Al-Battani Shield


Book Description

Is the earth's climate really heating up? Are humans really responsible for the coming climatic disaster? Is there such a thing as a "tipping point" after which the climate warming will run an inexorable course culminating in an utter disaster of incalculable magnitude? Will the rising sea levels from the melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice and other sources of permafrost inundate large tracts of land, destroying cities and other major population centers? Will there be a great increase in the frequency and intensity of cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons? Will there be widespread droughts, mass starvation, pestilence and resulting wars? Will, in the end, life on Earth cease to exist? These are some of the things about which our leaders are warning us. Or, are we going to experience another Ice Age with equally unpleasant catastrophe? If humans are responsible, how exactly have we brought this upon ourselves? Most importantly, can we do anything to remedy past and current mistakes and stave off the calamity? What steps are politically and economically possible? And are there any other reasonable, alternative ways we can hold the climatic status quo which have not been thought of yet but need to be?




Noble Gases


Book Description

Volume 47 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry introduces to Noble Gases. Although the mass spectrometry principles are not complex, the tricks involved in getting better data are often self taught or passed on by working with individuals who themselves are pushing the boundaries further. Furthermore, much of the exciting new science is linked with technical developments that allow us to move beyond the current measurement capabilities. Be they better crushing devices, laser resonance time of flight, multiple collection or compressor sources - the technical issues are central to progress. Contents: Noble Gases – Noble Science An Overview of Noble Gas Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Noble Gases in the Solar System Noble Gases in the Moon and Meteorites: Radiogenic Components and Early Volatile Chronologies Cosmic-Ray-Produced Noble Gases in Meteorites Martian Noble Gases Origin of Noble Gases in the Terrestrial Planets Noble Gas Isotope Geochemistry of Mid-Ocean Ridge and Ocean Island Basalts: Characterization of Mantle Source Reservoirs Noble Gases and Volatile Recycling at Subduction Zones The Storage and Transport of Noble Gases in the Subcontinental Lithosphere Models for the Distribution of Terrestrial Noble Gases and the Evolution of the Atmosphere Production, Release and Transport of Noble Gases in the Continental Crust Tracing Fluid Origin, Transport and Interaction in the Crust Noble Gases in Lakes and Ground Waters Noble Gases in Ocean Waters and Sediments Cosmic-Ray-Produced Noble Gases in Terrestrial Rocks: Dating Tools for Surface Processes K-Ar and Ar-Ar Dating (U-Th)/He Dating: Techniques, Calibrations, and Applications




Spatial Questions


Book Description

"Rob Shields provides here an immensely sophisticated and detailed examination of the topological turn. He has been examining these issues for some decades and this book will surely become the standard work on cultural and spatial topology" - John Urry, Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University Our understanding of space is crucial to the way in which we understand major social problems and issues and the way we develop and maintain our worldviews. Building from a history of philosophical and geographical theories of space, Shields presents the importance of spatialisation and cultural topology in social theory and the possibilities that lie within these theoretical tools. Innovative and thought-provoking, this book goes beyond traditional ideas of spatiality and temporality to understand the multiplicity of spatialisations and relates them to everyday life.




The Abacus and the Cross


Book Description

The medieval Catholic Church, widely considered a source of intolerance and inquisitorial fervor, was not anti-science during the Dark Ages -- in fact, the pope in the year 1000 was the leading mathematician and astronomer of his day. Called "The Scientist Pope," Gerbert of Aurillac rose from peasant beginnings to lead the church. By turns a teacher, traitor, kingmaker, and visionary, Gerbert is the first Christian known to teach math using the nine Arabic numerals and zero. In The Abacus and the Cross, Nancy Marie Brown skillfully explores the new learning Gerbert brought to Europe. A fascinating narrative of one remarkable math teacher, The Abacus and the Cross will captivate readers of history, science, and religion alike.




Poetry and the Practical


Book Description

Delivered as a three-part lecture series in 1854 at the famous Hibernian Society Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, Simms's spirited defense of poetry stands in the nobel line of poetic credos from poets such as Sir Philip Sidney and Percy Bysshe Shelley. It is the only full-length work of its kind in American literature, and it has never before been published. Seventh in the University of Arkansas Press's Simms Series, Poetry and the Practical is a clear, forceful rebuttal of arguments that would relegate poetry to the margins of life. It proclaims the high calling of poets as spokesmen and romantic visionaries, underscoring their mission to reveal truth and passion, mind and heart and to transcend the limiting bounds of the empirical. In proving poetry's utility and worth, Simms uses all the tools of persuasion open to him: his wide reading, his considerable knowledge of the history of culture and civilizations, his understanding of the values of place and tradition, and, above all, an oratorical eloquence, which allows his words to leave the page in a rush of inspiration. These lectures, which still retain their identity as scripts prepared and punctuated for performance, provide profound insight into Simms the poet and into the effects of industrialization, the southern sensibility, and the influence of European thought on southern literature at a critical point in that literature's development.




White Cross


Book Description

The White Cross is a whole new reading experience; a book that brings something entirely original to historical fiction. Set in the late twelfth century at the time of King Richard I's crusade to win back Jerusalem from the Saracens, the story deals with timeless issues - with the moralities of warfare and fundamental religion, the abuse of power, the heights of martial fervour and the depths of disillusionment The writing blazes with colour (literally in the case of the printed edition, which makes groundbreaking use of colour throughout). It pulses with life, capturing the sights and sounds, the very smells of medieval life. At the novel's heart is the relationship between Garon and Elise - the story of an arranged marriage which rapidly develops into something deeper, to challenge a young husband's strongly held beliefs and set him on a long and painful journey to self-realisation, to break and finally restore a woman's spirit as she battles for recognition and for justice in a brutal man's world. And then there is the Berge dal becce; a character who is surely more than he appears? The only way to uncover all the secrets of The White Cross is to read it!




Iconclass Indexes


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News Review on West Asia


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The New Solar System


Book Description

From breathtaking full-color photographs to detailed explanatory diagrams to expert essays, fascinating sidebars, and informative fact boxes, the New Solar System is not just an easy-to-use, solidly reliable reference, but also a visually stunning, invitingly browsable volume guaranteed to fire the imagination of even the most casual reader.