Bøker av Peter Atkins

Life is short. You can, if you work hard and are lucky, get more of almost anything, but you can't get more time. Time only goes one way. The average American has a lifespan of less than 30,000 days. So how you choose to live matters. That's the topic of this book. I don't pretend to have all the answers. I'm still learning every day, and many of the good ideas here I've picked up from other people either directly or by reading. But this is what's worked for me. Like life, this book is short. Many books I read could communicate their ideas in fewer pages. So I've tried to be brief in line with the wise person who noted: "If I'd had more time I would have written a shorter letter". I don't think brevity implies lack of content. The concepts here have improved the quality of my life, and I hope they're useful to you as well. Using these concepts, I have created a life I love. My job doesn't feel like work. I love and respect the people with whom I spend time. And I'm also passionate about my life outside work. I've learned how to create a balance that makes me happy between work and other interests, including my family, friends and exercise. Sadly I think that's rare. And yet, while I know I'm lucky, most people can work towards those goals in their own lives. My interest in making the most of my life began when I was just starting college, but when I was in my mid-thirties a boss I admired died of cancer. He was young. He had a great wife; he had three young children; he had a fantastic career -- he had everything in life. He just didn't have enough time. So, while I'd often thought about how to get the most out of life, the death of someone so young and vital increased my sense of urgency to act on it. One of the things I've always wanted to do was to work for myself. As a result, I left an exciting job at Microsoft in 2001 amidst the Internet bust to found the investing firm I now run. It was hard to do, both financially and emotionally. When I left Microsoft, many people - friends, family, and even some of the press - thought I was deluding myself to start a fund focused on Internet-related companies during a market crash. A press quote from the time said: "Call him a little crazy. Call him a little nuts." I'd never seen that type of coverage before. And, in a sense, the press was right; the business wasn't easy to start. Fortunately, from a vantage point of ten years down the road, it's worked out quite well. A key part of my job is reading and thinking about a broad variety of topics. So writing this book was relatively easy. It's even easier to read. But, like many things in life, actually executing each day on these concepts is extremely difficult. With thanks to Thomas Edison, life is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Even so, I hope you have fun perspiring.Peter AtkinsSeattle, WADecember, 2010

Completely revised and updated for a second edition, this reference guide is an essential summary of the key concepts in physical chemistry that are likely to be encountered by undergraduate chemistry students. This book also serves as a useful reference for all who encounter physical chemical concepts in their professional activities or research.

Written for calculus-inclusive general chemistry courses, Chemical Principles helps students develop chemical insight by showing the connections between fundamental chemical ideas and their applications.

As a food, milk has been revered and ignored, respected and feared. In the face of its 'material resistance', attempts were made to purify it of dirt and disease, and to standardize its fat content. This title tells the history of the struggle to bring milk under control, and, as a result, to redraw the boundaries between nature and society.

Through an innovative combination of image and text, Peter Atkins explains the processes involved in chemical reactions. He introduces the 'tool kit' of basic reactions, such as precipitation, corrosion, and catalysis, and shows how these building blocks are brought together in more complex processes such as photosynthesis.

In this short book Peter Atkins considers the universal questions to which religions have claimed answers. With economy, wit, and elegance, unswerving before awkward realities, Atkins presents what science has to say. While acknowledging the comfort some find in belief, he declares his own faith in science's capacity to reveal the deepest truths.

Provides an introduction to the interaction of culture and society with the landscape and environment. This book offers a view of this theme by drawing upon the varied traditions of landscape interpretation. It addresses factors such as environmental change and population pressure. It also discusses the evolution of the humanised landscape.

The author suggests that in learning to understand our preferred pattern of spirituality we not only deepen our understanding of the gospels but also increase our sensitivity to the approaches of others.