New Release Books in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Overview of the ''new extractivist paradigm'' which could bring viable futures for Arctic communities, including renewable energies, tourism, and science.

In spite of Connie Willis’s numerous science fiction awards and her groundbreaking history as a woman in the field, there is a surprising dearth of critical publication surrounding her work. Taking Doomsday Book as its cue, this collection argues that Connie Willis’s most famous novel, along with the rest of her oeuvre, performs science fiction’s task of cognitive estrangement by highlighting our human inability to read the times correctly—and yet also affirming the ethical imperative to attempt to truly observe and record our temporal location. Willis’s fiction emphasizes that doomsdays happen every day, and they risk being forgotten by some, even as their trauma repeats for others. However, disasters also have the potential to upend accepted knowledge and transform the social order for the better, and this collection considers the ways that Willis pairs comic and tragic modes to reflect these uncertainties.

A space historian''s tour through astounding spaceflight history and the Smithsonian''s collection of space and science fiction memorabilia Spanning from the 1929 debut of the futuristic Buck Rogers to present-day privatization of spaceflight, Space Craze celebrates America''s endless enthusiasm for space exploration. Author Margaret Weitekamp, curator at the Smithsonian''s National Air and Space Museum, writes with warmth and personal experience to guide readers through extraordinary spaceflight history while highlighting objects from the Smithsonian''s spaceflight collection. Featuring historical milestones in space exploration, films and TV shows, literature and comic strips, toys and games, and internet communities, Space Craze is a sci-fi lover''s dream. The book investigates how spaceflight, both real and imagined, has served as the nexus where contemporary American concerns, such as race, gender, sexuality, freedom, and national identity, have been explored and redefined. Chronological chapters include: Chapter 1: Buck Rogers, Ray Guns, and the Space Frontier Chapter 2: Space Forts, Television, and the Cold War Mindset Chapter 3: John Glenn, the Apollo Program, and Fluctuating Spaceflight Enthusiasm Chapter 4: Star Trek, Star Wars, and Burgeoning Fandoms Chapter 5: Generation X, the Space Shuttle, and Promoting Education Chapter 6: Space Stations, Spaceflight Enthusiasm, and Online Fandom Chapter 7: Streaming Services, Battling Billionaires, and Accelerated Change From the almost 650 million viewers who tuned in to watch the first steps on the Moon, to the ardent Star Trek fandom that burgeoned into a cultural force, Space Craze taps into the country’s enduring love affair with space.

A brief guide to the real science of interstellar travel With known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, the age-old dream of venturing forth into the cosmos and perhaps even colonizing distant worlds may one day become a reality. A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars reveals how. Les Johnson takes you on a thrilling tour of the physics and technologies that may enable us to reach the stars. He discusses the latest exoplanet discoveries, promising interstellar missions on the not-so-distant horizon, and exciting new developments in space propulsion, power, robotics, communications, and more. But interstellar travel will not be easy, and it is not for the faint of heart. Johnson describes the harsh and forbidding expanse of space that awaits us, and he addresses the daunting challenges—both human and technological—that we will need to overcome in order to realize tomorrow’s possibilities. A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars is your passport to the next great frontier of human discovery, providing a rare inside look at the remarkable breakthroughs in science and technology that will help tomorrow’s space travelers chart a course for the stars.

A bold and revolutionary perspective on the science and cultural history of menstruation Menstruation is something half the world does for a week at a time, for months and years on end, yet it remains largely misunderstood. Scientists once thought of an individual’s period as useless, and some doctors still believe it’s unsafe for a menstruating person to swim in the ocean wearing a tampon. Period counters the false theories that have long defined the study of the uterus, exposing the eugenic history of gynecology while providing an intersectional feminist perspective on menstruation science. Blending interviews and personal experience with engaging stories from her own pioneering research, Kate Clancy challenges many of the myths and false assumptions that have defined the study of the uterus. There is no such a thing as a “normal” menstrual cycle. In fact, menstrual cycles are incredibly variable and highly responsive to environmental and psychological stressors. Clancy takes up a host of timely issues surrounding menstruation, from bodily autonomy, menstrual hygiene, and the COVID-19 vaccine to the ways racism, sexism, and medical betrayal warp public perceptions of menstruation and erase it from public life. Offering a revelatory new perspective on one of the most captivating biological processes in the human body, Period will change the way you think about the past, present, and future of periods.

"In spite of Connie Willis''s numerous science fiction awards and her groundbreaking history as a woman in the field, there is a surprising dearth of critical publication surrounding her work. Taking Doomsday Book as its cue, this collection argues that Connie Willis''s most famous novel, along with the rest of her oeuvre, performs science fiction''s task of cognitive estrangement by highlighting our human inability to read the times correctly-and yet also affirming the ethical imperative to attempt to truly observe and record our temporal location. Willis''s fiction emphasizes that doomsdays happen every day, and they risk being forgotten by some, even as their trauma repeats for others. However, disasters also have the potential to upend accepted knowledge and transform the social order for the better, and this collection considers the ways that Willis pairs comic and tragic modes to reflect these uncertainties"--

About this collection This Collection is the work of more than 50 scientists and Young Reviewers from all around the globe. Our role as editors, together with the authors, was to share our love of soil biodiversity with you. In this Collection, you will discover that soils are full of life. We will introduce some of the methods and techniques used by scientists to observe the life below our feet. We will show you that belowground life is essential to have healthy soils and, therefore, for us. However, you will soon realize that belowground life is changing and under multiple threats. The authors will give ideas on how we can protect soil biodiversity and invite you to actively help us in studying and protecting this valuable ecosystem. We have divided this article Collection into four sections, each of which is introduced below. To make our articles accessible to as many of you as possible, we have created a website hosting translations to languages other than English. Soils are alive Soils are not just rock and dust but are astonishing living systems that are full of life! In this first section, you will read about little creatures that you might already know, like earthworms. You will also discover many new creatures, like springtails and mites, that live close to you in your garden, in the parks, or in nearby fields. Our authors will even show you an entire world of tiny creatures not visible by the naked eye: tiny bacteria, fungi, and protists. Soil biodiversity is about the diversity of these organisms. But how many different organisms are there? How different are they from each other? To answer these questions, scientists need tools and methods to observe and understand the biodiversity under our feet. How can we observe this beautiful world under our feet? In the articles in this section, the authors describe the tools and methods they use to observe and understand soil biodiversity. It is not easy to see the creatures in the soil and what they are doing under our feet; therefore, soils are often called the "black box". Some scientists are using the body fat of soil creatures to identify them and monitor what they feed on; others use DNA to identify soil organisms, like forensic investigators in the movies. In addition, our authors will explain how soil organisms are "talking" to each other and how we study these interactions. What are scientists learning from studying these soil creatures? Is soil biodiversity important to us? Why is soil biodiversity so essential to us? In this section, the authors illustrate that soil biodiversity maintains processes essential for our well-being. For example, you will learn that soil bacteria can keep your food safe by protecting it from diseases. We will highlight that soil biodiversity is essential for nature to work. For example, the authors will demonstrate that soil organisms are vital for recycling dead matter and releasing the nutrients in it. In addition, you will see how soil organisms are directly affecting greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane by controlling soil processes. Controlling these emissions is critical for keeping our climate stable. Soil organisms are alive, moving, and interacting, but are all these organisms and their important functions changing with time? Are these communities of soil organisms set in stone? Soil communities are changing You probably know that a lot of trees, flowers, and animals can change over the year with the seasons; flowers and fruits appear in spring and summer, leaves drop from the trees in fall. Soil animals are also changing with the seasons. And, like us, soil organisms can move to new places or disappear from others, either permanently or temporarily. These changes can be natural but can also be the result of human activities. Our authors will show you that agricultural practices and the effects of climate change (such as reduced rainfall) are affecting soil organisms, their functions, and the services they provide to us. As we saw previously, soil biodiversity is essential for us, so any changes could be disastrous. So can we protect the organisms in the soil in the same way we protect other organisms such as tigers and pandas? Protecting soil biodiversity In the final section of this Collection, our authors will show you how to protect soil biodiversity. We can reduce our impacts and conserve this wonderful belowground life. But we can even go a step further and restore lost soil functions using our knowledge of soil biodiversity; for example by using fungi to restore soils. However, this is only possible if we understand soil biodiversity and its function. This is where you can help, for example by participating in a citizen science project and going outside to help researchers. Conclusion This Collection is about illuminating the "black box" of soil and showing you some of the fantastic creatures living under our feet. You will learn how scientists are studying soil biodiversity and how this soil biodiversity is essential for us. However, you will also see that soil biodiversity is under threat and needs to be protected. Many people across the globe will be needed to effectively protect these vital systems below our feet. That’s why it is important to spread the word about the beauty and fragility of belowground life. We hope that this Collection will make you a champion of soil biodiversity and that you will pass on this message so that everyone will become more aware of, and be better able to protect soil biodiversity. Now it is your turn to explore and engage with the content of this Collection. We hope there will be something for all of you!

Reading chapter one gives you directions for making charms and spells and talks about the colourful history of magic, starting from the mighty Atlanteans during the last great ice age 13,000 years ago, who perfectly mastered the wonderful craft and became very authentic sorcerers and magicians. Reading chapter eight gives you instructions for making the legendary philosopher''s stone, a magical red crystal glowing in the dark that can be powdered and mixed together with a bottle of sweet red wine, miraculously granting drinkers of that supernatural shiraz a particular kind of immortality, plus rather famously changing ordinary grey lead into glittering yellow gold. Reading chapter thirteen gives you the most important component required for generating pure magical firepower which revolves completely around rivers of sparkling electricity. You will also discover stories about Merlin and castle knights from the misty enchanted kingdom of Great Britain. Stories about the devastatingly beautiful witch called Circe and her magical island from ancient Greek mythology. More information about Paracelsus and magnificent creatures like faeries, elves, dwarves, and goblins. More information about the tremendously mysterious and popular Rosicrucians who were positively great at practical magic and came from the sophisticated Shakespearean 1600''s. Very old fashioned recipes for valentine love potions crafted from lizard orchid roots and marvellous merryweather potions crafted from million dollar saffron spice. Revolutionary secrets about levitation and making things quite literally float off the ground. Courageous captains riding the blue waves of the sea should really always have a good compass and trustworthy map. Get ready for more adventures because after 13 years worth of detective work and ridiculous quantities of coffee and donuts, resourcefully climbing mountains of library books and golden parchment, HERE IS YOUR TREASURE MAP. Cheers and good luck!

''Brilliant .. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough'' - Henry Marsh, New Statesman (about The Idea of the Brain) A new gene editing technology, invented just seven years ago, has turned humanity into gods. Enabling us to manipulate the genes in virtually any organism with exquisite precision, CRISPR has given scientists a degree of control that was undreamt of even in science fiction. But CRISPR is just the latest, giant leap in a long journey to master genetics. The Genetic Age shows the astonishing, world-changing potential of the new genetics and the possible threats it poses, sifting between fantasy and the reality when it comes to both benefits and dangers. By placing each phase of discovery, anticipation and fear in the context of over fifty years of attempts to master the natural world, Matthew Cobb, the Baillie-Gifford-shortlisted author of The Idea of the Brain, weaves the stories of science, history and culture to shed new light on our future. With the powers now at our disposal, it is a future that is almost impossible to imagine - but it is one we will create ourselves.

With The Modern Myths, brilliant science communicator Philip Ball spins a new yarn. From novels and comic books to B-movies, it is an epic exploration of literature, new media and technology, the nature of storytelling, and the making and meaning of our most important tales. Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time—fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them—and still living them—today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman, many stories written in the past few centuries are commonly, perhaps glibly, called “modern myths.” But Ball argues that we should take that idea seriously. Our stories of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes are doing the kind of cultural work that the ancient myths once did. Through the medium of narratives that all of us know in their basic outline and which have no clear moral or resolution, these modern myths explore some of our deepest fears, dreams, and anxieties. We keep returning to these tales, reinventing them endlessly for new uses. But what are they really about, and why do we need them? What myths are still taking shape today? And what makes a story become a modern myth? In The Modern Myths, Ball takes us on a wide-ranging tour of our collective imagination, asking what some of its most popular stories reveal about the nature of being human in the modern age.

A FUTURE FOR THE TAKING… As the last Bloodnamed Warrior left in the former Jade Falcon Occupation Zone, newly-elected Khan Jiyi Chistu has ’Mechs, but no MechWarriors—making it impossible to rebuild his Clan after the disaster on Terra. Meanwhile, despite being riven by the Dominion-wide vote on whether to join the new Star League or not, Star Colonel Emilio Hall’s Ghost Bears have a planet full of talented sibkos ready to graduate. When word of these sibkos reaches Khan Chistu, he hatches a bold plan to take them, eager to rebuild the Jade Falcons. But with Star Colonel Emilio caught up in the politics of the Ghost Bear vote, will he even see Jiyi coming? Or will he lose the sibkos that represent the very future of his Clan? For both men and the Clans they hold dear, these dilemmas become nothing less than a question of survival…

From the bestselling authors and hosts of "The Skeptics'' Guide to the Universe," a high-tech roadmap of the future in their beloved voice, cracking open the follies of futurists past and how technology will profoundly change our world, redefining what it means to be human. Our predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. Whether they be the outlandish leaps predicted in the 1920s, like multi-purpose utility belts with climate control capabilities and planes the size of luxury cruise ships, or the forecasts of the ‘60s, which didn’t anticipate the sexual revolution or women’s liberation, the path to the present is littered with failed predictions and incorrect estimations. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism''s checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better. In THE SKEPTICS'' GUIDE TO THE FUTURE, Steven Novella and his co-authors build upon the work of futurists of the past by examining what they got right, what they got wrong, and how they came to those conclusions. By exploring the pitfalls of each era, they give their own speculations about the distant future, transformed by unbelievable technology ranging from genetic manipulation to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Applying their trademark skepticism, they carefully extrapolate upon each scientific development, leaving no stone unturned as they lay out a vision for the future.

Uncover the mysteries, wonders, and history of Mars—as close to an eye-witness perspective of the incredible Red Planet as any reader can get. The history of Mars is drawn not just on its surface, but also down into its broken bedrock and up into its frigid air. Most of all, it stretches back into deep time, where the trackways of the past have been obliterated and there is no discernible trace of where they started from or how they travelled, only where they ended up. From the planet’s formation 4.5 billion years ago, through eras that featured cataclysmic meteor strikes, explosive volcanoes and a vast ocean that spanned the entire upper hemisphere, to the long, frozen ages that saw its atmosphere steadily thinning and leaking away into space, planetary geologist Dr. Simon Morden presents a tantalizing vision of our nearest neighbour, its dramatic history, and astonishing present.

Re-issuing books originally published between 1969 and 1990 this set of 15 volumes gives a 20 year perspective on the development of the discipline of social geography. The books emphasize the increasingly important contribution of geographical theory to the understanding of social change, values, economic and political organization and ethical imperatives. The volumes are authored by well-known international geographers and discuss the philosophy and sociology of geography as well as key themes such as the geography of health, crime, space. They also examine the cross-over of geography with other disciplines, such as literature and history.

In the late 1960s the world was faced with impending disaster: the height of the Cold War, the end of oil, and the decline of great cities throughout the world. Out of this crisis came a new generation of thinkers, designers and engineers who hoped to build a better future, influenced by visions of geodesic domes, walking cities, and a meaningful connection with nature. In this brilliant work of cultural history, architect Douglas Murphy traces the lost archeology of the present-day through the works of thinkers and designers such as Buckminster Fuller, the ecological pioneer Stewart Brand, the Archigram architects who envisioned the Plug-In City in the ''60s, as well as co-operatives in Vienna, communes in the Californian desert, and protesters on the streets of Paris. In this mind-bending account of the last avant garde, we see not just the source of our current problems but also some powerful alternative futures.

The handbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the British novel in the long eighteenth century, when this genre emerged to develop into the period’s most versatile and popular literary form. Part I features six systematic chapters that discuss literary, intellectual, socio-economic, and political contexts, providing innovative approaches to issues such as sense and sentiment, gender considerations, formal characteristics, economic history, enlightened and radical concepts of citizenship and human rights, ecological ramifications, and Britain’s growing global involvement. Part II presents twenty-five analytical chapters that attend to individual novels, some canonical and others recently recovered. These analyses engage the debates outlined in the systematic chapters, undertaking in-depth readings that both contextualize the works and draw on relevant criticism, literary theory, and cultural perspectives. The handbook’s breadth and depth, clear presentation, and lucid language make it attractive and accessible to scholar and student alike.

During the 2010s, science fiction''s immortal adversaries King Kong and Godzilla, representing our conflicts per Carl Sagan''s "dream dragons" analogy, made comebacks in American cinema. The blockbuster Kaiju resurged onto the screen, depicting these protectors of an Earth plagued by mankind''s hubris and folly. With Earth''s future hanging in the balance, their climactic 2021 staging settled a score between the two giant monsters, resolving Toho''s classic 1963 film King Kong vs. Godzilla. As formidable creatures emerging from Time''s Tomb on Mother Earth, metaphorical Kong and Godzilla are considered here in light of new millennial environmentalism''s stark reality. This book, nostalgic in tone, explores the meaning of Kong and Godzilla as planetary saviors--titanic protectors of a theoretical "living Earth" Gaia--defending the globe from a prehistoric plague of adversaries.

Climate Change in Popular Culture: A Warming World in the American Imagination is the first study that includes analyses of both fiction and popular nonfiction works devoted to climate change. In addition, the book examines a number of classic works from the perspective of the growing field of climate change literature and includes a brief history of climate change science as well basic scientific definitions, all intended for general readers. The text provides an introduction to the science, politics, and economics of climate change. It also includes both historical overviews and potential probable futures projected by leading climate scientists and environmental writers. In addition, the text looks at how such creative writers and directors as Margaret Atwood, John Steinbeck, Paulo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson, T. C. Boyle, Michael Crichton, and Octavia Butler, among others, have used the disasters caused by climate change in their work.

Home articulates a ‘critical geography of home’ in which home is understood as an emotive place and spatial imaginary that encompasses lived experiences of everyday, domestic life alongside a wider, and often contested, sense of being and belonging in the world. Engaging with the burgeoning cross-disciplinary interest in home since the first edition was published, this significantly revised and updated second edition contains new research boxes, illustrations, and contemporary examples throughout. It also adds a new chapter on ‘Home and the City’ that extends the scalar understanding of home to the urban. The book develops the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of a critical geography of home, drawing on key feminist, postcolonial, and housing thinkers as well as contemporary methodological currents in non-representational thinking and performance. The book’s chapters consider the making and unmaking of home across the domestic scale – house-as-home; the urban – city-as-home; national – nation-as-home; and homemaking in relation to transnational migration and diaspora. Each chapter includes illustrative examples from diverse geographical contexts and historical time periods. Chapters also address some of the key cross-cutting dimensions of home across these scales, including digital connectivity, art and performance, more-than-human constructions of home, and violence and dispossession. The book ends with a research agenda for home in a world of COVID-19. The book provides an understanding of home that has three intersecting dimensions: that material and imaginative geographies of home are closely intertwined; that home, power, and identity are intimately linked; and that geographies of home are multi-scalar. This framework, the examples used to illustrate it, and the intended audience of academics and students across the humanities and social sciences will together shape the field of home studies into the future.

This proceedings volume results from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on ''Biomarkers of Radiation in the Environment: Robust Tools for Risk Assessment (BRITE)’. The BRITE workshop discussed insights from cancer research, epigenetics, non-human and human risk assessment, since many of the state-of-the-art biomarkers being developed for humans deserve consideration for environmental applications and vice versa. Sessions were very wide-ranging covering methods, mechanisms, cross disciplinary application and regulation. The chapters in this book have been grouped into five major themes that were covered by the BRITE workshop: · Techniques for biomarker development · Low-dose effect mechanisms · Biomarkers for risk evaluation · Biomarkers in wildlife · Biomarker use and responses Each chapter has been written independently and reflects the views of the chapter author(s). Therefore, the readers can form their own balanced view of the different perspectives on biomarkers of radiation in the environment. Given the breadth of topics covered and the state-of-the-art perspectives shared by leading experts in their respective fields, this book should form a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in how biomarkers can be used to improve our understanding of radiation in the environment and its potential impacts.

Collected for the first time, these Dune novellas by bestselling authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson shine a light upon the darker corners of the Dune universe. Spanning space and time, Sands of Dune is essential reading for any fan of the series. The world of Dune has shaped an entire generation of science fiction. From the sand blasted world of Arrakis, to the splendor of the imperial homeworld of Kaitain, readers have lived in a universe of treachery and wonder. Now, these stories expand on the Dune universe, telling of the lost years of Gurney Halleck as he works with smugglers on Arrakis in a deadly gambit for revenge; inside the ranks of the Sardaukar as the child of a betrayed nobleman becomes one of the Emperor''s most ruthless fighters; a young firebrand Fremen woman, a guerrilla fighter against the ruthless Harkonnens, who will one day become Shadout Mapes.

This book focuses on the politics, discourse and actors surrounding climate change issues in China. This framework offers a new way of observing Chinese discourses around climate change. Discursive changes in coal consumption and air pollution have been raised to uncover the various motivations of China towards addressing climate issues. This book will be of interest to a variety of different stakeholders including policy-makers, non-state actors, business communities and media, and anyone who are interested in the climate governance of China.

DIE REIHE: LITERATUR- UND NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN entsteht unter Federführung des Erlanger Forschungszentrums für Literatur- und Naturwissenschaften (ELINAS). Experten unterschiedlicher Fachkulturen führen darin ihre Methoden zusammen und fragen sowohl nach den Funktionen der Sprache in der naturwissenschaftlichen Forschung als auch nach den Verfahren der Modellierung naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse in der Literatur. Die Reihe versteht sich als ein interdisziplinäres Forum zur Reflexion der kulturellen Bedeutung natur- und literaturwissenschaftlicher Forschung sowie zur Ethik und Rhetorik wissenschaftlicher Argumentation.

This book offers to academic and general public readers timely reflections about our relationships to violence. Taking cues from the self-reflexivity, themes, and subject matters of Holocaust, queer, and Black studies, this large group of diverse intellectuals wrestles with questions that connect past, present and future: where do I stand in relation to violence? What is my attitude toward that adjacency? Whose story gets to be told by whom? What story do I take this image to be telling? How do I co-witness to another’s suffering? How do I honor the agency and resilience of family members or historical personages? How do past violence and injustice connect to the present? In smart, self-conscious, passionate, and often painfully beautiful prose, cultural practitioners, historians and cultural studies scholars such as Angelika Bammer, Doris Bergen, Ann Cvetkovich, Marianne Hirsch, Priscilla Layne, Mark Roseman, Leo Spitzer, Susan R. Suleiman and Viktor Witkowski explore such questions, inviting readers to do the same. By making available compelling examples of thinkers performing their own work within the cauldron of crises that came to a boil in 2020 and continued into the next year, this volume proposes strategies for moving forward with hope.

An introduction to the basic issues of space ethics: the technology, the impact on society, and the frontiers of thinking about space exploration from theory to practice.

Presents an entertaining and engaging look at some of nature''s most remarkable creatures ... Shows not only how studying these animals can provide deep insights into how life evolved, but also how scientific discovery can be filled with adventure and fun--Adapted from cover.

OUT FOR BLOOD… Wolf''s Dragoons, the most storied and elite mercenary unit in the Inner Sphere, has been utterly shattered for the first time in its centuries-long history. In 3151, most of the Dragoons listened to Marotta Kerensky and followed Alaric Ward to Terra. There, they helped him destroy the Republic of the Sphere and establish the ilClan. Four out of five Dragoons died in the fighting. The survivors were injured, shell-shocked, and finally, gravely insulted by Alaric Ward’s token payment of thirty pieces of silver. In one brutal gesture, the ilKhan did what no other enemy had ever done: He broke Wolf’s Dragoons. The decimated survivors limped off Terra to rendezvous with their remnants that had stayed behind. Colonel Henry “Hack” Kincaid, senior striker officer, is waiting when the Dragoons convoy appears, full of wrecked machines, but depleted of personnel. Kincaid is a man of reputation in the Dragoons. His word carries weight. And he hasn’t been tarnished by Terra. Three regiments and one of his irreplaceable striker battalions have all been ground to dust. All that is left now is duty. And vengeance…

"The science-fiction genre known as steampunk juxtaposes futuristic technologies with Victorian settings. This fantasy is becoming reality at the intersection of two scientific fields-twenty-first-century quantum physics and nineteenth-century thermodynamics, or the study of energy-in a discipline known as quantum steampunk"--

Authoritative yet accessible, the definitive undergraduate text on Russian geography and culture has now been thoroughly revised with current data and timely topics, such as the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and other background for understanding Russia''s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Thematic chapters provide up-to-date coverage of Russia''s physical, political, cultural, and economic geography. Regional chapters focus on the country''s major regions and the other 14 former Soviet republics. Written in a lucid, conversational style by a Russian-born international expert, the concise chapters interweave vivid descriptions of urban and rural landscapes, examinations of Soviet and post-Soviet life, deep knowledge of environmental and conservation issues, geopolitical insights, engaging anecdotes, and rigorous empirical data. Over 200 original maps, photographs, and other figures are also available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website, many in color. New to This Edition *Separate chapter on Ukraine and Crimea, covering events through 2019. *Timely topics--the political crisis in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol; the return of Putin as president; climate change and environmental degradation; economic slowdown; political shifts in the republics; the role of Russian-backed forces in Syria, Libya, and Central African Republic; changes in Russia–United States relations; and more. *Thoroughly updated population, economic, and political data. *80 new or updated figures, tables, and maps. Pedagogical Features *End-of-chapter review questions, suggested assignments, and in-class exercises. *Within-chapter vignettes about Russian places, culture, and history. *End-of-chapter internet resources and suggestions for further reading. *Companion website with all figures and maps from the book, many in full color.

Authoritative yet accessible, the definitive undergraduate text on Russian geography and culture has now been thoroughly revised with current data and timely topics, such as the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and other background for understanding Russia''s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Thematic chapters provide up-to-date coverage of Russia''s physical, political, cultural, and economic geography. Regional chapters focus on the country''s major regions and the other 14 former Soviet republics. Written in a lucid, conversational style by a Russian-born international expert, the concise chapters interweave vivid descriptions of urban and rural landscapes, examinations of Soviet and post-Soviet life, deep knowledge of environmental and conservation issues, geopolitical insights, engaging anecdotes, and rigorous empirical data. Over 200 original maps, photographs, and other figures are also available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website, many in color. New to This Edition *Separate chapter on Ukraine and Crimea, covering events through 2019. *Timely topics--the political crisis in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol; the return of Putin as president; climate change and environmental degradation; economic slowdown; political shifts in the republics; the role of Russian-backed forces in Syria, Libya, and Central African Republic; changes in Russia–United States relations; and more. *Thoroughly updated population, economic, and political data. *80 new or updated figures, tables, and maps. Pedagogical Features *End-of-chapter review questions, suggested assignments, and in-class exercises. *Within-chapter vignettes about Russian places, culture, and history. *End-of-chapter Internet resources and suggestions for further reading. *Companion website with all figures and maps from the book, many in full color.

We are all haunted by histories. They shape our presuppositions and ballast our judgments. In terms of science and religion this means most of us walk about haunted by rumors of a long war. However, there is no such thing as the “history of the conflict of science and Christianity,” and this is a book about it. In the last half of the twentieth century a sea change in the history of science and religion occurred, revealing not only that the perception of protracted warfare between religion and science was a curious set of mythologies that had been combined together into a sort of supermyth in need of debunking. It was also seen that this collective mythology arose in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by historians involved in many sides of the debates over Darwin’s discoveries, and from there latched onto the public imagination at large. Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes takes the reader on a journey showing how these myths were constructed, collected together, and eventually debunked. Join us for a story of flat earths and fake footnotes, to uncover the strange tale of how the conflict of science and Christianity was written into history.

The tale of twins being reunited after a long separation is a trope that has been endlessly repeated and reworked across different cultures and throughout history, with each moment adapting the twin plot to address its current cultural tensions. In this study, Edward King demonstrates how twins are a means of exploring the social implications of hyper-connectivity and the compromising relationship between humans and digital information, their environment and their genetics. As King demonstrates, twins tell us about the changing forms of connectivity and power in contemporary culture and what new conceptions of the human they present us with. Taking account of a broad range of literary, cultural and scientific practices, Entwined Being probes discussions surrounding twins such as: - The way in which they appear in behavioral genetics as a way of identifying inherited predispositions to social media - How their faces interrupt biometric interfaces such as facial recognition software and undermine advances in neo-liberal surveillance systems - How they represent the uncanny and the weird in the horror genre and how this questions ideologies of communications media and the connectivity it enables - Their association with telepathy and cybernetics in science fiction - Their construction as models for entangled being in ecological thought Drawing upon the literary and filmic works of Ken Follet, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Bruce Chatwin, Shelley Jackson, Brian de Palma, Peter Greenway and David Cronenberg, as well as science fiction literature and the television series Orphan Black, King illuminates how twins are employed across a range of disciplines to envision a critical re-conception of the human in times of digital integration and ecological crisis.

The old practices of interpretation have been exhausted, and the humanities and social sciences are facing a crisis. Is there a way out of the labyrinth of reading? In this book, Professor Neuman presents a challenging approach to interpreting texts and reading literature through the spectacles of conceptual mathematics. This approach strives to avoid the simplicity of a quantitative approach to the analysis of literature as well as both the relativistic and the ideological dangers facing a qualitative reading of a text. The approach is introduced in a rigorous and accessible manner and woven with insights gained from various fields. Taking us on a challenging journey from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro, the book shows how we may gain a deeper understanding of literature and the aesthetic experience of reading.

A wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like, we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction. The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin''s theory of evolution--which applies throughout the universe--Cambridge zoologist Dr. Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move, socialize, and communicate. Might there be an alien planet with supersonic animals? A moon where creatures have a language composed of smells? Will aliens scream with fear, act honestly, or have technology? The Zoologist''s Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.

Militarizing Outer Space explores the dystopian and destructive dimensions of the Space Age and challenges conventional narratives of a bipolar Cold War rivalry. Concentrating on weapons, warfare and viou200blence, this provocative volume examines real and imagined endeavors of arming the skies and conquering the heavens. The third and final volume in the groundbreaking u200bEuropean Astroculture trilogy, u200bMilitarizing Outer Space zooms in on the interplay between security, technopolitics and knowledge from the 1920s through the 1980s. Often hailed as the site of heavenly utopias and otherworldly salvation, outer space transformed from a promised sanctuary to a present threat, where the battles of the future were to be waged. Astroculture proved instrumental in fathoming forms and functions of warfare’s futures past, both on earth and in space. The allure of dominating outer space, the book shows, was neither limited to the early twenty-first century nor to current American space force rhetorics.