bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Afterlife
Authors: Barnes Jonathan
Published: April 2017

‘Afterlife’ argues that an account of Aristotle’s intellectual legacy would amount to a history of European thought. Aristotle’s various doctrines and beliefs were accepted and taught as truths, influencing philosophy, science, history, theology, poetry and drama. He founded the science of biology, setting it on a sure empirical and philosophical basis. In logic too, Aristotle founded a new science, and his logic remained until the end of the last century the logic of European thought. While Aristotle’s biology and logic are outdated, the same is not true of his more philosophical writings. Finally, Aristotle set before us, explicitly and implicitly, an ideal of human excellence.
Conclusion
Authors: Glaude Eddie S.
Published: April 2017

African Americans are generally more religious than other groups in the United States. But African American religion is much more than a description of how deeply religious African Americans are. The phrase helps to differentiate a particular set of religious practices from others that are invested in whiteness; it invokes a particular cultural inheritance that marks the unique journey of African Americans in the United States. African American religion is rooted in the sociopolitical realities that shape the experiences of black people in America, but this is not static or fixed. The ‘Conclusion’ suggests that African American religious life remains a powerful site for creative imaginings in a world still organized by race.
The reorientation of the Confucian tradition after 1000 ce: The teachings of Neo-Confucianism
Authors: Gardner Daniel K.
Published: April 2017

‘The reorientation of the Confucian tradition after 1000 ce’ discusses the “school” of Confucianism referred to as Neo-Confucianism, which came to dominate Chinese intellectual and political life from the eleventh century and that guided the Chinese imperial government and the foundation of the civil service examination systems until the early twentieth century. Neo-Confucianism upholds the values and ethics of classical Confucianism, but reorients it in two important ways: (1) it grounds the values and ethics of classical Confucianism in an elaborate system of metaphysics generated over the eleventh and twelfth centuries; and (2) it creates a structured program of self-cultivation, a step-by-step template for “becoming a sage.” But why did Neo-Confucianism emerge at this particular time?
Before Alexander
Authors: Bowden Hugh
Published: April 2017

‘Before Alexander’ gives a brief history of the Achaemenid Persian Empire and the kingdom of Macedon before they came into conflict, to set the scene for Alexander the Great's era. The Achaemenid Empire was the creation of Cyrus the Great (c.559–530). To maintain hold over such a large and disparate empire required effective organization. Central to the Achaemenid system was the person of the king himself. The Persians established in power the family that would, 180 years on from that point, bring down their own empire. Alexander III (Alexander the Great) was the great-great-great grandson of Alexander I, the son of Amyntas, a Macedonian.
Prince: Alexander in the Macedonian court
Authors: Bowden Hugh
Published: April 2017

‘Prince: Alexander in the Macedonian Court’ looks at Alexander's childhood and at a number of women who played an important part in his upbringing, such as his mother, Olympias; Eurydice, wife of Amyntas III; and Cleopatra, his sister. Of the Alexander historians, only Plutarch talks about Alexander the Great's childhood, telling many stories about Alexander's mother. Alexander maintained a close relationship with his mother throughout his life and he corresponded with her regularly. Alexander's life in the Macedonian court was interrupted when he went into exile and shortly after his father was assassinated at his sister's wedding leaving Alexander heir.
2. The nature of sound
Authors: Goldsmith Mike
Published: April 2017

Sound is a physical phenomenon as well as a sensual one. The relationships between the physical and sensual aspects of sound are complex in that many of the impressions sound makes on us are related to its physical parameters but not reducible to them. ‘The nature of sound’ considers the physical aspects of sound, which are far better understood than the emotional ones. It discusses pressure waves; how sound is carried; the velocity, refraction, frequency, and diffraction of sound; the power of sound, including loudness and the decibel measurement system; standing waves and resonances; charting sound; sound filters; and sound synthesis.
7. Sound underwater and underground
Authors: Goldsmith Mike
Published: April 2017

‘Sound underwater and underground’ focuses on the areas of sound that we can’t hear. It was not until World War II that the richness of the underwater soundscape became clear. Listening with hydrophones revealed a cacophony of sounds extending well above and below the human frequency range. From the 1910s, primitive hydrophones were gradually replaced by echo sounding, from which modern sonar systems developed. Sound waves that travel through the earth can be detected with geophones, which are highly directional and are usually deployed to respond to sounds from directly below. Modern microelectromechanical systems are relatively insensitive and are used mainly for the monitoring of actively seismic regions.
3. Social work with individuals and families
Authors: Holland Sally , Scourfield Jonathan
Published: April 2017

Much professional social work practice is carried out with individuals and their families. Social workers aim to attend to the person’s social context rather than only the specific problem being presented, and they work in a manner that is relationship-based. It is also generally accepted that using a strengths-based model approach produces a more productive working relationship. ‘Social work with individuals and families’ considers the origins of social work; the different ways of directly providing practical help or therapeutic intervention to individuals and families; how the social worker as case manager will be responsible for overall planning, co-ordination, and reviewing service provision; and how social work has become more client-centred and citizen-directed.
5. Community social work
Authors: Holland Sally , Scourfield Jonathan
Published: April 2017

‘Community social work’ shows that social work in communities has played an important role throughout the history of social work and is still relevant and widespread today as, despite the case work model being dominant in the Global North, it is central to the delivery of social welfare in the Global South. It explains how social work addresses societal inequalities and improves distribution of resources and attempts to work nearer the ‘macro’ rather than ‘micro’ level of human society. The different forms of community are considered before looking at contemporary community social work and the future of community social work.
Religions of India
Authors: Bowker John
Published: April 2017

‘Religions of India’ shows that Indian understandings and characterisations of God are extremely diverse and are expressed in the vivid proliferation of worship, rituals, meditation, music, art, and architecture. But they are held together in the context, not just of certain fundamental beliefs, in the wide acceptance of common practice and social organisation known collectively as Dharma. Indian religion can be seen as a ‘family of religions’ with a common ancestor. The epiphanies of ‘God’ go back to the Vedas, the earliest surviving texts of Indian religion from about 1500 bce. The great characterisations of God are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (which make up the ‘Hindu Trinity’) and Mahadevi.
On knowing and not knowing God
Authors: Bowker John
Published: April 2017

How can God be known? ‘On knowing and not knowing God’ proposes that it could only be if God creates the means of that knowing, and of that being known. What are the effects through which God becomes known? They are gathered in three groups: the first is ‘the apparel of creation’, the beauty, order, reliability, vastness of the universe. The second is through the interactive enterprise with humans that is referred to as ‘inspiration’. The third set are ways in which God is believed to have become manifest in human form and through which God continues to reach into the world. But what God is cannot be known.
2. Definitions
Authors: Reynolds Matthew
Published: April 2017

There are simple and complex reasons why there is no exact translation of ‘translation’. The simple reason is that there is no exact translation of any word and the complex reason is that because the activities we can call ‘translation’ are so varied, the word ‘translation’ keeps having to stretch or shrink to fit them. ‘Definitions’ considers other words used for re-stating and re-writing: paraphrase, interpreting, kanbun-kundoku, exprimere, and tarjama. It concludes that translation is not the same as communication. Instead, it is part of communication. We reach for translation when we encounter an obstruction to understanding, realizing that the words that confront us are not entirely within our grasp.
The threat from space
Authors: McGuire Bill
Published: April 2017

‘The Threat from Space’ considers the threat of asteroids and comets colliding with Earth. Potential impacts of Near Earth Asteroids, with almost circular orbits, have been identified, but the threat from comets, which follow strongly elliptical paths, is uncertain. The Mexican asteroid impact 65 million years ago is thought to have wiped out two-thirds of all species living at the time. The Earth will be hit again at some point in the future, but how will it affect us? This will depend upon three things: the size of the object, how quickly it is travelling, and whether it hits the land or the ocean.
Epilogue
Authors: McGuire Bill
Published: April 2017

‘The Epilogue’ summarizes our current position. We are well into a cycle of warming that is certain to lead to dramatic geophysical, social, and economic changes during the next hundred years that will impinge detrimentally on everyone. At the same time our planet is teetering on the edge of the next Ice Age. Asteroid impacts, giant tsunamis, or volcanic super-eruptions cannot fail to result in millions of deaths and the enormous disruption of our so-called advanced global society. It concludes that—major comet or asteroid impact aside—it is unlikely that all human beings will be wiped out in the foreseeable future.
Introduction
Authors: Brock William H.
Published: April 2017

Chemistry has always been the science of matter and a technology for creating new things through metamorphosis and transmutation. In 1800 the elements and compounds known to chemistry numbered only a few hundred; today, they number more than seventy-one million. Few of these substances actually exist in nature; rather, they have been isolated, prepared, and studied by chemists in particular times and places by an evolving repertoire of laboratory practices and theoretical insights, and recorded in publications in various languages. This Introduction outlines the remit of this VSI to describe how explanations were found for the metamorphosis of materials and new transmutations were discovered, studied, and exploited.
1. On the nature of stuff
Authors: Brock William H.
Published: April 2017

‘On the nature of stuff’ shows that the ability to control fire and temperature led to the first chemical technologies: the production of pottery from fired clays and tempers, metals, glass, and bitumen products. It goes on to describe the early speculation of matter by Greek philosophers, such as Empedocles and Aristotle, before discussing the history of alchemy in Europe and the Muslim empire. The same synonyms were often used for different substances resulting in confusion and secrecy. It was Isaac Newton (1642–1727) who compiled an index chemicus in an attempt to make sense of alchemical language and allegory. The demise of alchemy, the move from chymistry to chemistry, and the rise of modern chemistry are also considered.
4. Types and hexagons
Authors: Brock William H.
Published: April 2017

‘Types and hexagons’ introduces some of the key characters involved in making important contributions to the field of chemistry: Antoine Fourcroy, who created the divisions of inorganic and organic chemistry; Friedrich Kekulé, who defined organic chemistry as the chemistry of carbon compounds and proposed benzene’s hexagonal structure; Justus Liebig, who applied chemistry to agriculture, physiology, medicine, nutrition, and industry; Berzelius, who introduced the term isomerism and the electrochemical system of classification; French chemists Charles Gerhardt and August Laurent; Edward Frankland, who proposed valency; Alfred Werner and his coordination theory of molecular structure; and Alexander Williamson, who had a pivotal role in the development of 19th-century chemistry.
1. Introducing criminal justice
Authors: Roberts Julian V.
Published: April 2017

The criminal justice system (CJS) is wide-ranging and involves numerous components and professionals. ‘Introducing criminal justice’ outlines the objectives of criminal justice; how crime can be punished and prevented; the key principles of criminal justice; the two contrasting models of criminal justice—the adversarial model and the inquisitorial model; the various components of the CJS—police, prosecution, judiciary, prisons, probation, and parole; the limits on the power of the CJS; discretion in criminal justice decision-making; the limits on the effectiveness of criminal justice; and criminal injustice through wrongful convictions, wrongful acquittals, over or under punishment, or discrimination.
4. Why punish … and how?
Authors: Roberts Julian V.
Published: April 2017

Why is punishment imposed and how do we justify the penalties imposed? ‘Why punish … and how?’ outlines the legal justifications for punishment: one perspective focuses on the crime and its seriousness; the second relates to crime prevention. Sentencing therefore looks in two directions: backwards, to assess the seriousness of the harm caused and to hold the offender accountable for that harm; and forwards to assess the risk the offender may pose to society. Sentencing objectives include proportionality, deterrence, and rehabilitation, but how do courts decide which objective is appropriate? Sentencing guidelines, mitigating and aggravating factors, and sentencing options (imprisonment, fines, and community orders) are also discussed.
Wildlife and microbes
Authors: Furley Peter A.
Published: April 2017

‘Wildlife and microbes’ looks at energy pathways through the savanna system and the nature of the wildlife characterizing each of the major savanna landscapes, including the woody savannas of the Brazilian cerrado, the East African grasslands, dry and wetland savannas, and the Australian savanna woodlands. This brings into consideration food chains and food webs, as well as aspects of animal ecology that determine the number and character of living organisms. The two main aspects of wildlife to consider are the individual populations of animal species and the way they integrate into communities. Life in all savannas depends upon the complexity of biological interactions between the smallest and the largest organisms.
3. Crystal structures
Authors: Glazer A. M.
Published: April 2017

‘Crystal structures’ describes the different types of close packing—hexagonal, cubic, face-centred cubic, and body-centred cubic—used to describe many simple inorganic structures, especially those of the elements. The reason for atoms to pack so closely together is to form the densest array possible to provide a stable structure. The ability of a chemical substance to adopt different crystal structures is called polymorphism, as displayed by carbon. Examples of simple inorganic structures, such as common salt, are explained along with organic crystal structures, and the different methods of crystal growth. Crystallography has also played a major part in determining the structures and activities of large biological molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins, and viruses.
4. Diffraction
Authors: Glazer A. M.
Published: April 2017

In order to understand diffraction from a three-dimensional crystal, a new type of lattice, constructed from the real lattice used so far, is defined. It is the reciprocal lattice proposed by Paul Ewald around 1911. ‘Diffraction’ considers how this lattice is constructed and investigates its uses in understanding diffraction. Reflection intensities and amplitudes are also explained along with Friedel’s Law; the convolution theorem; Fourier Transformation; powder diffraction, which has many uses in industry and in academic research; incommensurate or modulated crystals; and quasicrystals, often seen in metal alloys, which cannot be explained by conventional crystal symmetry ideas. Finally, disorder in crystals is discussed.
2. Characteristica universalis , logical calculus, and mathematics
Authors: Antognazza Maria Rosa
Published: April 2017

How did Leibniz propose to pursue his all-embracing programme of scientific advancement? What were the core projects that held his wide-ranging intellectual life together? ‘Characteristica universalis, logical calculus, and mathematics’ explains that Leibniz nurtured the dream of developing an alphabet of human thoughts leading to the creation of a characteristica universalis: a universal system of signs designed to eliminate the ambiguity of natural language. This project progressed into the development of a logical calculus. Over and above the provision of a means of universal and unambiguous communication, however, the characteristica universalis was conceived by Leibniz as a powerful tool of scientific discovery and judgement on the model of algebra.
6. The best of all possible worlds and Leibniz’s theodicy
Authors: Antognazza Maria Rosa
Published: April 2017

‘The best of all possible worlds and Leibniz’s theodicy’ explains that Leibniz’s claim that the world we live in is ‘the best of all possible worlds’ is deceptively simple, but based on complex logical and metaphysical machinery. It is an a priori claim in that it does not follow from an observation and evaluation of the balance of good and evil in experience to the conclusion that this is the best one can reasonably expect. It follows instead, independently of whatever experience we may have of the quantity and quality of evil mixed with good, from consideration of the attributes of God, whose existence Leibniz regards as a demonstrable truth.
8. Monads
Authors: Antognazza Maria Rosa
Published: April 2017

From 1695 Leibniz came to the view that the best way to capture what it is to be a substance is through the concept of ‘monad’. ‘Monad’, Leibniz explained, comes from the Greek monas ‘which signifies unity, or that which is one’. ‘Monads’ outlines Leibniz’s counter-intuitive metaphysical model by explaining his definitions of unity, simplicity, activity, force, perception, and appetite. His view was that simple, immaterial, non-extended, indivisible entities are the condition of the existence of composed, material, extended, divisible entities. The world of extended bodies studied by physics is ultimately intelligible only if we postulate metaphysical entities that must exist in order for those extended bodies to exist.
2. Recycling
Authors: Lenton Tim
Published: April 2017

How does the Earth system support such a flourishing of life? A habitable climate and water are essential, but organisms also need energy and materials out of which to build their bodies. The Sun provides a plentiful supply of energy, which drives the water cycle and fuels the biosphere, via photosynthesis. However, due to an almost closed system, all the elements needed by life must be efficiently recycled within the Earth system, which then need energy to transform materials chemically and to move them physically around the planet. ‘Recycling’ introduces the life-sustaining global biogeochemical cycles of matter between the biosphere, atmosphere, ocean, land, and crust.
3. Regulation
Authors: Lenton Tim
Published: April 2017

The Earth system has maintained habitable conditions for life over geological periods of time. These conditions include an equable global temperature, enough atmospheric carbon dioxide to fuel photosynthesis, and sufficient nutrients to grow. Furthermore, for at least the past 370 million years there has been enough atmospheric oxygen to support complex, mobile animal life, but not so much that wildfires decimated vegetation. ‘Regulation’ introduces the ways in which the biogeochemical cycles of the Earth system are self-regulated, how they are coupled to the Earth’s climate, and how scientists study this regulation.
4. Revolutions
Authors: Lenton Tim
Published: April 2017

How did today’s Earth system become so radically different from those of our planetary neighbours, Mars and Venus? The presence of life is clearly a big part of the answer. Earth system scientists now recognize that the evolution of life has shaped the planet, changes in the planetary environment have shaped life, and together they can be viewed as one process. ‘Revolutions’ shows that when this ‘co-evolution’ over Earth history is considered, three revolutionary changes leap out: the inception of life and biogeochemical cycling; the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis and the Great Oxidation; and the origin of complex life out of the Neoproterozoic environmental turmoil. Without them we would not be here.
Climate surprises
Authors: Maslin Mark
Published: April 2017

The assumption of a linear relationship between greenhouse gases and climate change may be wrong. ‘Climate surprises’ examines the possibility that there are thresholds—or tipping points—in the climate system that may occur as we warm the planet. These include the possibility that Greenland and/or the Antarctic could start to irreversibly melt, raising sea level by metres; a change in North Atlantic driven deep-ocean circulation could produce extreme seasonal weather in Europe; dieback of the Amazon rainforest due to deforestation, with concurrent depletion in biodiversity; and, finally, a release of gas hydrates from deep beneath the oceans could occur if the oceans warm up sufficiently, again accelerating climate change.
Solutions
Authors: Maslin Mark
Published: April 2017

‘Solutions’ examines three types of solution to climate change. The first is adaptation, which is simply providing protection for the population, as we already know that there will be climate change even if emissions are radically cut back to 1990 levels. Second is mitigation, which would involve cutting our carbon footprint and thus reversing the trend that currently exists of ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuels need to be replaced with renewable or alternative energy sources that will not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Third is geoenginnering that involves large-scale extraction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or modification of the global climate.
1. Framing the BRICS
Authors: Cooper Andrew F.
Published: April 2017

‘Framing the BRICS’ explains that the BRICS can be viewed according to three different frameworks. First, as initially conceived by Goldman Sachs, the BRIC describes a set of big and fast-growing economies. Second, the BRICS has developed into an informal diplomatic club with a dual personality as both an insider and outsider in the global system. Third, the BRICS can be viewed as representing a geostrategic challenge and possible transformative threat to the existing international order dominated by the United States and the advanced industrial economies of the West. Is there potential for the BRICS to act as a rival to the G7 and a destabilizing force in the Western-centred global system?
2. A contested invention
Authors: Cooper Andrew F.
Published: April 2017

‘A contested invention’ outlines the development of the BRICS group. The building blocks were in place for a stand-alone forum prior to 2009, but the catalytic moment came with the global financial crisis. As participants in the initial G20 summit in Washington DC in November 2008, all the BRIC leaders became willing members of a recalibrated global hierarchy. However, the decision by the BRIC countries to establish a diplomatic club of their own can be tied both to their rising economic and political weight and to a shared sense that their elevated status was not adequately reflected in existing international institutions dominated by developed states.
3. A historical departure
Authors: Cooper Andrew F.
Published: April 2017

‘A historical departure’ describes how the BRICS, as both a diplomatic project and an international institution, is different from past groups. The catalyst for the BRICS members’ new type of engagement—mainly via the G summits and the outreach process—was the growing economic and political weight of the BRICS countries, coupled with the apparent decline of the United States and European countries in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. This raised questions about the appropriateness of existing rules and governance structures. In order for the global system to work, the BRICS needed to be accorded a greater role in the core decision-making bodies.
1. What is combinatorics?
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

Combinatorics can loosely be described as the branch of mathematics concerned with selecting, arranging, constructing, classifying, and counting or listing things. ‘What is combinatorics?’ explains that the subject can be dated back some 3000 years to ancient China and India. For many years, especially throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it consisted mainly of problems involving the permutations and combinations of certain objects, but over the succeeding centuries the range of combinatorial activity has broadened greatly. Combinatorics now includes a wide range of topics such as the geometry of tilings and polyhedra, the theory of graphs, magic squares and latin squares, block designs and finite projective planes, and partitions of numbers.
2. Four types of problem
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

‘Four types of problem’ explains that combinatorics is concerned with four types of problem: existence problems (does x exist?); construction problems (if x exists, how can we construct it?); enumeration problems (how many x are there?); and optimization problems (which x is best?). Existence problems discussed include tilings, placing dominoes on a chess board, the knight’s tour problem, the Königsberg bridges problem, the Gas–Water–Electricity problem, and the map-colour problem. Construction problems include solving mazes, and the two types of enumeration problems considered are counting problems and listing problems. Examples of an optimization problem include the minimum connector problem and the travelling salesman problem. The efficiency of algorithms is also explained.
3. Permutations and combinations
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

Permutations and combinations have been studied for thousands of years. ‘Permutations and combinations’ considers selecting objects from a collection, either in a particular order (such as when ranking breakfast cereals) or without concern for order (such as when dealing out a bridge hand). It describes and investigates four types of selection—ordered selections with repetition, ordered selections without repetition, unordered selections without repetition, and unordered selections with repetition—and shows how they are related to permutations, combinations, the three combination rules, factorials, Pascal’s triangle, the binomial theorem, binomial coefficients, and distributions.
6. Graphs
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

Graph theory is about collections of points that are joined in pairs, such as a road map with towns connected by roads or a molecule with atoms joined by chemical bonds. ‘Graphs’ revisits the Königsberg bridges problem, the knight’s tour problem, the Gas–Water–Electricity problem, the map-colour problem, the minimum connector problem, and the travelling salesman problem and explains how they can all be considered as problems in graph theory. It begins with an explanation of a graph and describes the complete graph, the complete bipartite graph, and the cycle graph, which are all simple graphs. It goes on to describe trees in graph theory, Eulerian and Hamiltonian graphs, and planar graphs.
7. Square arrays
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

‘Square arrays’ is concerned with magic squares and latin squares. An n × n magic square, or a magic square of order n, is a square array of numbers (usually the numbers from 1 to n
2) arranged so that the sum of the numbers in each of the n rows, each of the n columns, or each of the two main diagonals is the same. A latin square of order n, is a square array with n symbols arranged so that each symbol appears just once in each row and each column. Orthogonal latin squares are also discussed along with Euler’s 36 officers problem.
8. Designs and geometry
Authors: Wilson Robin
Published: April 2017

Block designs are used when designing experiments in which varieties of a commodity are compared. ‘Designs and geometry’ introduces various types of block design, and then relates them to finite projective planes and orthogonal latin squares. A block design consists of a set of v varieties arranged into b blocks. If each block contains the same number k of varieties, each variety appears in the same number r of blocks, then for every block design we have v × r = b × k. A balanced incomplete-block design is when all pairs of varieties in a design are compared the same number of times. A triple system is when each block has three varieties.
3. Agricultural products and trade
Authors: Brassley Paul , Soffe Richard
Published: April 2017

‘Agricultural products and trade’ considers what the agricultural industry as a whole produces, and the working of the local and international markets into which its output is sold, including the effects of demand and supply. The two biggest categories of farm product are food and livestock feed for farm and companion animals, but other important products include plant and animal fibres, fuels, and pharmaceuticals. Farmers are also responsible for providing a range of ‘ecosystem services’. Some food products can be grown and processed on site, but the bulk of the world’s agricultural output needs further processing with entire industries having developed to process cereals, milk, and meat.
4. Inputs into agriculture
Authors: Brassley Paul , Soffe Richard
Published: April 2017

To feed the present human population, farmers use the land and add to it their labour, their animals, buildings, tools and machinery, a variety of products bought in from other industries—from fertilisers and pesticides to computers and mobile phones—and professional services from vets, advisers, and scientists. ‘Inputs into agriculture’ considers these inputs in turn. Different kinds of farms demand different kinds of inputs. Farmers will also use tradition, experience, and knowledge to help them cultivate the land and care for their animals. Combining information on different farming outputs and inputs shows how a wide range of farming systems can be produced.
5. Modern and traditional farming
Authors: Brassley Paul , Soffe Richard
Published: April 2017

There is a frequent identification of farming with tradition, even if what is seen as traditional might change over time. Farming is seen as a way of life, in which doing right by the land, producing healthy crops and livestock, employing local people, and having a thriving farm to hand on to the next generation are more important than expansion, profit maximization, and integration with the food chain. In contrast to big, modern, mechanized, globalized agribusinesses, it is sustainable, produces wildlife habitats and beautiful landscapes, and cares about animal welfare. How accurate is this view? ‘Modern and traditional farming’ considers the issues of sustainability, animal welfare, and wildlife and landscape.
The Old Babylonian period: (c.1880–1595 bc)
Authors: Bryce Trevor
Published: April 2017

‘The Old Babylonian period’ concentrates on Hammurabi’s dynasty, which belonged to one of the most powerful and widespread ethnic groups in the Near East: the Amorites. Hammurabi’s reign from 1793 marked the peak period in his dynasty’s tenure of power in the Near East, particularly in the middle Euphrates region and southern Mesopotamia, but it was Sumu-la-El (c.1880–1845) who founded the kingdom of Babylonia, building a royal palace and a great fortification wall around the city. Under Hammurabi’s five successors, all of whom had long reigns, the kingdom was to last another 155 years. But within a few years of the great man’s death, decline had set in.
Conclusion
Authors: Bull Anna Cento
Published: April 2017

Italy’s problematic relationship with the concept of modernity and process of modernization has often resulted in a lack of unitary purpose, at times descending into violent conflict. The ‘Conclusion’ explains that the years before and after the First World War saw the country torn between opposing modernizing projects, leading to the liberal regime’s demise. After the Second World War, when the country experienced rapid economic expansion and growing consumerism, internal divisions and controversies resulted in abundant creativity and inventiveness, albeit marred by political violence. In recent decades, Italy has been experiencing another critical historical juncture: the collapse of the First Republic, globalization, increasing flows of migration, and bewildering technological advances.
7. From whence to whither?
Authors: Molnar Peter
Published: April 2017

‘From whence to whither?’ discusses two examples that illustrate the role of plate tectonics in topics related to society and science: the recurrence of great earthquakes and the link between plate tectonics and glaciation. It also considers how plate tectonics has affected the way questions are approached in Earth Science. Has plate tectonics facilitated the discovery and acquisition of petroleum resources and ore deposits? Can plate tectonics be observed on other planets? Plate tectonics accelerated a shift from geology being a largely descriptive science aimed mostly at the history of our planet to a quantitative physical science focused on the processes that have made the present-day Earth what it is.
4. The words of slang: themes and development
Authors: Green Jonathon
Published: April 2017

Slang’s thematic range is not wide, though its synonymy runs very deep. It is stripped down, modern, and cutting edge. ‘The words of slang: themes and development’ outlines the main themes of slang: sex, money, alcohol. Slang is sexist, racist, nationalist, ageist, sizeist, and variously -phobic, but it is also urban. The history of slang is also the history of the urbanization of modern life as reflected in this influential subset of the language. The development of the slang vocabulary from the 16th and 17th centuries to the present day, and how British slang has been joined by slang from Australia and the New World, is also described.
5. The users of slang
Authors: Green Jonathon
Published: April 2017

Who uses slang? ‘The users of slang’ suggests two groups: the ‘primary’ users who coin and develop the vocabulary and for whom it works as the basis of their everyday speech, and the ‘illustrative’ users who employ slang for authenticity. The earliest examples of both groups reach back to early modernity. Various forms, sources, and users of slang are considered: theatricality, the underworld, prisons, tramps, drug users, the military, college and school, teenagers, African-Americans, jazz and blues, race novels, and gay slang. The use of slang is invariably seen as an indication of the speaker’s class. The working class, criminal or not, have always been slang’s leading creators and speakers.
9. The future of slang
Authors: Green Jonathon
Published: April 2017

Slang’s future is interwoven with our new connected, digitized world. ‘The future of slang’ asks if we are, any longer, able safely to talk of ‘slang’ as a discrete language group, or are the varieties of non-standard language to become subject to the promotion of niche interests, in this case forms of speech, that the digital world encourages? It also considers whether the nature and content of slang, or slangs, will change. The increasing volume of ‘girl talk’ on social media, for example, flouts many of slang’s male conventions. Of slang’s continuing existence, there is no doubt, but the question that remains is what, now, makes up ‘slang’?
9. Determinants and matrices
Authors: Higgins Peter M.
Published: April 2017

‘Determinants and matrices’ explains that in three dimensions, the absolute value of the determinant det(A) of a linear transformation represented by the matrix A is the multiplier of volume. The columns of A are the images of the position vectors of the sides of the unit cube and they define a three-dimensional version of a parallelogram, a parallelepiped, the volume of which is |det(A)|. It goes on to describe the properties and applications of determinants to networks (using the Kirchhoff matrix); Cramer’s Rule; eigenvalues; and eigenvectors, which are fundamental in linear mathematics. Other key topics in matrix theory—similarity, diagonalization, and factorization of matrices—are also discussed.
3. Algorithmic thinking
Authors: Dasgupta Subrata
Published: April 2017

Algorithms are at the epicentre of computer science—thinking computationally is forming the habit of algorithmic thinking. In order for a procedure to qualify as an algorithm, it must possess the following attributes: finiteness, definiteness, effectiveness, and having one or more inputs and one or more outputs. Algorithms are determinate, abstract artifacts, and procedural knowledge. ‘Algorithmic thinking’ explains the process of designing algorithms, the ‘goodness’ of algorithms as utilitarian artefacts, and why the aesthetics of algorithms matter. The performance of algorithms can be estimated in terms of time (or space) complexity. A computational problem is intractable if all known algorithms to solve the problem are of at least exponential time complexity.
3. The Moon’s influence on us
Authors: Rothery David A.
Published: April 2017

The Moon’s presence in the sky has long pervaded human culture in many ways. ‘The Moon’s influence on us’ considers the influence on timekeeping and how the orbits of the Moon and Earth are the origin of our calendar. Ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on ocean water with the Moon’s influence being twice as strong as the solar tide. The elliptical nature of the Moon’s orbit affects lunar and solar eclipses; these are explained along with orbital recession and day-length changes. The Moon’s influence on human behaviour and wildlife is also considered, along with the potential of a more sustained lunar presence in the future.
Introduction
Authors: Shilling Chris
Published: April 2017

Our embodied existence can be seen as a foundation on which to build an empirically informed yet distinctive approach to the analysis of society, identity, culture, and history. The Introduction explains the focus of this VSI on a limited number of body matters that demonstrate clearly the importance of an embodied perspective of our world. The rise and parameters of this interdisciplinary area of study are explored before considering: ‘sexed bodies’, ‘governed bodies’, ‘educated bodies’, and ‘bodies as commodities’. Each of these topics involves a range of contrasting issues, but they also share in common three themes that inform and provide direction to the main arguments in this book.
1. Natural bodies or social bodies?
Authors: Shilling Chris
Published: April 2017

Social factors are important for the constitution and development of our embodied being. Yet some still consider the human body to be an exclusively biological entity. ‘Natural bodies or social bodies?’ describes the emergence, from the social sciences and humanities, of the broad interdisciplinary research area of ‘body studies’. This academic field addresses a wide variety of social and cultural issues as relevant to the inescapably bodily character of human existence. It has become a viable subject due to various social and historical developments—feminist and environmental campaigns, medical and technological developments, and the rise of consumer culture—that raised the visibility of the body as a general academic issue.
4. Governing bodies
Authors: Shilling Chris
Published: April 2017

Theories of governance—how rule or regulation is accomplished across nations, institutions, and organizations—have long included a focus on strategies states pursue in seeking to control and develop the bodily capacities of their citizens. In so doing, they raise questions about how states conceptualize the bodies which they seek to govern; which aspects of people’s embodied beings they value; and the resistance they may confront when attempting to implement their policies and achieve their aims. ‘Governing bodies’ considers the thoughts of sociologist Bryan S. Turner; French philosopher Michel Foucault, who focused on the transition from medieval to modern forms of governance; and issues of security and biopolitics.
6. Bodies matter: dilemmas and controversies
Authors: Shilling Chris
Published: April 2017

‘Bodies matter: dilemmas and controversies’ considers three key questions—are mediated bodies immoral? How do people manage bodily change? Have our bodies become sacred? They each show how body matters reach beyond the boundaries of enfleshed persons. Embodied individuals are always situated within a wider social and material environment that they shape and are shaped by. The manner in which bodies are conceptualized, experienced, lived, and treated provides us with far more than a limited and localized topic, of interest only to physiologists and others in the biological sciences. Instead, these issues provide key means of approaching social relationships, cultural ideas, technological developments, and historical change.
5. The divine presence
Authors: Knott Kim
Published: April 2017

Divine manifestations and small miracles are believed to be commonplace in Indian religious life. Hindus visit their local temples or make pilgrimages to see and be seen by Krishna, Devi, Shiva, or any other deity of their choosing. ‘The divine presence’ considers the role of the divine in Hinduism. How is the divine presence understood and how is it worshipped? Do Hindus worship many gods at the same time, or are these all manifestations of a single divine being? A great many Hindus favour one particular god or goddess, their ishtadeva or chosen one. This is generally determined by family tradition, but Hindus also recognize and offer worship to many other divine beings.
6. Hinduism, colonialism, and modernity
Authors: Knott Kim
Published: April 2017

What impact did the presence of the Arabs and Turks, then the Europeans in India, have on the religious ideas and practices of Hindus? ‘Hinduism, colonialism, and modernity’ considers this question and, in particular, looks at the effect of British colonialism on Hinduism. Many of the new Hindu initiatives of the 19th century were pervaded in some way by the influence of western culture and Christian ideas. Many Hindu reformers, such as Gandhi, developed their ideas and actions from the context of British colonial rule. Gandhi sometimes imitated, sometimes resisted, but was always influenced by western conceptions of India and Hinduism.
9. Hindu dharma , Hinduism, and hinduisms
Authors: Knott Kim
Published: April 2017

Outsiders and insiders see Hinduism differently. Even insiders have different views on Hinduism from each other. It is impossible to offer a simple definition of Hinduism. ‘Hindu dharma, Hinduism, and hinduisms’ examines what it means to call Hinduism a religion, how Hindus and visitors to India have viewed it, and its derivation and changing meaning. Is Hinduism one system, or one and many at the same time? Ideas about the nature of Hinduism are evolving with the debate about Hindu nationalism and with novel contexts and challenges. What is certain is that the meaning of ‘Hinduism’ is a matter of constant negotiation.
7. The Depression, Cardenismo, and after (1930–)
Authors: Knight Alan
Published: April 2017

‘The Depression, Cardenismo, and after’ considers the early 1930s Depression that produced a lurch to the Left and the revolutionary period’s last great reformist administration of President Lázaro Cárdenas. The Depression, hitting an already becalmed Mexican economy, had a severe but short-lived effect. Structural features of the economy, coupled with ‘revolutionary’ policy, helped achieve a more rapid recovery than in the US. Land reform and rural education were central to Cárdenas, whose critics were the anti-revolutionary Right, the urban middle class, and political Catholics. Towards the end of the 1930s, the political pendulum swung back to the Right with the presidencies of Manuel Avila Camacho and Miguel Alemán.
3. Stars
Authors: Binney James
Published: April 2017

Most of what we know about the Universe has been gleaned from the study of stars, and a major achievement of 20th-century science was to understand how stars work and their lifecycles from birth to death. ‘Stars’ describes this lifecycle beginning with star formation when a cloud of interstellar gas suffers a runaway of its central density. It then considers nuclear fusion, key stellar masses, and life after the main sequence when the star burns its core helium. The surfaces of stars are described along with stellar coronae and exploding stars—both core-collapse and deflagration supernovae. Finally, globular star clusters, solar neutrinos, stellar seismology, and binary stars are discussed.
4. Accretion
Authors: Binney James
Published: April 2017

The principle of angular momentum conservation was crucial for the creation of the disc of the Milky Way and plays a large role in many of the most exotic and luminous objects in the Universe. ‘Accretion’ describes accretion discs including basic disc dynamics, accretion onto stellar-mass objects, and quasars, and goes on to consider jets, which carry material away from the accreting object extremely supersonically. Much can be learnt about a disc and the system in which it is located by monitoring the system’s light curve—the luminosity as a function of time. Further information can be extracted if spectra taken at different times are available. This is time-domain astronomy.
8. The big picture
Authors: Binney James
Published: April 2017

By far the biggest contribution of general relativity to astrophysics was to make it possible to discuss the geometry and dynamics of the entire universe—it made cosmology a branch of physics. ‘The big picture’ outlines our current understanding of how stars and galaxies emerged from the big bang, providing some context for the physical processes already described. Much of the physics involved is extremely complex and we are far from understanding how the various processes played out. The universe is a huge canvas, and nature has wrought on it with very many techniques. Our knowledge of the universe is growing rapidly, but we have much, much more to learn.
2. The old order and the new
Authors: Mitter Rana
Published: April 2017

The Chinese past is often viewed as a corrupt, ‘feudal’ chaos held back by Confucian thought. However, the imperial Chinese state was also driven by a system of mutual obligation that resulted in a dynamic political and social culture. ‘The old order and the new’ considers how China has changed from the first Chinese encounter with the outside world up until the first stage of modern mass politics. Western political thought had an impact on China after the Opium Wars in the 19th century. Japanese culture also exerted an influence. The early 20th century was a time of great upheaval for China, fostering many political debates on topics such as nationalism, socialism, and feminism.