Göttingen and the Development of the Natural Sciences

Download Göttingen and the Development of the Natural Sciences PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Göttingen and the Development of the Natural Sciences by : Nicolaas A. Rupke

Download or read book Göttingen and the Development of the Natural Sciences written by Nicolaas A. Rupke and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Hilbert, Göttingen and the Development of Modern Mathematics

Download Hilbert, Göttingen and the Development of Modern Mathematics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 152752762X
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (275 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Hilbert, Göttingen and the Development of Modern Mathematics by : Joan Roselló

Download or read book Hilbert, Göttingen and the Development of Modern Mathematics written by Joan Roselló and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hilbert is one of the outstanding mathematicians of the twentieth century and probably the most influential. This book highlights Hilbert’s contributions to mathematics, putting them in their historical, social and cultural context. In doing so, particular attention is paid to Hilbert’s axiomatic method and his proposal for the foundations of mathematics, the so-called Hilbert’s program. The book also discusses the development of algebraic number theory, the theory of integral equations, modern algebra and the structural image of mathematics. In addition, it considers the famous list of Mathematical Problems presented in Paris in 1900, the mathematical tradition of the University of Göttingen, the great debate on the foundations of mathematics in the twenties between formalists and intuitionists, and, finally, Hilbert’s work on the theory of relativity and the foundations of quantum mechanics. The book will primarily appeal to an academic audience, although it will also be of interest to general-interest science readers.

The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond

Download The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (116 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond by : Gustav V. R. Born

Download or read book The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond written by Gustav V. R. Born and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gustav Victor Rudolf Born was born in Göttingen in 1921 as one of the three children of Hedwig Born and the already famous physicist Max Born who became Nobel laureate in Physics in 1954. On the grounds of the Born's Jewish origins and the open pacifism of Max Born, the National Socialists forced the Born family to leave Germany in 1933, soon after the National Socialist Party seized power. The family immigrated to Great Britain, first to Cambridge, later to Edinburgh. The Born children spent the rest of their childhood and youth in Britain, and Gustav Born obtained his medical degree from Edinburgh University, his doctoral degree from the University of Oxford. During his long and distinguished academic career, Born has held chairs of pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons, at Cambridge University, and at King's College in London. At the end of his outstanding career and his invaluable contributions to knowledge of the pathophysiology of the circulation, haemosthasis, thrombosis and atherogenesis, he was Research Professor at the William Harvey Research Institute. In this book he reflects on the life journey the Born family was forced to take. The text stems from the conference “Göttingen and the development of the Natural Sciences”, organized by the Georgia Augusta's Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte in November 2000. Gustav Born agreed to attend and follow the invitation to present a keynote address on “The Born family in and out of Göttingen”, which was held in the University's sanctum sanctorum, the so-called Alte Aula. His address was the highlight of the conference, attended by many from Göttingen's academic community and concluded with a long standing ovation. In a personal conversation with Arnulf Quadt (professor for particle physics at Göttingen University), briefly before his sad passing in April 2018, Gustav Born encouraged to make the book on the story of his family available again. The University of Göttingen is deeply honoured to follow Gustav Born's suggestion and present a commented reprint of the original keynote in 2002.

The Gestation of German Biology

Download The Gestation of German Biology PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022652082X
Total Pages : 532 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Gestation of German Biology by : John H. Zammito

Download or read book The Gestation of German Biology written by John H. Zammito and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence of biology as a distinct science in the eighteenth century has long been a subject of scholarly controversy. Michel Foucault, on the one hand, argued that its appearance only after 1800 represented a fundamental rupture with the natural history that preceded it, marking the beginnings of modernity. Ernst Mayr, on the other hand, insisted that even the word "biology" was unclear in its meaning as late as 1800, and that the field itself was essentially prospective well into the 1800s. In The Gestation of German Biology, historian of ideas John Zammito presents a different version of the emergence of the field, one that takes on both Foucault and Mayr and emphasizes the scientific progress throughout the eighteenth century that led to the recognition of the need for a special science. The embrace of the term biology around 1800, Zammito shows, was the culmination of a convergence between natural history and human physiology that led to the development of comparative physiology and morphology—the foundations of biology. Magisterial in scope, Zammito’s book offers nothing less than a revisionist history of the field, with which anyone interested in the origins of biology will have to contend.

Acolytes of Nature

Download Acolytes of Nature PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226667375
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (266 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Acolytes of Nature by : Denise Phillips

Download or read book Acolytes of Nature written by Denise Phillips and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-06-04 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although many of the practical and intellectual traditions that make up modern science date back centuries, the category of “science” itself is a relative novelty. In the early eighteenth century, the modern German word that would later mean “science,” naturwissenschaft, was not even included in dictionaries. By 1850, however, the term was in use everywhere. Acolytes of Nature follows the emergence of this important new category within German-speaking Europe, tracing its rise from an insignificant eighteenth-century neologism to a defining rallying cry of modern German culture. Today’s notion of a unified natural science has been deemed an invention of the mid-nineteenth century. Yet what Denise Phillips reveals here is that the idea of naturwissenschaft acquired a prominent place in German public life several decades earlier. Phillips uncovers the evolving outlines of the category of natural science and examines why Germans of varied social station and intellectual commitments came to find this label useful. An expanding education system, an increasingly vibrant consumer culture and urban social life, the early stages of industrialization, and the emergence of a liberal political movement all fundamentally altered the world in which educated Germans lived, and also reshaped the way they classified knowledge.

The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond

Download The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Göttingen University Press
ISBN 13 : 386395386X
Total Pages : 87 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (639 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond by : Gustav V. R. Born

Download or read book The Born Family in Göttingen and Beyond written by Gustav V. R. Born and published by Göttingen University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gustav Victor Rudolf Born was born in Göttingen in 1921 as one of the three children of Hedwig Born and the already famous physicist Max Born who became Nobel laureate in Physics in 1954. On the grounds of the Born’s Jewish origins and the open pacifism of Max Born, the National Socialists forced the Born family to leave Germany in 1933, soon after the National Socialist Party seized power. The family immigrated to Great Britain, first to Cambridge, later to Edinburgh. The Born children spent the rest of their childhood and youth in Britain, and Gustav Born obtained his medical degree from Edinburgh University, his doctoral degree from the University of Oxford. During his long and distinguished academic career, Born has held chairs of pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons, at Cambridge University, and at King’s College in London. At the end of his outstanding career and his invaluable contributions to knowledge of the pathophysiology of the circulation, haemosthasis, thrombosis and atherogenesis, he was Research Professor at the William Harvey Research Institute. In this book he reflects on the life journey the Born family was forced to take. The text stems from the conference “Göttingen and the development of the Natural Sciences”, organized by the Georgia Augusta’s Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte in November 2000. Gustav Born agreed to attend and follow the invitation to present a keynote address on “The Born family in and out of Göttingen”, which was held in the University’s sanctum sanctorum, the so-called Alte Aula. His address was the highlight of the conference, attended by many from Göttingen’s academic community and concluded with a long standing ovation. In a personal conversation with Arnulf Quadt (professor for particle physics at Göttingen University), briefly before his sad passing in April 2018, Gustav Born encouraged to make the book on the story of his family available again. The University of Göttingen is deeply honoured to follow Gustav Born’s suggestion and present a commented reprint of the original keynote in 2002.

Performing Knowledge, 1750-1850

Download Performing Knowledge, 1750-1850 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110421062
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (14 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Performing Knowledge, 1750-1850 by : Mary Helen Dupree

Download or read book Performing Knowledge, 1750-1850 written by Mary Helen Dupree and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-07-31 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period between 1750 and 1850 was a time when knowledge and its modes of transmission were reconsidered and reworked in fundamental ways. Social and political transformations, such as the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, went hand in hand with in new ways of viewing, sensing, and experiencing what was perceived to be a rapidly changing world. This volume brings together a range of essays that explore the performance of knowledge in the period from 1750 to 1850, in the broadest possible sense. The essays explore a wide variety of literary, theatrical, and scientific events staged during this period, including scientific demonstrations, philosophical lectures, theatrical performances, stage design, botany primers, musical publications, staged Schiller memorials, acoustic performances, and literary declamations. These events served as vital conduits for the larger process of generating, differentiating, and circulating knowledge. By unpacking the significance of performance and performativity for the creation and circulation of knowledge in Germany during this period, the volume makes an important contribution to interdisciplinary German cultural studies, performance studies, and the history of knowledge.

The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837

Download The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139461877
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837 by : Brendan Simms

Download or read book The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837 written by Brendan Simms and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-02-08 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than 120 years (1714–1837) Great Britain was linked to the German Electorate, later Kingdom, of Hanover through Personal Union. This made Britain a continental European state in many respects, and diluted her sense of insular apartness. The geopolitical focus of Britain was now as much on Germany, on the Elbe and the Weser as it was on the Channel or overseas. At the same time, the Hanoverian connection was a major and highly controversial factor in British high politics and popular political debate. This volume was the first systematically to explore the subject by a team of experts drawn from the UK, US and Germany. They integrate the burgeoning specialist literature on aspects of the Personal Union into the broader history of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Britain. Never before had the impact of the Hanoverian connection on British politics, monarchy and the public sphere, been so thoroughly investigated.

A Richer Picture of Mathematics

Download A Richer Picture of Mathematics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319678191
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (196 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Richer Picture of Mathematics by : David E. Rowe

Download or read book A Richer Picture of Mathematics written by David E. Rowe and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian David E. Rowe captures the rich tapestry of mathematical creativity in this collection of essays from the “Years Ago” column of The Mathematical Intelligencer. With topics ranging from ancient Greek mathematics to modern relativistic cosmology, this collection conveys the impetus and spirit of Rowe’s various and many-faceted contributions to the history of mathematics. Centered on the Göttingen mathematical tradition, these stories illuminate important facets of mathematical activity often overlooked in other accounts. Six sections place the essays in chronological and thematic order, beginning with new introductions that contextualize each section. The essays that follow recount episodes relating to the section’s overall theme. All of the essays in this collection, with the exception of two, appeared over the course of more than 30 years in The Mathematical Intelligencer. Based largely on archival and primary sources, these vignettes offer unusual insights into behind-the-scenes events. Taken together, they aim to show how Göttingen managed to attract an extraordinary array of talented individuals, several of whom contributed to the development of a new mathematical culture during the first decades of the twentieth century.

The Collections, Museums and Gardens of Göttingen University

Download The Collections, Museums and Gardens of Göttingen University PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Göttingen University Press
ISBN 13 : 3863951964
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (639 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Collections, Museums and Gardens of Göttingen University by : Ulrike Beisiegel

Download or read book The Collections, Museums and Gardens of Göttingen University written by Ulrike Beisiegel and published by Göttingen University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The University of Göttingen possesses within its research and teaching collections, exhibitions and diverse range of gardens, unique museum holdings in an exceptionally wide range of knowledge domains. Among these are many objects and convolutes of outstanding significance worldwide. These notable holdings have always played an important role in student life and the academic work pursued at Göttingen University, as well as in university members’ training and research activities. The beginnings of the collections date back to a time well before the founding of the university itself in 1737. Initially existing in isolation as the Naturalien Cammer (Cabinet of Natural Curiosities), botanical collection, numismatic collection or model collection, in 1773 several of them were brought together in terms of space and content as the Königliches Academisches Museum (Royal Academic Museum) and extended considerably. Some of the collections continued to exist into the early 20th century as the Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), but ultimately, in the late 1920s and early ’30s at the latest, they were transferred to separate institutes and have since been maintained separately. Many of the collections play an important role in the university’s research and teaching, as for a large number of subject areas material objects are indispensable for didactical, investigative and learning processes. The relevance of other collections, however, lies above all in their contribution to the history of science and knowledge, vividly bringing to life and illustrating archive and book holdings also held by the university. This rich heritage gives the University of Göttingen special opportunities, but it also brings obligations. The collections and gardens should be accessible for use in the research context, preserved for future generations, and also remain available for university teaching. This necessarily involves the responsible supervision and care of holdings by curators or, in the case of smaller collections, by members of the university taking on responsibility for them in a part-time capacity. In presenting this Collections Guide, the University of Göttingen would like to inform its staff, students and the general public from near and far about its rich and diverse museums holdings from the areas of art, cultural history, archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, cultural anthropology, medicine, the natural sciences and mathematics, and warmly invites guests to visit them. Mike Reich

Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen

Download Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030227278
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (32 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen by : Arne Schirrmacher

Download or read book Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen written by Arne Schirrmacher and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-08-01 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantum mechanics – the grandiose theory that describes nature down to the submicroscopic level – was first formulated in Göttingen in 1925. How did this come about and why is it that Göttingen became the pre-eminent location for a revolution in physics? This book is the first to investigate the wide range of factors that were pivotal for quantum physics to be established in Göttingen. These include the process of generational change of physics professors, the hopes of mathematicians seeking new fields of research, and a new understanding of the interplay of experiment, theory and philosophy.

Felix Klein

Download Felix Klein PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030757854
Total Pages : 677 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (37 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Felix Klein by : Renate Tobies

Download or read book Felix Klein written by Renate Tobies and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About Felix Klein, the famous Greek mathematician Constantin Carathéodory once said: “It is only by illuminating him from all angles that one can come to understand his significance.” The author of this biography has done just this. A detailed study of original sources has made it possible to uncover new connections; to create a more precise representation of this important mathematician, scientific organizer, and educational reformer; and to identify misconceptions. Because of his edition of Julius Plücker’s work on line geometry and due to his own contributions to non-Euclidean geometry, Klein was already well known abroad before he received his first full professorship at the age of 23. By exchanging ideas with his most important cooperation partner, the Norwegian Sophus Lie, Klein formulated his Erlangen Program. Various other visionary programs followed, in which Klein involved mathematicians from Germany and abroad. Klein was the most active promoter of Riemann’s geometric-physical approach to function theory, but he also integrated the analytical approaches of the Weierstrass school into his arsenal of methods. Klein was a citizen of the world who repeatedly travelled to France, Great Britain, Italy, the United States, and elsewhere. Despite what has often been claimed, it must be emphasized that Klein expressly opposed national chauvinism. He promoted mathematically gifted individuals regardless of their nationality, religion, or gender. Many of his works have been translated into English, French, Italian, Russian, and other languages; more than 300 supporters from around the world made it possible for his portrait to be painted by the prominent impressionist Max Liebermann. Inspired by international developments, Klein paved the way for women to work in the field of mathematics. He was instrumental in reforming mathematical education, and he endorsed an understanding of mathematics that affirmed its cultural importance as well as its fundamental significance to scientific and technological progress.

Vital Forces, Teleology and Organization

Download Vital Forces, Teleology and Organization PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319654152
Total Pages : 137 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (196 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Vital Forces, Teleology and Organization by : Andrea Gambarotto

Download or read book Vital Forces, Teleology and Organization written by Andrea Gambarotto and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a comprehensive account of vitalism and the Romantic philosophy of nature. The author explores the rise of biology as a unified science in Germany by reconstructing the history of the notion of “vital force,” starting from the mid-eighteenth through the early nineteenth century. Further, he argues that Romantic Naturphilosophie played a crucial role in the rise of biology in Germany, especially thanks to its treatment of teleology. In fact, both post-Kantian philosophers and naturalists were guided by teleological principles in defining the object of biological research. The book begins by considering the problem of generation, focusing on the debate over the notion of “formative force.” Readers are invited to engage with the epistemological status of this formative force, i.e. the question of the principle behind organization. The second chapter provides a reconstruction of the physiology of vital forces as it was elaborated in the mid- to late-eighteenth century by the group of physicians and naturalists known as the “Göttingen School.” Readers are shown how these authors developed an understanding of the animal kingdom as a graded series of organisms with increasing functional complexity. Chapter three tracks the development of such framework in Romantic Naturphilosophie. The author introduces the reader to the problem of classification, showing how Romantic philosophers of nature regarded classification as articulated by a unified plan that connects all living forms with one another, relying on the idea of living nature as a universal organism. In the closing chapter, this analysis shows how the three instances of pre-biological discourse on living beings – theory of generation, physiology and natural history – converged to form the consolidated disciplinary matrix of a general biology. The book offers an insightful read for all scholars interested in classical German philosophy, especially those researching the philosophy of nature, as well as the history and philosophy of biology.

Spiritual Information

Download Spiritual Information PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Templeton Foundation Press
ISBN 13 : 1932031731
Total Pages : 624 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (32 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Spiritual Information by : Charles L. Harper

Download or read book Spiritual Information written by Charles L. Harper and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 2005-06 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual Information is a collection of one hundred essays that explore a portion of the vast interdisciplinary approaches to the study of science and religion. Individually and together, the essays show how the study of ourselves, our planet, and the universe helps us understand our place as spiritual beings within God’s universe. The book is a tribute to Sir John Templeton and his pioneering commitment toward new research that results in “one hundredfold more spiritual information than humankind has ever possessed before.” It begins with essays that reflect on Sir John’s principal domains of interest and expertise: free-enterprise based finance and accelerating spiritual progress. Themes of the sections are: •Science-Religion Dialogue •Cosmology, Physics, and Astronomy •Mathematics, Musicology, and Speculation •Biological Evolution—the Human Being •Social Evolution—the Human Mind and Heart •Religion and Health •The Nature of the Divine •Theology and Philosophy •Faith Traditions “Sir John’s leadership has enabled us to edge ever closer to the frontier where knowledge meets wisdom at the threshold of ‘ultimate reality,’” notes the editor in the preface to this volume. As Spiritual Information presents an overview of how far we have come in the science and religion dialogue, it also opens windows to the vast possibilities for additional research and further advances in spiritual information.

Science Makes the World Go Round

Download Science Makes the World Go Round PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319340794
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (193 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Science Makes the World Go Round by : Michael Böcher

Download or read book Science Makes the World Go Round written by Michael Böcher and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-17 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Researchers in the environmental sciences are often frustrated because actors involved with practice do not follow their advice. This is the starting point of this book, which describes a new model for scientific knowledge transfer called RIU, for Research, Integration and Utilization. This model sees the factors needed for knowledge transfer as being state-of-the-art research and the effective, practical utilization to which it leads, and it highlights the importance of “integration”, which in this context means the active bi‐directional selection of those research results that are relevant for practice. In addition, the model underscores the importance of special allies who are powerful actors that support the application of scientific research results in society. An important product of this approach is a checklist of factors for successful knowledge transfer that will be useful for scientists. By using this checklist, research projects and research programs can be optimised with regard to their potential for reaching successful knowledge transfer effects.

Nature

Download Nature PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 562 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (21 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Nature by : Sir Norman Lockyer

Download or read book Nature written by Sir Norman Lockyer and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography ...

Download The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography ... PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 1050 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography ... by :

Download or read book The British Cyclopaedia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography ... written by and published by . This book was released on 1838 with total page 1050 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: