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Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • The Concise Encyclopedia of the Ethics of New Technologies

    • 1st Edition
    • Ruth Chadwick
    • English
    The ethical assessment of new technologies raises two principal concerns: the need to develop effective policies and legislation, and the reconsideration of the ethical frameworks in which these policies and laws are developed. The importance of rapid, accurate examinations of tensions between Philosophy and Law and the relationship between philosophical principles and empirical data has never been greater. The Concise Encyclopedia of Ethics of New Technologies includes 23 articles previously published in the highly-acclaimed Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics, nine updated articles, and five new articles, commissioned especially for this volume. Over half of the previously published articles include updated facts and bibliographic citations. Authors of genetics articles have updated their works to include the most recent developments and publications. New articles include: "Cloning," "Geneticization," "Health Technology Assessment," "Intrinsic and Instrumental Value," and "Novel Foods."
  • Developmental Juvenile Osteology

    • 1st Edition
    • Craig Cunningham + 2 more
    • English
    Developmental Juvenile Osteology gives an account of the development of all the bones of the human skeleton, from their earliest embryological form to final adult form. This volume collates information never before assembled in one volume. Profusely illustrated with high quality drawings, it also provides a complete description of the adult skeleton and its anomalies.
  • Lacquer: Technology and Conservation

    • 1st Edition
    • Marianne Webb
    • English
    For the conservator this book is an invaluable tool when examining the options available for treatment of lacquer. Not only does it cover the technology and methods of treatment for both types of lacquer, but it assesses current practices enabling the conservator to make more informed decisions. Controversial issues are also debated, such as whether Asian lacquer should be restored in the Asian manner, using non-reversible materials, or using western methods that are theoretically reversible. As the book describes production technology and decorative techniques it will also be a useful aid for both art historians and collectors alike in identifying and dating lacquerware.For the conservator this book is an invaluable tool when examining the options available for treatment. Not only does it cover the technology and methods of treatment for both types of lacquer, but it assesses current practices enabling the conservator to make more informed decisions. Controversial issues are discussed such as whether Asian lacquer should be restored in the Asian manner, using non-reversible materials, or using western methods that are theoretically reversible. As the book describes production technology and decorative techniques it will also prove to be a useful aid for both art historians and collectors alike in identifying and dating lacquerware.Lacquer has long been misunderstood, particularly because the word itself has been used to characterize many different materials. For centuries the term has been used to refer to the Asian and the European materials. At present it is used to describe any glossy coating, from cellulose nitrate to modern plastic finishes.
  • Time in Contemporary Intellectual Thought

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • P.J.N. Baert
    • English
    In this book, fifteen authors from a wide spectrum of disciplines (ranging from the natural sciences to the arts) offer assessments of the way time enters their work, the definition and uses of time that have proved most productive or problematic, and the lessons their subjects can offer for our understanding of time beyond the classroom and laboratory walls. The authors have tried, without sacrificing analytical rigour, to make their contribution accessible to a cross-disciplinary readership.Each chapter reviews time's past and present application in its respective field, considers the practical and logical problems that remain, and assesses the methods researchers are using to escape or resolve them. Particular attention is paid to ways in which the technical treatment of time, for problem-solving and model-building around specific phenomena, call on - or clash with - our intuitive perceptions of what time is and does. The spans of time considered range from the fractions of seconds it takes unstable particles to disintegrate to the millions of years required for one species to give way to another. Like all central conceptual words, time is understood on several levels. By inviting input from a broad range of disciplines, the book aims to provide a fuller understanding of those levels, and of the common ground that lurks at their base. Much agreement emerges - not only on the nature of the problems time presents to modern intellectual thought, but also on the clues that recent discoveries may offer towards possible solutions.
  • Human Osteology

    • 2nd Edition
    • Tim D. White + 1 more
    • English
    Human Osteology, Second Edition is designed for students and professionals who wish to advance their osteological skills in terms of accurately identifying human skeletal remains, however isolated and fragmentary. These remains can then be used to deduce information about the original lives of the deceased individuals. This book will continue to be an essential text for courses on the human skeleton, as well as a basic reference and field manual for professional osteologists and anatomists, forensic scientists, paleontologists, and archaeologists.Human Osteology, Second Edition includes nearly a decade of advances in osteological research since the first edition. Each chapter has been strengthened and updated, including a new chapter on molecular osteology and four new case studies drawn from more recent research. This edition also includes a valuable guide to electronic resources in osteology.
  • Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains

    • 2nd Edition
    • Donald J. Ortner
    • English
    Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains provides an integrated and comprehensive treatment of pathological conditions that affect the human skeleton. There is much that ancient skeletal remains can reveal to the modern orthopaedist, pathologist, forensic anthropologist, and radiologist about the skeletal manifestations of diseases that are rarely encountered in modern medical practice. Beautifully illustrated with over 1,100 photographs and drawings, this book provides essential text and materials on bone pathology, which will improve the diagnostic ability of those interested in human dry bone pathology. It also provides time depth to our understanding of the effect of disease on past human populations.
  • Social Discourse and Moral Judgement

    • 1st Edition
    • Daniel N. Robinson
    • English
    This edited work presents a unique and authoritative look at morality - its development within the individual, its evolution within society, and its place within the law. The contributors represent some of the foremost authorities in these fields, and the book represents a collection of essays presented at a symposium on social constructivism and morality.
  • Science, Churchill and Me

    The Autobiography of Hermann Bondi
    • 1st Edition
    • Hermann Bondi + 1 more
    • English
    Recounts the experiences, appointments and achievements of this eminent scientist. Dealing systematically with Bondi's childhood in Austria, arrival in Cambridge and his important contributions to the field of mathematics before his appointment as Master of Churchill College, Cambridge, the book conveys how an initially strictly academic career led to a range of positions in the public sector finishing with a return to academia.
  • A History of Psychology in Metascientific Perspective

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 53
    • K.B. Madsen
    • English
    Two fields of interest are combined in this volume: the history of science and the theory, or philosophy, of science (metascience). The result is a history of psychology with emphasis placed upon a metascientific analysis of the work of fourteen psychologists from various periods.Each analysis is set in historical context; a period or school is discussed in each chapter, together with a metascientific analysis of some major works from the respective period or school. The author employs a metascientific descriptive system or `systematology' developed during more than 30 years of work on comparative, metascientific studies of about 50 psychological theories. The results of those studies have been published in previous works.These analyses are also used here for verifying T.S. Kuhn's much-debated theory about the `revolutionary' development of sciences. The author revises Kuhn's theory and shows that it can be applied to the history of psychology. Thus, in a Kuhnian sense, psychology may be said to have had two `normal periods' and two `periods of crisis' leading to school formation.
  • Thematic Relations

    • 1st Edition
    • Wendy Wilkins
    • English
    Syntax and Semantics, Volume 21: Thematic Relations provides information pertinent to thematic relations, which focus both on what sematic roles are expressible in the grammar and how these roles come to be associated with noun phrases. This book presents the interaction of components of the language faculty and other aspects of cognition. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the semantic relations involved in verb–argument structure. This text then examines the predicate-argument representations, which have come to figure prominently in all current generative theories of syntax. Other chapters consider the generalizations about thematic relations that are most insightfully captured at the level of syntax of at the level of semantics. This book discusses as well the importance of thematic roles to the grammar. The final chapter deals with the central role of thematic roles in language comprehension. This book is a valuable resource for linguists, syntacticians, and semanticists with an active involvement in research on natural language.