Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy (Yale Fastback Series)

Book Description

Federal legislation over the last twenty-five years has improved air and water quality, but America now confronts a different set of environmental problems-less visible and more subtle. In this important book, the innovative thinkers of the Next Generation Project of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy offer new ideas and tools for creating sound environmental policy for the future.

Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy

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Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy
Marian R. Chertow
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORXLHS

Book Description

> MAIN ENTRY: force ma·jeure

> FUNCTION: noun

1: superior or irresistible force

2: an event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled

Twenty-year-old genius Shane Monroe has his life laid out before him. As part of an accelerated program, he is working on a major research project for a brain trust studying weather patterns. Shane's job is to replicate a tornado through artificial means. When he manages to do just that, however, the course of his life is forever altered. His superiors want to know if he can do it "bigger -- big enough to drop on an enemy village and call it an act of God."

Shane knows what he has to do. He shuts down his storm, switches majors, and leaves the lab behind.

He is midway through his next semester when he reads of a rash of natural disasters in South America. There is no doubt in his mind: This is his fault. His notes have been confiscated and his work replicated. Now Shane is on the run, from the government, friends, and even once-trusted mentors. What began as a reputable weather study has, with the force of a tornado, taken on an unstoppable life of its own...

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic thriller.......2003-08-04

As if we didn't have enough to worry about with the bioterrorism threat, now we have to be concerned about manufactured weather that could be used as a weapon. College student and super genius Shane is thrilled to have figured out how to create a tornado in a lab, thinking his discovery is pure science to be used to predict weather; when it turns out he is actually working for a secret government agency interested in using his experiment for harm, he walks out of the project - but when a series of suspicious weather patterns indicate someone has stolen his idea, a confrontation with his supervisor results in everyone whose lives he touches being in danger - as is his own.
This is a high drama tale that would translate well to film. The plot itself is unpredictable but not completely outrageous. The premise of the existence of a group of Truth Seekers working to stall government plots borders on X-Files but could lend itself well to a whole series of books.

Great read.......2002-09-25

Fantastic book, fast, furious, and hard to put down. Snigowski and Golden really now how to weave a great tale.

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Overrated and solipsistic
The locusts are here to stay

Force Majeure: A Novel
Bruce Wagner
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743268962

Book Description

Bud Wiggins dreamed of achieving fame as a screenwriter. He almost made it. Instead, he finds himself free-falling through a world of hallucinatory absurdity, low comedy, and epic degradation. A Hollywood bottom-feeder who moonlights as a limo driver to pay the bills, both tormented and vicariously aroused by his contact with the industry's elite, Mr. Wiggins bears poignant, paranoid witness to the horror and hysteria that are by-products of "the Business." His phantasmagoric saga, by turns picaresque, pornographic, and poetic, Force Majeure is the first of a projected quartet called "Scriptures" that will chronicle the misadventures and transcendental fall and rise -- comic, tragic, and tragicosmic -- of Bud Wiggins, Quixote of Babylon.

Customer Reviews:

Overrated and solipsistic.......2005-04-19

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend and found it profoundly dissapointing. The most annoying thing about it is the way that the plot is packed with red herrings: mysterious, unnamed characters who seem to be crucial but never develop into anybody interesting or meaningful and instead just vanish; sub-plots that end suddenly and uninterestingly, as though the writer forgot where he was going and decided to change direction mid-stream; and tons of fascinating "minor" characters who are either conveniently knocked off or commit suicide before they risk stealing the scene from the stunningly boring, self-indulgent, predictable narrator. Wagner tries to get away with this by referencing "Don Quixote," a novel famous for its rambling, meandering, tangential, apparently endless narrative. This unbelievably egocentric comparison might work for some but I stopped reading "Don Quixote" long before that book ended and I was tempted to do the same with this one.

I thought this would be a "fun romp" through Hollywood, with lots of name-dropping, gossipy, juicy stuff, but the truth is it is way too ambitious--trying to be a combination of Philip Roth and Cervantes. Okay, yes, it is his first, but unfortunately it will, for me anyway, be the last Wagner I ever pick up.

The locusts are here to stay.......2000-11-04

Bruce Wagner is a screenwriter and director with a swirling disturbing perception of the subworld that is Hollywoodland. When writing the seminal though hardly remembered techrevolution packaged as a TV miniseries, Wild Palms, he locked himself away in the old 20s glamour haunt, the Chateau Marmont friend William Gibson has reported, and filled the room with books - not to read, but just to inspire or invoke in the darn thing. I think there were probably a lot of candles too.

Force Majeure is somewhat more contemporary than the near future world of Wild Palms, but it is spilling over with the same mundane paranoia that seeps through Hollywood. Bud Wiggins, a Willy Loman as screenwriter bumps and stumbles through a world and narrative that is part Day of the Locusts, part Terry Southern's Blue Movie. You feel like there's always a conspiracy around the corner, but its only showbiz. Force Majeure whips together trippyness, struggle, pop, and pornography in a way that makes me think of Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers, though the books are not similar otherwise.

Finally, this is a portrait of Hollywood. There's a beginning rule of screenwriting that says Hollywood is the only place where you can make a living on failure. And that's if you're really lucky. Force Majeure embodies that notion.

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Contribution a l'etude de la force majeure (Bobliotheque de droit prive)
Paul-Henri Antonmattei
Manufacturer: Libr. generale de droit et de jurisprudence
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 2275005749

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Compelling

Thrill Ride!

Awesome

Super suspense

Stunningly Sharp!

Force Majeure: Book One
Shaun E. Rudie
Manufacturer: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1589396758

Book Description

Alinah Thasome is being pulled into the undercurrent of evil. Hired by Eaton Enterprises to collect information on the death beds of high world officials, she is confronted by three men who claim to have seen her in the same nightmare, a deadly visual that will not leave them and which compels them to abandon their own lives to save her.

Together they must battle the forces of evil intent on not only taking their lives and the lives of their families, but their souls. And through it all, Alinah begins to change, to realize she can feel her companions on another level of reality. She soon begins to question her own place in the world, her sanity…and those with her.

Force Majeure is a horror trilogy that will change the way you view your world

Customer Reviews:

Compelling.......2005-06-01

This is usually not my type of book, but Shaun Rudie had me hooked from page one. I couldn't put it down. It is a nail biter, and I enjoyed every word. This book I could read again and feel that I was reading it for the first time. I am looking forward to book two and book three. But first I want to read book one again.

Thrill Ride!.......2005-02-11

This book immediately sucks you into a vortex of fear, mystery and suspense. Right from the start, it penetrates the back of your mind and impinges on your daily thoughts. In fact, the story is so gripping that it's very hard to put it down and do anything else! This is a must for anyone wanting to take wild trip and never leave home!!

Awesome.......2005-01-19

This book will grip you from page one! I have not read a book this great in awhile. Warning some events will haunt you after reading.
This book is worth reading twice!

Super suspense.......2005-01-19

This book is a must read for the suspense thriller aficionado. I could not put it down, every chapter leaves you wanting more. Shaun Rudie pulls you in from the very start with his vivid scenes and detail. I was honestly up thinking about this story long after reading it. I can hardly wait for Book Two.

Stunningly Sharp!.......2005-01-19

This is one wild ride! If your heart rate does not double and your hands do not sweat within the first chapters, you are brain dead! This book completely captivated my attention immediately, unlike most books that I read. It will intimidate your perception of the world as well as broaden how you look at it. This is a must buy for not only action junkies but also those that wish a refreshing view of the vigor of life...

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Force Majeure: The Bud Wiggins Stories

Manufacturer: Caldecot Chubb
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000EHK9J6

La force majeure (Collection "Critique")

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La force majeure (Collection "Critique")
Clement Rosset
Manufacturer: Editions de minuit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 2707306584

Competing Approaches to Force Majeure and Hardship [An article from: International Review of Law & Economics]

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Competing Approaches to Force Majeure and Hardship [An article from: International Review of Law & Economics]
C. Kessedjian
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000RR6BUY

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from International Review of Law & Economics, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:

Force Majeure and Termination.: An article from: APS Review Gas Market Trends

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Force Majeure and Termination.: An article from: APS Review Gas Market Trends

Manufacturer: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from APS Review Gas Market Trends, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on March 4, 2002. The length of the article is 511 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Force Majeure and Termination.
Publication: APS Review Gas Market Trends (Newsletter)
Date: March 4, 2002
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 58 Issue: 10 Page: NA

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Icc Force Majeure Clause 2003 and Icc Hardship Clause 2003: Make Sure That Contract Protects You If Disaster Strikes

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Icc Force Majeure Clause 2003 and Icc Hardship Clause 2003: Make Sure That Contract Protects You If Disaster Strikes
ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice
Manufacturer: ICC Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 9284213193

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Force Majeure
Bruce Wagner
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OT4G3E

Book Description

A comprehensive account of the role of the islets of Langerhans is presented in this text. As the primary source of hormone production in the pancreas, the islets of Langerhans have been the focus of research into the nature of diabetes for decades. In recent years, the molecular biology of this multiendocrine organ has been intensively investigated, with a corresponding increase in our understanding of the normal and pathological functioning of islet cells. This is the first comprehensive treatment of molecular studies on the synthesis of insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide. In addition, this volume presents contemporary hypotheses and explanations, at the molecular level, of the defects in islet cells that may lead to diabetes.

Molecular Biology of the Islets of Langerhans.

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Molecular Biology of the Islets of Langerhans.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IBJ4CQ

Book Description

An elegant, witty, and engaging exploration of the riddle of time, which examines the consequences of Einstein's theory of relativity and offers startling suggestions about what recent research may reveal.

The eternal questions of science and religion were profoundly recast by Einstein's theory of relativity and its implications that time can be warped by motion and gravitation, and that it cannot be meaningfully divided into past, present, and future.

In About Time, Paul Davies discusses the big bang theory, chaos theory, and the recent discovery that the universe appears to be younger than some of the objects in it, concluding that Einstein's theory provides only an incomplete understanding of the nature of time. Davies explores unanswered questions such as:

* Does the universe have a beginning and an end?

* Is the passage of time merely an illusion?

* Is it possible to travel backward -- or forward -- in time?

About Time weaves physics and metaphysics in a provocative contemplation of time and the universe.

Customer Reviews:

Everything is reversible?.......2007-06-03

This over-simplistic physics account which holds that universal time and entropy are reversible and that Poincare's recurrence theorem disproves the 2nd law of entropy increase in isolated systems (and Boltzman's statistical mechanics) ignores the fact that physics equations are idealizations and that mathematical equations are tautoligies that do not define direction or cause. These arguments generally ignore real world effects such as friction, noise, chaos (e.g. the 'many body' problem for gravity) and non-linear effects and correlations etc.

For instance the wikipedia description of Poincare's recurrence theorem points out that environmental noise and chaos alone can break the idealization. In addition chaos can cause entropy increase in both time directions (e.g. P. Cipriani). Various authors (with articles on the net) have pointed out that for non-adiabatic processes, 'the natural evolution of entropy is towards larger values because the natural state of matter is at a positive temperature' (M. Campisi), and only in adiabatic classical mechanics are energy and entropy both conserved and time reversible (e.g. Silverberg and Widom). In addition 'One of the basic postulates of the classical statistical physics is an assumption that the particle's interaction range is considered to be small compared with the system size. If this condition does not hold the internal and free energies, entropy etc are no more additive physical quantities... the Boltzman relationship between the entropy and the statistical weight is not any longer valid. The non-extensive systems are common in physics- gravitational forces, Coulomb forces in globally charged systems, wave-particle interactions, magnets with dipolar interactions etc.' (Apostolov et al, April, 2007).

Essentially all of Davies' book is concerned with the idealizations and so most of the paradoxes he describes are not real and he has not updated the debate since Boltzman from the early 20th century. His analysis of the 'twin paradox' from Einstein's early relativity of the same era is also dated (even though his book is a century later!). This paradox about the twins each measuring each other's clocks with telescopes appearing slower to the other when one takes a fast spaceship into space and yet one returning younger is readily dismissed by Davies as the effect of the traveller's acceleration, is in fact not fully accepted. For instance S. Kak's recent article succinctly describes the actual situation:

"There exist many different 'resolutions' to the paradox [which] are not in consonance with each other. The slowing down of all clocks and processes - including atomic vibrations - on the travelling twin cannot be laid on the periods of accleration and turning around during the journey, since they can, in principle, be made as small as one desires... Einstein's own 'resolution' in 1918 (13 years after Davies says he reolved it!) which was an attempt to counter the criticism related to the paradox until that time, used the gravitational time dilation of the theory of general relativity to explain the asymmetrical time dilation of the travelling twin. This explanation is generally considered wrong and is different from the other 'resolutions...In this article we present a new principle for the identification of inertial frames in a matter-filled universe [assumed away in the other idealizations!] that allows us to easily resolve the twins paradox. The principle implies that the identification of a frame as being inertial depends on whether the universe has spatial isotropy with respect to it. This is equivalent to determining the motion of objects against the background of distant stars."

One might describe this solution as 'Machian', whose central principle was that a particle's mass was determined by all of the other particles in the universe. There has been some evolution of this (Mach's general) theory which has gained some popularity and some authors have shown how it can be adapted to conform to any gravitational theory including Einstein's relativity. There are also some good books on this subject for sale on Amazon.

So once again when one does away with the idealizations and enters some reality into the models one can resolve many of the so-called paradoxes.

Will CERN 2007 render this book obsolete?.......2007-03-26

After eight years in the waiting the CERN Hadron collider is set to resume testing in 2007. In so doing it will -- according to noted physicist Ed Witten -- have an opportunity to test some of the more gross predictions of cosmic string theory and in so doing perhaps re write notions of space and time itself.

That being said, Professor Davies book is up to his usually high standards of scholarship and communication in discussing that most pivtol of topics: time.

From recounting speculations of ancient philosophers such as Augustine to telling the modern story of how we are better understanding time to his own speculations, Davies does a wonderful job of briefly recounting the material and making it accessible to the layman.

Well worth reading, but definately keep your eyes peeled for events at CERN.

Ok, But Not the Best.......2005-12-30

About Time discusses twentieth century developments in theoretical physics and their impact on our notion of time. Davies is a well known and prolific Australian science writer. I offer the following thoughts for potential readers.

Aimed at the general reader the book does not require a detailed knowledge of physics or mathematics. In light of the counter intuitive nature of modern theoretical physics, however, the uninitiated reader may require a little effort to get the gist of this intriguing but esoteric topic. Given the broad scope of material addressed in the text the time spent on each issue is relatively limited.

I concur with previous reviewers that the book is generally quite readable - Davies' technique of using a hypothetical skeptic as a means to highlight certain issues may strike some as awkward (that was my impression). From an overall stylistic perspective, however, Davies has improved significantly from his earlier efforts and become a solid writer.

The author does a nice job of discussing relativity and some of its implications. For instance, his handling of the twins paradox is among the best I have come across. I agree with Davies that there is solid empirical evidence to support time dilation - his transition from this to a tenseless view of time, however, seems premature - or at least insufficiently argued. Indeed, many of Davies assumptions regarding the nature of time, though interesting, will likely not be convincing to those who do not hold his narrow verificationist view of knowledge.

I found the latter part of the book that discusses highly speculative issues such as time travel to be of limited value. At this point much of the thought in this area, though wonderful to ponder, is largely unstructured and untestable - more science fiction than science. Probably the two biggest challenges facing About Time, however, is it dating (a lot has happened in the interim) and the increased competition in this genre of writing.

Overall, it is not a bad book. There are, however, better options available to readers interested in this subject matter - Greene, Singh and Ferris are authors worth looking at.

An Excellent Introduction for the Intelligent Layman.......2005-08-19

This is a remarkable book because it covers a broad range of subject matter - relativity, time warps, black holes, the Big Bang, quantum theory, imaginary time, time travel - effortlessly and understandably. It serves as an excellent stand-alone introduction to these subjects or as a first step for readers who are planning to go on to read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" or Kip Thorne's "Black Holes and Time Warps."

The author, a Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at the University of Adelaide in Australia, has the ability to explain these complex subjects intelligibly and enjoyably (his abilities in this regard are similar to those of Richard Feynman). Any reasonably intelligent reader should have little trouble following his exposition.

The only potential problem is that the book was written in 1994, and has not since been updated to reflect the (major) developments of the last decade but most of them build upon the foundations described here, so that it less of a problem that it might seem.

Follow-on reading suggestions:

* "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.

* "Black Holes and Time Warps" by Kip Thorne.

Davies has done better, but this is good........2005-02-23

This is the sixth of Davies's books that I've read, and eight chapters in I fully expected to be rating it at five stars. A few chapters later, I was thinking more along the lines of three. First the good stuff:
What Einstein did to our understanding of time has been discussed in many or Davies' books, but not as extensively as it is here. It is unlikely that the concept of time dilation can be explained any more simply and directly than it is when the author relates how the decay of a muon, a short-lived particle which functions as an "atomic clock", is dramatically slowed when in a high-energy state (i.e., moving near the speed of light as the result of so-called cosmic rays colliding with near-Earth particles, or energized in a particle accelerator). We might say that time is thus "stretched" in a way that is rather easily measured. As the world at large is indeed populated with such a variety of energy states and curved gravitational fields, of "clocks" running at different speeds, it is not difficult to understand time in terms of a 'foam' or 'froth' of quantum space-times. "Now" is relative. So far, so good, professor Davies, in fact very good.
The sketch of Einstein's life and work is interesting enough and appropriately brief; so is the treatment of the significance of the kind of "thought experiment" which was central to his work. When Davies states, "Science is based on the assumption that the world is rational, and that human reasoning reflects, albeit in a somewhat shaky way, an underlying order in nature," he presages what will (in my opinion), a few chapters later, prove to be the undermining of the first two hundred pages by the last eighty (my hardcover edition is 285 pages). Okay, now for the not-so-good stuff:
Beginning in chapter nine, in which the author treats the second law of thermodynamics, it seems that science fiction is as much in order as hard physics (I permit myself to believe there is such a thing). Having earlier used the famous "twins paradox" to discuss time dilation, Davies reprises twins Ann and Betty in chapter ten, but now they are employing tachyon beams to violate special relativity (and receive messages before they are sent). The obvious problem is that the tachyon signals are 'sent' and 'received' by subluminal observers. This, on its face, is crazy, much crazier that the usual descriptions involving observers beyond the horizon of a black hole, for example (sure, they would be gravitationally obliterated but their theoretical observations themselves constitute a valid thought experiment, well, sort of). As Davies has already told us, tachyons (superluminal particles that probably don't exist) must have a minimum speed limit, Einstein's relativity does not exclude them so long as they are --always-- faster than the speed of light. The cosmic speed limit cannot be transgressed in either direction. If tachyons are to be employed by subluminal observers, they must either be a pure fiction or else special relativity is wrong! I know of no evidence that special relativity is wrong, and no credible evidence that tachyons exist. So how useful is such a thought experiment? Well, we might say that Davies is only trying to construct an illustration -- indeed he is -- but it's a rather silly one, and I suspect he might agree.
Davies often tries to present all competing ideas as if he somehow finds all of them to be alternately compelling (or all uncompelling?). Obviously, he's a bright guy, he knows he must be talking nonsense part of the time. Eventually he offers his own judgment: ". . . at the end of the day I am forced to agree with Eddington and Penrose that we are missing something important from the physics of time and our perception thereof." (p276)
If chapters 9-13 should start to drive you nuts, you might consider leaping to the summary questionings in chapter fourteen. Sci-fi aficionados will want to read the discussions of time-travel in chapter eleven (nothing startling here for readers conversant in the topic).
Three stars? Four? Five? Well, the treatment is thorough enough (perhaps too thorough on some points), and some fuzzy [counterintuitive] concepts are lucidly explained. This is neither Davies' best or worst effort, but closer to the former.

About Time - Einstein's Unfinished Revolution

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About Time - Einstein's Unfinished Revolution
Paul Davies
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QRRTXI

About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution.: An article from: American Scientist

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About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution.: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction (Ruyijun zhuan), a short work of fiction from the early sixteenth century, tells the story of the Tang Dynasty's notorious Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It is famous not for the history it relates, but for its graphic sexual descriptions--the first ever in a Chinese novel--purportedly given from a woman's point of view. For the next century, most works that include explicit sexual descriptions refer to the Ruyijun zhuan or employ some of its vocabulary.

Despite its renown and unmistakable influence on later writing, the origins and significance of the Ruyijun zhuan have never been explored, in any language, and until now it has never been translated. Its date of composition is unknown, its author unidentified. One of its earliest appraisals, written by a contemporary scholar known for his conservatism, maintains that the Ruyijun zhuan is a moral work notwithstanding its sexual content. Combining a complete translation with a detailed and far-ranging study of the text, The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica places this important cultural document into historical context and offers possibilities on its possible meaning. Charles Stone's meticulous work reveals the Ruyijun zhuan's author to be a scholar of Tang history who employed a wide range of historical and classical allusions that serve as a surprisingly subtle commentary on the actions of central characters.

The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica is a scrupulously researched, critically sophisticated, and urbane work of scholarship that illuminates an important primary text and Chinese erotic writings in general.

Customer Reviews:

Scholarly, but still fun.......2006-03-07

I had very little idea what this book was about - a translation and commentary on the Ruyijun zhuan, plus whatever clue lies in the title. I got a lot more than I expected.

The central part of this book is the promised translation. The fiction in it turned out to be based loosely (maybe very loosely) on the historical life of emperor Wu Zitian. She was not only the one female emperor in China's history, according to the translator's notes, but an erratic, brutal, and debauched libertine. Some historians credit her excesses with the fall of the Tang empire. As a result, her brazen personal life made a good foundation for a sexually outrageous story. So did history's view of her, somewhat like Shakespeare's Richard III, as a character that could be vilified safely.

Despite its explicitness, Stone is careful to point out that this is not pornography in any meaningful sense. It contains many literate allusions to history and to the classic texts, unlike the mindless "organ recitals" before and after it. And, unlike those lesser works, its imagery is not centered on physicality brought to completion. Instead, there are odd interruptions in the story and wide variations in the level of descriptive detail.

Stone's commentary adds a lot to the reader's appreciation of this brief (45 page), bawdy story. He fills in the historical context that makes the Ruyijun zhuan make sense, and positions it with respect to later works that plagiarize heavily from it. He also addresses the mystery of its author, making a strong case for Huang Xun - a prim, proper, and otherwise unlikely functionary of the early/mid sixteenth century.

Stone's copious footnotes alternate between dry bibliographic references and insightful notes on historical context or untranslatable wordplay. His commentary, the large majority of the text, is generally lively and interesting. This book reads somewhat like a doctoral dissertation. If that's what it is, it's among the better written ones. It's also the best expression I've seen of an author having plain old fun in work that a lesser researcher would have rendered dry and dull.

//wiredweird

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