Download or read book The Mystery of Numbers written by Annemarie Schimmel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-04-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is the number seven lucky--even holy--in almost every culture? Why do we speak of the four corners of the earth? Why do cats have nine lives (except in Iran, where they have seven)? From literature to folklore to private superstitions, numbers play a conspicuous role in our daily lives. But in this fascinating book, Annemarie Schimmel shows that numbers have been filled with mystery and meaning since the earliest times, and across every society. In The Mystery of Numbers Annemarie Schimmel conducts an illuminating tour of the mysteries attributed to numbers over the centuries. She begins with an informative and often surprising introduction to the origins of number systems: pre-Roman Europeans, for example, may have had one based on twenty, not ten (as suggested by the English word "score" and the French word for 80, quatrevingt --four times twenty), while the Mayans had a system more sophisticated than our own. Schimmel also reveals how our fascination with numbers has led to a rich cross-fertilization of mathematical knowledge: "Arabic" numerals, for instance, were picked up by Europe from the Arabs, who had earlier adopted them from Indian sources ("Algorithm" and "algebra" are corruptions of the Arabic author and title names of a mathematical text prized in medieval Europe). But the heart of the book is an engrossing guide to the symbolism of numbers. Number symbolism, she shows, has deep roots in Western culture, from the philosophy of the Pythagoreans and Platonists, to the religious mysticism of the Cabala and the Islamic Brethren of Purity, to Kepler's belief that the laws of planetary motion should be mathematically elegant, to the unlucky thirteen. After exploring the sources of number symbolism, Schimmel examines individual numbers ranging from one to ten thousand, discussing the meanings they have had for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions, with examples from Indian, Chinese, and Native American cultures as well. Two, for instance, has widely been seen as a number of contradiction and polarity, a number of discord and antithesis. And six, according to ancient and neo-platonic thinking, is the most perfect number because it is both the sum and the product of its parts (1+2+3=6 and 1x2x3=6). Using examples ranging from the Bible to the Mayans to Shakespeare, she shows how numbers have been considered feminine and masculine, holy and evil, lucky and unlucky. A highly respected scholar of Islamic culture, Annemarie Schimmel draws on her vast knowledge to paint a rich, cross-cultural portrait of the many meanings of numbers. Engaging and accessible, her account uncovers the roots of a phenomenon we all feel every Friday the thirteenth.

Download or read book A Midwife s Tale written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-12-22 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • Drawing on the diaries of one woman in eighteenth-century Maine, "A truly talented historian unravels the fascinating life of a community that is so foreign, and yet so similar to our own" (The New York Times Book Review). Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine. On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society. At once lively and impeccably scholarly, A Midwife's Tale is a triumph of history on a human scale.

Download or read book Life in Tanganyika in the Fifties written by Godfrey Mwakikagile and published by New Africa Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life in Tanganyika in the 1950s and a look at race relations between whites and black Africans and others in this East African country are some of the subjects covered in the book. It's full of human interest stories, including the author's. Born and brought up in Tanganyika, the author writes from personal experience. He also got the chance to ask many ex-Tanganyikans a number of questions about life in Tanganyika in the fifties. Many of them were born and brought up in Tanganyika during the same period the author was. And many others went to Tanganyika as children but grew up there. The ex-Tanganyikans he contacted lived in different parts of the world including Tahiti, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the United States, the Middle East, and Russia among others. And they all had interesting stories to tell about life in Tanganyika in the fifties. The perspectives they provided, and the memories they shared with the author about their lives in Tanganyika, are some of the most interesting aspects of this book which focuses on one of the most important periods in the history of Africa. The book is a primary source of information on how life was then in Tanganyika during one of the most important decades in the history of the country just before independence.

Download or read book Distant Worlds written by Peter Bond and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-01-08 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book recounts the epic saga of how we as human beings have come to understand the Solar System. The story of our exploration of the heavens, Peter Bond reminds us, began thousands of years ago, with the naked-eye observations of the earliest scientists and philosophers. Over the centuries, as our knowledge and understanding inexorably broadened and deepened, we faltered many times, frequently labored under misconceptions, and faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles to understanding. Yet, despite overwhelming obstacles, a combination of determined observers, brilliant thinkers, courageous explorers, scientists and engineers has brought us, particularly over the last five decades, into a second great age of human discovery. At our present level of understanding, some fifty years into the Space Age, the sheer volume of images and other data being returned to us from space has only increased our appetite for more and more detailed information about the planets, moons, asteroids, and comets of the Solar System. Taking a much-needed overview of how we now understand these "distant worlds" in our cosmic neighborhood, Bond not only celebrates the extraordinary successes of planetary exploration, but reaffirms an important truth: For seekers of knowledge, there will always be more to explore. An astonishing saga of exploration... In this much-needed overview of "where we stand today," Peter Bond describes the achievements of the astronomers, space scientists, and engineers who have made the exploration of our Solar System possible. A clearly written and compelling account of the Space Age, the book includes: • Dramatic accounts of the daring, resourcefulness, and ferocious competitive zeal of renowned as well as almost-forgotten space pioneers. • Clear explanations of the precursors to modern astronomy, including how ancient natural philosophers and observers first took the measure of the heavens. • More than a hundred informative photographs, maps, simulated scenarios, and technical illustrations--many of them in full color. • Information-dense appendices on the physical properties of our Solar System, as well as a comprehensive list of 50 years of Solar System missions. Organized into twelve chapters focused on the objects of our exploration (the individual planets, our Moon, the asteroids and comets), Bond’s text shows how the great human enterprise of space exploration may on occasion have faltered or wandered off the path, but taken as a whole amounts to one of the great triumphs of human civilization.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Haunted Places written by Jeff Belanger and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring new listings and new information on existing haunts, thhis book offers supernatural tourists a guide to points of interest through the eyes of the world's leading ghost hunters.

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence written by Nigel West and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intelligence is now acknowledged as the hidden dimension to international diplomacy and national security. It is the hidden piece of the jigsaw puzzle of global relations that cements relationships, undermines alliances and topples tyrants, and after many decades of being deliberately overlooked or avoided, it is now regarded as a subject of legitimate study by academics and historians. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on espionage techniques, categories of agents, crucial operations spies, defectors, moles, double and triple agents, and the tradecraft they apply. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the international intelligence.

Download or read book You Told Me You Were Different written by Kitty Robinson and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-04 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This consciousness-raising anthology discusses mistreatment & abuse within the queer and transgender community.

Download or read book Butler s Big Dance written by Susan S. Neville and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-22 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The electrifying story of the undefeated Butler Bulldogs as their run for the NCAA National Championships became a national phenomenon.

Download or read book Pacific Presences written by Lucie Carreau and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of thousands of works of art and artefacts from many parts of the Pacific are dispersed across European museums. They range from seemingly quotidian things such as fish-hooks and baskets to great sculptures of divinities, architectural forms and canoes. These collections constitute a remarkable resource for understanding history and society across Oceania, cross-cultural encounters since the voyages of Captain Cook, and the colonial transformations that have taken place since. They are also collections of profound importance for Islanders today, who have varied responses to their disp.

Download or read book Liberte written by Gretchen V. Angelo and published by Orange Grove Texts Plus. This book was released on 2009-09-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberte is a French language textbook for first-year college students. Please note that an instructor guide is included as a downloadable attachment.

Download or read book The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader written by J.P. Telotte and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2008-05-02 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A richly detailed and critically penetrating overview . . . from the plucky adventures of Captain Video to the postmodern paradoxes of The X-Files and Lost.” —Rob Latham, coeditor of Science Fiction Studies Exploring such hits as The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost, among others, The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader illuminates the history, narrative approaches, and themes of the genre. The book discusses science fiction television from its early years, when shows attempted to recreate the allure of science fiction cinema, to its current status as a sophisticated genre with a popularity all its own. J. P. Telotte has assembled a wide-ranging volume rich in theoretical scholarship yet fully accessible to science fiction fans. The book supplies readers with valuable historical context, analyses of essential science fiction series, and an understanding of the key issues in science fiction television.

Download or read book Biological Transmutation written by George Ohsawa and published by George Ohsawa Macrobiotic. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Ohsawa's translation and interpretation of Kervran's theory of biological transmutation, in which elements can transmute to other elements in the biological body.

Download or read book Kanji Mnemonics written by Robert P. Bodnaryk and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bank Probationary Officers Management Trainees Common Written Exam written by T.S. Jain and published by Upkar Prakashan. This book was released on 2007 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Jay DeFeo and The Rose written by Jay DeFeo and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-11-13 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rarely has an artist been so closely associated with a single work as is Jay DeFeo with her painting "The Rose". In this major study of "The Rose" in particular and of Jay DeFeo in general, 11 art and cultural historians and writers unfold the story of the creation and rescue of her masterpiece.

Download or read book Brunel s Ships written by Denis Griffiths and published by Chatham Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Isambard Kingdom Brunel created a number of quite revolutionary steamships - the Great Western which was the first practical transatlantic paddle-steamer; the Great Britain, the first iron-built screw-driven liner; and the monster Great Eastern which remained the largest ship in the world for almost half a century. Besides these well-known wonders of the maritime world, Brunel also worked with the Admiralty on the introduction of the screw propeller into naval service.

Download or read book Second Sight written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The human eye is only capable of detecting a miniscule percentage of the electromagnetic spectrum; we call this visible light. It is this limited perception that has defined our very reality as a species. Second Sight is the story of a brilliant young scientist who develops the nano-technology to cure blindness. He could never have prepared for the betrayal and intrigue that befell him, nor could he have foreseen the hidden agendas that lay waiting in the shadows. Michael Rose's synchronistic journey into the realms of possibility would not only leave him questioning his own sanity, but the very nature of existence itself. Neither he nor his nefarious benefactors stopped to ask: if this nano-technology could enhance the function of the human eye, what else would it see?