Gathering and Discerning Information in the 21st Century
Celebrating over 16 years on the web.
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“Each of us believes himself to live directly within the world that surrounds him, to sense its objects and events precisely, and to live in real and current time. I assert these are perceptual illusions. Sensation is an abstraction, not a replication of the real world.” Vernon Mountcastle

Quote from YouTube Video: Kavli Prize Laureate Lecture – The Restless Brain

The Professional Speaking Guide

Book Publishers:

In British Columbia

Visit British Columbia Book Publishers. They  List All BC-owned book publishers are small or medium-sized businesses, individually-owned and operated and located in communities across the province. http://www.books.bc.ca/members/

The Small Press Center for Independent Publishing is a nonprofit cultural and educational institution dedicated to promoting interaction between the public and small independent book publishers. www.smallpress.org The center provides and extensive list of publishers http://www.smallpress.org/members/members.htm

 

Book Sellers:
Book sellers consist of independent book stores in which there are thousands, big box retailers like Chapters and Indigo in Canada and Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million in the US which hold about 30% of market share and the Online retail market which Amazon leads the way.

According to the Department of Canadian Heritage, by early 2000, there were 4,298 independent bookstores in Canada. There are, however, some wide variations in the criteria used for counting bookstores in Canada.61 These stores were open for business alongside 70 Chapters superstores, 261 “traditional” stores in the Chapters chain, 14 Indigo superstores, and 25 stores in the Renaud-Bray chain in Quebec. These stores were also in competition with campus bookstores, book clubs and non-traditional book retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, and large regional grocery chains.

According to a 1994 study prepared for the creation of Chapters, in 1991, 54% of book buying took place in bookstores, 16% from book clubs, 8% in second-hand bookstores, 4% each from mail order, supermarkets and drug stores.

The sale of books on the Internet is booming; last year, Internet sales represented about 2% of sales in Canada (about 4.5% in the U.S.), but sales are growing rapidly and some experts forecast that the Internet may eventually represent 20% of book sales.

 

Book Retailers US:
Barnes & Noble

http://www.bn.com or http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com

Borders/Waldenbooks

http://www.borders.com

Books-A-Million

http://www.booksamillion.com (American Wholesale Book Company)

Hudson News Company

Follett Higher Education Group

http://www.fheg.follett.com

Chapters Book Stores

http://www.chapters.ca

Indigos

http://www.indigo.ca

Renaud-Bray

Science-fact-theory-hypothesis

Definitions key to discussions:

  • Fact: A fact is a statement that is true and can be proved with evidence.
  • Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon that can be tested by the scientific method. A hypothesis has not been tested.
  • Theory: Scientific theories are distinguished from hypotheses, which are empirically testable conjectures, and from scientific laws, which are descriptive accounts of how nature behaves under certain conditions. Theories have been rigorously tested and widely accepted by the scientific community who agree the theory best explains the observations or phenomenon we experience.
  • Scientific Method: The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
  • Empirical Evidence: Empirical evidence is the knowledge received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and experimentation.
  • Reality: Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
  • Delusion: A delusion is a belief that is held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.
  • Insanity: Insanity, craziness, or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns.