According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), there was a steady increase of fish catches until the middle of the 1990s when the catch began to level off (Fig. 1.1). Recent work by Watson and Pauly (2001) has shown that in reality the total marine catch of fish has been declining by some 10% a year since 1988. The apparent continued increase until the mid1990s was du…
In 1850, an epidemic swept America—but instead of leaving victims sick with fever or flu, this epidemic involved a rabid craze for the music of Swedish soprano Jenny Lind. American showman P. T. Barnum (who would later go on to found the circus now known as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey), a shrewd marketer and self-made millionaire, is credited with spreading “Lindomania” through a s…
In the mid-1950s I had been puzzled that no comprehensive biographical dictionary was available in paperback and I determined to fill the gap. I wrote to Penguin Books in London/ Harmondsworth and received a thoughtful and encouraging letter from A. S. B. Glover, a classical scholar and editor. The two generally available major biographical dictionaries, Chambers’s and Webster’s, both had s…
Pilihan atas sistem pemilu adalah salah satu keputusan kelembagaan paling penting bagi demokrasi di mana pun. Dalam hampir semua kasus pilihan atas sistem pemilu tertentu memiliki pengaruh mendalam bagi masa depan kehidupan politik di negara bersangkutan, dan sistem politik, begitu sudah dipilih, sering kali tetap sangat konstan seiring berbagai kepentingan politik mengukuhkan diri di seputar d…
The ninja were the secret agents and assassins of feudal Japan and they remain a subject of enduring fascination. They first arose during the power struggles of 9th and 10th century Japan - where they catered for an increasing demand for spies, informants and assassins - and were used until the mid-1600s when, due to a campaign to destroy them, disappeared.