The Age of Wonder is a colorful and utterly absorbing historyof the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end ofthe eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age ofScience. When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, hehoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific fermentsweeping through Britain, the botanist had sailed with Captain Cookin search of new worlds. Other voyages of discovery—astronomical,chemical, poetical, philosophical—swiftly follow in RichardHolmes's thrilling evocation of the second scientific revolution.Through the lives of William Herschel and his sister Caroline, whoforever changed the public conception of the solar system; ofHumphry Davy, whose near-suicidal gas experiments revolutionizedchemistry; and of the great Romantic writers, from Mary Shelley toColeridge and Keats, who were inspired by the scientificbreakthroughs of their day, Holmes brings to life the era in whichwe first realized both the awe-inspiring and the fr
Research clearly indicates that ethnic groups differsignificantly on levels of mental and physical health, antisocialbehavior, and educational attainment. This book explains thesevariations among ethnic groups with respect to their psychologicaland social functioning and tests competing hypotheses about themechanisms that might cause the functioning to be better, worse, ordifferent in pattern from other groups. Attention is paid toeducational attainments, antisocial behavior, schizophrenia andsuicide, and to the complex and changing patterns of ethnicidentity. The book also focuses on evidence on risk and protectivefactors that is used systematically to ask whether such factorsmight account for the differences in both migration histories andethnic mixture. It concludes with a discussion of the multiplemeanings of ethnicity, the major variations among ethnic groups,and the policy implications of the findings discussed in thebook.
In celebration of summer, Assouline evokes the beauty of thegarden in a remarkable gift-volume. Including more than threecenturies of drawings culled from the rare books library of theCooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, each page in Botanicalsexplodes with rich colours and lifelike details. Exquisite flowers,delicate fuits, and exuberant butterflies are among the jewels ofnature that come to life in this unique compendium. Featured areworks by leading botanical artists, including Maria Sibylla Merian,a rfevolutionary female entomologist and natural historian of theseventeeth century; E.A. Seguy, whose art nouveau-era work servesas inspiration for many contemporary creative directors anddesigners; and Dr Robert John thornton, a British visionaryrenowned for his inerest in botany. Botanicals is extraordinary, aremarkable objet d'art in the spirit of the season. AUTHOR: LeslieK. Overstreet is the curator of Natural-History Rare Books at theSmithsonian Institution. She has published bibliographical artic
This new seventh edition of the book offers extensivediscussion of information, uncertainty, and game theory. Itcontains over a hundred examples illustrating the applicability ofeconomic analysis not only to mainline economic topics but alsoissues in politics, history, biology, the family, and many otherareas. These discussions generally describe recent researchpublished in scholarly books and articles, giving students a goodidea of the scientific work done by professional economists. Inaddition, at appropriate places the text provides 'applications'representing more extended discussions of selected topics includingrationing in wartime (Chapter 5), import quotas (Chapter 7),alleged monopolistic suppression of inventions (Chapter 9), minimumwage laws (Chapter 11), the effects of Social Security upon saving(Chapter 15), fair division of disrupted property (Chapter 16) andwhether individuals should pay ransom to a kidnapper (Chapter17).
