Michael McBride

In this groundbreaking book, economist and game theorist Michael McBride presents an innovative answer to this question for the sport of baseball: 'How is individual performance fairly measured when success depends on teamwork' The answer is -- the Fair-Credit Baseball statistics.Drawing on the Nobel Prize-winning Shapley Value from coalitional game theory, McBride creates two revolutionary measures of offensive performance: Shapley Run Credits (SRC) and Offensive Shapley Win Credits (OSWC). Unlike traditional baseball statistics, these new measures satisfy mathematical fairness axioms, making them the fairest measures of individual credit in the sport.McBride combines this theoretical foundation with cutting-edge machine learning to analyse over a century of Major League Baseball data, producing the most accurate measures of offensive performance in baseball history. The result is a sophisticated yet intuitive statistical framework that finally gives players the credit they truly deserve for actual results -- not projected or average performance.Written for academic researchers, sports analysts, and baseball enthusiasts alike, this book successfully bridges complex mathematical theory with practical application. It offers technical rigor for professionals while remaining engaging and accessible for anyone passionate about understanding what really happens on the baseball diamond.

Welcome to the most interesting dinner party you’ve ever attended!Join seven friends for an evening of trivia, myth-busting, and camaraderie. You'll have a front row seat at the party, listening in to the early small talk—where light and fun ideas are discussed (“Did you know astronauts have Velcro on the inside of their helmets to scratch their noses?”)—to the end of the night, when conversations get deeper. (“Did the popularization of drinking coffee lead to modern democracies?”)Packed with over 150 fun facts spanning the topics of ancient civilizations, animal behavior, natural science, outer space, human accomplishments, pop culture, and more, How to Sound Smart at Parties ensures you’ll always have something clever to contribute to the conversation.

Why is religion so widespread? Why do individuals donate large amounts of time, money, and effort to religious groups? What forms does the religious competition take? Why are individuals more religious in some countries than others? What is the future of religion?This book provides a non-technical introduction to how the economic approach answers these and other questions about religion. It defines the economic approach to religion and demonstrates how it is used to study a variety of religious decisions. It explains how religious groups confront credibility, free-rider, and coordination problems that challenge the collective production of religious goods and services. It also examines competition and regulation in religious markets around the world, how religious beliefs and preferences are transmitted and sustained, how religion likely emerged in humankind's distant past, and what the future of religion may hold. The book thus demonstrates how the tools and methods of economics provide fresh insight into a variety of religious behaviors.This book is intended for a wide audience in and out of economics. Though not a textbook per se, its discussion questions and suggested readings at the end of each chapter allow for easy incorporation into the classroom. The mathematics and statistics used by researchers are generally avoided. Both theory and evidence are presented, but the focus is on the ideas that provide a coherent conceptual framework that grounds a deeper exploration of the theoretical and empirical research in the economics of religion.

Why is religion so widespread? Why do individuals donate large amounts of time, money, and effort to religious groups? What forms does the religious competition take? Why are individuals more religious in some countries than others? What is the future of religion?This book provides a non-technical introduction to how the economic approach answers these and other questions about religion. It defines the economic approach to religion and demonstrates how it is used to study a variety of religious decisions. It explains how religious groups confront credibility, free-rider, and coordination problems that challenge the collective production of religious goods and services. It also examines competition and regulation in religious markets around the world, how religious beliefs and preferences are transmitted and sustained, how religion likely emerged in humankind's distant past, and what the future of religion may hold. The book thus demonstrates how the tools and methods of economics provide fresh insight into a variety of religious behaviors.This book is intended for a wide audience in and out of economics. Though not a textbook per se, its discussion questions and suggested readings at the end of each chapter allow for easy incorporation into the classroom. The mathematics and statistics used by researchers are generally avoided. Both theory and evidence are presented, but the focus is on the ideas that provide a coherent conceptual framework that grounds a deeper exploration of the theoretical and empirical research in the economics of religion.

The Soul of Taiji introduces the original practice of taijiquan as taught by Zhang Sanfeng, the original creator, to the outside world for the first time, pristinely preserved and complete. It tells the story of Master Wu Baolin and how he came to learn this Daoist taijiquan from Master Du Xinling at the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing. The practice goes back seven generations, starting with Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of the Wudang branch of the Complete Reality School; it has since continued through Zhang Daishan and other senior lineage holders.Daoist taijiquan adheres to roundness, the circular symbolizing movement and exercise, and the key to opening the mysterious life gate, onto to a better path, each day fulfilled and joyous. Zhang Sanfeng Taijiquan amongst all forms is unique, practicing in only one singular direction, following the rotation of the earth, the direction of the winds, the turning of the stars, and the shapes of the planets. The universe is vast and unknown, but according to Yijing, the universe itself is round. By observing and practicing Daoist taijiquan, the roundness of the universe is then integrated, the self its reflection, becoming one.

#1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR A team of scientists unlocks the secret of the next phase of human evolution in the most unstable geological region on the planet...at the bottom of the sea in the Pacific Ring of Fire. When a massive earthquake rocks Oceania, generating a tsunami that decimates the surrounding islands and sinks the research vessel, a rescue team is dispatched...only to find that the majority of the crew had been slaughtered prior to the ship's foundering. The survivors find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere on an island that's being ripped apart from the inside out, desperately trying to reach the lone settlement on the far side.But they aren't alone.Something is hunting them from the jungle, something borne of the fire at the Earth's core. And their only hope for escape rests in the hands of a man who would sooner let them all die than share the island's secrets. PRAISE FOR MICHAEL McBRIDE"A thrilling adventure Fans of Michael Crichton will love it " - Jeff Strand, Author of Pressure"McBride writes with a rare confidence, and his story will thrill you to your reptilian core " - Tim Lebbon, author of Echo City and Fallen"Michael McBride literally stunned me with his enigmatic talent and kept me hanging on right up until the end." - Midwest Book Review"McBride just keeps getting better " - Hellnotes

#1 Amazon Bestselling AuthorArizona shares nearly four hundred miles of international border with Mexico, thirty-six of which are completely unfortified. On one side lies desperation; on the other, opportunity. Tens of thousands of undocumented aliens pass through these thirty-six miles every year, only to find one of the harshest and most inhospitable deserts on the planet waiting for them. Hundreds die walking, casualties of the merciless sun, their bodies never to be identified. Others simply set out across the red Sonoran sands and vanish into thin air, as though they never existed at all.Special Agent Lukas Walker is assigned to investigate a murder, the only evidence of which is a twenty-foot design painted on a rock formation in the victim's blood. He quickly learns that if the heat doesn't get you...The Coyote will.Includes a free bonus novella: The Calm Before the Swarm.PRAISE FOR MICHAEL McBRIDE"The Coyote is a significant book, and comes highly recommended." - Twilight Ridge"Hillerman fans will love it " - Jeff Strand, Author of Pressure"McBride writes with a rare confidence, and his story will thrill you to your reptilian core " - Tim Lebbon, author of Echo City and Fallen "Michael McBride literally stunned me with his enigmatic talent and kept me hanging on right up until the end." - Midwest Book Review "Get ready for a wild ride With his latest thriller, McBride delivers on all fronts - suspense, action, intrigue, unexpected twists, and a villain who makes Hannibal Lector look like a Boy Scout. Toss in a sweltering Arizona desert and a cast of characters who each have a secret agenda, and you've got The Coyote - one of the best books you'll read this year." - JG Faherty, Bram Stoker-nominated author of Ghosts of Coronado Bay, Cemetery Club, and Carnival of Fear."The Coyote is an engrossing thriller with a fascinating central character. Native-American FBI agent Lukas Walker has a wry, gritty voice that immediately compels readers to follow him on the dark trail of a serial killer. The mystery is intricate and involving, with surprising revelations at the character level, and many tense scenes as Walker digs deeper into the killer's lair. There are effective moments of horror throughout, as we expect from Michael McBride-author of such books as Bloodletting and Burial Ground-but The Coyote is first-and-foremost a detective thriller. This book is sure to earn McBride many new fans-and we'll all be demanding further adventures featuring Lukas Walker." - Norman Prentiss, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Invisible Fences and Four Legs in the Morning"Every time I read a new book from Michael McBride I come away more impressed. He seemingly moves effortlessly between genres, producing chilling horrors, incredibly imaginative science fiction and fantasy, and top notch crime stories. With his newest novel, The Coyote, McBride gives us an edge of your seat nail-biter that is part police procedural and a dark thriller that actually manages to thrill. I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down. I personally think it may be his best effort yet; and that's saying a lot. Trust me on this - The Coyote has bite Highly recommended " - Gord Rollo, Author of The Jigsaw Man and Valley Of The Scarecrow