent acquisition for smaller libraries.-- Scott Wright, Univ. of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. - Library Journal.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates

Abacus Mind Math Instruction Book Level 1 (for teachers and parents): Goal for Level - 1 Addition - without carryover problems Subtraction - without borrowing problems Topics covered: Basics of abacus How to do mind math How to do dictation 5 exchange concepts explained in detail with examples Skill building activities explained Instruction book includes: Examples for each concept with detailed pictures and steps by step instruction on how to calculate and what to tell your students while teaching. Theory behind the formulas explained in simple terms. Over 380 sample problems for teachers and parents to practice the concepts. These sample problems can be used to introduce your child to the concept with effortless ease. Instruction on how to effectively introduce children to mind math with ways to build the skill. Dictation - a very important aspect of abacus training is explained with useful ideas to achieve. Skill building activities are explained that help you train your child. Common mistakes made by students with ways to help them avoid making these mistakes are outlined. Corresponding practice work for children is given in the two workbooks that are sold separately under the following titles. " Abacus Mind Math Level 1 Workbook 1: Excel at Mind Math with Soroban, a Japanese Abacus Abacus Mind Math Level 1 Workbook 2: Excel at Mind Math with Soroban, a Japanese Abacus " Soroban, the Japanese abacus is a very useful visual tool that helps children 'see' numbers as beads while calculating. Soroban perfectly fits with the base 10 number system used at present and provides a systematic method (formulas) to follow while calculating both on the tool and in the mind. Mastering of this tool will enhance your child's basic math comprehension, speed and accuracy. In general, when children practice mind math, they get a very important sense of achievement that helps raise their confidence as students. You can also see an improvement in their concentration, tenacity, memory power and listening skills.

Empirical evidence for the value of a liberal arts education: how and why it has a lasting impact on success, leadership, altruism, learning, and fulfillment. In ongoing debates over the value of a college education, the role of the liberal arts in higher education has been blamed by some for making college expensive, impractical, and even worthless. Defenders argue that liberal arts education makes society innovative, creative, and civic-minded. But these qualities are hard to quantify, and many critics of higher education call for courses of study to be strictly job-specific. In this groundbreaking book, Richard Detweiler, drawing on interviews with more than 1,000 college graduates aged 25 to 65, offers empirical evidence for the value of a liberal arts education. Detweiler finds that a liberal arts education has a lasting impact on success, leadership, altruism, learning, and fulfillment over a lifetime. Unlike other defenders of a liberal arts education, Detweiler doesn’t rely on philosophical arguments or anecdotes but on data. He developed a series of interview questions related to the content attributes of liberal arts (for example, course assignments and majors), the context attributes (out-of-class interaction with faculty and students, teaching methods, campus life), and the purpose attributes (adult life outcomes). Interview responses show that although both the content of study and the educational context are associated with significant life outcomes, the content of study has less relationship to positive adult life outcomes than the educational context. The implications of this research, Detweiler points out, range from the advantages of broadening areas of study to factors that could influence students’ decisions to attend certain colleges.