Robert Langdon is a Harvard professor of symbology who can't stay out of trouble. Last seen in Angels and Demons (2000), this mild-mannered academic finds himself entangled in a deadly conspiracy that stretches back centuries. Visiting Paris on business, he is awakened at 2:00 a.m. by a call from the police: An elderly curator has been murdered inside the Louvre, and a baffling cipher has been found near the body. Aided by the victim's cryptologist granddaughter, Langdon begins a danger-filled quest for the culprit; but the deeper he searches, the more he becomes convinced that long-festering conspiracies hold the answer to the art lover's death.

Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865-69. This panoramic study of early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families--particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs--the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during the war against Napoleon (1805-14). The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy's optimistic belief in the life-asserting pattern of human existence. The heroine, Natasha Rostova, for example, reaches her greatest fulfillment through her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov and her motherhood. The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism.

In Just for Fun, Linus Torvalds, the Finnish creator of the Linux operating system, mixes his personal story, told in both narrative and e-mail dispatches, with the saga of his development of the Linux operating system. Torvalds’ personal account makes the book fascinating. He began as a self-proclaimed nerd who labored to create an operating system in his garage and eventually became the head of the world’s largest open source project. By requiring buyers and licensees to keep the Linux source code open, Torvalds assures the continued technological evolution of his system. The episodic nature of the book makes it choppy, the technical descriptions are hard for the uninitiated to track and co-writer David Diamond’s digressions are revealing about Torvalds’ personal life, but a little disruptive. Even so, we recommend this entertaining, interesting book that may even lead you to consider using Linux on your computer, whether or not you are another self-proclaimed computer nerd.

In this book Don Tapscott tries to answer the one question that burns in the mind of every forward looking executive and manager: what does digital technology mean to me and my business?   Tapscott, using actual examples of leading-edge organizations, shows how digital technology is transforming not only business processes but also the way products and services are created and marketed, the structure and goals of the enterprise, the dynamics of competition, and the rules for business success.

John Brockman delivers a new paradigm for considering our selves and our world - everything that is being altered by the Internet and related technologies.  This communication revolution is being driven by the digerati - those individuals who are leading change in the new technological era. Brockman has interviewed the doers, thinkers, and writers who have tremendous influence on the emerging communication revolution; they are not on the frontier, they are the frontier.  This book presents their views and opinions, not only on the world around them, but on each other as well!

MCSE: Networking Essentials Study Guide is the most efficient, affordable way to prepare for the MCP/MCSE Networking Essentials core exam. Written by MCP and MCSE professionals, this handbook provides a comprehensive introduction to network concepts and their implementation, with practice exercises built into each chapter. 

Goldratt's system, in essence, forces production managers and workers alike to coordinate their work-with an underlying principle in mind: that 'bottlenecks'... are what ultimately constrain the manufacturing environment.  This theory provided a persuasive solution for factories struggling with production delays and low revenues.