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Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs

Forays in Postmodern Paleontology

by Alan Feduccia, Ph.D.

2020

Birds and dinosaurs have dominated human interest for decades. In this well-supported revolutionary view of the field, critical questions are explored with credible evidence and biological thought. Are birds derived directly from advanced dinosaurs, or are they closely related dinosaur cousins? Did flight originate via the natural "gravity-assisted" trees-down model, or from the improbable “gravity-resisted” ground-up model? Were the earliest birds ground-predators or trunk-climbing gliders? Were dinosaurs hot-blooded with insulating protofeathers, or highly active, cold-blooded reptiles? These are among the questions addressed in this path-breaking book. Current consensus suggests that early birds were earth-bound and flight began on the ground. Reversing that logic, since birds are hot-...

The Antikythera Mechanism

The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise

by Evaggelos G. Vallianatos

2021

In Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and Its Demise, Evaggelos G. Vallianatos, historian and ecopolitical theorist, shows that after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE, the Greeks, especially in Egypt, reached unprecedented heights of achievements in science, technology, and civilization. The Antikythera Mechanism, an astronomical computer probably crafted in Rhodes in the second century BCE, was proof of that prowess. It's the grandfather of our computers. Greek sponge divers discovered the Antikythera Mechanism in 1900 on a 2,100-year-old Roman-era shipwreck. The hand-powered device reveals a sophisticated Greek technology previously unknown to scholars and historians, not seen and understood again until th...

The Bipoint in the Settlement of North America

Trans-Oceanic Migrations and Settlement of Prehistoric Americas

by Wm Jack Hranicky

2020

This 378 page archaeological publication covers the development, definition, classification, and world-wide deployment of the lithic bipoint and includes numerous photographs, drawings, and maps. The bipoint is a legacy implement from the Old World that is found through time/space all over America. It was brought into the U.S. on both coasts; the Pacific Coast introduction was around 17,000 years ago and the Atlantic Coast was 23,000 years ago. The basic bipoint is defined and its manufacturing processes are presented along with bipoint properties, shape/form, resharpening, and cultural associations. This publication illustrates numerous bipoints from the Atlantic and Pacific states (and within the U.S.) and presents some of their inferred chronologies which are the oldest in the New World...

PaleoAmerican Archaeology in Virginia

by Wm Jack Hranicky, RPA

2017

This book is a full-color study of over 500 pre-Clovis stone artifacts of Virginia. With the 22K-year date of the Cinmar bipoint in Virginia, there is ample evidence of artifact classes that are older than Clovis. Over 50 tool types are illustrated and discussed. Artifact single-site collections are documented. The book argues the differences between Holocene biface technology with the blade and core technology of the Pleistocene era. The requirements for identifying Pleistocene artifacts is presented, such as platforms, remaining cortex, and invasive retouch. They are presented in a tool model. Major stones, namely jasper, are discussed as a lithic determinism. The east coast distribution is presented for various tool types. Additionally, as a major focus, cross-Atlantic flake/blade ident...

The Deritualization of Death

Toward a Practical Theology of Caregiving for the Bereaved

by Charles Lynn Gibson

2019

The problematic field of investigation for this study was for the care of bereaved human beings in the context of significant cultural shifts now shaping the twenty-first century. Deritualization was identified as a significant interdisciplinary concern that contributes to potential distress in processes of grieving. The objective of the research was the development of a practical theology of compassionate caregiving for the bereaved with deference to the problem of deritualization. The theoretical framework was guided by the Oxford Interdisciplinary Research model and the Loyola Institute of Ministries model of practical theology. The study was designed for applied research for funeral directors and vocational pastors utilizing qualitative research methods. Hermeneutical and empirical com...

Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs

Forays in Postmodern Paleontology

by Alan Feduccia, Ph.D.

11/15/2020

Birds and dinosaurs have dominated human interest for decades. In this well-supported revolutionary view of the field, critical questions are explored with credible evidence and biological thought. Are birds derived directly from advanced dinosaurs, or are they closely related dinosaur cousins? Did flight originate via the natural "gravity-assisted" trees-down model, or from the improbable “gravity-resisted” ground-up model? Were the earliest birds ground-predators or trunk-climbing gliders? Were dinosaurs hot-blooded with insulating protofeathers, or highly active, cold-blooded reptiles? These are among the questions addressed in this path-breaking book. Current consensus suggests that early birds were earth-bound and flight began on the ground. Reversing that logic, since birds are hot-...

Flat Space Cosmology

A New Model of the Universe Incorporating Astronomical Observations of Black Holes, Dark Energy and Dark Matter

by Eugene Terry Tatum and U.V.S. Seshavatharam

06/15/2021

This compilation based upon recent peer-reviewed journal publications encapsulates how the Flat Space Cosmology model (FSC) has become the primary competitor to the inflationary standard model of cosmology. New ideas concerning black holes, dark energy and dark matter are presented and shown to correlate extremely well with astronomical observations. Anyone who follows the fast-changing science of cosmology, has an interest in the latest developments, and would like to know how it is that our universe appears to follow equations one would ordinarily expect for a time-reversed black hole (!), may find this book to be fascinating. Cosmology is the study of how the universe has changed over the great span of time (roughly 14 billion years). Later centuries will look back upon the period fr...

Ten Equations to Explain the Mysteries of Modern Astrophysics

From Information and Chaos Theory to Ghost Particles and Gravitational Waves

by Santhosh Mathew

05/30/2019

This book introduces ten equations that transcend the boundaries of time and space. It takes readers through a journey of self-discovery where they will learn the history, science, and significance of these equations in the context of their lives. Moreover, the mathematical beauty of these equations is presented in a profoundly modest fashion to highlight the idea that equations are eternal but humans are transient. Each chapter offers readers a sublime experience and provides insights into the laws of nature that address the ever-expanding intricacy of our universe. The history of humankind, according to Franz Kafka, is the instant between two strides taken by a traveler. Therefore, what remains eternal when we finish our journey on this tiny rocky planet is our deep desire to connect wi...

Nuclear Power or a Promise Lost

A Policy Maker's Guide for a Future of Carbon Free, Sustainable Energy

by Edward T. Burns, Ph.D.

04/01/2020

This book captures the status of current electrical energy markets including the principal forces affecting decisions on selecting an energy source. It represents a seminal work that lays out the electrical energy decision tree for selecting an energy source in a world that is on the verge of catastrophic global warming because of the choices that have been made in the name of cheap energy. The impetus for this book includes the dire need to mitigate continued anthropogenic causes of global warming by turning to carbon free energy sources.Nuclear energy represents such a carbon-free energy source and could be a partial solution to the existential threat facing future society---the threat of a warming planet and its consequential, catastrophic effects on future generations. The world is at ...

How Science Can Help Us Live In Peace

Darwin, Einstein, Whitehead

by Markolf H. Niemz, Ph.D.; James D. Dunn, trans.

06/01/2018

Award-winning biophysicist Markolf H. Niemz puts into a nutshell what the top 3 scientists on earth have discovered. Charles Darwin: Animal and man are not two. Albert Einstein: Space and time are not two. Alfred N. Whitehead: The world and I are not two. The world we live in is non-dualistic. Nature is crying for peace, but we shut off foreign from native, poor from rich, others from ourselves. It is our concept of the self that stands in the way of peace. Based on Darwin's, Einstein's and Whitehead's scientific discoveries the author demonstrates how easily we mistake reality. There is neither a personal self nor an external, almighty God. Eternity, which most religious people hope for, does not begin at death. It is here and now—at the speed of light when all distances turn zero.This bo...

Fundamental Concepts of Physics

by Michael J. Cardamone

12/15/2007

Fundamental Concepts of Physics introduces students with little scientific background to college physics. Dr. Michael J. Cardamone presents the science of physics in a nonthreatening, non-mathematical conceptual format, with emphasis on its historical and cultural foundations. While directed at non-science undergraduate college students, the text is accessible to anyone with a curiosity concerning how we arrived at our current understanding of our physical world and its place in the universe. The goal is to allow the reader to come to an understanding of what we now know and how we came to know it. The emphasis is on the large concepts rather than the mathematical details involved with attaining this understanding. After completing the study of this text, the reader should have a greater a...

Caveman Chemistry

28 Projects, from the Creation of Fire to the Production of Plastics

by Kevin M. Dunn

09/28/2003

Learn not only how to recreate the chemicals that changed history, but the history behind the chemicals. A five star college level teaching aid! Half a million years ago our ancestors learned to make fire from scratch. They crafted intricate tools from stone and brewed mind-altering elixirs from honey. Their descendants transformed clay into pottery, wool into clothing, and ashes into cleansers. In ceramic crucibles they won metal from rock, the metals lead to colored glazes and glass. Buildings of brick and mortar enshrined books of parchment and paper. Kings and queens demanded ever more colorful clothing and accessories in order to out-class clod-hoppers and call-girls. Kingdoms rose and fell by the power of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. And the demands of everyday folk for glass ...

The Florida Spiny Lobster

How to Catch It, Its Biology, A Crawfish Cookbook, and First Aid for Minor Diving Injuries

by John Kappes

01/15/2008

The Florida Spiny Lobster tells what every crawfish hunter ought to know about his quarry, what equipment he’ll need, where to find them, and how to catch them. It also provides some tried and true recipes for those lucky lobster hunters who get some of these spiny delicacies as far as the kitchen. It also delves into the rules and regulations covering its capture and gives some common sense suggestions on how to safely manage the hunt. In writing the section on the biology of the spiny lobster the author takes great care to keep everything within the grasp of the average reader. Unnecessary scientific terminology is avoided while making an effort to answer every question that is likely to be asked about the crawfish. Every lobster hunter is likely to experience some ki...

The Bases of Chemical Thermodynamics

Volume 1

by Pierre Infelta & Michael Graetzel

12/20/2002

In this volume (volume 1), the tools necessary to study and understand systems in which chemical reactions can take place are developed. The variables of reaction are the keys to this understanding. Criteria for chemical equilibrium are established. It is shown how chemical reactions can provide work as, for example, in batteries. For complex systems, the number of independent reactions and their nature have to be determined systematically. The effect of external factors on chemical equilibria is analyzed and illustrated. The formalism necessary to study ideal and real solutions is provided. The various standard states in use and the corresponding activity coefficients are clearly defined. In volume 2, the tools necessary to study and understand systems in which chemical reactions can t...

Remarks on The Classical Theory of Fields

Corrections and Supplements to the Classical Electrodynamic Part of Landau and Lifshitz's Textbook

by Eliahu Comay, Ph.D.

02/27/2023

This book undertakes the unusual task of correcting and proposing supplements to the Landau and Lifshitz's highly celebrated textbook titled: The Classical Theory of Fields 1, which has been extraordinarily influential. Its first edition was published in 1939, and new editions in many languages continue to be published. Furthermore, it is still cited in scientific works several hundred times each year. The Classical Electrodynamic Part of Landau and Lifshitz's Textbook The Classical Theory of Fields is rigorously analyzed. The need for corrections is proved. The distinction between bound fields and radiation fields is stipulated. Apparent paradoxes, like the "hidden momentum" concept and the 4/3 factor of the Lorentz transformation of the electromagnetic fields' momentum of a charged p...

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