Introduction to Computing

The three essays in this volume present an introduction and history of the emancipation of the slaves during the Civil War. The first essay traces the destruction of slavery by discussing the shift from a war for the Union to a war against slavery. The slaves are shown to have shaped the destiny of the nation through their determination to place their liberty on the wartime agenda. The second essay examines the evolution of freedom in occupied areas of the lower and upper South. The struggle of those freed to obtain economic independence in difficult wartime circumstances indicates conflicting conceptions of freedom among former slaves and slaveholders, Northern soldiers and civilians. The third essay demonstrates how the enlistment and military service of nearly 200,000 slaves hastened the transformation of the war into a struggle for universal liberty, and how this experience shaped the lives of these former slaves long after the war had ended.

Algebraic coding theory has in recent years been increasingly applied to the study of combinatorial designs. This book gives an account of many of those applications together with a thorough general introduction to both design theory and coding theory - developing the relationship between the two areas. The first half of the book contains background material in design theory, including symmetric designs and designs from affine and projective geometry, and in coding theory, coverage of most of the important classes of linear codes. In particular, the authors provide a new treatment of the Reed-Muller and generalized Reed-Muller codes. The last three chapters treat the applications of coding theory to some important classes of designs, namely finite planes, Hadamard designs and Steiner systems, in particular the Witt systems. The book is aimed at mathematicians working in either coding theory or combinatorics - or related areas of algebra. The book is, however, designed to be used by non

The authors describe here a framework in which the type notation of functional languages is extended to include a notation for binding times (that is run-time and compile-time) that distinguishes between them. Consequently the ability to specify code and verify program correctness can be improved. Two developments are needed, the first of which introduces the binding time distinction into the lambda calculus, in a manner analogous with the introduction of types into the untyped lambda calculus. Methods are also presented for introducing combinators for run-time. The second concerns the interpretation of the resulting language, which is known as the mixed lambda-calculus and combinatory logic. The notion of 'parametrized semantics' is used to describe code generation and abstract interpretation. The code generation is for a simple abstract machine designed for the purpose; it is close to the categorical abstract machine. The abstract interpretation focuses on a strictness analysis that

This revised edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology and religion. Part of its fascination is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are able to gain a better understanding of our own. The authors refer to a wide variety of examples, from different continents and epochs. They compare the great tombs of the Berawan of Borneo and the pyramids of Egypt, as well as the dramas of medieval French royal funerals and the burial alive of the Dinka 'masters of the spear' in the Sudan, and other rituals which at first sight seem to have little in common. Many of these cases are anthropological classics, but the authors place them in an alternative context, so as to shape a novel synthesis on the anthropology of death ritual. A fresh introduction reviews theoretical developments in the field since the book first appeared in 1979.

This is the third volume of Immanuel Wallerstein's essays to appear in Studies in Modern Capitalism, following the immensely successful collections The Politics of the World Economy and The Capitalist World Economy. Written between 1982 and 1989, these pieces offer Wallerstein's perspective on the events of this period, and the background to his interpretation of the momentous events of 1989. In his introduction Wallerstein argues that the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the process of perestroika bear out his basic analysis: that the decline of US hegemony in the world-system is the central explanatory variable of change; and that the collapse of the communist empire and the approach of European unity cannot be understood without reference to this decline as a critical stage in the cyclical rhythm of the capitalist world economy. As part of the analysis the book also charts the development of a challenge to the dominant 'geoculture': the cultural framework within which the world-syst

The classic works of Emile Durkheim are characterized by a structural approach to the understanding of collective behaviour, and it is this element of his writings that has been most taken up by modern social science. This volume, however, rejects the dominant structural approach, and draws instead on Durkheim's later work, in which he shifted to a symbolic theory of modern industrial societies that emphasized the importance of ritual and placed the tension between the sacred and the profane at the center of society. In so doing, the contributors offer both a radically different approach to Durkheimian sociology and a new way of linking the interpretation of culture and the interpretation of society. In his introduction to the volume, Jeffrey Alexander elaborates the new interpretation of Durkheim that informs the contributions. His arguments form a background for the lively and provacative chapters that follow, which provide broadly cultural interpretations of such topics as popular u

The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries and textual notes on the plays and poems. Introductions are regularly refreshed with accounts of new critical, stage and screen interpretations. Edited and introduced by John Margeson, King Henry VIII appears here for the first time in a New Cambridge Shakespeare edition. In his introduction Margeson explores the political and religious background to the play, its pageant-like structure and visual effects, and its varied ironies. He also discusses its stage history, from the famous occasion in 1613 when the Globe theatre burned down during a performance of King Henry VIII to important theatrical productions of the late twentieth century. A balanced account is provided of the authorship controversy that arose in the nineteenth century, when John Fletcher's name was first put forward as a likely collaborator.

John Barnes's collection of essays covers a variety of topics in sociology and anthropology, including lineage systems, social networks, colonialism, underlying assumptions of social science, and the significance of time in social analysis. Together they identify the author's particular view of social science: he is primarily interested in 'what really happens'. Rather than revamp articles written with a distinctive set of assumptions to bring them into line with current intellectual fashion, Professor Barnes has chosen to let them stand as they are, products of identifiable theoretical stance and modes of exposition. But introductory notes to each chapter set out the context in which the piece was originally written and draw attention to later publications and events that bear on it. An introduction discusses in detail the author's view of social science as the construction of models rather than a search for social laws, while the final chapter presents a model of the modelling proces

This 1989 book is about chaos, fractals and complex dynamics, and is addressed to all people who have some familiarity with computers and enjoy using them. The mathematics has been kept simple, with few formulae, yet the reader is introduced to and can learn about an area of current scientific research which was scarcely possible before the availability of computers. The introduction is achieved through the extensive use of computer graphics. The book is divided into two main parts: in the first the most interesting problems are described, with, in each case, a solution in the form of a computer program. A large number of exercises enable the reader to undertake his or her own experimental work. In the second part, example programs are given for specific machines and operating systems; details refer to MS-DOC and Turbo-Pascal, UNIX 4.2 BSD with Berkley Pascal and C. Other implementations of the graphics routines are given for Apple Macintosh, Apple IIE and IIGS and Atari ST.

This 1989 book is about chaos, fractals and complex dynamics, and is addressed to all people who have some familiarity with computers and enjoy using them. The mathematics has been kept simple, with few formulae, yet the reader is introduced to and can learn about an area of current scientific research which was scarcely possible before the availability of computers. The introduction is achieved through the extensive use of computer graphics. The book is divided into two main parts: in the first the most interesting problems are described, with, in each case, a solution in the form of a computer program. A large number of exercises enable the reader to undertake his or her own experimental work. In the second part, example programs are given for specific machines and operating systems; details refer to MS-DOC and Turbo-Pascal, UNIX 4.2 BSD with Berkley Pascal and C. Other implementations of the graphics routines are given for Apple Macintosh, Apple IIE and IIGS and Atari ST.

Demonstrating the ways in which work in a broad range of fields can be pulled together in the analysis of conflict, this book provides the reader with a general introduction to the principles of conflict analysis and lays a methodological foundation for the further development of the interdisciplinary field of peace science. The text begins with an extensive survey of arms race models, from the classic Richardson model to models exploring the effects of factors such as the domestic and international economic environment, public opinion and party politics, and weapons technology and information development. The processes of individual and group problem-solving, in both crisis and non-crisis conditions, are examined, drawing on work in economics, operations research, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Building on this diverse body of work, the author moves on to develop a framework for conflict management with which to approach a variety of conflict situations and applies th

Professor Roemer's goal in this book is to give a rigorous view of classical Marxian economic theory by presenting specific analytic models. The theory is not extended to deal with new problems, but it is deepened: Marxian theory is given micro-foundations and upon those foundations the author begins to rebuild a tightly constructed Marxian economics. The book begins, after a methodological introduction, with an examination of the Marxian notion of equilibrium and the theory of exploitation, and goes on to deal with the theory of the falling rate of profit. The next section explores one of the points made in the first section of the book, that the Marxian theory of exploitation can be constructed completely independently of the labor theory of value as a theory of exchange. Technical study of this problem allows comment on various issues, such as the relative importance of 'marginal utilities' and 'class struggle' in determining relative prices. The final part examines models of variou

This volume makes available to a student readership one of the central texts in the utilitarian tradition, in the authoritative 1977 edition prepared by Professors Burns and Hart as part of Bentham's Collected works. A Fragment on Government is, as Ross Harrison observes in his introduction, a young man's work, and Bentham's exuberant prose reflects his own confidence that the Fragment 'was the first publication by which men at large were invited to break loose from the trammels of authority and ancestor-wisdom on the field of law'. Certain that history was on his side, Bentham sought to rid the world of the hideous mess wrought by legal obfuscation and confusion, and to transform politics into a rational scientific activity, premised on the hideous politics into a rational scientific activity, premised on the fundamental axiom that 'it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong'. In the context of a European social and political order still

This volume makes available to a student readership one of the central texts in the utilitarian tradition, in the authoritative 1977 edition prepared by Professors Burns and Hart as part of Bentham's Collected works. A Fragment on Government is, as Ross Harrison observes in his introduction, a young man's work, and Bentham's exuberant prose reflects his own confidence that the Fragment 'was the first publication by which men at large were invited to break loose from the trammels of authority and ancestor-wisdom on the field of law'. Certain that history was on his side, Bentham sought to rid the world of the hideous mess wrought by legal obfuscation and confusion, and to transform politics into a rational scientific activity, premised on the hideous politics into a rational scientific activity, premised on the fundamental axiom that 'it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong'. In the context of a European social and political order still

Quantum theory is our deepest theory of the nature of matter. It is a theory that, notoriously, produces results which challenge the laws of classical logic and suggests that the physical world is illogical. This book gives a critical review of work on the foundations of quantum mechanics at a level accessible to non-experts. Assuming his readers have some background in mathematics and physics, Peter Gibbins focuses on the questions of whether the results of quantum theory require us to abandon classical logic and whether quantum logic can resolve the paradoxes produced by quantum mechanics. He argues that quantum logic does not dispose of the problems faced by classical logic, that no reasonable interpretation of quantum mechanics in terms of 'hidden variables' can be found, and that after all these years quantum mechanics remains a mystery to us. Particles and Paradoxes provides a much-needed and valuable introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics and, at the same time, an e

Increased interest in the role of women and minorities in establishing the canon of American literature has led to renewed interest in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The essays in this volume set out to provide contemporary readers with a critical and historical interpretation of the novel that reflects the best of recent scholarship. In his introduction Eric J. Sundquist attempts to show that Uncle Tom's Cabin boldly takes issue with both proslavery arguments and prevailing prejudices among abolitionists, employing the forms of popular melodrama and heated rhetoric to carry its complex argument. The individual essays examine the influence of Stowe's novel on the characterization of women in the American novel and on later women writers, the role of women in the antislavery movement, the literary exchanges between Stowe and her contemporaries; Uncle Tom's Cabin and the tradition of the Gothic novel, and the characterizations of blacks in this novel and in later works.

This is an introduction to geometrical topics that are useful in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, including manifolds, metrics, connections, Lie groups, spinors and bundles, preparing readers for the study of modern treatments of mechanics, gauge fields theories, relativity and gravitation. The order of presentation corresponds to that used for the relevant material in theoretical physics: the geometry of affine spaces, which is appropriate to special relativity theory, as well as to Newtonian mechanics, is developed in the first half of the book, and the geometry of manifolds, which is needed for general relativity and gauge field theory, in the second half. Analysis is included not for its own sake, but only where it illuminates geometrical ideas. The style is informal and clear yet rigorous; each chapter ends with a summary of important concepts and results. In addition there are over 650 exercises, making this a book which is valuable as a text for advanced undergraduat

Elliptic functions and Riemann surfaces played an important role in nineteenth-century mathematics. At the present time there is a great revival of interest in these topics not only for their own sake but also because of their applications to so many areas of mathematical research from group theory and number theory to topology and differential equations. In this book the authors give elementary accounts of many aspects of classical complex function theory including Möbius transformations, elliptic functions, Riemann surfaces, Fuchsian groups and modular functions. A distinctive feature of their presentation is the way in which they have incorporated into the text many interesting topics from other branches of mathematics. This book is based on lectures given to advanced undergraduates and is well-suited as a textbook for a second course in complex function theory. Professionals will also find it valuable as a straightforward introduction to a subject which is finding widespread applic

The four private speeches contained in this collection were functional artefacts whose object was to persuade a jury numbered in hundreds by manipulating both the facts of the case and the prejudices, beliefs and attitudes of the Athenian man-in-the-street. It is as vehicles of persuasion that Dr Carey and Dr Reid seek primarily to treat the speeches, using their commentary to shed light on how well the speeches perform their function. The speeches have also been chosen for their value as documents of Athenian law, commerce and private life. The commentary explains as far as possible any obscurities in these fields and also deals with matters of linguistic interest. While intended mainly for undergraduates and students in the upper forms of schools, the book will be of interest to all classical scholars. The introduction, which provides a brief survey of the Athenian legal system and the trade of the speechwriter, requires no knowledge of Greek and should interest students of classical

A good grasp of the theory of structures - the theoretical basis by which the strength, stiffness and stability of a building can be understood - is fundamental to structural engineers and architects. Yet most modern structural analysis and design is carried out by computer, with the user isolated from the processes in action. Plastic Design of Frames; Volume 1. Fundamentals provides a broad introduction to the mathematics behind a range of structural processes. Some of the techniques used in this book may be familiar to the reader, and some may not, but each of the topics examined will give the structural engineer valuable insight into the basis of the subject. This companion book Plastic Design of Frames; Volume 2. Applications provides additional advanced topics and case studies. This lucid second volume provides a valuable read for structural engineers and others who wish to deepen their knowledge of the structural analysis and design of buildings.

Neither science nor a philosophy which aims at an entirely objective approach can deal with our personal experience. Value-judgements, for instance, presuppose freedom of choice and if responsible actions are to be based on them, man must be free to act according to his decisions. There is clearly an urgent need for a philosophy which can be lived; and it is as a philosophy of this kind that Existentialism exists. In this book Roubiczek confronts the prevalent 'objective' method with the 'subjective' and attempts a proper balance between the objective and the personal, the scientific and the ethical. Concentrating on the valuable aspects of Existentialism, he looks for positive results which can be philosophically justified and, at the same time, accepted as a way of life. This approach leads both towards and beyond Existentialism, so that the book is both an introduction to this school of philosophy and a critique of it.

認識文學史上最受喜愛的四姊妹——Meg、Beth、Jo 與 Amy。美國南北戰爭期間，March 一家生活並不寬裕，父親又遠赴戰場，四姊妹在母親陪伴下成長。她們個性截然不同，有各自的夢想、煩惱與缺點，也會爭吵、犯錯，卻始終共同面對生活中的變化。這一版 Oxford Children's Classics 收錄 Little Women 完整未刪節原文，保留 Louisa May Alcott 經典作品的完整面貌，並由 Laura Dockrill 撰寫導讀。書中另加入閱讀提示、作品相關知識、活動等延伸內容，讓年輕讀者在閱讀故事之外，也能進一步認識作品背景與人物，是初次閱讀這部經典文學的合適版本。收錄 Little Women 完整未刪節原文 Laura Dockrill 導讀，另附閱讀提示、知識與活動 Oxford Children's Classics 系列，適合年輕讀者接觸經典文學This stunning Oxford Children's Classic edition is the perfect introduction to Little Women-the ultimate tale of sisterhood. Features the complete unabridged text, an introduction by Laura Dockrill, and other bonus material including insights for readers, facts, activities and more . . .Meet the famous March sisters with OXFORD CHILDREN'S CLASSICS.This Oxford Children's Classic features the complete unabridged text, an introduction by Laura Dockrill, and other bonus material including insights for readers, facts, activities, and more . . . Meet the March sisters-Meg, Beth, Jo, and Amy. Growing u

How do we map the ocean floor? Why do earthquakes strike some places more than others? In what ways does a city’s layout reflect its politics?Part of DK’s indispensable Big Ideas series, The Geography Book answers these questions and many more.The perfect introduction to the subject, it explores and explains the key geophysical and atmospheric processes that have shaped Earth’s geology, climate, and ecosystems, and the numerous ways in which they have shaped our lives, and we have shaped them in return – for better or worse. Combining easy-to-follow explanations, innovative graphics, and intriguing quotes, it covers everything from geological mapping and the water cycle to climate change and population demographics.This fascinating book includes:*More than 90 of the most important ideas, theories, and milestones in the field of geography – covering physical geography, human geography, environmental geography, and practical geography*Simple explanations, bold infographics and step-by-st

An invigorating pair of essays exploring exile, language and national identity from one of Europe's most celebrated literary stars, the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 89 Words, published in 1985, is an expanded version of the dictionary of sorts that readers encountered in The Art of the Novel, and comprises a fascinating and rigorous interrogation of what exile, life in another language, and the betrayals of translations entail. Prague, A Disappearing Poem, dating from 1980, meditates on questions of the culture of the 'small nation' that formed and lends specificity to Kundera's work, and - as in A Kidnapped West - questions of the Soviet and Western attitudes to Czech culture.Together, these provocative, elegant and wise essays remind familiar readers of Kundera's presence - his inimitable voice - and for new readers, offer an introduction to his oeuvre: an access point into his fictional universe, characterised by devastating irony and subtlety of judgement.

內容簡介 The transmission of Buddhism to China gave rise to a uniquely rich and systematic monastic tradition. One Hundred Lessons on Monastery Languages & Affairs offers an in-depth exploration of this tradition through six themes: Monastery Systems, Monastic Precepts, Temple Undertakings, Cultivation and Gatherings, Organizational Management, and Spread of Buddhism. Drawing from decades of lived experience, it guides readers through the past, present, and evolving future of Chinese Buddhist monasticism. 目錄 VOLUME 2 MONASTIC PRECEPTS Table of Contents About Venerable Master Hsing Yun Translator’s Introduction Preface Lesson One: The Newly Aspired to the Path Lesson Two: Renunciation and Liberation Lesson Three: Triple Platform Full Ordination Ceremony Lesson Four: Four Types of Comportment Lesson Five: Five Years of Learning the Precepts Lesson Six: Summer Retreat Lesson Seven: Three Blades and Six Mallets Lesson Eight: Three Robes, Alms Bowl, and Sitting Mat Lesson Nine: Dharma Instrum

A groundbreaking, global survey of queer art, featuring more than 300 artworks made following the introduction of the term 'homosexual' in 1869An unprecedented and historic new book, The First Homosexuals traces the evolution of the homosexual identity through an archive of more than 300 paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and film stills from around the world - many presented in a queer, global, and colonial context for the first time. Accompanying the works are twenty-two original, insightful essays by leading experts in art and queer history, each focusing on one geographical region - from Japan to Australia to the Indigenous populations of South America. Ranging from well-known masterpieces to works by unknown artists and pieces rarely considered in the context of sexuality, The First Homosexuals offers a stunning and illuminating look at the first self-consciously queer art. The book accompanies a groundbreaking exhibition of the same name presented at Wrightwood

The 2024 Release of Cecchetti & Schoenholtz's Money, Banking, and Financial Markets boasts an innovative approach to enhancing coherence, relevance, and timeliness in the study of Money and Banking for economics students. In a world where money, banking, and financial markets are in constant flux, this release introduces cutting-edge features to keep pace with evolving dynamics. This release captures the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (including implications for inflation and employment dynamics), explore the forefront of changes in payments technology and the future of money, discover the evolution of central bank strategy and operating procedures, and gain insights into the consequences of the 2023 U.S. banking crisis.Continuing its distinctive approach, the text emphasizes the Five Core Principles, delivers an early introduction to risk, offers an integrated global perspective, and seamlessly integrates FRED data. The authors also host a blog at www.moneyandbanking.com where yo

This textbook introduces readers to the fundamental notions of modern probability theory. The only prerequisite is a working knowledge in real analysis. Highlighting the connections between martingales and Markov chains on one hand, and Brownian motion and harmonic functions on the other, this book provides an introduction to the rich interplay between probability and other areas of analysis.Arranged into three parts, the book begins with a rigorous treatment of measure theory, with applications to probability in mind. The second part of the book focuses on the basic concepts of probability theory such as random variables, independence, conditional expectation, and the different types of convergence of random variables. In the third part, in which all chapters can be read independently, the reader will encounter three important classes of stochastic processes: discrete-time martingales, countable state-space Markov chains, and Brownian motion. Each chapter ends with a selection of illu

The perfect introduction to poetry, The Poetry Book offers a fascinating exploration of more than 90 of the world's greatest poetic works.Discover poems in all their many guises, from the epics of the ancient world through Renaissance sonnets to modernist masterpieces such as The Waste Land, and the key works of the last 50 years, including And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou and Derek Walcott's Omeros.Using the Big Ideas series' trademark combination of clear explanation, witty infographics, and inspirational quotes, The Poetry Book unlocks the key ideas, themes, imagery, and structural techniques behind even the most complex of poems, in clear and simple terms, setting each work in its historical, social, cultural, and literary context.Dive into the passionate world of poetry to discover:COMPREHENSIVE: Brings together a curated selection of the most celebrated and important poems ever written, majoring on English-language poetryANALYTICAL: Provides critical analysis of form, structure,

Molecular Revolution comprises a series of articles from radical French philosopher and psychoanalyst, Felix Guattari, originally published in two separate French editions, of 1977 and 1980 - each bearing the name Molecular Revolution. Despite this titular similarity, these texts differed wildly in form and content so as to become hardly recognizable. This translated single volume makes available in English for the first time an ensemble of pieces featuring an introduction by the editor, St phane Nadaud, and an afterword by Janell Watson. By re-arranging and re-deploying these articles, Molecular Revolution stays true to the content of Guattari's work as both a unique version and the embodiment of the essential plurality of molecular revolutions. For Guattari, rather than a theory, molecular revolutions form a practical way of doing politics, and this volume will be essential to the full comprehension of the political force of Guattari's life and work.

A history of the pervasive idea that politics is a marketplace.The Marketizers traces the origins of the neoliberal order to public choice theory. It argues that the reinvention of government on the model of the market would have been unimaginable without the emergence of this body of thought. The separation of provision and production in public services, the introduction of competition between service providers, the treatment of citizens as customers, and the use of performance incentives all have origins in the writings of public choice theorists. From the 1940s through the 1980s, these marketizers gradually eroded the differences between politics and the market as they applied the tools of economics to problems usually considered the purview of political scientists and political philosophers. In response to the extraordinary postwar growth in American public expenditures, they reimagined politics as a marketplace, redefined the relationship between the state and its citizens as a co

Examining how British writers are addressing the urgent matter of how we form and express group belonging in the 21st century, this book brings together a range of international scholars to explore the ongoing crises, developments and possibilities inherent in the task of representing community in the present. Including an extended critical introduction that positions the individual chapters in relation to broader conceptual questions, chapters combine close reading and engagement with the latest theories and concepts to engage with the complex regionalities of the United Kingdom, with representation of writers from all parts of the UK including Northern Ireland. Including specific focus on the most challenging issues for community in the past five years, notably Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis, with a broader understanding of themes of local and national belonging, this book offers detailed discussions of writers including Ali Smith, Niall Griffiths, John McGregor, Max Porter, Amanda C

This book introduces Asian American literary studies by engaging the conditions, contingencies, and immediate and long-term effects of its major debates. Two rationales inform Ling’s presentation of the field in this way: first is a felt need to provide recognizable contours and trajectories for the evolution of Asian American criticism as an ethnic-specific minoritarian formation in the United States; second is an imperative to historicize its practices―including polemics, controversies, and ideological ruptures―as an ongoing negotiation undertaken by Asian American critics for a more self-conscious and more adequate representation of the field’s interests. These rationales are fully contextualized in the book’s Introduction and Conclusion. The main body of this study is organized non-chronologically into eight chapters, with each designed to reflect how the field has been energized by its demographic transformation, its growing intellectual heterogeneity, its defining moments, and it

This book introduces Asian American literary studies by engaging the conditions, contingencies, and immediate and long-term effects of its major debates. Two rationales inform Ling’s presentation of the field in this way: first is a felt need to provide recognizable contours and trajectories for the evolution of Asian American criticism as an ethnic-specific minoritarian formation in the United States; second is an imperative to historicize its practices―including polemics, controversies, and ideological ruptures―as an ongoing negotiation undertaken by Asian American critics for a more self-conscious and more adequate representation of the field’s interests. These rationales are fully contextualized in the book’s Introduction and Conclusion. The main body of this study is organized non-chronologically into eight chapters, with each designed to reflect how the field has been energized by its demographic transformation, its growing intellectual heterogeneity, its defining moments, and it

Kids 4 to 8 will marvel at the brightly glowing creatures and other living organisms in this stunning, poetic, and science-based exploration of bioluminescence.When it's dark out, we need light to see. But what if your body could make its own light? From acclaimed author-illustrator Julia Kuo comes a remarkable picture book about bioluminescence, the light made from living things, and its many forms: fireflies and foxfire, fungi and glow-worms, deep-sea fish and vampire squids. Kuo's radiant art portrays a young child and adult discovering different bioluminescent creatures, accompanied by simple lyrical text and informative sidebars that reveal fascinating scientific facts about each of them.An introduction to an extraordinary natural phenomenon, Luminous shines a light upon how truly wondrous the world is.Luminous features: Brilliant and unique illustrations: The depiction of vibrant bioluminescent species against an unusual black backdrop creates an unforgettable visual experience f

A bold play collection representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) experiences, from Black British perspectives, this anthology contains seven radical plays by Black writers that change the face of theatre in Britain. With an international reach connecting Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora, these plays address themes including same-sex love, sex, homophobia, apartheid, migration and space travel. The collection captures the historical scope and range of Black British LGBTIQ+ theatre, from the 1980s to 2021. Including a range of forms, from monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, readers will journey through the development of Black Queer theatre in Britain. Through a helpful critical introduction, this book provides important socio-political and historical context, highlighting and illuminating key themes in the plays. Each play is preceded by an intergenerational ‘in-conversation’ piece between two Black British LGBTIQ+ artists and w

A bold play collection representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) experiences, from Black British perspectives, this anthology contains seven radical plays by Black writers that change the face of theatre in Britain. With an international reach connecting Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora, these plays address themes including same-sex love, sex, homophobia, apartheid, migration and space travel. The collection captures the historical scope and range of Black British LGBTIQ+ theatre, from the 1980s to 2021. Including a range of forms, from monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, readers will journey through the development of Black Queer theatre in Britain. Through a helpful critical introduction, this book provides important socio-political and historical context, highlighting and illuminating key themes in the plays. Each play is preceded by an intergenerational ‘in-conversation’ piece between two Black British LGBTIQ+ artists and w

How the cerebral cortex operates near a critical phase transition point for optimum performance.Individual neurons have limited computational powers, but when they work together, it is almost like magic. Firing synchronously and then breaking off to improvise by themselves, they can be paradoxically both independent and interdependent. This happens near the critical point: when neurons are poised between a phase where activity is damped and a phase where it is amplified, where information processing is optimized, and complex emergent activity patterns arise. The claim that neurons in the cortex work best when they operate near the critical point is known as the criticality hypothesis. In this book John Beggs―one of the pioneers of this hypothesis―offers an introduction to the critical point and its relevance to the brain.Drawing on recent experimental evidence, Beggs first explains the main ideas underlying the criticality hypotheses and emergent phenomena. He then discusses the critic

Nothing in Japanese literature prepares us for the stark, tension-filled, plot-driven realism of Natsuo Kirino’s award-winning literary mystery Out. Featuring an introduction by James Ellroy.This mesmerizing novel tells the story of a brutal murder in the staid Tokyo suburbs, as a young mother who works the night shift making boxed lunches strangles her abusive husband and then seeks the help of her coworkers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. The coolly intelligent Masako emerges as the plot’s ringleader but quickly discovers that this killing is merely the beginning, as it leads to a terrifying foray into the violent underbelly of Japanese society.At once a masterpiece of literary suspense and pitch-black comedy of gender warfare, Out is also a moving evocation of the pressures and prejudices that drive women to extreme deeds, and the friendships that bolster them in the aftermath.

Corpus Linguistics has revolutionised the world of language study and is an essential component of work in Applied Linguistics. This book, now in its second edition, provides a thorough introduction to all the key research issues in Corpus Linguistics, from the point of view of Applied Linguistics. The field has progressed a great deal since the first edition, so this edition has been completely rewritten to reflect these advances, whilst still maintaining the emphasis on hands-on corpus research of the first edition. It includes chapters on qualitative and quantitative research, applications in language teaching, discourse studies, and beyond. It also includes an extensive discussion of the place of Corpus Linguistics in linguistic theory, and provides numerous detailed examples of corpus studies throughout. Providing an accessible but thorough grounding to the fascinating, fast-moving field of Corpus Linguistics, this book is essential reading for the student and the researcher alik