What do the pyramids of Egypt really represent? What could have driven so many to so great, and often so dangerous, an effort? Was the motivation religious or practical? Illustrated with more than 300 photographs and drawings, this book presents an original approach to the subject of pyramid building. It reveals the connection between devices that served both a practical need for survival and a spiritual belief in gods and goddesses. It examines Egyptian technologies and techniques from the origins of pyramid development to the step-by-step details of how the ground was leveled, how the site was oriented, and how the stone was raised and placed to meet at a distant point in the sky. Here the author also asks and answers questions virtually ignored for the last century. He discloses, for example, the ancient use of shadows, now denigrated to the ornamental back-yard sundial, but once an important tool for telling the height of an object, geographical directions, the seasons of the year, and the time of day. He also reinterprets the ancient "stretching of the cord" ceremony, which once was thought to have only religious significance but here is shown as the means of establishing the sides of a pyramid.

From Essence bestselling novelist Eric Pete comes the compelling story of four people who are summoned back to a small southern town for their 10-year high school reunion. Trayce, an internet entrepreneur, has moved on - or so she thinks. Janet, the former head cheerleader and homecoming queen, fell from grace following graduation. Karim, the handsome and successful New York music video director whose name is on everyone's lips, wasn't always like this. And Solomon, who never moved away from his Southern hometown, knows everybody's secrets.

ColourSpectrums is an exciting leading edge personality styles model presented to groups worldwide in an entertaining, interactive workshop format. Now you too can learn how to use four colours to easily understand personality styles and human dynamics. This engaging process reveals your personality as a unique spectrum of: BLUE emotional intelligence, GREEN intellectual intelligence, RED physical intelligence and YELLOW organizational intelligence. Yup! You are more intelligent than you "think." Discover and celebrate your bright colour strengths. Acknowledge and strengthen your pale colour challenges. ColourSpectrums will help you use all four colours to make more intelligent decisions. Quickly identify anyone's ColourSpectrums personality to communicate and interact more effectively. Immediately enhance your personal effectiveness and improve all personal and professional relationships. ColourSpectrums synthesizes the complex body of work on personality styles into one seamless developmental model with profound implications and practical applications for interpersonal communication, group dynamics, family dynamics, parenting styles, teaching and learning styles, management styles, human resources, career counselling, customer service, decision making, stress management, conflict resolution, human development and much, much more. "So brilliantly simple, it's simply brilliant!" "Profoundly insightful a-ha learning. "Entertaining ha-ha learning." "Hands-on practical and user friendly." "A universal language celebrating diversity." In this ground-breaking series: ColourSpectrums Personality Styles Book 1: The Introduction ColourSpectrums Personality Styles Book 2: Stress Management and Conflict Resolution ColourSpectrums Personality Styles Book 3: Brightening Pale Colours

Alexandra Keegan's world is falling apart when the truth is revealed about her father and mother.

The Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius declared firmitas, utilitas, and venustas-firmness, commodity, and delight- to be the three essential attributes of architecture. These qualities are brilliantly explored in this book, which uniquely comprises both a detailed survey of Western architecture, including Pre-Columbian America, and an introduction to architecture from the Middle East, India, Russia, China, and Japan. The text encourages readers to examine closely the pragmatic, innovative, and aesthetic attributes of buildings, and to imagine how these would have been praised or criticized by contemporary observers. Artistic, economic, environmental, political, social, and technological contexts are discussed so as to determine the extent to which buildings met the needs of clients, society at large, and future generations.

Tsunamis, hurricanes, global warming: more than ever, children want to investigate the forces that affect Earth--and learn how to protect our planet. And this engrossing collection offers a world of information and exciting activities. Through experimentation, young scientists will really understand how plants give off oxygen and why life couldn’t exist without them. They’ll build a seismograph; filter water; and find out how mountains are formed with the help of some clay and newspaper. Plus, they’ll discover earth-friendly ways to save and reuse old clothes, toys, and other household materials.

When our ancestors gazed upon the skies thousands of years ago they looked up into the center of Creation and saw a mighty Dragon, a great celestial serpent with wings circling ceaselessly above them, night after night, century after century. When the Dragon Wore the Crown is a ground breaking book that covers a period of over six thousand years, focusing on what astrologers would call the Ages of Gemini, Taurus and Aries and taking us through the period of classical astronomy with the Greeks and Romans (approx. 7000 BC-200 AD). When the Dragon Wore the Crown opens and closes with the Chinese mythological tradition and touches on Sumerian, Babylonian, Phoenician, Hindu, Norse, Native American and even Mayan myths, weaving together many of their celestial serpentine similarities. It focuses primarily on the role of the constellation Draco, the astronomical marker of the North Celestial Pole for literally thousands of years. The importance of this simple astronomical observation helped facilitate the study of the calendar, navigation, farming and social organization. The circuit of the seasons was marked by this cadence with the moving center guarding the position of the zodiacal circle for literally thousands of years. The secret of the circle was hidden in its center. The one had to be determined before the other. If the true center was not accurately observed and determined, the entire circle was off. This is a beautiful and informative book of discovery, following the mythology of various cultures as it evolved into modern astronomy.

Struggling to find his place in a new town after tragedy intersects with his once peaceful existence, Daniel must navigate friendship, obsession and finding himself before an interaction changes his life forever.

Step into Wednesday's World of Darkness, where demons offer forbidden magic and Wednesday barter for and then survive the Demon's price. Brace yourself for a chilling tale of survival. Wednesday uses all her wits and magic in a fight for survival. For the price of forbidden knowledge is greater than ever imagined. When Wednesday gambles her life to seize the darkest secrets from the Bizarre of Shadows.

Essay by Richard Benson.