Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Very Short introductions volume 87
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
"The Cold War dominated international life from the end of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall. But how did the dispute begin, and why did it move from its origins in post-war Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? Robert J. McMahon considers these questions and more, providing a truly international history of the Cold War and examining its enduring legacy. He draws on the most recent scholarship and documents to...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 673
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Refugees and other forced migrants are one of the great contemporary challenges the world is confronting. Throughout the world people leave their home countries to escape war, natural disasters, and cultural and political oppression. Unfortunately, even today, the international community struggles to provide an adequate response to this vast population in need. a.
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 47
Language
English
Description
India has a long, rich, and diverse tradition of philosophical thought, spanning some two and a half millennia and encompassing several major religious traditions. This Very Short Introduction emphasizes the diversity of Indian thought, and is structured around six schools which have achieved classic status. Sue Hamilton explores how the traditions have attempted to understand the nature of reality in terms of an inner or spiritual quest, and introduces...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 638
Language
English
Description
"The Sun, as our nearest star, is of enormous importance for life on Earth - providing the warm radiation and light which allowed complex life to evolve. The Sun plays a key role in influencing our climate, whilst solar storms and high-energy events can threaten our communication infrastructure and satellites. This Very Short Introduction explores what we know about the Sun, its physics, its structure, origins, and future evolution. Philip Judge explains...
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Typography, the art of designing printed words, was once the domain of an elite few artists but has become an area with which millions of people engage daily. The widespread usage of digital devices from laptops to tablets and smart phones which are used for written communications means that we are regularly asked to make decisions about the fonts, sizes, and layouts we use in our writing. This broadening engagement with the field of typography has...
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Formats
Description
The threat of global warming--the danger of melting ice caps, rising ocean levels, lost coast lines, and increasingly volatile weather--has made climate an integral aspect of one of the great hot-button issues of our time. It has certainly never been more important for all of us to understand the nature of climate than now. In this wide-ranging Very Short Introduction to climate, Mark Maslin considers all aspects of the global climate system, exploring...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 371
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Causation is the most fundamental connection in the universe. Without it, there would be no science or technology. There would be no moral responsibility either, as none of our thoughts would be connected with our actions and none of our actions with any consequences. Nor would we have a system of law because blame resides only in someone having caused injury or damage. Any intervention we make in the world around us is premised on there being
...Author
Series
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Language
English
Description
"A book about the samurai from their origins in the eighth and ninth centuries until their demise in the mid-nineteenth century. It dispels a lot of myths about the samurai one might encounter in popular culture. It describes samurai life, work, philosophy, and warfare as it changed over time. It covers what samurai were doing when they weren't fighting. For example, samurai who engaged in commerce, formed gangs, begged, and even taught samurai etiquette...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 514
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Formats
Description
From the Bronze Age mariners of the Mediterranean to contemporary sailors using satellite-based technologies, the history of navigation at sea, the art of finding a position and setting a course, is fascinating. The scientific and technological developments that have enabled accurate measurements of position were central to exploration, trade, and the opening up of new continents, and the resulting journeys taken under their influence have had
...Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 637
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Our sense of smell -- or olfaction, as it is technically known -- is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom, smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance...
Author
Series
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Language
English
Formats
Description
"The population of the United States has diverse sources: territorial acquisition through conquest and colonialism, the slave trade, and voluntary immigration, which has been the greatest instrument of population expansion and has been central to the transition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from a rural-agricultural to an urban-industrial society. Recognition of the need for labor to develop and expand economic activity has been central...
Author
Series
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Formats
Description
The idea of heredity--that qualities of body and mind are somehow inherited from one's parents--has profoundly shaped many aspects of the human experience: from our attempts to understand variation in personality and intelligence, and popular attitudes to gender, race, and social hierarchy, to the methods employed to increase crop yields and the value of horses and cattle. In this Very Short Introduction, John Waller traces both the technical study...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 573
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Synthetic biology is one of the 21st century's fastest growing fields of research, as important for technology as for basic science. Building on traditional genetic engineering, which was restricted to changing one or two genes, synthetic biology uses multi-gene modules and pathways to make very significant changes to what cells can do. Synthetic biologists aim to have an impact in fields as diverse as drug manufacture, biofuel production, tackling...
Author
Series
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Henry James: A Very Short Introduction places Henry James's notoriously difficult writings in their historical and biographical context. Henry James had a major impact on the literary culture of his time and ever since. From his childhood through his mature life, James created a unique body of fiction, travel writing, reviews, and theory that represents one of the greatest achievements in America's literary history. This VSI studies various fictional...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 352
Language
English
Formats
Description
Bacteria form a fundamental branch of life. They are the oldest forms of life and the most prolific of all living organisms, inhabiting every part of the Earth's surface, its ocean depths, and even such inhospitable places as boiling hot springs. In this Very Short Introduction, bacteriologist Sebastian Amyes explores the nature of bacteria, their origin and evolution, bacteria in the environment, and bacteria and disease. Amyes discusses some of...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 43
Language
English
Formats
Description
In this enlightening Very Short Introduction, Simon Critchley shows us that Continental philosophy encompasses a distinct set of philosophical traditions and practices, with a compelling range of problems all too often ignored by the analytic tradition. He discusses the ideas and approaches of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Habermas, Foucault, and Derrida. He also introduces key concepts such as existentialism,...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 605
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Most people are familiar with the dodo and the dinosaur, but extinction has occurred throughout the history of life, with the result that nearly all the species that have ever existed are now extinct. Today, species are disappearing at an ever increasing rate, whilst past losses have occurred during several great crises. Issues such as habitat destruction, conservation, climate change, and, during major crises, volacanism and meteorite impact, can...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 174
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
In 2008 it was believed that HIV/AIDS was without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death. The first case was identified in 1981; by 2004 it was estimated that about 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died. Yet the outlook today is a little brighter. Although HIV/ AIDS continues to be a pressing public health issue the epidemic has stabilised globally, and it has become evident it is not,...
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 559
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Genomics has transformed the biological sciences. From epidemiology and medicine to evolution and forensics, the ability to determine an organism's complete genetic makeup has changed the way science is done and the questions that can be asked of it. Its most celebrated achievement was the Human Genome Project, a technologically challenging endeavor that took thousands of scientists around the world 13 years and over 3 billion US dollars to complete....
Author
Series
Very short introductions volume 661
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
©2020.
Language
English
Description
"Enzymes are the astonishing, tiny molecular machines that make life possible. Each one of these small proteins speeds up a single chemical reaction inside a living organism many millionfold. Working together, teams of enzymes carry out all the processes that collectively we recognise as life, from making DNA to digesting food. This Very Short Introduction explains the why and the how of speeding up these reactions - catalysis - before going on to...
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