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.