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Multi-Omics Analysis of the Human Microbiome: From Technology to Clinical Applications
by Vijai Singh Indra ManiThis book introduces the rapidly evolving field of multi-omics in understanding the human microbiome. The book focuses on the technology used to generate multi-omics data, including advances in next-generation sequencing and other high-throughput methods. It also covers the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to the analysis of multi-omics data, providing readers with an overview of the powerful computational tools that are driving innovation in this field. The chapter also explores the various bioinformatics databases and tools available for the analysis of multi-omics data. The book also delves into the application of multi-omics technology to the study of microbial diversity, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics. The book also explores the use of these techniques to identify and characterize microbial communities in different environments, from the gut and oral microbiome to the skin microbiome and beyond. Towards theend, it focuses on the use of multi-omics in the study of microbial consortia, including mycology and the viral microbiome. The book also explores the potential of multi-omics to identify genes of biotechnological importance, providing readers with an understanding of the role that this technology could play in advancing biotech research. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of the clinical applications of multi-omics technology, including its potential to identify disease biomarkers and develop personalized medicine approaches. Overall, this book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of this exciting field, highlighting the potential for multi-omics to transform our understanding of the microbial world.
Applied and Clinical Sociology in Aotearoa New Zealand (Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice)
by Zarine L. Rocha Kathy L. DavidsonThis is the first volume to explore clinical and applied sociology in Aotearoa New Zealand, while also providing unique insights into the practice of sociology internationally. Drawing out the intersections between sociological research, public sociology and applied sociology, the chapters in this volume enrich the rapidly growing field of international clinical sociology. Aotearoa New Zealand presents an important case study in the development and practice of sociology: with a vibrant social scientific community and a significant diversity of scholars and practitioners, local research and practice highlight the country’s innovative and often unusual approaches to addressing social problems. This volume brings together a diversity of scholars and practitioners, from the country’s top sociologists to early career researchers, and provides a comprehensive and valuable exploration of sociology and its many practical applications in this unique context. It covers a wide range of key topics in the field, from the challenges of practicing a public sociology in Aotearoa New Zealand to the role of applied and clinical sociologists in government and consultancies. Contemporary social issues are explored as case studies, including practising sociological psychotherapy; indigenous applications of sociology and Māori language learning; and applying sociology within healthcare. This is a key addition to applied and clinical sociology literature.
Computational Methods für die Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften
by Jakob Jünger Chantal GärtnerMit Computational Methods lassen sich digitale Welten wissenschaftlich erforschen und gestalten. Das Open-Access-Lehrbuch vermittelt zunächst grundlegende Kompetenzen für die automatisierte Erhebung und Aufbereitung von Daten und für den Umgang mit Datenbanken. Eine Einführung in die Programmiersprachen R und Python sowie in Versionsverwaltungen und Cloud-Computing eröffnet Wege für kreative Analyseansätze beim Umgang mit großen und kleinen Datensätzen. Schließlich werden Szenarien in sozial- und geisteswissenschaftlichen Anwendungsfeldern durchgespielt. Dazu zählen die automatisierte Datenerhebung über Programmierschnittstellen und Webscraping, automatisierte Textanalysen, Netzwerkanalysen, maschinelles Lernen und Simulationsverfahren. Neben einer konzeptionellen Einführung in die jeweiligen Themenfelder geht es vor allem darum, in kurzen Tutorials selbst erste praktische Erfahrungen zu sammeln sowie weiterführende Möglichkeiten, aber auch Limitationen, von Computational Methods kennenzulernen.
Progress in Ultrafast Intense Laser Science XVII (Topics in Applied Physics #151)
by Kaoru Yamanouchi Wendell T. Hill III Louis F. DiMauroThis book covers a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, focusing on atoms and molecules in intense laser fields, excitation processes in intense laser fields, photonics and materials, high-order harmonics generation, XFEL, high-power lasers and their applications, and quantum computing. This seventeenth volume features contributions from world-renowned researchers on topics such as applications of attosecond and femtosecond laser pulses, coherence and dynamics in quantum systems, and applications of super-intense laser fields.The PUILS series delivers up-to-date reviews of progress in this emerging interdisciplinary research field, spanning atomic and molecular physics, molecular science, and optical science, which has been stimulated by the recent developments in ultrafast laser technologies. Each volume compiles peer-reviewed articles authored by researchers at the forefront of each of their own subfields of ultrafast intense laser science. Every chapter opens with an overview of the topics to be discussed, so that researchers unfamiliar with the subfield, especially graduate students, can grasp the importance and attractions of the research topic at hand; these are followed by reports of cutting-edge discoveries.
Left-Behind Children’s Juvenile Delinquency and Substance Abuse in China: Policy Examination and Analysis
by Jason HungThis book constructs the theoretical framework based on a range of prominent social theories to address how juvenile delinquency is socioeconomically constructed. Here the presentation of conceptual details is supported by Chinese literature that rationalises, problematises, and analyses how left-behind children are vulnerable to premature smoking, heavy drinking and drug abuse and. I critically review all the most recent publications to highlight the most updated socioeconomic structure of juvenile delinquency experienced by Chinese left-behind children. In addition, the author summarises and analyses all the most up-to-date policy recommendations and evaluations concerning the mitigation of left-behind children’s juvenile delinquency. The policymaking outputs help inform readers on how Chinese policymakers have specifically been endeavouring to intervene in left-behind children’s delinquent behaviours and what policy directions the corresponding policymakers are trending towards in the future.
HCI in Games: 6th International Conference, HCI-Games 2024, Held as Part of the 26th HCI International Conference, HCII 2024, Washington, DC, USA, June 29–July 4, 2024, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14731)
by Xiaowen FangThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on HCI in Games, held as part of the 26th International Conference, HCI International 2024, which took place in Washington DC, USA, during June 29 - July 4, 2024. The total of 1271 papers and 309 posters included in the HCII 2024 proceedings was carefully reviewed and selected from 5108 submissions. The two volume set of HCI-Games 2024 proceedings were organized in the following topical sections: Volume 14730: Part I: Game Design and Gamification; Part II: Game-based Learning; Part III: Games and Artificial Intelligence. Volume 14731: Part I: Advancing Education Through Serious Games; Part II: Player Experience and Engagement.
Cropping Systems Modeling Under Changing Climate
by Gerrit Hoogenboom Mukhtar Ahmed Ghulam Abbas Sajjad Hussain Shakeel AhmadThis book aims at bringing out comprehensive information on cropping systems modelling in the world. The major focus of this book is to address the integration of soil, plant and environmental interactions for climate smart agriculture. This book covers aspects of application of Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) for climate smart agriculture. Step-by-step details of application of modelling approaches used for various cropping systems under changing climate are provided which are being adopted by farmers in the world. The book is enriched with figures or diagrams to show the various mechanisms involved to support the decision making for climate change adaptations. Essential information is given regarding crop models calibration, evaluation and application and every individual chapter is comprised of a specific cropping system. Further contents include integration of climate models and crop models for refining the decisions for sustaining the production of various cropping systems for climate smart agriculture. This book assists the agricultural scientists involved in research regarding climate smart agriculture for improving the standards of agricultural research for ensuring food security under changing climate. This is also equally useful for policy makers being involved in future planning.
Privacy Technologies and Policy: 11th Annual Privacy Forum, APF 2023, Lyon, France, June 1–2, 2023, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13888)
by Kai Rannenberg Prokopios Drogkaris Cédric LauradouxThis book constitutes the refereed conference proceedings of the 11th Annual Privacy Forum, APF 2023 in Lyon, France in June 2023. The 8 full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 37 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Emerging Technologies and Protection of Personal Data, Data Protection Principles and Data Subject Rights, Modelling Data Protection and Privacy, and Modelling Perceptions of Privacy.
Quanten-Zufallszahlengenerierung: Theorie und Praxis
by Stefan Rass Stefan Schauer Christian Kollmitzer Benjamin RainerDieses Buch bietet einen Überblick über die neuesten Implementierungen von Quanten-Zufallszahlengeneratoren (QRNGs) und untersucht insbesondere deren Beziehung zu klassischen statistischen Zufallsmodellen und numerischen Techniken zur Berechnung von Zufallszahlen. Der Leser - der idealerweise einen Hintergrund in klassischer Statistik, Informatik oder Kryptographie hat - wird Schritt für Schritt in die Welt der Quantenbits eingeführt, und es werden explizite Beziehungen zwischen QRNGs und ihren klassischen Gegenstücken aufgezeigt. Die Erzeugung von Zufallszahlen ist eine wichtige Säule der Kryptographie. Die Nutzung des Zufalls, der Quantenphänomenen innewohnt, ist ein sich rasch entwickelnder Zweig der Quantenkryptografie mit unzähligen Anwendungen für die Zukunft. Der Wert der Quantenzufälligkeit für kryptografische Zwecke wird empirisch durch statistische Auswertungen der Leistung von QRNGs im Vergleich zu klassischen Techniken zur Erzeugung echter und pseudozufälliger Zahlen nachgewiesen. Das Buch bietet dann einen Überblick über die technischen Implementierungen von QRNGs, bevor eine abschließende Diskussion über die wichtigsten Errungenschaften und verbleibenden Hindernisse auf diesem Gebiet die Berichterstattung abrundet und gleichzeitig die Tür für zukünftige Forschungsrichtungen öffnet.
Introduction to Wind Turbine Aerodynamics (Green Energy and Technology)
by Alois Peter SchaffarczykThis book is an introduction to wind turbine aerodynamics for professionals and students with a diverse range of backgrounds. It is a self-contained textbook that shows how to progress from the basics of fluid mechanics to modern wind turbine blade design. It presents the fundamentals of fluid dynamics and inflow conditions, as well as extensive information on theories describing the aerodynamics of wind turbines. After examining a number of related experiments, the book applies the lessons learned to blade design.The text of this 3rd edition has been thoroughly revised, and the book includes a new section on aerodynamic design and optimization.
Longitudinal Methods in Youth Research: Understanding Young Lives Across Time and Space (Perspectives on Children and Young People #15)
by Johanna Wyn Julia Cook Quentin MaireThis book addresses how longitudinal research approaches are used to understand young people’s lives. It elucidates how youth researchers use longitudinal approaches, and how longitudinal research can help us to both understand and shape the field of youth sociology. Chapters discuss the creation of knowledge about youth and how longitudinal research shapes the field of youth sociology and shed light on key tensions and emerging debates in longitudinal youth research ranging from research design to data collection, analysis, and use. It considers longitudinal studies using a broad range of methods, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, retrospective methods, and creative and participatory methods. This collection offers insights from longitudinal youth scholars conducting research in Argentina, Lithuania, Australia, Estonia, Canada, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Finland and India. These researchers reflect on the future of longitudinal youth research, addressing emerging and prospective issues. This book provides a concise survey of key established and emerging areas of concern in longitudinal research and of the relationship between these areas and the field of youth studies more specifically.
Sustainable Tourism, Culture and Heritage Promotion: Development, Management and Connectivity (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation)
by Uglješa Stankov Rui Alexandre Castanho Jorge Chica-Olmo Miroslav Vujičić Eliana MartinelliThis proceedings book explores future prospects of cultural, heritage, and religious tourism and how it can impact the socioeconomic complexity of a community and future developments. It includes chapters on contemporary digital age pilgrimage, digital interpretation as a management strategy, tourism in the era of digital communication, and the role of social media in conserving intangible cultural heritage. This book focuses on policies and mechanisms for heritage preservation. It includes cultural heritage tourism management, how the digitalization of data has impacted and further developed tourism, World Heritage classification in urban tourism destinations, cultural tourism products, and experiences. Moreover, it discusses the sustainable environment and geography in tourism. It covers topics such as ecotourism and rural sustainable development, heritage in socioeconomic sustainable development, and tourists' perceptions of tourism. Anotherpart of the book explores the social and economic impacts of tourism. It includes chapters on cycling tourism along the Elbe, residents' perceptions of the socioeconomic benefits of restaurants, architecture of historical mosques, tourism as a driver of soft power, tourists' perceptions of service quality, tourism during the Covid-19 pandemic, gastronomic narratives in tourism, and residents' perceptions of festivals. Also, it pinpoints the focus on user interaction-based development. It includes chapters on the role of community-led initiatives in heritage revitalization and addressing connectivity issues between historical and natural touristic heritage sites. These research papers provide valuable insights into the multidimensional nature of cultural sustainable tourism, covering a wide range of topics and offering diverse perspectives on its development, management, and impact.
Mastering Knowledge Management Using Microsoft Technologies: Secrets to Leveraging Microsoft 365 and Becoming a Knowledge Management Guru
by Tori Reddy DodlaFor companies and individuals already using Microsoft365 and other Microsoft technologies, this book is designed to reveal how to fully utilize these platforms for effective Knowledge Management without needing to rely on additional third-party tools. It addresses a common issue where organizations find themselves with overlapping technology capabilities for managing knowledge. This situation arises because many companies are not fully aware of the capabilities they already possess within their existing Microsoft tools. Knowledge management firms capitalize on this gap by offering white-labeled, branded applications with user-friendly interfaces, selling them to companies that could achieve the same results with what they already own, if only they knew how to use them properly. By mastering the use of Microsoft technologies for Knowledge Management, organizations can save significant amounts of money that would otherwise be spent on unnecessary external solutions. Whether your objective is to optimize Knowledge Management processes or align these tools with your organization's business processes, this book is designed to serve as a valuable resource, offering practical guidance and strategies to empower your endeavors. By the end of this book, readers will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding the utilization of Microsoft technologies for Knowledge Management and organizational design. What You Will Learn The components of a Microsoft Knowledge Base How PowerPlatfom can support Knowledge Management activities How Microsoft tools fit into the Knowledge Management Landscape How to integrate AI using Microsoft Co-Pilot Who This Book Is For Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Knowledge Officers, Chief Digital Officers, Directors of Knowledge Management, Knowledge Managers, SharePoint Administrators, Digital Transformation Consultants
European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2018 (European Yearbook of International Economic Law #9)
by Markus Krajewski Jörg Philipp Terhechte Marc Bungenberg Andreas R. Ziegler Christian J. TamsVolume 9 of the EYIEL focusses on natural resources law understood as a special area of international economic law. In light of increasing conflicts over access to and the use of natural resources and of their impact on political, social and environmental aspects, the contributions of this volume analyse to which extent international economic law can contribute to the sustainable exploitation, management and distribution of natural resources. The volume collects contributions on general principles of natural resources law, the importance of natural resources for trade, investment and European economic law as well as analyses of particular sectors and areas including fracking, timber, space and deep seabed mining and natural resources in the arctic region.In its section on regional developments, EYIEL 9 addresses two regional integration systems which are usually not at the centre of public interest, but which deserve all the more attention due to their special relations with Europe: The Eurasian Economic Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Further EYIEL sections address recent WTO and investment case law as well as developments at the IMF. The volume also contains review essays of important recent books in international economic law and other aspects of international law which are connected to international economic relations.The chapter "Sovereignty, Ownership and Consent in Natural Resource Contracts: From Concepts to Practice" by Lorenzo Cotula is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.
Handbook of Nuclear Cardiology: Cardiac SPECT and Cardiac PET
by Gary V. Heller Robert C. HendelThis extensively revised edition of this important textbook provides a practical approach to the use of nuclear cardiology for the general cardiologist. It is an adjunct to the existing literature in nuclear cardiology, providing a simple case-based approach to understanding the methodology, application and outcomes of the modality, and representing a pocket-sized compendium designed for a clinical cardiology audience. Nuclear cardiology procedures have been a mainstay in noninvasive testing for the diagnosis and risk stratification of coronary artery disease for many years. Although a mature field with a multitude of clinical applications, the advances in the technology and imaging procedures have been remarkable and important to document.Handbook of Nuclear Cardiology: Cardiac SPECT and Cardiac PET reviews the important indications for choosing nuclear cardiology procedures and provides a description of the procedures themselves, including both SPECT and PET imaging protocols, as well as supplying readers with a the key readings resources. It emphasizes how noninvasive testing results can be used clinically and the appropriateness of such techniques using a concise and logical structure, vital for trainees, practicing physicians, nurses and technologists looking for a brief, up-to-date overview and reference volume for nuclear cardiology. It therefore represents an essential reference for a large number of cardiologists internationally looking for information in the field.
Advances in Geophysics, Tectonics and Petroleum Geosciences: Proceedings of the 2nd Springer Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG-2), Tunisia 2019 (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation)
by François Roure Santanu Banerjee Narasimman Sundararajan Mehdi Eshagh Mustapha Meghraoui Helder I. Chaminé Klaus-G. Hinzen André Michard Said MaoucheThis edited book is based on the best papers accepted for presentation during the 2nd Springer Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG-2), Tunisia, in 2019. It is of interest to all researchers practicing geophysics/seismology, structural, and petroleum geology.With four sections spanning a large spectrum of geological and geophysical topics with particular reference to Middle East, Mediterranean region, and Africa, this book presents a series of research methods that are nowadays in use for measuring, quantifying, and analyzing several geological domains.It starts with a subsection dedicated to the latest research studies on seismic hazard and risk assessment in Africa presented during the 2019 IGCP-659 meeting organized alongside the CAJG-2. And, it includes new research studies on earthquake geodesy, seismotectonics, archeoseismology and active faulting, well logging methods, geodesy and exploration/theoretical geophysics, petroleum geochemistry, petroleum engineering, structural geology, basement architecture and potential data, tectonics and geodynamics, and thermicity, petroleum, and other georesources. The edited book gives insights into the fundamental questions that address the genesis and evolution of our planet, and this is based on data collection and experimental investigations under physical constitutive laws. These multidisciplinary approaches combined with the geodynamics of tectonic provinces and investigations of potential zones of natural resources (petroleum reservoirs) provide the basis for a more sustainability in the economic development.
Atlas of Chinese Macrofungal Resources: Volume 1: Overview, Macrofungal Ascomycetes, Jelly Fungi and Coral Fungi
by Yu Li Taihui Li Zhuliang Yang Tolgor Bau Yucheng DaiThis book is part of the 4-volumes collection of Atlas of Chinese Macrofungal Resources . This atlas documented 1819 species (or varieties) in 509 genera of macrofungi known from China, which are, according to their morphological characteristics, practically divided into 10 groups, including 196 larger ascomycetes, 21 jelly fungi, 47 coral fungi, 637 polyporoid, hydnaceous and lephoroid fungi, 11 cantharelloid fungi, 653 agarics, 130 boletes, 75 gasteroid fungi, 16 larger pathogenic fungi on crops, and 33 larger myxomycetes.All species are evidenced with voucher sand photographs. About 370 of the listed species (occupying 1/5 of the totals pieces) have their type localities in China, among which over 260 species (accounting for 1/7 of the species) were firstly discovered and published by the present authors. Some of the species are endemic to China and East Asia. Introduction to all species are accompanied with color photographs showing their macro-morphology and (or) habitat. The macroscopic and microscopic diagnostic characters ecological habits, economic importance (edibility, medicinal availability or toxicity) and geographical distribution in China of all species are described in brief and easy-to-understand style. In the guide, the characteristics and using method of the book, related mycological vocabulary, common taxonomic techniques and positions of the fungal genera in modern taxonomic system are briefly introduced.The knowledge of this book should be interesting to mycologists, mycology fans and mushroom lovers, as well as researchers, teachers and students studying on edible fungi, plant pathology, healthcare and biomedicine sciences, bioresources and biodiversity, ecology and other related disciplines. It is an ideal reference for those who are interested in the Chinese macrofungi and larger slime molds. In this first volume, it covers Macrofungal Ascomycetes, Jelly Fungi and Coral Fungi.
Action
by J. KrishnamurtiThe passages in this volume are taken from works by Krishnamurti. These include public talks, questions and answers, conversations, and writings. Krishnamurti always spoke from such a large perspective that his whole vision was implied in any extended passage, or sometimes by even a very short quote. Krishnamurti offers radically different answers to questions about relationships with others, and why we do not act with clarity and intelligence. He says, surely true action comes from clarity. When the mind is very clear, unconfused, not contradictory within itself, then action inevitably follows from that clarity.
Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance
by Karen LevyA behind-the-scenes look at how digital surveillance is affecting the trucking way of lifeLong-haul truckers are the backbone of the American economy, transporting goods under grueling conditions and immense economic pressure. Truckers have long valued the day-to-day independence of their work, sharing a strong occupational identity rooted in a tradition of autonomy. Yet these workers increasingly find themselves under many watchful eyes. Data Driven examines how digital surveillance is upending life and work on the open road, and raises crucial questions about the role of data collection in broader systems of social control.Karen Levy takes readers inside a world few ever see, painting a bracing portrait of one of the last great American frontiers. Federal regulations now require truckers to buy and install digital monitors that capture data about their locations and behaviors. Intended to address the pervasive problem of trucker fatigue by regulating the number of hours driven each day, these devices support additional surveillance by trucking firms and other companies. Traveling from industry trade shows to law offices and truck-stop bars, Levy reveals how these invasive technologies are reconfiguring industry relationships and providing new tools for managerial and legal control—and how truckers are challenging and resisting them.Data Driven contributes to an emerging conversation about how technology affects our work, institutions, and personal lives, and helps to guide our thinking about how to protect public interests and safeguard human dignity in the digital age.
Becoming Great Universities: Small Steps for Sustained Excellence
by Richard J. Light Allison JeglaHow campus communities of every kind can transform themselves from good to greatBecoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus—from presidents to first-year undergraduates—can take to enhance student life and learning.This incisive book, written in a friendly and engaging style, draws on conversations with presidents, deans, and staff at hundreds of campuses across the country as well as scores of in-depth interviews with students and faculty. Providing suggestions that all members of a campus community can implement, Richard Light and Allison Jegla cover topics such as how to build a culture of innovation on campus, how to improve learning outcomes through experimentation, how to help students from under-resourced high schools succeed in college, and how to attract students from rural areas who may not be considering colleges far from their communities. They offer concrete ways to facilitate constructive interactions among students from different backgrounds, create opportunities for lifelong learning and engagement, and inspire students to think globally. And most of the ideas presented in this book can be implemented at little to no cost.Featuring a wealth of evidence-based examples, Becoming Great Universities offers actionable suggestions for everyone to have a positive impact on college life regardless of whether their campus is urban or rural, private or public, large or small, wealthy or not.
The Leaving Season: A Memoir In Essays
by Kelly McMasters“One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Kelly McMasters is a literary giant.”—Zibby Owens, Good Morning America A memoir in intimate essays navigating marriage and motherhood, art and ambition, grief and nostalgia, and the elusive concept of home. Kelly McMasters found herself in her midthirties living her fantasy: she’d moved with her husband, a painter, from New York City to rural Pennsylvania, where their children roamed idyllic acres in rainboots and diapers. The pastoral landscape and the bookshop they opened were restorative at first, for her and her marriage. But soon, she was quietly plotting her escape. In The Leaving Season, McMasters chronicles the heady rush of falling in love and carving out a life in the city, the slow dissolution of her relationship in an isolated farmhouse, and the complexities of making a new home for herself and her children as a single parent. She delves into the tricky and often devastating balance between seeing and being seen; loss and longing; desire and doubt; and the paradox of leaving what you love in order to survive. Whether considering masculinity in the countryside through the life of a freemartin calf, the vulnerability of new motherhood in the wake of a car crash, or the power of community pulsing through an independent bookshop, The Leaving Season finds in every ending a new beginning.
The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, And Our Obsession With Human Origins
by Stefanos Geroulanos“[A]n incisive and captivating reassessment of prehistory . . . In lucid prose, Geroulanos unspools an enthralling and detailed history of the development of modern natural science. It’s a must-read.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “An astute, powerfully rendered history of humanity.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review An eminent historian tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity—and how, for three centuries, ideas of prehistory have been used to justify devastating violence against others. Books about the origins of humanity dominate bestseller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. We are obsessed with prehistory—and, in this respect, our current era is no different from any other in the last three hundred years. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture, but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a human past before recorded history only emerged with the Enlightenment, when European thinkers began to reject faith-based notions of humanity and history in favor of supposedly more empirical ideas about the world. From the “state of nature” and Romantic notions of virtuous German barbarians to theories about Neanderthals, killer apes, and a matriarchal paradise where women ruled, Geroulanos captures the sheer variety and strangeness of the ideas that animated many of the major thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx. Yet as Geroulanos shows, such ideas became, for the most part, the ideological foundations of repressive regimes and globe-spanning empires. Deeming other peoples “savages” allowed for guilt-free violence against them; notions of “killer apes” who were our evolutionary predecessors made war seem natural. The emergence of modern science only accelerated the West’s imperialism. The Nazi obsession with race was rooted in archaeological claims about prehistoric IndoGermans; the idea that colonialized peoples could be “bombed back to the Stone Age” was made possible by the technology of flight and the anthropological idea that civilization advanced in stages. As Geroulanos argues, accounts of prehistory tell us more about the moment when they are proposed than about the deep past—and if we hope to start improving our future, we would be better off setting aside the search for how it all started. A necessary, timely, indelible account of how the quest for understanding the origins of humanity became the handmaiden of war and empire, The Invention of Prehistory will forever change how we think about the deep past.
The Brothers Karamazov: A New Translation By Michael R. Katz
by Fyodor Dostoevsky"Lively, fast-flowing.... the voiciest translation of the novel thus far. [Katz] writes at the fever pitch of speech, unleashing the speed and the chaos of the original." —Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker A monumental new translation—the first in more than twenty years—of Russia’s greatest family drama, rendered with all the passion, humor, and soul of the original. Dostoevsky’s final, greatest novel, The Brothers Karamazov, paints a complex and richly detailed portrait of a family tormented by its extraordinarily cruel patriarch, Fyodor Pavlovich, whose callous decisions slowly decimate the lives of his sons—the eponymous brothers Karamazov—and lead to his violent murder. In the aftermath of the killing, the brothers contend with dilemmas of honor, faith, and reason as the community closes in on the murderer in their midst. Acclaimed translator Michael R. Katz renders this masterpiece’s nuanced and evocative storytelling in a vibrant, signature prose style that captures all the power of Dostoevsky’s original—the clever humor, the rich emotion, the passion and the turmoil—and that will captivate and unsettle a new generation of readers.
To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power
by null Sergey RadchenkoWhat would it feel like To Run the World? The Soviet rulers spent the Cold War trying desperately to find out. In this panoramic new history of the conflict that defined the postwar era, Sergey Radchenko provides an unprecedented deep dive into the psychology of the Kremlin's decision-making. He reveals how the Soviet struggle with the United States and China reflected its irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution. This tension drove Soviet policies from Stalin's postwar scramble for territory to Khrushchev's reckless overseas adventurism and nuclear brinksmanship, Brezhnev's jockeying for influence in the third world, and Gorbachev's failed attempts to reinvent Moscow's claims to greatness. Perennial insecurities, delusions of grandeur, and desire for recognition propelled Moscow on a headlong quest for global power, with dire consequences and painful legacies that continue to shape our world.
Musical Modernism in Global Perspective: Entangled Histories on a Shared Planet (Music in Context)
by null Björn HeileIn the first study of the global dimensions of musical modernism, Björn Heile proposes a novel theory according to which musical modernism is constituted by a global diasporic network of composers, musicians and institutions. In a series of historical and analytical case studies from different parts of the world, this book overcomes the respective limitations of both Eurocentric and postcolonial, revisionist accounts, focusing instead on the transnational entanglements between the West and other world regions. Key topics include migration, the transnational reception and transfer of musical works and ideas, institutions such as the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and composers who are rarely discussed in Western academia, such as the Nigerian-born Akin Euba and the Korean-German Younghi Pagh-Paan. Influenced by the interdisciplinary notion of 'entangled histories', Heile critiques established dichotomies, all the while highlighting the unequal power relations on which the existing global order is founded.