Author: Scott Edwin Williams
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1803412011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
'Here's your chance to learn and enjoy Big History in a slightly 'deranged' romp.' Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Australian science communicator, author, and populariser Lightbulb Moments in Human History tracks humanity's big ideas and the eccentricities of those who conceived them. Along the way you'll find answers to questions such as: Why did the Sumerians have temple prostitutes? Just how psychotic was the God of the Old Testament? Why did parents in ancient Greece encourage their young sons to take older male lovers? And what on earth inspired the Mayans to have tobacco enemas? Funny. Irreverent. Never boring. This is not the history you were taught in school. Scott Edwin Williams' Lightbulb Moments in Human History engages, entertains, and provides hope that while times are tough, we're not all going to hell in a handbasket.
Lightbulb Moments in Human History
Author: Scott Edwin Williams
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1803412011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
'Here's your chance to learn and enjoy Big History in a slightly 'deranged' romp.' Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Australian science communicator, author, and populariser Lightbulb Moments in Human History tracks humanity's big ideas and the eccentricities of those who conceived them. Along the way you'll find answers to questions such as: Why did the Sumerians have temple prostitutes? Just how psychotic was the God of the Old Testament? Why did parents in ancient Greece encourage their young sons to take older male lovers? And what on earth inspired the Mayans to have tobacco enemas? Funny. Irreverent. Never boring. This is not the history you were taught in school. Scott Edwin Williams' Lightbulb Moments in Human History engages, entertains, and provides hope that while times are tough, we're not all going to hell in a handbasket.
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1803412011
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
'Here's your chance to learn and enjoy Big History in a slightly 'deranged' romp.' Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Australian science communicator, author, and populariser Lightbulb Moments in Human History tracks humanity's big ideas and the eccentricities of those who conceived them. Along the way you'll find answers to questions such as: Why did the Sumerians have temple prostitutes? Just how psychotic was the God of the Old Testament? Why did parents in ancient Greece encourage their young sons to take older male lovers? And what on earth inspired the Mayans to have tobacco enemas? Funny. Irreverent. Never boring. This is not the history you were taught in school. Scott Edwin Williams' Lightbulb Moments in Human History engages, entertains, and provides hope that while times are tough, we're not all going to hell in a handbasket.
Lightbulb Moments in Human History (Book II)
Author: Scott Edwin Williams
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1803415045
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
'Lightbulb Moments in Human History is flavored with scintillating wit and dark humor, and served to the open-minded by an intelligent observer, who manages to evoke empathy and hope for the human spirit.' Dr. Micki Pistorius, author of Catch Me a Killer Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Peasants to Periwigs continues the humorous and informative series exploring the big ideas that have shaped humanity. Packed with laughs and fascinating insights, it documents the progression from the boozy peasants of the Middle Ages to the bewigged boffins of the Scientific Revolution. Along the way, you'll find answers to burning questions such as: Why did a mob of peasants follow a 'divinely inspired' goose to the Crusades? Was Captain Cook really devoured by cannibals, or was it just a terrible misunderstanding? What the hell is a periwig, and why did the best-dressed seventeenth-century men insist on wearing them? Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Peasants to Periwigs by Scott Edwin Williams is not the history you were taught in school. It demonstrates that, despite all evidence to the contrary, our world is actually getting better. So grab a mug of mead, slap on your finest periwig, and dive into the rich history of human ingenuity.
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1803415045
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
'Lightbulb Moments in Human History is flavored with scintillating wit and dark humor, and served to the open-minded by an intelligent observer, who manages to evoke empathy and hope for the human spirit.' Dr. Micki Pistorius, author of Catch Me a Killer Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Peasants to Periwigs continues the humorous and informative series exploring the big ideas that have shaped humanity. Packed with laughs and fascinating insights, it documents the progression from the boozy peasants of the Middle Ages to the bewigged boffins of the Scientific Revolution. Along the way, you'll find answers to burning questions such as: Why did a mob of peasants follow a 'divinely inspired' goose to the Crusades? Was Captain Cook really devoured by cannibals, or was it just a terrible misunderstanding? What the hell is a periwig, and why did the best-dressed seventeenth-century men insist on wearing them? Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Peasants to Periwigs by Scott Edwin Williams is not the history you were taught in school. It demonstrates that, despite all evidence to the contrary, our world is actually getting better. So grab a mug of mead, slap on your finest periwig, and dive into the rich history of human ingenuity.
Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Cave to Colosseum
Author: SCOTT. WILLIAMS
Publisher: Chronos Books
ISBN: 9781803412009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Need hope? Lightbulb Moments In Human History's wry look at humanity's big ideas proves that while times are tough, we're not going to hell in a handbasket.
Publisher: Chronos Books
ISBN: 9781803412009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Need hope? Lightbulb Moments In Human History's wry look at humanity's big ideas proves that while times are tough, we're not going to hell in a handbasket.
Vishnu's Crowded Temple
Author: Maria Misra
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300145233
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 592
Book Description
As it enters its sixtieth year of independence, India stands on the threshold of superpower status. Yet India is strikingly different from all other global colossi. While it is the world's most populous democracy and enjoys the benefits of its internationally competitive high-tech and software industries, India also contends with extremes of poverty, inequality, and political and religious violence. This accessible and vividly written book presents a new interpretation of India's history, focusing particular attention on the impact of British imperialism on Independent India. Maria Misra begins with the rebellion against the British in 1857 and tracks the country's advance to the present day. India's extremes persist, the author argues, because its politics rest upon a peculiar foundation in which traditional ideas of hierarchy, difference, and privilege coexist to a remarkable degree with modern notions of equality and democracy. The challenge of India's leaders today, as in the last sixty years, is to weave together the disparate threads of the nation's ancient culture, colonial legacy, and modern experience.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300145233
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 592
Book Description
As it enters its sixtieth year of independence, India stands on the threshold of superpower status. Yet India is strikingly different from all other global colossi. While it is the world's most populous democracy and enjoys the benefits of its internationally competitive high-tech and software industries, India also contends with extremes of poverty, inequality, and political and religious violence. This accessible and vividly written book presents a new interpretation of India's history, focusing particular attention on the impact of British imperialism on Independent India. Maria Misra begins with the rebellion against the British in 1857 and tracks the country's advance to the present day. India's extremes persist, the author argues, because its politics rest upon a peculiar foundation in which traditional ideas of hierarchy, difference, and privilege coexist to a remarkable degree with modern notions of equality and democracy. The challenge of India's leaders today, as in the last sixty years, is to weave together the disparate threads of the nation's ancient culture, colonial legacy, and modern experience.
Mirrors
Author: Eduardo Galeano
Publisher: Portobello Books
ISBN: 1846274397
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Book Description
In Mirrors, Galeano smashes aside the narrative of conventional history and arranges the shards into a new pattern, to reveal the past in radically altered form. From the Garden of Eden to twenty-first-century cityscapes, we glimpse fragments in the lives of those who have been overlooked by traditional histories: the artists, the servants, the gods and the visionaries, the black slaves who built the White House, and the women who were bartered for dynastic ends
Publisher: Portobello Books
ISBN: 1846274397
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Book Description
In Mirrors, Galeano smashes aside the narrative of conventional history and arranges the shards into a new pattern, to reveal the past in radically altered form. From the Garden of Eden to twenty-first-century cityscapes, we glimpse fragments in the lives of those who have been overlooked by traditional histories: the artists, the servants, the gods and the visionaries, the black slaves who built the White House, and the women who were bartered for dynastic ends
Human Evolution Beyond Biology and Culture
Author: Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108470971
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 575
Book Description
A complete account of evolutionary thought in the social, environmental and policy sciences, creating bridges with biology.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108470971
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 575
Book Description
A complete account of evolutionary thought in the social, environmental and policy sciences, creating bridges with biology.
The Last Jews of Kerala
Author: Edna Fernandes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1626369356
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Two thousand years ago, trade routes and the fall of Jerusalem took Jewish settlers seeking sanctuary across Europe and Asia. One little-known group settled in Kerala, in tropical southwestern India. Eventually numbering in the thousands, with eight synagogues, they prospered. Some came to possess vast estates and plantations, and many enjoyed economic privilege and political influence. Their comfortable lives, however, were haunted by a feud between the Black Jews of Ernakulam and the White Jews of Mattancherry. Separated by a narrow stretch of swamp and the color of their skin, they locked in a rancorous feud for centuries, divided by racism and claims and counterclaims over who arrived first in their adopted land. Today, this once-illustrious people is in its dying days. Centuries of interbreeding and a latter-day Exodus from Kerala after Israel's creation in 1948 have shrunk the population. The Black and White Jews combined now number less than fifty, and only one synagogue remains. On the threshold of extinction, the two remaining Jewish communities of Kerala have come to realize that their destiny, and their undoing, is the same. The Last Jews of Kerala narrates the rise and fall of the Black Jews and the White Jews over the centuries and within the context of the grand history of the Jewish people. It is the story of the twilight days of a people whose community will, within the next generation, cease to exist. Yet it is also a rich tale of weddings and funerals, of loyalty to family and fierce individualism, of desperation and hope.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1626369356
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Two thousand years ago, trade routes and the fall of Jerusalem took Jewish settlers seeking sanctuary across Europe and Asia. One little-known group settled in Kerala, in tropical southwestern India. Eventually numbering in the thousands, with eight synagogues, they prospered. Some came to possess vast estates and plantations, and many enjoyed economic privilege and political influence. Their comfortable lives, however, were haunted by a feud between the Black Jews of Ernakulam and the White Jews of Mattancherry. Separated by a narrow stretch of swamp and the color of their skin, they locked in a rancorous feud for centuries, divided by racism and claims and counterclaims over who arrived first in their adopted land. Today, this once-illustrious people is in its dying days. Centuries of interbreeding and a latter-day Exodus from Kerala after Israel's creation in 1948 have shrunk the population. The Black and White Jews combined now number less than fifty, and only one synagogue remains. On the threshold of extinction, the two remaining Jewish communities of Kerala have come to realize that their destiny, and their undoing, is the same. The Last Jews of Kerala narrates the rise and fall of the Black Jews and the White Jews over the centuries and within the context of the grand history of the Jewish people. It is the story of the twilight days of a people whose community will, within the next generation, cease to exist. Yet it is also a rich tale of weddings and funerals, of loyalty to family and fierce individualism, of desperation and hope.
Cuisine and Culture
Author: Linda Civitello
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470403713
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 448
Book Description
Cuisine and Culture presents a multicultural and multiethnic approach that draws connections between major historical events and how and why these events affected and defined the culinary traditions of different societies. Witty and engaging, Civitello shows how history has shaped our diet--and how food has affected history. Prehistoric societies are explored all the way to present day issues such as genetically modified foods and the rise of celebrity chefs. Civitello's humorous tone and deep knowledge are the perfect antidote to the usual scholarly and academic treatment of this universally important subject.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470403713
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 448
Book Description
Cuisine and Culture presents a multicultural and multiethnic approach that draws connections between major historical events and how and why these events affected and defined the culinary traditions of different societies. Witty and engaging, Civitello shows how history has shaped our diet--and how food has affected history. Prehistoric societies are explored all the way to present day issues such as genetically modified foods and the rise of celebrity chefs. Civitello's humorous tone and deep knowledge are the perfect antidote to the usual scholarly and academic treatment of this universally important subject.
When Old Technologies Were New
Author: Carolyn Marvin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198021380
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
In the history of electronic communication, the last quarter of the nineteenth century holds a special place, for it was during this period that the telephone, phonograph, electric light, wireless, and cinema were all invented. In When old Technologies Were New, Carolyn Marvin explores how two of these new inventions--the telephone and the electric light--were publicly envisioned at the end of the nineteenth century, as seen in specialized engineering journals and popular media. Marvin pays particular attention to the telephone, describing how it disrupted established social relations, unsettling customary ways of dividing the private person and family from the more public setting of the community. On the lighter side, she describes how people spoke louder when calling long distance, and how they worried about catching contagious diseases over the phone. A particularly powerful chapter deals with telephonic precursors of radio broadcasting--the "Telephone Herald" in New York and the "Telefon Hirmondo" of Hungary--and the conflict between the technological development of broadcasting and the attempt to impose a homogenous, ethnocentric variant of Anglo-Saxon culture on the public. While focusing on the way professionals in the electronics field tried to control the new media, Marvin also illuminates the broader social impact, presenting a wide-ranging, informative, and entertaining account of the early years of electronic media.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198021380
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
In the history of electronic communication, the last quarter of the nineteenth century holds a special place, for it was during this period that the telephone, phonograph, electric light, wireless, and cinema were all invented. In When old Technologies Were New, Carolyn Marvin explores how two of these new inventions--the telephone and the electric light--were publicly envisioned at the end of the nineteenth century, as seen in specialized engineering journals and popular media. Marvin pays particular attention to the telephone, describing how it disrupted established social relations, unsettling customary ways of dividing the private person and family from the more public setting of the community. On the lighter side, she describes how people spoke louder when calling long distance, and how they worried about catching contagious diseases over the phone. A particularly powerful chapter deals with telephonic precursors of radio broadcasting--the "Telephone Herald" in New York and the "Telefon Hirmondo" of Hungary--and the conflict between the technological development of broadcasting and the attempt to impose a homogenous, ethnocentric variant of Anglo-Saxon culture on the public. While focusing on the way professionals in the electronics field tried to control the new media, Marvin also illuminates the broader social impact, presenting a wide-ranging, informative, and entertaining account of the early years of electronic media.
The History of Money
Author: Jack Weatherford
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 0307556743
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
“If you’re interested in the revolutionary transformation of the meaning and use of money, this is the book to read!”—Charles R. Schwab Cultural anthropologist Jack Weatherford traces our relationship with money, from primitive man’s cowrie shells to the electronic cash card, from the markets of Timbuktu to the New York Stock Exchange. The History of Money explores how money and the myriad forms of exchange have affected humanity, and how they will continue to shape all aspects of our lives—economic, political, and personal. “A fascinating book about the force that makes the world go round—the dollars, pounds, francs, marks, bahts, ringits, kwansas, levs, biplwelles, yuans, quetzales, pa’angas, ngultrums, ouguiyas, and other 200-odd brand names that collectively make up the mysterious thing we call money.”—Los Angeles Times
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 0307556743
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Book Description
“If you’re interested in the revolutionary transformation of the meaning and use of money, this is the book to read!”—Charles R. Schwab Cultural anthropologist Jack Weatherford traces our relationship with money, from primitive man’s cowrie shells to the electronic cash card, from the markets of Timbuktu to the New York Stock Exchange. The History of Money explores how money and the myriad forms of exchange have affected humanity, and how they will continue to shape all aspects of our lives—economic, political, and personal. “A fascinating book about the force that makes the world go round—the dollars, pounds, francs, marks, bahts, ringits, kwansas, levs, biplwelles, yuans, quetzales, pa’angas, ngultrums, ouguiyas, and other 200-odd brand names that collectively make up the mysterious thing we call money.”—Los Angeles Times