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World of Patterns: A Global History of Knowledge
by Rens BodA comprehensive account of the methods of knowledge production throughout human history and across the globe.The idea that the world can be understood through patterns and the principles that govern them is one of the most important human insights—it may also be our greatest survival strategy. Our search for patterns and principles began 40,000 years ago, when striped patterns were engraved on mammoths' bones to keep track of the moon's phases. What routes did human knowledge take to grow from these humble beginnings through many detours and dead ends into modern understandings of nature and culture? In this work of unprecedented scope, Rens Bod removes the Western natural sciences from their often-central role to bring us the first global history of human knowledge. Having sketched the history of the humanities in his ground-breaking A New History of the Humanities, Bod now adopts a broader perspective, stepping beyond classical antiquity back to the Stone Age to answer the question: Where did our knowledge of the world today begin and how did it develop? Drawing on developments from all five continents of the inhabited world, World of Patterns offers startling connections. Focusing on a dozen fields—ranging from astronomy, philology, medicine, law, and mathematics to history, botany, and musicology—Bod examines to what degree their progressions can be considered interwoven and to what degree we can speak of global trends.In this pioneering work, Bod aims to fulfill what he sees as the historian's responsibility: to grant access to history's goldmine of ideas. Bod discusses how inoculation was invented in China rather than Europe; how many of the fundamental aspects of modern mathematics and astronomy were first discovered by the Indian Kerala school; and how the study of law provided fundamental models for astronomy and linguistics from Roman to Ottoman times. The book flies across continents and eras. The result is an enlightening symphony, a stirring chorus of human inquisitiveness extending through the ages.
The World of the Beaver
by Leonard Lee Rue III"According to a Cherokee legend," writes Leonard Lee Rue in The World of the Beaver, "it was the Great Spirit, with the help of gigantic beavers, who created the earth. The earth had been covered with water until the Great Spirit sent the beavers diving down beneath the surface to dredge up mud from the bottom to form land masses." Although the beaver is not, nowadays, as big as his legendary ancestors, he continues to be enormously helpful to man and beast. Here Leonard Lee Rue reveals the world and way of life of the good -natured, industrious American beaver and follows him through a full year of his ordinary activities. How does a beaver fell a tree? What does he eat? Is he polygamous or monogamous? How does he build a dam? What does the inside of his lodge look like? Who has been his most deadly enemy in America? The author-whose interest in beavers has caused him to go swimming with them and, on one occasion, led to his becoming stuck in the passage to a lodge-answers all these questions and many others. The informal narrative and the author's remarkable photographs make this really first-rate reading for the nature student and for the ordinary reader. "As intent as man seems to be on destroying the earth," writes Leonard Lee Rue in conclusion, "the Creator may again have to call upon the beavers to help patch things up. The earth's future couldn't be in better paws."
The World of the Gull (A Living World Book)
by David F. CostelloThe world of the gull extends from the barren Arctic wastes to the burning sands of Arabia, from the storm clouds of Tierra del Fuego to the farmlands of our own Great Plains. Equipped with extraordinary flying ability, intelligence, and an enviable digestion, gulls lead strange and wonderful lives. Born opportunists, they are completely adaptable, self-sufficient creatures, equally at home on land or sea-one of the few members of the animal kingdom able to drink both fresh and salt water. Unlike most other birds, gulls walk, fly, and swim with ease. These capabilities put them in touch with an unlimited variety of food-from cherries, mice, brine fly larvae, wheat, and steak bones to eggs, worms, and young ducks-and make them one of nature's most valuable scavengers. David Costello describes all aspects of the gulls' life cycle-their ritualistic courtship and nesting habits, the rearing of their young, colony formation, food finding, natural enemies, and their remarkable migrations over the face of the earth.
The World of the Otter (Living World Book)
by Ed ParkEver wondered how those otters on the river bank are so playful, what do they eat, where do they live, how do they survive the winter? In this book by naturalist Ed Park, who has studied otters for years, you will find the answers to these questions and get to know the clowns of the river bank more closely.
The World of Visual Time Signals for Mariners: Time Balls, Time Guns, Time Lights and Other Signals (Historical & Cultural Astronomy)
by Roger KinnsThis book describes the worldwide evolution of land-based visual time signals that were used by mariners in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for accurate navigation at sea. They followed development of chronometers which were carried in ships to show mean time at Greenwich, the chosen prime meridian. Greenwich time could be compared with local astronomical time to determine longitude, but chronometers were mechanical devices that had to be checked for accuracy. Land-based signals that were regulated by astronomical observations evolved from the ideas in 1818 of Robert Wauchope, a British naval officer who served at the Cape of Good Hope. He inspired introduction of time balls, specifically the time ball at Greenwich in 1833 which set the standard for subsequent installations and is still in operation today. The main emphasis is on the external appearance of time signals at different locations around the world and how they were used by mariners for rating chronometers. Time balls and guns also became popular signals for public use and workplace control but then had social and political implications.
A World on Fire
by Joe JacksonThe discovery of oxygen in the late 1700s changed human thought & history radically. Yet its discovery began quietly, with the survival of a mouse under a lab. bell jar. This re-creation of these events takes us back to the final decades of the 1700s & the waning days of the Enlightenment. The English heretic & the French aristocrat who simultaneously isolated oxygen could not have been an unlikelier pair. Joseph Priestley was a tinkerer who knew Ben Franklin, John Adams, & Thomas Jefferson, to whose new nation he eventually fled. Antoine Lavoisier was rich & sophisticated, yet his path ended at the guillotine. Both Priestley & Lavoisier would see their works & lives destroyed, & never know how profoundly they changed the future. Illustrations.
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse
by Lester R. BrownIn this urgent time, World on the Edge calls out the pivotal environmental issues and how to solve them now. We are in a race between political and natural tipping points. Can we close coal-fired power plants fast enough to save the Greenland ice sheet and avoid catastrophic sea level rise? Can we raise water productivity fast enough to halt the depletion of aquifers and avoid water-driven food shortages? Can we cope with peak water and peak oil at the same time? These are some of the issues Lester R. Brown skillfully distills in World on the Edge. Bringing decades of research and analysis into play, he provides the responses needed to reclaim our future.
A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey Of Migratory Birds
by Scott WeidensaulNew York Times Bestseller Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year An exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we’ve learned of these key migrations—how billions of birds circumnavigate the globe, flying tens of thousands of miles between hemispheres on an annual basis—is nothing short of extraordinary. Bird migration entails almost unfathomable endurance, like a sparrow-sized sandpiper that will fly nonstop from Canada to Venezuela—the equivalent of running 126 consecutive marathons without food, water, or rest—avoiding dehydration by "drinking" moisture from its own muscles and organs, while orienting itself using the earth’s magnetic field through a form of quantum entanglement that made Einstein queasy. Crossing the Pacific Ocean in nine days of nonstop flight, as some birds do, leaves little time for sleep, but migrants can put half their brains to sleep for a few seconds at a time, alternating sides—and their reaction time actually improves. These and other revelations convey both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the remote mountains of northeastern India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. This breathtaking work of nature writing from Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul also introduces readers to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. Drawing on his own extensive fieldwork, in A World on the Wing Weidensaul unveils with dazzling prose the miracle of nature taking place over our heads.
World Prehistory And Archaeology: Pathways Through Time
by Michael ChazanWorld Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways through Time, fourth edition, provides an integrated discussion of world prehistory and archaeological methods. This text emphasizes the relevance of how we know and what we know about our human prehistory. A cornerstone of World Prehistory and Archaeology is the discussion of prehistory as an active process of discovery. Methodological issues are addressed throughout the text to engage readers. Archaeological methods are introduced in the first two chapters. Succeeding chapters then address the question of how we know the past to provide an integrated presentation of prehistory. The fourth edition involves readers in the current state of archaeological research, revealing how archaeologists work and interpret what they find. Through the coverage of various new research, author Michael Chazan shows how archaeology is truly a global discipline.
World Regional Geography: A Development Approach (8th edition)
by David L. Clawson Merrill L. JohnsonThis book is organized around the central theme of human development. Each author employs the human development theme to create a substantive volume on world regional geography that presents a vital, issues-oriented overview of the topic.
World Regional Geography (10th edition)
by David L. Clawson Merrill L. Johnson Douglas L. Johnson Viola HaarmannPulling from an impressive team of ten authors, each chapter in this book has been authored by an expert in the region to provide the utmost accuracy and relevancy. World Regional Geography explores the character of the world's people, with a central theme of human development, for an issues-oriented overview of each region. An emphasis on subregions (places within regions) enables readers to explore specific locales. An economic development theme offers a more conceptual treatment than the traditional coverage of this topic. Basic Concepts and Ideas; The United States and Canada; Latin America and the Caribbean; Europe; Northern Eurasia; Central Asia and Afghanistan; The Middle East and North Africa; Africa South of the Sahara; South Asia; East Asia; Southeast Asia; Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. The useful references for anyone who wants to learn more about the different regions of the world.
World Religions for Healthcare Professionals
by Mark F. Carr Siroj Sorajjakool Ernest J. BurseyThis third edition of a popular text introduces healthcare students and professionals to a wide range of health beliefs and practices in world religions. Chapters on various religions are written to offer an insider’s view on the religion’s historical development, key beliefs and practices, including ideas of health, sickness, death, and dying. The chapters include case studies, advice on what to do and what to avoid when caring for patients. Introductory chapters invite the reader to consider the broad context of patient care in pluralistic society and explore one’s personal orientation to others from different religions. How we care for patients from different backgrounds and cultures insists on professional boundaries that the reader may have not yet examined. A new chapter explores the relationship between religion and public health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the reader to consider what morally appropriate balance is required if and when personal faith conflict with public health needs. Undoubtedly, the sensitivity with which clinicians communicate with patients and make decisions regarding appropriate medical intervention can be greatly increased by an understanding of religious and cultural diversity. This is a core textbook for students studying healthcare, religion and culture, and an invaluable reference for healthcare professionals.
World Review: Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals
by Marco Rieckmann Rosalba Thomas MuñozThe global landscape of education has been reshaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing the various challenges faced by countries worldwide. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) across different countries, offering unique insights into their histories, challenges, achievements, and future ESE needs. From Africa to Oceania, the book delves into the vital role of ESE in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights the diverse national discourses and the flexibility required to deliver effective global education programs. ESE practitioners, researchers, and policymakers worldwide will find inspiration and invaluable perspectives in this book.
World Soybean Research Conference Ii, Abstracts
by Frederick T CorbinThe result of strong international interest in the soybean, the World Soybean Research Conference II was held March 26-29, 1979, at North Carolina State University. This volume contains summaries of the more than two hundred papers presented at that meeting. The authors, international authorities in their fields, represent sixteen areas of professi
World Soybean Research Conference III: Proceedings
by Richard ShiblesThis volume consists of full length manuscripts of 159 of the 165 invited papers presented at World Soybean Research Conference III that was held in the Scheman Continuing Education Building at Iowa State University August 12-17, 1984. The authors, widely recognized as world authorities in their fields, represent all aspects of soybean research activity: breeding and genetics, crop and soil management, economics, entomology, food science, international programs, nematology, pathology, physiology, plant nutrition, rhizobiology, utilization, and weed science. This proceedings, which contains more than 1200 pages of information including many tables and figures, represents the most extensive compilation of soybean research results since the previous proceedings were published in 1980. It should be of value to research scientists, students and administrators alike.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil: An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul
by J. D. BernalA pioneering book proposing a transhumanist vision of the future, from one of the most influential visionary scientists of the twentieth century.
The World the Game Theorists Made
by Paul EricksonIn recent decades game theory—the mathematics of rational decision-making by interacting individuals—has assumed a central place in our understanding of capitalist markets, the evolution of social behavior in animals, and even the ethics of altruism and fairness in human beings. With game theory’s ubiquity, however, has come a great deal of misunderstanding. Critics of the contemporary social sciences view it as part of an unwelcome trend toward the marginalization of historicist and interpretive styles of inquiry, and many accuse its proponents of presenting a thin and empirically dubious view of human choice. The World the Game Theorists Made seeks to explain the ascendency of game theory, focusing on the poorly understood period between the publication of John von Neumann and Oscar Morgenstern’s seminal Theory of Games and Economic Behavior in 1944 and the theory’s revival in economics in the 1980s. Drawing on a diverse collection of institutional archives, personal correspondence and papers, and interviews, Paul Erickson shows how game theory offered social scientists, biologists, military strategists, and others a common, flexible language that could facilitate wide-ranging thought and debate on some of the most critical issues of the day.
The World the Game Theorists Made
by Paul EriksonIn recent decades game theory--the mathematics of rational decision-making by interacting individuals--has assumed a central place in our understanding of capitalist markets, the evolution of social behavior in animals, and even the ethics of altruism and fairness in human beings. With game theory's ubiquity, however, has come a great deal of misunderstanding. Critics of the contemporary social sciences view it as part of an unwelcome trend toward the marginalization of historicist and interpretive styles of inquiry, and many accuse its proponents of presenting a thin and empirically dubious view of human choice. The World the Game Theorists Made seeks to explain the ascendency of game theory, focusing on the poorly understood period between the publication of John von Neumann and Oscar Morgenstern's seminal Theory of Games and Economic Behavior in 1944 and the theory's revival in economics in the 1980s. Drawing on a diverse collection of institutional archives, personal correspondence and papers, and interviews, Paul Erickson shows how game theory offered social scientists, biologists, military strategists, and others a common, flexible language that could facilitate wide-ranging thought and debate on some of the most critical issues of the day.
The World-Time Parallel: Tense and Modality in Logic and Metaphysics
by A. A. Rini M. J CresswellIs what could have happened but never did as real as what did happen? What did happen, but isn't happening now, happened at another time. Analogously, one can say that what could have happened happens in another possible world. Whatever their views about the reality of such things as possible worlds, philosophers need to take this analogy seriously. Adriane Rini and Max Cresswell exhibit, in an easy step-by-step manner, the logical structure of temporal and modal discourse, and show that every temporal construction has an exact parallel that requires a language that can refer to worlds, and vice versa. They make precise, in a way which can be articulated and tested, the claim that the parallel is at work behind even ordinary talk about time and modality. The book gives metaphysicians a sturdy framework for the investigation of time and modality – one that does not presuppose any particular metaphysical view.
A World to Live In
by George M. WoodwellA century of industrial development is the briefest of moments in the half billion years of the earth's evolution. And yet our current era has brought greater changes to the earth than any period in human history. The biosphere, the globe's life-giving envelope of air and climate, has been changed irreparably. In A World to Live In, the distinguished ecologist George Woodwell shows that the biosphere is now a global human protectorate and that its integrity of structure and function are tied closely to the human future. The earth is a living system, Woodwell explains, and its stability is threatened by human disruption. Industry dumps its waste globally and makes a profit from it, invading the global commons; corporate interests overpower weak or nonexistent governmental protection to plunder the planet. The fossil fuels industry offers the most dramatic example of environmental destruction, disseminating the heat-trapping gases that are now warming the earth and changing the climate forever. The assumption that we can continue to use fossil fuels and "adapt" to climate disruption, Woodwell argues, is a ticket to catastrophe.But Woodwell points the way toward a solution. We must respect the full range of life on earth -- not species alone, but their natural communities of plant and animal life that have built, and still maintain, the biosphere. We must recognize that the earth's living systems are our heritage and that the preservation of the integrity of a finite biosphere is a necessity and an inviolable human right.
A World to Live In: An Ecologist's Vision for a Plundered Planet
by George M. WoodwellA scientist makes a powerful case that preservation of the integrity of the biosphere is a necessity and an inviolable human right.A century of industrial development is the briefest of moments in the half billion years of the earth's evolution. And yet our current era has brought greater changes to the earth than any period in human history. The biosphere, the globe's life-giving envelope of air and climate, has been changed irreparably. In A World to Live In, the distinguished ecologist George Woodwell shows that the biosphere is now a global human protectorate and that its integrity of structure and function are tied closely to the human future. The earth is a living system, Woodwell explains, and its stability is threatened by human disruption. Industry dumps its waste globally and makes a profit from it, invading the global commons; corporate interests overpower weak or nonexistent governmental protection to plunder the planet. The fossil fuels industry offers the most dramatic example of environmental destruction, disseminating the heat-trapping gases that are now warming the earth and changing the climate forever. The assumption that we can continue to use fossil fuels and “adapt” to climate disruption, Woodwell argues, is a ticket to catastrophe.But Woodwell points the way toward a solution. We must respect the full range of life on earth—not species alone, but their natural communities of plant and animal life that have built, and still maintain, the biosphere. We must recognize that the earth's living systems are our heritage and that the preservation of the integrity of a finite biosphere is a necessity and an inviolable human right.
The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography
by Peter O. Muller Eugene Joseph Palka H. J. de BlijTextbook on the geography of the world toward the close of the first decade of the twenty-first century as well as a guide to geographic ideas and perspectives, past and present.
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?
by Jared DiamondThe bestselling author of Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel surveys the history of human societies to answer the question: What can we learn from traditional societies that can make the world a better place for all of us?<P> Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence. Societies like those of the New Guinea Highlanders remind us that it was only yesterday—in evolutionary time—when everything changed and that we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional than to modern conditions.The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today.<P> This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. Provocative, enlightening, and entertaining, The World Until Yesterday is an essential and fascinating read.
World Weather Handbook, Reference Book
by Emily Gibson Ben Schleifer Chloë DelafieldNIMAC-sourced textbook
The World We'll Leave Behind: Grasping the Sustainability Challenge
by William Scott Paul VareIt is now clear that human activity has influenced how the biosphere supports life on Earth, and given rise to a set of connected environmental and social problems. In response to the challenge that these problems present, a series of international conferences and summits led to discussions of sustainable development and the core dilemma of our time: How can we all live well, now and in the future, without compromising the ability of the planet to enable us all to live well? This book identifies the main issues and challenges we now face; it explains the ideas that underpin them and their interconnection, and discusses a range of strategies through which they might be addressed and possibly resolved. These cover things that governments might do, what businesses and large organisations can contribute, and the scope for individuals, families and communities to get involved. This book is for everyone who cares about such challenges, and wants to know more about them.