Relocating Your Workplace

Book Description

A guide to facility relocation.

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International Political Economy: State-Market Relations in a Changing Global Order.......2007-03-19

Gives a comprehensive analysis and critique of various approaches to IPE what makes the book most interesting however, is the different authors' contributions.

International Political Economy: State-Market Relations in the Changing Global Order

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International Political Economy: State-Market Relations in the Changing Global Order

Manufacturer: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1555875858

Book Description

Knowing wetlands law is important for your company. Knowing how the courts interpret the law is essential for your planning, investment, and bottom line. Dissecting 72 key cases, Wetlands Regulation provides a unique, up-to-date examination of the original intent of wetlands law, court interpretations, and lessons the regulated community and attorneys can learn from these court decisions.

Customer Reviews:

Worth it!.......2004-07-11

This is an excellent guide to wetlands law. Its a comprehensive collection of cases that is a tremendous help when preparing any environmental case. Ms. Fowler has clearly done thorough research and created a master law book.

Book Description

This volume addresses chemical interactions between insects and plants, such as feeding and ovipositional attractants and deterrents. It begins with a general introduction to insects in a chemical world. Included is a discussion of molecular biology and genetics in insect control, with respect to potentially inserting the genes for the synthesis of a protective substance into a crop plant. Also covered is the detoxification of plant substances by insects. This volume is especially helpful for chemists and biologists in the field of pesticide research.

Customer Reviews:

I Sea.......2007-05-23

This little book is a true treasure. I can not recommend it more highly. I read this book in a few hours sitting seaside on Sea Island, Georgia, and must have received a different version then a previous commentator. As is replete in scripture, God loves all things and loathes nothing that he made and preserves all to show his love, so that we may love, by his love.
In response to the comment above regarding references to Tao and other religious/spiritual concepts, remember that Catholics must not be afraid to recognize the truth that exists in all things good and that, although it might not be recognized, it is a fruit of Christ.

Waves Crashes.......2007-05-04

I am usually a big fan of Dr. Peter Kreeft, yet this book not only left me flat, it left me baffled at why Kreeft would even write it. Dr. Kreeft is a professor of Philosophy at Boston College and is the author of nearly 60 books. Being a fan, I have read many of them, and this is the first to leave a sour taste in my mouth, or should I say a sour thought in my mind.

It is well known that Kreeft, even at his age, is an avid surfer. In fact it has been said he takes some speaking engagements just for the opportunity to surf. It was strange reading a 70-year-old man talking about the sea having orgasms and the sea as mother and child. For a man who has built a career as a Christian apologist, as a convert to Catholicism who defends the faith, this book reads as if he spent too many days in the sun at the beach and has embraced a naturalistic religion or 'spirituality' of nature not fitting with his body of previous work.

The advance promotions I encountered about this book made it sound like a mystical journey with Peter Kreeft, and to be honest that sounded really cool. However it ended up being a series of ramblings that tried to appeal to everyone. Kreeft uses terms like 'Orenda', an Iroquois term, or 'Toa', then the 'Sea as Koan', The 'Third Eye' and others. What do these terms have to do with the sea or Christianity?

It should be noted that Kreeft, for all his writing production, has published only one article in a peer-reviewed journal. "Zen In Heidegger's 'Gelassenheit'" was published in 1971 in the International Philosophical Quarterly, the philosophy journal published by Fordham University. So maybe all the hype and popularity of him as an author is not all that warranted.

This book reads like a personal indulgence into ramblings of an old man, and though many will criticize me for my critique of Kreeft, I cannot recommend this book to you in good conscience.

(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-04 as 'Hate It' in the 'Love it / Hate It' Book review column.)

A Return To Sanity.......2007-01-22

If I were to attempt to summarize this book in one word, it would be simple; not simple as in the way you may assume, but simple as in sublime, pure, and true. This is a work of love, as well as learning. The author, a well known teacher of philosophy, takes us past the conventional and into a world of traditional thought; what you may call the Judeo-Christian world view. Dr. Kreeft turns us to a world view based on signs and symbols instead of measurements and systems. A healthy philosophy of life drawn from a perspective of humble, simple, silent meditation and faith.
As is often the case with this author, his vast learning is presented in digestible, logical morsels. This is truly a Chestertonian work, drawing inspiration from Dr. Kreeft's sense of wonder and gratitude.
The most important theme of the work is the author's use of the Sea as a metaphor for God, man and Heaven. He proposes that we view the cosmos through the action of the Sea and waves. In the spirit of C. S. Lewis, he asks the reader to look not at the Sea, but along the waves and into the deep for understanding; as an icon, not an idol. A symbol of the journey of our inner spirit on the voyage of existence to the ultimate safe harbor, Heaven.
If you wish to purify yourself of the spiritual and intellectual pollution of post-modernism and learn how to think again, this book would not be a bad place to start. Open the book, open your mind, and start your journey.
Well done Dr. Kreeft.

Profound, mysterious, and fantastic.......2006-08-31

I am a seminary student (Protestant) who owns sixteen books of Dr. Kreeft's. This is his latest, and one of his shortest. It is also the least philosophical and most mystical. It is very different from his other books, but I would bet that it is the book closest to his heart.

My life has been radically enhanced, enriched, and beautified by Dr. Kreeft's books and audio lectures (found on www.peterkreeft.com). He writes and lives to make Christ real, beautiful, and transforming. You will meet Christ as you read Kreeft...if you seek to.

As a lover of the sea, I looked forward to this book immensely. I was not disappointed. Do not argue with this book, eat it. Drink it. Feel it. It is absolutely Christian, but not western/American/Evangelical. If you haven't read any of his other books, this might not be a good start (such as Love Divine, or Making Sense out of Suffering). It is not what you would hear in Littletown, USA, First Baptist...

This book is primarily focused on the question (or riddle) of the sea, and why she wields such power over us. Why do humans love H2O with a little NaCl? Is the ocean more than matter? Does she have a spirit? Spirit? He is convincing and at the same time simple.

If you are embarrassed by a seventy year old man writing about a hurricane being a sort of oceanic orgasm, again, this might not be your book. But if you are willing to listen to the author's survey of his own personal attempt to "solve" (or live) the riddle of the sea (hint: it's about music), you will be that much richer for the effort

Highly recommended!

Customer Reviews:

Physics For You.......2003-01-15

I am a UK Physics Teacher... a rare breed! I promote this book to my students along the liones that they will be guaranteed a good pass at GCSE regardless of ability. Special interest should be taken in completing question 1 of each chapter; this ensures u understand the chapter contents. The manner in which the book is written is easy to read and is accurate well above 90% of the time. It provokes a lot of interest and can be used fro 11 to 16 years of age which for the money is a good 4 to 5 year investment.

Amazon.com

It would be impossible to compile a complete survey of gay male literature; the very looseness of the definition of "gay" (not to mention the wealth of possible material) would overwhelm the project. Despite that, Byrne R.S. Fone has fashioned a useful, intelligent, and amazingly functional volume that traces gay male themes from classical antiquity to the present day.

Drawing on a variety of traditions and cultures--from ancient Greece to modern Egypt, from the Hebrew Bible to the Russian revolutionary Sergei Esenin--Fone has reprinted not only significant texts, but has also supplied readable, intelligent introductions that illuminate the subject. Most of the material here, apart from a short section on Latin American and Cuban writing, is steeped in a Western European tradition; the book nevertheless conjures a good case for a gay sensibility--or rather a series of sensibilities--that amazes, alarms, and endures. --Michael Bronski

Book Description

-- CHOICE

In the three decades since New York City's Stonewall rebellion, gay literature has exploded as a distinctive form of cultural expression. In a variety of styles and genres, gay men have increasingly begun to articulate their sexual identities. At the same time, gay writers and scholars have begun in earnest the search for a literary history long denied by the refusal to recognize homosexual love as an integral part of Western literature. Yet to date, no single volume has brought together the full range of poetry, fiction, essays, and autobiography that portray love between men.

From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the poems of Allen Ginsberg and gay literature of the 1980s and '90s, The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature draws together hundreds of texts from Western literary history that describe experiences of love, friendship, intimacy, desire, and sex among men. While other anthologies have focused primarily on poetry, drama, or fiction, this volume is the first to include a full range of genres. Spanning more than two millennia, from ancient Mesopotamia to the late twentieth century, this anthology brings together the best-known texts of gay male writing such as the poetry of Martial and Walt Whitman, and excerpts from E. M. Forster's Maurice, as well as from lesser known works such as nineteenth-century English homoerotic poetry and selections from two early American novels of homosexual love -- Joseph and His Friend and Imre.

In The Columbia Anthology readers become acquainted with the early bonds of male companionship found in Homer's writings on Zeus and Ganymede, and with the homoerotic poetry of Catullus and Juvenal. From Shakespeare's Sonnets to the philosophy of de Sade, to the political writings of Edmund White, this masterful anthology traces a multifaceted tradition.

Arranged chronologically, sections are supplemented by illuminating introductory essays; many individual pieces include background commentary on the writer and the work.

As a landmark to the enduring spirit of gay writers, this collection is an essential addition to the library of anyone searching for the historical foundations of gay identities. With its excellent annotations and suggestions for further reading, The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature will also serve as an invaluable resource to students and scholars in need of a guide to a massive body of literature that has long been hidden, ignored, or misrepresented.

Customer Reviews:

Something for Everyone.......2007-01-01

Fone, Byrne R.S. editor. "The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature".
Columbia University Press, 1988.

Something for Everyone

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

In a single volume we have a taste of gay literature, from Ovid to the present day. In other words, "The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature" has a smattering of everything written by us and about us. It is a great book for the beginner and a wonderful resource for all of us. In includes poetry, drama, non fiction prose, essays, biography. It has articles on love, on friendship, on intimacy and desire and on man-man sex.
This is one book that will never bore you and it includes many items not usually included in the canon of gay literature. Even those of us that read gay literature on a regular basis will find some surprises here. Exclusively male, it covers the entire span of literature, every genre, every major gay author is included and the selections were chosen with care and obviously love and respect. It's a hefty volume at close to a thousand pages and a bargain at the price of about $30.
Dr. Bryne R.S. Fone has don e an admirable job in assembling this book and he has reason to be proud. He, himself, is no stranger to gay literature being professor emeritus of English literature at City College of New York.
Organized chronologically it not only presents the literature but it interprets it as well. Divided into sections, there is an introduction at the beginning which explains how the selections fit into the scope of gay history and culture. It is extensive and adequately covers the entire gay writing experience and I found it so interesting that no matter the age or the language, we have always loved and that love has always been expressed in the literature of the period.
This was no easy task, assembling a book like this but the selections have been meticulously chosen and assembled in a way that the book flows from period to period, from selection to selection. Beginning with part one "Inventing Eros" we get a chance to see how men loved in ancient times. The texts come from such places as Mesopotamia, the Old Testament and quite naturally from Greece and Rome. Moving forward we learn of sodomy as depicted in ancient texts in the section entitled. "Inventing Sodom". From romantic friendship between men to more serious affairs of the heart, we get insight about the nature of masculine desire. Moving along the chronological timeline, we cross the spectrum of time dealing with Europe and Asia and enter the brave new world of America and not an author nor an era is left untouched and not included.
This is a monumental work and it is a tribute to men writing about men and should be part of every gay man's personal library.
I thought I would spend a little time telling you about the modern age but I am not discounting what came before. After all, there would be no modern age of literature, it there had not been those writing prior to it.
In the section entitled "Out There; American Literature from 1969', the selections are included in sections such as "Becoming Gay" and include "Questions" and "Answers" but also "Celebrations". "Politics", "Grieving" and "Surviving" with selections from authors such as Andrew Holleran, James Baldwin, and Edmund White--names familiar to Literary Pride members.
What a wonderful and welcome addition we have with this incredible book. I am so glad to have it and whenever I want to read something about us, I can just pick it up and find something of relevance. That is a blessing in itself.

recommendable book.......2000-04-26

This is a readable and interesting book not only for westerner but also for us Japanese. However I would like to read much more on Greek and Latin literatures. And next time more comprehensive volume including Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Persian and Arabic anthologies I hope to read.

In addition, the editor didn't understand the Greek language well, since he erroneously thought that " Amores " of Lucianos(p.23-24) is different work from " Affairs of the Heart " of (Pseudo)Lucianos(p.49-).

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The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature
Editor-Byrne R. S. Fone
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQ0YQU

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The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature

Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NPDVMG

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History as Literature

Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume II (9th Edition)
John A. Garraty
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0321102118

Customer Reviews:

History as Literature.......2004-10-23

These articles were selected from "American Heritage" to provide in-depth details missing from general history books. They do not teach 'official history', so expect to have your assumptions challenged by fresh points of view. Good history should be enjoyed like good literature. The two dozen articles can't be easily summarized.

David Hapgood's article on Henry George explains the origin of the "Single Tax", and how this theory evolved from observed facts. Richard Hofstadter's essay seems like advocacy, not history, and is not as good as the surrounding articles. Thurman Arnold's article on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act points out the twin evils of concentrated economic power: high prices due to a lack of competition, and the destruction of local businesses and draining away of local capital. John Garraty reconsiders William Jennings Bryan as a progressive Democrat and a Fundamentalist Christian. John Scott's article on Jane Addams tells how a charity can gain popular support, and then use this for political purposes. Robert Gallagher's interview with Alice Paul explains the need for a federal amendment rather than using state referenda. William Leuchtenburg doesn't tell what bankers, merchants, and manufacturers wanted with the Spanish colonies in the Pacific. Corporate controlled newspapers created "American gullibility about foreign affairs" (p.209). Harold Larrabee tells of the American opposition to imperialism (p.219).

Thomas Bailey lists Woodrow Wilson's skill as a rhetorician ("the war to end wars"). His "Fourteen Points" was a masterpiece of propaganda. Colonel T. N. Dupuy says "the U.S. government, its senior leaders, and its commanders in Hawaii had had sufficient information to be adequately warned that an attack was possible, and had had time to be prepared to thwart or to blunt the blow" (p.235). Charles Mee Jr. provides a nicely balanced interpretation of the Cold War. This continued WWII prosperity built upon deficit spending. Page 269 explains why the use of atomic bombs was not necessary. John K. Galbraith analyzes the causes of the Great Depression after the prosperity of the 1920s. One cause was the bubble in corporate investments, a pyramid of holding companies. The stock market boomed as securities would greatly increase in value even if they never paid a dividend! David Rothman explains how low wages and periodic unemployment created poverty among wage-earners. David Bennett tells of the Townsend Plan and its flawed "value added" sales tax that would have hurt workers. Allan Nevins considers FDR's place in history. His greatness was a product of his situation (p.317); FDR used other men's thoughts (p.318).

Richard Wade analyzes "The American City", and the progress from 1900 to 1970 (p.331). Corruption in the cities reflected a diverse and non-egalitarian society, different from small towns. Suburbs grew from railroads and then automobiles; but they are no more self-sufficient than the cities (p.339). Larry King writes about LBJ and the failure of Vietnam. Was LBJ in control or being controlled (pp.353-5)? John Brooks tries to describe the broad trends of American society and the change in traditional attitudes and values. He makes many assumptions (pp.376-7). Ray Billington's essay indulges in question-begging. His anecdotes are interesting, but lack facts. The 'Epilogue' by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. reminds us of the pessimism of the Founding Fathers (p.392). They feared that the Republic would end a failure due to "commerce, luxury, and avarice". The quote from Woodrow Wilson is funny (p.397). JFK said "there cannot be an American solution to every world problem" (p.399)

Historical Viewpoints Vol 2 since 1865. Notable articles from American Heritage

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Historical Viewpoints Vol 2 since 1865. Notable articles from American Heritage
John Arthur Garraty
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060423013

HISTORICAL VIEWPOINTS NOTABLE ARTICLES FROM AMERICAN HERITAGE

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HISTORICAL VIEWPOINTS NOTABLE ARTICLES FROM AMERICAN HERITAGE

Manufacturer: Harper & Row
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H2OIR2

Historical Viewpoints Volume Two: Since 1865 Notable Articles from American Heritage the Magazine of History

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Historical Viewpoints Volume Two: Since 1865 Notable Articles from American Heritage the Magazine of History
John A. Garraty
Manufacturer: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000L1Q9L2

Historical Viewpoints, Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume 2 Since 1865

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Historical Viewpoints, Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume 2 Since 1865
John A. Garraty
Manufacturer: Harpercollins Publishers
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S8333U

Historical Viewpoints, Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume Two, Since 1865

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Historical Viewpoints, Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume Two, Since 1865
John A., Ed. Garraty
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
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ASIN: B000OEPRRS

Historical Viewpoints, Volume Two - Since 1865 - Notable Articles From American Heritage

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Historical Viewpoints, Volume Two - Since 1865 - Notable Articles From American Heritage
John A. - Editor Garraty
Manufacturer: American Heritage Publishing
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Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, Since 1865

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Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, Since 1865

Manufacturer: Harpercollins College Div
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ASIN: 0060422815

Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, to 1877

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Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, to 1877

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ASIN: 0060422807

Historical viewpoints; notable articles from American heritage,: The magazine of history

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Historical viewpoints; notable articles from American heritage,: The magazine of history
John Arthur Garraty
Manufacturer: American Heritage Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

'The seven christians stood together in the bright sunlight, bound with ropes singing a hyme to their foreign saviour as the spearmen advanced. Around them a croud of jostling men, women and children, more than sixty thousand strong...cheered enthusiastically as the spears were driven home and, one by one, the men and women fell and writhed on the sandy ground, their hymn fading slowly into silence...above the still writhing bodies, on a ridge, a score of crosses stood in mute witness, carrying their ghastly burdens, some of whom still lived despite the day and a half they had hung upon the wood.

As European colonists scrambled for control of Africa, a leader arose in the red island of Madagascar who, through ruthless determination thwarted the combined ambitions of all the major world powers. That leader and the author of this holocaust was no warrior but a diminutive woman of middle years, Ranavalona-Manjaka Queen of Madagascar, know to her subjects more simply as Ma Dieu. Under Ranavalona's despotic rule, hundreds of thousands of her people, possibly one-half of Madagascar's entire population, were murdered, starved or simply worked to death by her express command, while she enjoyed an eccentric and debauched lifestyle. For these characteristics, European history has remembered her reign as that of the Female Caligula.

Customer Reviews:

A biased author on Queen Ravalona .......2007-09-24

The author has given himself a luxury of attacking African and Asian cultures by ridiculing and demonizing their ancient rulers. History writing has no formulas like in science for this author to make us believe everything he is saying. There is absolutely an involvement of his beliefs and what he likes. This kind of arrogance can lead to what happened to a movie maker in Netherlands after he attacked the Arab culture. Queen Ranavalona has done what any other ruler would do when besieged by foreign cultural and economical invasion. In addition to the African Queen Caligula he also wrote a book about a Chinese Caligula. It seems to me that he is unhappy with people who have resisted European evangelization. Maybe he needs to write another book with the title of a Japanese Caligula because of the following:

In 1596, it became clear to the Japanese authorities that Christianization had been a prelude to Spanish conquest of other lands; and it quickly dawned on them that a fifth column loyal to Rome and controlled by the priests of a foreign religion was a clear and present danger to the sovereignty of a newly unified Japan. Soon after, the persecution and suppression of Japanese Christians began. Early in the 17th century, sensing the danger from a creed that taught obedience to foreign priests rather than the Japanese authorities, all missionaries were ordered to leave and all Japanese were ordered to register at the Buddhist temples. When Japanese Christians took part in a rebellion, foreign priests were executed, the Spanish were expelled and Japanese Christians were forbidden to travel abroad. After another rebellion, largely by Christians, was put down, the Japanese Christians were suppressed and their descendants were put under close state surveillance for centuries thereafter. In the 1640s all Japanese suspected of being Christians were ruthlessly exterminated. Thus did Japan, by 1650, save itself from the first European attempt to mentally subvert, conquer and colonize it.

Eurocentric and Misleadingly Exaggerated Sensationalism.......2007-07-28

This might make for an entertaining read but please don't allow yourself to believe the author's claim that the tale he tells is entirely true. By selective inclusion of information, mainly stemming from 19th century Europeans (or locals favorable to them), Laidler has cobbled together an incredibly skewed and sensationalistic book that does an excellent job of reviving the hackneyed "Western civilization" vs "Savage" stereotype. Bravo.
Ranavalona's methods were extreme but she reigned in a time of unprecedentedly threatening change, in a land where the preservation of traditions is central to the spirituality and identity of the entire nation. There are plenty of scholars of Madagascar who have interpreted her actions as those of a leader doing what she felt was her duty to protect the nation from spiritual, mental and political domination, and given that the nation was subsequently colonized by France after her reign had ended, she obviously wasn't imagining the danger. In this light, her relationship with Laborde makes a lot more sense.
Disappointing.

Wild story - reality beats fantasy.......2007-06-07

Ranavalona is a character that needs to be understood and appreciated in our modern world. She is an example of what the friction between a world of aboriginal tribal life and our "civilized" society can produce. And the story is just wild. She is a character that is so out of this world that nobody would come up with her in a fictional novel.

One hell of a read.

A bloodthirsty Queen.......2006-01-24

Admirers of George Macdonald Fraser's 'Flashman' saga will already be acquainted with the terrifying Queen Ranavalona of Madgascar, who appears in 'Flashman's lady' If you do not already know of her be warned, her story is not for the squeamish.

Ranavalona was one of the wives of King Radama, 'the Malagasay Napoleon'. On his death in 1828 she seized the throne and held onto it for the next 33 years. During her bloody reign at least a third of the population of Madagascar is estimated to have died on her orders, either executed or worked to death as forced labour. Criminals, traitors (real or imaginary) and anyone she happened to take a dislike to, were put to death by gruesome means. She had a particular loathing for Christians, who were persecuted with great savagery.

Despite her hatred of foreign influence, she formed a surprising alliance with a young French merchant, Jean Laborde, who was shipwrecked on the west coast of Madagascar in 1831. She found she could make use of him to manufacture cannon, muskets and gunpowder, and he appears to have been useful to her in other ways too, since he was rumoured to be the father of her only son.

Despite her hatred of foreigners, she was fascinated by all things Euroepan, and she and her courtiers dressed in a bizarre mixture of French fashions of various periods. She discovered a passion for fale flowers, which Laborde manufactured for her, and which she and her ladies wore in such quantities that one account described them as 'floral porcupines'.

Despite all her cruelties and excesses, she seems to have been able to inspire great awe and reverence in her subjects, one of the lavish ceremonies she performed was the Queen's Bath, which she took in public, afterwards sprinking the adoring crowds with her used bath water, a great honour.

A coup engineered against her in 1857 involved Laborde and other foreigners, including the indomitable lady traveller Ida Pfeiffer, who was visiting the island at the time and was drawn into the conspiracy. The coup was a failure, but the foreigners escaped with their lives, being banished from the island.

It is evident that, in spite of her great cruelty and brutality, Keith Laidler does not altogether disapprove of Queen Ranavalona. He writes of her: Unlike many other African and Asian kingdoms, while Ranavalona held power Madgascar had successfully defied all attempts at colonisation. The island had remained an independent state despite the best efforts of both Britain, and, especially, France, to bring it under European sway. For all her manifold faults, the Female Caligula had fulfilled the sacred promise she had made more than three decades before, standing proudly on the sacred coronation stone as the young and beautiful Queen of Imerina:
"Never say 'she is only a feeble and ignorant woman, how can she rule such a vast empire.' I will rule here, to the good fortune of my people and the glory of my name! I will worship no gods but those of my ancestors. the ocean shall be the boundary of my realm and I will not cede the thickness of one hair of my realm!"

Whether it was really to the 'good fortune' of her people is doubtful, presumably the third or more of the population who perished on her orders might think not, but nevertheless it is true that she held onto her kingdom, and as Mr Laidler says "she had extended her domains and, against the colonial current of the times, had kept the island free from foreign influence". This all came to an end with her death, within anothe thirty years Madgascar was a French colony.

This is a fascinating story about an appalling but intriguing woman.

Caligula Hembra / Female Caligula: Ranavalona, La Reina Loca de Madagascar/ Ranavalona, the Mad Queen of Madagascar

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Caligula Hembra / Female Caligula: Ranavalona, La Reina Loca de Madagascar/ Ranavalona, the Mad Queen of Madagascar
Keith Laidler
Manufacturer: Editorial Diana Sa
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

We've all heard that chimpanzees are our closest relatives - that, in fact, they share 98% of their genes with us. But what evidence supports these often-repeated commonplaces? Very little, concludes physical anthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz. In his keenly insightful demolition of conventional wisdom on the family relationships between apes and humans, Schwartz provides a fresh examination of fossil evidence, modern anatomy and physiology, and DNA. He argues that it is not chimpanzees or other African apes that are humankind's closest cousins, but Asian orangutans. The result is a compelling challenge to what we think we know about the origins of humans, and about the pursuit of science. In this thoroughly revised edition of The Red Ape, Schwartz analyzes the myriad fossil discoveries made since the publication of the first edition. He reveals the embarrassing fact that orangutan and human teeth are so similar that they have commonly been misidentified for each other in the fossil record, even by experts. New material provocatively addresses whether molecules (DNA) are more reliable than fossils and anatomy in assessing evolutionary relationships. Numerous new plates and drawings illustrate the text.

Customer Reviews:

Update to a earlier edition.......2007-09-04

I read the earlier edition of this book, and have now read the update. The author's premise is that morphology (anatomical similarity) links people and orangutans, despite genetic and molecular studies that say that chimps (and, more specifically, bonobos) are our closest relatives. What to make of this? The most likely answer is that we are most closely related to bonobos and chimps, but Schwartz's arguments cannot be dismissed without consideration. The morphology is certainly relevant, and the question is how it competes with the molecular evidence.

To argue Schwartz' point from a slightly different perspective, all genetic and molecular measures of relatedness are really tests of hypotheses against data. When you test hypotheses against data it is possible that none, one, or more than one hypothesis is consistent with the data. This is often lost in a claim that one hypothesis is the best match to the data. The best match needn't be the only hypothesis consistent with the data, and the difference between the best and the second (or third, or ...) best match need not be statistically significant. Further, the result can depend on the assumptions made.

Suppose, for example, that a rigorous, molecular, test of relatedness between creatures says there is a 50% chance that critter a is the closest relative, a 30% chance that critter b is, a 15% chance that critter c is, and a 5% chance that some other critter is. The best bet would be on critter a, but there would only be even odds that that was the correct answer. If other evidence not considered in the statistics supported critter b, that should be a serious consideration.

Schwartz objects that the approach taken in most studies is tainted because the molecular comparisons tend to assume that the orang is a more distant relative, and set up the molecular tests based on that assumption. He argues that molecular tests should be done with an assumption of an old world monkey as a known ancestor, and all ape/human relationships uncertain. To do otherwise biases the results against a orang-human link.

A molecular survey done with a wider range of options, and a morphological overlay on that, might result in an answer different than the accepted story. The odds are currently against it, but the theory deserves fair consideration. Schwartz's argument is not trivial or silly. It is a serious argument of the sort that forces science to answer the right, hard questions before accepting a particular theory as likely to be true. The most likely result is vindication of the prevailing (chimp-human) theory. But there is still the possibility of an upset!

And that's why I'm a scientist ...

Great fun - and what if he's right?.......2006-06-17

This is a tremendously thrilling, rewarding book to read. This book will make you think.

We are told that chimpanzees are our closest relatives. We are not usually shown how the software that 'keeps confirming' this conclusion sometimes generates alternative trees that split the great apes in three: the chimps, the gorillas, and then a particularly bright and flexible clade that split into humans and orangutans. These alternate interpretations are 'obviously wrong', so the researcher finds the 'wrong assumptions' that can be changed to make it come out right, with chimps and humans side by side.

But when you look at the morphology, feature by feature humans and orangs either share some aspect that chimps and gorillas don't, or we're both the 'most derived' members of the great apes. Fossil hominid teeth and skulls and fossil orang teeth and skulls are similar enough that many fossils now labeled as fossil orang were once labeled as fossil hominid.

Humans and orangs are the only great apes that grow long body hair, albeit in different places.

Gorillas and chimpanzees are obligate knuckle walkers. That means that they have a system of tendons and bone shapes that snaps the heavily callused knuckle to the ground when they walk on all fours (as they usually do). Gorillas and chimpanzees are born with knuckles predisposed to callus.

Humans and orangutans show no trace of this complex adaptation. We are not born with incipient calluses, we do not have tendons that snap our hands into a fist when we stretch.

Schwartz argues that if we weren't talking about human relatives, any trained morphologist would say it's us and orangs over here, and knuckle walkers over there.

The Red Ape: Orang-Utans and Human Origins

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The Red Ape: Orang-Utans and Human Origins
Jeffrey H. Schwartz
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

THE RED APE: ORANGUTANS AND HUMAN ORIGINS
Jeffrey H. Schwartz
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WQU2GY

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