The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Antoine Lavoisier who wrote the first modern chemistry textbook Humphry Davy who discovered ‘laughing gas’ Charles Darwin who changed people’s ideas with his theory of evolution Gregor Mendel who first discovered the science of genetics Louis Pasteur who saved millions of lives by killing germs Francis Crick who helped to discover the structure of DNA BRITISH ENGLISH Word count: 13,021 Headword count: 1,064 Each book includes a free CD with a full recording of each story. PLUS: visit www.collinselt.com/readers for videos, teacher resources and self-study materials. This book is Level 3 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level 3 is equivalent to CEF level B1. About the Amazing People series: A unique opportunity for learners of English to read about the exceptional lives and incredible abilities of some of the most insightful people the world has seen. Each book contains six short stories, told by the characters themselves, as if in their own words. The stories explain the most significant parts of each character’s life, giving an insight into how they came to be such an important historic figure. After each story, a timeline presents the most major events in their life in a clear and succinct fashion. The timeline is ideal for checking comprehension or as a basis for project work or further research. Created in association with The Amazing People Club. About Collins ELT Readers: Collins ELT Readers are divided into four levels: Level 1 - elementary (A2) Level 2 - pre-intermediate (A2–B1) Level 3 - intermediate (B1) Level 4 - upper intermediate (B2) Each level is carefully graded to ensure that the learner both enjoys and benefits from their reading experience.

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE MANNY comes a vibrant novel of love, life lessons and learning to trust yourself Allie Crawford has the life she always dreamed of – a career at a high-profile PR firm; two kids she adores; and a husband, Wade, who is everything she thought a man was supposed to be. But when Allie finds Wade locked in their laundry room with a stunning blonde in snakeskin heels, a scandal ensues that flips her life on its head. And she starts to think maybe she's fallen in love not with Wade himself – but with the idea of him. Captivating and seductive, told in a whip-smart voice, The Idea of Him is a novel of conspiracy, intrigue, and intense passion – and discovering your greatest strength through your deepest fears.

Millions of people around the world have experienced contact from the other side. In this inspiring and uplifting short story leading expert Jacky Newcomb shares some of the stories she’s received about contact and life after death. When a loved one is taken away suddenly, people often tell Jacky of their regrets about not having the opportunity to say goodbye. Yet people all over the world have stories of loved ones who come back to say Hello or Goodbye from heaven. They appear in dreams, visions, meditation and sometimes when we’re wide awake. Those who are lucky enough to experience it consider it a gift they will remember for the rest of their lives. Here for the first time Jacky will share these extraordinary stories along with the amazing and bizarre reasons for why our loved ones visit.

In our deepest darkest hours, we are not alone. The spirits of our loved ones continue to exist after the body dies and many thousands of people around the world have experienced extraordinary signs from heaven to prove this. Afterlife expert and bestselling author Jacky Newcomb knows that the spirit world is real. In this short story she shares some of the thousands of tales she has heard about messages from the other side. ?The spontaneous angel gift that gave a woman courage to leave an abusive relationship ?The mysterious disappearing doctor who saved a pregnant woman and her premature baby son ?The grandma and great grandma who protected their grandson, from heaven Ordinary people from all over the world have experienced signs that their angels are listening and supporting them in their time of need. In Messages from Angels, Jacky will bring hope and comfort and share some of the little signs that can bring magic into your life.

Have you ever wondered where we go when we cross through the light at the end of the tunnel? Or what – and who – is waiting for us on the other side? Angel expert Jacky Newcomb brings light where there was darkness with more unique and incredible true stories from the world beyond the veil. Through the miraculous accounts of those brought back from the brink of death, and the astonishing stories of those who’ve experienced visits from loved ones who’ve passed on, Jacky shares with us the glimpses of heaven we could only imagine until now – and the life changing effects they have had on those lucky enough to experience them. Beautifully told and compelling in nature, “Touching Heaven” is as beguiling as it is revealing.

Bestselling author Charlie Connelly returns with a First World War memoir of his great uncle, Edward Connelly, who was an ordinary boy sent to fight in a war the likes of which the world had never seen. But this is not just his story; it is the story of all the young forgotten soldiers who fought and bravely died for their country The Forgotten Soldier tells the story of Private Edward Connelly, aged 19, killed in the First World War a week before the Armistice and immediately forgotten, even, it seems, by his own family. Edward died on exactly the same day, and as part of the same military offensive, as Wilfred Owen. They died only a few miles apart and yet there cannot be a bigger contrast between their legacies. Edward had been born into poverty in west London on the eve of the twentieth century, had a job washing railway carriages, was con*ed into the army at the age of eighteen and sent to the Western Front from where he would never return. He lies buried miles from home in a small military cemetery on the outskirts of an obscure town close to the French border in western Belgium. No-one has ever visited him. Like thousands of other young boys, Edward’s life and death were forgotten. By delving into and uncovering letters, poems and war diaries to reconstruct his great uncle’s brief life and needless death; Charlie fills in the blanks of Edward’s life with the experiences of similar young men giving a voice to the voiceless. Edward Connelly’s tragic story comes to represent all the young men who went off to the Great War and never came home. This is a book about the unsung heroes, the ordinary men who did their duty with utmost courage, and who deserve to be remembered.

Jack Higgins, the undisputed master of action and suspense is back with a brand new adventure featuring the unstoppable Sean Dillon. For intelligence operative Sean Dillon, it is a routine passport check. But the events it will lead to will be as bloody as any he has ever known. The man he stops at Heathrow airport is Caspar Rashid, born and bred in England, but with family ties to a Bedouin tribe fiercely wedded to the old ways, as Rashid has just found out to his pain. His thirteen-year-old daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped by Rashid's own father and taken to Iraq to be married to a man known as the Hammer of God, one of the Middle East's most feared terrorists. Dillon has had his own run-ins with the tribe, and when the distraught man begs him for help, he sees a chance to settle some old scores – but Dillon has no idea of the terrible chain of events he is about to unleash, nor of the implacable enemies he is about to gain. Before his journey is done, many men will die – and Dillon may be one of them.

The electrifying WWII bestseller from the master of the game. On the 30th April 1945, Russian radar reported a light aircraft leaving the vicinity of the Tiergarten in Berlin. But who was on board, and where was the plane going? Berlin was in ruins as the Russians moved relentlessly towards the concrete bunker where the Nazi adminstration was in ruins. But one man, Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Adolf Hitler’s secretary and eminence grise had a daring plan to escape. Far away to the sout–west , at Schloss Arlberg above the River Inn, five prisoners of war were contemplating their fate. Would they be murdered by their captors or liberated by the Russians? Unbeknown to them Bormann has is own plans. They are about to become part of a mystery that has fascinated the world for over sixty years. What exactly did happen to Bormann and his prisoners?

An atmospheric new Fry and Cooper thriller for fans of Peter Robinson and Reginald Hill A May Bank Holiday in the Peak District is ruined by the tragic drowning of an eight-year-old girl in picturesque Dovedale. For Detective Constable Ben Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, the incident is not only traumatic, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the Neilds, the dead girl's family. As he gets to know them, Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harbouring a secret - a secret that the whole family might be willing to cover up. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry has a journey of her own to make - a journey back to her roots. As she finds herself drawn into an investigation of her own among the inner-city streets of Birmingham, Fry realises there is only one person she can rely on to provide the help she needs. But that man is Ben Cooper, and he's back in Derbyshire, where his suspicions are leading him towards a shocking discovery on the banks of another Peak District river.

Bones where there should be none and a chilling warning of an imminent killing challenge Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry in their sixth novel. "This death will be a model of perfection. The details will be precise, the conception immaculate, the execution flawless…" When a caller taunts the police with talk of a 'dead place' and the threat of an imminent killing, most think it's a sick hoax. But Detective Diane Fry is sure there's a murderer at work. And when the voice calmly invites them to meet the 'flesh eater', Fry fears it may be too late. Meanwhile, her colleague DC Ben Cooper is investigating Derbyshire's first case of body snatching, entering the macabre world of those whose lives revolve around the deceased and their disposal. But does an obsession with death make for a killer? And what horrors will greet them when they finally find the dead place?

Walmart's OneOps is an open source DevOps platform that is used for cloud and application lifecycle management. It can manage critical and complex application workload on any multi cloud-based infrastructure and revolutionizes the way administrators, developers, and engineers develop and launch new products. This practical book focuses on real-life cases and hands-on scenarios to develop, launch, and test your applications faster, so you can implement the DevOps process using OneOps. You will be exposed to the fundamental aspects of OneOps starting with installing, deploying, and configuring OneOps in a test environment, which will also come in handy later for development and debugging. You will also learn about design and architecture, and work through steps to perform enterprise level deployment. You will understand the initial setup of OneOps such as creating organization, teams, and access management. Finally, you will be taught how to configure, repair, scale, and extend applications across various cloud platforms. What you will learn ?See how to install OneOps ?Configure OneOps including creating and configuring organization and teams ?Work through practical deployment scenarios ?Maintain OneOps environments including backups and logs ?Build custom components for OneOps ?Extend OneOps by calling the REST API

C++ has come a long way and is now adopted in several contexts. Its key strengths are its software infrastructure and resource-constrained applications, including desktop applications, servers, and performance-critical applications, not to forget its importance in game programming. Despite its strengths in these areas, beginners usually tend to shy away from learning the language because of its steep learning curve. The main mission of this book is to make you familiar and comfortable with C++. You will finish the book not only being able to write your own code, but more importantly, you will be able to read other projects. It is only by being able to read others' code that you will progress from a beginner to an advanced programmer. This book is the first step in that progression. The first task is to familiarize you with the structure of C++ projects so you will know how to start reading a project. Next, you will be able to identify the main structures in the language, functions, and classes, and feel confident being able to identify the execution flow through the code. You will then become aware of the facilities of the standard library and be able to determine whether you need to write a routine yourself, or use an existing routine in the standard library. Throughout the book, there is a big emphasis on memory and pointers. You will understand memory usage, allocation, and

C# has recently been open-sourced and C# 7 comes with a host of new features for building powerful, cross-platform applications. This book will be your solution to some common programming problems that you come across with C# and will also help you get started with .NET Core 1.1. Through a recipe-based approach, this book will help you overcome common programming challenges and get your applications ready to face the modern world. We start by running you through new features in C# 7, such as tuples, pattern matching, and so on, giving you hands-on experience with them. Moving forward, you will work with generics and the OOP features in C#. You will then move on to more advanced topics, such as reactive extensions, Regex, code analyzers, and asynchronous programming. This book will also cover new, cross-platform .NET Core 1.1 features and teach you how to utilize .NET Core on macOS. Then, we will explore microservices as well as serverless computing and how these benefit modern developers. Finally, you will learn what you can do with Visual Studio 2017 to put mobile application development across multiple platforms within the reach of any developer. What you will learn ?Writing better and less code to achieve the same result as in previous versions of C# ?Working with analyzers in Visual Studio ?Working with files, streams, and serialization ?Writing high-performant code

This book gets you started with essential software development easily and quickly, guiding you through Java's different facets. By adopting this approach, you can bridge the gap between learning and doing immediately. You will learn the new features of Java 9 quickly and experience a simple and powerful approach to software development. You will be able to use the Java runtime tools, understand the Java environment, and create Java programs. We then cover more simple examples to build your foundation before diving to some complex data structure problems that will solidify your Java 9 skills. With a special focus on modularity and HTTP 2.0, this book will guide you to get employed as a top notch Java developer. By the end of the book, you will have a firm foundation to continue your journey towards becoming a professional Java developer. What you will learn ?Compile, package and run a trivial program using a build management tool ?Get to know the principles of test-driven development and dependency management ?Separate the wiring of multiple modules from the application logic into an application using dependency injection ?Benchmark Java execution using Java 9 microbenchmarking ?See the workings of the Spring framework

Cisco Unified Computer System (UCS) is a powerful solution for modern data centers and is responsible for increasing efficiency and reducing costs. This hands-on guide will take you through deployment in Cisco UCS. Using real-world examples of configuring and deploying Cisco UCS components, we'll prepare you for the practical deployments of Cisco UCS data center solutions. If you want to develop and enhance your hands-on skills with Cisco UCS solutions, this book is certainly for you. We start by showing you the Cisco UCS equipment options, then introduce Cisco UCS Emulator so you can learn and practice deploying Cisco UCS components. We'll also introduce you to all the areas of UCS solutions through practical configuration examples. Moving on, you'll explore the Cisco UCS Manager, which is the centralized management interface for Cisco UCS. Once you get to know UCS Manager, you'll dive deeper into configuring LAN, SAN, identity pools, resource pools, and service profiles for the servers. You'll also get hands-on with administration topics including backup, restore, user's roles, and high availability cluster configuration. Finally, you will learn about virtualized networking, third-party integration tools, and testing failure scenarios. By the end of this book, you'll know everything you need to know to rapidly grow Cisco UCS deployments in the real world. What you will learn ?Set up your Lab using Cisco UCS Emulator ?Configure Cisco UCS, LAN, and SAN connectivity ?Create and manage Service profiles ?Perform various tasks using UCS ?Back up and restore Cisco UCS configuration ?Test various Cisco UCS scenarios

Over 150 recipes to help you administer your PostgreSQL database more efficiently About This Book ?Get to grips with the capabilities of PostgreSQL 9.6 to administer your database more efficiently ?Monitor, tune, secure and protect your database ?A step-by-step, recipe-based guide to help you tackle any problem in PostgreSQL administration with ease Who This Book Is For This book is for system administrators, database administrators, data architects, developers, and anyone with an interest in planning for, or running, live production databases. This book is most suited to those who have some technical experience. What You Will Learn ?Implement PostgreSQL features for performance and reliability ?Harness the power of the latest PostgreSQL 9.6 features ?Manage open source PostgreSQL versions 9.5 and 9.6 on various platforms ?Discover advanced technical tips for experienced users ?Explore best practices for planning and designing live databases ?Select and implement robust backup and recovery techniques ?Explore concise and clear guidance on replication and high availability ?See the latest details on Logical Replication and Bi-Directional Replication In Detail PostgreSQL is a powerful opensource database management system; now recognized as the expert's choice for a wide range of applications, it has an enviable reputation for performance and stability. PostgreSQL provides an integrated feature set comprising relational database features, object-relational, text search, Geographical Info Systems, analytical tools for big data and

Gain a deep understanding of the complexity of data structures and algorithms and discover the right way to write more efficient code About This Book ?This book provides complete coverage of reactive and functional data structures ?Based on the latest version of Java 9, this book illustrates the impact of new features on data structures ?Gain exposure to important concepts such as Big-O Notation and Dynamic Programming Who This Book Is For This book is for Java developers who want to learn about data structures and algorithms. Basic knowledge of Java is assumed. What You Will Learn ?Understand the fundamentals of algorithms, data structures, and measurement of complexity ?Find out what general purpose data structures are, including arrays, linked lists, double ended linked lists, and circular lists ?Get a grasp on the basics of abstract data types―stack, queue, and double ended queue ?See how to use recursive functions and immutability while understanding and in terms of recursion ?Handle reactive programming and its related data structures ?Use binary search, sorting, and efficient sorting―quicksort and merge sort ?Work with the important concept of trees and list all nodes of the tree, traversal of tree, search trees, and balanced search trees ?Apply advanced general purpose data structures, priority queue-based sorting, and random access immutable linked lists ?Gain a better understanding of the concept of graphs, directed and undirected graphs, undirected trees, and much more In Detail Java

Practical Computer Vision Projects About This Book ?Updated for OpenCV 3, this book covers new features that will help you unlock the full potential of OpenCV 3 ?Written by a team of 7 experts, each chapter explores a new aspect of OpenCV to help you make amazing computer-vision aware applications ?Project-based approach with each chapter being a complete tutorial, showing you how to apply OpenCV to solve complete problems Who This Book Is For This book is for those who have a basic knowledge of OpenCV and are competent C++ programmers. You need to have an understanding of some of the more theoretical/mathematical concepts, as we move quite quickly throughout the book. What You Will Learn ?Execute basic image processing operations and cartoonify an image ?Build an OpenCV project natively with Raspberry Pi and cross-compile it for Raspberry Pi.text ?Extend the natural feature tracking algorithm to support the tracking of multiple image targets on a video ?Use OpenCV 3's new 3D visualization framework to illustrate the 3D scene geometry ?Create an application for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) using a support vector machine and Artificial Neural Networks ?Train and predict pattern-recognition algorithms to decide whether an image is a number plate ?Use POSIT for the six degrees of freedom head pose ?Train a face recognition database using deep learning and recognize faces from that database In Detail As we become more capable of handling data in every kind, we are becoming more reliant on visual input and what

"Key Features?Start developing immersive and interactive apps for Microsoft HoloLens ?Explore the Windows Universal Development platform for HoloLens development ?Leverage the full set of HoloLens sensors to create mesmerizing apps"

"About This Book ?Discover the secret to building highly portable apps that run on any machine with Windows Server 2016 anywhere, from laptops, desktop servers, and public or private clouds, without any changes to the code ?Build your company cost-effective, container-based apps that support large-scale, virtual cloud environments ?The most up-to-date help on the market, offering developers expert guidance in building and shipping high-quality apps, and also helping admins create infrastructure that's simple to maintain Who This Book Is For This book is for application developers with a basic programming knowledge of C#, ASP.NET, and PowerShell. IT Administrators or DevOps engineers with basic PowerShell experience can benefit by extending their learning to use PowerShell to manage containers on Windows environments and use additional management tools. What You Will Learn ?Build and deploy ASP.NET web applications as Windows Containers on Windows 10 (Desktop) and Azure using Visual Studio 2015, Docker, and PowerShell ?Build and manage custom images using Windows Server Core base OS image and Docker CLI, publish images to Docker, tag images, author Docker files, and so on ?Create enterprise-scale, production-grade container environments using Redis Cache containers and SQL Server containers with storage volumes, set up custom container networks, continuous integration, and deployment pipelines using VSTS, Azure, and Git ?Deploy a composite container environment using Docker Compose on Windows ?Learn to build applications using Microsoft's thinnest server platform - Nano Servers. Build custom Nano Server images and Nano Containers using Windows PowerShell and "

"Create real-time hybrid applications with the leader of HTML5 frameworks: Ionic Framework About This Book ?Step into the world of amazingly interactive and real-time app development using Ionic 2 ?Leverage the powerful Angular 2 along with Ionic to develop cutting edge apps ?Detailed code examples and explanations will help you get up and running with Ionic quickly and easily Who This Book Is For This book is for JavaScript developers with basic skills. No previous knowledge of Ionic is required for this book. What You Will Learn ?Understanding the world of the mobile hybrid architecture ?Scaffolding and working with Ionic templates ?Transforming a single page app to a multi-page app using Navigation Controller ?Integrating Ionic components, decorators, and services and rapidly developing complex applications ?Theming Ionic apps as well as customizing components using SCSS ?Working with Ionic Native to interface with device features, such as camera, notifications, and battery ?Building a production grade app using Ionic and Uber API to let users book a ride ?Migrating an Ionic 1 app to Ionic 2 or Ionic 3 ?Performing unit testing, end-to-end testing, and device testing on your apps ?Deploying Ionic apps to store and manage their subsequent releases In Detail Ionic makes it incredibly easy to build beautiful and interactive mobile apps using HTML5, SCSS, and Angular. Ionic also makes app development easier, faster, and more fun. This hands-on guide will help you understand the Ionic framework and how you can leverage it to create amazing real-time applications. We begin by covering the essential features of Angular 2, and then dive straight into how Ionic fits in today's world of hybrid app development and give you a better understanding of the mobile hybrid architecture along the way. Further on, you will learn how to work with Ionic decorators, services, and components, which will allow you to build complex apps using the Ionic framework. We will take a look at theming Ionic apps using the built-in SCSS setup. After that, we will explore Ionic Native, and you will learn how to integrate device-specific features, such as notifications, with the Ionic app. To complete our learning, we will be building a Rider app, using Ionic and Uber API, to book a ride. Next, you will learn how to unit test, end-to-end test, monkey test, and execute device testing on AWS Device farm. Then, we will take a look at migrating the existing Ionic 1 apps to Ionic 2 and deploy them to the App Store. The final chapter on Ionic 3 wraps up this book by explaining the new features of Ionic 3 at the time of writing this book. By the end of this book, you will be able to develop, deploy, and manage hybrid mobile applications built with Cordova, Ionic, and Angular. All the examples in this book are valid for both Ionic 2 and Ionic 3. Style and approach A step-by-step, practical approach to learning Ionic using the example of designing an online course app. Each topic is explained sequentially in the process of creating a course. This includes explanations of both basic and advanced features of Ionic. "