Using examples and illustrations from chemistry, physics, mathematics,computer science, and engineering, this helpful guide gives readers simple... step-by-step procedures for keeping lab notebooks and writing lab reports, formal research papers, and science essays.

Comprehensive and well-balanced, this writing guide is designed to help its reader to prepare effective documents in the field of social science. ... The revised fourth edition includes coverage of may important topics, including: efficiently using the Internet for research as well as traditional information resources, the need for sustained and thoughtful revision, mastering oral communication, many different citation styles. For anyone interested in writing papers in the field of social science.

A Short Guide to Writing about Theatre is a succinct introduction to the skills required to write knowledgeably and critically about the theatre.... Intended to illuminate the importance of theatre and performance in daily life, A Short Guide to Writing about Theatre engages students with dramatic material as they learn the practical elements of review, analysis, criticism, and research.

An history of the visual arts of Africa - sculpture, painting and architecture; textiles, pottery and other household objects; jewellery, ceremonial and... religious dress and body art. The author examines the major influences on African culture and art over the centuries: the civilizations of Egypt and the Mediterranean coast, the spread of Islam, the Bantu migrations, the evolution of the tribal system, the arrival of the Europeans and Christianity and the development of trade within Africa and beyond. He then examines the earliest known art forms, the preshitoric rock art found in a number of regions and the artefacts of the ancient Nubian, Aksumite and Nok cultures, and goes on to consider the development of the visual arts in a number of individual regions ranging from the Sahara to the Cape, from Ethiopia and the Swahili coast in the east to the Niger Delta and Benin in the west.

A Short History of African Philosophy discusses major ideas, figures, and schools of thought in philosophy in the African context. While drawing out... critical issues in the formation of African philosophy, Barry Hallen focuses on recent scholarship and relevant debates that have made African philosophy critical to understanding the rich and complex cultural heritage of the continent. This revised edition expands the historical perspective, takes account of recent discoveries and new canonical figures, highlights new discussions about gender as a cultural and philosophical phenomenon, clarifies issues regarding indigenous cultures and human rights, and builds on the notion that African philosophy shares methods and concerns of philosophy worldwide. This short reference is an essential resource for students, scholars, and general readers.

The peoples of Asia now make up more than half of the world's population. They are increasingly well-educated, and successful in every area of modern... trade and technology. Their influence in the rest of the world is also becoming greater. Colin Mason provides a readable and clear introduction to their history and traditions, from prehistory right up to the present day. This thoroughly revised, updated and expanded new edition includes the substantial changes and additions made necessary by the fast-changing scene in Asia, particularly China's increasing prominence in world affairs. There are new chapters on Afghanistan and Taiwan, and on World War Two and its significance in Asia, as well as extensive reworking of the chapters on the nations of South Asia. Maps and illustrations now also enrich the text throughout, making this the essential guide to the history of a fascinating continent and its peoples.

The last few years have seen a remarkable surge of popular interest in the topic of atheism. Books about atheism by writers like Richard Dawkins and... Christopher Hitchens have figured prominently in bestseller lists and have attracted widespread discussion in the media. The ubiquity of public debates about atheism, especially in conscious opposition to the perceived social threat posed by faith and religion, has been startling. However, as Gavin Hyman points out, despite their prevalence and popularity, what often characterizes these debates is a lack of nuance and sophistication. They can be shrill, ignorant of the historical complexity of debates about belief, and tend to lapse into caricature. What is needed is a clear and well informed presentation of how atheistic ideas originated and developed, in order to illuminate their contemporary relevance and application. That task is what the author undertakes here. Exploring the rise of atheism as an explicit philosophical position (notably in the work of Denis Diderot), Hyman traces its development in the later ideas of Descartes, Locke, and Berkeley. Drawing also on the work of contemporary scholars like Amos Funkenstein and Michael J Buckley, the author shows that, since in recent theology the concept of God which atheists negate is changing, the triumph of its advocates may not be quite as unequivocal as Hitchens and Dawkins would have us believe.

Until 2004 and the publication of "A Short History of Boston," there was no good short history of the city of Boston, not in print anyway. With economy... and style, Dr. Robert Allison brings Boston history alive, from the Puritan theocracy of the seventeenth century to the Big Dig of the twenty-first. His book includes a wealth of illustrations, a lengthy chronology of the key events in four centuries of Boston history, and twenty short profiles of exceptional Bostonians, from founder John Winthrop to heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, from "heretic" Anne Hutchinson to Russian-American author Mary Antin. Says the Provincetown Arts, "A first-rate short history of the city, lavishly illustrated, lovingly written, and instantly the best book of its kind."

"Norwich is always on the lookout for the small but revealing details. . . . All of this he recounts in a style that consistently entertains." --The New... York Times Book Review In this magisterial adaptation of his epic three-volume history of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich chronicles the world's longest-lived Christian empire. Beginning with Constantine the Great, who in a.d. 330 made Christianity the religion of his realm and then transferred its capital to the city that would bear his name, Norwich follows the course of eleven centuries of Byzantine statecraft and warfare, politics and theology, manners and art.In the pages of A Short History of Byzantium we encounter mystics and philosophers, eunuchs and barbarians, and rulers of fantastic erudition, piety, and degeneracy. We enter the life of an empire that could create some of the world's most transcendent religious art and then destroy it in the convulsions of fanaticism. Stylishly written and overflowing with drama, pathos, and wit, here is a matchless account of a lost civilization and its magnificent cultural legacy."Strange and fascinating . . . filled with drollery and horror."                          --Boston Globe

Most of us know bits and pieces of our history but would like to be more sure of how it all fits together. The trick is to find a history that is so... absorbing you will want to read it from beginning to end. With this book, Desmond Morton, one of Canada’s most noted and highly respected historians, shows how the choices we can make at the dawn of the 21st century have been shaped by history.Morton is keenly aware of the links connecting our present, our past, and our future, and in one compact and engrossing volume he pulls off the remarkable feat of bringing it all together – from the First Nations before the arrival of the Europeans to the failure of the Charlottetown accord and Jean Chretien’s third term as prime minister. His acute observations on the Diefenbaker era, the effects of the post-war influx of immigrants, the flag debate, the baby boom, the Trudeau years and the constitutional crisis, the Quebec referendum, and the rise of the Canadian Alliance all provide an invaluable background to understanding the way Canada works today.

This informative but concise history of China and Southeast Asia is perfect for travelers, students, teachers, and businesspeople. Portable and... attractively designed, it includes color illustrations, maps, and a brief history of the region. Explored are relations between China and Southeast Asia across two millennia; patterns of diplomacy, commercial networks, and migration; and how these have varied over time. With a focus on modern history, this is a fascinating account of imperial ambition, internal collapse and revival, cultural and commercial endeavors, and war and revolution. Important insight into the complicated history of the fastest-growing region in the world is offered.

Takes readers on an entertaining and enlightening journey through the key stages of Christian development, covering the people, the events, the... movements, and the controversies of the church.

Distributive justice in its modern sense calls on the state to guarantee that everyone is supplied with a certain level of material means. Samuel... Fleischacker argues that guaranteeing aid to the poor is a modern idea, developed only in the last two centuries. Earlier notions of justice, including Aristotle's, were concerned with the distribution of political office, not of property. It was only in the eighteenth century, in the work of philosophers such as Adam Smith and Immanuel Kant, that justice began to be applied to the problem of poverty. To attribute a longer pedigree to distributive justice is to fail to distinguish between justice and charity. Fleischacker explains how confusing these principles has created misconceptions about the historical development of the welfare state. Socialists, for instance, often claim that modern economics obliterated ancient ideals of equality and social justice. Free-market promoters agree but applaud the apparent triumph of skepticism and social-scientific rigor. Both interpretations overlook the gradual changes in thinking that yielded our current assumption that justice calls for everyone, if possible, to be lifted out of poverty. By examining major writings in ancient, medieval, and modern political philosophy, Fleischacker shows how we arrived at the contemporary meaning of distributive justice.