Pattern Classification Using Ensemble Methods

How do developing states decide who gets access to public goods like electricity, water, and education? Power and the Vote breaks new ground by showing that the provision of seemingly universal public goods is intricately shaped by electoral priorities. In doing so, this book introduces new methods using high-resolution satellite imagery to study the distribution of electricity across and within the developing world. Combining cross-national evidence with detailed sub-national analysis and village-level data from India, Power and the Vote affirms the power of electoral incentives in shaping the distribution of public goods and challenges the view that democracy is a luxury of the rich with little relevance to the world's poor.

How do developing states decide who gets access to public goods like electricity, water, and education? Power and the Vote breaks new ground by showing that the provision of seemingly universal public goods is intricately shaped by electoral priorities. In doing so, this book introduces new methods using high-resolution satellite imagery to study the distribution of electricity across and within the developing world. Combining cross-national evidence with detailed sub-national analysis and village-level data from India, Power and the Vote affirms the power of electoral incentives in shaping the distribution of public goods and challenges the view that democracy is a luxury of the rich with little relevance to the world's poor.

The recent appearance of wavelets as a new computational tool in applied mathematics has given a new impetus to the field of numerical analysis of Fredholm integral equations. This book gives an account of the state of the art in the study of fast multiscale methods for solving these equations based on wavelets. The authors begin by introducing essential concepts and describing conventional numerical methods. They then develop fast algorithms and apply these to solving linear, nonlinear Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, ill-posed integral equations of the first kind and eigen-problems of compact integral operators. Theorems of functional analysis used throughout the book are summarised in the appendix. The book is an essential reference for practitioners wishing to use the new techniques. It may also be used as a text, with the first five chapters forming the basis of a one-semester course for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduates.

The fall of the United Nations 'safe area' of Srebrenica in July 1995 to Bosnian Serb and Serbian forces stands out as the international community's most egregious failure to intervene during the Bosnian war. It led to genocide, forced displacement and a legacy of loss. But wartime inaction has since spurred numerous postwar attempts to address the atrocities' effects on Bosnian society and its diaspora. Srebrenica in the Aftermath of Genocide reveals how interactions between local, national and international interventions - from refugee return and resettlement to commemorations, war crimes trials, immigration proceedings and election reform - have led to subtle, positive effects of social repair, despite persistent attempts at denial. Using an interdisciplinary approach, diverse research methods, and more than a decade of fieldwork in five countries, Lara J. Nettelfield and Sarah E. Wagner trace the genocide's reverberations in Bosnia and abroad. The findings of this study have implic

How can Twitter data be used to study individual-level human behavior and social interaction on a global scale? This book introduces readers to the methods, opportunities, and challenges of using Twitter data to analyze phenomena ranging from the number of people infected by the flu, to national elections, to tomorrow's stock prices. Each chapter, written by leading domain experts in clear and accessible language, takes the reader to the forefront of the newly emerging field of computational social science. An introductory chapter on Twitter data analysis provides an overview of key tools and skills, and gives pointers on how to get started, while the case studies demonstrate shortcomings, limitations, and pitfalls of Twitter data as well as its advantages. The book will be an excellent resource for social science students and researchers wanting to explore the use of online data.

How can Twitter data be used to study individual-level human behavior and social interaction on a global scale? This book introduces readers to the methods, opportunities, and challenges of using Twitter data to analyze phenomena ranging from the number of people infected by the flu, to national elections, to tomorrow's stock prices. Each chapter, written by leading domain experts in clear and accessible language, takes the reader to the forefront of the newly emerging field of computational social science. An introductory chapter on Twitter data analysis provides an overview of key tools and skills, and gives pointers on how to get started, while the case studies demonstrate shortcomings, limitations, and pitfalls of Twitter data as well as its advantages. The book will be an excellent resource for social science students and researchers wanting to explore the use of online data.

The development of molecular tools has dramatically increased our knowledge of parasite diversity and the vectors that transmit them. From viruses and protists to arthropods and helminths, each branch of the Tree of Life offers an insight into significant, yet cryptic, biodiversity. Alongside this, the studies of host-parasite interactions and parasitism have influenced many scientific disciplines, such as biogeography and evolutionary ecology, by using comparative methods based on phylogenetic information to unravel shared evolutionary histories. Parasite Diversity and Diversification brings together two active fields of research, phylogenetics and evolutionary ecology, to reveal and explain the patterns of parasite diversity and the diversification of their hosts. This book will encourage students and researchers in the fields of ecology and evolution of parasitism, as well as animal and human health, to integrate phylogenetics into the investigation of parasitism in evolutionary eco

Surveying the last sixty years of research, this book describes the physical properties of DNA in the context of its biological functioning. It is designed to enable both students and researchers of molecular biology, biochemistry and physics to better understand the biophysics of DNA, addressing key questions and facilitating further research. The chapters integrate theoretical and experimental approaches, emphasising throughout the importance of a quantitative knowledge of physical properties in building and analysing models of DNA functioning. For example, the book shows how the relationship between DNA mechanical properties and the sequence specificity of DNA-protein binding can be analyzed quantitatively by using our current knowledge of the physical and structural properties of DNA. Theoretical models and experimental methods in the field are critically considered to enable the reader to engage effectively with the current scientific literature on the physical properties of DNA.

This is the first comprehensive work to capture the rise of moral damages (non-pecuniary loss) in European contract law through a historical and comparative analysis. Unique features of this study include the first classification scheme of the systems into liberal, moderate and conservative regimes, a taxonomy of non-pecuniary loss drawn from a European-wide jurisprudence, and a comprehensive bibliography of the subject. Written by a leading academic on comparative law, Palmer's precise and practical insights on Europe's leading cases will be of great interest to academic researchers and practitioners alike.

Adopting an elegant geometrical approach, this advanced pedagogical text describes deep and intuitive methods for understanding the subtle logic of supersymmetry while avoiding lengthy computations. The book describes how complex results and formulae obtained using other approaches can be significantly simplified when translated to a geometric setting. Introductory chapters describe geometric structures in field theory in the general case, while detailed later chapters address specific structures such as parallel tensor fields, G-structures, and isometry groups. The relationship between structures in supergravity and periodic maps of algebraic manifolds, Kodaira–Spencer theory, modularity, and the arithmetic properties of supergravity are also addressed. Relevant geometric concepts are introduced and described in detail, providing a self-contained toolkit of useful techniques, formulae and constructions. Covering all the material necessary for the application of supersymmetric field th

A Practitioner's Guide to Stochastic Frontier Analysis Using Stata provides practitioners in academia and industry with a step-by-step guide on how to conduct efficiency analysis using the stochastic frontier approach. The authors explain in detail how to estimate production, cost, and profit efficiency and introduce the basic theory of each model in an accessible way, using empirical examples that demonstrate the interpretation and application of models. This book also provides computer code, allowing users to apply the models in their own work, and incorporates the most recent stochastic frontier models developed in academic literature. Such recent developments include models of heteroscedasticity and exogenous determinants of inefficiency, scaling models, panel models with time-varying inefficiency, growth models, and panel models that separate firm effects and persistent and transient inefficiency. Immensely helpful to applied researchers, this book bridges the chasm between theory

A Practitioner's Guide to Stochastic Frontier Analysis Using Stata provides practitioners in academia and industry with a step-by-step guide on how to conduct efficiency analysis using the stochastic frontier approach. The authors explain in detail how to estimate production, cost, and profit efficiency and introduce the basic theory of each model in an accessible way, using empirical examples that demonstrate the interpretation and application of models. This book also provides computer code, allowing users to apply the models in their own work, and incorporates the most recent stochastic frontier models developed in academic literature. Such recent developments include models of heteroscedasticity and exogenous determinants of inefficiency, scaling models, panel models with time-varying inefficiency, growth models, and panel models that separate firm effects and persistent and transient inefficiency. Immensely helpful to applied researchers, this book bridges the chasm between theory

As we rely increasingly on digital resources, and libraries discard large parts of their older collections, what is our responsibility to preserve 'old books' for the future? David McKitterick's lively and wide-ranging study explores how old books have been represented and interpreted from the eighteenth century to the present day. Conservation of these texts has taken many forms, from early methods of counterfeiting, imitation and rebinding to modern practices of microfilming, digitisation and photography. Using a comprehensive range of examples, McKitterick reveals these practices and their effects to address wider questions surrounding the value of printed books, both in terms of their content and their status as historical objects. Creating a link between historical approaches and the emerging technologies of the future, this book furthers our understanding of old books and their significance in a world of emerging digital technology.

This textbook brings the humanities to students in order to evoke the humanity of students. It helps to form individuals who take charge of their own minds, who are free from narrow and unreflective forms of thought, and who act compassionately in their public and professional worlds. Using concepts and methods of the humanities, the book addresses undergraduate and premed students, medical students, and students in other health professions, as well as physicians and other healthcare practitioners. It encourages them to consider the ethical and existential issues related to the experience of disease, care of the dying, health policy, religion and health, and medical technology. Case studies, images, questions for discussion, and role-playing exercises help readers to engage in the practical, interpretive, and analytical aspects of the material, developing skills for critical thinking as well as compassionate care.

This textbook brings the humanities to students in order to evoke the humanity of students. It helps to form individuals who take charge of their own minds, who are free from narrow and unreflective forms of thought, and who act compassionately in their public and professional worlds. Using concepts and methods of the humanities, the book addresses undergraduate and premed students, medical students, and students in other health professions, as well as physicians and other healthcare practitioners. It encourages them to consider the ethical and existential issues related to the experience of disease, care of the dying, health policy, religion and health, and medical technology. Case studies, images, questions for discussion, and role-playing exercises help readers to engage in the practical, interpretive, and analytical aspects of the material, developing skills for critical thinking as well as compassionate care.

Ideal for classroom use and self-study, this book explains the implementation of the most effective modern methods in image analysis, covering segmentation, registration and visualisation, and focusing on the key theories, algorithms and applications that have emerged from recent progress in computer vision, imaging and computational biomedical science. Structured around five core building blocks - signals, systems, image formation and modality; stochastic models; computational geometry; level set methods; and tools and CAD models - it provides a solid overview of the field. Mathematical and statistical topics are presented in a straightforward manner, enabling the reader to gain a deep understanding of the subject without becoming entangled in mathematical complexities. Theory is connected to practical examples in x-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI and CT imaging, removing the abstract nature of the models and assisting reader understanding.

Reflecting the major advances that have been made in the field over the past decade, this book provides an overview of current models of biological systems. The focus is on simple quantitative models, highlighting their role in enhancing our understanding of the strategies of gene regulation and dynamics of information transfer along signalling pathways, as well as in unravelling the interplay between function and evolution. The chapters are self-contained, each describing key methods for studying the quantitative aspects of life through the use of physical models. They focus, in particular, on connecting the dynamics of proteins and DNA with strategic decisions on the larger scale of a living cell, using E. coli and phage lambda as key examples. Encompassing fields such as quantitative molecular biology, systems biology and biophysics, this book will be a valuable tool for students from both biological and physical science backgrounds.

Microbes and microbiology are seldom encountered in philosophical accounts of the life sciences. Although microbiology is a well-established science and microbes the basis of life on this planet, neither the organisms nor the science have been seen as philosophically significant. This book will change that. It fills a major gap in the philosophy of biology by examining central philosophical issues in microbiology. Topics are drawn from evolutionary microbiology, microbial ecology, and microbial classification. These discussions are aimed at philosophers and scientists who wish to gain insight into the basic philosophical issues of microbiology.

Microbes and microbiology are seldom encountered in philosophical accounts of the life sciences. Although microbiology is a well-established science and microbes the basis of life on this planet, neither the organisms nor the science have been seen as philosophically significant. This book will change that. It fills a major gap in the philosophy of biology by examining central philosophical issues in microbiology. Topics are drawn from evolutionary microbiology, microbial ecology, and microbial classification. These discussions are aimed at philosophers and scientists who wish to gain insight into the basic philosophical issues of microbiology.

The majority of empirical research in economics ignores the potential benefits of nonparametric methods, while the majority of advances in nonparametric theory ignore the problems faced in applied econometrics. This book helps bridge this gap between applied economists and theoretical nonparametric econometricians. It discusses in depth, and in terms that someone with only one year of graduate econometrics can understand, basic to advanced nonparametric methods. The analysis starts with density estimation and motivates the procedures through methods that should be familiar to the reader. It then moves on to kernel regression, estimation with discrete data, and advanced methods such as estimation with panel data and instrumental variables models. The book pays close attention to the issues that arise with programming, computing speed, and application. In each chapter, the methods discussed are applied to actual data, paying attention to presentation of results and potential pitfalls.

The majority of empirical research in economics ignores the potential benefits of nonparametric methods, while the majority of advances in nonparametric theory ignore the problems faced in applied econometrics. This book helps bridge this gap between applied economists and theoretical nonparametric econometricians. It discusses in depth, and in terms that someone with only one year of graduate econometrics can understand, basic to advanced nonparametric methods. The analysis starts with density estimation and motivates the procedures through methods that should be familiar to the reader. It then moves on to kernel regression, estimation with discrete data, and advanced methods such as estimation with panel data and instrumental variables models. The book pays close attention to the issues that arise with programming, computing speed, and application. In each chapter, the methods discussed are applied to actual data, paying attention to presentation of results and potential pitfalls.

Learn how to plan for success with this hands-on guide to conducting high-quality engineering research. Plan and implement your next project for maximum impact: step-by-step instructions cover every stage in engineering research, from the identification of an appropriate research topic through to the successful presentation of results. Improve your research outcomes: discover essential tools and methods for producing high-quality, rigorous research, including statistical analysis, survey design, and optimisation techniques. Research with purpose and direction: clear explanations, real-world examples, and over 50 customisable end-of-chapter exercises, all written with the practical and ethical considerations of engineering in mind. A unique engineering perspective: written especially for engineers, and relevant across all engineering disciplines, this is the ideal book for graduate students, undergraduates, and new academics looking to launch their research careers.

Learn how to plan for success with this hands-on guide to conducting high-quality engineering research. Plan and implement your next project for maximum impact: step-by-step instructions cover every stage in engineering research, from the identification of an appropriate research topic through to the successful presentation of results. Improve your research outcomes: discover essential tools and methods for producing high-quality, rigorous research, including statistical analysis, survey design, and optimisation techniques. Research with purpose and direction: clear explanations, real-world examples, and over 50 customisable end-of-chapter exercises, all written with the practical and ethical considerations of engineering in mind. A unique engineering perspective: written especially for engineers, and relevant across all engineering disciplines, this is the ideal book for graduate students, undergraduates, and new academics looking to launch their research careers.

This book is a thorough introduction to the formal foundations and practical applications of Bayesian networks. It provides an extensive discussion of techniques for building Bayesian networks that model real-world situations, including techniques for synthesizing models from design, learning models from data, and debugging models using sensitivity analysis. It also treats exact and approximate inference algorithms at both theoretical and practical levels. The treatment of exact algorithms covers the main inference paradigms based on elimination and conditioning and includes advanced methods for compiling Bayesian networks, time-space tradeoffs, and exploiting local structure of massively connected networks. The treatment of approximate algorithms covers the main inference paradigms based on sampling and optimization and includes influential algorithms such as importance sampling, MCMC, and belief propagation. The author assumes very little background on the covered subjects, supplying

Social phobia is a disorder involving an intense fear of being judged by others and it affects the lives of many people. This book takes a critical stance towards the received view of social phobia as a disease of sorts, characterized by abnormal anxiety and caused by an inner mental or physical defective mechanism. Ariel Stravynski adopts an alternative approach to social phobia – as a purposeful interpersonal pattern protective against public humiliation or private rebuff. In this conception, fearfulness is the emotional facet of the socially phobic interpersonal pattern, rather than its driving force. This theoretical framework emphasizing dynamic transactions is articulated in terms of an anthropological psychology and Stravynski argues that social phobia can only be formulated and understood in interpersonal terms. He integrates all available knowledge on social phobia into his proposed framework and exemplifies its application by extending it to the assessment and treatment of th

This book presents an innovative new approach to studying source mechanisms of earthquakes, combining theory and observation in a unified methodology, with a key focus on the mechanics governing fault failures. It explains source mechanisms by building from fundamental concepts such as the equations of elasticity theory to more advanced problems including dislocation theory, kinematic models and fracture dynamics. The theory is presented first in student-friendly form using consistent notation throughout, and with full, detailed mathematical derivations that enable students to follow each step. Later chapters explain the widely-used practical modelling methods for source mechanism determination, linking clearly to the theoretical foundations, and highlighting the processing of digital seismological data. Providing a unique balance between application techniques and theory, this is an ideal guide for graduate students and researchers in seismology, tectonophysics, geodynamics and geomec

Written in a unique style, this book is a valuable resource for faculty, graduate students, and researchers in the communications and networking area whose work interfaces with optimization. It teaches you how various optimization methods can be applied to solve complex problems in wireless networks. Each chapter reviews a specific optimization method and then demonstrates how to apply the theory in practice through a detailed case study taken from state-of-the-art research. You will learn various tips and step-by-step instructions for developing optimization models, reformulations, and transformations, particularly in the context of cross-layer optimization problems in wireless networks involving flow routing (network layer), scheduling (link layer), and power control (physical layer). Throughout, a combination of techniques from both operations research and computer science disciplines provides a holistic treatment of optimization methods and their applications. Each chapter includes

This book provides a comprehensive defense of third-world sweatshops. It explains how these sweatshops provide the best available opportunity to workers and how they play an important role in the process of development that eventually leads to better wages and working conditions. Using economic theory, the author argues that much of what the anti-sweatshop movement has agitated for would actually harm the very workers they intend to help by creating less desirable alternatives and undermining the process of development. Nowhere does this book put 'profits' or 'economic efficiency' above people. Improving the welfare of poorer citizens of third world countries is the goal, and the book explores which methods best achieve that goal. Out of Poverty will help readers understand how activists and policy makers can help third world workers.

This book provides a comprehensive defense of third-world sweatshops. It explains how these sweatshops provide the best available opportunity to workers and how they play an important role in the process of development that eventually leads to better wages and working conditions. Using economic theory, the author argues that much of what the anti-sweatshop movement has agitated for would actually harm the very workers they intend to help by creating less desirable alternatives and undermining the process of development. Nowhere does this book put 'profits' or 'economic efficiency' above people. Improving the welfare of poorer citizens of third world countries is the goal, and the book explores which methods best achieve that goal. Out of Poverty will help readers understand how activists and policy makers can help third world workers.

This indispensable sourcebook covers conceptual and practical issues in research design in the field of social and personality psychology. Key experts address specific methods and areas of research, contributing to a comprehensive overview of contemporary practice. This updated and expanded second edition offers current commentary on social and personality psychology, reflecting the rapid development of this dynamic area of research over the past decade. With the help of this up-to-date text, both seasoned and beginning social psychologists will be able to explore the various tools and methods available to them in their research as they craft experiments and imagine new methodological possibilities.

This indispensable sourcebook covers conceptual and practical issues in research design in the field of social and personality psychology. Key experts address specific methods and areas of research, contributing to a comprehensive overview of contemporary practice. This updated and expanded second edition offers current commentary on social and personality psychology, reflecting the rapid development of this dynamic area of research over the past decade. With the help of this up-to-date text, both seasoned and beginning social psychologists will be able to explore the various tools and methods available to them in their research as they craft experiments and imagine new methodological possibilities.

First published in 1904 as the second edition of a 1901 original, this book provides a beginner's guide to zoology, from simple life forms to more sophisticated vertebrates. At the end of the sections on each phylum a short table of classification is given to indicate the general position of the animals mentioned in the general scheme of the animal kingdom. The text is richly illustrated with over three hundred diagrams and drawings for ease of comprehension. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of education.

The fall of the United Nations 'safe area' of Srebrenica in July 1995 to Bosnian Serb and Serbian forces stands out as the international community's most egregious failure to intervene during the Bosnian war. It led to genocide, forced displacement and a legacy of loss. But wartime inaction has since spurred numerous postwar attempts to address the atrocities' effects on Bosnian society and its diaspora. Srebrenica in the Aftermath of Genocide reveals how interactions between local, national and international interventions - from refugee return and resettlement to commemorations, war crimes trials, immigration proceedings and election reform - have led to subtle, positive effects of social repair, despite persistent attempts at denial. Using an interdisciplinary approach, diverse research methods, and more than a decade of fieldwork in five countries, Lara J. Nettelfield and Sarah E. Wagner trace the genocide's reverberations in Bosnia and abroad. The findings of this study have implic

One of the puzzles about why some countries have stronger economic growth than others revolves around the so-called 'middle-income trap', the situation in which a country that has grown strongly gets stuck at a certain level. In this book, Keun Lee explores the reasons why examples of successful catching-up are limited and in particular, why the Asian economies, including China, have managed to move, or are moving, beyond middle-income status but economic growth has stalled in some Latin American countries. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate using patent analysis that the secret lies in innovative systems at the firm, sector and country levels which promote investment in what the author calls 'short-cycle' technologies and thereby create a new path different from that of forerunning countries. With its comprehensive policy framework for development as well as useful quantitative methods, this is essential reading for academic researchers and practitioners.

The relationship between language and ideology has long been central to research in discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, and has also informed other fields such as sociology and literary criticism. This book, by one of the world's leading pragmatists, introduces a new framework for the study of ideology in written language, using the tools, methods and theories of pragmatics and discourse analysis. Illustrations are drawn systematically from a coherent corpus of excerpts from late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century history textbooks dealing with episodes of colonial history and in particular the 1857 'Indian Mutiny'. It includes the complete corpus of excerpts, allowing researchers and students to evaluate all illustrations; at the same time, it provides useful practice and training materials. The book is intended as a teaching tool in language-, discourse- and communication-oriented programs, but also for historians and social and politica

First published in 2007, this second edition describes the computational methods used in theoretical physics. New sections were added to cover finite element methods and lattice Boltzmann simulation, density functional theory, quantum molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo simulation, and diagonalisation of one-dimensional quantum systems. It covers many different areas of physics research and different computational methodologies, including computational methods such as Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics, various electronic structure methodologies, methods for solving partial differential equations, and lattice gauge theory. Throughout the book the relations between the methods used in different fields of physics are emphasised. Several new programs are described and can be downloaded from www.cambridge.org/9781107677135. The book requires a background in elementary programming, numerical analysis, and field theory, as well as undergraduate knowledge of condensed matter theory and statistica

This book classifies the maximal subgroups of the almost simple finite classical groups in dimension up to 12; it also describes the maximal subgroups of the almost simple finite exceptional groups with socle one of Sz(q), G2(q), 2G2(q) or 3D4(q). Theoretical and computational tools are used throughout, with downloadable Magma code provided. The exposition contains a wealth of information on the structure and action of the geometric subgroups of classical groups, but the reader will also encounter methods for analysing the structure and maximality of almost simple subgroups of almost simple groups. Additionally, this book contains detailed information on using Magma to calculate with representations over number fields and finite fields. Featured within are previously unseen results and over 80 tables describing the maximal subgroups, making this volume an essential reference for researchers. It also functions as a graduate-level textbook on finite simple groups, computational group the

This book develops and empirically tests a social theory of political participation. It overturns prior understandings of why some people (such as college-degree holders, churchgoers and citizens in national rather than local elections) vote more often than others. The book shows that the standard demographic variables are not proxies for variation in the individual costs and benefits of participation, but for systematic variation in the patterns of social ties between potential voters. Potential voters who move in larger social circles, particularly those including politicians and other mobilizing actors, have more access to the flurry of electoral activity prodding citizens to vote and increasing political discussion. Treating voting as a socially defined practice instead of as an individual choice over personal payoffs, a social theory of participation is derived from a mathematical model with behavioral foundations that is empirically calibrated and tested using multiple methods an

There is a resurgence of applications in which the calculus of variations has direct relevance. In addition to application to solid mechanics and dynamics, it is now being applied in a variety of numerical methods, numerical grid generation, modern physics, various optimization settings and fluid dynamics. Many applications, such as nonlinear optimal control theory applied to continuous systems, have only recently become tractable computationally, with the advent of advanced algorithms and large computer systems. This book reflects the strong connection between calculus of variations and the applications for which variational methods form the fundamental foundation. The mathematical fundamentals of calculus of variations (at least those necessary to pursue applications) is rather compact and is contained in a single chapter of the book. The majority of the text consists of applications of variational calculus for a variety of fields.

This book examines the interplay between astronomy and dynastic power in the course of ancient Egyptian history, focusing on the fundamental role of astronomy in the creation of the pyramids and the monumental temple and burial complexes. Bringing to bear the analytical tools of archaeoastronomy, a set of techniques and methods that enable modern scholars to better understand the thought, religion and science of early civilizations, Giulio Magli provides in-depth analyses of the pyramid complexes at Giza, Abusir, Saqqara and Dahshur, as well as of the Early Dynastic necropolis at Abydos and the magnificent new Kingdom Theban temples. Using a variety of data retrieved from study of the sky and measurements of the buildings, he reconstructs the visual, symbolic and spiritual world of the ancient Egyptians and thereby establishes an intimate relationship among celestial cycles, topography and architecture. He also shows how they were deployed in the ideology of the pharaoh's power in the