This book is very detailed and spans a very impressive range of important topics in modern physics, including high-field electrodynamics, relativity, general relativity, nonlinear optics, advanced accelerators, QED, etc...
It is definitely a must, both as a reference book, and as a starting point for research at the forefront of modern physics.
I highly recommend it, and think it is a fantastic complement to the classic by Jackson.

The law of England underwent major changes under the energetic leadership of the Plantagenet kings. This scholarly work traces and outlines this most fascinating and actually entertaining period in legal history.

Before the acts chronicled here, the business of law enforcement in all its various forms, both civil and criminal, was a rather haphazard and local affair. Magical ordeals, often administered by the clergy, and probably fixed by them to reach what they thought the proper outcome, were a major method of trial. Noblemen could fend off charges by their inferiors by swearing they didn't do it, and finding enough people to swear that they believed 'em. Disputes between nobles were as often as not settled by the sword, in either actual battle or ritual combat.

The Plantagenet kings made this imperfect system obsolete, not by legislating it out of existence, but by offering a superior product. They introduced the grand and petit jury, whose ultimate origins are obscure, but which may trace back to the Scandinavian ancestors of the Normans. New forms of litigation were set up beside the old ones, only these led to the royally instituted jury rather than the old forms of trial by oaths, magic, or battle.

And, having this parallel system in place, attorneys were careful to frame their pleadings so as to bring their litigation within the ambit of the new trials, rather than the old ones. These basic legal reforms, helped along by certain legal fictions made necessary to achieve the desired result, became the foundation of a legal system more suited to a national state with a central royal government, rather than the patchwork jurisdictions of feudalism.

This fascinating story is told in all its detail in these old but still intriguing books.

This is an excellent book written by a John Frederic Herbin who was the only Acadian descendant living in Grand-Pre when he wrote the book. He details many of the unknown happenings following the Deportation of the Acadians from their land and the cruelty they suffered. He also writes about some victories though short-lived.

Herbin is especilly remembered for purchasing that precious land where the Acadian Ancestors had lived and worship and had been deported from.. seeing to it that a memorial church would be built on the site of the old one.. and giving the land to the government of Nova Scotia - Grand-Pre then became a National Historic Site of the province.

Mr. Brady takes you into the west during a time when the Native Americans were making their last stand. His exhaustive journalistic studies have given us a timeless account of what it was like to both be a Native American and a Calvary fighter during the 1870's. Although Mr. Brady attempts to take an objective view of both sides, he is biased towards the Calvary and one cannot help but to ponder the Native Americans view point as they struggle for their freedom aganist unbeatable odds. I would recommend this book to anyone! I particulary enjoy reading historical accounts and this is one of the best I have ever read. 2/18/97 Tate Perazzelli 102212.2751@compuserve.co

Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age is a specialty item which is recommended for any collection concentrating on Japanese art. Woodblock prints from the Meiji era are presented in a series of over 90 color illustrations which go beyond the traditional perception of Japanese subjects as gardens and geishas. These prints depicted current events and were painted in vivid colors, and Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age captures their vibrant spirit, along with history essential to understanding their meaning.

I wept when I read this book as a child. The book was a gift to me from my father twenty years ago, and I recently passed it to my best friend's daughter. It is the story of a young girl's love of the deer in the woods around her house, and of the community's love for this child and her family. It is a beautiful story, with beautiful, spare illustrations and I hope it will remain available to many generations.

The fact that lateral (or "horizontal") gene transfer can occur between living organisms is not only an established fact in modern genetics, it is also used by those who are against the practice of genetic engineering. The argument is usually set in the context of using transgenic strategies to transfer genes from two unrelated species. If performed in edible crops for example, this might induce, via lateral gene transfer, dangerous bacterial strains that evolve rapidly from the natural ones inside the human digestive system. Since the use of genetic engineering in agriculture is becoming more and more prevalent today, it is imperative by all concerned to find out in detail just what the fuss is all about concerning lateral gene transfer. The author has written a fine overview of this topic, and can serve both the student of genetics as well as those who are not experts in genetics but who have a need to understand it. The author reviews some of the molecular biology needed in the beginning chapters of the book.

The author introduces lateral DNA transfer as a phenomenon that can occur "surprisingly often" and can become stably incorporated in the recipient. His first example of it concerns the transfer of marine bacteriophages in the oceans. Each milliliter contains on the order of ten million viruses, most of these being bacteriophages, which infect bateria. When these phages grow, some of them pick up the genes of the host cell and transfer them via infection to a new cell. The transferred sequence then can become stable, and from experiments this happens one out of 100,000,000 times. This translates into 2 million billion times per second! The author also cites evidence for lateral DNA transfer from the sequencing of genomes.

Three chapters of the book are devoted to the occurrence of lateral DNA transfer in prokaryotes, one of the most important ones being antibiotic resistance in microbes. In addition, special blocks of genes called "pathogenicity islands" can be transferred by bacteriophages using transduction. He also overviews the genome sequencing evidence for lateral transfer in prokaryotes. Some of the more interesting topics discussed in these chapters include: 1. The 'transposons', some of which can direct lateral transfer, with the simplest (the simple insertion elements) now numbering in the thousands. To a reader with some knowledge of physics, it would be interesting to quantify what the "mobility" of a transposon is. In addition, transposons can mobilize pathogenicity islands. 2. The 'integrons', which are mobile gene arrays that also promote dispersal of antibiotic resistance genes. The author gives the reader a few research questions regarding integrons. 3. The discussion on the possibility that all genes present in certain DNA phages may be accessible to any phage, via intermediate hosts. 4. For newcomers to microbiology and genetics (like myself), the observation by the author that disease bacteria are only slightly different genetically from normal ones. 5. The ability of some bacteria to hide from the host immune system via a network of sugar chains. 6. The occurrence of 'gene transfer agents', which bring about spontaneous transfer of genetic markers between strains of bacteria. 7. The fact that most of the E.coli genome is a result of lateral transfer. 8. The "Selfish Operon Hypothesis". 9. The discussion of gene transfer between bacteria on the environment. The author reviews the research, and concludes that it certainly does occur naturally. Engineered genes will thus no doubt do the same, but would be a "small drop in the ocean of global DNA exchange", according to the author.

The next 5 chapters cover lateral transfer in eukaryotes, with retroviruses being the first important mechanism. The nuclear membrane must be traversed for eukaryotes, making lateral transfer more difficult. An entire chapter is devoted to the discussion of the role of lateral transfer in the AIDS epidemic. Mobile elements, called 'retrotransposons" also play a role in lateral transfer in eukaryotes, via the use of RNA. So also to 'DNA transposons' via the DNA-mediated pathways. Some interesting discussions in these chapters include: 1. Transfer via transient exposure of genomes to chromosomes containing transposons. 2. The process called "homing", by which transposition of mobile introns takes place. 3. The discussion of DNA transposons in maize. 4. The argument that lateral transfer must take place in animals in order to avoid extinction. 5. The question as to whether there are LTR retrotransposons, as well as mariner or hAT transposons in the human genome. 6. The role of lateral transfer in the evolution of the vertebrate immune system.

The last 3 chapters of the book discuss the occurrence of lateral transfer between species, the regulation of DNA transfer, the role of lateral transfer in the origin of sex, and some speculations by the author. Interesting discussions here include: 1. DNA transfer from bacteria to plants via crowngalls. 2. The T-DNA transfer system. 3. The possibility of gene transfer into mammalian tissues by eating DNA in food. The author concludes that further studies are needed to prove this possibility. 4. The different strategies employed by eukaryotes for supressing the efficiency of DNA transfer systems, the most interesting of these being RNA interference and cosuppression, the study of the latter originating in horticultural experiments. The author also lists several open questions in the study of RNA interference. 5. The antagonism between the immune system and lateral transfer in vertebrates. 6. The 'interferon' system and its ability to suppress virus replication. 7. The relation between genome size and lateral transfer. What is most surprising in this discussion is the sizes of some genomes relative to the human genome, some (lily plants for example) considerably larger. 8. The strategies that the immune system and pathogens employ to fight each other. Salmonella for example, employs a particularly clever strategy called "phase variation", which inverts a segment of the genome containing a transcription initiation sequence.

In the last paragraphs of the book, the author encourages the continued study of lateral gene transfer, not only for its impact in genetic engineering, but also for acquiring a understanding of how all lifeforms are connected to each other.

This is an excellent text if you are interested in having your reality turned on its head. I have used this reference in almost every paper I have written since beginning my path down the winding road of critical theory. I recommend it to anyone who thinks about why we think the way we do, anyone interested in hegemony, and anyone who thinks something is wrong with our world but s/he feels s/he just can't put a finger on what it is. This is a foundational text for anyone studying literary theory or philosophy. It contains the famous I.S.A. essay, a must read for anyone who functions metacognitively!

112 pages, paperback, copyright 1983. purchaced new in Camden, Maine, late May 1999. more were in stock. 2nd printing 1996. Mine is signed by the author ( YIPPEE!!! ) 29 entries in Biliography. I'm giving it 5 stars because it is site specific, gives a brief overview of Lightships, and all Lightsships, but is very focused on Cape Cod and the Islands. Includes local lore and ledgend from crew mwmbers, all the way up until the Nantucket Lightship was replaced in 1986, the last of all Lightships. By the way, the Nantucket that was sank by the Titanic's sister-ship was recently found.

If you enjoy the type of miniature railways that operate in amusement parks, this is the book for you! It is a little dated, having been written in 1958, but remains the only American book on this subject. Shaw's writing style is lively and his enthusiasm for his subject contagious! Railfans....don't miss this book.