Why Everyone Should Read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s New Book

Science is intimidating. Despite the fact that we live our lives constantly interacting with and relying on technology and the science that forms the foundation of our modern lives, the vast majority of people regard science as a discipline and general body of knowledge that is beyond their ability to understand, control, or use. Not everyone was born to be a scientist, of course, and we all have areas that interest us more (or less) and in which we demonstrate more (or less) aptitude. That makes it easy to imagine that science is both unnecessary for our daily lives as well as impenetrable — after all, a subject like astrophysics doesnt seem like something youre going to need for the Monday morning scrum meeting, and it also seems like an unimaginably vast subject that relies on math far more than most people are prepared for. And those things are both true — if you are discussing necessity and mastery. But theres a middle ground between being, say, Neil deGrasse Tyson and simply being curious about the universe we exist in. The fact is, a book like Astrophysics for People in a Hurry offers more than dry, stiff scientific knowledge — and there are plenty of reasons everyone should read it. Perspective There’s a reason that the stars have fascinated us for pretty much the entirety of human existence. No matter what your philosophy, religion, or political slant, the stars and planets in the night sky represent obvious proof that we are just a small part of a much, much larger whole — and that means the possibilities are endless. Is there life out there? Other habitable planets? Will it all end in a â€Å"Big Crunch† or Heat Death or will it go on forever? You may not realize it, but every time you look up at the night sky — or check your horoscope  Ã¢â‚¬â€ these questions flash through some level of your consciousness. That can be disturbing, because those questions are huge, and we don’t have a lot of answers for them. What Tyson aims to accomplish with this short book is to give you an anchor of knowledge to demystify the universe a little. That kind of perspective is crucial, because those huge, universal-scale questions also inform and affect our small-scale interactions and decisions here on Earth. The more you know about how the universe works, the less susceptible to fake news, fake science, and scaremongering you’ll be. Knowledge, after all, is power. Entertainment That being said, Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the most accomplished and charming writers and speakers in our modern world. If you’ve ever seen him interviewed or read any of his articles, you know that the man knows how to write. He manages to make these complicated scientific concepts not only seem comprehensible, but downright entertaining. He’s just that guy you enjoy listening to, and his writing style often evokes the chummy sense that you’re sitting down and having drinks with him as he talks about his day at work. The writing in Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is peppered with anecdotes about famous scientists, interesting little asides about a whole range of things, and plain old jokes. It’s one of those books that will fuel your cocktail party chatter for months to come as you dole out some of the fascinating facts you glean from its pages. Format If you’re still feeling intimidated by the word astrophysics, relax. The chapters in this book were originally separate essays and articles Tyson has published over the years, which means the book comes at you in bite-size, easily digestible chunks — and there’s no test at the end. This is the sort of science book you can read in easygoing bits and pieces, because Tyson’s goal isn’t to turn you into a scientist overnight. His goal is to leave you familiar with the fundamentals. The chapters aren’t overly long, and there’s no math. Let’s repeat that: There is no math. There’s also no jargon or scary scientist lingo — Tyson knows who his intended audience is, and he writes in a chatty, open style. Jargon is designed to close off a conversation to only people in the know, and Tyson avoids it like the plague, opting instead for a vocabulary that everyone, no matter their personal scientific background, will be comfortable with. The end result? No, you won’t be a Ph.D. in astrophysics when you finish the book, but you will have a clear understanding of the forces that control our universe. Knowledge is power, and this is some of the most important knowledge you can learn. Bottom line: This is a fun, fascinating, and informative book that requires no prep work to read, and might just leave you smarter than when you came in. There’s no reason not to read it.

Everyday Use By Alice Walker - 923 Words

In the words of Karl Marx, the founding father of Marxism, Marxism principally believes that â€Å"the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.† In essence, Marx asserts that every day is a tale of conflict between society’s upper and lower class. While controversial in the real world, this notion is not far-fetched in the realm of literature. For example, Alice Walker’s short story â€Å"Everyday Use† shows prominent signs of tension between classes. When examined from a Marxist perspective, Walker’s characters in â€Å"Everyday Use† highlight how each class values items and how survival needs and societal expectations differ among classes. To clarify, Walker’s narrative focuses on two classes of people: one lower and one higher. In general, Mama and Maggie represent a class that only appreciates practicality, whereas Dee and Hakim-a-barber represent a class that places more value on artistic interest. For example, when Mama asks Dee why she would rather be called Wangero, she explains that â€Å"[she] couldn t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress [her], (Walker). In effect, Dee’s new and dramatically different name exemplifies how serious she is about defining her identity with her new culture as opposed to remaining in the same culture as her Mama. In other words, Dee has taken the sole purpose of having a name, identity, and added a symbolism to it of her defiance. In another instance, when Dee sees her family’s butter churn, herShow MoreRelatedEveryday Use By Alice Walker852 Words   |  4 Pagescomes or belongs to one by reason of birth. In â€Å"Everyday Use†, by Alice Walker, the theme of the story can be considered as the meaning of heritage or even the power of education. Alice Walker uses many symbols and motifs such as the following: quilts, education, knowledge, Asalamalakim, and the renaming of Dee. In the story, African heritage and knowledge takes a major role. The African heritage plays a major role in the story, â€Å"Everyday Use†. Alice Walker emphasizes the meaning of heritage by havingRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1372 Words   |  6 PagesEverday Use† research paper In â€Å"everyday Use,† Alice Walker tells a narrative of a mother’s frustrating relationship together with her two daughters. At this facet, â€Å",Everyday Use†, tells that how a mom little by little refuses the cursory values of her older, successful daughter at the aspect of the useful values of her younger, much less lucky daughter. On a deeper outlook, Alice Walker takes on the theme of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans. Everday Use, is set insideRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1102 Words   |  5 Pagespoem â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers† can be read similar to Alice Walker s short story Everyday Use† both are compared by the women’s ways of showing their strengths and how they identify their values, expressions and strength. Advertised in the general outlines of the plot, both literary themes talks of a quest for freedom, the characters identity and self-expression. Adrienne Rich â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers† Alice Walker â€Å"Everyday Use† Comparison Paper Analyzing the two types of literatureRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1372 Words   |  6 Pagessociety as a whole, but more specifically in the African American Community. Alice Walker gives slight insight into   what being forced   to assimilate is like. She says in her short story Everyday Use: She will stand hopelessly in corners homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe. Statements such as these are a regular occurrence in her works. Walker often speaks on the ever so disheartening topic of cultural assimilation and theRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker996 Words   |  4 PagesIn the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, the author describes different ideas about one’s heritage. Culture and heritage is at the main point of the story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker as symbolized by the quilt. The bond that Mother and Maggie share is brought by their common talent to make works of art like quilts. Dee does not have similar capacity because she does not appreciate manual labor nor believes in her heritage. The idea of pride in culture, heritage, and family is the mainRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1721 Words   |  7 PagesIn her short story â€Å"Everyday Use,† Alice Walker summarizes the representation of the beauty, the conflicts and struggles within African-American culture. â€Å"Everyday Use† focuses mainly between members of the Johnson family, consisting of a mother and her two daughters. One of the daughters Maggie, who was injured in a house fire and has living a shy life clinging to her mother for security. Her older sister is Dee, who grew up with a grace and natural beauty. â€Å"Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicerRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1111 Words   |  5 Pagestheir culture. Alice Walker highlights and distinguishes the dissimilarities and clichà © of country African American women with the actualities that make up their lives. Characterized by short, compound sentences, with long adjectives and use of literary elements, her style is eloquent conversational and authentic. Alice Walker’s short story, Everyday Use is stylistic, ironic and narrates profound interpretation of unique views and approaches to African-American culture. Walker’s use of characterizationRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1735 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker and â€Å"Brownies† by ZZ Packer are two different short stories with different lessons but both talk about the topic of race. Both stories talks about the time in the 20th century when slavery just ended but racism are still active between African Americans and Caucasians. Walker described a story about a single African American mother who is waiting for her daughter to arrive from college. Packer described a story about these African American fourth graders who are inRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1655 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"everyday Use,† Alice Walker tells a narrative of a mother’s frustrating relationship together with her two daughters. At this facet, â€Å",Everyday Use†, tells that how a mom little by little refuses the cursory values of her older, successful daughter at the aspect of the useful values of her younger, much less lucky daughter. On a deeper outlook, Alice Walker takes on the theme of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans. Everday Use, is set inside the late ,60s or mid ,70sRead MoreEveryday Use By Alice Walker1447 Words   |  6 PagesAbout â€Å"Everyday Use† The conflict in the story is centered around the clash between the two worlds with which Walker s character Dee is endued. Dee increasingly accuses her heritage of the ideas and rhetoric of the new Black Pride movement. Walker weaves the theme of African cultural nationalism with a descriptive conflict immersed in family issues. On another level, Alice Walker offers a unique look at the struggling African-American woman to find both a personality and voice from the shadows of

Relationship Marketing Strategy and Plan

Question: Discuss about the Relationship Marketing Strategy and Plan. Answer: Introduction The Ark Clothing Co. is mainly into womens clothing business (Theark.com.au 2017). They introduce the clothes based on the seasons as well as they divide the clothes based on the types of clothes like travel (See appendix 3). One of the brands of the Ark Clothing Co. is Nikel and Sole is mainly inspired by the love for the materials that are used to manufacture the clothes. Some of the material that fall under Nikel and Sole are brushed metal, refined yarns, soft washed leather and natural fibers. They not only think of giving the cutting edge products to the customers but also respect the traditional craftsmen. The mission of the organization is that they should not forget the culture and the community while making the business. They believe that design of the clothes should reflect integrity. There are seventy staffs working for the company. They have one store in South Australia and four stores in Victoria. They have a strong online presence and supply wholesale products to eighty retailers nationally. Macro environment analysis The environmental force that might affect the business of The Ark Clothing Co. can be presented with the help of the PESTLE analysis Political The government of Australia is supportive towards virtuous kinds of business that is carried out in Australia. The free trade agreement is one such initiative by the government to increase the amount of business in Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2016). Economic Even though the income of the customers in Australia is at rise, they are not spending much in the clothing industry (Heritage.org 2016). Hence, it might be difficult for the Ark Clothing Co. to makes its presence felt in the market (Hollensen 2015) . Social The Australians are trendy and the income level of the customers is high. However, they do not like spend much in clothing. Hence, the company has to use certain tactics that will help attracting the customers (Kotler et al. 2015). Along with the womens clothing, the mens style and clothing has also become famous. Technological Technological aspects of the country will be helpful for the company as the online sale is on the rise (Lusch and Vargo 2014). Customers are preferring to buy things online (See appendix 1) Legal The company needs to adhere to the Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993(Cth) and Industrial Relations Act 1988(Cth)while working in the market of Australia (Ilo.org 2017). Environmental The social trend of Australia is inclined towards the use of eco-friendly products (See appendix 2). Hence, if the Ark Clothing Co. is able to implement such kinds of trends in the men clothing they will be able to draw more customers (Menon et al. 2015). Microenvironment analysis As compared to other industries is Australia, the fashion industry has not been able to create an impact in the Australian economy. There are not many international fashion brands in Australia. Only two international brands are present in the market of Australia and they are Billabong and Rip Curl. The clothing industry has faced challenges over the years mainly because of cautious spending from the part of the consumers. In addition to this, intense competition and the higher rents that limit the range of revenue that could be earned by the fashion retailers. It has been expected that the industry revenue will grow at a rate of 3.9% in the coming five years starting from 2016-2017 (Ibisworld.com.au 2017). The growth will mainly take place due to the sudden rise in the online sales and the shift of the retailers who have brick and mortar shops to the online sales. Data shows that there is a labor force of 12.2 million and domestic market value of the fashion industry of Australia is 28.5 billion (Au.fashionunited.com 2017). The annual retail sales of Australia are 21 billion and around 37,000 staffs are employed in the textile, footwear, clothing and leather industries. Thus, it can be said that the market of Australia will bring mixed opportunities for The Ark Clothing Co. on one hand, the clothing industry of Australia has gone through a number of challenges. On the other hand, it has been predicted that the industry will see a significant amount of growth. SWOT analysis Based on the situation analysis of the Ark Clothing Co. the SWOT analysis will be helpful to the get an idea about the key strength and the weakness of the company and the threats and the opportunities that will be faced by the organization. Strength The strength of the organization is that they will get proper support from the government if there is any need for funds and other types of help (Sheth and Sisodia 2015). The sudden rise in the technology will be helpful for the company, the customers are more inclined to online buying and the if they are able to promote the mens clothing online then it will helpful for the company (Shani and Chalasani 2013). Weakness The customers are nowadays cautious about their spending and hence, it will be difficult to attract the customers towards them (Hollensen 2015). Opportunities The environmental concerns are one of the main concerns of the country right now. It will act as an opportunity to the Ark Clothing Co. to design their new clothing line that will be eco-friendly and would not cause any harm to the nature. Threat A number of competitors are present in the market and as the customers are not willing to spend much hence, the competition will more intense among the present companies (Kotler et al. 2015). There are two international clothing companies present in the market of Australia. The presence of international brands might attract the customers more and they might prefer the international brands to the domestic brands (Lusch and Vargo 2014). The threat of other industries will prevent the Ark Clothing Co. from gaining the desired revenues (Menon et al. 2015). The hospitality and the tourism industry gain a huge amount of customers (See Appendix 4). Hence, the clothing industry will be at loss, due to the shift in interest among the people. The problem The clothing industry faces challenge in the market of Australia. To enhance their business, the Ark Clothing Co. has introduced the mens clothing section. The problem that the company will face is attracting the customers towards the new clothing line in a time when the customers are not attracted to the clothes. While launching the mens clothing line, the company should keep in mind the mission of the company. As the mission of the company is to combine design and integrity hence, the corporate objective will be to introduce the new line with the same mission in mind. Thus, launching the new clothing line will not solve the issue due to the tough competition in the market. Hence, it can be said that either they have to introduce a design that will new to the market or use a different manufacturing technique that will help the customers to understand the uniqueness of the clothing line. The situation analysis will be helpful for the Ark Clothing Co. to understand the factors that sh ould be incorporated to solve the problems. Ansoffs Matrix in problem solving As per the Ansoffs matrix, the Ark Clothing Co. should think of expanding the business by either by bringing changes in the area of operations or by changing the product. Australia is not the proper market that is helpful for the clothing industry, hence, it is necessary to bring changes in the business so that the company is able to gain good amount of revenue from the market (Shani and Chalasani 2013). Other than changing the manufacturing process or the product, the company cans also bring changes in the marketing styles so that they are able to attract more customers in future (Hollensen 2015). Conclusion: Even though Australia is a developed country, yet the customers are not ready to spend on clothing and apparels. The Ark Clothing Co. is a mid-sized company and it can be concluded that even if it is having a strong economy, they do not have proper customers. The Ansoffs matrix will be helpful in understanding the future alternatives that the company will take. Moreover, based in the Ansoffs matrix, recommendations will be provided to the company. As per Ansoffs Matrix, it can be recommended that the company have to take good amount of risk to make their presence felt in the market. They are introducing a new type of product in the market; however, they should use eco-friendly products to manufacture new products in the market. They can highlight the type of materials they are using to attract the customers. The people in Australia are keen to use environment-friendly products. As there are a number of competitors in the market, the only way to attract the customers is to promote the use of the materials that will be used to manufacture the products. References Au.fashionunited.com, 2017.Fashion industry statistics Australia. [online] Au.fashionunited.com. Available at: https://au.fashionunited.com/fashion-industry-statistics-australia [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2016.Free Trade Agreements. [online] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Available at: https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/pages/trade-agreements.aspx [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Heritage.org, 2016.Australia Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. [online] Heritage.org. Available at: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/australia [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Hollensen, S., 2015.Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Ibisworld.com.au, 2017.Clothing Retailing in Australia Market Research | IBISWorld. [online] Ibisworld.com.au. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/clothing-retailing.html [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Ilo.org, 2017.National Labour Law Profile: Australia. [online] Ilo.org. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/ifpdial/information-resources/national-labour-law-profiles/WCMS_158892/lang--en/index.htm [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L. and Armstrong, G., 2015.Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU. Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., 2014.The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Routledge. Menon, A., Bharadwaj, S.G., Adidam, P.T. and Edison, S.W., 2015. Effective Marketing Strategy-Making: Antecedents and Consequences. InProceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference(pp. 224-224). Springer International Publishing. Shani, D. and Chalasani, S., 2013. Exploiting niches using relationship marketing.Journal of Services Marketing. Sheth, J.N. and Sisodia, R.S., 2015.Does marketing need reform?: Fresh perspectives on the future. Routledge. Suriyaarachchi, R. 2014. HOW GREEN ARE AUSTRALIANS?. [Blog]Green Australia Pacific Blog. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/green-australians/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Theark.com.au, 2017.The Ark Clothing Co.. [online] Theark.com.au. Available at: https://www.theark.com.au/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Tourism Research Australia, 2016.TOURISM INVESTMENT PIPELINE REACHES $59.8 BILLION. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.tra.gov.au/documents/media-releases/MR_TIM_2016_FINAL_19JULY16.pdf [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017]. Zrim, L. 2016.Information Is Crucial For Online Australian Shoppers. [online] Nielsen.com. Available at: https://www.nielsen.com/au/en/insights/news/2016/information-is-crucial-for-online-australian-shoppers.html [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017].