The Tempest is Giorgione's most enigmatic painting. It is a depiction of Giorgione's own family, of the "family of man" tale from Boccaccio, or of the myth of Apollo's birth? In this remarkable study
The concept of "practices"--whether of representation, of political or scientific traditions, or of organizational culture--is central to social theory. In this book, Stephen Turner presents the firs
Why does sacrifice, more than any other major religious institution, depend on gender dichotomy? Why do so many societies oppose sacrifice to childbirth, and why are childbearing women so commonly exc
William C. Holmes provides a rare look behind the scenes into the world of early eighteenth-century Italian opera. Based on a rich store of newly recovered documents, mainly the personal papers of Luc
What happens to a revolutionary town after the revolution? This apparently simple question frames Spent Cartridges of Revolution, an anthropological history of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico. Officially
In this study of the manner in which medieval nuns lived, Penelope Johnson challenges facile stereotypes of nuns living passively under monastic rule, finding instead that collectively they were empow
Each year, in a solemn Sunni Muslim feast, the Ait Mizane of southern Morocco reenact the story of Abraham as a ritual sacrifice, a symbolic observance of their submission to the divine. After this so
What role does ritual play in the everyday lives of modern Africans? How are so-called "traditional" cultural forms deployed by people seeking empowerment in a world where "modernity" has failed to de
At the edge of the small Suffolk village of Hoxne lies what is arguably the single most important Middle Pleistocene archaeological site in Europe. Here the deposits contain not only prehistoric artif
Each year, in a solemn Sunni Muslim feast, the Ait Mizane of southern Morocco reenact the story of Abraham as a ritual sacrifice, a symbolic observance of their submission to the divine. After this so
Scientific management: Technology spawned it, Frederick Winslow Taylor championed it, Thorstein Veblen dissected it, Henry Ford implemented it. By the turn of the century, practical visionaries prided
This monumental series, acclaimed as a "masterpiece of comprehensive scholarship" in theNew York Times Book Review, reveals the impact of Asia's high civilizations on the development of mode
This monumental series, acclaimed as a "masterpiece of comprehensive scholarship" in theNew York Times Book Review, reveals the impact of Asia's high civilizations on the development of mode
In Balinese Worlds, Fredrik Barth proposes a new model for anthropological analysis of complex civilizations that is based on a fresh, synthetic account of culture and society in North Bali and one th
In this fascinating work, Jean Dietz Moss shows how the scientific revolution begun by Copernicus brought about another revolution as well—one in which rhetoric, previously used simply to explain scie
A collection of nine papers, previously scattered across many publications, covering topics as diverse as the nature of explanation, the ambiguity of the word theory , the varieties of ignorance, the
Is giving possible? Is it possible to give without immediately entering into a circle of exchange that turns the gift into a debt to be returned? This question leads Jacques Derrida to make out an ir
How does a parser, a device that imposes an analysis on a string of symbols so that they can be interpreted, work? More specifically, how does the parser in the human cognitive mechanism operate? Usin
Images of the assassination of John F. Kennedy are burned deeply into the memories of millions who watched the events of November 1963 unfold live on television. Never before had America seen an event
Although science may claim to be "objective," scientists cannot avoid the influence of their own values on their research. In The State of Nature, Gregg Mitman examines the relationship between issues
Genetic testing has become so precise that doctors can detect even the most subtle defects in fetuses at almost any time in a pregnancy. But what happens when a woman is told she is carrying a damaged
In this first comprehensive treatment of plant biomechanics, Karl J. Niklas analyzes plant form and provides a far deeper understanding of how form is a response to basic physical laws. He examines th
Breathtaking in scope, this is the first survey of the entire ecological history of life on land--from the earliest traces of terrestrial organisms over 400 million years ago to the beginning of human
The concept of stress pervades modern society, yet there exists no generally accepted definition or classification of stressful experience. This authoritative work is the first to analyze critically t
Between 1948 and 1955, nearly two-thirds of all American families bought a television set—and a revolution in social life and popular culture was launched.In this fascinating book, Lynn Spigel chronic
Sebastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort (1740-1794), whom Nietzsche called the "wittiest of all moralists," is now known for little more than brillian aphorisms that captivated a long line of thinkers, from S
Neutron stars, the most extreme state of matter yet confirmed, are responsible for much of the high-energy radiation detected in the universe. Meszaros provides a general overview of the physics of ma
How do business enterprises control their subunits? In what ways do existing paths of communication within a firm affect its ability to absorb new technology and techniques? How do American banks affe
Because contemporary political philosophy owes a significant debt to the great nineteenth-century German philosophies of history, a sound knowledge of German Idealist philosophy is crucial to an under
A searching collection of investigations into British naval power in the closing centuries of the sailing ship era. The discussions focus on the later seventeenth century strategy of a 'big ship' batt
Edited by the acclaimed scholar Jacob Neusner, this thirty-five volume English translation of the Talmud Yerushalmi has been hailed by the Jewish Spectator as a "project...of immense benefit to studen
Rich in historical detail, Images of a Free Press is an elegant, powerful guide to the evolution of our modern conception of freedom of the press, which finds expression in laws that protect print jo
Why do majority congressional parties seem unable to act as an effective policy-making force? They routinely delegate their power to others—internally to standing committees and subcommittees within e
Donald Davie's poems are here arranged chronologically from the 1950s to the beginning of the 1990s. Taken together, the poems display that reverence for the distinctive qualities of the English langu
Politics and culture are at once semi-autonomous and intertwined. Nowhere is this more revealingly illustrated than in urban design, a field that encompasses architecture and social life, traditions a
Boldly contesting recent scholarship, Sallis argues thatThe Birth of Tragedy is a rethinking of art at thelimit of metaphysics. His close reading focuses on thecomplexity of the Apollinian/Dionysian d
Eugene Narmour formulates a comprehensive theory of melodic syntax to explain cognitive relations between melodic tones at their most basic level. Expanding on the theories of Leonard B. Meyer, the a
Referential Practice is an anthropological study of language use in a contemporary Maya community. It examines the routine conversational practices in which Maya speakers make reference to themselves
An incomparable reference for astrophysicists studying pulsars and other kinds of neutron stars, Theory of Neutron Star Magnetospheres sums up two decades of astrophysical research. It provides in one
