'Our relationship with nature has changed . . . radically, irreversibly, but by no means all for the bad. Our new epoch is laced with invention. Our mistakes are legion, but our talent is immeasurable.' In The Human Age award-winning nature writer Diane Ackerman confronts the fact that the human race is now the single dominant force of change on the planet. Humans have 'subdued 75 per cent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness'. We now collect the DNA of vanishing species in a 'frozen ark', equip orang-utans with iPads, create wearable technologies and synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. Ackerman takes us on an exciting journey to understand this bewildering new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating - perhaps saving - the future. The Human Age is a surprising, optimistic engagement with the dramatic transformations that have shaped, and continue to alter, our world, our relationship with nature and our prospects for the future. Diane Ackerman is one of our most lyrical, insightful and compelling writers on the natural world and The Human Age is a landmark book.

Nanoindentation of Natural Materials: Hierarchical and Functionally Graded Microstructures provides a systematic introduction and review of state-of-the-art statistical hierarchical and functionally graded structures found in bone, teeth, hair, and scales, from a nanoindentation perspective, including detailed microstructure and composition. It covers the basics of hierarchical and functionally graded structures and nanoindentation techniques and detailed discussion with correlation micro/nano mechanical-structures The book includes practical issues backed with experimental data

Kohonen Self Organizing Maps (SOM) has found application in practical all fields, especially those which tend to handle high dimensional data. SOM can be used for the clustering of genes in the medical field, the study of multi-media and web based contents and in the transportation industry, just to name a few. Apart from the aforementioned areas this book also covers the study of complex data found in meteorological and remotely sensed images acquired using satellite sensing. Data management and envelopment analysis has also been covered. The application of SOM in mechanical and manufacturing engineering forms another important area of this book. The final section of this book, addresses the design and application of novel variants of SOM algorithms.

In Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture, author Stefanie K. Dunning considers both popular and literary texts that range from Beyoncé’s Lemonade to Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones. These key works restage Black women in relation to nature. Dunning argues that depictions of protagonists who return to pastoral settings contest the violent and racist history that incentivized Black disavowal of the natural world. Dunning offers an original theoretical paradigm for thinking through race and nature by showing that diverse constructions of nature in these texts are deployed as a means of rescrambling the teleology of the Western progress narrative. In a series of fascinating close readings of contemporary Black texts, she reveals how a range of artists evoke nature to suggest that interbeing with nature signals a call for what Jared Sexton calls “the dream of Black Studies”—abolition. Black to Nature thus offers nuanced readings that advance an emerging body of critical and creative work at the nexus of Blackness, gender, and nature. Written in a clear, approachable, and multilayered style that aims to be as poignant as nature itself, the volume offers a unique combination of theoretical breadth, narrative beauty, and broader perspective that suggests it will be a foundational text in a new critical turn towards framing nature within a cultural studies context.

Over the last 10 years interest in the disciplines of forensic anthropology and archaeology has exploded. In order to provide archaeologists and their students with a reliable understanding of these disciplines, this authoritative volume draws contributions from fifty experienced practitioners from around the world to offer a solid foundation in both the practical and ethical components of forensic work. Over 40 chapters weave together historical development, current field methods in analyzing crime, natural disasters and human atrocities, an array of laboratory techniques, key case studies, legal, professional, and ethical issues, and promising future directions, all from a global perspective. This volume will be the benchmark for the understanding of anthropological and archaeological forensics for years to come.

A comprehensive introduction to the role of epidemiology in veterinary medicine This fully revised and expanded edition of Veterinary Epidemiology introduces readers to the field of veterinary epidemiology. The new edition also adds new chapters on the design of observational studies, validity in epidemiological studies, systematic reviews, and statistical modelling, to deliver more advanced material. This updated edition begins by offering an historical perspective on the development of veterinary medicine. It then addresses the full scope of epidemiology, with chapters covering causality, disease occurrence, determinants, disease patterns, disease ecology, and much more. Veterinary Epidemiology, Fourth Edition: ● Features updates of all chapters to provide a current resource on the subject of veterinary epidemiology ● Presents new chapters essential to the continued advancement of the field ● Includes examples from companion animal, livestock, and avian medicine, as well as aquatic animal diseases ● Focuses on the principles and concepts of epidemiology, surveillance, and diagnostic-test validation and performance ● Includes access to a companion website providing multiple choice questions Veterinary Epidemiology is an invaluable reference for veterinary general practitioners, government veterinarians, agricultural economists, and members of other disciplines interested in animal disease. It is also essential reading for epidemiology students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.