bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The daily practice of seafaring: the ship as heterotopia par excellence
Authors: Van de Noort Robert
Published: November 2020

The previous chapters explored how communities living around the North Sea were connected, and the roles played by the different types of craft in establishing these connections. This has provided the starting point for developing an understanding of the practice of seafaring. A considerable body of literature exists on the non-functional aspects of seafaring, especially the many practices and rituals that surround the act of putting out to sea. From a historic perspective, Kirby and Hinkkanen (2000: 184–5) recall the numerous rituals that attended the departure of fishing fleets, and how in recent centuries, especially in Catholic regions such as Flanders, such rituals were often sanctioned by, and sometimes integrated within, the practice of the official church. For example, most four-legged animals, especially pigs but not cats, could bring bad luck once on board, and even the names of such animals were taboo. Christer Westerdahl has written extensively on aspects of taboos and noa, and the importance of ritualized practices and the role of liminal agents that are meant to ensure successful completion of journeys and fishing expeditions (2005). The survival of these practices in folklore, and in the practice and memories of older fishermen reminds us that the premodern–modern dichotomy so often invoked when interpreting terrestrial archaeology is not always applicable when investigating the sea. The arguments advanced in this chapter take a somewhat different approach. However, they have developed from the same understanding that to go to sea is a potentially life-threatening activity, unlike most undertakings on land, and something too that is surrounded by peculiar practices and beliefs that transgress the premodern–modern boundary. They aim to place the daily practice of seafaring at the centre of our understanding of socio-political developments through the use of Michel Foucault’s concept of the heterotopia (introduced in chapter 2). This chapter takes its title from Foucault’s presentation in which he argued that the ‘ship is the heterotopia par excellence’ (1966), and proposes that whereas the terrestrial sphere has often represented the world of the establishment, the sea has functioned at various points in the past as the space where the conventional is contested and inverted.
Conclusions: a maritime biography
Authors: Van de Noort Robert
Published: November 2020

The purpose of writing this book was to explore aspects of human behaviour that have been, to varying extents, disregarded, overlooked, or ignored in terrestrial-dominated archaeology to date. Recognizing that the sea ‘is good to think’, it was envisaged that an exploration of North Sea archaeologies could launch something of a ‘maritime turn’. This final chapter considers the broad themes of the human past that have been enlightened through this study, and questions if and how these can be reproduced in land-based research. Five interrelated themes are presented here: the essence of nature–society interrelationships, the attribution of forms of agency to inanimate objects, deviant spaces, the essence of travelling long distances—including the skills and knowledge required for this—and finally, how the sea contributes to shaping social identities. The relationship that people had with their environment, or nature–society interrelationships, is fundamental to archaeological research on land and at sea. Explicitly or implicitly, terrestrial archaeology presents us with something of an irreversible progression towards ‘encultured’ landscapes—narratives wherein the land becomes increasingly less natural and more cultural (see chapter 2). In much of Europe, the ‘enculturation’ of the world started back in the Post-glacial. It continued throughout the Mesolithic, with the creation of paths through, and clearances within, otherwise natural landscapes. In the Neolithic, ‘enculturation’ took place through deforestation, and through the apportioning of symbolic significance to natural features and the construction of monuments relating to these. By the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, large tracts of land were being accommodated to the needs of humans through the creation of field systems and settlements, producing ‘cultural landscapes’. From the middle Bronze Age onwards, according to accepted land-based archaeological thinking, it would appear that nature played at best a minor role, limited to the impact of climate and weather on the crops being cultivated. The study of the North Sea has fundamentally challenged the nature–culture dichotomy. The concept of ‘enculturation’ places Homo sapiens centre stage in a changing world, but underestimates the role played by the sea and rivers, as well as animals, trees, and plants, as important co-constructors of landscape.
‘I wish you joy of the worm’: Evolutionary ecology in Hamlet and Antony and Cleopatra
Authors: Martin Randall
Published: November 2020

Disaffected from the court and shaken out of conventional assumptions about human nature by the Ghost’s revelations, Hamlet begins to think of comparisons with non-human life, beginning with his father as ‘old mole’ (1.5.170). Later he turns to worms, and his attention suggests a willed strategy of existential and ecological discovery, since worms occupied a place diametrically opposite to humans in the traditional hierarchy of life. Renaissance Humanists often used the perceived inferiority of worms and other animals to define human uniqueness. Their gradations of being, by extension, justified human mastery of the earth represented in Hamlet by Claudius’s modernizing transformation of Denmark into a military-industrial state. Adopting a worm-oriented perspective (wryly imagined by conservation ecologist André Voisin in my epigraph), Hamlet begins to question his own conventional Humanist reflexes, such as those on display in his opening soliloquy (e.g. ‘O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason /Would have mourned longer’ [1.2.150–51]). Recent critics have shown how analogies between social behaviour and animals in Hamlet and other Shakespeare plays reflect the rediscovery of classical scepticism towards human superiority by Humanists such as Michel de Montaigne, before René Descartes and other Enlightenment philosophers elevated mind and soul into essential qualities of human nature. As in other areas of ecology and environmentalism discussed in this book, early modern reflections such as Hamlet’s look forward to today’s post-Cartesian and post-human enquiries into human, animal, and cyborgian crossovers. In this chapter I want to align these pre-modern and present-day horizons with the scientific revolution that links them: evolutionary biology’s tracing of human origins to the shared creaturely and genetic life of the planet. Worms will be my trope for Hamlet’s attention to what Giorgio Agamben calls a ‘zone of indeterminacy’ between human and animal life, and what Andreas Höfele identifies as the complex doubleness of similarity and difference that runs through all of Shakespeare’s animal–human relations, beginning with the comic dialogues of Crab and Lance in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Breaking the surface
Authors: Zalasiewicz Jan
Published: November 2020

The pebble is a small but perfectly integrated part of a metal factory. This factory has produced copper, silver, zinc, lead and gold (real gold, not its iron sulphide facsimile, pyrite). It is about 100 kilometres long and 60 kilometres across, by about 6 kilometres deep. It is called Wales. The metals have sustained, puzzled, frustrated, and finally abandoned many generations of Welsh miners. Many hundreds of generations, indeed, for these metals have been sought, avidly, since at least the Bronze Age, more than 3000 years ago, when shafts were dug through solid rock with little more than hand-held antler bone and rounded cobble. It is no small feat to chase the metal underground, for its path is tortuous, its presence capricious and its surroundings dangerous. The Welsh miners have been celebrated at home in literature and songs, and also in more surprising quarters, as in the Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s portrayal of them in Castle in the Sky (a children’s animé film, perhaps, but deeply serious at core, like everything that Miyazaki has done). So how is a country-sized metal factory created? Tiny fragments of the answer reside within the pebble. A streak of white crosses the pebble, cutting across both the strata and the tectonic cleavage surfaces. Cutting both these fabrics, it must then be younger. Such evidence of what-came-first and what-came-next is at the heart of geology, and has been so since the very beginnings of the science, since before geological time was pinned and measured by the application of atomic clocks and of fossil time-zonations. And for all today’s shiny atom-counting machines and well-stocked libraries and museums, this kind of logic is still the first thing the geologist applies when any new and unfamiliar problem comes into view. But what is it in the pebble that is younger? Peer with the hand lens, and the white streak is resolved as a mineral vein: that is, as a mass of tiny crystals that have grown within a fracture in the rock.
Experimental Measurements
Authors: Glusker Jenny Pickworth , Trueblood Kenneth N.
Published: November 2020

The analysis of a crystal structure by X-ray or neutron diffraction consists of three stages: (1) Data collection. This involves experimental measurement of the directions of scatter of the diffracted beams so that a unit cell can be selected and its dimensions measured. The intensities of as many as possible of the diffracted beams (Bragg reflections) from that same crystal are then recorded. These intensities depend on the nature of the atoms present in the crystal and their relative positions within the unit cell. (2) Finding a “trial structure.” This is the deduction by some method (such as one of those described in Chapters 8 and 9) of a suggested atomic arrangement (a “trial structure”). This is listed as atomic coordinates that have been measured with respect to the unit-cell axes. The intensity of each Bragg reflection corresponding to this trial structure can then be calculated (see Chapter 5) and its value then compared with the corresponding experimentally measured intensity in order to determine whether the trial structure is “good,” meaning that it is essentially correct. (3) Refinement of the trial structure. This involves modification (refinement) of a good trial structure until the calculated and measured intensities agree with each other within the limits of any errors in the observations (see Chapter 11). This is usually done by a leastsquares refinement, although difference electron-density maps may also prove useful. The result of the refinement is information on the three-dimensional atomic coordinates in this particular crystal, together with atomic displacement parameters. This chapter is concerned with the first of these stages, the experimental measurements. This is a rapidly changing area of science as more powerful and precise equipment and detection devices become available. The experimental data that may be derived frommeasurements of an X-ray or neutron diffraction pattern include: (1) The overall appearance of the Bragg reflections at the detection system. Ideally these diffraction maxima should be sharp, well-resolved peaks. Blurred, double spots or arcs may indicate disorder or poor crystal quality. (2) The angles or directions of scattering (including 2Ë, the angular deviation from the direct beam).
Hypnotic techniques
Authors: Faymonville Marie-Elisabeth , Bejenke Christel J
Published: November 2020

Anxiety, fear, tension and apprehension are common emotions in patients undergoing surgery. Clinicians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of patients’ psychological reactions as well as their physical needs. For instance, surgeons now explain more to their patients than was formerly the case. The anaesthetist is therefore presented with an opportunity to use the pre-operative anaesthesia assessment as a means of fostering greater rapport and providing reassurance. There is, of course, still much reliance upon sedative and analgesic drugs to relieve anxiety and tension prior to major anaesthesia. However, sedatives are not the only answer. Sedation can be accomplished pharmacologically, but drugs cannot re-educate patients in a way that enables them to respond more positively to their medical or surgical treatment. The challenge for anaesthetists seeking to provide optimal anaesthetic care for their patients is not only to become more expert in the latest state-of-the-art technology, but rather to acquire the skills necessary to function effectively in the role of physician healer. Hypnosis is not a ‘therapy’, but a potentially valuable tool in the anaesthetist’s professional armamentarium, and deserves to receive equal consideration with other tools and skills which anaesthetists acquire. Hypnotic techniques can influence communication to such a degree that the patient’s entire medical experience is beneficially affected. Anaesthetists trained in the use of hypnosis can use this approach in ‘formal hypnosis’ or as ‘awake suggestions’. Hypnosis has had a cyclical history of acceptance and rejection. It has been practised in one form or another for thousands of years. However, it was not until 1828 that a scientific publication first reported its effectiveness as an anaesthetic for surgery. However, when volatile agents were introduced, the use of hypnosis as a sole anaesthesia technique died out. Because of its historical association with magic, hypnosis has had to struggle to become disentangled from faith-healing methods and the occult. In a number of hospitals around the world, hypnosis is used as an adjuvant to pharmacological anaesthesia, either before or after general anesthesia. At the same time, the fact that major surgery has been comfortably performed entirely under hypnosis overcomes some of the scepticism associated with its ancillary uses.
Introduction
Authors: Sharples Niall
Published: November 2020

This book covers the first millennium BC in central southern Britain, or Wessex, a period and an area of considerable importance in understanding the evolution of human society in north-west Europe. Wessex is one of the most intensively studied areas in European prehistory and has a rich and varied archaeological record that provides a finely textured view of a past society that is just beyond the reach of the historical sources. This book was begun a long time ago and has emerged due to a number of different stimuli. My first significant involvement with Wessex was as a result of my employment as Director of the English Heritage excavations at Maiden Castle in Dorset. During this period I lived in Dorset and became very familiar with the archaeology of this county and the neighbouring county of Wiltshire. The excavations were written up promptly (Sharples 1991a, 1991c) and I was also able to produce a couple of short papers (Sharples 1990b, 1991b) on related issues. These papers were part of a series of publications that came to define a new archaeological understanding of the Wrst millennium BC. They provide a context for the creation of this book that is worth exploring. In the middle of the 1980s, understanding of the Iron Age of Wessex was dominated by the views of Professor Cunlifie, which were widely disseminated in a range of publications, but most comprehensively in his book Iron Age Communities in Britain (Cunlifie 1991, 2005). He presented a picture of Iron Age society where dominant elites lived within hillforts and each hillfort controlled a clearly defined territory. These permanently occupied settlements acted as central places that absorbed cereals and animal products from dependent communities in the surrounding landscape and exchanged these basic foodstuffs for materials not available in the region. The communities in hillforts controlled contact with neighbouring territories and were closely tied to ports, through which Continental trade was channelled. As the Iron Age progressed, the territories become larger and the hillforts become fewer until distinct tribal units ruled by kings become recognizable in the Late Iron Age.
The MRCPCH Clinical Exam Made Simple
Authors: Zengeya Stanley Tamuka , Serane Tiroumourougane V
Published: November 2020

The MRCPCH Clinical Examination Made Simple is a unique revision tool presenting a focused strategy and clear advice in order to succeed at the MRCPCH Clinical Examination, the final hurdle to gaining membership to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Together the book and DVD provide comprehensive notes for the exam, including chapters on how to prepare and on history-taking. The DVD includes clips of examination situations with expert commentary. This unique approach not only provides the reader with the knowledge required to pass the exam but also demonstrates the skills and approach that successful candidates have used. Comprehensive, clear and authoritative, The MRCPCH Clinical Exam Made Simple offers an unrivalled, comprehensive guide to the OSCE station. Written by an experienced consultant paediatrician and a recently successful MRCPCH candidate, this revision tool provides the reader with all the skills and knowledge you need to pass and excel at this crucial exam.
Examination of the respiratory system
Authors: Zengeya Stanley Tamuka , Serane Tiroumourougane V
Published: November 2020

The examination of the respiratory system causes much anxiety among candidates, as many feel the findings are difficult to elicit, particularly in a small child. Just like other systems, having a structured approach makes identification and interpretation of the findings easy. It is important to practise the proper examination technique repeatedly, as this is the best way to improve the skills that are essential to obtain accurate findings. However, the examination itself can be performed in a different sequence depending on the age and the degree cooperation of the child. The examination of the respiratory system is best done in correlation with the available medical history. First, assimilate the available history, which will give an idea of the expected findings and subsequent diagnosis. At the end of the examination, it is important to describe significant findings (table 6.1) with reference to specific surface locations, as shown in figure 6.1. Key competence skills required in examination of the respiratory system are given in table 6.2. These steps are repeated in every system to reiterate their importance and to help you recollect the initial approach of any clinical exam. Also refer to chapter 4. • On entering the examination room, demonstrate your strict adherence to infection control measures by washing your hands or by using alcohol rub. • Introduce yourself both to the parents and the child. • Talk slowly and clearly with a smile on your face. • Establish rapport with the child and parents. • Expose the chest adequately while ensuring their privacy. • Positioning the patient: the child should be undressed appropriately to the waist to allow proper examination. It may be easier to examine an older child when they sit on the edge of the bed, or on a chair. It is preferable to examine younger children on their parent’s lap rather than on a couch separated from the parents, as this can cause much anxiety. Removing a toddler or an infant from his or her parent will most probably yield a screaming child in whom eliciting any physical findings will be virtually impossible.
Humanized Environments
Authors: Gosden Chris
Published: November 2020

It is now well known that there is a spectrum of views about humans and the world they live in, ranging from the concept of the environment as an external force to the idea that people exist through a series of relations which it makes little sense to divide up as culture on the one hand and nature on the other. It is worth thinking through the implications of these varied views briefly (although I do not want to duplicate Davies’s detailed introduction in Chapter 1), so that we can think about what is lost and gained when trying to combine nature and culture, my main aim in current work. Let us start with views in which there is a radical separation of people and the physical world. In such views, which are in themselves varied, the physical world is seen as a series of energy budgets and nutrients that people have to extract in the most cost-efficient way possible in order to maintain life. Leslie White (1949) made a three-fold division between the physical, the biological, and the cultural. Academic study, in which physicists, chemists, or earth scientists probe the physical state of the universe, biologists investigate living things, and the social sciences and humanities focus on the human world, was not constructed around a series of heuristic divisions, but instead mirrored reality, White argued. Culture was also divided into three levels, of which the first, technology determined social organization and ideology. The primary function of culture for White was the harnessing of energy and the more efficiently this was done, the more it allowed for organizational complexity and multiple ideologies. Human history moved by revolutions in energy capture from early periods in which human muscles were key, to the agricultural revolution where plants and animals were domesticated to increase food supplies and animals could be used for traction, through to the industrial revolution (and the possibility of a future nuclear revolution) (see also Armstrong Oma, Chapter 11 this volume).
Skeletons and Ocean Chemistry: The Long View
Authors: Knoll Andrew H. , Fischer Woodward W.
Published: November 2020

In present-day seas, animals, algae, and protozoa are threatened by ocean acidification, amplified in many regions by seawater warming and hypoxia (Doney et al . 2009 ). Many species may be affected adversely by 21st-century environmental change, but a decade of research suggests that the hypercalcifying animals responsible for reef accretion may be especially vulnerable to an acidity-driven decrease in the saturation state (Ω; see Box 1.1) of surface seawater with respect to calcite and aragonite. The geological record reveals that natural changes in the marine carbonate system have affected the evolution and abundance of calcifying organisms throughout the Phanerozoic Eon (542 million years (Myr) ago to the present). This being the case, we can use our understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the carbon cycle and the stratigraphic comings and goings of reef-building organisms to inform us about what, if any, lessons can be drawn from the long-term past and applied to our nearterm future. If there is one thing that geology makes clear it is that the earth and its biota are in a continual state of change. Because of its relationship to climate, the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in the atmosphere has been of particular interest to geologists and geochemists, but direct measurement of ancient CO2 levels is impossible for intervals older than those recorded in glacial ice preserved today near the poles and at high altitude (Petit et al . 1999). Therefore, deep-time estimates of pCO2 rely on models, broadly constrained by geochemical proxy data. For example, the widely applied models of Berner and colleagues (e.g. GEOCARB III; Berner and Kothavala 2001; Berner 2006; Fig. 4.1C) estimate fluxes of carbon from one reservoir to another, based on geochemical proxies (mainly isotope ratios and abundances of sedimentary carbonate and organic carbon), and then calculate successive steady states of the system through time. Additional parameters are considered, including estimates of carbon fluxes due to erosion, river run-off, plant evolution, volcanic weathering, global CO2 degassing, and land area; these also influence the model results.
Effects of Ocean Acidification on the Diversity and Activity of Heterotrophic Marine Microorganisms
Authors: Weinbauer Markus G. , Mari Xavier
Published: November 2020

Microbe-mediated processes are crucial for biogeochemical cycles and the functioning of marine ecosystems (Azam and Malfatti 2007 ). If these processes are affected by ocean acidification, major consequences can be expected for the functioning of the global ocean and the systems that it influences, such as the atmosphere. In contrast to phytoplankton, which have been relatively well studied (see Chapter 6), there is comparatively little information on the effect of ocean acidification on heterotrophic microorganisms. Two reviews on the potential effects of ocean acidification on microbial plankton have recently been published (Liu et al. 2010 ; Joint et al. 2011) . In a recent perspective paper, Joint et al. (2011) concluded that marine microbes possess the flexibility to accommodate pH change and that major changes in marine biogeochemical processes that are driven by microorganisms are unlikely. Narrative reviews, which look at some of the relevant literature, are potentially biased and could lead to misleading conclusions (Gates 2002). Metaanalysis was developed to overcome most biases of narrative reviews. It statistically combines the results (effect size) of several studies that address a shared research hypothesis. Liu et al. (2010) used a metaanalytic approach to comprehensively review the current understanding of the effect of ocean acidification on microbes (including phytoplankton) and microbial processes, and to highlight the gaps that need to be addressed in future research. In the following, a brief digest on oceanic microbes and their role is provided for readers unfamiliar with this topic. Then the research that has been performed to assess the effects of ocean acidification on the diversity and activity of heterotrophic marine microorganisms is reviewed. Finally, scenarios are developed and potential implications are discussed. Microorganisms are defined as organisms that are microscopic, i.e. too small to be seen by the naked human eye, and mostly comprise single-celled organisms. Viruses are sometimes also included in this definition but it is hotly debated whether viruses are alive or not (Raoult and Forterre 2008). The current phylogeny considers three domains of cellular life, the Bacteria, the Archaea and the Eukarya.
Impact of Climate Change Mitigation On Ocean Acidification Projections
Authors: Joos Fortunat , Frölicher Thomas L.
Published: November 2020

Ocean acidification caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) by the ocean is an important global change problem (Kleypas et al. 1999; Caldeira and Wickett 2003; Doney et al. 2009). Ongoing ocean acidification is closely linked to global warming, as acidification and warming are primarily caused by continued anthropogenic emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel burning (Marland et al. 2008 ), land use, and land-use change (Strassmann et al. 2007). Future ocean acidification will be determined by past and future emissions of CO2 and their redistribution within the earth system and the ocean. Calculation of the potential range of ocean acidification requires consideration of both a plausible range of emissions scenarios and uncertainties in earth system responses, preferably by using results from multiple scenarios and models. The goal of this chapter is to map out the spatiotemporal evolution of ocean acidification for different metrics and for a wide range of multigas climate change emissions scenarios from the integrated assessment models (Nakićenović 2000; Van Vuuren et al. 2008b). By including emissions reduction scenarios that are among the most stringent in the current literature, this chapter explores the potential benefits of climate mitigation actions in terms of how much ocean acidification can be avoided and how much is likely to remain as a result of inertia within the energy and climate systems. The longterm impacts of carbon emissions are addressed using so-called zero-emissions commitment scenarios and pathways leading to stabilization of atmospheric CO 2. Discussion will primarily rely on results from the cost-efficient Bern2.5CC model (Plattner et al. 2008) and the comprehensive carbon cycle– climate model of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), CSM1.4-carbon (Steinacher et al. 2009; Frölicher and Joos 2010). The magnitude of the human perturbation of the climate system is well documented by observations (Solomon e t al. 2007). Carbon emissions from human activities force the atmospheric composition, climate, and the geochemical state of the ocean towards conditions that are unique for at least the last million years (see Chapter 2).
Ocean Acidification: Knowns, Unknowns, and Perspectives
Authors: Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Bijma Jelle
Published: November 2020

Although the changes in the chemistry of seawater driven by the uptake of CO2 by the oceans have been known for decades, research addressing the effects of elevated CO2 on marine organisms and ecosystems has only started recently (see Chapter 1). The first results of deliberate experiments on organisms were published in the mid 1980s (Agegian 1985) and those on communities in 2000 (Langdon et al. 2000; Leclercq et al. 2000 ). In contrast, studies focusing on the response of terrestrial plant communities began much earlier, with the first results of free-air CO2 enrichment experiments (FACE) being published in the late 1960s (see Allen 1992 ). Not surprisingly, knowledge about the effects of elevated CO2 on the marine realm lags behind that concerning the terrestrial realm. Yet ocean acidification might have significant biological, ecological, biogeochemical, and societal implications and decision-makers need to know the extent and severity of these implications in order to decide whether they should be considered, or not, when designing future policies. The goals of this chapter are to summarize key information provided in the preceding chapters by highlighting what is known and what is unknown, identify and discuss the ecosystems that are most at risk, as well as discuss prospects and recommendation for future research. The chemical, biological, ecological, biogeochemical, and societal implications of ocean acidification have been comprehensively reviewed in the previous chapters with one minor exception. Early work has shown that ocean acidification significantly affects the propagation of sound in seawater and suggested possible consequences for marine organisms sensitive to sound (Hester et al . 2008). However, sub sequent studies have shown that the changes in the upper-ocean sound absorption coefficient at future pH levels will have no or a small impact on ocean acoustic noise (Joseph and Chiu 2010; Udovydchenkov et al . 2010). The goal of this section is to condense the current knowledge about the consequences of ocean acidification in 15 key statements. Each statement is given levels of evidence and, when possible, a level of confidence as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for use in its 5th Assessment Report (Mastrandrea et al. 2010).
Primordial Climate
Authors: Zalasiewicz Jan , Williams Mark
Published: November 2020

We are lucky, on Earth. We are lucky because we—as complex and self-aware organisms—are here. We are sustained, given air to breathe, and water, and food, by a very ancient planet: a planet past its midpoint, a planet that is nearer death than birth. Our species is a latecomer. It took some three billion years to bridge the gap from a single-celled organism (originating in this planet’s youth) to a multicellular one, and then a little over half a billion more to arrive at the diversity of species on Earth today, including Homo sapiens . In all this time, the chain of life has remained unbroken. The Earth has been consistently habitable, with an atmosphere, and land, and oceans. Since life began, our planet has never been truly deep-frozen, nor have the oceans boiled away. The Earth is the Goldilocks planet. One recalls, here, the children’s story, where the young heroine of that name walks into the house of the three bears, and in their absence tries out successively their bowls of porridge, their chairs, and their beds. Each time the first and second choices are too hot or cold, large or small, hard or soft—and the third choice is just right . The Earth has been, so far and all in all, just right for life: not just right at any one time, but continuously so for three billion years. There have, though, been some close calls: times of mass extinction. But, life has always clung on to bloom once more. That makes the Earth’s history more remarkable than any children’s story. Other planets have not been so lucky. Mars seems to have been a planet with an appreciable atmosphere, and—at least intermittently—running water over its surface, and may even have begun to incubate life. But the atmosphere was stripped away by the solar wind. Its early lakes and rivers became acid, charged with sulphates. Then, most of the water evaporated and was carried off into space; what little was left became locked away as permafrost and in thin ice-caps. Mars does have weather, including spectacular, planet-wide dust-storms.
Between Greenhouse and Icehouse
Authors: Zalasiewicz Jan , Williams Mark
Published: November 2020

There is a celebrated Flemish painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It depicts the age-old battle between Carnival and Lent. Carnival—a time of high spirits, led in this vision by a fat man on a beer-barrel, carousing and brandishing a pig’s head on a spit—is opposed by Lent, deflating the happy excitement and bringing in a time of sobriety and abstinence. Bruegel’s understanding of these opposed rhythms of rural life in the sixteenth-century Netherlands was acute: he was nicknamed ‘Peasant Bruegel’ for his habit of dressing like the local people, to mingle unnoticed with the crowds, all the better to observe their lives and activities. Bruegel’s vision of the age-old rhythm of life, in the form of an eternal oscillation between two opposing modes, may be taken to a wider stage. From the late Archaean to the end of the Proterozoic, the Earth has alternated between two climate modes. Long episodes of what may be regarded as rather dull stability, best exemplified by what some scientists refer to as the ‘boring billion’ of the mid-Proterozoic, are punctuated by the briefer, though more satisfyingly dramatic, glacial events. This alternation of Earth states persisted into the last half-billion years of this planet’s history—that is, into the current eon, the Phanerozoic. If anything, the pattern became more pronounced, as if it had become an integral part of the Earth’s slowly moving clockwork. There were three main Phanerozoic glaciations—or more precisely, there were three intervals of time when the world possessed large amounts of ice—though in each of these, the ice waxed and waned in a rather complex fashion, and none came close to a Snowball-like state. Thus, these intervals often now tend to be called ‘icehouse states’ rather than glaciations per se. Between these, there were rather longer intervals—greenhouse states—in which the world was considerably warmer; though again, this warmth was variable, and at times modest amounts of polar ice could form. Of the Earth’s Phanerozoic icehouse states, two are in the Palaeozoic Era: one, now termed the ‘Early Palaeozoic Icehouse’ centred on the boundary between the Ordovician and Silurian periods, peaking some 440 million years ago; and a later one centred on the Carboniferous and early Permian periods, 325 to 280 million years ago.
The Glacial World
Authors: Zalasiewicz Jan , Williams Mark
Published: November 2020

It is a scene of devastation, as far as the eye can see. Swathes of bleak landscape, with strewn boulders embedded in a sticky mass of sandy clay. Here and there are signs of a little more order—distinct spreads of gravel or patches of fine sand. Mostly, though, it looks as though every type of sediment, from fine clay to house-sized blocks, has simply been stirred together and spread across the land. Remove the crops and topsoil of gentle Leicestershire and Suffolk, or of central Germany or Kansas, and this is what lies beneath. Between the ordered sedimentary strata of the distant geological past and the ordered calm of the present is evidence of an only-just-elapsed catastrophe, and two centuries ago, when the science of the Earth was young, the naturalists of those days pondered on what it might mean. There were those like the young William Buckland, both Reader in mineralogy at Oxford and priest (he went on to become Dean of Westminster), who saw in it evidence of the biblical Deluge. Or Jean André de Luc, mentor to the wife of George III, who considered that the large blocks had been fired, like Roman ballista, from the mountains by some powerful but mysterious explosions. Or Sir James Hall, a savant of Edinburgh, who thought that the blocks had been carried into position by tsunamis, generated when large areas of sea floor (he supposed) suddenly popped up like blisters—he was clearly of an intellectually playful disposition. Or Leopold von Buch, who invoked catastrophic mudflows (one such, indeed, did take place in an Alpine valley, the Val de Bagnes, just after von Buch’s paper on this topic was published, when a natural dam burst, scattering mud and boulders far down the valley, and killing many people). But it was that extraordinary polymath, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (a one-time Superintendent of Mines, if you please) who was among the first to sense what had been going on, when he associated the scattered blocks with a great expansion of the Alpine glaciers he was familiar with, and coined the term Eiszeit —the Ice Age.
The Anthropocene Begins
Authors: Zalasiewicz Jan , Williams Mark
Published: November 2020

What is the future for the planet, and for climate? Gazing into crystal balls is a pastime that humans have a fascination for. It is also one in which they have a dismal record. A generation or two ago, there were predictions of cities made of glass or plastic, clothes of aluminium or asbestos, flying cars, the fall of nationalism and the rise of world government, the demise of religion, and robots taking over our tasks and ushering in an age of universal leisure for all. So much for all that. When we move, then, to the almost limitless complexities and intersecting feedbacks of Earth’s climate system, one might be forgiven for throwing in the towel straight away. This is a system, we must eternally remember, of which we have only partial understanding, even as we see today’s weather patterns spin off from it. Go back into the deep past, and that climate and those long-vanished weather patterns leave only traces in strata that are, in large part, invisible to the naked eye. And of the future, of course, we have no samples, no deep boreholes, no fossils: the canvas is blank—indeed, as yet there is no canvas at all. Yet, from those ancient stratal traces we can construct a picture of events that is both vivid and (within our levels of uncertainty) true. There is no reasonable doubt that 20,000 years ago massive ice sheets spread out from the poles—or, that 125,000 years ago there was a climate on Earth as temperate, within a degree or so, as the one we enjoy today. So, there are patterns, real patterns that we can use as guides to help us try, with the utmost caution and scepticism, to create pictures, scenarios, sketches of the climate of the future. One might imagine alternative futures—or create them—particularly with the help of those elapsed realities. For instance, one might take that striking five-million year slice of climate history put together by Lorraine Lisiecki and Maureen Raymo (see Ch. 8 ).
The Interview
Authors: Watkin Sara , Vincent Andrew
Published: November 2020

However much preparation you have done, for most candidates the interview day itself can be somewhat daunting or even downright frightening. The first part of this chapter focuses on how you can reduce any anxiety through both careful planning and a few simple exercises and tips. The second part of the chapter deals at a practical level with what happens in the interview itself so you will know exactly what to expect. This chapter does not deal with how to respond to interview questions (with the exception of where you do not understand what has been asked). Preparation and answering of interview questions has been discussed in great detail in Chapter 5. Most candidates will have a degree of interview nerves and it can be helpful to remember that other interviewees are likely to be feeling similar to you. A little bit of anxiety, as opposed to complacency, is often useful to fuel the desire to achieve and ensure you go the extra mile to get the job. However, if anxiety really takes hold and a candidate appears dysfunctional to the panel it can be viewed disadvantageously, with panel members questioning (internally, at least) whether you would be equally dysfunctional in a stressful clinical situation or when leading something important. Much of what we are about to cover deals with controlling those nerves and giving you the best shot at a confident performance on the day. There is much that can be done to reduce nerves and although a significant amount of this is practical and common sense, it is worth reminding ourselves of the following: • The more prepared you are, the calmer you will feel, so start your interview preparation early • When you go to the pre-interview visit, physically find out where the interview room is so that you can find it more easily on the day of the interview (it’s one less thing to worry about and we all know how one part of a hospital can look much like another and even the best signage isn’t going to direct you to room F1238B)
Interview Questions
Authors: Watkin Sara , Vincent Andrew
Published: November 2020

This chapter outlines typical interview questions only. It does not tell you how to prepare yourself so you can answer these questions effectively or give you model answers. We strongly recommend, regardless of how late you have left your interview preparation, that you do not start by reading this chapter. Instead, start by working through Chapter 5. The questions in this chapter are best used to supplement the preparation you will undertake in Chapter 5. These questions are all real questions collected from previous interviewees. As such, you may think some are very similar in content, and indeed they are, but we have included them all to give you a feel for how different individuals word questions slightly differently. In Chapter 10, which looks at specialty-specific interviews, there are examples of specialty-specific general and ethical questions. All that said, if you decide to ignore the advice on where to start and go straight to question practice, remember these key points: • Practise your answers out loud (most of us waffle when we go through answers in our head) • Pause before answering the question and think about what you want to say, in particular how you will use this answer to promote yourself as the best candidate for the post • Divide your answer into three parts: • Start with a short, sharp answer during which you tell the panel what you are going to tell them • Back the answer up with your evidence and examples • Tell the panel what you have just told them and why it will benefit their organization • Spend no more than 2–3 minutes answering any one question • When asked for an opinion, recognize both sides of any debate/ discussion, but ultimately come off the fence with a distinct answer, backed up by sensible reasoning • Talk in the first person and in the present tense, i.e. use ‘I do’ rather then ‘We should’ • Tell me about your CV • Tell us about yourself • Describe your clinical training • Tell me about the gaps in your CV
Political and Hot Topics in the NHS
Authors: Watkin Sara , Vincent Andrew
Published: November 2020

In so many cases, it is a lack of understanding of the political agenda that gives most trainees (and existing consultants) their greatest cause for concern when applying for a consultant post. As a result, many invest the majority of their interview preparation time trying to develop a significant knowledge of the evolving healthcare landscape but without any clear direction. In this short chapter, we’ll provide guidance on how to go about preparation sensibly, with a clear focus. It is perhaps important at this stage to re-emphasize that the majority of your time should be invested in reflecting on how you can best demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills, abilities and interests to succeed in the post you are applying for, i.e. the benefit you bring to the Trust you are applying to. In general, unless the job specifically concerns the strategic development of a service, spend no more than 20 % of your preparation time thinking about the political agenda. Any more and we are starting to worry that you are not focusing on other important areas sufficiently. It will not have escaped you that this chapter is only short and does not appear to mention a single political agenda or hot potato in any depth. This is purposeful. The political agenda is constantly changing and what was ‘hot’ at interview this month will not be ‘hot’ in 6 months’ time. There is no substitute for getting up-to-date at the time and we want to avoid the natural temptation for you to use the book as gospel when in fact you need to be seeing what is current. This chapter will, however, help you work out what you need to know for your specific interview and how to obtain that knowledge. Having made the case for not overly focusing on the political agenda, as you have lots of preparation to do and not just this, it is still imperative that you understand just how important an area this is. Trusts need consultants who understand the environment in which they operate and what it takes to be successful today.
Presentations in Interviews
Authors: Watkin Sara , Vincent Andrew
Published: November 2020

It is increasingly common at consultant interviews to be asked to make a presentation. Presentations enable others to observe a variety of skills deemed necessary to be an effective consultant, including: • Clear communications skills • Teaching skills • Ability to confer potentially complex information in a clear and succinct way • Ability to engage, influence and persuade • Ability to organize your thoughts and to develop: • rapport • a cohesive argument • conclusions • Your ability to inspire others • Ability to remain calm and relaxed in a stressful situation It is important from the outset to understand that it is these attributes that are being examined, not the panel’s burning desire to increase their knowledge in your chosen subject. Consequently, the enabling question you need to ask yourself is not ‘What content would be interesting?’ but ‘How can I demonstrate the above attributes most successfully through the presentation I have been asked to give?’ This latter question should direct the content, style and approach you take. Presentations at consultant interview can take a variety of formats: • PowerPoint presentation to a larger audience prior to the interview • PowerPoint presentation to the interview panel immediately before the interview • Presentation without visual aids to the interview panel immediately before the interview • Rarely interviewees are given a short period of time (e.g. 30 minutes) to prepare a presentation, usually to the interview committee only, immediately prior to their interview The format does not alter the primary purpose—which is to assess those ‘consultant attributes or qualities’ that we mention above in the Introduction—but will affect how you go about your preparation and delivery. Topics are not always easy to predict but will often relate to something that is currently troubling the consultant body or Trust, i.e. is topical and relevant. Examples include: • With cuts to training numbers how would you ensure this department meets the EWTD requirements? • What will be the effects of the government White Paper on this service? • How can service x work more effectively across primary and secondary care?