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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.

  • Bronchial Asthma

    A Genetic, Population and Psychiatric Study
    • 1st Edition
    • October 27, 2016
    • Denis Leigh + 1 more
    • English
    Bronchial Asthma: A Genetic, Population and Psychiatric Study presents the main theories of the cause of asthma which states that attacks occurred as a result of pathological changes in the lungs, heart, or large vessels. It discusses that spasms and paralysis of the bronchi were produced by nervous or humoral changes, or from bronchial exudation. Organized into 15 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the relationships between bronchial asthma and several conditions commonly regarded as allergic in nature, including hay fever, eczema, vasomotor rhinitis, urticarial, gastro-intestinal allergy, and psoriasis. This text then discusses the Weinberg genealogical proband method. Other chapters explore the inherited susceptibility of the bronchial tree to dysfunction, be it inflammation, as with bronchitis, or spasm, as with asthma. The final chapter deals with the inquiry using the Weinberg genealogical proband technique into the genetics of bronchial asthma. This book is a valuable resource for physicians, dermatologists, and allergists.
  • Mechanics

    Classical and Quantum
    • 1st Edition
    • October 13, 2016
    • T. T. Taylor
    • D. Ter Haar
    • English
    Mechanics: Classical and Quantum is a 13-chapter book that begins by explaining the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation of mechanics. The Hamilton-Jacobi theory, historical background of the quantum theory, and wave mechanics are then described. Subsequent chapters discuss the time-independent Schrödinger equation and some of its applications; the operators, observables, and the quantization of a physical system; the significance of expectation values; and the concept of measurement in quantum mechanics. The matrix mechanics and the "hydrogenic atom", an atom in which one electron moves under the influence of a nucleus of charge that, to a very good approximation, can be thought of as a point, are also presented. This book will be very useful to students studying this field of interest.
  • Readings in the Swedish Class Structure

    Readings in Sociology
    • 1st Edition
    • September 8, 2016
    • Richard Scase
    • English
    Readings in the Swedish Class Structure is a collection of papers that covers the Swedish class structure. The book is comprised of 10 chapters that are organized into three parts; each part presents articles that tackle a concern in the Swedish class system. The text first covers the distribution of economic rewards, which includes ownership and influence in the economy; determination of wage structures in manufacturing industry; and a Marxist analysis of the Swedish class structure. The next part deals with the distribution of opportunities; this part examines the patterns of social mobility and educational reforms and equality. The last part tackles inequality and political processes. The book will be of great use to sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and social historians.
  • The Effect of Vehicle Characteristics on Road Accidents

    • 1st Edition
    • September 2, 2016
    • I. S. Jones
    • English
    The Effect of Vehicle Characteristics on Road Accidents investigates whether vehicle characteristics related to handling and stability contribute to road accidents. Using multiple regression analysis, this book addresses driver and vehicle effects separately in order to define both the magnitude of the handling/accident causation problem as well as the relative importance of the various performance measures. This monograph is comprised of six chapters and begins with detailed studies of accidents to determine the circumstances which lead to loss of control or overturning of a car on the road, and which accidents are likely to be influenced by the handling and stability characteristics of cars. Accident rates for these types of accident are then examined for the more popular models of car. Measures of vehicle handling and stability related to accident rates are also discussed. This text will be a useful resource for motorists and road engineers as well as transportation officials.
  • Cathedrals of Learning

    Great and Ancient Universities of Western Europe
    • 1st Edition
    • August 9, 2016
    • Blaise Cronin
    • English
    Cathedrals of Learning: Great and Ancient Universities of Western Europe provides a conspectus of the great Western European universities, pithily tells their life stories, showcases their architectural heritage, and describes the art, literary, and natural history collections they have accumulated over the centuries. This book profiles the ancient universities and their distinctive organizational cultures, reveals their customs, ceremonies, and traditions, their quirks and quiddities, recounts their complicated histories, describes their architectural wonders (libraries, museums, anatomy theaters, botanical gardens) and treasures (rare manuscripts, antiquities, paintings, and objects d’art of all kinds), and introduces their famous alumni, distinguished scholars, Nobel Prize-winning scientists, and famously eccentric personalities. It is a book for scholars, researchers, and anyone interested in these ancient institutions that remain centers of learning in the contemporary world.
  • Local Government and Strategic Choice

    An Operational Research Approach to the Processes of Public Planning
    • 2nd Edition
    • August 3, 2016
    • J.K. Friend + 1 more
    • English
    Local Government and Strategic Choice, Second Edition is the result of a study of policy-formation in the City Council of Coventry during a four-year period. This edition is a reappraisal of the earlier edition, with an emphasis on ""connective planning."" Part I describes the planning strategies made in an urban setting. This part explains the City and the City Council, organization of the local authority, decision-making mechanisms, developmental planning including land use, school system planning, and cross-departmental planning. Part II is a study of city planning as a process of strategic choice that has been altered in many different ways depending on the purpose. This part also discusses the problems encountered in the planning process such as the existence of organization boundaries in the government sector. Part III deals with a fictional case that relates the uncertainties and political realities of decision-making in an urban setting. The case studies cover land allocation and development, tax, and traffic issues. Part IV discusses organizational challenge and also touches in some way on the future organizational structure of local governments. This text then explains the need for ""connective planning"" of how individuals build flexible networks among decision-making agencies to serve the various interests of both the private and government sectors. This book is suitable for sociologists, city administrators and officials, local government officials, heads of government agencies, and heads of planning and engineering departments of local government units.
  • Taming the Megalopolis

    A Design for Urban Growth
    • 1st Edition
    • August 1, 2016
    • Lauchlin Currie
    • English
    Taming the Megalopolis: A Design for Urban Growth is a stimulating and provocative text that identifies the imminent problems of human settlement in large emerging cities in developing countries with mixed economies and their possible solution. The book is a written expression of an expert's view on the problem of human settlement that aims to raise discussions, from concerned policymakers, on the identification of the problems and inciting proposals for solutions to the growing problem of human settlement in large emerging cities. The text is divided in two parts: Urban Problems and Solutions. The first part provides the basic definition and aspects of urbanization and the identification of problems of human settlement in urbanized areas. Part II introduces possible measures to solve the problems of urbanization, such as changing the design of metropolitan areas; maintaining ownership in public corporations; capturing rise in land values; and securing relatively full employment for urban workers. Economists, sociologists, urban planners and policymakers, engineers and designers, and people affected by the problems of urbanization will find this book invaluable.
  • An Introduction to the Theory of Plasma Turbulence

    International Series of Monographs in Natural Philosophy
    • 1st Edition
    • July 29, 2016
    • V. N. Tsytovich
    • D. Ter Haar
    • English
    An Introduction to the Theory of Plasma Turbulence is a collection of lectures given by the author at Culham laboratory. The book deals with developments on the theory of plasma turbulence. The author describes plasma properties in the turbulent regions as mostly non-linear in nature, and notes that these properties can be regarded as a universal spectrum independent of any type of instability. The text then discusses the general problems of the theory of plasma turbulence. The author also shows that elementary excitation of ""dressed"" particles have a finite lifetime associated with non-linear interactions. The book then discusses the excitation of ion-sound turbulence using different processes, for example, shock waves; the text also analyzes the kind of non-linear interactions present in such energy transfer. The author also explains the Langmuir plasma oscillations — a typical collective plasma motion that can be excited using different types of mechanism such as an electron beam. The book then describes the electromagnetic properties of turbulent plasma and relates the state of turbulent plasma as a natural occurrence in the universe. The book notes the problem of cosmic rays, not as an energy transfer to faster particles, but as an energy distribution between particles. The text will prove valuable for nuclear physicists, scientists, and academicians in the field of quantum mechanics.
  • Policy Reform in Developing Countries

    • 1st Edition
    • July 29, 2016
    • Bela Balassa
    • English
    Policy Reform in Developing Countries deals with questions of policy reforms in selected countries. This book is a collection of essays describing the application of general principles of policy reforms made in countries with an industrial base, such as Mexico, Portugal, Venezuela, Chile, the Andean Common Market, Egypt, and Korea. Through these essays, the author evaluates the general principles that make up desirable policy reforms in these countries, and describes the application of these principles in various actual situations. One essay presents the reforms needed to improve the system of incentives, which include credit, labor market, and public utility pricing. For example, this book analyzes the tariff reform proposed in Chile and the guidelines for the common external tariff used in the Andean Common Market. Another essay evaluates the role of the manufacturing sector in the economic growth of Portugal, and recommends other strategies for this sector. This book then recommends proposals in the development strategy of Korea for the Fourth Five-Year Plan Period, while one other essay reviews the system of incentives that will serve the objectives of the Fourth Five-Year Plan of this country. This collection of essays is suitable for economic planners, heads of state ministries, academic and non-profit institutions dealing with developmental planning, and students and professors in history and political science.
  • Investigating the Life Sciences

    An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
    • 1st Edition
    • July 29, 2016
    • G. M. N. Verschuuren
    • English
    A unique introduction to the philosophy of science with special emphasis on the life sciences. Part I presents elementary but fundamental concepts and problems in epistemology and their relation to questions of scientific methodology. Part II deals with case studies from the history of biology which illustrate particular philosophical points while Part III progresses to more complex ideas as on the nature and methodology of science. Part IV discusses the limitations of scientific enquiry and its relations to other systems of knowledge and interpretation.