In April 2022, colleagues and I went to the desert coastal town of Lüderitz inSouthern Namibia for work. Our group of three having met up in BloemfonteinSouth Africa, had driven west in ourbakkie(pickup truck) to the Northern CapeProvince. From there we continued north across the Orange River, which, follow-ing good rains, was filled to the brim, to arrive in Namibia. One night in Lüderitz,af…
The space age dawned in 1957 with the successful orbiting of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, and it surged forward with the Apollo moon land-ings, ushering in the era of satellites and deep space probes. This situation in which space business relied on space science probes, space shuttle flights, and satellite launches largely persisted until the…
The Temple of Dendur stands grandly in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (fig. 1). Reflecting pools and cool tan-marble floors stylishly evoke the Nile and its surroundings; an enormous semi-translucent ceiling remains a relic of 1970s mod-ernism; a vast wall of glass looks out to Central Park and E. Eighty-Fourth Street. All frame the Egyptian temple’s relocation to the former Sackler …
In many countries, policies regarding reduction of unwanted catch anddiscards are crafted in response to concerns regarding accountability, conservation,and waste as well as scientific needs to fully account for all sources offishingmortality. It is important to note, however, that unwanted catch is minimal andmost, or all, of the catch has value in somefisheries. Utilisation rates are very hig…
Drylands encompass land areas characterized by a mean annual precipitation to mean annual potential evapotranspiration ratio (known as the aridity index) below 0.65. The aridity index defines four distinct dryland subtypes: hyper-arid (aridity index < 0.05), arid (0.05 ?aridity index < 0.20), semi-arid (0.20 ?aridity index < 0.50) and dry sub-humid …
In her treatise on aesthetics, Feeling and Form, the twentieth-century philosopher Susanne K. Langer wrote that Wordsworth’s ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality’ conveys above all the joyous experience of having such a great idea as that which informs the poem—the ‘excitement of it’ (Langer 1963, p. 219). Wordsworth’s ‘Ode’ …
The creation of—or even the existence of—a “Pacific World” is a question that has preoccupied scholars to a much greater degree than existential doubts have bothered historians of other oceanic basins. Economic historian Eric Jones and colleagues have written that “there can be no meaningful history ofthe whole Rim or Basin [ofthe Pacific] since there…
This book is for people who have to make decisions about how best to support or conserve biodiversity. These include land managers, conservationists in the public or private sector, farmers, campaigners, advisors or consultants, policymakers, researchers or people taking action to protect local wildlife. What Works in Conservation and the associated synopses summari…
For almost two decades, historians and academics from a wide- range of sub- disciplinary backgrounds have been situating their research within a global context, crossing boundaries both geographically and methodologically, in such large numbers as to necessitate the emergence of a recognisably new field of enquiry: Global History. From comparative to connective histories, the …
Each reader of this book brings its pages to life, using your own history and insights to interpret and apply what we have written. Before writing this book, Amelia and William were students then researchers and teachers in a variety of places. We worked in agricultural schools, liberal arts colleges and health-science campuses in the U.S., E…
One of the difficulties in the establishment of nature-study has been that there is no field for the work. This is no longer true. There is an awakening throughout the country. 1. Summer Camps need Nature Counsellors. It is admitted that nature lore is the most important and the most difficult position to fill in the summer camp. There are over 5000 camps. 2. Scouting and Camp Fire Organiz…
Zaytun’s True Wealth Marco Polo was impressed by Zaytun’s gems, pearls, porcelain, and silk, but he overlooked the true wealth of this mythic port—the place and the people! Zaytun was blessed with an unparalleled natural wealth and beauty that the enlightened inhabitants maintained as meticulously as their miniature landscapes, which have been…
For some people life begins only after death; for others, life is a shifting journey toward a better place. As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a priest, and as a young adult, I lived for a few years in a consecrated community in Florence, Italy.1 Those years joyfully, and painfully, transformed my relation-ship with the Catholic Church. They helped me distinguish the in…
With hot spots such as lively Phuket Town and the sprawling Patong beach resort, this guide allows you to discover the best of everything Thailand's biggest island has to offer. Five easy-to-follow itineraries explore the city's most interesting areas—from beautiful karst islands to idyllic bays—while reviews of the best hotels, restaurants, and nightlife in Phuket help you plan your perfec…
Materials are probably more deep-seated in our culture than most of us realize. Transportation, housing, clothing, communication, recreation, and food production virtually every segment of our everyday lives is influenced to one degree or another by materials. Historically, the development and advancement of socities have been intimately tied to the members's ability to produce and manipulate m…
In many countries, the political backlash against neoliberalism has mainly been a retreat from democracy, with a decline in independence of the judiciary and the monetary authorities, increased control of the media, and manipulation of elections for purposes of authoritarian control. The economic dynamics and the impact of neoliberalism, i.e. deregulation and liberalized markets, is just one ca…
William Sharp was born on September 12, 1855, at 4 Garthland Place in Paisley, Scotland. He was the oldest in a family of five daughters and three sons. His father, David Galbreath Sharp, was a partner in a mercantile house, and his mother, Katherine Brooks, was the daughter of the Swedish Vice Consul in Glasgow. Sharp spent the summers of his chi…
Anyone undertaking a long-term historical study of any particular field of human activity is confronted with the difficulty that the contents and boundaries of that field are inevitably fluid and change over time. The historical study of science is no exception to this. Is it possible to conceptualize science broadly enough to include what has traditionally been considered sci…
We live in an age of globalization on every conceivable level, but globalization has a deeper history than politicians and pundits often allow, and nothing is more significant to its history than exploration. Wherever trade or faith or empire followed, explorers usually led. Their motives were as many-sided and various as their actions; their legacies are contested and mixed. But none can doubt…
From at least 4000 BCE to the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 CE, Egyptian Mythology was the foundation of ancient Egyptian culture. Spanning over large dominions as distant as the Roman Empire and the Greco-Roman realm, Egyptian mythology was a prevailing entity. Goddesses like Isis were worshiped not only by the natives of Egypt but also those of England and Afghanistan.
In a brisk revisionist history, William Rowe challenges the standard narrative of Qing China as a decadent, inward-looking state that failed to keep pace with the modern West. The Great Qing was the second major Chinese empire ruled by foreigners. Three strong Manchu emperors worked diligently to secure an alliance with the conquered Ming gentry, though many of their social edicts—especial…
The significance of Garranes lies partly in the date of Lisnacaheragh, believed to have been built in the fifth century AD. That is early in the history of the Irish ringfort, the origins of which remain unclear. The evidence of specialist craftworking in metal, glass and enamel from Lisnacaheragh testifies to the importance of the site. The dis…
Effective volcanic crisis communication is afundamental component of the concepts of miti-gation, disaster management, and disaster riskreduction. As part of this communication pro-cess, a number of tools have emerged that areregularly employed in volcanic crises that assistin the structure and formulation of communica-tive processes. This chapter focuses on four vitallessons learnt from key cr…
This manual presents some of the small-craft night baiting and fishing techniques commonly used in the Pacific Islands region, and provides Pacific Island fishermen with information that may help develop their small-craft commercial fishing operations. Some of the techniques are improvements in canoe fishing methods and use basic gear, while other techniques include modern fishing equipment use…
What if we were actually able to smell out the mixture of things that composed the olfactory past? What if historians were to bury their noses in the past instead of merely resorting to ocular inspection?This short book provides some answers to these questions. It is an exploration of what it means to study smell in the past, smell and the past and the smell of the pas…
Down to Earth Archaeology collects sixteen archaeological papers by Professor William Y. Adams chosen by the author, who added introductory commentary to each. These articles were written at various times during his lengthy and productive academic career for different purposes and for different audiences. Most of those selected had been previously published only in a limited way, either as conf…
The qualities of Vipassana are exemplified by Mr. Goenka, himself. He is a pragmatic person, in touch with the ordinary realities of life and able to deal with them incisively, but in every situation he maintains an extraordinary calmness of mind. Along with that calmness is a deep compassion for others, an ability to empathize with virtually any human being. There is however, nothing solemn ab…
Has someone ever taken advantage of you for their benefit? Do you want to learn to defend yourself against Mental Manipulation or do you want to learn easy how to use Dark Psychology to get what you want from people without them even knowing it? You should know that most of our choices are generated and managed through the application of specific methods of Covert Manipulation. Knowing these …
The Antonine Wall, the Roman frontier in Scotland, was the most northerly frontier of the Roman Empire for a generation from AD 142. It is a World Heritage Site and Scotland’s largest ancient monument. Today, it cuts across the densely populated central belt between Forth and Clyde. In this volume, nearly 40 archaeologists, historians and heritage managers present their researches on the Anto…
The observation and study of Lepidoptera (the large order of insects that includes the butterflies and moths, characterized by four membranous wings covered with small scales; lepidoscaly + ptera, wing) began, historically, with the curiosity of amateurs. The science (lepidopterology) followed, as dedicated amateurs began to devote more time to the study, share their discoveries with others and…
The modern US Army as we know it was largely created in the years between the two world wars. Prior to World War I, officers in leadership positions were increasingly convinced that building a new army could not take place as a series of random developments but was an enterprise that had to be guided by a distinct military policy that enjoyed the support of the nation. In 1920, Congress accepte…
The story of human activity in the land now known as Egypt streches back some five hundred thousand years to an early stage of present, or so-called Quaternary, era in the history of the earth's surface. As elsewhere on that surface this scarcely conceivable span of time covers only a minute fraction of the story of the land itself, the more recent chapters of which take us back approximately s…
Christmas is a special time. A Time of rejoicing, of solemn thanksgiving, of gift-giving, of pleasures both modern and traditional, of feasting and of being together with family and friends. And christmas is a time of special music. What better way to celebrate the birthday of Jesus than to join together and raise our voices in the special songs of Christmas - or to tune our musical songs of Ch…
n September 2010, I was preparing to order a meal at a restaurant called The Gold of Africa in downtown Cape Town, South Africa. The waitress was dressed in appropriately African garb, and the menu listed specialties from Morocco, Kenya, and Egypt as well as South Africa. As I glanced at the drinks list, however, a most unexpected item caught my eye—Japanese green tea. About six months later,…
The one thing that I find most difficult is to write about myself. It is hard to understand why some people thirst for knowledge about me. It was never my intention to be anyone's hero. I am certainly no great example upon which to base one's life. I consider myself a very average normal kind of guy. I have some pretty good points; I have some human failings. I am proud of some of my achievemen…
People and communities, lives and livelihoods. These define the Arctic, just as with all other populated areas on the planet. Is there, then, any-thing special, specific, exceptional or unique about the Arctic? To the peoples in the Arctic, the answer is ‘of course’.Because it is home.As Arctic literature is fond of stating, there is no single Arctic. Definitions abo…
This book poses a question: since, in encounters between the present and the past, the present always wins, how might we in the present recover the strangeness of a society that flourished two-and-a-half millennia ago? Can we find ways of throwing off our mind-forged manacles, and instead make an attempt, without preconceptions or agendas, to…
If it were announced on the Manchester Exchange, or among any other large gathering of intelligentmen, that not one in every hundred of them could see correctlythe appearance of the walls or windows about them, it might cause no small amount of surprise,if not disconcert ; yet such is probably the fact. Millions of persons pass through life unconscious of the change that takes place in the appe…
A True Story of the Imperial German Government's Spies and Intrigues in America from facts furnished Each morning at 3 o'clock, American time, those messages flashed from the tremendous wireless tower at Nauen, Germany—to find spies waiting everywhere in America for them. On interned ships, in shacks, built far from the roar and bustle of the city, even in Fifth Avenue residences, were wirel…
The history of early human advance is the history of harvesting prosperity from agricultural innovation. In India, the later Vedic texts (c. 3000–2500 BCE) make frequent references to agricultural technology and practices.Jia Sixie, drawing on over one thousand years of Chinese study in his Qimin Yaoshu, or Essential Techniques for the Common People (535 CE), asserts throughout his work the c…
This book has been created to help you make decisions about practical conservation management by providing an assessment, from the available scientific evidence, of what works and what does not work in conservation. It also tells you if no evidence has been found about whether or not a conservation intervention is effective. This is the 2020 edition of What Works in Conservation, which was firs…
This chapter introduces industrial electronics. It covers some of the key developments and includes definitions for a few of the major terms, It also discusses the skills and knowledge the industrial technician must have to work efficiently. Finally, it introduces safety, which is of paramount importance for those preparing to work in the industrial environment.
This book describes how to design, specify, and apply power semiconductor converters. The reader learns to analyze converter characteristics in order to understand how these converters interact with the electric utility grid and with the load in various applications
People used to download music for free; then Steve Jobs convinced them to pay for it. How? By charging 99 cents. Prada and other luxury stores stock a few obscenely expensive items - just to make the rest of their inventory seem like a bargain. Why do text messages cost money, while emails are free? Why do jars of peanut butter keep getting smaller in order to keep the price the 'same'? The ans…
With the growing population in the Southern States, the increase of mulattoes has been very great. Society does not frown upon the man who sits with his half-white child upon his knee whilst the mother stands, a slave, behind his chair. In nearly all the cities and towns of the Slave States, the real negro, or clear black, does not amount to more than one in four of the slave population. T…
I do not know where Ballymulligan is, and never knew anybody who did. Once I asked the Mulligan the question, when that chieftain assumed a look of dignity so ferocious, and spoke of "Saxon curiawsitee" in a tone of such evident displeasure, that, as after all it can matter very little to me whereabouts lies the Celtic principality in question, I have never pressed the inquiry any farther…
In response to Carnacki's usual card of invitation to have dinner and listen to a story, I arrived promptly at 427, Cheyne Walk, to find the three others who were always invited to these happy little times, there before me. Five minutes later, Carnacki, Arkright, Jessop, Taylor, and I were all engaged in the "pleasant occupation" of dining. "You've not been long away, this time," I remarke…