The biblical tale of Noah and the Flood has been interpreted in many different ways through the ages, mirroring the many changes in Western beliefs and values. In this masterly and beautifully illustrated book, Norman Cohn, the author of The Pursuit of the Millennium and Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come, explores the origins, development, and varying interpretations of this ancient story and assesses its impact on the history of ideas. The roots of the Flood story, Cohn explains, lie in Mesopotamian mythology. But its meaning was totally transformed by the authors of Genesis so that it became a message of hope for Jews and later a prefiguring of salvation for Christians. Cohn then shows how, under the impact of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, the story came to be understood in a new way. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries it was closely associated with the development of scientific geology, which it both helped and hindered. From the late eighteenth century until the present day the story of Noah's Flood has been involved also in the conflict between traditional religious beliefs and science and the attempts to harmonize the two. Cohn describes how, while geological and palaeontological discoveries were calling the historicity of the Flood into question, fundamentalists have continued to champion it, even to the extent of searching for the landing site of the ark. Finally, he considers how, in the course of the present century, the story has been interpreted as a solar myth, a lunar myth, a fertility myth, and even (psychoanalytically) as an expression of male resentment against women. Wide ranging and compellingly narrated, the book includesintriguing accounts of the scholars and theologians who endorsed or rejected the Flood story and contributed to its powerful resonance over two thousand years.

Particle physicists explore the microworld of the atom; cosmologists study the universe on a large scale. This study follows the merger of these fields as the authors seek to define the “ theory of everything” . It describes the development of the current views of the nature of space, time, matter and fundamental forces, and explores what these views reveal about the formation of the universe. The text expands on some of the discoveries of 20th-century science, the explorations of inner space and outer space, and of the promises they hold for decoding beginnings, ends and the ultimate laws of nature.

ABNORMAL psychology, or the study of abnormal mental phenomena, is one of the late developments of scientific medicine. It is not a mere fad, as some of its critics would attempt to make us believe, neither has it sprung up like a mushroom, within a single night. Abnormal psychology is the outcome of the work of small groups of investigators in France, Germany, and America, within the last twenty- five years. Beginning with a study of the phenomena of hypnosis, these researches gradually developed into a series of brilliant psychological discoveries. The most important of these is the principle of dissociation or of N splitting of the mind. In a general way we speak of these matters as the theory of the subconscious. This theory has not only thrown an immense amount of light on the nature of human personality, but other peculiar phenomena, such as losses of memory or amnesia, automatic writing, crystal gazing, and such diseases as neurasthenia, hysteria, psychasthenia, have been stripped of the mystery which surrounded them for centuries. These phenomena, even more than the modern investigations on the ultimate nature of matter, form the "fairyland of science." Apart from any scientific knowledge, the general reader has a certain interest in these problems, either from curiosity or the light they shed upon human personality or perhaps from the mystery which seems to surround them.Abnormal psychology has also its practical aspects. Its discoveries have made possible the psychic treatment of certain functional nervous disorders. Technically, this is known as psychotherapeutics. The interpretation of these functional states is based on the principle of the dissociation of consciousness. But psychotherapeutics would be in a very chaotic condition and barren of results, were it not for abnormal psychology, for a scientific psychotherapeutics must be based upon a sound psychopathology.

In this philosophical exploration of creativity, Irving Singer describes the many different types of creativity and their varied manifestations within and across all the arts and sciences. Singer's approach is pluralistic rather than abstract or dogmatic. His reflections amplify recent discoveries in cognitive science and neurobiology by aligning them with the aesthetic, affective, and phenomenological framework of experience and behavior that characterizes the human quest for meaning. Creativity has long fascinated Singer, and in Modes of Creativity he carries forward investigations begun in earlier works. Marshaling a wealth of examples and anecdotes ranging from antiquity to the present, about persons as diverse as Albert Einstein and Sherlock Holmes, Singer describes the interactions of the creative and the imaginative, the inventive, the novel, and the original. He maintains that our preoccupation with creativity devolves from biological, psychological, and social bases of our material being; that creativity is not limited to any single aspect of human existence but rather inheres not only in art and the aesthetic but also in science, technology, moral practice, as well as ordinary daily experience.

In 1925, the 22-year-old Kenneth Clark (1903–1983) and the legendary art critic and historian Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) met in Italy. From that moment, they began a correspondence that lasted until Berenson's death at age 94. This book makes available, for the first time, the complete correspondence between two of the most influential figures in the 20th-century art world, and gives a new and unique insight into their lives and motivations. The letters are arranged into ten chronological sections, each accompanied by biographical details and providing the context for the events and personalities referred to. They were both talented letter writers: informative, spontaneous, humorous, gossipy, and in their frequent letters they exchanged news and views about art and politics, friends and family life, collectors, connoisseurship, discoveries, books read and written, and travel. Berenson advised Clark on his blossoming career, warning against the museum and commercial art worlds while encouraging his promise as a writer and interpreter of the arts. Above all, these letters trace the development of a deep and intimate friendship.

Basil Bernstein rarely had a good press in the forty-odd years in which he presented his developing theories to the public. Early admiration for his sociolinguistic 'discoveries' - of codes which regulate, at a deep-structural level, family beliefs and behaviours and relationships, as well as surface utterances - turned quite quickly into a suspicion that his description of social class difference amounted to a declaration of working class deficit. Although Bernstein's writings, particularly in the 1990s, became opaque to the point of seeming to be purposefully obscurantist, they have always been enlivened by clear, pithy and punchy statements which left no room for ambiguity about the case he was making. The struggle to achieve an education system which would offer genuinely equal opportunities to children from all class and cultural backgrounds continued to underpin the writing and teaching of his later years.

Alfred Bader's achievements—as the founder of one of the most important companies in its field in the world, as a collector and dealer in Old Master paintings, and as a legendary philanthropist—make for fascinating reading. This book begins where Alfred Bader's first autobiography, Adventures of a Chemist Collector, ended: with the boardroom coup in which he was dismissed from the chemical company he had built up from the ground. Bader now turns his enormous energy to Old Master paintings, in which he had become interested at a young age and in which he by now has the means to invest. The chapters that follow are roughly chronological, with some devoted to particularly meaningful paintings or groups of paintings, memorable auctions, mysteries, or discoveries relating to the artworks in the Bader Collection, while others are dedicated to friends, family, love, religion, charity, and, occasionally, chemistry.

This study of the invasion of compulsory sexual morality into human society, written in 1931, was Reich's first step in approaching the answer to the problem of human mass neuroses, preceding The Mass Psychology of Fascism and The Sexual Revolution. Growing out of Reich's involvement with the crucial question of the origin of sexual suppression, this attempt to explain historically the problem of sexual disturbances and neuroses draws upon the ethnological works of Morgan, Engels and, in particular, Bronislaw Malinowski, whose remarkable studies of the sexual life and customs of the primitive people of the Trobriand Islands confirmed Reich's clinical discoveries. Repudiating Freud's idea that sexual repression is an essential component of the development of human society, and rejecting Géza Roheim's anthropological efforts to substantiate it, he grasps the problem of the relationship of socio-economic living conditions and the formation of human character structure. Reich writes, "The organization of social life determines the quanitity and the quality of the equalization of tension and discharge in the psychic apparatus. If there is a lack of social possibilities for genital gratification...if the measure of unpleasurable stimuli is too great owing to distress and want, the psychic apparatus works with substitute mechanisms that seek to bring about some discharge at any cost. The results are neuroses, perversions, patholiogical changes of character, anti-social manifestations of genital life and, not least, work disturbances."

Providing a general approach to understanding the properties of molecules and crystals and their origins, the Jahn-Teller effect is a fascinating phenomena in modern physics and chemistry. Its effect inspired one of the most important recent scientific discoveries--the concept of high-temperature superconductivity. This comprehensive volume presents the background of the theory and its key applications in physics and chemistry, as well as more recent achievements.

"One day, a young man receives an unexpected letter from his grandmother, kicking off a literary adventure that brings home to him everything he has not seen. Once Upon Argentina relates the lives of the narrator's relatives-- a group of people from all over the world gathered in a land where immigrant traditions merge and thrive. The lives of these relatives intersect, like a set of Matryoshka dolls or a hall of mirrors, as the personal and social stories of twentieth century Argentina converge. Beyond these tales of hardship and triumph, Andres Neuman's novel experiments with the nature of the autobiography, encompassing prenatal memories, expanding the autofiction genre with a new voice and twist. Merging present and past, collective experiences and his own, the narrator explores a genealogy populated by unforgettable characters, offering us the story of the construction of a country, his Argentine childhood, and his early literary discoveries.With extraordinary delicacy and intensity, combining elegy, tragedy, and humor, Andres Neuman reveals a world as real as it is fantastic, as strange as it is our own. Once Upon Argentina is a coming-of-age tale, a political novel, and a love letter to the absent ones."--Publisher's website

The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: New York : Cambridge Encyclopdia; Publication date: 1900; Subjects: Great Britain;

Historically, there has been great deliberation about the limits of human knowledge. Isaac Newton, recognizing his own shortcomings, once described himself as “a boy standing on the seashore . . . whilst the great ocean of truth lay all underscored before me.” In Ignorance, Nicholas Rescher presents a broad-ranging study that examines the manifestations, consequences, and occasional benefits of ignorance in areas of philosophy, scientific endeavor, and ordinary life. Citing philosophers, theologians, and scientists from Socrates to Steven Hawking, Rescher seeks to uncover the factors that hinder our cognition. Rescher categorizes ignorance as ontologically grounded (rooted in acts of nature-erasure, chaos, and chance-that prevent fact determination), or epistemically grounded (the inadequacy of our information-securing resources). He then defines the basis of ignorance: inaccessible data; statistical fogs; secreted information; past data that have left no trace; future discoveries; future contingencies; vagrant predicates; and superior intelligences. Such impediments set limits to inquiry and mean that while we can always extend our existing knowledge-variability here is infinite-there are things that we will never know. Cognitive finitude also hinders our ability to assimilate more than a certain number of facts. We may acquire additional information, but lack the facility to interpret it. More information does not always increase knowledge; it may point us further down the path toward an erroneous conclusion. In light of these deficiencies, Rescher looks to the role of computers in solving problems and expanding our knowledge base, but finds limits to their reasoning capacity. As Rescher's comprehensive study concludes, ignorance itself is a fertile topic for knowledge, and recognizing the boundaries of our comprehension is where wisdom begins.

Book by Wilcox, Desmond

Our Worlds provides a rare "insider" look into the universe and planetary science during the current golden age of space exploration. Readers are guided on an exciting voyage of discovery by eight distinguished researchers who explore the universe with cutting edge techniques. From Chief Scientist on NASA's New Millennium Program Ellen Stofan to planetary theorist Bill McKinnon, each writes from a personal point of view, sharing to the fullest the science and emotion found in the most enticing discoveries and the wonders of the solar system. This volume gives readers an up-close view of Mars, Venus, and the Moon; a trip with Halley's Comet; a visit to the moons of Io, Titan, and Triton; and the ability to experience asteroids in their natural element. Coverage details the most current knowledge of the solar system learned from space missions, including Magellan and Galileo. This volume fully captures the breadth of planetary science, from inner to outer worlds, from telescopic to robotic exploration, and provides an unique glimpse into the drives and interests of the men and women behind the science. It is the most encompassing book on the subject to date and will interest anyone who looks at the night sky and wonders what it would feel like to be able to get a closer look. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist with both observational and theoretical interests. He is the leader of the Southwest Research Institute's Geophysical, Astrophysical, and Planetary Science group located in Boulder, CO.

"The Archimedes Palimpsest is the name given to a Byzantine prayer-book which was written over a number of earlier manuscripts, including two unique examples containing works by Archimedes, unquestionably the greatest mathematician of antiquity. Sold at auction in 1998, it has since been the subject of a privately funded project to conserve, image, and transcribe its texts. In this volume the scientists, conservators, classicists, and historians involved in the project discuss in full their techniques and their discoveries. These include new speeches by the classical Athenian orator Hyperides, a lost commentary on Aristotle's Categories from the second or third century AD, and substantial re-readings and reinterpretations of the works by Archimedes. The book discusses the pioneering imaging and post-processing techniques used to reveal the texts, and includes detailed codicological descriptions of all eight manuscripts comprising the Palimpsest. It will be of interest to manuscript scholars, classicists, and historians of science"

During his life, Michael Klein played a key role in helping establish the foundation for the modern study of the Targums. He was known for his thorough studies of targumic translation techniques and for his editions of the Fragment Targums and the Cairo Geniza fragments of Palestinian Targums. This collection of his essays brings together some of his writings on translation technique and studies on the Cairo Geniza material on Targums Onqelos and Jonathan, as well as the Writings. Essays on the Palestinian Targums feature as well, with studies of Targum Neofiti and Geniza discoveries that occurred after his edition. It begins with a Foreward by Avigdor Shinan and Rimon Kasher and ends with a personal tribute by Stefan Reif.

This study draws on recent discoveries in the psychology of emotion, most notably Dr Silvan Tomkins' affect theory, in an attempt to examine Wharton's fiction from a fresh angle.

Explores medieval French and English romances in their relation to the literary aesthetic of that vanished age as well as to the evolution of narrative. The framework of this investigation is chronological, beginning in the twelfth century with the work of Chrétien de Troyes and following through to the great Arhurian Prose Cycle and its remodelling by Sir Thomas Malory, whose mind and art the author strives constantly to elucidate. As it seeks out the meaning and design of the early masterpieces, the study transcends its chronological framework: major problems of style and technique arise that are of fundamental importance to the contemporary novel as well. Related phenomena in medieval painting, sculpture and manuscript ilumination are drawn upon to illustrate and reinforce the significance of the author's discoveries.

Messianic Judaism is a grass roots movement-a movement among Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus of Nazareth who recognize and identify with their Jewishness. As a pulsating grass roots movement. Messianic Judaism the power and excitement of significant new discoveries.