Other books that might interest you

• 

  The Home Front - Sheffield in...

  Scott Lomax

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The First World War saw many changes to Sheffield that have helped shape what the city is today. It is apt that as we mark the centenary of the outbreak of the war, whilst paying our respects to those who were killed serving our country, we recognise the impact that the war had on those at home.This brand new publication details the human experiences, thoughts, concerns, fears and hopes of a city during one of the most important periods in its history, including the run up to war and the reaction to its outbreak; the efforts of those who could not fight; industry and how workers were instrumental in creating the weapons and tools that would help Britain win the war, along with the city's role in treating and entertaining wounded soldiers and the role of the University of Sheffield and the effect of the war on education. The part women played in the munitions factories plus a devestating Zeppelin raid over Sheffield are also covered in detail.For the first time in its history, Sheffield realised that the horrors of war were not confined to overseas battles but that they could be witnessed and experienced in their own neighbourhoods.As seen in The Yorkshire Post, Sheffield Telegraph, The Star (Sheffield), Bradway Bugle and Grapevine Magazine.

  Show book

• 

  A Stitch of Time - The Year a...

  Lauren Marks

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Lauren Marks was twenty-seven when an aneurysm ruptured in her brain and left her fighting for her life. She woke up in a hospital soon after with serious deficiencies to her reading, speaking, and writing abilities, and an unfamiliar diagnosis: aphasia. This would be shocking news for anyone, but Lauren was a voracious reader, an actress, director, dramaturg, and pursuing her PhD. At any other period of her life, this diagnosis would have been a devastating blow. But she woke up . . . different. She returned to her childhood home to recover, grappling with a muted inner monologue and fractured sense of self.Soon after, Lauren began a journal to chronicle her year following the rupture. A Stitch of Time is the remarkable result, an Oliver Sacks-like case study of a brain slowly piecing itself back together, featuring clinical research interwoven with Lauren's personal narrative and actual journal entries that marked her progress. Alternating between fascination and frustration, she relearns and re-experiences many of the things we take for granted. Deeply personal and powerful, A Stitch of Time is an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, resilience, and hope.

  Show book

• 

  This Cold House - The Simple...

  Colin Smith

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A “witty, erudite, and accessible” guide to creating an environmentally friendly home without sacrificing comfort (Jeffrey C. May, author of My House Is Killing Me!). 
   
  Does turning the thermostat down on a winter’s night offset the costs of reheating the house in the morning? What will best prevent energy loss: new windows or insulation in the attic? Is heating oil cheaper than natural gas? 
   
  In This Cold House, Colin Smith blends science with anecdote and example to help homeowners identify heating and cooling priorities and choose the most appropriate methods, tools, and equipment. Basic equations allow you to estimate possible savings in annual heating and cooling bills and determine payback times for improvement projects. 
   
  Practical and entertaining, This Cold House illuminates the concepts behind energy efficiency and translates them into ideas you can use, whether you live in a castle, igloo, or house. 
   
  “Packs in important insights and is a pick for any general interest lending library catering to homeowners and those concerned with energy savings and the environment.” —Midwest Book Review 
   
  “Smith . . . has a wonderful way with words, and his storytelling is superb. This guy sure knows how to hang an analogy on a scientific principle to make it delightfully understandable.” —Dan Holohan, heatinghelp.com

  Show book

• 

  Uncivilised Genes - Human...

  Gustav Milne

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In Uncivilised Genes: Human Evolution and the Urban Paradox, Gustav Milne explores how we can reconfigure our lifestyles and urban environments, based on an understanding of our prehistoric past, in order to bring about a richer future for mankind.
  We evolved as hunter-gatherers over a period of more than three million years: living off the land within small tribal societies in a symbiotic working relationship with nature. Understanding this legacy and how our evolution has determined our social, psychological, nutritional and physiological needs means we can adopt what Milne has termed evolutionary-concordant behaviours: behaviours designed to reconcile the fundamental mismatch between our current urban lifestyles and our ancient biology.
  Our ancestral diets and lifestyles could hold the secret not only to enhancing our health and happiness but also to combating the prevalence of western lifestyle diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and various types of cancer to name but a few. Milne expertly evaluates these challenges - along with many other issues pertinent to our urban wellbeing - and proposes solutions within our reach, including adaptations to our dietary regimes, lifestyle-embedded activities and school and university curriculums, and a re-engineering of our built environment to better suit our needs.
  Drawing on what archaeological evidence reveals about Palaeolithic and Mesolithic diets, as well as on anthropological studies of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, Uncivilised Genes offers timely insights to enhance our collective and individual health and prosperity. It also shines a spotlight on the evolutionary determinants of social behaviour, and looks at how we can bridge the gap between the world we are creating and the un-urbanised, uncivilised world to which we are genetically and psychologically better adapted.
  This book is not a rejection of modernity. Neither is it a call to reject towns and seek solace in a rural idyll, nor another celebrity-endorsed fad diet or exercise programme. Rather, it is a comprehensive chronicle of the myriad factors that continue to contribute to our societal and personal wellbeing, and a broad-ranging blueprint for a richer future more in tune with our basic physiology, psychology, metabolism and mindset.
  Essential reading for anyone interested in living a healthier, more evolutionary-concordant life.
  Contents include:
  1. In the Beginning;
  2. Genesis;
  3. A View of the Garden;
  4. A Hunger Game;
  5. Food for Thought;
  6. Body of Evidence;
  7. A Life Less Sedentary;
  8. Lost Tribes;
  9. Hunter-Gatherer vs. Football-Shopper;
  10. Music and Words;
  11. Green and Pleasant;
  12. Central Park;
  13. Old Town;
  14. Urban Regeneration;
  15. Revelations.

  Show book

• 

  The Human Genome as Common...

  Jean Buttigieg

  • 0
  • 1
  • 0

  In this timely study, Jean Buttigieg demonstrates the necessity to make it a legal principle of international law that the human genome is a common heritage of mankind.  
  
  In 1997, the UNESCO General Conference declared the human genome a common heritage of humankind.  This declaration was followed by the Joint Statement of March 14, 2000, by US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in which they stated that the “fundamental data on the human genome, including the human DNA sequence and its variations, should be made freely available to scientists everywhere.” This announcement to allow “unencumbered access” to this fundamental data on the human genome, for the benefit of all humanity, appeared to endorse the UNESCO Declaration of 1997 on the human genome.   
  
  But as it turns out, these statements were only political slogans since there is a complete lack of any genuine attempts to make the human genome a legal principle of international law so far.  This study's foremost goal is to re-introduce the philosophical and political implications of the concept of common heritage of mankind into public discourse, as intended by Arvid Pardo when he addressed the UN General Assembly on November 1, 1967, and apply them to the human genome. 
  
  As Buttigieg demonstrates, the biggest challenge here comes from the patent system in its present form, which encourages the commercialization of the human genome by explicitly denying scientists “unencumbered access” to the fundamental raw data.  By putting individual rights before community rights, the patent system effectively hinders discoveries that prompt new and better medical treatments.
  
  Buttigieg also discusses issues of biotechnology.  While the biotechnology debate is very often centred on which new applications of biotechnology should or should not be permitted, it so far lacks a critical philosophical analysis of biotechnology itself. The true essence of the human genome, Buttigieg argues, is to be found in metaphysics and not biology.    
  
  This study fills a gap in the literature on the human genome and the common heritage of mankind by addressing the metaphysical nature of the human genome and discussing the philosophical concerns surrounding the field of biotechnology.

  Show book

• 

  Hidden Nature - Wild Southern Caves

  Michael Ray Taylor

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Reed Environmental Writing Award Finalist, Southern Environmental Law Center, 2021More than ten thousand known caves lie beneath the state of Tennessee according to the Tennessee Cave Survey, a nonprofit organization that catalogs and maps them. Thousands more riddle surrounding states. In Hidden Nature, Michael Ray Taylor tells the story of this vast underground wilderness. In addition to describing the sheer physical majesty of the region’s wild caverns and the concurrent joys and dangers of exploring them, he examines their rich natural history and scientific import, their relationship to clean water and a healthy surface environment, and their uncertain future.As a longtime caver and the author of three popular books related to caving—Cave Passages, Dark Life, and Caves—Taylor enjoys (for a journalist) unusual access to this secretive world. He is personally acquainted with many of the region’s most accomplished cave explorers and scientists, and they in turn are familiar with his popular writing on caves in books; in magazines such as Audubon, Outside, and Sports Illustrated; and on websites such as those of the Discovery Channel and the PBS science series Nova.Hidden Nature is structured as a comprehensive work of well-researched fact that reads like a personal narrative of the author’s long attraction to these caves and the people who dare enter their hidden chambers.

  Show book