In the summer of 1881, Lt. Adolphus Greely of the Fifth United States Cavalry and a crew of twenty-one men set out on the Proteus to explore the then relatively-unknown Arctic Circle. During their three-year journey, the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, as it came to be known, was meant to ascertain new astronomical data, to establish an observation station, and to record other meteorological data. And while they did accomplish those tasks, the crew of the Proteus will instead forever be remembered for the catastrophe that they encountered, one that yielded few survivors. After a relatively calm first year in the Arctic, the members of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition grew increasingly desperate as ships carrying essential supplies—food, clothing, and building materials, among other items—failed to reach them due to increasingly perilous conditions. Slowly but surely the harsh weather and low supplies decimated the crew, as one by one they succumbed to the merciless Arctic. When a rescue vessel finally reached the Proteus in 1884, only six members of the original expedition remained. Told in concise prose with stunning clarity, Proteus crew member David L. Brainard's Outpost of the Lost is an inspiring account of human spirit and perseverance, and is not be missed by any armchair adventurer or history buff.
In the summer of 1881, Lt. Adolphus Greely of the Fifth United States Cavalry and a crew of twenty-one men set out on the Proteus to explore the then relatively-unknown Arctic Circle. During their three-year journey, the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, as it came to be known, was meant to ascertain new astronomical data, to establish an observation station, and to record other meteorological data. And while they did accomplish those tasks, the crew of the Proteus will instead forever be remembered for the catastrophe that they encountered, one that yielded few survivors. After a relatively calm first year in the Arctic, the members of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition grew increasingly desperate as ships carrying essential supplies—food, clothing, and building materials, among other items—failed to reach them due to increasingly perilous conditions. Slowly but surely the harsh weather and low supplies decimated the crew, as one by one they succumbed to the merciless Arctic. When a rescue vessel finally reached the Proteus in 1884, only six members of the original expedition remained. Told in concise prose with stunning clarity, Proteus crew member David L. Brainard's Outpost of the Lost is an inspiring account of human spirit and perseverance, and is not be missed by any armchair adventurer or history buff.
The issues that increasingly dominate the 21st century cannot be solved by any single country acting alone, no matter how powerful. To manage the global economy, prevent runaway environmental destruction, reign in nuclear proliferation, or confront other global challenges, we must cooperate. But at the same time, our tools for global policymaking - chiefly state-to-state negotiations over treaties and international institutions - have broken down. The result is gridlock, which manifests across areas via a number of common mechanisms. The rise of new powers representing a more diverse array of interests makes agreement more difficult. The problems themselves have also grown harder as global policy issues penetrate ever more deeply into core domestic concerns. Existing institutions, created for a different world, also lock-in pathological decision-making procedures and render the field ever more complex. All of these processes - in part a function of previous, successful efforts at cooperation - have led global cooperation to fail us even as we need it most. Ranging over the main areas of global concern, from security to the global economy and the environment, this book examines these mechanisms of gridlock and pathways beyond them. It is written in a highly accessible way, making it relevant not only to students of politics and international relations but also to a wider general readership.
Plants have profoundly moulded the Earth's climate and the evolutionary trajectory of life. Far from being 'silent witnesses to the passage of time', plants are dynamic components of our world, shaping the environment throughout history as much as that environment has shaped them. In The Emerald Planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach reveals how plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf; how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous; and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone layer. Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles. This understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of the world through the stories they tell. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.
There is a specter haunting advanced industrial countries: structural unemployment. Recent years have seen growing concern over declining jobs, and though corporate profits have picked up after the Great Recession of 2008, jobs have not. It is possible that “jobless recoveries” could become a permanent feature of Western economies. This illuminating book focuses on the employment futures of advanced industrial countries, providing readers with the sociological imagination to appreciate the bigger picture of where workers fit in the new international division of labor. The authors piece together a puzzle that reveals deep structural forces underlying unemployment: skills mismatches caused by a shift from manufacturing to service jobs; increased offshoring in search of lower wages; the rise of advanced communication and automated technologies; and the growing financialization of the global economy that aggravates all of these factors. Weaving together varied literatures and data, the authors also consider what actions and policy initiatives societies might take to alleviate these threats. Addressing a problem that should be front and center for political economists and policymakers, this book will be illuminating reading for students of the sociology of work, labor studies, inequality, and economic sociology.
In an effort to provide greater awareness of the necessary policy decisions facing our elected and appointed officials, Energy Policy in the U.S.: Politics, Challenges, and Prospects for Change presents an overview of important energy policies and the policy process in the United States, including their history, goals, methods of action, and consequences. In the first half of the book, the authors frame the energy policy issue by reviewing U.S. energy policy history, identifying the policy-making players, and illuminating the costs, benefits, and economic and political realities of currently competing policy alternatives. The book examines the stakeholders and their attempts to influence energy policy and addresses the role of supply and demand on the national commitment to energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources. The latter half of the book delves into specific energy policy strategies, including economic and regulatory options, and factors that influence energy policies, such as the importance of international cooperation. Renewed interest in various renewable and nontraditional energy resources—for example, hydrogen, nuclear fusion, biomass, and tide motion—is examined, and policy agendas are explored in view of scientific, economic, regulatory, production, and environmental constraints. This book provides excellent insight into the complex task of creating a comprehensive energy policy and its importance in the continued availability of energy to power our way of life and economy while protecting our environment and national security.
This book sets out the case for a cosmopolitan approach to contemporary global politics. It presents a systematic theory of cosmopolitanism, explicating its core principles and justifications, and examines the role many of these principles have played in the development of global politics, such as framing the human rights regime. The framework is then used to address some of the most pressing issues of our time: the crisis of financial markets, climate change and the fallout from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In each case, Held argues that realistic politics is exhausted, and that cosmopolitanism is the new realism. See also Garrett Wallace Brown and David Held's The Cosmopolitanism Reader.
In business, winning may be impossible--unless you are a master of military strategy. The same techniques that made Napoleon an incomparable conqueror are still being employed today by such giants as Chrysler's Lee Iacocca. This book shows how it can be done.
This book evaluates how the phenomenon of outward foreign direct investment in services from Brazil, Russia, India, and China has been and could be regulated in international law. It addresses the goal of further economic development, balanced against the key public interest issues that lead to much criticism of international investment law.
Companion to Celebrity presents a multi-disciplinary collection of original essays that explore myriad issues relating to the origins, evolution, and current trends in the field of celebrity studies. Offers a detailed, systematic, and clear presentation of all aspects of celebrity studies, with a structure that carefully build its enquiry Draws on the latest scholarly developments in celebrity analyses Presents new and provocative ways of exploring celebrity’s meanings and textures Considers the revolutionary ways in which new social media have impacted on the production and consumption of celebrity
This new text takes a fresh look at strategic HRM for the 21st century. The well-respected author team incorporate cutting-edge research into an eminently student-friendly format. The book is packed with case studies including a large number based on original interviews with organisations.
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