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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.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 6
    • June 28, 2014
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 6 is a collection of papers dealing with the study of man's ancestors in antiquity. One paper compares archaeology in Europe and in North America where turn-of-the-century archaeologists, both professionals and amateurs, have contributed to the development of the science. Their contribution has led to an institutional sense of delineating professionals and amateurs in archaeological science and, more substantially, in matters of defining stone tools, cultural occupations, and cultural change. Another paper discusses large-scale stylistic trait distribution in broad terms related to archaeology, sociology, and geography. A model of cultural evolution simplifies anthropological concept of cultural complexity into inequality and heterogeneity, which are measurable variables to test hypotheses of cultural evolution. One paper cites the case of the Maya as subsistence and complex societies to show the diversity of Maya agriculture and other subsistence subsystems. One paper notes that the concepts and theory which archaeologists are using tend to be more sophisticated than their ability to provide samples of observations for testing. The collection is suitable for professional or amateur archaeologists, anthropologist, sociologists, and researchers interested in pre-historical times and cultures.
  • Regiomontanus: His Life and Work

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • June 28, 2014
    • E. Zinner + 1 more
    • English
    The 500th anniversary of Regiomontanus's birth has occasioned this depiction of his life and work. It is the first English translation of Ernst Zinner's monumental biography, plus a number of specially-written supplementary articles which help paint a more comprehensive picture of the current state of knowledge about Regiomontanus. The articles show the high regard in which the biography is still held by the community of scholars doing work on the mathematics of the Renaissance.Zinner's biography is a mine of information about early printing, astrolabes, tables of eclipses and the world of Henry of Langenstein, Johann of Gmunden, Georg Peuerbach, Cardinal Bessarion, Nicholas of Cusa and the extraordinary itinerant scholar, Johannes Müller of Königsberg — Regiomontanus. His contributions to mathematics are discussed (for example, he may have discovered the fifth and sixth perfect numbers) as well as the mysteries surrounding his life and death.
  • Financial Decision Making Under Uncertainty

    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • ANDERSON ANDERSON WEBSTER
    • English
    Financial Decision Making under Uncertainty presents the increasing application of the approach to financial decision making under uncertain to a myriad of practical problems. This book provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of financial theory. Organized into five parts encompassing 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of formulating a problem as a linear program. This text then discusses the highlights of the theoretical and empirical analysis and then uses the same analytical framework to obtain results on the effect of inflation on the market price of risk. Other chapters consider meaningful utility functions for individual households that can be combined to construct an aggregate demand function for risky assets. This book discusses as well the formulation of the capital expenditure problems. The final chapter examines the case where the regulatory constraint is continuously enforced. This book is a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in financial theory.
  • Speech and Language

    Advances in Basic Research and Practice
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 10
    • June 28, 2014
    • Norman J. Lass
    • English
    Speech and Language: Advances in Basic Research and Practice, Volume 10 is a compendium of articles that discuss a wide range of topics on speech and language processes and pathologies. This volume contains seven papers presenting a broad range of topics on speech and language. The book provides various articles discussing topics on the articulatory and perceptual characteristics associated with apraxia of speech; prevention of communicative disorders in cleft palate infants; and the relationship between normal phonological acquisition and clinical intervention. Topics on the role of auditory timing in the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders; categorical perception; and the theoretical and clinical implications of speakers' abilities to control the output of their speech mechanism are presented as well. Linguists, speech pathologists, and researchers on language development will find the book very insightful and informative.
  • The Languages of Theatre

    Problems in the Translation and Transposition of Drama
    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • O. Zuber
    • English
    This book focuses on the various problems in the verbal and nonverbal translation and tranposition of drama from one language and cultural background into another and from the text on to the stage. It covers a range of previously unpublished essays specifically written on translation problems unique to drama, by playwrights and literary translators as well as theorists, scholars and teachers of drama and translation studies
  • Electronic Warfare

    Element of Strategy and Multiplier of Combat Power
    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • Don E. Gordon
    • English
    Electronic Warfare: Element of Strategy and Multiplier of Combat Power describes how the application of electronic warfare allowed the Allies to multiply combat power during World War II in order to accomplish strategic objectives. This book is composed of eight chapters that also consider how the United States had best prepare a strategy to fight on the battlefield with electronic warfare. After briefly presenting the history of electric warfare equipment, this book goes on exploring the technologies of cryptology and microwave radar, and their significance in the battle. These topics are followed by a chapter focusing on the accomplishments of the German surface fleet. The succeeding chapters demonstrate the power of German army with their U-boats, and cruisers, Scheer, Lutzow, Hipper, and Prinz Eugen. The final chapter looks into the issues of preparedness, the cost of defense, the role of technology, political and economic appraisal, and the need to multiply combat power quickly and inexpensively.
  • Practices of Archaeological Stratigraphy

    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • Edward C. Harris
    • English
    Practices of Archaeological Stratigraphy brings together a number of examples which illustrate the development and use of the Harris Matrix in describing and interpreting archaeological sites. This matrix, the theory of which is described in two editions of the previous book by Harris, Principles of Archaeological Stratigaphy, made possible for the first time a simple diagramatic representation of the strategraphic sequence of a site, no matter how complex. The Harris Matrix, by showing in one diagram all three linear dimensions, plus time, represents a quantum leap over the older methods which relied on sample sections only.In this book 17 essays present a sample of new work demonstrating the strengths and uses of the Harris Matrix, the first ever published collection of papers devoted solely to stratigraphy in archaeology. The crucial relationships between the Harris methods, open-area excavation techniques, the interpretation of interfaces, and the use of single-context plans and recording sheets, is clarified by reference to specific sites. These sites range from medieval Europe, through Mayan civilizations to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. This book will be of great value to all those involved in excavating and recording archaeological sites and should help to ensure that the maximum amount of stratigraphic information can be gathered from future investigations.
  • Incest: A Biosocial View

    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • MOST
    • English
    Incest: A Biosocial View focuses on the sociobiological theory of incest and compares it with other theoretical approaches to the problem. The argument made in this book is that the existence of culture does not lead to the exemption of Homo sapiens from the evolutionary process. Instead, it creates a coevolutionary process, of which the evolution of incest avoidance in human beings is the simplest, yet most instructive, example. Comprised of 11 chapters, this volume begins with an introduction to the problem of incest, followed by a discussion on the sociobiological theory in general and some important methodological issues. Epigenetic rules and the importance of reproduction are considered, along with inclusive fitness and kin selection; kinship altruism (nepotism); reciprocal altruism; mate selection and parental investment, parent-child and sibling conflict; aggression and social order; and the biosocial view of culture. The next three chapters survey the theories and empirical findings that led to the sociobiological theory of incest, with particular reference to the views of Edward Westermarck as well as the kibbutz and the sim-pua. The propositions of the sociobiological theory of incest are then outlined. The book concludes by summarizing the classic theories of incest and synthesizing them in light of the sociobiological theory. This monograph is relevant to psychoanalysts, sociologists, biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists studying the problem of incest.
  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 7
    • June 28, 2014
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 7 is a collection of papers that deals with the study of gender, discovering new sites, and using remote sensing. Some papers describe the prestate societies in the Americas, intrasite archaeological records organization, and geomagnetic dating methods. One paper explains that an explicit framework for the archaeological study of gender should be formulated alongside the existing explicit theory of human social action. Organization of gender behaviors is connected to task differentiation, material culture, cultural solidarity, integration, extradomestic trade. Another paper notes that the extent of social differentiation seems to depend less on the number of people in a society than on its organizational divisions. It emphasizes that the total population and maximal community-size can also determine the number of administrative levels. One paper discusses the approaches and techniques in dealing with the problems of discovering unseen sites, name, their visibility and obtrusiveness. The individual archaeologists can apply remote sensing applications to pursue a cultural resource management or in a certain explanatory archaeological situation. Another paper explains how to obtain accuracy in dating objects and cultural events using geomagnetic methods. The collection is suitable for professional or amateur archaeologists, sociologists, anthropologist, and scientist involved in the analysis of artifacts.
  • Behavior of Nonhuman Primates

    Modern Research Trends
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • June 28, 2014
    • Allan M. Schrier + 1 more
    • English
    Behavior of Nonhuman Primates: Modern Research Trends, Volume 3 provides information pertinent to research on behavior of nonhuman primates. This book presents the knowledge of the social development of rhesus infants and compares with data on other species. Organized into four chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the interspecies differences in the social influences affecting young primates. This text then examines the nature of the interactions between the infant and its various social companions, wherein each type of social companion may interact with the infant in a number of ways. Other chapters consider the nature of the social organization, which may be presumed to have been shaped by the ecological pressures of the natural habitat. This book discusses as well the color vision and visual acuity in different animals. The final chapter deals with the aspects of primate hearing. This book is a valuable resource for students and research workers.