New Releases by Ian Smith

Heroin is a drug that myths are made of. Whether smuggled in the stomach of a camel or used as the ultimate symbol of lifestyle chic, no drug has been more argued over and legislated against, no drug has been more subject to misinformation and moral panic. Heroin Century sets the record straight. It contains a wealth of historical and medical information about this drug which made its first appearance as a miracle medicine over a hundred years ago and makes recommendations for its future in the twenty-first century. Evidence shows that heroin is dangerous principally because it is illegal. The authors argue that a more relaxed relationship between society and the drug would benefit both the economy and public health and safely. Individual chapters describe the history of heroin production; the makeup of heroin and evolving methods of use; the spread of heroin and international efforts at control; typical "career" patterns of users, ranging from occasional recreational use to destructive dependence; the subjective experience of taking heroin; the association between heroin and crime; the use of heroin in medicine and its effects on physical health; the history of the treatment of heroin dependence; and likely changes in heroin use in the future. The authors have drawn on literary and artistic sources as well as the large pool of scientific literature to compile a comprehensive and fascinating account of this world-changing drug. Heroin Century makes available a wealth of information about the history, chemistry, pharmacology and medical aspects of heroin in a form accessible to anyone who wishes to participate in the contemporary debate bout society''s attitude to drugs.

Albert Smith of the 109 squadron describes how the Oboe navigation system was used to illuminate bombing targets over Germany and North Africa. Covers over 52 Pathfinder Mosquito operations.

The amount of medical information available on the Internet is mindboggling, if not mind-numbing. And what do you find once you wade into these cyberwaters is often so contradictory, confusing, or suspect that it is easy to feel more addled than assisted by the plethora of articles, advertising, and medical reports. Dr. Ian Smith''s Guide to Medical Websites bring order to this chaos. As medical correspondent on NBC''s Today show and a regular columnist for Time, Dr. Smith hears from many people with medical questions. In addition to personally addressing their concerns, he constantly researches medical websites that provide further explanation. This guide reflects Dr. Smith''s selections of the top general medical sites as well as the best sites in every medical specialty. Each site listing includes a short summary and ratings that take into account, among other things: -links and navigability -sources of content -interactivity -frequency of site updates Now you no longer have to become an Internet search expert to find the information you need in caring for your health and that of those you love.

This book presents the state of the art of artificial intelligence techniques applied to structural engineering. The 28 revised full papers by leading scientists were solicited for presentation at a meeting held in Ascona, Switzerland, in July 1998. The recent advances in information technology, in particular decreasing hardware cost, Internet communication, faster computation, increased bandwidth, etc., allow for the application of new AI techniques to structural engineering. The papers presented deal with new aspects of information technology support for the design, analysis, monitoring, control and diagnosis of various structural engineering systems.

The availability of the intravenous anaesthetic proposal has opened the doors to the widespread use of total intravenous anaesthesia, one of the newest departures in anaesthesia. This is a straightforward, accessible introduction to the basic concepts provides definitions, historical perspectives, basic principles, and an overview of the drugs, their interactions, and the equipment used.

The thrills and excitement of cross-country racing, downhill racing, and extreme mountain biking are shown in action-packed, full-color photos. Tricks demonstrated include drop-offs, the bunny hop, getting air, and drifts and skids.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third European Workshop on Case-Based Reasoning, EWCBR-96, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in November 1996. Case-based reasoning is an appealing technique for dealing with the knowledge acquisition bottleneck in computer applications; solutions to new problems are found by adapting similar experience from the past, called cases. The 38 revised full papers presented were carefully selected from a broad variety of submissions after a thorough refereeing process. The volume refleats the state of the art in case-based reasoning research and applications.

A Methodist Minster suggests that man should turn to nature to renew his Christian commitment.