bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
10 Holes in the Light
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2008

All shadows are holes in the light. Therefore, recent psychology on the visual perception of holes generalizes to shadows. Some holes in the light are not due to light blockage. These dark patches are distinguished from shadows.
Zen Rites
Authors: Heine Steven
Published: January 2008

The next area of debate, nonduality versus mediation, examined in Chapter Three involves the function of rituals and other intermediating elements of practice, such as objects of worship, in what is supposedly an iconoclastic tradition founded on direct, unmediated experience realized through meditation conducted in the Monks Hall of the seven‐hall monastery grounds. By looking at key examples of how prayer temples evolved in relation to monastic training centers, this chapter argues that the traditional view of Zen must acknowledge that the religion allows for a wide variety of compound layouts. Temples that put an emphasis on aesthetic contemplation for monks may incorporate rock gardens or teahouses, for example, while those emphasizing the pursuit of worldly benefits for lay followers generally have a prominent shrine dedicated to an indigenous or esoteric deity that has been assimilated as an avatar or bodhisattva.
Epilogue: The Real Zen Buddhism
Authors: Heine Steven
Published: January 2008

The concluding chapter or epilogue sums up the previous arguments and explores ways of trying to break through the sets of polarized antimonies, so that the traditional and critical Zen positions can be reinvigorated in light—rather than by suppression—of their differences. In considering recent movements such as Critical Buddhism, which criticizes Zen for not fulfilling its role in modern society, and Engaged Buddhism, which advocates Zen as a remedy for the contemporary world, the conclusion reflects on debates between defenders and detractors about whether Zen can and should be engaged or cannot help but be disengaged from social issues. It explores the extent to which Zen allows, or causes, a sense of being enraged by instances of injustice and intolerance by retrieving repentance as a means to create reform.
4 European Community Legislation for Traceability and Labeling of Genetically Modifi ed Crops, Food, and Feed
Authors: Grossman Margaret Rosso
Published: January 2008

This chapter discusses European Community legislation for traceability and labeling of genetically modified crops, food, and feed. After a brief discussion of EC law making and the role of the precautionary principle, the chapter discusses EC measures for authorization of bioengineered or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and GM food and feed. It focuses on EC Regulations that require, and establish thresholds for, traceability and labeling of GMOS and their food and feed products. The chapter addresses the practical issue of coexistence of GM crops with conventional and organic crops, and it reviews EC policy documents and Member State measures to ensure coexistence.
1 Interpretation
Authors: Wolfsdorf David
Published: January 2008

This chapter develops a hermeneutic framework for integrating the philosophical and literary dimensions of Plato's early dialogues. Central problems treated include: the thematic versus chronological unity of the texts, the conception of philosophy as political activity, the function of dialogue versus monologue, the historicity of the dramatic elements, the uses of Socrates, and the limits of the mouthpiece principle.
Descartes on Causation
Authors: Schmaltz Tad M.
Published: January 2008

This book is a systematic study of Descartes's theory of causation and its relation to the medieval and early modern scholastic philosophy that provides its proper historical context. The argument here is that even though Descartes offered a dualistic ontology that differs radically from what we find in scholasticism, his views on causation were profoundly influenced by scholastic thought on this issue. This influence is evident not only in his affirmation in the Meditations of the abstract scholastic axiom that a cause must contain the reality of its effects, but also in the details of the accounts of body‐body interactions in his physics, of mind‐body interaction in his psychology, and of the causation that he took to be involved in free human action. In contrast to those who have read Descartes as endorsing the “occasionalist” conclusion that God is the only real cause, a central thesis of this study is that he accepted what in the context of scholastic debates regarding causation is the antipode of occasionalism, namely, the view that creatures rather than God are the causal source of natural change. What emerges from the defense of this interpretation of Descartes is a new understanding of his contribution to modern thought on causation.
4 Causation in Psychology
Authors: schmaltz Tad M.
Published: January 2008

This chapter considers the issue of causal interaction in the context of Descartes's dualistic psychology. A common objection is that there is a “scandal of Cartesian interaction” that derives from the fact that Descartes cannot explain the interaction of objects that differ in nature. However, it is argued that Descartes confronts not this scandalous problem but rather different sets of difficulties that apply to the cases of body‐to‐mind and mind‐to‐body action and that, in contrast to the scandalous problem, are linked to earlier scholastic discussions. Moreover, it is concluded that Descartes's conservationist physics creates difficulties for his view of mind‐to‐body action that he never fully confronted.
5 Causation and Freedom
Authors: schmaltz Tad M.
Published: January 2008

This chapter focuses on the special considerations for Descartes's theory of causation that arise from the various accounts of human freedom that he offered over the course of his philosophical career. The concern throughout is to relate these accounts to different views within scholasticism concerning the “indifference” of our free action and the compatibility of such action with divine foreknowledge and providence. There is also a consideration of Descartes's idiosyncratic doctrine of the divine creation of eternal truths. It is argued that the implication of this doctrine that God is the cause even of truths concerning our free action does not compromise his mature position that our undetermined will, rather than God, is the immediate causal source of that action.
Overcriminalization
Authors: Husak Douglas
Published: January 2008

The United States suffers from too much criminal law and too much punishment. These two trends conspire to produce massive injustice. To rectify this injustice, we need to defend and implement a theory of criminalization: a set of constraints that limit the authority of states to enact and enforce penal offenses. Although the topic of criminalization is of enormous theoretical and practical significance, no Anglo–American theorist has yet developed such a theory. The central objective of this book is to defend a theory of criminalization, and to situate it within contemporary scholarship by legal philosophers. Many of the resources to reduce the size and scope of the criminal law can be derived from within the criminal law itself—even though these resources have not been used explicitly for this purpose. Several additional constraints emerge from a political view about the conditions under which important rights—such as the rights implicated by punishment—may be infringed. When conjoined, these constraints generate a minimalist theory of criminal liability. These constraints are applied to a handful of examples—most notably but not exclusively to drug proscriptions, which are the most significant cause of the growth in the criminal justice system. This book concludes by showing that the minimalist theory defended here is vastly superior to any of the competitive accounts of criminalization that legal philosophers have produced.
CHAPTER 1 “Are We a Nation?”
Authors: Wall Wendy L.
Published: January 2008

In the late 1930s, the phrase “American Way” exploded into popular use. The proliferation of the term attested to Americans’ profound sense of anxiety about the proper parameters of U.S. political culture and the basis for national unity in a threatening world. This chapter outlines the domestic and international pressures that converged to give the search for a unifying “American Way” unusual saliency. The Depression threatened longstanding power structures and called into question long-held assumptions about the stability and course of U.S. capitalism. The maturation of “new immigrant” communities, and the northward migration of southern blacks, raised questions about the terms on which ethnic, religious, and racial outsiders would be incorporated into a society long defined by elites as Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Above all, the political triumphs of fascism and communism abroad—combined with fears that those ideologies were gaining ground in the U.S.—intensified concerns about America’s core values.
CHAPTER 6 United America
Authors: Wall Wendy L.
Published: January 2008

In the aftermath of World War II, an array of influential elites launched a wide-ranging effort to recapture the sense of teamwork that had pervaded public discourse during the war. Those engaged in this endeavor included social scientists who worried about threats to national cohesion; intergroup activists who hoped to extend their wartime anti-prejudice campaigns; business and advertising executives determined to derail the rising power of labor and to halt or roll back the New Deal; and officials of the Truman Administration who sought to unify Americans behind their emerging Cold War policies. The motives of these elites differed sharply, as did their definition of the values around which Americans should unite. What they shared was a fear of social unrest or upheaval. This chapter explores their efforts, focusing particularly on the activities of the Advertising Council. The council provided a vital link between numerous groups and conducted campaigns on behalf of both free enterprise and intergroup tolerance.
CHAPTER 8 Crusading for Freedom at Home and Abroad
Authors: Wall Wendy L.
Published: January 2008

Beginning in the late 1940s, government officials and an array of private elites worked to enlist civil society in general—and immigrants and their children in particular—in efforts to project the “American Way” overseas. This chapter focuses on four such efforts at public diplomacy: the Friendship Train which collected foodstuffs for Italy and France; the “Letters to Italy” and “Letters from America” campaigns, both designed to persuade immigrants to write friends and family in the Old Country; and the massive Crusade for Freedom of the 1950s, which mobilized public support for Radio Free Europe. Such efforts should be understood, not simply as weapons in the Cold War, but as part of the process of constructing a domestic consensus on America’s core values. Organizers of these efforts sought to develop in Americans a “greater awareness” of their own blessings and to convince all Americans that they stood on the front lines in the battle against communism.
The Voyage to India
Authors: Barsam Ara Paul
Published: January 2008

The tantalizing possibility that, while clothed in philosophical and theological garb, the original insight which Schweitzer appropriates is derived from Indian ethical thought, and specifically the Jain tradition, is exposed in Chapter Three. Contrary to the claim that he found the ethical concept which “had not been discovered in any philosophy”, Schweitzer was clearly influenced by the Jain ethic of ahimsā (non‐violence, non‐injury). Also highlighted is his analysis of ahimsā and some of the close affinities between Schweitzerian and Jain ethics.
Rediscovering Lambaréné
Authors: Barsam Ara Paul
Published: January 2008

Contrary to the common view that reverence died in Lambaréné, modern theology, notably in its liberal Protestant and process forms, continues to be indebted to Schweitzer. In the telling confession of Paul Tillich, Schweitzer was with him “all my life since my student days.” In developing their own “ethic of life”, John Cobb and Charles Birch regard Schweitzer as “the one great Western twentieth‐century thinker who took seriously the value of all living things” and acknowledge his reverence for life as having a “spreading influence of others”. Chapter Six sets the stage for Schweitzer's contribution to the continuing debate on life‐ethics.
5 Extrapolation, Capacities, and Mechanisms
Authors: Steel Daniel P.
Published: January 2008

This chapter argues that previous accounts of extrapolation, either by reference to capacities or mechanisms, do not adequately address the challenges confronting extrapolation. It then begins the account of how the mechanisms approach can be developed so as to do better. The central concept in this account is what I term comparative process tracing.
6Ceteris Paribusand Extrapolation
Authors: Steel Daniel P.
Published: January 2008

This chapter further develops the mechanisms approach to extrapolation begun in chapter 5 and explores its relevance to the hotly debated issue of ceteris paribus laws. It argues that the difficulties that beset the most problematic type of ceteris paribus law vanish if “ceteris paribus” is interpreted as indicating an inference schema concerning extrapolation rather than as qualifying a universally quantified generalization.
Extrapolation in Social Science
Authors: Steel Daniel P.
Published: January 2008

Whereas the previous chapters focused on biological examples, this chapter considers whether the mechanisms approach to extrapolation can work in social science. Two main challenges are examined: that social mechanisms might not qualify as causal structure because they are often altered by policy interventions and that detailed knowledge of social mechanisms is often unavailable.
A Decade of Crisis
Authors: Baer Marc David
Published: January 2008

This chapter analyzes the decade of economic, military, and political crisis, which led to perceptions of a cultural crisis whose resolution was sought in conversion to a purified Islam as advocated by pietist preachers. Many scholars writing about conversion agree that conversion is often preceded by crisis, either at a societal or personal level. Because context is crucial, a context of crisis sets the stage for religious change to occur. When that crisis is severe, prolonged, extensive, and external, offering a startling contrast with what came before, a discrepancy between the ideal and reality, people may be compelled to look inward and try to understand how their religious beliefs and practices triggered such a troubled situation.
Converting the Jewish Prophet and Jewish Physicians
Authors: Baer Marc David
Published: January 2008

This chapter first explores how the attempt of the sultan, his preacher, and the grand vizier to stamp out what they considered heterodox, illegitimate practices among Muslims; to root out heresy and dampen religious ecstasy; and to destroy places where rapturous religious practices were performed which coincided with the outbreak of Shabbatai Tzevi's preaching, aiming to reform Jewish life and convert Jews to the rabbi's understanding of God's prophecy. The movement culminated instead in Jewish conversion to Islam as the sultan's preacher, Vani Mehmed Efendi, instructed the rabbi in Kadızadeli tenets of Islam. Hundreds of the rabbi's followers followed suit. The Islamic reform movement that promoted a rational religion preferred by the sultan prevailed at the time over the competing ecstatic conversion movement of the rabbi. The second part of the chapter examines Hatice Turhan's conversion of other Jews at the sultan's court, especially the group of Jewish palace physicians, the most visible and influential Jews in the empire.
4 Innateness and Genetic Information
Authors: Godfrey‐Smith Peter
Published: January 2008

This chapter examines the idea that innateness can be understood in terms of genetic coding or genetic programming. A distinction is made between characteristics that are coded for or programmed for by the genes, and characteristics that are not. It is argued that the defensible versions of this distinction line up badly with the idea of innateness. The defensible versions of the idea of genetic coding treat only protein molecules as coded for. The defensible versions of the idea that developmental processes involve something like computation apply only to low-level processes, so the ‘programmed for’ traits are again too low-level to be of interest to nativists. Other versions of the idea that innate traits are ‘programmed to appear’ are in effect a handing-off of the problem to the concept of adaptation or evolutionary design.
5 Genes and Human Psychological Traits
Authors: Bouchard Thomas J. Jr.
Published: January 2008

This chapter shows that genetic variation is an important feature of virtually every human psychological trait and must be taken into account in any comprehensive explanation (theory) of human behaviour. It begins by discussing the mistaken but widely held belief that ‘genetic variance’ is an indicator of the biological or evolutionary unimportance of a trait. It then turns to the role of quantitative genetic methods in modern biology. Application of these methods across a very large number of quantitative characteristics of an equally large number of species leads to the conclusion that almost all quantitative characters are heritable. This truism is illustrated for the major domains of normal human individual differences: mental ability, personality, psychological interests, and social attitudes. It is shown that compared with effects in social psychology, ecology, and evolution, as well as psychological assessment and treatment, known quantitative genetic influence on human psychological traits should be considered large in magnitude. The argument that ‘ there are no genes for behaviour’ is refuted using ‘clockwork’genes as an example. Using the example of corn oil, it is also shown the fact that finding genes for a quantitative character can be very difficult. The chapter concludes by pointing out that molecular genetics will not replace quantitative genetics; rather, the two levels of analysis will fit together seamlessly.
10 Rational Statistical Inference and Cognitive Development
Authors: Xu Fei
Published: January 2008

This chapter advocates a view that is a substantive middle ground between the extreme versions of nativism and empiricism — a view dubbed ‘rational constructivism’. This is a view that commits us to some innate (or acquired) constraints and a set of powerful learning and inference mechanisms that may be critical for development. The mechanisms of statistical inference are used as a means to bridge the gap between discussions of innate knowledge and discussions of learning and conceptual change. In particular, the general framework of Bayesian inference is adopted and some recent research providing empirical evidence for the psychological reality of these inference mechanisms are presented.
14 Space and the Language-Cognition Interface
Authors: Papafragou Anna
Published: January 2008

Languages clearly differ in the ways in which they describe spatial location and motion. These cross-linguistic differences have given rise to the question of whether the corresponding nonlinguistic systems that process motion and location are affected by linguistic variation. This chapter discusses a series of experimental findings addressing this question. The independence of nonlinguistic spatial cognition from linguistic encoding preferences is demonstrated. The chapter concludes by considering implications for models of the relationship between language and thought.
16 Adaptationism, Culture, and the Malleability of Human Nature
Authors: Sripada Chandra Sekhar
Published: January 2008

It is often thought that if an adaptationist explanation of some behavioural phenomenon is true, then this fact shows that a culturist explanation of the very same phenomenon is false, or else the adaptationist explanation preempts or crowds out the culturist explanation in some way. This chapter shows why this so-called competition thesis is misguided. Two evolutionary models are identified — the Information Learning Model and the Strategic Learning Model — which show that adaptationist reasoning can help explain why cultural learning evolved. These models suggest that there will typically be a division of labor between adaptationist and culturist explanations. It is then shown that the Strategic Learning Model, which has been widely neglected by adaptationist thinkers, has important and underappreciated implications for a question that has long been contentious in the behavioural sciences — the question of the malleability of human nature.
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Authors: Murphy Michael Patrick
Published: January 2008

The chapter serves both as a brief biography of Balthasar and a protracted bibliography of his work. The consideration of Balthasar's monumental opus (The Glory of the Lord, Theo‐drama, and Theo‐logic) provides a critical “system” in which to read texts and begins to illustrate Balthasar's unique contribution to current discussions about the intersection between theology, history, philosophy, and narrative art. The chapter demonstrates that not only is Balthasar one of the most important Catholic theologians of the twentieth century, but also his work has practical contributions to make to discourses in critical theory. Like critical theory, Balthasar's work is theological, literary, anthropological, philosophical, psychological, political, and historical, which are critical theory's main components. In the spirit of the ressourcement theology that shaped him, Balthasar is primarily interested in renewing attention to older sources in order to critique the idealistic excesses of modernity. In this sense, Balthasar reveals a postmodern temperament: he too is concerned with issues of language and difference, with aporia, with plurality, with surplus, and with horizons of meaning, to name a few. The difference between Balthasar and the majority of critical theorists resides in ontological and theological orientation: it is therefore a difference of imagination and of grammar. The chapter elaborates on these and other dynamic relationships.
Therapy
Authors: Murphy Michael Patrick
Published: January 2008

Chapter 5 presents a reading of David Lodge's novel Therapy (1995) in light of Balthasar's Theo‐logic. Lodge does well to illustrate that the erasure of God that preoccupies postmodern consciousness significantly affects contemporary conceptions about “subject formation” and “people in relation.” Lodge develops these themes by constructing a narrative that mirrors both the theological trajectory of Balthasar's tripartite program and the existential progression identified by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard—namely, the aesthetic, ethical, and religious “stages” of human experience. Importantly, a close consideration of Kierkegaard's stages reveals a direct analogy with the transcendentals, which, in turn, illuminates one of the many reasons why Balthasar admired Kierkegaard and why Lodge's novel is a fertile literary example of Balthasar's Theologic. By a close consideration of the triadic structure of being presented by a variety of sources, the chapter begins to discern how God's logic—how human logic—exists in a trinitarian dynamic.
Coda
Authors: Murphy Michael Patrick
Published: January 2008

Chapter 6 provides a short synthesis of the book. Balthasar's program challenges us to first “see the form” in the world, but also to see the Beautiful, the Good, and the True at work in a broad variety of narrative art. The book finds that, while Balthasar presents us with some practical directives that aid in elucidating the presence and veracity of such a vision, the Catholic imagination proposed does not have a monopoly on such tendencies. At minimum, the examination of the Catholic imagination helps recover the legitimate place of a “theological imagination” in the critical study of literary and narrative art. One conclusion posited is that the careful restoration of the theological imagination to discourses in meaning will aid in reestablishing “a theology of criticism,” that is, the kind of criticism that cultivates a more inclusive array of epistemologies. Another conclusion is that many aspects of postmodern critical thought are helping develop a more grounded—and interdisciplinary—theology of language.
The Wars of Ireland
Authors: Connolly S. J.
Published: January 2008

The defeat of the rebellion of the earl of Desmond opened the way for the first large scale experiment in colonization — the plantation of Munster. Government policy met with less opposition in the west, where the composition of Connacht won the support of major landowners, although the local administration also used extreme violence to impose its authority. There was less open resistance than in England to the return to Protestantism under Elizabeth I. However, committed Irish-born Protestants remained a small minority. The descendants of the medieval colonists continued to emphasize their English culture and allegiance. But their anomalous position as Catholic subjects of a Protestant queen, along with disputes over taxation and competition from more recent settlers, led to the emergence of a new defensive sense of identity, reflected in the appearance of the term ‘Old English’.
The Third Kingdom
Authors: Connolly S. J.
Published: January 2008

From 1603, Ireland, England, and Scotland became part of a composite monarchy ruled by the new Stuart dynasty. One consequence was that a large scale colonization project — the plantation of Ulster — involved placing Scottish as well as English settlers in what had been the last stronghold of Gaelic Ireland. A uniform system of law and administration now extended over the whole island, an achievement celebrated in the legal writings of Sir John Davies. Meanwhile, the Irish economy had begun to expand as exports of sheep and cattle rose, and new industrial enterprises, notably iron manufacturing, spread. Commercialization was evident in the expansion of Dublin and other towns, and in the growth of fairs and markets. Plantation, economic expansion, and the growth of the civil and military bureaucracy allowed a new ruling class of recent English settlers to rise to prominence at the expense of the Old English.
Epilogue: New English, New Irish?
Authors: Connolly S. J.
Published: January 2008

This short concluding chapter examines the outlook and sense of identity of the English settlers in early 17th-century Ireland, emphasizing the variety of attitudes to the indigenous population, and noting the first signs of the emergence of a new variety of Irishness.
Litigation and Late Roman Judges
Authors: Humfress Caroline
Published: January 2008

This chapter begins with a discussion of the court system in the late Roman Empire. It then discusses lower-level judicial hearings and their interaction with the higher courts, training for magistrates, and the iudex as a ‘creative’ interpreter of law.
Ecclesiastics as Forensic Practitioners
Authors: Humfress Caroline
Published: January 2008

This chapter demonstrates the forensic expertise of certain key late Roman ecclesiastics and lay Christians. This expertise was not simply gleaned from a general late Roman legal culture; the biographical evidence suggests a career-orientated education. The training of leading ecclesiastics in forensic rhetoric may provide one explanation as to why canon law was largely developed through similar techniques as late Roman law. The creative elaboration of these two legal systems was thus reciprocal, rather than parallel. In other words, the development of early canon law in late antiquity was framed by a constant case-specific interaction between forensic practitioners within the church and forensic practice outside the church.
Forensic Expertise and the Development of Early ‘Canon Law’
Authors: Humfress Caroline
Published: January 2008

This chapter argues that the fact that some key late Roman ecclesiastics were trained as forensic practitioners is crucial to explaining how it was that early ‘canon law’ was elaborated using specific techniques and procedures ‘borrowed’ from Roman law. The various foundational strands of early Judaeo-Christian ‘internal’ ideas and practices, forensic practice and church councils, and forensic practice and the papal elaboration of ‘ecclesiastical’ law are discussed.
Conclusion
Authors: Humfress Caroline
Published: January 2008

This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. In late antiquity, practitioners of forensic rhetoric were trained in how to handle general legal principles and imperial constitutions. In other words, late Roman rhetorical schools, in both the East and the West, taught their pupils how to handle imperial legislation pragmatically, as a resource for influencing the outcome of disputes, rather than a canon for deciding them. The duty of the late Roman advocate, and indeed the iurisperitus employed in private cases, lay in exploiting the dialectic between any relevant ‘normative’ rule and its concrete application, in favour of their client's case. Thus, within the technical branch of ancient rhetoric, ‘laws’ were already held to exist within a domain of rhetorical argumentation. What emerges from this perspective is not the ‘intellectual inferiority’ of late Roman law, but the creativity and ingenuity of late Roman forensic practitioners.
An Independent Press and Anti‐hunger Strategies: The Indian Experience
Authors: Ram N.
Published: January 2008

An independent press along with genuine opposition parties can deter governments from failing to intervene promptly in crises such as famine. Timely and relevant information, determined by the kind and degree of press independence and the prevailing political environment, can make a substantive difference to the way public opinion is shaped and official policy is made. Analysing the historical and present role of the Indian press, this chapter argues that although the press played a key role in making government takes steps to prevent famine, the persistent hunger has been a rather tame issue. There is also a tendency to dramatize the coverage when a crisis threatens, neglecting the deeper structural issues. A systematic interaction between journalism and specialized disciplines is required to strengthen the role of press regarding hunger and poverty.
Adapting to Undernourishment: The Biological Evidence and its Implications
Authors: Dasgupta Partha , Ray Debraj
Published: January 2008

This chapter argues that unless an extremely strong notion of autoregulation is employed, the methodology espoused by Sukhatme — who attacked the convention of choosing a benchmark for estimating undernutrition — is incorrect and the confusion between statistical and physiological thresholds invalidates the main argument. The chapter's biological evidence points to areas of the human system where adjustment and adaptation are distinct possibilities, and to areas where the system may move in the opposite direction. Furthermore, if adaptation exists, it is purchased at a cost. It is also revealed that the combination of adjustment, high labour supply, and a casual labour market can be disastrous in the long run. Moreover, people with low-intake history are progressively excluded from the lucrative long-term labour contracts. Although undernourished people though find place in casual labour markets, there is no in-built mechanism to reduce their undernourishment.
The Intrafamily Distribution of Hunger in South Asia
Authors: Harriss Barbara
Published: January 2008

This chapter states that discrimination in intrafamily feeding practices and nutrient allocation in South Asia exists, and that this is far from being dramatic in nature. An index of intrafamily distribution of hunger is developed to address the analytical bias arising from the use of atypical data. It reveals that discrimination in feeding does not automatically imply discrimination in nutrition, and the latter does not necessarily imply disadvantage in welfare. Discrimination against women happens because the labour markets are structured in favour of males; the discrimination against a female child is an outcome of cultural and religious factors; for discrimination against small children, material, biological, and sociological explanations exist. The chapter's suggested policies to remedy nutritional discrimination include nutrition education aimed at mothers, on-site or take-home supplementary feeding schemes and mother-child health schemes, an elevation in the economic status of women, and public distribution system.
Famine Prevention in India
Authors: Drèze Jean
Published: January 2008

Though one may mistakenly attribute India's impressive recent record of famine prevention to a steady improvement in food production or to the overall evolution of the economy, this chapter argues that it is the relief system that played the crucial role in averting large-scale famine. The two components of a reliable famine prevention system are: an intelligent and well-planned interventionist procedure and a mechanism ensuring an early step by the authorities. For India, both were appreciably influenced first by the emergence of Famine Codes and then by the country's attainment of independence. Providing case studies, the chapter underscores the urgency of recreating the lost entitlements through relief and wage-based employment, and spotlights the roles of public pressure, cash relief, and public works.
Famine Prevention in Africa: Some Experiences and Lessons
Authors: Drèze Jean
Published: January 2008

This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the international community. Public policy, by providing direct public support to the population in times of crisis, was key to this famine prevention success; neither higher economic growth, nor accelerated growth of agriculture, nor the rapid expansion of food production were by themselves adequate safeguards against famine. These African experiences offer ample lessons, including the importance of entitlement protection systems, initiative, and conduct of emergency operations by local or national institutions; the dependence of early response on political considerations, efficacy of cash support, interconnections between private trade and public distribution, and diversification of economic activities.
Market Responses to Anti-hunger Policies: Effects on Wages, Prices and Employment
Authors: Ravallion Martin
Published: January 2008

Market responses can enhance or undermine anti-hunger policies, and an understanding of these responses can provide important clues for policy analysis and design. This chapter explores alternative anti-hunger policies. It considers major anti-hunger public policies for specific groups, investigates the ways in which markets may respond, and examines their various implications. It also sheds light on some less obvious elements of anti-hunger policies such as price stabilization policies, improvement of rural credit, etc. It is argued that the choice between compatible policies depends crucially on market responses.
Public Policy and Basic Needs Provision: Intervention and Achievement in Sri Lank
Authors: Anand Sudhir , Kanbur S. M. Ravi
Published: January 2008

A substantial part of Sri Lanka's achievements in certain areas of basic needs provision such as health and education standards, has been due to the country's intrinsic and directed public policies. This chapter's econometric analysis, based on time series data, reconfirms that income growth alone would not have achieved that enviable basic needs record — the role of direct intervention has been significant. The expansion of health services has been more effective than food subsidies in mortality decline. There is a need to shift the focus from scrutinizing the effectiveness of intervention to looking at the best patterns and combinations of social welfare expenditure that can achieve the maximum impact on basic needs.
Undernutrition in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Authors: Svedberg Peter
Published: January 2008

From 5% to 45% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa appear to be undernourished, depending on the indicator and sources consulted. This enormous discrepancy calls for a diagnosis of the extent of undernourishment in the region. This chapter argues that both FAO and IBRD have based their estimates on the FAO calorie availability data, which are downward biased thus leading to an inflated figure for undernourishment. This exaggeration is an upshot of biased methods, non-representative data, and imprecise and ambiguous conception of undernutrition. The chapter makes extensive use of anthropometric evidence to establish these substantive conclusions. It suggests that even when sample studies are representative and unbiased, supplementary socio-economic data are required to understand the source of undernutrition.
The Food Problems of Bangladesh
Authors: Osmani S. R.
Published: January 2008

Bangladesh has avoided a recurrence of famine since 1974, but this does not imply that there has been improvement in the underlying trend of persistent hunger. This chapter analyses the changes that occurred as well as the tasks ahead, arguing that vulnerability still remains. The prevailing food policies accentuate rather than relieve the problem of endemic hunger, and the relatively successful overall economic growth has not been adequate in eliminating regular undernourishment. For food policies to regulate the process of entitlement contraction, an equitable diffusion of modern agricultural technology and elimination of credit constraints faced by small farmers are suggested.
Fundamentals of the septo-hippocampal system
Authors: Gray Jeffrey A. , McNaughton Neil
Published: January 2008

This chapter reviews data that provide critical principals that need to be explained by any theory of the septo-hippocampal system: 1) that it mediates the action of all anti-anxiety drugs; 2) memories depend on synaptic plasticity outside the hippocampus with hippocampal plasticity representing re-programming of a machine not data storage; 3) the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus process goals (where/what combinations) with the distinction between ‘stimulus’ and ‘response’ being inappropriate at their level of the nervous system; 4) the hippocampus has no necessary involvement in any aspect of goal processing but modulates such processing when there is conflict between concurrent goals; 5) frontal cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia all deal with different aspects of response inhibition; 6) modern theories should account for all types of data on the hippocampus; 7) the hippocampus is phylogenetically old; 8) the hippocampus contains a set of logical gates; 9, 10, 11, and 12) the hippocampus inhibits the formation of incorrect associations rather than forming correct ones by recursive processing and so modulates, but is not part of classical sensory systems; 13) the hippocampus detects mismatch between expected and actual events; 14 and 15) monoamine systems act to alter the signal-to-noise ratio of hippocampal processing, each for a different types of event; and 16) rhythmic ‘theta’ activity is important for hippocampal processing, particularly when optimum performance is required.
Quantum liquids
Authors: Leggett A.J.
Published: January 2008

This chapter starts with a discussion of the symmetry conditions which have to be imposed on the wave function of a many-particle system, and the distinction between bosons and fermions. It then examines the consequences of these conditions for simple systems of non-interacting particles (Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics), and in particular, introduces the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in a noninteracting Bose gas. The phenomenon of Cooper pairing of interacting fermions is introduced by a thought-experiment in which one starts from a BEC of tightly bound diatomic molecules made of fermion atoms and gradually weakens the binding. The chapter closes with a description of the various physical systems to be treated in the book, and an account of the phenomenology of superfluidity and superconductivity. An appendix treats the statistical mechanics of a rotating system.
The Bose alkali gases
Authors: Leggett A.J.
Published: January 2008

This chapter starts with a discussion of the structure and properties of individual alkali atoms, and of trapping and diagnostic techniques. It is shown that under the conditions normally satisfied in practice, it is an excellent approximation to model the interatomic interaction by a delta-function potential with a coefficient derived from the experimentally measured s-wave scattering length. The simplest theory of a Bose-condensed dilute atomic alkali gas, the Gross-Pitaevskii ansatz, is introduced and some of its consequences explored. A number of spectacular phenomena related to the phase coherence of a gas displaying BEC are reviewed. The final two sections examine the behavior of an ultracold Bose gas in an optical lattice, and various signatures of superfluidity in the experimental systems.
Miscellaneous topics
Authors: Leggett A.J.
Published: January 2008

Four different systems, mostly of recent vintage, which are known or conjectured to manifest BEC/Cooper pairing are discussed. First, various non-cuprate “exotic” superconductors (alkali fullerides, organics, heavy fermions, ruthenates) are reviewed. Next, an account is given of the superfluid phases of liquid 3He in the pores of aerogel. A third section introduces the topic of the “supersolid” behavior recently reported in solid 4He, and comments on some theoretical issues raised by the experiments. The last section of the chapter considers the newly realized system of ultracold Fermi alkali gases, where one can study experimentally the apparently smooth crossover between the BEC of diatomic molecules and BCS superfluidity in a degenerate Fermi gas, thus unifying the concepts of BEC and Cooper pairing.
The creation of the NPL Mathematics Division
Authors: Croarken Mary
Published: January 2008

In April 1945, the journal Nature announced that the National Physical Laboratory would ‘extend its activities by the establishment of a Mathematics Division’. The new Mathematics Division was intended to act as a ‘central mathematics station’ and was the first of the three main centres of early electronic computer development in Britain. The Division had two main functions: to undertake research into new computing methods and machines, and to provide computing services and advice to government departments and industry. It was soon providing a national computing service, and became a leading centre for numerical analysis. This chapter sets the stage for these developments in computing, focusing on the circumstances surrounding the creation of the NPL Mathematics Division. Four questions are addressed: why was a central mathematics station needed? Why was it established at the NPL? Why was John Womersley chosen as superintendent? And finally, to what extent did the NPL Mathematics Division succeed as a central mathematics station?
Turing and the computer
Authors: Copeland B. Jack , Proudfoot Diane
Published: January 2008

This chapter discusses Turing's contributions to the field of computing. Topics covered include the Turing machine, cryptanalytic machines, the ACE and the EDVAC, the Manchester computer, artificial intelligence, and artificial life.
Programming the Pilot ACE
Authors: Hayes J. G.
Published: January 2008

This chapter presents an overview of the programming process for the Pilot ACE. This programme was for the back-substitution phase of solving a set of linear algebraic equations, with multiple right-hand sides, up to order 32. Topics covered include storage, two stages of programming, programming back substitution, steps of the programme, and multiple right-hand sides.
The ACE Test Assembly, the Pilot ACE, the Big ACE, and the Bendix G15
Authors: Huskey Harry D.
Published: January 2008

This chapter begins with a brief discussion of the ENIAC and the EDVAC projects in the US. The author then describes his work at the National Physical Laboratory. Topics covered include the ACE Test Assembly, the 12-bit ACE, the Big ACE, the SWAC (National Bureau of Standards Western Automatic Computer), and the Bendix G15. Finally, a comparison of the Test Assembly, Pilot Model, and G15 is presented.
The DEUCE—a user's view
Authors: Vowels Robin A.
Published: January 2008

This chapter describes the origins and development of the English Electric DEUCE (Digital Electronic Universal Computing Engine), the production machine derived from the ACE Pilot Model. The DEUCE was an outstanding commercial success due to its high speed, huge programme and subroutine library, fast magnetic drum, enhanced peripheral equipment, and extraordinary reliability. The first DEUCE was installed in early 1955. Most DEUCEs saw a decade of service, and approximately twenty were still operating in 1965, some continuing to the end of the decade.
Historical Interpretations of Flower Induction and Flower Development
Authors: Glover Beverley J.
Published: January 2008

The modern analysis of flowers and flowering rests on description and interpretation of plant form. Chief among these is Goethe's foliar theory, which proposes that all aerial plant organs are analogous to a single organ. The foliar theory has underpinned all work on flower development, including modern molecular genetic analyses, as well as providing a frame of reference for evolutionary studies. This chapter describes Goethe's theory with reference to the flower, and its use and expansion by 20th-century botanists. An analysis of the differences and similarities between vegetative and floral organs is presented, which provides a framework for a section that interprets the foliar theory in an evolutionary context. The second half of the chapter moves on to consider historical interpretations of the transition from the vegetative state to the flowering state, describing the mechanisms proposed by early plant physiologists to explain this transition.
The Vernalization Pathway of Floral Induction and the Role of Gibberellin
Authors: Glover Beverley J.
Published: January 2008

Temperature, and particularly vernalization, exposure to a prolonged period of cold, is used by plants to regulate the onset of flowering. This is a sensible adaptation of plants in temperate climates to prevent the risk of autumn germination leading to flowering in winter, a time when pollinators are scarce and freezing temperatures may inhibit seed production. At the same time, the plant growth regulator gibberellin has been shown to be a powerful promoter of flowering in many species. For some time, there was speculation that the vernalization-induced flower induction pathway operated through gibberellins, but we now know, in Arabidopsis at least, that vernalization and gibberellin represent two independent pathways which can both induce flowering. This chapter considers the two pathways separately, before looking at the evidence that they overlap.
Development of the Floral Organs
Authors: Glover Beverley J.
Published: January 2008

It is becoming clear that flower development is a cascade, with flowering time integrators activating floral meristem identity genes which activate floral organ identity genes. The floral organ identity genes themselves encode transcription factors, and are predicted to activate the many structural genes required to form the new organs, as well as further regulatory genes controlling processes such as pigment synthesis. The expression patterns of the floral organ identity genes determine the positions of developing organs (in the ABC model of flower development), and those expression patterns are themselves determined in part by cadastral genes (genes whose function is to specify the domain of expression of other genes). Floral organ identity genes act together as transcriptional complexes to ensure expression of the correct structural genes in each whorl of the developing flower.