We spend a lot of time arguing about how schools might be improved. But we rarely take a step back to ask what we as a society should be looking for from education—what exactly should those who make decisions be trying to achieve? In Educational Goods, two philosophers and two social scientists address this very question. They begin by broadening the language for talking about educational policy: “educational goods” are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that children develop for their own benefit and that of others; “childhood goods” are the valuable experiences and freedoms that make childhood a distinct phase of life. Balancing those, and understanding that not all of them can be measured through traditional methods, is a key first step. From there, they show how to think clearly about how those goods are distributed and propose a method for combining values and evidence to reach decisions. They conclude by showing the method in action, offering detailed accounts of how it might be applied in school finance, accountability, and choice. The result is a reimagining of our decision making about schools, one that will sharpen our thinking on familiar debates and push us toward better outcomes.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

An astronaut named Gary and his planet-destroying sidekick called Mooncake embark on serialized journeys through space in order to unlock the mystery of where the universe actually ends and if it actually does exist. The show started as a short pilot on a YouTube channel owned by Olan Rogers who became popular for his story telling.

On the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before. In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves. Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.

A book that explores the problematic connection between education policy and practice while pointing in the direction of a more fruitful relationship, Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice is a provocative culminating statement from one of America's most insightful education scholars and leaders. Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice takes as its starting point a strikingly blunt question: "With so many major structural changes in U.S. public schools over the past century, why have classroom practices been largely stable, with a modest blending of new and old teaching practices, leaving contemporary classroom lessons familiar to earlier generations of school-goers?" It is a question that ought to be of paramount interest to all who are interested in school reform in the United States. It is also a question that comes naturally to Larry Cuban, whose much-admired books have focused on various aspects of school reform--their promises, wrong turns, partial successes, and troubling failures. In this book, he returns to this territory, but trains his focus on the still baffling fact that policy reforms--no matter how ambitious or determined--have generally had little effect on classroom conduct and practice. Cuban explores this problem from a variety of angles. Several chapters look at how teachers, in responding to major policy initiatives, persistently adopt changes and alter particular routine practices while leaving dominant ways of teaching largely undisturbed. Other chapters contrast recent changes in clinical medical practice with those in classroom teaching, comparing the practical effects of varying medical and education policies. The book's concluding chapter distills important insights from these various explorations, taking us inside the "black box" of the book's title: those workings that have repeatedly transformed dramatic policy initiatives into familiar--and largely unchanged--classroom practices. [Amazon]

Over the past fifty years, the “special status” of education decision-making has been eroded. Once the province of local and state school boards, decisions about schools and schooling have begun to emerge in every level and branch of government. In The End of Exceptionalism in American Education, Jeffrey R. Henig traces the roots of this tectonic shift in school governance. Carefully reasoned, astutely observed, and thoughtfully presented, this volume promises to become a classic work in our understanding of education policy—and an invaluable resource for those seeking to influence its future trajectory.

◎本書榮獲 〈賽亟黎星球情事〉獲小詹姆斯．提普翠獎 〈荒山之道〉獲軌跡獎、小詹姆斯．提普翠獎 〈孤絕至上〉獲星雲獎 〈世界誕生之日〉獲軌跡獎 假如我們有異星同胞，我們會照見怎樣不同的人生？ 「地海」系列、《黑暗的左手》重量級作家 八個思索生命開始與終結、個體與群體、冒險與流浪、愛與恨、性與欲的人生詩篇 打破我們對自身人性想像的侷限，真正進入無限可能的宇宙 在瀚星世界中，人類移民太空已有很長的歷史，許多殖民星球已發展出與祖星瀚星或地球大為不同的社會文化制度，甚至連生理結構也演化出異變。星際聯盟「伊庫盟」致力探索散步宇宙各處的人類移民社會，在學者與使者的努力下，忠實記錄人類文明的種種可能面貌： 在格森星的雙性同體人類社會中，孩子轉大人，首次面對自身生理的巨大變化與勃發的陌生情慾－－那會是什麼樣的成年儀式？ 賽亟黎星社會的性別制度是另一種相當倒反的關係，女男生活嚴格分隔，女性擔起整個社會的運作大任，男性除了各式體能競賽與表演之外，僅有提供性愛與生育的功能。當外星文化終於介入，這層嚴格的分際與規範是否受到衝擊？ 如果一個社會徹底崇尚孤絕、獨立，致力避免以任何形式介入個人生命，會是什麼景況？一位來自瀚星的人類學家母親，帶著一對子女試圖融入這樣的社會，以期進行深入的調查研究，卻沒有想到這個獨特的孤絕文化對她的兒女各自造成什麼影響。這是一種文明退化閉鎖現象，還是性靈發展至極端的一種可能？ 一艘移民太空船已航行宇宙長達五個世代。船上的移民無時無刻不為未來可能的登陸做準備，一切設施、制度、生活方式、教育方向都導向這個目標；然而，不同的聲音慢慢形成。新生代完全在人工環境中成長、學習、生活，「母星」只是種種知識的綜合體或模擬影像。這群人如何選擇、創造自己的未來？心目中的新故鄉、新樂園究竟何在？ 八個異星紀事，帶我們航向宇宙最深處，也讓我們在離家最遠的地方返回最真實、最多樣的自我。 美國科奇幻代表作家娥蘇拉．勒瑰恩，充分運用科幻類型的無限想像特性，將人類社會型態發展的諸多可能，充分地演繹表達在這八個雋永的故事之中。勒瑰恩最擅長的乃以擬人類學田野觀察筆記與記錄側寫，將想像虛構的社會文化風貌，及其底下的現實人性問題，深刻地呈現出來，且毫無斧鑿痕跡，即便說教也說得趣味與餘韻十足。可以說，勒瑰恩從《黑暗的左手》與《地海巫師》開始至今所想要藉由文學去挖掘、思索、探討的諸多複雜議題，本書中的八個故事不僅是文字風格還是形式結構上，都堪稱典範。 「勒瑰恩的作品總是帶領我們超越對性別認知的尋常侷限，這部小說集也不例外。」 －－《紐約客》雜誌 「她是少數幾位能成功從科幻類型作家一躍成為重要作家的人。」 －－華盛頓郵報 「她筆下的人物性格豐富令人難忘，她的文筆更是以優雅不失強勁而著稱。」 －－時代雜誌 「勒瑰恩是位極為睿智且機智的作家，高明的說書人，幽默與力道堪比馬克吐溫。」 －－波士頓環球報 「再一次，勒瑰恩力道十足的作品證明：科幻小說不必然是逃避現實的東西，性別研究不一定都是尖澀刺耳的聲音，娛樂也不盡然是無腦的內容。」 －－洋蔥雜誌 「一道純粹的星光。」 －－科克斯評論 「勒瑰恩在本書所完成的，只能以「美」來形容。她探索了種種關係：我們可能對彼此感到陌生，甚至有如外星異客，但仍相愛。讀著讀著我甚至不知不覺流下淚來，我只知道我深深受到感動。」 －－牙買加裔加拿大科幻小說家、《午夜盜賊》作者／娜洛．霍普金森 「這是最偉大的科幻小說大師所寫的八篇睿智美妙的故事所集結而成的小說集，優美，深刻，令人著迷。」 －－美國科幻小說名家／羅伯．席維柏格

Child abuse, incest, child molestation, Halloween sadism, child pornography: although clearly not new problems, they have attracted more attention than ever before. "Threatened Children "asks why. Joel Best analyzes the rhetorical tools used by child advocates when making claims aimed at raising public anxiety and examines the media's role in transmitting reformers' claims and the public's response to the frightening statistics, compelling examples, and expanding definitions it confronts. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from criminal justice records to news stories, from urban legends to public opinion surveys, Best reveals how the cultural construction of social problems evolves.

This powerful and disturbing book clearly links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities. </p> American Apartheid shows how the black ghetto was created by whites during the first half of the twentieth century in order to isolate growing urban black populations. It goes on to show that, despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, segregation is perpetuated today through an interlocking set of individual actions, institutional practices, and governmental policies. In some urban areas the degree of black segregation is so intense and occurs in so many dimensions simultaneously that it amounts to "hypersegregation." </p> The authors demonstrate that this systematic segregation of African Americans leads inexorably to the creation of underclass communities during periods of economic downturn. Under conditions of extreme segregation, any increase in the overall rate of black poverty yields a marked increase in the geographic concentration of indigence and the deterioration of social and economic conditions in black communities. As ghetto residents adapt to this increasingly harsh environment under a climate of racial isolation, they evolve attitudes, behaviors, and practices that further marginalize their neighborhoods and undermine their chances of success in mainstream American society. This book is a sober challenge to those who argue that race is of declining significance in the United States today. </p>

The explosion of space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, and the death of the seven astronauts aboard had a major impact on American culture, with many people still vividly remembering exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the tragedy. Journalists and investigators have historically cited production problems and managerial wrong-doing as the reasons behind the disaster. The Presidential Commission uncovered a flawed decision-making process at the space agency as well, citing a well-documented history of problems with the O-ring and a dramatic last-minute protest by engineers over the Solid Rocket Boosters as evidence of managerial neglect. Why did NASA managers, who not only had all the information prior to the launch but also were warned against it, decide to proceed? In retelling how the decision unfolded through the eyes of the managers and the engineers, this book uncovers an incremental descent into poor judgment, supported by a culture of high-risk technology. The author reveals how and why NASA insiders, when repeatedly faced with evidence that something was wrong, normalized the deviance so that it became acceptable to them. No safety rules were broken. No single individual was at fault. Instead, the cause of the disaster stemmed from the banality of organizational life. This work explains why the Challenger tragedy must be re-examined and seeks to offer a warning about the hidden hazards of living in this technological age.

故事的起始點是1491年的第四十四個白晝。 他們所生育的子嗣當中，每個人的身後都附帶一塊黑暗。只要是在白晝，無論走到何處，這方黑暗總是亦步亦隨。 「為何黑暗尾隨在我的孩子們身後？」 他愛侶這麼說：「因為他們出生於肉身之屋，於是死亡追隨於他們足跡之下。他們處於時間之中。在太初洪荒，唯有太陽與冰永存，沒有陰影。直到最後，吾人全都死亡之時，太陽會吞噬自身，陰影吞噬光。到那時，除了冰與黑暗永續，別無其它。」 星際聯盟使者真力．艾隻身來到終年嚴寒的冬星， 自此踏入同體雙性的異文化世界。 他獨自置身陌生文明，卻捲入詭譎的政治衝突。 面對奇特的生理性別差異和複雜的社交文化，在信任與背叛之間， 他該如何穿越內心的冰原？

A moving, cross-national account of working mothers' daily lives--and the revolution in public policy and culture needed to improve them The work-family conflict that mothers experience today is a national crisis. Women struggle to balance breadwinning with the bulk of parenting, and stress is constant. Social policies don't help. Of all Western industrialized countries, the United States ranks dead last for supportive work-family policies: No federal paid parental leave. The highest gender wage gap. No minimum standard for vacation and sick days. The highest maternal and child poverty rates. Can American women look to European policies for solutions? Making Motherhood Work draws on interviews that sociologist Caitlyn Collins conducted over five years with 135 middle-class working mothers in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the United States. She explores how women navigate work and family given the different policy supports available in each country. Taking readers into women's homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, Collins shows that mothers' desires and expectations depend heavily on context. In Sweden--renowned for its gender-equal policies--mothers assume they will receive support from their partners, employers, and the government. In the former East Germany, with its history of mandated employment, mothers don't feel conflicted about working, but some curtail their work hours and ambitions. Mothers in western Germany and Italy, where maternalist values are strong, are stigmatized for pursuing careers. Meanwhile, American working mothers stand apart for their guilt and worry. Policies alone, Collins discovers, cannot solve women's struggles. Easing them will require a deeper understanding of cultural beliefs about gender equality, employment, and motherhood. With women held to unrealistic standards in all four countries, the best solutions demand that we redefine motherhood, work, and family. Making Motherhood Work vividly demonstrates that women need not accept their work-family conflict as inevitable. "Collins, a sociology professor, draws on interviews with working mothers in four different countries in this evenhanded, discerning exploration of work-family balance. Organizing her research by country, Collins finds that balance requires a harmonious confluence of workplace accommodations, government policies, and supportive cultural attitude. . . . Collins suggests that policies must be passed in packages, rather than piecemeal--for example, making sure that daycare is available for children at the age when parental leave ends--to be most useful. This study, whose comparative approach illuminates how cultural norms affect policies and economic results, is intelligent, thought-provoking, and clarifying."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Making Motherhood Work is destined to become a classic. Caitlyn Collins conducted in-depth interviews with 135 employed, middle-class mothers in the United States and in three European countries. She finds that mothers face conflict between their work and family responsibilities in all four countries, even gender-egalitarian Sweden. Collins points to European policies that could positively impact mothers and families in the United States. Yet she notes the pervasive influence of cultural expectations of mothers that are coercive and unattainable. All four countries need a cultural redefinition of motherhood that describes and honors what is possible."--Mary Blair-Loy, author of Competing Devotions: Career and Family among Executive Women "Comparing women in Europe and the United States and how they combine work and motherhood, Making Motherhood Work is the first cross-cultural investigation of what it feels like to live within different cultural and policy worlds. Mothers (and fathers)--even future ones--need to read this fascinating, thought-provoking, and illuminating book."--Allison J. Pugh, author of The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity "Through insightful interviews with employed mothers living in diverse national contexts, Caitlyn Collins demonstrates clearly and convincingly that our growing caregiving crisis stems from unjust social arrangements, not irresponsible individuals. The breadth and depth of Making Motherhood Work make it a unique and invaluable contribution that calls for nothing less than a worldwide movement for work-family justice."--Kathleen Gerson, author of The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family "This ambitious and beautifully written book considers how women manage work and family in varying contexts. Carrying out wide-scale interviews in multiple settings and countries, Making Motherhood Work shows how differences in work-family policies lead to differences in the challenges that women face. An impressive contribution."--Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"This is a book about Chicago. It is also, and for that very reason, a book about every other American city which has lived long enough and grown large enough to experience the transformation of neighborhoods and the contact of cultures and the tension between different types of individual and community behavior. . . . Here is a type of sociological investigation which is equally marked by human interest and scientific method."--"Christian Century"

在我们抵达以前，火星是一片空白。 地球纪元2026年。一支由各行业精英组成的百人探险队离开地球，登陆火星。这里曾是一个伟大的标记，一个浩瀚的象征，一个让人俯首的力量。但如今，它只是一块荒芜的土地。 移民区陆续建起，连接地球与火星的太空电梯逐渐成型，人们蜂拥而至，在火星轨道上架起反射镜，挖掘深入地幔的超深井，想把这孤寂的星球改造得适合地球人类居住。 与此同时，一个主张维持火星原貌的组织在隐秘地活动，而旨在开发火星矿产谋求私利的跨国企业则肆无忌惮地运营。 终于，一场持续了两个火星年之久的沙暴之后，太空电梯倒塌了……火山爆发，冰川消融，火星陷入红色的汪洋。

一份沒有繼承人的億萬遺產 一個無所不能的神奇空間 橫跨虛擬與真實　超越愛情與友誼的終極夢想 失去雙親、寄居在刻薄姨媽家的韋德，唯一能感受溫暖的地方就是「綠洲」：人類在「綠洲」選擇分身，追求真實世界不受認可的身分。「綠洲」是韋德唯一的「逃生艙」，那是他的避難所，也是他的遊樂場。 「綠洲」創辦人哈勒代逝世後，留下了沒有指定繼承人的財產：他在綠洲裡藏了程式彩蛋，只要找到彩蛋，就能獨得2億4千萬美金。一向討厭現實生活、覺得電玩人生比較好過的韋德，從哈勒代的遺囑看到了希望：他能擁有不一樣的生活！對哈勒代愛好的電玩、電影、遊戲無所不知的韋德，有機會解答他設下的重重謎題！ 韋德從此把尋找彩蛋當成生活的重心，殊不知，成為「尋蛋客」的那一天起，他也捲入了橫跨虛擬與真實正邪之爭。在一連串充滿驚奇與鬥智的財產爭奪戰裡，朋友可能是敵人、愛人就是對手，韋德是最終的贏家嗎？一場攸關生死、情感糾葛的冒險旅程即將開始……

With growing numbers of mothers in the work force, industrialized societies are turning increasingly to preschools to educate, nurture, and socialize young children. This book presents a unique comparison of Japanese, Chinese, and American preschools and discusses how these schools both reflect and affect philosophies of child-rearing and early-childhood education and larger social patterns and beliefs in each society. “This book should be required reading for professionals in early education and makes thought-provoking reading for anyone aware of his or her own cultural blinkers.”—Penelope Leach, New York Times Book Review “As in the best ethnographic research—and surely this qualifies for that accolade—the study raises a number of hypotheses about the impact of educational experiences on children… This is a rich book, filled with data, insights, and speculation. The authors are careful to buttress their speculations with extensive references to the scholarly work of others as well as to their own. This reviewer was impressed by their success at bringing this scholarship to bear on their own findings and by their ability to clarify the interplay of culture and schooling in so interesting a fashion.”—Nicholas Anastasiow, Educational Researcher “[An] important study. …Tobin et al have some strong and thought-provoking evidence that demonstrates that preschools may be at the front line of conserving social structures and values… A must read for those who take social issues seriously.”—Carole C. Kemmerer, Los Angeles Times A 55-minute companion videotape is also available that shows a typical day in a preschool in each country and presents evaluations by Japanese, Chinese, and American teachers of their own and each other’s schools.