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12 books match the query 'Contributions'

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Africa and the Disciplines

The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities

Edited by Robert H. Bates, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Jean F. O'Barr

University of Chicago Press, 1993

African Studies, contrary to some accounts, is not a separate continent in the world of American higher education. Its intellectual borders touch those of economics, literature, history, philosophy, and art; its history is the story of the world, both ancient and modern. This is the clear conclusion of Africa and the Disciplines, a book that addresses the question: Why should Africa be studied in the American university?

This question was put to distinguished scholars in the social sciences and humanities, prominent Africanists who are also leaders in their various disciplines. Their responses make a strong and enlightening case for the importance of research on Africa to the academy.

Paul Collier's essay, for example, shows how studies of African economies have clarified our understanding of the small open economies, and contributed to the theory of repressed inflation and to a number of areas in microeconomics as well. Art historian Suzanne Blier uses the terms and concepts that her discipline has applied to Africa to analyze the habits of mind and social practice of her own field. Christopher L. Miller describes the confounding and enriching impact of Africa on European and American literary theory. Political scientist Richard Sklar outlines Africa's contributions to the study of political modernization, pluralism, and rational choice. These essays, together with others from scholars in history, anthropology, philosophy, and comparative literature, attest to the influence of African research throughout the curriculum.

For many, knowledge from Africa seems distant and exotic. These powerful essays suggest the contrary: that such knowledge has shaped the way in which scholars in various disciplines understand their worlds. Eloquent testimony to Africa's necessary place in the mainstream of American education, this book should alter the academy's understanding of the significance of African research, its definition of core and periphery in human knowledge.

"These essays are at once exceptionally thoughtful and remarkably comprehensive. Not only do they offer an unusually interesting overview of African studies; they are also striking for the depth and freshness of their insights. This is the sort of volume from which both seasoned regional experts and students stand to learn an enormous amount."—John Comaroff, University of Chicago

"These essays provide an important perspective on the evolution of African studies and offer insights into what Africa can mean for the different humanistic and social science disciplines. Many show in ingenious and subtle ways the enormous potential that the study of Africa has for confounding the main tenets of established fields. One could only hope that the strictures expressed here would be taken to heart in the scholarly world."—Robert L. Tignor, Princeton University

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Contributions from the Museum of Geology

Containing Papers Published between July 10, 1924, and August 3, 1927

Edited by Eugene S. McCartney

University of Michigan Press, 1928

This volume features a collection of papers originally published between July 10, 1924, and August 3, 1927, and edited by Eugene S. McCartney. Most, but not all, of the contributors were members of the faculties or graduates of the University of Michigan who published on their findings while examining fossils and rock formations. Many of the articles discuss findings from the state of Michigan, including “Occurrence of the Collingwood Formation in Michigan.”

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Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology

Containing Papers Published between July 31, 1936, and July 1, 1939

Edited by Eugene S. McCartney

University of Michigan Press, 1939

Containing papers published between July 31, 1936, and July 1, 1939, edited by Eugene S. McCartney and published by the University of Michigan Press in 1939, is a comprehensive compilation of influential paleontological research. Among the notable articles included are E. C. Case's study on a nothosaur from the Triassic of Wyoming, Chester A. Arnold's multi-part observations on fossil plants from the Devonian of Eastern North America, and K. G. Brill's description of Productella waynensis, a new brachiopod from the New Providence Shale of Kentucky. The volume also features detailed examinations such as Chester A. Arnold's work on some fossil species of Mavonia from Oregon, E. C. Case's analysis of a specimen of Stylemys nebrascensis showing the bones of the feet and limbs, and Andrew H. McNair's study on cryptostomatous bryozoa from the Middle Devonian Traverse Group of Michigan. Helen Duncan contributes with her research on trepostomatous bryozoa from the Traverse Group of Michigan, and John A. Wilson describes a new species of dog from the Miocene of Colorado. This collection is an invaluable resource for paleontologists and researchers dedicated to the study of fossil plants and animals, providing detailed descriptions and insights into ancient life forms and their geological contexts.

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Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology

Containing Papers Published between November 10, 1928, and April 9, 1932

Edited by Eugene S. McCartney

University of Michigan Press, 1932

Containing papers published between November 10, 1928, and April 9, 1932, features significant paleontological research. Edited by Eugene S. McCartney and published by the University of Michigan Press in 1932, this volume includes groundbreaking contributions such as E. C. Case's study on indications of a cotylosaur and a new form of fish from the Triassic beds of Texas, Aldred S. Warthin Jr.'s research on fossil fishes from the Triassic of Texas, and the collaborative work of Laurence M. Gould, Aug. F. Foerste, and Russell C. Hussey on the geology of Foxe Land, Baffin Island. Other notable entries include Russell C. Hussey's examination of cystoids from the Trenton Rocks of Michigan, E. C. Case's detailed description of the skeleton of Ostodolepis brevispinatus, and Aug. F. Foerste's studies on the color patterns of fossil cephalopods and brachiopods, as well as additional notes on nephritic erina. E. C. Case also provides insights into the lower jaw of Brachysuchus megalodon, arthrodiran remains from the Devonian of Michigan, limb movement patterns in phytosaurs, and the description of a new species of Buettneria. Chester A. Arnold discusses Calamites newberryi, while Charles F. Deiss offers a description and stratigraphic correlation of the Fenestellidae from the Devonian of Michigan. This volume is an invaluable resource for paleontologists and researchers interested in furthering their understanding of fossil organisms and geological history.

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Contributions to Michigan Archaeology

James E. Fitting, John R. Halsey and H. Martin Wobst

University of Michigan Press, 1968

Three Michigan archaeological sites are covered in this report: the Spring Creek site, in Muskegon County; the Springwells Mound Group, in Wayne County; and the Butterfield site, near Lake Huron in Bay County, Michigan.

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Contributions to the History of Science

Part I. Robert of Chester's Latin Translation of the Algebra of Al-Khowarizmi

With an introduction, critical notes, and an English version by Louis Charles Karpinski

University of Michigan Press, 1915

Focusing on a history of science and mathematics, this title is an English translation of a Latin text that describes the mathematical ideas of Al-Khowarizmi, an Arabic mathematician. At the time of its original publication, the author attempted to use newer phrasing to make this text more readable to the contemporary mathematics student.

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Contributions to the History of Science

Part II. Prodromus of Nicolaus Steno's Dissertation Concerning a Solid Enclosed by Process of Nature within a Solid

An English version with an introduction and explanatory notes by John Garrett Winter

University of Michigan Press, 1916

This English translation of The Prodromus of Nicholaus Steno’s Dissertation is unique in that it includes an introduction and explanatory notes by John Garrett Winter and a foreword by William H. Hobbs. The introduction presents information on Steno’s life and writings, as well as a bibliography of the Prodromus. In his foreword, Hobbs advises readers to “remember that the essay was written near the middle of the seventeenth century, when scientific observation was hardly thought of.” Steno’s description of scientific observation is pioneering for his time and should appeal to those interested in the natural sciences. This volume is a publication of the University of Michigan Humanistic Series.

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Explaining Christian Origins and Early Judaism

Contributions from Cognitive and Social Science

Petri Luomanen

SBL Press, 2016

Now in paperback!

Cognitive science of religion is a radically new paradigm in the study of religion. Historians of religion have shown increasing interest in this approach. The book is in four parts: an introduction to cognitive and social-scientific approaches, applications of cognitive science, applications of conceptual blending theory, and applications of socio-cognitive analyses.

Features:

Paperback format of an essential Brill resource
Essays that combine cognitive analysis with historical and social-scientific approaches to biblical materials, Christian origins, and early Judaism
Research for historians of religion, biblical scholars, and those working in the cognitive science of religion.

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Father Benito Viñes

The 19th-Century Life and Contributions of a Cuban Hurricane Observer and Scientist

Luis E. Ramos Guadalupe

American Meteorological Society, 2014

Before Doppler radar and broadcast weather reports, Spanish-born Benito Viñes (1837–1893) spent decades observing the skies at Belen Observatory in colonial Cuba, routinely issuing weather reports and forecasts to local newspapers. And before storm trackers and emergency alerts, Viñes made it his mission to teach the public what he was learning about the weather. He developed the first network of weather observation stations in the Caribbean, and his research laid the groundwork for the hurricane warning systems we use today. His sometimes eerily accurate hurricane forecasts helped save many lives—earning him the nickname “the Hurricane Priest.”

Father Benito Viñes is a fascinating look at the life of a man who worked on the cutting edge of weather science while still remaining devoted to his religious life. It explores Viñes as both pioneer in the study of tropical meteorology and a colonial Jesuit priest. With notes that put his life into modern context, this book puts a much deserved spotlight on a figure who played a crucial role in making our lives safer.

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Labor in State-Socialist Europe, 1945–1989

Contributions to a History of Work

Marsha Siefert

Central European University Press, 2020

Labor regimes under communism in East-Central Europe were complex, shifting, and ambiguous. This collection of sixteen essays offers new conceptual and empirical ways to understand their history from the end of World War II to 1989, and to think about how their experiences relate to debates about labor history, both European and global.

The authors reconsider the history of state socialism by re-examining the policies and problems of communist regimes and recovering the voices of the workers who built them. The contributors look at work and workers in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. They explore the often contentious relationship between politics and labor policy, dealing with diverse topics including workers’ safety and risks; labor rights and protests; working women’s politics and professions; migrant workers and social welfare; attempts to control workers’ behavior and stem unemployment; and cases of incomplete, compromised, or even abandoned processes of proletarianization. Workers are presented as active agents in resisting and supporting changes in labor policies, in choosing allegiances, and in defining the very nature of work.

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