After surviving the fifth century fall of the Western European Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire flourished as one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe for a thousand years. In this Very Short Introduction Peter Sarris introduces the reader to the unique fusion of Roman political culture, Greek intellectual tradition and Christian faith that took place in t…
Written in simple and accessible language, this nontechnical introduction to cosmology, or the creation and development of the universe, explains the discipline, covers its history, details the latest developments, and explains what is known, what is believed, and what is purely speculative. In addition, the author discusses the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern is…
Hegel is regarded as one of the most influential figures on modern political and intellectual development. After painting Hegel's life and times in broad strokes, Peter Singer goes on to tackle some of the more challenging aspects of Hegel's philosophy. Offering a broad discussion of Hegel's ideas and an account of his major works, Singer explains what have often been considered abstruse and ob…
Global food demand is rising, and serious questions remain about whether supply can increase sustainably (FAO 2018). Land-based expansion is possible but may exacerbate cli-mate change and biodiversity loss, and compromise the delivery of other ecosystem services (Olsen 2011; Foley et al. 2005, 2011; Mbow et al. 2019; Amundson et al. 2015). As food from the sea represents…
Over recent years, Arabic popular culture has become a focal point of West Asian and North African studies. Most of the new research dealing with it concentrates on the ‘popular’ as opposed to an intellectual ‘high’ culture far from the harsh and hierarchically organized reality many Arabic-speaking societies face today. Popular cultural practices are thus seen as a rejection of the eli…
For thousands of years, Vikings have held a storied place in our culture—their distinct appearance, their mighty longships, their reputation for causing death and destruction. But who were these strange and mysterious folk? The Book of Viking Myths retells the stories of the Viking people, with myths of their gods and goddesses, monsters, and great heroes. From tales of the beautiful and p…
Uually, our emotions are strongly controlled. Therefore, we seldom experience situations of raw affect, where emotions simply overwhelm us. This is basically a good thing, because controlling our ancestral emotional urges helps us to respond more appropriately to most of the daily situational demands of our modern society. It is simply not acceptable to always show an emotional response i…
The path to your professional success starts with a critical look in the mirror. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself will inspire you to: stay engaged throughout your fifty-plus-year work life; tap into your deepest values; solicit candid feedback; replenish physical and mental energy; balance work, home, community, and self; spread positive energy throughout your organization; rebound …
Change is the one constant in business, and we must adapt or face obsolescence. Yet certain challenges never go away. That's what makes this book "must read." These are the 10 seminal articles by management's most influential experts, on topics of perennial concern to ambitious managers and leaders hungry for inspiration--and ready to run with big ideas to accelerate their own and their compani…
n recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been gathering pace andunleashing a very disruptive potential. According to Gartner, nearly fivebillion “things” were connected in 2015 and the number will reach 50 billionby 2020. However, the IoT does not only have a disruptive power but it isalso one of the main drivers and enablers for the Digitising European Industry…