Early Man Research Articles

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN HARMONISING WITH THE SURROUNDING FEATURES

Since the creation of man, there has been continuous transformation of the environment for convenience, at an almost unlimited pace. This process has become faster in the last 50 years, especially in areas of civilization and city planning. The implication is that when man creates, there is usually a destruction of the natural, forgetting that man and the rest of nature need to co-exist in harmony with each other. Architectural Design on the other hand, attempts to make good all human tendencies and activities meant to destroy the age long relationship that existed between nature and man. The paper attempts to look into natural surroundings of man, and finally proffer suggestions on how nature and man will be close as in the good old times of early man. The paper therefore, aims at highlighting how architectural design can reduce the gap between Nature and transformation activities, hence creating a harmony.

Earth surface processes and their effects on human behavior in monsoonal China during the Pleistocene-Holocene epochs

There is a wide diversity of landforms in China. The topography of three major terraces, decreasing in height stepwise from west to east, was formed by the early Miocene. With the commencement of the Great Northern Hemisphere Glaciations (GHGs) and the glacial-interglacial cycles in the Pleistocene, thick loess deposits accumulated in north China, and fluvial terraces were formed and lakes expanded and contracted in eastern and central China. The earliest evidence of hominins in China is dated to ∼1.7 Ma; they occupied the monsoon-dominated region for a long interval, until the late Pleistocene, ∼50 ka. In this study, we investigated a large area rich in the relics and artifacts of early man. The results indicate that the early humans occupied riverine areas, especially medium-sized fluvial basins, and lake shores. Even in the relatively recent geological past, the occupation and abandonment of settlements were directly forced by the shifting of sand dune fields in the desert-loess transitional zone, which in turn was closely associated with variations in the monsoon climate and vegetation patterns. Our observations indicate that landforms were one of the main determinants of early human behavior, in that loess tableland, large alluvial plains, desert-Gobi areas, and the Tibetan Plateau, were not suitable environments for early human settlement. We infer that the early humans in China adapted their behavior to specific landforms and landform processes. The monsoon climate, which shapes the large-scale step-like pattern of fluvial landforms, promotes vegetation coverage and dominates soil formation, provides a crucial context for early human adaptation. The adaptation of early humans to earth surface processes in East Asia is investigated for the first time in this study. Future investigations will provide further information that will increase our understanding of the linkage between early human behavior and landform processes in East Asia.

Searching for masculine capital: Experiences leading to high drive for muscularity in men.

Studies on the drive for muscularity (DFM) have primarily been quantitative, focused on identifying correlates. Currently little is known about men’s experiences leading them to desire high levels of muscle and engage in behaviours to increase their masculine capital. Our purpose was to explore the stories of men with high DFM revealing the socio-cultural and personal factors leading to DFM and their search for masculine capital. In-depth life-history interviews and multiple in-the-field conversations were undertaken with twenty men (Mean age=28.45, SD=6.96, years) scoring ≥ 3 on the Drive for Muscularity Scale (Mean=4.30, SD=0.70). Men’s stories focused on a set of dysfunctional childhood and adolescent socio-cultural interactions, including forms of symbolic violence, between them and significant others. In these interactions men were exposed to dominant social narratives of masculinity, and through comparisons and reinforcement they identified discrepancies between themselves and these narratives. In late adolescence and early adulthood men came to believe that they lacked masculine capital. Men struggled to increase their masculine capital through engagement with other traditional masculine activities (e.g., sport) and driven by activating events, they compensated through DFM desires and behaviours. This study advances knowledge by revealing the socio-cultural and personal processes participants believed led to their high DFM. Findings disclose that men’s search for masculine capital may have led them to develop and maintain high levels of DFM.

Aural exostoses (surfer's ear) provide vital fossil evidence of an aquatic phase in Man's early evolution.

For over a century, otolaryngologists have recognised the condition of aural exostoses, but their significance and aetiology remains obscure, although they tend to be associated with frequent swimming and cold water immersion of the auditory canal. The fact that this condition is usually bilateral is predictable since both ears are immersed in water. However, why do exostoses only grow in swimmers and why do they grow in the deep bony meatus at two or three constant sites? Furthermore, from an evolutionary point of view, what is or was the purpose and function of these rather incongruous protrusions? In recent decades, paleoanthropological evidence has challenged ideas about early hominid evolution. In 1992 the senior author suggested that aural exostoses were evolved in early hominid Man for protection of the delicate tympanic membrane during swimming and diving by narrowing the ear canal in a similar fashion to other semiaquatic species. We now provide evidence for this theory and propose an aetiological explanation for the formation of exostoses.

Toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids provide a warning sign to overuse of the ethnomedicine Arnebia benthamii

Ethnopharmacological relevanceFrom early times man has used medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments and basic health care needs. The use of herbal medicines has increased day by day and with this, so do reports of adverse events, poisoning, and suspected toxicity. Similarly, the indigenous communities of Neelum Valley in Azad Kashmir commonly use Arnebia benthamii (Wall. ex G.Don) I.M.Johnst. for medicinal purposes to treat various human aliments. Besides their medicinal uses, it also contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Aim of the studyThis explorative study underscores two major aspects about this herbal medicine. Firstly we aimed to document the traditional therapeutic uses of Arnebia benthamii in Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir. Secondly, to determine the presence or absence of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids and if they are within the suggested limit for the use of herbs in excess. Materials and methodsInterviews, group discussions, and inquiries were carried out from July to September 2016 with local indigenous and elder people. In the laboratory, the plant was investigated for pyrrolizidine alkaloids by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). ResultsA total of 30 respondents were interviewed. They explained the preferred preparation, parts used, and treatment indications. Treatment of fever along with kidney and liver problems are the three principle uses. Among the different parts of Arnebia benthamii, 43% respondents preferred aerial parts for the herbal formulation, followed by whole plants, and leaves. Decoction was the major mode of preparation and all herbal preparations were administrated orally. This study reports, for the first time according to our literature review, a study of Arnebia benthamii with regard to PA determination. By using column Zorbax SB-Aq and acetonitrile-water gradient as the mobile phase, HPLC results showed that the aerial parts of the plant were PA positive, and (1) Europine, Heliotrine (2), Lycopsamine (3), and Echimidine (4) were identified. ConclusionsThis study has revealed two new findings of significance to herbal medicine producers, practitioners, and consumers of Arnebia benthamii First, local knowledge regarding the medicinal uses of Arnebia benthamii were documented in five sites of Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir. The use of this plant by a large part of the population in the study area shows the importance for their therapeutic benefits. Unfortunately, the second finding of this study shows that Arnebia benthamii contains hepatotoxic PAs. Hence, we advised to the government regulatory authorities and non-governmental organizations that use of this plant as herbal medicine should be excluded before more accurate quality control tests.

The timing of parenthood and its effect on social contact and support

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate how the timing of parenthood affects social contacts and support. Methods: Fixed effects models on 12 waves of the Swiss Household Panel (1999−2010) are used to analyse how social relationships with relatives, friends, and neighbours change after people have children and how these changes depend on the timing of parenthood. Results: The models show that parenthood increases contact with neighbours and decreases contact with friends. However, there are differences based on whether parenthood is early, on time, or late, and based on gender. The earlier men and women have children, the harder it is to keep in contact with friends and to establish contact with neighbours. Later in life the differences between early, ‘on-time’, and late parents tend to decline, except for contact with friends, for fathers. Conclusions: We conclude that the timing of parenthood has a substantial impact on how people’s social networks change, especially shortly after they become parents. Contribution: With this study, we show that the timing of parenthood moderates people’s network changes after they become parents

Distinguished … or dissonant

This article is based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis of stories of 40 early midlife gay men concerning their conversations with younger gay men. Utilizing the communication theory of identity (CTI) as a sensitizing framework, open and axial coding revealed three overarching themes: shifted perspective on gay identity, evolved performance of gay identity, and discord with gay cultural expectations. The findings contribute to broadened understandings of how gay men experience midlife, and these are discussed in light of key CTI concepts.

Plight of the Beta Male

Plight of the Beta Male René Martínez (bio) Early Men Britt Haraway Lamar University Literary Press www.lamar.edu/literary-press/fiction/early-men.html 206Pages; Print, $19.95 What does it take to be a man? For much of history, concepts of masculinity have been rooted in physical appearance and strength of character. We’re told “real” men should be tall and handsome, their actions brave and noble. Those who don’t possess these qualities may be doomed to mediocre lives. Britt Haraway’s debut story collection Early Men focuses on men who have fallen short of society’s traditional expectations and who are motivated by fear of inadequacy. The first story is “Bad Joke Bob” and features a postal equipment salesman making a sudden visit to an old fraternity brother and his wife. Bob is basically Michael Scott, Steve Carell’s strange and needy character from NBC’s comedy The Office (2005–2013), except without flashes of genuine charm and humor. As Haraway’s protagonist claims credit for introducing the couple and fumes about not having been invited to their wedding, it becomes clear he doesn’t recognize personal boundaries or understand his presence is obtrusive. Indeed, he never experiences a simple epiphany: strongly imposing on others usually results in being pushed away. Bob is clueless because, throughout his life, he’s rarely received positive social recognition. This is revealed through several memories, one of which involves his time as the Conquistador, a high school mascot: To me it meant strutting around the sidelines with a sword with the permission to do any outrageous thing you wanted because you believed from the first that you were right. It was how I thought of all the men that had been in my life. They were slayers and self-righteous and generally had a lot of cultural success. It felt wonderful to be in those clothes, until I realized it was just me in the fake muscles—only the idea of me having power made people feel so amused. Other men have always seemed more worthy of respect, love, and prosperity, so Bob is engaged in a never-ending quest to prove himself to anyone and everyone. The collection continues with “Knoxville Dead.” The main character is a college student named Colin who begins an affair with Hedwig, his German instructor. Like any good beta male, Colin reveres his lover and makes sacrifices to ensure her comfort: “When we started dating, I dropped out of school because she felt bad every time my name came up on her roll.” Hedwig is married to a soldier stationed in Iraq, a situation that presents Haraway with a perfect chance to contrast characters on the opposite ends of the manhood spectrum. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t seize this opportunity and instead just takes readers through Colin’s life as a typical mama’s boy: “I didn’t stay with Hedwig that night, because Mama and I had a date to watch the meteors.” A weakness is that Early Men glosses over the psychological effects experienced by those not cut from the dominant mold of masculinity. In real life, these men might be met with cold shoulders, expressions of disgust, or outright dismissals. Such treatment leads to insecurity and serious issues with personal identity. Most of Haraway’s protagonists suffer from these problems, and it’s easy to imagine their pasts as bullied children, broken-hearted boyfriends, and lost souls. This subject matter is actually quite interesting and worthy of exploration; a book showing how these damaged characters attempt to function in a society that doesn’t value them could be important and eye-opening. Early Men isn’t that book, though, and just skims the surface of any emotional struggles. Still, the collection has a few strong points. The best story is “Wall Doxey” and follows Leonard, a pedophile, as he finds an injured and unconscious girl at a state park: Her pink coat was unzipped, falling off her shoulder. Her white T-shirt peeked through, the edge of the short-sleeved shirt, the ends ruffled, like petals. He bent to his knees, the leaves creaking and breaking under his...

Infanticide, Secular Justice, and Religious Debate in Early Modern Europe by Adriano Prosperi

Reviewed by: Infanticide, Secular Justice, and Religious Debate in Early Modern Europe by Adriano Prosperi Jane Bitomsky Prosperi, Adriano, Infanticide, Secular Justice, and Religious Debate in Early Modern Europe, trans. by Hilary Siddons (Europa Sacra, 10), Turnhout, Brepols, 2016; hardback; pp. viii, 407; R.R.P. €110.00; ISBN 9782503531748. By Adriano Prosperi's own admission, 'no other crime has been studied, analysed and described more' than infanticide (p. 49). It is difficult then to offer an original argument or to advance the already abundant scholarship on this offence. Prosperi's text engages in a fine-grained analysis of the 1709 trial and conviction of Bolognese singlewoman Lucia Cremonini for the murder of her newborn son. The author's choice of Cremonini as the focus of this work is predicated on the richness of the archival material on her trial, and the fact that Cremonini is representative of the archetypal early modern infanticidal mother. That Cremonini committed an infanticide is tangential though to how Prosperi uses the extant court documents on her case to reconstruct the greater cultural processes at play in early modern Europe. Indeed, Lucia's act of infanticide is merely a vehicle through which Prosperi can illustrate how the extraction of material from her trial can provide valuable insights into early modern European culture, law, and theology. This text also queries 'whether these obscure inhabitants of the criminal archives are truly knowable in their concrete reality' (p. 369). Prosperi's work is divided into four parts. Each part revolves around a key component or character from Lucia Cremonini's trial. Part 1 provides a retelling and contextualization of the 'words set down in the trial documents'(p. 15). We learn the circumstances surrounding Lucia's commission of this [End Page 247] 'unspeakable crime', and how Lucia conformed, from her marital status to her purported motives, to the early modern template of the infanticidal mother (p. 8). There is also a discussion of the other early modern stereotypes that were propagated about infanticide, with reference to Jewish ritualistic practices, witches, 'donne malefiche' (evil women), and the impecunious midwife (p. 43). Part 2 is entitled 'The Mother'. Here, Prosperi dissects key phrases from Cremonini's 1709 testimony in an attempt to distinguish Lucia from 'the crowd of women convicted of infanticide' (p. 85). Her reference to 'a young priest' as the putative father, for example, is expanded upon to expose how the sexual transgressions of the clergy were typically concealed by the ecclesiastical courts, and to highlight how the paternal figure was largely excluded from early modern investigations of infanticides (p. 93). Lucia's declaration that 'he robbed me of my honour and took my virginity', meanwhile, is found to be consistent with narratives of rape in the early modern Bologna court records, and reflective of the unequal power relations between early modern men and women (p. 113). Although, as Prosperi acknowledges, these court documents contain 'no expression of any feelings', the contextualization of these key phrases allows the reader to make some inferences about Lucia's experiential mindset (p. 114). Part 3 explores the early modern theological and cultural beliefs superimposed on the body of Lucia's deceased male infant. In his discussion of the early modern theological dogma on the unbaptized infant and the question of ensoulment, Prosperi thought-provokingly contends that 'even the unborn is not absent from the historical process just because it is devoid of speech' (p. 136). The final part of this text, perhaps fittingly, ends with a description of Lucia's execution on the scaffold. From the absence of irons on her wrists to the imprisonment of the hangman for 'keeping her in agony for a while', even Lucia's death functions as a commentary on the cultural beliefs ingrained in the spectacle of early modern executions (p. 328). This analysis was motivated by Prosperi's desire 'to understand the story of a mother who committed infanticide' (p. 372). Following the example of scholars Carlo Ginzburg and Natalie Zemon Davis, Prosperi showcases how fine-grained contextual analysis can enrich our understanding of historical individuals whose names are only discoverable due to their appearance in the court records. The value of Prosperi's...

Privacy in the Age of Shakespeare by Ronald Huebert

Reviewed by: Privacy in the Age of Shakespeare by Ronald Huebert Frank Swannack Huebert, Ronald, Privacy in the Age of Shakespeare, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2016; cloth; pp. 352; 11 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. CA $65.00; ISBN 9781442647916. Ronald Huebert begins the introduction with Sir John Harington's The Prayse of Private Life. He argues Harington's prose treatise reveals that privacy has renewed importance in 'the age of Shakespeare', which he defines as the period 1516–1667 (p. 4). This range refers to Sir Thomas More's challenge to privacy in Utopia, and John Milton's spiritual privacy in Paradise Lost. In Chapter 1, Huebert investigates what privacy means to Shakespeare. In Hamlet, Huebert finds a dichotomy between private and public spaces. He examines the invasion of private thoughts through overhearing Hamlet's soliloquies, and of space such as Ophelia's closet. In Twelfth Night, Huebert analyses the anxiety of misinterpreting the inner self, in particular, Olivia's veil and Malvolio's attempt to protect his privacy from Feste, Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Chapter 2 charts a spiritual interiority for both Protestants and Catholics. Huebert examines the prayer closet to argue that the dichotomies of 'Protestant and Catholic, male and female, body and soul' are dissolved(p. 61). He shows this through a close analysis of Christ's agony in the garden, and the spiritual allegory positing Christian souls as Christ's bride. The chapter ends with an investigation of John Saltmarsh's private devotions. Saltmarsh privileges the soul to the point where his flesh is superfluous to private spiritual needs. Chapter 3 focuses on voyeurism. Through the story of Diana and Actaeon in Ovid's Metamorphoses and the History of Susanna in the Apocrypha, Huebert demonstrates how the male voyeur's intrusion of female privacy ends in his death. After examining poetic striptease, Huebert delivers an inspired reading of Much Ado About Nothing. He argues persuasively that Claudio is a voyeur through the way he observes and discusses Hero. Huebert reads Beatrice's passionate command to Benedick to kill Claudio as following the same pattern. Chapter 4 has an experimental, even voyeuristic, tone as Huebert analyses commonplace books. His fascinating rationale is that texts in manuscript form reveal more of the private self than their published counterparts. These less well known works capture a sense of undisturbed private thoughts, as they are not shaped by a history of critical reading in the public domain. With Chapter 5, Huebert investigates whether early modern men and women share a similar understanding of privacy. Lady Anne Clifford's diary reveals a woman who endured a privacy of isolation. Her husband is frequently absent and, when at home, he often retreats into his private study. In contrast to her husband, Clifford's reading of literature and needlework are constantly monitored and interrupted. In a diary by John Ramsey, he is always on the [End Page 217] move and rarely with his family. He only mentions one of his eight children. Huebert concludes that early modern women occupy a shadowy exposed privacy, while men enjoy travelling and private meditative retreats. Chapter 6 examines utopic privacy. In More's Utopia, Huebert discovers an exposed society where privacy is seen as encouraging abusive practices. He then examines Adam and Eve's bower in Milton's Paradise Lost. The Garden of Eden allows intimate privacy for a sexual relationship free from the sin of voyeurism. Chapter 7 investigates if privacy protected early modern heterodoxy. Christopher Marlowe's Edward II reveals the king's desire for privacy to spend time alone with Piers Gaveston. Huebert then examines how Galileo's discovery of a heliocentric universe led to enforced privacy. John Donne's Roman Catholic background and public position as Anglican priest are scrutinized. His poetry published posthumously reveals he considered God's love universal, not subject to affiliation. Huebert establishes that early modern privacy meant cooperating superficially with authority through textual ambiguity. Chapter 8 examines privacy in Andrew Marvell's poetry and prose. Huebert argues that Marvell needed privacy for his dubious erotic tastes, though he finds complexity in Marvell's poetry he terms 'the grammar of supposition and surmise...

La Paleontología en la Argentina del Centenario

Durante las celebraciones del Centenario de la Revolución de Mayo se organizó en Buenos Aires el Congreso Científico Internacional Americano (CCIA), el acontecimiento científico más importante de 1910. La Paleontología figuraba en el programa del CCIA como una subsección a desarrollarse en la sección Ciencias Geológicas. En este trabajo se analizan: (1) las posibles razones de la ausencia de ponencias y el desinterés de los paleontólogos en la subsección Paleontología, aun cuando los temas ?deseables? estaban muy bien planteados, eran de interés continental y había un número importante de paleontólogos/geólogos nativos y/o naturalizados y extranjeros que practicaban las diferentes disciplinas paleontológicas en instituciones públicas y privadas; (2) la función que desempeñó Florentino Ameghino, quien tenía el papel protagónico dentro de la Paleontología, en las actividades científicas durante el Centenario y (3) la manera en que pudo haber influido su pensamiento en el desarrollo de las reuniones científicas durante ese tiempo. F. Ameghino estaba más preocupado por la Antropología física y por la antigüedad del hombre en el Plata que por la Paleontología de vertebrados. Su obsesión por la paleoantropología influyó en el desarrollo de las reuniones y marcó el rumbo hacia donde apuntaba el interés paleontológico argentino y el de sus colegas americanos durante el Centenario. Para la historia de la Paleontología argentina es notable la ausencia de trabajos paleontológicos en el congreso científico más importante del Centenario.

HUBUNGAN ANTARA KECERDASAN EMOSIONAL DAN PENYESUAIAN PERNIKAHAN PADA PRIA DEWASA AWAL DI DENPASAR

Getting married and starting a new family are one of the developing tasks in the early adulthood. In the first 2 years of marriage, couples need to do a marital adjustment. One of the factors that support the successful of marital adjustment is the ability to express feelings to your partner. Men find it difficult to express their feelings for their traditional views about gender roles in society oriented men and Denpasar most people still follow this view. The traditional view emphasizes men as breadwinners, a figure that is strong, not easy to complain and suppress his feelings. The ability to express emotions have a strong relationship with the marital adjustment so that it takes emotional intelligence in the marriage relationship. The aim of this study is to find out the relation between emotional intelligence and marital adjustment among early adulthood men in Denpasar.This study is a quantitative correlation study. The amount of the subject in the study is 66 young adult men with the criteria of the age limit is 20 – 40 years old, have been married with the age of marriage is not more than 2 years. The technique of collecting data used was purposive sampling. The measuring instrument used in the study was emotional intelligence scale with the reliability 0,885 and the scale of marital adjustment with the reliability 0,882. The result after examining the hypotheses by using the method of correlation data analysis by Spearman shows that the significance level is 0,008 (sig<0,05). The value is showing that there is a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and marital adjustment among early adulthood men. The correlation coefficient between emotional intelligence and marital adjustment is 0,323 that means 32,3% variations in marital adjustment are determined by emotional intelligence, meanwhile the other 67,7% are determined by other variables which are not analyzed in this study.Keywords : Emotional Intelligence, Marital Adjustment, Early Adulthood Men

Disparities at the intersection of marginalized groups.

Mental health disparities exist across several dimensions of social inequality, including race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and gender. Most investigations of health disparities focus on one dimension. Recent calls by researchers argue for studying persons who are marginalized in multiple ways, often from the perspective of intersectionality, a theoretical framework applied to qualitative studies in law, sociology, and psychology. Quantitative adaptations are emerging but there is little guidance as to what measures or methods are helpful. Here, we consider the concept of a joint disparity and its composition, show that this approach can illuminate how outcomes are patterned for social groups that are marginalized across multiple axes of social inequality, and compare the insights gained with that of other measures of additive interaction. We apply these methods to a cohort of young men from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, examining disparities for black men with low early life SES vs. white men with high early life SES across several outcomes that predict mental health, including unemployment, wages, and incarceration. We report striking disparities in each outcome, but show that the contribution of race, SES, and their intersection varies.

Impact of chronic ischemic heart disease on the health care costs of COPD patients – An analysis of German claims data

ObjectivesChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has a substantial impact on health care systems worldwide. Particularly, cardiovascular diseases such as ischemic heart disease (IHD) are frequent in individuals with COPD, but the economic consequences of combined COPD and IHD are by large unknown. Therefore, our study has the objective to investigate excess costs of IHD in COPD patients. MethodsOut of German Statutory Health Insurance claims data we identified 26,318 COPD patients with and 10,287 COPD patients without IHD based on ICD-10 codes (COPD J44; IHD I2[0,1,2,5]) of the year 2011 and matched 9986 of them in a 1:1 ratio based on age and gender. Then, we investigated health care service expenditures in 2012 via Generalized Linear Models. Moreover, we evaluated a potential non-linear association between health care expenditures and age in a gender-stratified Generalized Additive Model. ResultsThe prevalence of IHD in individuals with COPD increases with rising age up to a share of 50%. COPD patients with IHD cause adjusted mean annual per capita health care service expenditures of ca. €7400 compared with ca. €5800 in COPD patients without IHD. Moreover, excess costs of IHD have an inverse u-shape, peaking in the early (men) respectively late seventies (women). ConclusionsIHD in COPD patients is associated with excess costs of ca. € 1,500, with the exact amount varying age- and gender-dependently. Subgroups with high excess costs indicate medical need that calls for efficient care strategies, considering COPD and IHD together particularly between 70 and 80 years of age.

Phill Niblock's ‘Winter Solstice’ at Roulette, Brooklyn, New York

The winter solstice has long held deep significance for cultures dating back to as far as the Neolithic period. Some of civilisation's oldest monuments, from Stonehenge to Newgrange, are carefully aligned on sight lines pointing toward the winter solstice sunrise and sunset. And it's no surprise for the day marked the middle of winter, giving early man a crucial indicator – a signpost that guided food consumption for the remaining winter months – but on an even deeper level, the winter solstice signified for ancient pagan peoples the beginning of a rebirth, marking the resurrection of a beloved sun god and the gradual reawakening of nature.

Losing Touch with Nature: Literature and the New Science in Sixteenth-Century England. Mary Thomas Crane. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. ix+227.

<i>Losing Touch with Nature: Literature and the New Science in Sixteenth-Century England</i>. Mary Thomas Crane. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Pp. ix+227.

Ayesha Mukherjee.Penury into Plenty: Dearth and the Making of Knowledge in Early Modern England.

In this, her first book, Ayesha Mukherjee addresses the cultural centrality of dearth, or rather the fear of it, in 1590s England—a subject that might at first glance appear narrow, but actually opens up deep questions about how early modern English men and women understood and responded to the social, economic, and environmental changes they were experiencing. At the heart of the study is the intriguing character of Sir Hugh Platt, polymathic author and experimenter who recently appeared in Deborah E. Harkness’s The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (2007), the title of which Harkness borrowed from Platt’s own central publication. Whereas Harkness depicted Platt’s London as the crucible of the scientific revolution in England, Mukherjee emphasizes its vulnerability, particularly in the dismal 1590s, when dearth was a pressing fear. To Mukherjee, this was the overriding concern that united Platt’s eclectic interests—ranging from medicine, food preservation, and manuring to cookery, limning, and pencil making—although this “dearth science” (as Mukherjee labels it) was much more than the obsession of an eccentric individual. Son of one of London’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, Platt enjoyed strong connections with London’s artisans, as well as the rich gentry, and his shop (the original “Jewel House”) was at the center of networks that extended throughout the city and beyond. From this vantage point Platt was able to compile information on a breathtaking range of innovative techniques—twenty-five recipes for black ink, to take one example cited from his manuscripts—that he would then absorb into his own experimental practices, publish, or simply make available for sale.

Application of Atomic and Molecular Physics in the Atmosphere

The most important of a long term changes in structure of the atmosphere due to the concentration of various species in the upper atmosphere. The gaseous or vaporous shell that surrounds the earth. When early man first sought to understand his physics environment, his greatest awe surely concerned the sun, moon, planets, and stars (which became the basis of the science of astronomy or astrophysics), and next he wondered at the winds and storms, rain and snom, ironment, his greatest awe surely concerned the sun, moon, planets, and stars (which became the basis of the science of astronomy or astrophysics), and next he wondered at the winds and storms, rain and snow, clouds, lighting, and thunder that collectively made up his weather. The Greek root atmos, meaning air or vapor, originally derived from the word for winds. The first impetus to meteorological theory was given by the puzzling behavior of the barometer in relation to the weather, but it remained for Vilhelm Bjerknes, a physics professor at Bergen, Norway, around 1900 to formulate weather systems mathematically in terms of high- and low-pressure areas, warm fronts, and cold fronts. In England, Napier Shaw began scientific research on atmospheric processes in 1885 at the Cavendish Laboratory, by 1918 weather forecasting had become a science, much as we know it today. So on. As well as the seasonal changes from summer to winter. The prevailing weather at a given location is called its climate, and climate varies with geographical latitude, terrain features, and altitude.

The Old South Confronts the Dilemma of David Livingstone

David Livingstone (1813-1873) posed problem for white southerners before Civil War. He was greatest hero in Anglophone world but also thoroughgoing abolitionist. Livingstone's heroism stemmed from his 1854-1856 crossing of Africa from Luanda (in today's Angola) in west to Quelimane (in Mozambique) in east. This stupendous feat would have earned Livingstone renown in its own right. But what made Livingstone hero was how he explained significance of his exploits, both in speeches he made in Britain upon his return in 1856-1858 and in his book Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, which caused sensation in Britain and United States when it was first published in 1857. Livingstone used his experiences to express compelling vision for regeneration of Africa. He came to believe that missionary efforts had to be preceded by commercial relations rooted in what he and like-minded Britons called legitimate trade--the exchange of items such as cotton, palm oil, and ivory for European-made goods. Livingstone believed that without this foundation slave trade and its attendant violence, social dislocation, and moral corruption would confound all efforts to bring Western civilization to Africa. Livingstone was essence of ideal early Victorian man--self-abnegating, modest, ecumenical, and relentless. He believed with absolute conviction in idea of progress, notion that humankind could improve itself materially and spiritually under stewardship of benign God. And he had succeeded at what few Europeans had even attempted--to bring this vision to African interior. He could not be ignored. Livingstone was the hero traveller, South Carolina writer conceded, a name in every mouth across Anglo-American world. (1) His travels alone would have made Livingstone compelling figure to Americans, who were avid consumers of British culture despite an acute sense of cultural nationalism and presence of significant pockets of Anglophobia--especially prevalent in South due to British antislavery meddling. (2) But Livingstone also appealed directly to Americans in final pages of Missionary Travels. Like growing number of reform-minded women and men on both sides of Atlantic, he had come to see United States and Great Britain as partners in great cause of spreading Christianity and Western civilization across world. It is on Anglo-American race that hopes of world for liberty and progress rest, he wrote. Livingstone understood United States to be an outpost of British civilization, Americans and Britons bound together by ties of culture and blood. The glorious task of regenerating Africa, of bringing her into community of civilized nations, lay with English-speaking peoples everywhere. The necessary first step was eradication of slave trade via establishment of legitimate trade, specifically in cultivation of cotton. Livingstone found cotton growing throughout southeastern Africa, and he concluded--erroneously, it turned out--that Zambezi River was navigable deep into interior, providing ready thoroughfare for commercial penetration. When Africans learned that Britons and others would happily buy all cotton Africa could produce, they would abandon slave trading. (3) Perhaps with his American audience in mind, Livingstone took pains to point out that Britain shared responsibility for survival of peculiar institution owing to its consumption of plantation staples. We now demand increased supplies of cotton and sugar, and then reprobate means our American brethren adopt to supply our wants, he chided his compatriots. Now it is very grievous to find one portion of this race practicing gigantic evil, and other aiding, by increased demands for produce of slave labor, in perpetuating enormous wrong. Livingstone maintained that Britain had standing, over white southerners' objections, to work for end of slavery in United States. …

Gender differences in stroop performance following guanfacine versus placebo in early abstinent cocaine-dependent men and women

Gender differences in stroop performance following guanfacine versus placebo in early abstinent cocaine-dependent men and women