Fossils, far from being mere dry bones, provide the key to understanding the stuff of history: past climates, evolution, and extinction. In this lively introduction, Richard Fortey offers an engaging and lucid explanation of how fossils are a product of our endlessly evolving habitat. The story begins with the Precambrian era, more than 600 million years ago. As Fortey traces the history of life from the dawn of the Precambrian to the present, he paints a vivid picture of the emergence of the plants and animals that we would recognize today. Unlike so many works on fossils that focus on dinosaurs, this book covers a broad range of animals and plants and does justice to the numerical superiority of invertebrate fossils.

The scope of the book is wide, including not only a history of paleontology but a review of those parts of general geology that are needed to appreciate the wealth of information contained in the fossil record: stratigraphy, measurements of paleotemperatures and radiometric ages, turbidites, reefs, sandstones, and so on. But the main emphasis of the book is on what paleontology is really about, how the paleontologist tries to figure out the ways in which fossil animals lived, and how geological processes such as plate tectonics have interacted with the history of life.

Fossils attempts to survey the contemporary paleontological scene in order to communicate the excitement of investigating the past. A primary goal of the book is to inspire and instruct the amateur fossil collector; hence, the specimens illustrated—many of which are presented in full color—are ones that are not too difficult for the amateur to collect. To aid the neophyte, the author has appended notes on the occurrence, significance, and preparation of each specimen. Of particular interest to the amateur are the discussions on how to collect fossils and on the economic and practical importance of fossils and their enclosing sediments. In striking a perfect balance between detail and generalization, Richard Fortey has written a book that will appeal to amateur and professional alike.

Despite the long and distinguished history of health services research in the United States, this unparalleled work is the first comprehensive account of what health services research aims to do and what the research has actually accomplished. Specially commissioned essays by a roster of leading scholars offer an incisive look at the current potential of the field.

The recovery of the ideas and experiences of William Manning is a major event in the history of the American Revolutionary era. A farmer, foot soldier, and political philosopher, Manning was a powerful democratic voice of the common American in a turbulent age. The public crises of the infant republic—beginning with the Battle of Concord—shaped his thinking, and his writings reveal a sinewy mind grappling with some of the weightiest issues of the nation’s founding. His most notable contribution was the first known plan for a national political association of laboring men. That plan, and Manning’s broader conclusions, open up a new vista on the popular origins of American democracy and the invention of American politics.

Until now, only a few specialists have referred to any of Manning’s writings—though always with some wonderment at his sophistication—and his place as a pioneering and exemplary American democrat has been largely unacknowledged. In this new and complete presentation of his works, the often arid debates over “republicanism” and “liberalism” in early America come to life in vivid human detail. The early growth of democratic impulses among quite ordinary people—impulses that defy orthodox categories, yet come closer to describing the ferment that led to the repeated political conflicts of the late eighteenth century—is here visible and felt. The Key of Liberty allows us a fuller understanding of the popular responses to the major political battles of the early republic, from Shays’ Rebellion through the election of Thomas Jefferson. It offers, better than any book yet published, a grassroots view of the rise of democratic opposition in the new nation. It sheds considerable light on the popular culture—literary, religious, and profane—of the epoch, with more exactness than previous histories, presenting a new interpretation of early American democracy that is bound to be controversial and much discussed.

The editors have written a lengthy and detailed introduction placing Manning and his writings in broad context. They have also modernized the text for easy use and have included full annotation, making this volume an authoritative contribution to the American Revolution and its aftermath.

Many people know the stories behind the tulip mania in the 17th century and the legacy of the Dutch East India Company, but what basic knowledge of Dutch history and culture should be passed on to future generations? A Key to Dutch History and its resulting overview of historical highlights, assembled by a number of specialists in consultation with the Dutch general public, provides a thought-provoking and timely answer. The democratic process behind the volume is reminiscent of the way in which the Netherlands has succeeded for centuries at collective craftsmanship, and says as much about the Netherlands as does the outcome of the opinions voiced.The Cultural Canon of the Netherlands consists of a list of fifty topics from Dutch culture and history, varying from the megalithic tombs in the province of Drenthe and Willem of Orange to the Dutch constitution and the vast natural gas field in the province of Groningen. These fifty topics act as a framework for understanding and even studying Dutch culture and history. The canon should lead to further understanding and deepening of our knowledge of our past and act as an inspirational source for pupils, students and the public at large.

The Pacific Ocean is the most expansive geographical feature on Earth. Included in its domain are thousands of atolls, smaller islands and, depending on how its boundaries are defined, several larger islands and island groups. Members of the grass family, Poaceae, are almost ubiquitous and are widespread across the Pacific. This detailed key enumerates 420 species of non-bambusoid grasses in 120 genera and provides a taxonomic reference for grasses growing throughout this region.

This “Key” to the Khamsa consists of thirteen essays by eminent scholars in the field of Persian Studies, each focusing on different aspects of the Khamsa, which is a collection of five long poems written by the Persian poet Nizami of Ganja. Nizami (1141-1209) lived and worked in Ganja in present-day Azerbaijan. He is widely recognized as one of the main poets of Medieval Persia, a towering figure who produced outstanding poetry, straddling mysticism, romances and epics. He has left his mark on the whole Persian-speaking world and countless younger poets in the area stretching from the Ottoman to the Mughal worlds (present-day Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India) have found him an inspiration and have tried to emulate him. His work has influenced such other immense poets as Hafez, Rumi, and Saadi. His five masnavis (long poems) address a variety of topics and disciplines and have all enjoyed enormous fame, as the countless surviving manuscripts of his work indicate. His heroes, Khosrow and Shirin, Leili and Majnun, Iskandar count amongst the stars of the Persian literary firmament and have become household names all over the Islamic world. The essays in the present volume constitute a significant development in the field of Nizami-studies, and on a more general level, of classical Persian literature. They focus on topics such as mysticism, art history, comparative literature, science, and philosophy. they show how classical Greek knowledge mingles in a unique manner with the Persian past and the Islamic culture in Nizami’s world. They reflect a high degree of engagement with the existing scholarship in the field, they revive and challenge traditional views on the poet and his work and are indispensable both for specialists in the field and for anyone interested in the movement of ideas in the Medieval world.

Victor Abbou is an invaluable witness to the period in France which is called the Deaf Awakening. His story is a treasure trove of archival material of that period, as he was one of the trailblazers in so many fields: actor, activist, trainer and teacher of future interpreters studying at the university. In doing all of this, he created bridges between two worlds, the world of the deaf and the world of the hearing, which were in close proximity but which were separated by a great chasm. Victor's story also shines a light on the key role played by several Americans who contributed significant sparks which ignited the French Deaf Awakening. This Franco-American connection in contemporary Deaf history is yet another bridge which Victor Abbou's story documents in great detail.

Published by Eyes Editions.
Includes links to two hours of video in International Sign.

Victor Abbou is an invaluable witness to the period in France which is called the Deaf Awakening. His story is a treasure trove of archival material of that period, as he was one of the trailblazers in so many fields: actor, activist, trainer and teacher of future interpreters studying at the university. In doing all of this, he created bridges between two worlds, the world of the deaf and the world of the hearing, which were in close proximity but which were separated by a great chasm. Victor's story also shines a light on the key role played by several Americans who contributed significant sparks which ignited the French Deaf Awakening. This Franco-American connection in contemporary Deaf history is yet another bridge which Victor Abbou's story documents in great detail.

Published by Eyes Editions.
Includes links to two hours of video in International Sign.

Father Ignacio Gordon, SJ, taught canon law (the Catholic Church’s law) from 1960 until 1985 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, with a concentration on procedural law, or the laws on trials. By all testimonies, he was outstanding for the clarity of his teaching, his humble affection for his students, his indefatigable and hidden service to the Apostolic See, and his priestly zeal. Notable among his endeavors was an educational initiative for the ongoing formation of judges and other ministers of justice in ecclesiastical tribunals. In his teaching, he stressed the ecclesial importance and supernatural implications of procedural law in general, and the indispensability of the judicial protection of marriage in particular. Special efforts were made to make procedural law understandable to his students and to canonists in general, at a time when the Church was celebrating and implementing the teachings of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, as a result of which her law was undergoing a major revision. Father Gordon taught from the consistent canonical tradition, while also laying bare the latest developments in law and jurisprudence. He taught the entirety of the law on trials, producing numerous scholarly works on questions both timeless and new, giving marked emphasis to the problem of the excessive length of trials and the causes of delayed justice. An area of his particular attention and dedication was the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura—of which he was a consultor (referendary and later votans)—including both its proper law and its history. This history displayed, in part, why that Tribunal was the natural one to function as the supreme administrative tribunal of the Church. Father Gordon’s contribution to the question of ecclesiastical administrative justice was among those leading the novel and dynamic discussion about it in the 1960s and 1970s.