Introduction to Computing

Drawing on over twenty years of teaching experience, this comprehensive yet self-contained text provides an in-depth introduction to the field of integrated microwave electronics. Ideal for a first course on the subject, it covers essential topics such as passive components and transistors, linear, low-noise and power amplifiers, and microwave measurements. An entire chapter is devoted to CAD techniques for analysis and design, covering examples of easy-to-medium difficulty for both linear and non-linear subsystems, and supported online by ADS and AWR project files. More advanced topics are also covered, providing an up-to-date overview of compound semiconductor technologies and treatment of electromagnetic issues and models. Readers can test their knowledge with end-of-chapter questions and numerical problems, and solutions and lecture slides are available online for instructors. This is essential reading for graduate and senior undergraduate students taking courses in microwave, radi

Volume 1 of the Cambridge World History is an introduction to both the discipline of world history and the earliest phases of world history up to 10,000 BCE. In Part I leading scholars outline the approaches, methods, and themes that have shaped and defined world history scholarship across the world and right up to the present day. Chapters examine the historiographical development of the field globally, periodisation, divergence and convergence, belief and knowledge, technology and innovation, family, gender, anthropology, migration, and fire. Part II surveys the vast Palaeolithic era, which laid the foundations for human history, concentrating on the most recent phases of hominin evolution, the rise of Homo sapiens and the very earliest human societies through to the end of the last ice age. Anthropologists, archaeologists, historical linguists and historians examine climate and tools, language, and culture, as well as offering regional perspectives from across the world.

Waves and flows are pervasive on and within Earth. This book presents a unified physical and mathematical approach to waves and flows in the atmosphere, oceans, rivers, volcanoes and the mantle, emphasizing the common physical principles and mathematical methods that apply to a variety of phenomena and disciplines. It is organized into seven parts: introductory material; kinematics, dynamics and rheology; waves in non-rotating fluids; waves in rotating fluids; non-rotating flows; rotating flows; and silicate flows. The chapters are supplemented by 47 'fundaments', containing knowledge that is fundamental to the material presented in the main text, organized into seven appendices: mathematics; dimensions and units; kinematics; dynamics; thermodynamics; waves; and flows. This book is an ideal reference for graduate students and researchers seeking an introduction to the mathematics of waves and flows in the Earth system, and will serve as a supplementary textbook for a number of courses

In this accessible introduction, Mike Sharwood Smith provides a working model or 'map' of the mind, with language as its centrepiece. Drawing on cutting-edge research across linguistics, psychology and neuroscience, it allows students to quickly grasp how each separate aspect of the mind's operations can be related. This 'big picture' view includes the way the mind makes, stores and loses memories of all kinds as well how its various 'expert systems' combine and collaborate to solve, typically beyond our conscious awareness, the myriad of tasks we are faced with every minute and millisecond of our existence. The book also focuses on language, that is, the mind of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual speakers. It will be of interest to all students wishing to learn more about the complex relationship between language - one of the most important ways in which we define ourselves as human - and the mind.

In this accessible introduction, Mike Sharwood Smith provides a working model or 'map' of the mind, with language as its centrepiece. Drawing on cutting-edge research across linguistics, psychology and neuroscience, it allows students to quickly grasp how each separate aspect of the mind's operations can be related. This 'big picture' view includes the way the mind makes, stores and loses memories of all kinds as well how its various 'expert systems' combine and collaborate to solve, typically beyond our conscious awareness, the myriad of tasks we are faced with every minute and millisecond of our existence. The book also focuses on language, that is, the mind of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual speakers. It will be of interest to all students wishing to learn more about the complex relationship between language - one of the most important ways in which we define ourselves as human - and the mind.

Maple is a powerful symbolic computation system that is widely used in universities around the world. This short introduction gives readers an insight into the rules that control how the system works, and how to understand, fix, and avoid common problems. Topics covered include algebra, calculus, linear algebra, graphics, programming, and procedures. Each chapter contains numerous illustrative examples, using mathematics that does not extend beyond first-year undergraduate material. Maple worksheets containing these examples are available for download from the author's personal website. The book is suitable for new users, but where advanced topics are central to understanding Maple they are tackled head-on. Many concepts which are absent from introductory books and manuals are described in detail. With this book, students, teachers and researchers will gain a solid understanding of Maple and how to use it to solve complex mathematical problems in a simple and efficient way.

Should babies sleep alone in cribs, or in bed with parents? Is talking to babies useful, or a waste of time? A World of Babies provides different answers to these and countless other childrearing questions, precisely because diverse communities around the world hold drastically different beliefs about parenting. While celebrating that diversity, the book also explores the challenges that poverty, globalization and violence pose for parents. Fully updated for the twenty-first century, this edition features a new introduction and eight new or revised case studies that directly address contemporary parenting challenges, from China and Peru to Israel and the West Bank. Written as imagined advice manuals to parents, the creative format of this book brings alive a rich body of knowledge that highlights many models of baby-rearing - each shaped by deeply held values and widely varying cultural contexts. Parenthood may never again seem a matter of 'common sense'.

Should babies sleep alone in cribs, or in bed with parents? Is talking to babies useful, or a waste of time? A World of Babies provides different answers to these and countless other childrearing questions, precisely because diverse communities around the world hold drastically different beliefs about parenting. While celebrating that diversity, the book also explores the challenges that poverty, globalization and violence pose for parents. Fully updated for the twenty-first century, this edition features a new introduction and eight new or revised case studies that directly address contemporary parenting challenges, from China and Peru to Israel and the West Bank. Written as imagined advice manuals to parents, the creative format of this book brings alive a rich body of knowledge that highlights many models of baby-rearing - each shaped by deeply held values and widely varying cultural contexts. Parenthood may never again seem a matter of 'common sense'.

Outlining a revolutionary reformulation of the foundations of perturbative quantum field theory, this book is a self-contained and authoritative analysis of the application of this new formulation to the case of planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory. The book begins by deriving connections between scattering amplitudes and Grassmannian geometry from first principles before introducing novel physical and mathematical ideas in a systematic manner accessible to both physicists and mathematicians. The principle players in this process are on-shell functions which are closely related to certain sub-strata of Grassmannian manifolds called positroids - in terms of which the classification of on-shell functions and their relations becomes combinatorially manifest. This is an essential introduction to the geometry and combinatorics of the positroid stratification of the Grassmannian and an ideal text for advanced students and researchers working in the areas of field theory, high e

The subject of special functions is often presented as a collection of disparate results, rarely organized in a coherent way. This book emphasizes general principles that unify and demarcate the subjects of study. The authors' main goals are to provide clear motivation, efficient proofs, and original references for all of the principal results. The book covers standard material, but also much more. It shows how much of the subject can be traced back to two equations - the hypergeometric equation and confluent hypergeometric equation - and it details the ways in which these equations are canonical and special. There is extended coverage of orthogonal polynomials, including connections to approximation theory, continued fractions, and the moment problem, as well as an introduction to new asymptotic methods. There are also chapters on Meijer G-functions and elliptic functions. The final chapter introduces Painlevé transcendents, which have been termed the 'special functions of the twenty-

The theory of random graphs is a vital part of the education of any researcher entering the fascinating world of combinatorics. However, due to their diverse nature, the geometric and structural aspects of the theory often remain an obscure part of the formative study of young combinatorialists and probabilists. Moreover, the theory itself, even in its most basic forms, is often considered too advanced to be part of undergraduate curricula, and those who are interested usually learn it mostly through self-study, covering a lot of its fundamentals but little of the more recent developments. This book provides a self-contained and concise introduction to recent developments and techniques for classical problems in the theory of random graphs. Moreover, it covers geometric and topological aspects of the theory and introduces the reader to the diversity and depth of the methods that have been devised in this context.

The theory of random graphs is a vital part of the education of any researcher entering the fascinating world of combinatorics. However, due to their diverse nature, the geometric and structural aspects of the theory often remain an obscure part of the formative study of young combinatorialists and probabilists. Moreover, the theory itself, even in its most basic forms, is often considered too advanced to be part of undergraduate curricula, and those who are interested usually learn it mostly through self-study, covering a lot of its fundamentals but little of the more recent developments. This book provides a self-contained and concise introduction to recent developments and techniques for classical problems in the theory of random graphs. Moreover, it covers geometric and topological aspects of the theory and introduces the reader to the diversity and depth of the methods that have been devised in this context.

Developed for Introduction to Soils or Soil Science courses,The Nature and Properties of Soils, Fifteenth Edition, can be used in courses such as Soil Fertility, Land Resources, Earth Science and Soil Geography.Help readers learn about soils and their connections to the ecosystemThe Nature and Properties of Soils is designed to engage readers with the latest in the world of soils. This hallmark text introduces the exciting world of soils through clear writing, strong pedagogy, and an ecological approach that effectively explains the fundamentals of soil science. Worked calculations, vignettes, and current real-world applications prepare readers to understand concepts, solve problems, and think critically. Written for both majors and non-majors, this text highlights the many interactions between the soil and other components of forest, range, agricultural, wetland and constructed ecosystems.Now in full-color, the Fifteenth Edition includes hundreds of compelling photos, figures, and dia

The past decade has witnessed dramatic developments in the fields of experimental and theoretical particle physics and cosmology. This fully updated second edition is a comprehensive introduction to these recent developments and brings this self-contained textbook right up to date. Brand new material for this edition includes the groundbreaking Higgs discovery, results of the WMAP and Planck experiments. Extensive discussion of theories of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking and a new chapter on the landscape, as well as a completely rewritten coda on future directions gives readers a modern perspective on this developing field. A focus on three principle areas: supersymmetry, string theory, and astrophysics and cosmology provide the structure for this book which will be of great interest to graduates and researchers in the fields of particle theory, string theory, astrophysics and cosmology. The book contains several problems, and password-protected solutions will be available to

Software is pervasive in our lives. We are accustomed to dealing with the failures of much of that software - restarting an application is a very familiar solution. Such solutions are unacceptable when the software controls our cars, airplanes and medical devices or manages our private information. These applications must run without error. SPARK provides a means, based on mathematical proof, to guarantee that a program has no errors. SPARK is a formally defined programming language and a set of verification tools specifically designed to support the development of software used in high integrity applications. Using SPARK, developers can formally verify properties of their code such as information flow, freedom from runtime errors, functional correctness, security properties and safety properties. Written by two SPARK experts, this is the first introduction to the just-released 2014 version. It will help students and developers alike master the basic concepts for building systems with

Software is pervasive in our lives. We are accustomed to dealing with the failures of much of that software - restarting an application is a very familiar solution. Such solutions are unacceptable when the software controls our cars, airplanes and medical devices or manages our private information. These applications must run without error. SPARK provides a means, based on mathematical proof, to guarantee that a program has no errors. SPARK is a formally defined programming language and a set of verification tools specifically designed to support the development of software used in high integrity applications. Using SPARK, developers can formally verify properties of their code such as information flow, freedom from runtime errors, functional correctness, security properties and safety properties. Written by two SPARK experts, this is the first introduction to the just-released 2014 version. It will help students and developers alike master the basic concepts for building systems with

A History of the Indian Novel in English traces the development of the Indian novel from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century up until the present day. Beginning with an extensive introduction that charts important theoretical contributions to the field, this History includes extensive essays that shed light on the legacy of English in Indian writing. Organized thematically, these essays examine how English was 'made Indian' by writers who used the language to address specifically Indian concerns. Such concerns revolved around the question of what it means to be modern as well as how the novel could be used for anti-colonial activism. By the 1980s, the Indian novel in English was a global phenomenon, and India is now the third largest publisher of English-language books. Written by a host of leading scholars, this History invites readers to question conventional accounts of India's literary history.

Child and family law tells us much about how a society operates, since it touches the lives of everyone living in that society. In this volume, a variety of experts examine child and family law in thirteen countries - Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and the United States. Each chapter identifies the imperatives and influences that have prevailed to date and offers informed predictions of how it will develop in the years to come. A common chapter structure facilitates comparison of the jurisdictions, and in the introduction the editor highlights common trends and salient differences. The Future of Child and Family Law therefore provides practitioners, academics and policy-makers with access not just to an overview of child and family law in a range of countries around the world, but also to insights into what has shaped it and options for reform.

The Roman poet Catullus is one of the most popular and frequently studied ancient authors. His poems were written just over two thousand years ago during the chaotic but culturally vibrant final decades of the Republic and deal with themes of passion and grief, friendship and enmity, politics, literature and myth. This new translation, the product of a collaborative effort between a classicist and a poet, allows modern readers to experience his poems rather as his ancient Roman audience did. The poems are presented as contemporary and concise with a new energy and pace that both enhance Catullus' appeal for non-specialists and challenge specialists to consider his work from a fresh perspective. Extensive notes are provided, as well as an introduction which takes account of modern poetics and popular culture. The translation will appeal not only to classicists but also to lovers of literature in general and poetry in particular.

The Roman poet Catullus is one of the most popular and frequently studied ancient authors. His poems were written just over two thousand years ago during the chaotic but culturally vibrant final decades of the Republic and deal with themes of passion and grief, friendship and enmity, politics, literature and myth. This new translation, the product of a collaborative effort between a classicist and a poet, allows modern readers to experience his poems rather as his ancient Roman audience did. The poems are presented as contemporary and concise with a new energy and pace that both enhance Catullus' appeal for non-specialists and challenge specialists to consider his work from a fresh perspective. Extensive notes are provided, as well as an introduction which takes account of modern poetics and popular culture. The translation will appeal not only to classicists but also to lovers of literature in general and poetry in particular.

The two books of Sextus Empiricus' Against the Physicists have not received much attention in their own right, as sustained and methodical specimens of sceptical philosophy. This volume redresses the balance by offering a series of in-depth studies on them, focusing in particular on their overall argumentative structure and on the various ways in which their formal features relate to their contents, showing how Sextus' procedures vary from one section to the other, and throwing new light on the way he was using his sources. It follows Sextus' own division of these two books into nine successive topics, namely god, cause, wholes and parts, body, place, motion, time, number, coming-to-be and passing-away. These nine chapters are preceded by an introduction which discusses a number of general features of Sextus' scepticism and links the conclusions of this volume to some recent discussions on the scope of ancient scepticism.

Covering both astronomical and geophysical perspectives, this book describes changes in the Earth's orientation, specifically precession and nutation, and how they are observed and computed in terms of tidal forcing and models of the Earth's interior. Following an introduction to key concepts and elementary geodetic theory, the book describes how precise measurements of the Earth's orientation are made using observations of extra-galactic radio-sources by Very Long Baseline Interferometry techniques. It demonstrates how models are used to accurately pinpoint the location and orientation of the Earth with reference to the stars, and how to determine variations in its rotation speed. A theoretical framework is also presented that describes the role played by the structure and properties of the Earth's deep interior. Incorporating suggestions for future developments in nutation theory for the next generation models, this book is ideal for advanced-level students and researchers in solid E

This translation of The Science of Logic (also known as 'Greater Logic') includes the revised Book I (1832), Book II (1813) and Book III (1816). Recent research has given us a detailed picture of the process that led Hegel to his final conception of the System and of the place of the Logic within it. We now understand how and why Hegel distanced himself from Schelling, how radical this break with his early mentor was, and to what extent it entailed a return (but with a difference) to Fichte and Kant. In the introduction to the volume, George Di Giovanni presents in synoptic form the results of recent scholarship on the subject, and, while recognizing the fault lines in Hegel's System that allow opposite interpretations, argues that the Logic marks the end of classical metaphysics. The translation is accompanied by a full apparatus of historical and explanatory notes.

Focusing on simplified models of physical flow processes, this book develops a series of quantitative models to describe the recovery of oil and gas from hydrocarbon reservoirs (including fracking), the physics of geo-sequestration of CO2, geothermal power production, and the potential for underground contaminant dispersal in the long-term storage of nuclear waste. The author approaches these problems by developing simplified mathematical models and identifying the key dimensionless variables that control the processes. This analysis is then used to demonstrate the challenges and constraints of modelling flow in complex and heterogeneous rocks, which often have uncertain flow properties. Analytical solutions for flows are provided where possible, and analogue laboratory experiments are also presented to help illustrate and provide a different perspective on the flows. Incorporating end-of-chapter exercises, this is an important introduction to the different controls on flow in porous r

Serving both as an introduction to the subject and as a reference, this book presents the theory in elegant form and with modern concepts and notation. It covers the general theory and emphasizes the classical types of orthogonal polynomials whose weight functions are supported on standard domains. The approach is a blend of classical analysis and symmetry group theoretic methods. Finite reflection groups are used to motivate and classify symmetries of weight functions and the associated polynomials. This revised edition has been updated throughout to reflect recent developments in the field. It contains 25% new material, including two brand new chapters on orthogonal polynomials in two variables, which will be especially useful for applications, and orthogonal polynomials on the unit sphere. The most modern and complete treatment of the subject available, it will be useful to a wide audience of mathematicians and applied scientists, including physicists, chemists and engineers.

The case-control approach is a powerful method for investigating factors that may explain a particular event. It is extensively used in epidemiology to study disease incidence, one of the best-known examples being Bradford Hill and Doll's investigation of the possible connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. More recently, case-control studies have been increasingly used in other fields, including sociology and econometrics. With a particular focus on statistical analysis, this book is ideal for applied and theoretical statisticians wanting an up-to-date introduction to the field. It covers the fundamentals of case-control study design and analysis as well as more recent developments, including two-stage studies, case-only studies and methods for case-control sampling in time. The latter have important applications in large prospective cohorts which require case-control sampling designs to make efficient use of resources. More theoretical background is provided in an appen

This modern introduction to seismic data processing in both exploration and global geophysics demonstrates practical applications through real data and tutorial examples. The underlying physics and mathematics of the various seismic analysis methods are presented, giving students an appreciation of their limitations and potential for creating models of the sub-surface. Designed for a one-semester course, this textbook discusses key techniques within the context of the world's ever increasing need for petroleum and mineral resources - equipping upper undergraduate and graduate students with the tools they need for a career in industry. Examples presented throughout the text allow students to compare different methods and can be demonstrated using the instructor's software of choice. Exercises at the end of sections enable students to check their understanding and put the theory into practice and are complemented by solutions for instructors and additional case study examples online to c

Most matter in the Universe, from the deep interior of planets to the core of stars, is at high temperature or high pressure compared to the matter of our ordinary experience. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic physical theory on matter at such extreme conditions and the mathematical modeling techniques involved in numerical simulations of its properties and behavior. Focusing on computational modeling, the book discusses topics such as the basic properties of dense plasmas; ionization physics; the physical mechanisms by which laser light is absorbed in matter; radiation transport in matter; the basics of hydrodynamics and shock-wave formation and propagation; and numerical simulation of radiation-hydrodynamics phenomenology. End-of-chapter exercises allow the reader to test their understanding of the material and introduce additional physics, making this an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students in this broad and interdisciplinary area of phy

The explanation of animal communication by means of concepts like information, meaning and reference is one of the central foundational issues in animal behaviour studies. This book explores these issues, revolving around questions such as: what is the nature of information? What theoretical roles does information play in animal communication studies? Is it justified to employ these concepts in order to explain animal communication? What is the relation between animal signals and human language? The book approaches the topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including ethology, animal cognition, theoretical biology and evolutionary biology, as well as philosophy of biology and mind. A comprehensive introduction familiarises non-specialists with the field and leads on to chapters ranging from philosophical and theoretical analyses to case studies involving primates, birds and insects. The resulting survey of new and established concepts and methodologies will guide future emp

This is a revised and updated version of the survey on Homer which the author originally published in 1996. It provides a wide variety of readers with a clear and detailed introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey, and to the problems which arise in dating, contextualising and interpreting these two epics, which are among the earliest poetic texts to come down to us from the ancient Greek world. A substantial introductory chapter discusses the so-called Homeric Question, the question of the identity and origins of 'Homer'. Among the important topics considered are the debate over oral composition, the structure, plot and themes of the two epics, and the religious and ethical ideas which figure in the poems; also discussed are characterisation, speeches, similes, symbolism and irony. An extensive bibliography gives expert guidance on these and many other aspects of these extraordinary poems.

Whether for weavers at the handloom, labourers at the plough or factory workers on the assembly line, music has often been a key texture in people's working lives. This book is the first to explore the rich history of music at work in Britain and charts the journey from the singing cultures of pre-industrial occupations, to the impact and uses of the factory radio, via the silencing effect of industrialisation. The first part of the book discusses how widespread cultures of singing at work were in pre-industrial manual occupations. The second and third parts of the book show how musical silence reigned with industrialisation, until the carefully controlled introduction of Music while You Work in the 1940s. Continuing the analysis to the present day, Rhythms of Labour explains how workers have clung to and reclaimed popular music on the radio in desperate and creative ways.

The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature is at once a literary history, an introduction to various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, a review of genres, and a selection of original and interdisciplinary essays on canonical and popular works for children in the Anglo-American tradition. It is geared toward graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and scholars new to the study of children's literature, as well as teachers and anyone wishing to keep up with new research and innovative approaches to children's literature. Twenty-six essays by top scholars from varied disciplines address theoretical, historical, sociological, and critical issues through analyses of classic novels such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, The Swiss Family Robinson, Tom Sawyer, Kidnapped, and Five Little Peppers and How They Grew; early educational and religious works such as The New England Primer and Froggy's Little Brother; picture books, comics and graphi

Child and family law tells us much about how a society operates, since it touches the lives of everyone living in that society. In this volume, a variety of experts examine child and family law in thirteen countries - Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and the United States. Each chapter identifies the imperatives and influences that have prevailed to date and offers informed predictions of how it will develop in the years to come. A common chapter structure facilitates comparison of the jurisdictions, and in the introduction the editor highlights common trends and salient differences. The Future of Child and Family Law therefore provides practitioners, academics and policy-makers with access not just to an overview of child and family law in a range of countries around the world, but also to insights into what has shaped it and options for reform.

This book is an introduction to the Schwinger action principle in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, with applications to a variety of different models including Bose–Einstein condensation, the Casimir effect and trapped Fermi gases. The book begins with a brief review of the action principle in classical mechanics and classical field theory. It then moves on to quantum field theory, focusing on the effective action method. This is introduced as simply as possible by using the zero-point energy of the simple harmonic oscillator as the starting point. The book concludes with a more complete definition of the effective action, and demonstrates how the provisional definition used earlier is the first term in the systematic loop expansion. The renormalization of interacting scalar field theory is presented to two-loop order. This book will interest graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics who are familiar with quantum mechanics.

What is knowledge and how is it represented? This book focuses on the idea of formalising knowledge as relations, interpreting knowledge represented in databases or logic programs as relational data and discovering new knowledge by identifying hidden and defining new relations. After a brief introduction to representational issues, the author develops a relational language for abstract machine learning problems. He then uses this language to discuss traditional methods such as clustering and decision tree induction, before moving onto two previously underestimated topics that are just coming to the fore: rough set data analysis and inductive logic programming. Its clear and precise presentation is ideal for undergraduate computer science students. The book will also interest those who study artificial intelligence or machine learning at the graduate level. Exercises are provided and each concept is introduced using the same example domain, making it easier to compare the individual pro

What is knowledge and how is it represented? This book focuses on the idea of formalising knowledge as relations, interpreting knowledge represented in databases or logic programs as relational data and discovering new knowledge by identifying hidden and defining new relations. After a brief introduction to representational issues, the author develops a relational language for abstract machine learning problems. He then uses this language to discuss traditional methods such as clustering and decision tree induction, before moving onto two previously underestimated topics that are just coming to the fore: rough set data analysis and inductive logic programming. Its clear and precise presentation is ideal for undergraduate computer science students. The book will also interest those who study artificial intelligence or machine learning at the graduate level. Exercises are provided and each concept is introduced using the same example domain, making it easier to compare the individual pro

Sir Clements Robert Markham (1830–1916) had a lifelong interest in Peru. Having already travelled there in his early twenties, he was commissioned to return ten years later to supervise the collection of sufficient specimens of the cinchona tree for its introduction to India. The bark of the tree yielded quinine, by then a well-known febrifuge and one of the few effective treatments for malaria. This book, originally published in 1862, is Markham's personal account of his travels. His story moves from the misty heights of the Peruvian mountains, where he suffered from altitude sickness, to the Malabar coastline and its complex, remarkable caste system. Markham also includes a detailed history of the use of cinchona bark, both by Europeans and aboriginal Peruvians, and a discussion of Incan culture since the arrival of the Spanish. His work is still a valuable resource for students of scientific and colonial history.

Plant diversity sustains all animal life, and the genetic diversity within plants underpins global food security. This text provides a practical and theoretical introduction to the strategies and actions to adopt for conserving plant genetic variation, as well as explaining how humans can exploit this diversity for sustainable development. Notably readable, it initially offers current knowledge on the characterization and evaluation of plant genetic resources. The authors then discuss strategies from in situ and ex situ conservation to crop breeding, exploring how these can be used to improve food security in the face of increasing agrobiodiversity loss, human population growth and climate change. Each chapter draws on examples from the literature or the authors' research and includes further reading references. Containing other useful features such as a glossary, it is invaluable for professionals and undergraduate and graduate students in plant sciences, ecology, conservation, geneti

The astronomical observations of William Herschel (1738–1822) made him question the accepted model of the clockwork universe. This volume explains the development of Herschel's thoughts on what he called 'the construction of the heavens' and reprints his principal papers on this subject. The preliminary chapters provide an introduction to Herschel, including his unusual path to astronomy, the discovery of Uranus and his work on the evolution of stellar clusters, which eventually led him to challenge the unchanging Newtonian universe. The second half of the text comprises eight of Herschel's key papers on what we today would call cosmology, representing his progress between 1783 and 1814, fully annotated with historical notes and modern astrophysical explanations. Ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the history of science and in astronomy, this volume explains Herschel's pivotal role in the transformation from the clockwork universe to the 'biological' universe of moder

Printmaker James Caulfield (1764–1826) spent much of his career publishing illustrated books about 'remarkable persons'. He began his first series around 1788 and continued it sporadically from 1790 to 1795, with books on a similar theme continuing to appear in the first decades of the nineteenth century. More than forty years after his death, this collection of biographies (produced in collaboration with Henry Wilson (fl. 1820–30)) was republished in 1869. The edition's introduction explains that the renewed interest in these characters comes from the fact that 'we have nearly lost all, and are daily losing what little remains of, our individuality'. The vignettes, accompanied by engravings of each individual, describe a wide-ranging group - from the man who died aged 152 to a 'remarkable glutton' to a woman who lived on the smell of flowers - their only common factor being that they were in some way 'wonderful'.