Word: formulaic
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...what linked the brilliant young nationalist of the Principia Mathematica (who with his teacher Whitehead and his student Wittgenstein redirected modern philosophy away from German idealism) to the political and sexual provocateur of later years: "All his life he sought perfection: perfect mathematical truth, perfect philosophical clarity, a perfect formula for society, and a perfect woman to live with in a perfect human relationship...
...Peasant Formula. Russian tales in the oral tradition have a distinctive diction, which is here brilliantly rendered by the translator, Norbert Guterman. This involves such conventions as repetition and introductory and concluding flourishes. The traditional "and they lived happily ever after" may be replaced by the more homely peasant formula, "They celebrated their wedding, and are still alive to this very day and chewing bread." Many stories end with a hint by the storyteller that he is hungry and thirsty after his labors. "There's a tale for you and a crock of butter...
Fluor's formula for success starts with a strong tradition of meeting tight construction schedules-a big attraction because a month's delay on a $100 million project can easily cost the builder $1.5 million. The firm also makes a habit of training local workers to build and run completed facilities, a practice that has been much appreciated by the governments of Greece, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea. Partly for these reasons, Iran recently favored Fluor with a contract to build 65% of a $750 million refinery near Isfahan...
...Napoleon focuses on one of the most complex and ideologically riven epochs in history. Unfortunately, it is a period that fits awkwardly into the Durants' Procrustean formula. Merely to introduce Bonaparte into destiny's pages requires a recapitulation of the entire French Revolution. The Durants compress that cataclysm to 152 pages-an entertaining but misshapen account. The causes of the infamous Terror are summed up in a brief section, leaving the reader reeling under a scattershot assault of dates and statistics. The guillotine devours French leaders at such a bewildering pace that the list of names often reads...
...Traub is convinced that Bloomingdale's has found the formula for winning customers and boosting sales, even during times of economic uncertainty?and not only in the New York area. In the next two years Bloomingdale's will open two stores near Washington, D.C., its first major geographic expansion. But its influence is already felt coast-to-coast. Says an executive of one department-store chain at the other end of the continent from Bloomingdale's, "What is happening there will be happening in Middle America six months to a year from now." Considering Bloomingdale's aggressiveness, he might...