Author: Richard Lyman Bushman File Type: pdf Beginning with a handful of members in 1830, the church that Joseph Smith founded has grown into a world-wide organization with over 12 million adherents, playing prominent roles in politics, sports, entertainment, and business. Yet they are an oddity. They are considered wholesome, conservative, and friendly on one hand, and clannish, weird, and self-righteous on the other. Mormonism A Very Short Introduction explains who Mormons are what they believe and how they live their lives. Written by Richard Lyman Bushman, an eminent historian and practicing Mormon, this compact, informative volume ranges from the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the contentious issues of contemporary Mormonism. Bushman argues that Joseph Smith still serves as the Mormons Moses. Their everyday religious lives are still rooted in his conceptions of true Christianity. They seek revelation to solve lifes problems just as he did. They believe the authority to seal families together for eternity was restored through him. They understand their lives as part of a spiritual journey that started in a council in heaven before the world began just as he taught. Bushmans account also describes the tensions and sorrows of Mormon life. How are Mormons to hold on to their children in a world of declining moral standards and rampant disbelief? How do rational, educated Mormons stand up to criticisms of their faith? How do single Mormons fare in a church that emphasizes family life? The book also examines polygamy, the various Mormon scriptures, and the renegade fundamentalists who tarnish the LDS image when in fact theyre not members. In a time when Mormons such as Mitt Romney and Harry Reid are playing prominent roles in American society, this engaging introduction enables readers to judge for themselves how Mormon teachings shape the character of believers. About the Series Oxfords Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable. ** Beginning with a handful of members in 1830, the church that Joseph Smith founded has grown into a world-wide organization with over 12 million adherents, playing prominent roles in politics, sports, entertainment, and business. Yet they are an oddity. They are considered wholesome, conservative, and friendly on one hand, and clannish, weird, and self-righteous on the other. Mormonism A Very Short Introduction explains who Mormons are what they believe and how they live their lives. Written by Richard Lyman Bushman, an eminent historian and practicing Mormon, this compact, informative volume ranges from the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the contentious issues of contemporary Mormonism. Bushman argues that Joseph Smith still serves as the Mormons Moses. Their everyday religious lives are still rooted in his conceptions of true Christianity. They seek revelation to solve lifes problems just as he did. They believe the authority to seal families together for eternity was restored through him. They understand their lives as part of a spiritual journey that started in a council in heaven before the world began just as he taught. Bushmans account also describes the tensions and sorrows of Mormon life. How are Mormons to hold on to their children in a world of declining moral standards and rampant disbelief? How do rational, educated Mormons stand up to criticisms of their faith? How do single Mormons fare in a church that emphasizes family life? The book also examines polygamy, the various Mormon scriptures, and the renegade fundamentalists who tarnish the LDS image when in fact theyre not members. In a time when Mormons such as Mitt Romney and Harry Reid are playing prominent roles in American society, this engaging introduction enables readers to judge for themselves how Mormon teachings shape the character of believers. About the Series Oxfords Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.**

Author: Liming Zhu File Type: epub The First Complete Guide to DevOps for Software ArchitectsDevOps promises to accelerate the release of new software features and improve monitoring of systems in production, but its crucial implications for software architects and architecture are often ignored.In *DevOps A Software Architects Perspective, * three leading architects address these issues head-on. The authors review decisions software architects must make in order to achieve DevOps goals and clarify how other DevOps participants are likely to impact the architects work. They also provide the organizational, technical, and operational context needed to deploy DevOps more efficiently, and review DevOps impact on each development phase. The authors address cross-cutting concerns that link multiple functions, offering practical insights into compliance, performance, reliability, repeatability, and security.This guide demonstrates the authors ideas in action with three real-world case studies datacenter replication for business continuity, management of a continuous deployment pipeline, and migration to a microservice architecture.Comprehensive coverage includes Why DevOps can require major changes in both system architecture and IT roles How virtualization and the cloud can enable DevOps practices Integrating operations and its service lifecycle into DevOps Designing new systems to work well with DevOps practices Integrating DevOps with agile methods and TDD Handling failure detection, upgrade planning, and other key issues Managing consistency issues arising from DevOps independent deployment models Integrating security controls, roles, and audits into DevOps Preparing a business plan for DevOps adoption, rollout, and measurement(SEI Series in Software Engineering)

Author: Michael Rank File Type: epub From the #1 bestselling author of Historys Greatest Generals comes an exciting new paperback book on the greatest explorers in history and how their discoveries shaped the modern world Whether it is Rabban Bar Sauma, the 13th-century Chinese monk commissioned by the Mongols to travel West form a military alliance against the Islam Marco Polo, who opened a window to the East for Europe or Captain James Cook, whose maritime voyages of discovery created the global economy of the 21st century, each of these explorers had an indelible impact on the modern world. This book will look at the 11 greatest explorers in history. Some travelled for religious piety, such as Ibn Battuta, who travelled from North Africa to Indonesia in the 1300s, visiting every Islamic pilgrimage site between -- and becoming counselor to over 30 heads of state. Others travelled for profit, such as Ferdinand Magellan, who wanted to consolidate Spains holdings on the spice trade. Still others travelled for discovery, such as Ernest Shackleton, who led two dozen men to the bottom of the world in an attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. Whatever their reason for discovery, these explorers still inspire us today to push the limits of human achievement -- and discover something about ourselves in the process. **

Author: T. G. Rosenthal File Type: pdf On Art and Artists is a collection of critical essays by T.G. Rosenthal, chosen by the author from his considerable output over more than fifty years of writing and reviewing, focus mainly on what has come to be known as Modern British art from the 20th century. Rosenthal knew many of his subjects personally and some became friends Michael Ayrton Arthur Boyd Ivon Hitchens Thelma Hulbert L. S. Lowry Sidney Nolan Paula Rego. There are also essays on Wyndham Lewis, Jack B. Yeats and the paintings of AugustStrindberg. There is a profile of Walter and Eva Neurath, founders of the art-book publishers Thames & Hudson, the author s first employers an essay on antisemitism in England and an obituary of Matthew Hodgart, who at Cambridge, influenced and developed Rosenthal s knowledge and passion for literature.