Parallel and Distributed Computing and Networks

What can I do? To what degree do we control our own desires, actions, and fate - or not? These questions haunt us, and have done so, in various forms, for thousands of years. Timothy Rosendale explores the problem of human will and action relative to the Divine - which Luther himself identified as the central issue of the Reformation - and its manifestations in English literary texts from 1580–1670. After an introduction which outlines the broader issues from Sophocles and the Stoics to twentieth-century philosophy, the opening chapter traces the theological history of the agency problem from the New Testament to the seventeenth century. The following chapters address particular aspects of volition and salvation (will, action, struggle, and blame) in the writings of Marlowe, Kyd, Shakespeare, Ford, Herbert, Donne, and Milton, who tackle these problems with an urgency and depth that resonate with parallel concerns today.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union during the Second World War was central to Nazi plans for territorial expansion and genocidal demographic revolution. To create 'living space', Nazi Germany pursued two policies. The first was the systematic murder of millions of Jews, Slavs, Roma, and other groups that the Nazis found undesirable on racial, religious, ethnic, ideological, hereditary, or behavioral grounds. It also pursued a parallel, albeit smaller, program to mobilize supposedly Germanic residents of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union - so-called Volksdeutsche or ethnic Germans - as the vanguard of German expansion. This study recovers the intersection of these two projects in Transnistria, a portion of southern Ukraine that, because of its numerous Volksdeutsche communities, became an epicenter of both Nazi Volksdeutsche policy and the Holocaust in conquered Soviet territory, ultimately asking why local residents, whom German authorities identified as Volksdeutsche, participa

The study of geometric discrepancy, which provides a framework for quantifying the quality of a distribution of a finite set of points, has experienced significant growth in recent decades. This book provides a self-contained course in number theory, Fourier analysis and geometric discrepancy theory, and the relations between them, at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level. It starts as a traditional course in elementary number theory, and introduces the reader to subsequent material on uniform distribution of infinite sequences, and discrepancy of finite sequences. Both modern and classical aspects of the theory are discussed, such as Weyl's criterion, Benford's law, the Koksma–Hlawka inequality, lattice point problems, and irregularities of distribution for convex bodies. Fourier analysis also features prominently, for which the theory is developed in parallel, including topics such as convergence of Fourier series, one-sided trigonometric approximation, the Poisson s

The study of geometric discrepancy, which provides a framework for quantifying the quality of a distribution of a finite set of points, has experienced significant growth in recent decades. This book provides a self-contained course in number theory, Fourier analysis and geometric discrepancy theory, and the relations between them, at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level. It starts as a traditional course in elementary number theory, and introduces the reader to subsequent material on uniform distribution of infinite sequences, and discrepancy of finite sequences. Both modern and classical aspects of the theory are discussed, such as Weyl's criterion, Benford's law, the Koksma–Hlawka inequality, lattice point problems, and irregularities of distribution for convex bodies. Fourier analysis also features prominently, for which the theory is developed in parallel, including topics such as convergence of Fourier series, one-sided trigonometric approximation, the Poisson s

It is widely accepted by New Testament scholars that the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles probably originated as two parts of one work by a single author. In spite of this, the books have been assigned to very different genres: Luke is traditionally viewed as a biography of Jesus, and Acts as a history of the early church. Comparing in detail the structure and content of Acts with the formal features of history, novel, epic and biography, Sean A. Adams challenges this division. Applying both ancient and modern genre theory, he argues that the best genre parallel for the Acts of the Apostles is in fact collected biography. Offering a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of genre theory, along with an insightful argument regarding the composition and purpose of Acts, this book will be of interest to those studying the New Testament, Acts, genre theory and ancient literature.

Whilst under Putin's regime the size of Russia's regular forces has shrunk recently and will continue to do so, its security and paramilitary elements have become increasingly powerful. In fact, recently they have proliferated - as have their special uniforms and kit - and have become disproportionately important, spearheading all recent operations. They seem set to remain Russia's most active armed agencies for the immediate future. In parallel, within the murky world where government and private interests intersect, a number of paramilitary 'private armies' operate almost as vigilantes, with government toleration or approval.This book offers a succinct overview of the official, semi-official and unofficial agencies that pursue Russian government and quasi-government objectives by armed means, from the 200,000-strong Interior Troops, through Police and other independent departmental forces, down to private security firms (in Moscow alone, the largest four security companies have c. 8,

This bold and illuminating study examines the role of archaeology in the formation of the modern Japanese nation and explores the processes by which archaeological practice is shaped by national social and intellectual discourse. Leading Japanese archaeologist Koji Mizoguchi argues that an understanding of the past has been a central component in the creation of national identities and modern nation states and that, since its emergence as a distinct academic discipline in the modern era, archaeology has played an important role in shaping that understanding. By examining in parallel the uniquely intense process of modernisation experienced by Japan and the history of Japanese archaeology, Mizoguchi explores the close interrelationship between archaeology, society and modernity, helping to explain why we do archaeology in the way that we do. This book is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the history of archaeology or modern Japan.

This bold and illuminating study examines the role of archaeology in the formation of the modern Japanese nation and explores the processes by which archaeological practice is shaped by national social and intellectual discourse. Leading Japanese archaeologist Koji Mizoguchi argues that an understanding of the past has been a central component in the creation of national identities and modern nation states and that, since its emergence as a distinct academic discipline in the modern era, archaeology has played an important role in shaping that understanding. By examining in parallel the uniquely intense process of modernisation experienced by Japan and the history of Japanese archaeology, Mizoguchi explores the close interrelationship between archaeology, society and modernity, helping to explain why we do archaeology in the way that we do. This book is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the history of archaeology or modern Japan.

In this book, Brian Forst takes a fresh perspective on the assessment of criminal justice policy, examining the prospect of assessing policies based on their impact on errors of justice: the error of failing to bring offenders to justice, on the one hand, and the error of imposing costs on innocent people and excessive costs on offenders, on the other. Noting that we have sophisticated systems for managing errors in statistical inference and quality control processes and no parallel system for managing errors of a more socially costly variety - on matters of guilt and innocence - the author lays the foundation for a common sense approach to the management of errors in the criminal justice system, from policing and prosecution to sentencing and corrections. He examines the sources of error in each sector, the harms they impose on society, and frameworks for analyzing and reducing them.

In the aftermath of the Port Arthur shootings, Dunblane or the schoolyard killings in America, communities try to come to terms with private and public trauma and there is a need to understand what kind of person can commit such terrible acts. The problem of how to understand dangerousness often centres on the role of the mental health and criminal justice systems and it is from the intersection of these two institutions that the categorisation of dangerous persons has emerged. This 2001 book traces the history of the category of antisocial personality disorder and shows how it is linked to particular kinds of governing. It examines key legal and institutional developments in Australia, the UK and the US and also parallel developments within psychiatry and psychological medicine. Applying a social theoretical analysis to this material, McCallum challenges our assumptions about the formation and control concepts of dangerousness and personality.

An original comprehensive guide on computational nanomechanics discussing basic concepts and implications in areas such as computational physics, materials, mechanics and engineering as well as several other interdisciplinary avenues. This book makes the underlying theory accessible to readers without specialised training or extensive background in quantum physics, statistical mechanics, or theoretical chemistry. It combines a careful treatment of theoretical concepts with a detailed tutorial on computer software and computing implementation, including multiscale simulation and computational statistical theory. Multidisciplinary perspectives are provided, yielding a true insight on the applications of computational nanomechanics across diverse engineering fields. The book can serve as a practical guide with step-by-step discussion of coding, example problems and case studies. This book will be essential reading for students new to the subject, as well as an excellent reference for gra

This new edition of Professor Sethian's successful text provides an introduction to level set methods and fast marching methods, which are powerful numerical techniques for analyzing and computing interface motion in a host of settings. They rely on a fundamental shift in how one views moving boundaries; rethinking the natural geometric Lagrangian perspective and exchanging it for an Eulerian, initial value partial differential equation perspective. For this edition, the collection of applications provided in the text has been expanded, including examples from physics, chemistry, fluid mechanics, combustion, image processing, material science, fabrication of microelectronic components, computer vision, computer-aided design, and optimal control theory. This book will be a useful resource for mathematicians, applied scientists, practising engineers, computer graphic artists, and anyone interested in the evolution of boundaries and interfaces.

This volume examines the archaeology of precolonial West African societies in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Using historical and archaeological perspectives on landscape, this collection of essays sheds light on how involvement in the commercial revolutions of the early modern period dramatically reshaped the regional contours of political organization across West Africa. The essays examine how social and political transformations occurred at the regional level by exploring regional economic networks, population shifts, cultural values and ideologies. The book demonstrates the importance of anthropological insights not only to the broad political history of West Africa, but also to an understanding of political culture as a form of meaningful social practice.

It is often said that quantum technologies are poised to change the world as we know it, but cutting through the hype, what will quantum technologies actually mean for countries and their citizens? In Law and Policy for the Quantum Age, Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Simson L. Garfinkel explain the genesis of quantum information science (QIS) and the resulting quantum technologies that are most exciting: quantum sensing, computing, and communication. This groundbreaking, timely text explains how quantum technologies work, how countries will likely employ QIS for future national defense and what the legal landscapes will be for these nations, and how companies might (or might not) profit from the technology. Hoofnagle and Garfinkel argue that the consequences of QIS are so profound that we must begin planning for them today. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

It is often said that quantum technologies are poised to change the world as we know it, but cutting through the hype, what will quantum technologies actually mean for countries and their citizens? In Law and Policy for the Quantum Age, Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Simson L. Garfinkel explain the genesis of quantum information science (QIS) and the resulting quantum technologies that are most exciting: quantum sensing, computing, and communication. This groundbreaking, timely text explains how quantum technologies work, how countries will likely employ QIS for future national defense and what the legal landscapes will be for these nations, and how companies might (or might not) profit from the technology. Hoofnagle and Garfinkel argue that the consequences of QIS are so profound that we must begin planning for them today. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Boolean functions are essential to systems for secure and reliable communication. This comprehensive survey of Boolean functions for cryptography and coding covers the whole domain and all important results, building on the author's influential articles with additional topics and recent results. A useful resource for researchers and graduate students, the book balances detailed discussions of properties and parameters with examples of various types of cryptographic attacks that motivate the consideration of these parameters. It provides all the necessary background on mathematics, cryptography, and coding, and an overview on recent applications, such as side channel attacks on smart cards, cloud computing through fully homomorphic encryption, and local pseudo-random generators. The result is a complete and accessible text on the state of the art in single and multiple output Boolean functions that illustrates the interaction between mathematics, computer science, and telecommunications

Our technologies are progressively developing into algorithmic devices that seamlessly interface with digital personhood. This text discusses the ways in which technology is increasingly becoming a part of personhood and the resulting ethical issues. It extends upon the framework for a brain-based cyberpsychology outlined by the author's earlier book Cyberpsychology and the Brain: The Interaction of Neuroscience and Affective Computing (Cambridge, 2017). Using this framework, Thomas D. Parsons investigates the ethical issues involved in cyberpsychology research and praxes, which emerge in algorithmically coupled people and technologies. The ethical implications of these ideas are important as we consider the cognitive enhancements that can be afforded by our technologies. If people are intimately linked to their technologies, then removing or damaging the technology could be tantamount to a personal attack. On the other hand, algorithmic devices may threaten autonomy and privacy. This

Our technologies are progressively developing into algorithmic devices that seamlessly interface with digital personhood. This text discusses the ways in which technology is increasingly becoming a part of personhood and the resulting ethical issues. It extends upon the framework for a brain-based cyberpsychology outlined by the author's earlier book Cyberpsychology and the Brain: The Interaction of Neuroscience and Affective Computing (Cambridge, 2017). Using this framework, Thomas D. Parsons investigates the ethical issues involved in cyberpsychology research and praxes, which emerge in algorithmically coupled people and technologies. The ethical implications of these ideas are important as we consider the cognitive enhancements that can be afforded by our technologies. If people are intimately linked to their technologies, then removing or damaging the technology could be tantamount to a personal attack. On the other hand, algorithmic devices may threaten autonomy and privacy. This

Wick ordering of creation and annihilation operators is of fundamental importance for computing averages and correlations in quantum field theory and, by extension, in the Hudson–Parthasarathy theory of quantum stochastic processes, quantum mechanics, stochastic processes, and probability. This book develops the unified combinatorial framework behind these examples, starting with the simplest mathematically, and working up to the Fock space setting for quantum fields. Emphasizing ideas from combinatorics such as the role of lattice of partitions for multiple stochastic integrals by Wallstrom–Rota and combinatorial species by Joyal, it presents insights coming from quantum probability. It also introduces a 'field calculus' which acts as a succinct alternative to standard Feynman diagrams and formulates quantum field theory (cumulant moments, Dyson–Schwinger equation, tree expansions, 1-particle irreducibility) in this language. Featuring many worked examples, the book is aimed at mathem

Computational vision deals with the underlying mathematical and computational models for how visual information is processed. Whether the processing is biological or machine, there are fundamental questions related to how the information is processed. How should information be represented? How should information be transduced in order to highlight features of interest while suppressing noise and other artefacts of the image capture process? Computational Vision in Neural and Machine Systems address these and other questions in 13 chapters, divided into three sections, which overlap between biological and computational systems: dynamical systems; attention, motion, and eye-movements; and stereovision. The editors have brought together the best and brightest minds in the field of computational vision, combining research from both biology and computing and enhancing the developing synergy between computational and biological visual modelling communities. Aimed at researchers and graduate

William Reno provides a powerful, scholarly yet shocking account of the inner workings of an African state. He focuses upon the ties between foreign firms and African rulers in Sierra Leone, where politicians and warlords use private networks that exploit relationships with international businesses to buttress their wealth and so extend their powers of patronage. This permits them to expand the reach of their governments in unorthodox ways, but in the process they undermine the bureaucracty of their own states. Dr Reno suggests that as the post-colonial state is eroded there is a return to the enclave economies and private armies that characterised the pre-colonial and colonial arrangements between European businessmen or administrators and some African political figures.

Intellectual disability - ranging from what is more commonly described as 'mental retardation' to 'learning difficulties' - is a socially constructed phenomenon that varies in important respects cross-culturally. This collection of original essays examines the classification of people as competent and incompetent in the United States, England, Wales, Greece, Greenland, Uganda, and Belize. The contributors, anthropologists and sociologists, argue that it is time for a new understanding of intellectual disability. In contrast to medical and psychological models, a social model of intellectual disability emphasises the cultural and individual variability of incompetence, the intimate relationship between cultural categories of competence and incompetence, and the role of social interaction and networks in its social construction. This book Is an original contribution to ongoing theoretical and policy debates about disability.

Path integrals provide a powerful method for describing quantum phenomena. This book introduces the quantum mechanics of particles that move in curved space by employing path integrals and then using them to compute anomalies in quantum field theories. The authors start by deriving path integrals for particles moving in curved space and their supersymmetric generalizations. They then discuss the regularization schemes essential to constructing and computing these path integrals. This topic is used to introduce regularization and renormalization in quantum field theories in a wider context. These methods are then applied to discuss and calculate anomalies in quantum field theory. Such anomalies provide enormous constraints in the search for physical theories of elementary particles, quantum gravity and string theories. An advanced text for researchers and graduate students of quantum field theory and string theory, the first part is also a stand-alone introduction to path integrals in q

Charles Babbage was a key figure of a great era of British history. Best remembered for his pioneering Difference and Analytical Engines, forerunners of the modern computer, Babbage was also an active reformer of science and society. Among his friends were the Bonapartes, the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Somerset, Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace and the reforming Earl of Shaftesbury, whose interest Babbage directed to the factories. In this book, Anthony Hyman has selected passages from Babbage's many publications, including his proposals on profit sharing and life peerages and his ideas on such topics as the applications of science, scientific management, taxation and life assurance. Setting each extract in perspective, Hyman has provided the passages with an explanatory editorial commentary. Together with his concern for the systematic application of science, technology and mathematical method to commercial, industrial and economic problems, his work on computing makes Charles Babba

Path integrals provide a powerful method for describing quantum phenomena. This book introduces the quantum mechanics of particles that move in curved space by employing path integrals and then using them to compute anomalies in quantum field theories. The authors start by deriving path integrals for particles moving in curved space and their supersymmetric generalizations. They then discuss the regularization schemes essential to constructing and computing these path integrals. This topic is used to introduce regularization and renormalization in quantum field theories in a wider context. These methods are then applied to discuss and calculate anomalies in quantum field theory. Such anomalies provide enormous constraints in the search for physical theories of elementary particles, quantum gravity and string theories. An advanced text for researchers and graduate students of quantum field theory and string theory, the first part is also a stand-alone introduction to path integrals in q

Leading young scientists, many holding prestigious Royal Society Research Fellowships, describe their research and give their visions of the future. Re-written in a popular and well illustrated style, the articles are derived from scholarly and authoritative papers published in a special Millennium Issue of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions (used by Newton, this is the world's longest running scientific journal). Carefully selected by the journal's editor, Professor J. M. T. Thompson FRS, topics include quantum physics and its relation to relativity theory and human consciousness; electronics for the future; exotic quantum computing and data storage; telecommunications and the internet. The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the young authors for their work in Physics and Electronics. Two companion books cover Astronomy and Earth Science, and Chemistry and Life Science. All are definitive reviews for anyone with a general interest in the future directions of sci

What difference does law make in immigration policymaking? Since the 1970s, networks of progressive attorneys in both the US and France have attempted to use litigation to assert rights for non-citizens. Yet judicial engagement - while numerically voluminous - remains doctrinally curtailed. This study offers new insights into the constitutive role of law in immigration policymaking by focusing on the legal frames, narratives, and performances forged through action in court. Challenging the conventional wisdom that 'cause litigation' has little long-term impact on policymaking unless it produces broad rights-protective principles, this book shows that legal contestation can have important radiating effects on policy by reshaping how political actors approach immigration issues. Based on extensive fieldwork in the United States and France, this book explores the paths by which litigation has effected policy change in two paradigmatically different national contexts.

What difference does law make in immigration policymaking? Since the 1970s, networks of progressive attorneys in both the US and France have attempted to use litigation to assert rights for non-citizens. Yet judicial engagement - while numerically voluminous - remains doctrinally curtailed. This study offers new insights into the constitutive role of law in immigration policymaking by focusing on the legal frames, narratives, and performances forged through action in court. Challenging the conventional wisdom that 'cause litigation' has little long-term impact on policymaking unless it produces broad rights-protective principles, this book shows that legal contestation can have important radiating effects on policy by reshaping how political actors approach immigration issues. Based on extensive fieldwork in the United States and France, this book explores the paths by which litigation has effected policy change in two paradigmatically different national contexts.

Data Communication and Networking, First Edition provides a solid, thorough overview of data communications and networking for Engineering Technology programs. This text covers information for one or more courses spanning digital communication systems, computer communication and networks, and data communications. It is specifically written and designed for engineering and engineering technology learners by using a systematic and visual approach with abundant tables, illustrations, and practical examples making it easy for students to comprehend concepts. Content begins with data communication, signal conversion and issues in data transmission. Each chapter includes an introduction, summary of key information, as well as practice questions and problems with answers. The text also includes coverage of network and network standards, Ethernet, network components and Transmission Control and Internets Protocols (TCP/IP). The integration of applications and laboratory experiments are found t

Many exciting frontiers of science and engineering require understanding the spatiotemporal properties of sustained nonequilibrium systems such as fluids, plasmas, reacting and diffusing chemicals, crystals solidifying from a melt, heart muscle, and networks of excitable neurons in brains. This introductory textbook for graduate students in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics provides a systematic account of the basic science common to these diverse areas. This book provides a careful pedagogical motivation of key concepts, discusses why diverse nonequilibrium systems often show similar patterns and dynamics, and gives a balanced discussion of the role of experiments, simulation, and analytics. It contains numerous worked examples and over 150 exercises. This book will also interest scientists who want to learn about the experiments, simulations, and theory that explain how complex patterns form in sustained nonequilibrium systems.

Whether processes in the natural world are dependent or independent of the scale at which they operate is one of the major issues in hydrologic science. In this volume, leading hydrologists present their views on the role of scale effects in hydrologic phenomena occurring in a range of field settings, from the land surface to deep fractured rock. Self-contained and thought-provoking chapters cover both theoretical and applied hydrology. They provide critical insights into important topics such as general circulation models, floods, river networks, vadose-zone processes, groundwater transport, and fluid flow through fractured media. This book is intended as an accessible introduction for graduate students and researchers to some of the most significant questions and challenges that will face hydrologic science in the twenty-first century.

Whether processes in the natural world are dependent or independent of the scale at which they operate is one of the major issues in hydrologic science. In this volume, leading hydrologists present their views on the role of scale effects in hydrologic phenomena occurring in a range of field settings, from the land surface to deep fractured rock. Self-contained and thought-provoking chapters cover both theoretical and applied hydrology. They provide critical insights into important topics such as general circulation models, floods, river networks, vadose-zone processes, groundwater transport, and fluid flow through fractured media. This book is intended as an accessible introduction for graduate students and researchers to some of the most significant questions and challenges that will face hydrologic science in the twenty-first century.

Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea has experienced growing economic markets, an emerging 'nouveau riche,' and modest levels of urban development. To what extent is North Korean politics and society changing? How has the growth of markets transformed state-society relations? This Element evaluates the shifting relationship between state, society, and markets in a deeply authoritarian context. If the regime implements controlled economic measures, extracts rent, and subsumes the market economy into its ideology, the state will likely retain strong authoritarian control. Conversely, if it fails to incorporate markets into its legitimating message, as private actors build informal trust networks, share information, and collude with state bureaucrats, more fundamental changes in state-society relations are in order. By opening the 'black box' of North Korea, this Element reveals how the country manages to teeter forward, and where its domestic future may lie.

In Borrowing Together, Becky Hsu examines the social aspects of the most intriguing element of group-lending microfinance: social collateral. She investigates the details of the social relationships among fellow borrowers and between borrowers and lenders, finding that these relationships are the key that explains the outcomes in rural China. People access money through their social networks, but they also do the opposite: cultivate their social relationships by moving money. Hsu not only looks closely at what transpired in the course of a microfinance intervention, but also reverses the gaze to examine the expectations that brought the program to the site in the first place. Hsu explains why microfinance's 'articles of faith' failed to comprehend the influence of longstanding relationships and the component of morality, and how they raise doubts - not only about microfinance - but also about the larger goals of development research.

The aftermath of the Popish Plot and the subsequent succession crisis of the years 1678 to 1681 are the context for this new study. It asks two key questions: was there an exclusion crisis? and did these years witness the birth of modern political parties? The author argues that the unrest was not simply due to a centrally organized party machine based around the single issue of exclusion; but was a broad-based controversy about the succession, fears of popery and arbitrary government which produced ideological polarization and political sophistication. Part One examines central politics to explore the succession crisis within the context of the court and an emergent political structure. Part Two explores public opinion in the country as a whole, and argues that propaganda electioneering, religious conflict and petitions committed men to organized networks of belief.

Political economy is the study of decentralized and centralized mechanisms for allocating resources and distributing incomes: markets and states. Both markets and states can be organized and combined in a variety of ways and they jointly determine what the economy produces as well as who gets what. The purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to the concepts and tools for studying relations between states and markets. The focus is methodological. Both the economy and the state are analyzed as networks of relations between principals and agents, occupying particular places in the institutional structure. Having introduced the principal-agent framework, the book analyzes systematically the effect of the organization of the state on the functioning of the economy. The central question is under what conditions government will do what they should be doing and not do what they should not.

Political economy is the study of decentralized and centralized mechanisms for allocating resources and distributing incomes: markets and states. Both markets and states can be organized and combined in a variety of ways and they jointly determine what the economy produces as well as who gets what. The purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to the concepts and tools for studying relations between states and markets. The focus is methodological. Both the economy and the state are analyzed as networks of relations between principals and agents, occupying particular places in the institutional structure. Having introduced the principal-agent framework, the book analyzes systematically the effect of the organization of the state on the functioning of the economy. The central question is under what conditions government will do what they should be doing and not do what they should not.

This volume is the first holistic investigation of Roman literature and literary culture under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian (AD 96–138). With case studies from Frontinus, Juvenal, Martial, Pliny the Younger, Plutarch, Quintilian, Suetonius and Tacitus among others, the eighteen chapters offer not just innovative readings of literary (and some 'less literary') texts, but a collaborative enquiry into the networks and culture in which they are embedded. The book brings together established and novel methodologies to explore the connections, conversations and silences between these texts and their authors, both on and off the page. The scholarly dialogues that result not only shed fresh light on the dynamics of literary production and consumption in the 'High Roman Empire', but offer new provocations to students of intertextuality and interdiscursivity across classical literature. How can and should we read textual interactions in their social, literary and cultural contexts?

Richard Curtin has directed the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment surveys for more than four decades. His analyses of recent trends in consumer expectations are regularly covered in the worldwide press. In this book, Curtin presents a new theory of expectations. Whereas conventional theories presume that consumers play a passive role in the macro economy, simply reacting to current trends in incomes, prices, and interest rates, Curtin proposes a new empirically consistent theory. He argues that expectations are formed by an automatic process that utilizes conscious and nonconscious processes, passion and reason, information from public and private sources, and social networks. Consumers ultimately reach a decision that serves both the micro decision needs of individuals and reflects the common influence of the macro environment. Drawing on empirical observations, Curtin not only demonstrates the importance of consumer sentiment, but also how it can foreshadow the cyclical tur

Some of the world's most lethal terrorist organizations have become media-centric enterprises, while also hijacking a major world religion, holding large swathes of physical territory, and governing their own virtual states. In this concise and penetrating book, Seib traces how terrorism has proliferated and increased significantly in menace in the relatively brief period between the rise of al-Qaeda and the creation of Islamic State. With close attention to the linkages between media, religion, and violence, the book offers incisive analysis of how organizations such as Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram operate and reflects on how terrorism may continue to evolve. Seib argues that twenty-first-century terrorism is enabled by new media and depends on social networks as connective tissue, while interacting simultaneously with religion and socio-economic and political grievances. As Terrorism Evolves prescribes new measures for counterterrorism efforts, underscores the importance