Author: Norman K. Glendenning File Type: pdf Our Place in the Universe tells the story of our world, formation of the first galaxies and stars formed from great clouds containing the primordial elements made in the first few minutes birth of stars, their lives and deaths in fiery supernova explosions formation of the solar system, its planets and many moons life on Earth, its needs and vicissitudes on land and in the seas finally exoplanets, planets that surround distant stars. Interspersed in the text are short pieces on some of those who revealed these wonders to us. It is written in a very authoritative and readable form and contains more than 100 color prints of the marvelous galaxies, and nebula that have been taken from space-based and land-based telescopes carried by NASA missions, the European Space Agency, the European Southern Laboratory in Chile and many other sources.**

Author: Gerald MacLean File Type: pdf Before they had an empire in the East, the British travelled into the Islamic world to pursue trade and to form strategic alliances against the Catholic powers of France and Spain. First-hand encounters with Muslims, Jews, Greek Orthodox, and other religious communities living together under tolerant Islamic rule changed forever the way Britons thought about Islam, just as the goods they imported from Islamic countries changed forever the way they lived. Britain and the Islamic World tells the story of how, for a century and a half, merchants and diplomats travelled from Morocco to Istanbul, from Aleppo to Isfahan, and from Hormuz to Surat, and discovered a world that was more fascinating than fearful.Gerald MacLean and Nabil Matar examine the place of Islam and Muslim in English thought, and how British monarchs dealt with supremely powerful Muslim rulers. They document the importance of diplomatic and mercantile encounters, show how the writings of captives spread unreliable information about Islam and Muslims, and investigate observations by travellers and clergymen who reported meetings with Jews, eastern Christians, Armenians, and Shiites. They also trace how trade and the exchange of material goods with the Islamic world shaped how people in Britain lived their lives and thought about themselves.ReviewThis is an uplifting, intriguing and inquiring survey, which leaves the reader grateful for the breadth and depth of their scrutiny. Barnaby Rogerson, The Independent About the AuthorSince 1993 Gerald MacLean has worked on the nature and range of East-West encounters and authored two books on Anglo-Ottoman relations during the early modern period, both of which have appeared in Turkish translation. He is a founding member of The Evliya Celebi Way Project, an international group of scholars and equestrians who travelled across western Anatolia on horseback in the autumn of 2009 following the route of the great Ottoman travel writer and historian. This project of historical re-enactment has been supported by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and has established a sustainable trekking route between Istanbul and Kutahya. In the spring of 2011 he and the team will follow Evliyas route on horseback from Gaziantep to Aleppo and back to Sanliurfa to establish a second sustainable trekking route within the frame of the Turkish-Syrian Interregional Cooperation Programme.Nabil Matar completed his B.A. and M.A. at the American University of Beirut, and his Ph.D. at Cambridge University. He taught at Jordan University and the American University of Beirut, and received postdoctoral grants from the British Council (Clare Hall, Cambridge University) and from Fulbright (Harvard Divinity School). In 1986, Dr. Matar moved to the United States and started teaching in the Humanities Department at Florida Institute of Technology. In 1997, he became the Department Head and served until 2007 when he moved to the English Department at the University of Minnesota. He is Presidential Professor in the Presidents Interdisciplinary Initiative on Arts and Humanities and teaches in the departments of English and History, and in the Religious Studies Program. Dr. Matars research in the past two decades has focused on relations between early modern Britain, Western Europe, and the Islamic Mediterranean. He is co-executive editor of the Journal of Early Modern History (Brill).

Author: Hugh P. McGrath File Type: pdf Valerys Graveyard is in two parts. The first part presents the French text of Paul Valerys poem Le Cimetiere marin (The Graveyard by the Sea) and a facing English translation, followed by a descriptive account of the poem that sets out its main structural and dynamic features and traces its narrative. The second part consists of nine short chapters on selected themes of the poem in their relation to the poets thought, including certain of his scientific concerns, and to literature ancient and modern.Le Cimetiere marin is one of the most celebrated works of poetry of the last hundred years, widely recognized as distinguished for beauty of form and wealth of meaning. On the basis of the French text and a translation that is at once accurate and poetical, this book provides an introduction to the poem, and thereby to the complex intellectual world of Valery. It exhibits the depth and breadth both of the poem and of the poets thought.A valuable resource for scholars, Valerys Graveyard is accessible to all serious readers. As it does not require a knowledge of French, the book is suitable for study in any course on modern literature.**

Author: Philip Schaff File Type: pdf