Natur

Famed for his seminal work in the development of atomic theory, John Dalton (1766-1844) was a chemist and natural philosopher who served for years as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at the New College, Manchester. Dalton was born into a Quaker family in the Lake District; his early interest in weather was inspired by a local instrument-maker and meteorologist. He began keeping a meteorological diary in 1787, and this 1793 book is one of his earliest publications. It contains not only meteorological observations but also speculations about their causes. Beginning with a description of the instruments needed to undertake such investigations, Dalton considers a variety of natural phenomena, finishing by offering various theories on the causes of the Aurora Borealis. This book also contains many of the ideas that would go on to be developed in his future research and publications, for which he is better known.

Isabella Bishop (nee Bird) published her Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan in 1891, compiled from a series of letters home. Recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for physical and nervous difficulties, Bird toured the United States and Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Far East. After her marriage, and the death of her husband in 1886, she did missionary work in India and then, in 1890, travelled to little-known parts of Turkey, Persia and Kurdistan in the company of Major Herbert Sawyer of the Indian Army. This came to be the hardest journey of her experience, with extremes of temperature and harsh living conditions for the sixty-year-old, although she was able to provide medical care for the local people. Volume 1 introduces the region, its people, and their customs and includes many evocative anecdotes. It also contains a glossary and maps.

Isabella Bishop (nee Bird) published her Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan in 1891, compiled from a series of letters home. Recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for physical and nervous difficulties, Bird toured the United States and Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Far East. After her marriage, and her husband's death, she did missionary work in India and, in 1890, travelled to little-known parts of Turkey, Persia and Kurdistan. This was her most challenging journey, with extremes of temperature and harsh living conditions for the sixty-year-old, although she was able to provide medical care for the local people. Despite vicissitudes, her passion for travel is clear throughout. Volume 2 of this fascinating account continues into Kurdistan and towards the end on the Black Sea. The appendices include prayers from Mecca and a record of her itinerary, including journey times.

William Smith (1769-1839) was best known as the author of the Map of the Strata of England and Wales - indeed, he was known as 'Strata' Smith. His Memoirs, edited by his nephew John Phillips and published in 1844, tell the story of his life from his beginnings as a blacksmith's son in Oxfordshire to his geological work. Smith began as an assistant to a land surveyor and moved into mine-related projects, including excavations for canal-building. During the course of one such project he realised the significance of strata within layers of rock, and in subsequent surveys he could locate deposits of coal, iron and other minerals. Smith suffered throughout his life from financial problems which frustrated publication of his works; his map was published in 1815, but further works were never completed. Towards the end of his life, however, he finally received the scientific recognition that was his due.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This 1866 volume contains an English translation of a Spanish manuscript version of a document originally written in Portuguese about 1514. The supposed author, Duarte Barbosa, who may have been a relative of Magellan, is said to have spent sixteen years exploring the Indian Ocean. The complex history of this manuscript narrative is given in detail in the translator's preface, and the book has explanatory notes and an index.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume, published in 1862, contains a sixteenth-century Portuguese text first published in translation by Hakluyt himself in 1601; both the original Portuguese and a modified version of Hakluyt's translation are given on each page. The author, Antonio Galvano (1503-1557), distinguished himself as Governor of the Moluccas, but fell out of favour on his return to Portugal and died in poverty. His book traces the history of exploration from 'the time of the Flood' to 1555.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Robert Hues (1553-1632) was an English mathematician and geographer who published this work in 1594 to explain the use of the new terrestrial and celestial globes devised by Emery Molyneux in 1592. These were the first English manufactured globes and were popular with both navigators and students. The five parts of this book describe these globes and explain their use in calculating fundamental navigational points, providing valuable insights into their appearance and practical application in early sixteenth-century navigation.

H. R. Davies (1865-1950) was an English army officer and member of the British intelligence service. Between 1894 and 1900 he was asked by the British government to lead survey expeditions into the modern Chinese province of Yunnan to discover possible routes for a railway connecting British-occupied Burma with the upper Yangtze river and through to Sichuan. This book contains an account of his travels though Yunnan province, written as a travelogue and first published in 1909. The region had been little explored by westerners before Davies' expeditions, and this is the first detailed description of Yunnan from a European traveller. The society, diverse indigenous cultures, geography, economy and political situation of the province are described in detail, with an introductory three chapters on the political context of the expeditions, and on railway construction in south-east Asia in the late nineteenth century.

Cambridgeshire is rich in Jurassic fossils, with ichthyosaurs having been found at Mepal and Barrington since 2000, and ammonites and belemnites occurring near Grafham Water. In the later nineteenth century, Thomas Roberts, an assistant to the Professor of Geology at Cambridge, was involved in close study of the Jurassic rocks of the district. Despite the complexity arising from troublesome local geologic discontinuities, Roberts correlated the paleontological record in the Jurassic rocks of East Anglia with that of other British and European areas. It was this kind of careful and systematic work that provided the foundation for the modern understanding of the Jurassic period and the mass extinctions at the end of the Mesozoic era. Roberts's essay was originally published posthumously in 1892, and is now reissued for a new generation of geologists and fossil-hunters.

John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861), a student of Adam Sedgwick, became Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge in 1822. He soon moved to a chair in Botany, and became a teacher and mentor to Charles Darwin. This book on mineralogy was first published in 1823. It was intended to save time in class by providing an easily accessible reference to the composition of various minerals according to the principles of atomic theory, which was then entering the scientific mainstream. In that paradigm, analysis and examination of any mineral's composition involved first ascertaining the mineral's elementary molecules, both 'essential' and 'accidental', and second, determining the proportions in which the essential ingredients combined to form the integrant molecule of the mineral. Henslow's book will interest historians of science tracing the development of atomic theory, and those working more broadly in the history of university education and the intellectual climate of the nineteenth century.

English anatomist and biologist Richard Owen (1804-92), who in 1842 coined the word 'dinosaur', published this book in 1859, the year of On the Origin of Species. He reviews ancient and recent studies of mammals in Western science before going on to present his own updated categorisation of the class. Owen's eye for detail and range of scholarship are evident in this work, which is an extensive catalogue of mammals based on biological, geographical and anatomical characteristics. It incorporates, among other things, detailed classifications and sub-classifications of genus based on dental structures, food habits and cerebra. Owen's prose is lucid and precise and his investigations scrupulous, demonstrating the commitment that led him to become one of the foremost anatomists of his time. An appendix reveals Owen's views on the hotly debated theories of transmutation and extinction proposed by scientists such as Lamarck, Lyell and Darwin.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume contains an English translation of a description of Ethiopia written by Francisco Alvarez (c.1465-c.1540) during the six years he spent as a missionary with the Portuguese embassy to the Emperor of Ethiopia. Alverez describes Orthodox Christian monasteries and churches, compares the Orthodox and Catholic rites, and provides the first known descriptions of the ancient city of Axum in this, the earliest surviving Western description of Ethiopia, first published in English in 1881.

This series of A-level social biology topic books responds to the changing demands of social biology syllabuses, with each text dealing with a particular area of interest. Although the series is primarily intended for students of A-level social biology, the books will appeal to students studying a wide range of biological subjects at A-level. Environmental Concerns covers topics common to several A-level human and social biology syllabuses. It is particularly relevant to the human ecology and conservation options. The text focuses on the social and economic implications of current ecological issues as well as the basic biological concepts involved. It deals with the causes, effects and prevention of atmospheric and water pollution as well as with the disruption of ecosystems by changes in land use. The conflict of interests between conservation and exploitation is discussed, along with management techniques including the controversial method of culling to maintain diversity. The moral and aesthetic aspects of conservation and management are emphasised throughout, in addition to the scientific background of these techniques.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Volume 1, published in 1847, contains Sir Richard Hawkins's account of the voyage by which in 1593 he planned to sail to 'the Ilands of Japan, of the Phillippinas, and Molucas, the kingdomes of China, and the East Indies, by the way of the Straites of Magelan, and the South Sea'. The version of the book printed in 1622 was edited for the Hakluyt Society by Captain C .R. Drinkwater Bethune of the Royal Navy, and includes an editorial preface, explanatory footnotes and an index.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Volume 4 was edited by William Desborough Cooley, one of the founders of the Society, who stressed the importance of historical accounts to modern exploration. First published in 1849, it contains the eye-witness account by Thomas Maynard of Sir Francis Drake's last voyage across the Atlantic (1595-1596) and his failed attack on San Juan in Puerto Rico, together with a Spanish account of the attack, and an English translation. The text is accompanied by explanatory notes.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume contains two narratives about Russia: Of the Russe Common Wealth by Giles Fletcher, Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to the Russian court in 1588, and a transcription of the manuscript account of the travels of Sir Jerome Horsey, who lived in Russia from 1575 to 1591, firstly as an agent of the English Russia Company, and later as a diplomat. Appendices include Horsey's description of the coronation of Tsar Fyodor I in 1584.

Essay on the Theory of the Earth was the last work of the scientific writer Robert Kerr who translated it from the introductory essay of George Cuvier's four-volume Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrupedes. Before its first publication in 1813, the essay was partly expanded by the geologist and natural historian Robert Jameson who wrote a preface and included extensive notes on mineralogy. Using geological evidence as its principal source of enquiry, Cuvier's essay attempts to address the questions of the origins of the human race, the formation of the earth, and the correlation between incomplete fossil remains and existing species of animals. Extremely influential in its own time, the essay remains a source of considerable insight into the early development of geological research, examining issues of continued significance today.

William Buckland (1784-1856), Dean of Westminster, was an English geologist best known for his contributions to palaeontology. He became the first Reader in Geology at the University of Oxford in 1818. Buckland spent 1819-1822 investigating fossil remains in caves, in order to refine his concept of catastrophism. His research led him to the realisation that hyena remains in Kirkland Cave, Yorkshire, were the remains of an ancient ecosystem and were not relics of the Flood; this led to his being awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society of London in 1822. This volume, first published in 1823, contains a full account of Buckland's influential research in Kirkland Cave, which demonstrated for the first time the ability of scientific analysis to reconstruct events from deep time. Buckland's support for and influential revision of the concept of catastrophism is also illustrated in this volume.

The Sedgwick Prize for the best essay on a geological subject was instituted in memory of Adam Sedgwick, the geologist who introduced Darwin to geology in walking tours of north Wales, but later opposed his theories. One of its most eminent winners was A. C. Seward (1863-1941), then a young lecturer in botany at Cambridge. He combined the study of botany with geology in his research on what the age and location of fossilised flora can reveal about the climates of different geological periods. The author of the standard early twentieth-century textbook in the field, Fossil Plants for Students of Botany and Geology (1898-1919), he served as Professor of Botany at Cambridge, Master of Downing College and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. This Sedgwick Prize essay sets out the state of knowledge in the field in 1892 and was the foundation of a lifetime's work in palaeobotany.

Richard Owen (1804-1892) was a contemporary of Darwin, and like him, attended the University of Edinburgh medical school but left without completing his training. His career as an outstanding palaeontologist began when he was cataloguing the Hunterian Collection of human and animal anatomical specimens which had passed to the Royal College of Surgeons in London. His public lectures on anatomy were attended by Darwin, and he was entrusted with the classification and description of the fossil vertebrates sent back by Darwin from the Beagle voyage. He was responsible for coining many of the terms now used in anatomy and evolutionary biology, including the word 'dinosaur'. Palaeontology (published in 1860) defines, describes and classifies all the fossil animal forms then known, and discusses the origin of species, commenting on the theories of Buffon, Lamarck, the then anonymous author of Vestiges of Creation, Wallace and Darwin.

Beneath Cambridgeshire's towns, villages, farmland, hills, fens and waterways lie the rocks that display a variety of geological landscapes. Basement rocks are buried under sandy deposits from ancient tropical seas. The rising and tilting of the land due to large-scale movements permitted water flows that produced gradual alterations. Glaciation, erosion and dramatic variations in climate all wrought more rapid changes. The consequences of these processes are revealed in this scholarly 1897 account of the geology of Cambridgeshire, which integrated the latest research then available. Proceeding from the most ancient to the most recent beds, systematic consideration is given to the features, distribution and modes of formation, as well as the economic implications of the various strata. Discussions of palaeontology, including detailed lists of site-specific fossils, and of water supply are also provided. An appendix, lists, maps, memoirs and other publications of H.M. Geological Survey from 1814 to 1897 are included.

Bringing together a wide range of environmental issues that have been debated since the mid-1950s, this book views these issues as a result of changes in values in American society since World War II. The author explores such substantive issues as pollution, natural lands, chemical carcinogens, and population-resources balances. He examines the politics of environmental science, economic analysis, planning, and management, and traces the impact of environmental issues on local, state, and federal government. The book explores political controversy to shed light on the working of political institutions and to establish their relationship to social change.

Arctic atmospheric pollution is now a major international issue. This volume presents the most authoritative review of this increasingly important subject for an audience of both scientists and administrators concerned with worldwide, as well as polar, pollution problems. Arctic Air Pollution is an edited collection of papers, first presented at a conference helo as the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge in 1985. Building on foundations established at earlier meetings, this volume examines the problem of Arctic air pollution in an integrated, multidisciplinary fashion, with contributions from leading authorities in chemistry, ecology, climatology and epidemiology. To chemists, physicists and climatologists, it presents scientific problems. Ecologists are concerned with environmental threats; medical researchers with potential threats to human health. International lawyers and administrators are concerned with the legal implications of pollutants transferred across continents. Overall hangs the major question; can man-made pollution affect the delicate energy balance of the Arctic, and precipitate major climatic change worldwide?

Deserts provide a harsh and inhospitable environment for plants and animals, and the ecosystem is correspondingly fragile and prone to disruption by a variety of external factors. The Mojave Desert is a winter-rainfall desert, experiencing drought in the summer months, and occasional rain during the cooler winter months. For many years, it has attracted the attention of ecologists and conservation biologists concerned to maintain the unique status of this region. This book provides a broad overview of plant and animal ecology in the Mojave Desert, presented with a focus on data from Rock Valley, Nevada. The data from many major research projects is synthesized into a description of community structure and dynamics in desert ecosystems.

The idea of forecasting the weather by calculation was first dreamt of by Lewis Fry Richardson. He set out in this book a detailed algorithm for systematic numerical weather prediction. The method of computing atmospheric changes, which he mapped out in great detail in this book, is essentially the method used today. He was greatly ahead of his time because, before his ideas could bear fruit, advances in four critical areas were needed: better understanding of the dynamics of the atmosphere; stable computational algorithms to integrate the equations; regular observations of the free atmosphere; and powerful automatic computer equipment. Over the ensuing years, progress in numerical weather prediction has been dramatic. Weather prediction and climate modelling have now reached a high level of sophistication, and are witness to the influence of Richardson's ideas. This new edition contains a new foreword by Peter Lynch that sets the original book in context.

O financiamento dos cuidados de saúde tem passado por uma história conturbada no Gana. Tal como outras nações em desenvolvimento nos tempos modernos, o Governo do Gana não tem outra escolha senão estabelecer uma política sustentável de financiamento dos cuidados de saúde para todos os ganeses. O objectivo deste livro é examinar se a introdução de um Sistema Nacional de Seguro de Saúde (NHIS) irá proporcionar e prestar e melhorar os serviços de saúde no Gana. A introdução do NHIS destina-se a ajudar a reduzir as barreiras financeiras que têm negado ao cidadão comum o acesso aos cuidados de saúde durante décadas. Enquanto o sistema de saúde parece estar a fazer progressos na satisfação das necessidades básicas do povo do Gana, o contínuo êxodo de profissionais de saúde formados, a falta de liderança, a corrupção e a fraca capacidade institucional continuam a ser um obstáculo importante. Há também muitas razões persuasivas para que o NHIS seja um sucesso. Alguns dos pontos louváveis são a filosofia do NHIS, a popularidade da política, as componentes institucionais existentes e o compromisso global do Estado para com o esquema.

Bem-vindo aos Tópicos Actuais em Biotecnologia e Microbiologia. Este livro fornece o básico, bem como novas ideias em Biotecnologia e Microbiologia, num estilo narrativo e lúcido. As modernas técnicas utilizadas em Nano-biotecnologia, Engenharia Genética, Biotecnologia e Microbiologia são discutidas de uma forma abrangente que irá actualizar os leitores do campo da Biotecnologia e Microbiologia. Este livro tem como objectivo desenvolver a capacidade científica e de investigação juntamente com os conhecimentos básicos dos estudantes de graduação e pós-graduação.

Benvenuti a Current Topics in Biotechnology and Microbiology. Questo libro fornisce le basi e le nuove idee in materia di biotecnologia e microbiologia in uno stile narrativo e lucido. Le moderne tecniche impiegate nella nano-biotecnologia, nell'ingegneria genetica, nella biotecnologia e nella microbiologia sono discusse in modo esauriente e aggiornano i lettori nel campo della biotecnologia e della microbiologia. Questo libro ha lo scopo di sviluppare le capacità scientifiche e di ricerca insieme alle conoscenze di base negli studenti universitari e postuniversitari.

Bienvenido a Current Topics in Biotechnology and Microbiology. Este libro proporciona los fundamentos así como las nuevas ideas en Biotecnología y Microbiología en un estilo narrativo y lúcido. Las técnicas modernas empleadas en la nanobiotecnología, la ingeniería genética, la biotecnología y la microbiología se discuten de manera exhaustiva, lo que pondrá al día a los lectores del campo de la biotecnología y la microbiología. Este libro está destinado a desarrollar la capacidad científica y de investigación junto con los conocimientos básicos en los estudiantes de grado y postgrado.

La financiación de la asistencia sanitaria ha pasado por una historia accidentada en Ghana. Al igual que otras naciones en desarrollo en los tiempos modernos, el Gobierno de Ghana no tiene más remedio que establecer una política de financiación de la asistencia sanitaria sostenible para todos los ghaneses. El objetivo de este libro es examinar si la introducción de un Plan Nacional de Seguro de Salud (NHIS, por sus siglas en inglés) proporcionará y prestará un mejor servicio de atención sanitaria en Ghana. La introducción del NHIS debe ayudar a reducir las barreras financieras que han negado a la gente común el acceso a la asistencia sanitaria durante décadas. Aunque el sistema sanitario parece estar avanzando en la satisfacción de las necesidades básicas de los ghaneses, el continuo éxodo de personal sanitario formado, la falta de liderazgo, la corrupción y la escasa capacidad institucional siguen siendo un gran obstáculo. También hay muchas razones convincentes para que el NHIS sea un éxito. Algunos de los puntos loables son la filosofía del NHIS, la popularidad de la política, los componentes institucionales que se han establecido y el compromiso general del Estado con el plan.