Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History

Book Description

Encompassing a broad range of history -- from the Greek and Roman eras to the Salem witch trials and the Dust Bowl of the early 20th century, leading scholars from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain analyze history with the tools of GIS. Through the use of modern GIS technology the past is revealed in new ways, in re-creating Civil War battlefields, by bringing ancient landscapes back to life, and in re-examining long-held assumptions about historical events. Combining a deep appreciation of the strengths of traditional history with the technology of GIS, this book provides a new perspective for historical researchers and GIS experts.

Customer Reviews:

fascinating application of GIS to understand history.......2007-04-06

In contrast with some other books on GIS applications (e.g., 'Transportation GIS: Includes 12 Case Studies' also available at Amazon), this one illustrates how GIS combined with other fields of knowledge can really be powerful. It does this by applying GIS techniques to real data, and by providing the kind of output that only GIS can give. It doesn't waste space telling you where to click, it doesn't have any screenshots. It does tell you the hardware and software used, but only in a paragraph at the end of each chapter. The main focus is on the information being studiee, and the knowledge and understanding that came from analysing in a location-aware manner.

There's a case study of immigration patterns in Manhattan in the twentieth century, showing how they varied not only through space, but also through time. You can literally see (in the maps developed by the authors) how immigrants self-segregated into different ethnic neighbourhoods, and how the nature of those neighbourhoods evolved over time. You can also see how the construction of the rail/subway system acted as a pressure-release valve on the population of Manhattan, allowing people to move out to the other boroughs, with corresponding drop in the population density on the island.

There's an analysis of the Salem witch trials, in which not only are the locations of the accusers and accused shown in geographic relation to each other, but by overlaying other kinds of information, a strong case is made that the trials were possibly more the by-product of inter-family feuds in an era of social turmoil, than of mere hysteria among young girls.

There are several other studies, each one rich in data overlays, and interesting in its own way. I'm no historian, and quite new to GIS, but to my mind, this is exciting stuff! It's given me lots of ideas.

Maps are getting better and better.......2007-02-11

I love maps. I like this book. Apply todays computational and search power to geograpy, overlay societal and census data and a new dimension in understanding our place in time is revealed. This book could not have been written 10 years ago. Each chapter and study would have been a volume of work, maybe a lifetime, to compile the story within the place over time.

The 4 stars is temporal. If the collection was assembled 25 years ago, it would have been monumental. The future of maps as multilayered informational tools and entertainment is going to be amazing if this collection is any indication.

The book is pretty and very interesting. Well worth the investment.

Book Description

A payment system encompasses a set of instruments and means generally acceptable in making payments; the institutional and organizational framework governing such payments, including prudential regulation; and the operating procedures and communications network used to initiate and transmit payment information from payer to payee and to settle payments. This book identifies main policy and strategic issues in payment system reform, describes the structure of payment systems in selected countries, highlights areas of consensus, and suggests the direction for future policy analysis.

Book Description

Post-transcriptional events are increasingly recognized as important sites of regulation of gene expression in eukaryotic cells and so RNA processing has rapidly become an area of intense research activity. These two volumes give detailed practical guidance on all the major aspects of this subject. Step-by-step practical protocols from leading laboratories are presented for studies of the termination and end-processing, capping, methylation, splicing, and editing of mRNA as well as studies of mRNA stability and processing of rRNA and tRNA. The reader is led through all the key steps required for a successful experimental investigation. This includes full descriptions of the synthesis and purification of RNA substrates for in vitro work, the characterization of specific RNAs, and the isolation and analysis of ribonucleoprotein complexes. RNA processing - A Practical Approach, Volumes I and II, are invaluable laboratory companions for researchers working on mRNA, rRNA, or tRNA gene expression. Their lucid explanatory style and comprehensive coverage of all the key techniques for analysing RNA processing will be welcomed by both experienced researchers and

RNA Processing: A Practical Approach, Volume II

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RNA Processing: A Practical Approach, Volume II
S. J. And B. D. Hames (editors) Higgins
Manufacturer: IRL Press at Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBDFVS

Book Description

Here is a state-of-the-art reference and information source for scientists, community groups and their leaders, resource managers, and ecosystem management practitioners. Healthy ecosystems and community well-being go hand in hand, and the interdependence between the two is the focal point of community-based ecosystem management. The information you'll find in Understanding Community-Based Forest Ecosystem Management will be invaluable in your effort to manage and maintain the ecosystems in your community. Understanding Community-Based Forest Ecosystem Management examines the emergence of community-based ecosystem management (CBEM) in the United States. This comprehensive book blends diverse perspectives, enabling you to draw on the experience and expertise of forest-based practitioners, researchers, and leaders in community-based efforts in the ecosystem management situations that you deal with in your community.

Book Description

On the CR Ranch, Old Maude gives birth to a calf. This genetic anomaly, named Charles by the rancher's wife, soon develops the unmistakable look and disposition of an aurochs, the ancestor of all modern-day cattle. Such odd-looking young bulls are usually fattened for slaughter, but the fate that decreed Charles's birth had other plans.

Maude and her calf flee into the Colorado mountains, sharing the high-country pastures with a herd of wild elk. Hunters intrude on the idyllic meadow, and encountering Charles affects one of them profoundly: great changes await Smitty, who's stuck in a soured marriage and a meaningless job, and dreaming of a better life. Smitty's search for love moves us to reflect on the true meaning of hope, the passions that drive us, and the barriers we place between ourselves and our desires.

Customer Reviews:

An inspired and intuitively humorous tale of a genetically flawed calf and his mother.......2006-04-04

Charles The Throwback by Ted Own is an inspired and intuitively humorous tale of a genetically flawed calf and his mother as their escape from slaughter brings them far greater adventure then expected. Engaging readers with such a unique and catching storytelling style, Charles The Throwback introduces the reader to the thought process of a cow and the very same everyday tediums which humans and cows alike endure. Charles The Throwback is recommended to all general fiction readers, particularly those enjoy farming related stories.

Book Description

An unforgettable personal retracing of one of the most extraordinary expeditions of all time, when two great ancient civilizations, and two great armies, clashed.

The year is 403 B.C. The Athenian philosopher Xenophon finds himself with an army of Greeks marching to what is now Turkey. Their mission: to aid the Persian pretender Cyrus in a war against his brother Artaxerxes. At a great battle, Cyrus is killed and his army destroyed-except for the Greeks holding his right flank. Xenophon and the Greeks are now stranded in the heart of the Persian Empire, outnumbered a hundred to one.

The story of Xenophon's march to escape the Persian noose is an intensely personal and human tale, replete with clashes of arms and desperate hardships. It is also the tale of two civilizations at mortal odds with each other. With their turbulent mix of anarchy and democracy, Xenophon's men resembled a mobile Greek city, cutting both a military and a cultural slash through the Persian Empire. Though Xenophon's journey would end badly, his experience in the East would prove invaluable for those who followed, for sixty years later, the Greeks would return to Persia-under Alexander. John Prevas brings this epoch-shaping story to life with a compelling narrative vivified by his personal retracing of much of the route trod by Xenophon and his men in one of history's great adventures.

Customer Reviews:

Intro to Xenophon.......2006-04-03

Coming from a place of little to no understanding of this period in history, I found this book exactly what I needed to spark my interest to explore further into Greek history. It was an exciting read and difficult to put down. Prevas did well to capture the motion of the story and keep the reader on track with the movement of the troops and how Xenophon reacted to various situation. I also thought the description of the geography and local cultures were fascinating. For a novice like myself I thought it was a great read, both informative and exciting.

Adventure at Its Best.......2006-01-20

I enjoyed this book. Prevas's elaboration on Xenophon's history is highly readable. The book's narrative flows well and adds some drama. This book is well worth a look for anyone interested in classical or military history, but it is not academic. The volume has a good index and a significant bibliography but no notes. There is a chronology at the beginning of the text that is a useful tool to set the historical stage, especially if one is unfamiliar with ancient history. Prevas also includes several black and white photographs that lend a visual perspective of the ground the Greeks covered, a map describing their route and some borrowed illustrations that unfortunately depict Greek hoplite infantry from roughly 100 years earlier than the described events.

In his introduction, Prevas says that the march of the 10,000 (there were actually over 14,000 Greek mercenaries in the attempted coup by Cyrus the Younger) is "one of the greatest adventures ever told." I think he is right. The story of the 10,000 is a history lesson packed with political, social and cultural implications, and in that sense, it is a saga that demands to be retold and reread over and over again. This should be a high school text, but the West gave up on classical history in high school long ago.

The "Ten Thousand".......2003-08-18

I must confess that my knowledge of classical Greek history is rather weak, so I was very pleased to purchase this book. The author takes Xenophon's "Anabasis" and tells the interested reader about the famed "March of the Ten Thousand" through the Persian Empire and the Anatolian area. It's quite an interesting work, and although at times the author puts out facts that don't really appear to be accurate, he is merely letting us know what Xenophon wrote those many centuries ago. As with all ancient Greek histories, there are extended speeches that were probably never made, but the author does explain that in his afterward, to my satisfaction. Brush up on your Greek history, and read this work.

Retelling the Anabasis.......2003-04-20

An incredible narrative that entertains those who read it. Retelling the Anabasis with great talent and thorough research. Recommended for those who have not read Xenophon in the original Greek.

Enjoyable Read.......2003-03-03

Xenophon's March: Into the Lair of the Persian Lion by John Prevas was a very enjoyable read about a splendid corner of history. At the end of the fifth century B.C. an army of fourteen thousand Greek mercenaries joined an army of a usurper to the Persian Throne. When the usurper was killed and his army almost destroyed, the Greeks were trapped more than a thousand miles from their homeland and outnumbered almost a hundred to one. To make matters worse, their leader, and most of their captains, had been murdered and they were without significant cavalry.

If any were able to return to Greece that would have been remarkable. The fact that more than half returned is beyond description. However, the way in which it occurred is even more amazing. The Army that marched through the heart of Persia was not one led by a strong, experienced leader who had a firm control of a Army. The Greeks were led by an inexperienced commander, and the major decisions were made by the army as a whole, and only after a thorough public discourse. After the decisions were made, the soldiers would take issue with the leaders and punish those leaders, who in the view of the soldiers, had not acted properly. One can hardly imagine the American Army voting on tactics or the future of its leasers.

The book is a very cursory overview of the "March of the Ten Thousand." At times Prevas seems to move between a travel log and a history. With these limitations, the book is well worth reading. It is well written, and tells a remarkable story. However, if one wants a more thorough history I would suggest Xenophon own writings.

Average customer rating:
Xenophon's March into the Lair of the Persian Lion (1st Edition).
John Prevas
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSONGK

Average customer rating:

Encyclopedic

Great book, but very overpriced

Flagellation & the Flagellants: A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
William M. Cooper
Manufacturer: Fredonia Books (NL)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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Shades of Singapore: Sister Sarah Balfour's Memoirs of Judicial Caning in South Africa, Vol. I

ASIN: 1589632680

Book Description

The line between pain and pleasure is as thin as the tail of a whip, and this classic work is the definitive history of flagellation through the ages. As it shows, flagellation is much more than a punishment - it is also intimately tied to discipline and eroticism, has a romantic and even comic side, and has also been used for medical purposes. No one is above the bite of the birch or rod - convent nuns were chastised severely, queens have been flogged, and even favorites of the sultan have had to endure the whip in the great seraglios. The author deals in great detail with whipping in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the favorite parts of the body for whipping, flagellation and discipline in monasteries and convents, whipping in prisons, the rod in Russia, flagellation in America, whipping in Europe and the Far East, the flogging of slaves, military flogging, school punishments, and the birch in the boudoir, all enlivened with colorful anecdotes. There is a chapter on the instruments of whipping, a selection of ribald and erotic poems on whipping, a section on eccentric forms of whipping such as that practiced on prostitutes, many detailed line drawings, descriptive accounts, and a full index. The work shows the fundamental place whipping has always played in human history, both publicly and in private, and continues to play today.

The late Reverend William M. Cooper was an expert on the history of flagellation and discipline.

Customer Reviews:

Encyclopedic.......2007-05-07

William M. Cooper is a master of his subject. This book is a toprate work of history, albeit on a narrow aspect of history, corporal punishment. The book lives up to its ambition of giving an account of the history of corporal punishment i all parts of the world, from ancient times up to the 19th century, when the book was written.

Great book, but very overpriced.......2003-06-08

This book is a classic on the subject of corporal punishment. It was published somewhere in the 19th century, and there have been several reprints in the 20th century. This edition is a facsimile reprint of the (original ?) 19th century edition. The editorial review gives a good description of the contents, and since it is a classic, there is really no point in making a review on the contents. If you are interested in the subject, this is one of the very few books you can buy. Since it was written in a period that corporal punishment was very normal, the contents did not suffer under Political Correct censorship. Although it is a well produced high quality book, the price of $... is a bit very steep. Unless you can buy it for considerably lower price (like I did) I would advice you to buy another edition of the same book. There is a much cheaper soft cover version from another publisher.

Flagellation & the Flagellants : A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time

Average customer rating:

Flagellation & the Flagellants : A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
Rev. Wm. M. Cooper
Manufacturer: William Reeves
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M8WP9E

Flagellation & the Flagellants. A history of the rod in all countries, from the earliest period to the present time. By the Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B. A. [pseud.]

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Flagellation & the Flagellants. A history of the rod in all countries, from the earliest period to the present time. By the Rev. Wm. M. Cooper, B. A. [pseud.]
James Glass (1824-1892). Rev. Wm. M. Cooper Bertram
Manufacturer: London; William Reeves
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HDQ072

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Flagellation & the Flagellants: A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
W.m M. Cooper
Manufacturer: Reeves
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IG1ABY

Flagellation and the Flagellants. A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. A New Edition, Revised and Corrected

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Flagellation and the Flagellants. A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. A New Edition, Revised and Corrected
Rev. Wm. M Cooper
Manufacturer: William Reeves
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J36XL8

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Flagellation & the flagellants: A history of the rod in all countries from the earliest period to the present time
James Glass Bertram
Manufacturer: Hotten
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000865WMM

Average customer rating:

Flagellation and the flagellants: A history of the rod in all countries from the earliest period to the present time

Average customer rating:

Flagellation and the flagellants: A history of the rod in all countries from the earliest period to the present time
James Glass Bertram
Manufacturer: W. Reeves
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008BMOHI

Book Description

From the vernacular engineering of Latino car design to environmental analysis among rural women to the production of indigenous herbal cures—groups outside the centers of scientific power persistently defy the notion that they are merely passive recipients of technological products and scientific knowledge. This is the first study of how such "outsiders" reinvent consumer products—often in ways that embody critique, resistance, or outright revolt.

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Green Fields Forever: The Conservation Tillage Revolution in America
Charles E Little
Manufacturer: Island Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 9998797314

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