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"Natural history Miscellanea"
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Two truths and a lie. It's alive!
Blends strange but true facts about the natural world with a handful of fictional accounts, challenging readers to discover which two out of every three stories are true.
Book
Magical House Protection
Belief in magic and particularly the power of witchcraft
was once a deep and enduring presence in popular
culture.
\"Diving into Brian Hoggard's Magical House Protection is a
remarkable experience… [It] provides an immersive and fascinating
read.\"- Fortean Times
People created and concealed many objects to protect themselves
from harmful magic. Detailed are the principal forms of magical
house protection in Britain and beyond from the fourteenth century
to the present day. Witch-bottles, dried cats, horse skulls,
written charms, protection marks and concealed shoes were all used
widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative
energies. Many of these practices and symbols can be found around
the globe, demonstrating the universal nature of efforts by people
to protect themselves from witchcraft.
From the introduction: The most popular locations to conceal
objects within buildings are usually at portals such as the hearth,
the threshold and also voids or dead spaces. This suggests that
people believed it was possible for dark forces to travel through
the landscape and attack them in their homes. Whether these forces
were emanations from a witch in the form of a spell, a witch's
familiar pestering their property, an actual witch flying in spirit
or a combination of all of those is difficult to tell. Additional
sources of danger could be ghosts, fairies and demons. People went
to great lengths to ensure their homes and property were protected,
highlighting the fact that these beliefs and fears were visceral
and, as far as they were concerned, literally terrifying.
eBook
Genes, development, and cancer : the life and work of Edward B. Lewis
Edward B.Lewis' science is the bridge linking experimental genetics as conducted in the first half of the twentieth century, and the powerful molecular genetic approaches that revolutionized the field in its last quarter.
eBook
Wizards, aliens, and starships
From teleportation and space elevators to alien contact and interstellar travel, science fiction and fantasy writers have come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Yet how plausible are these ideas--for instance, could Mr. Weasley's flying car in the Harry Potter books really exist? Which concepts might actually happen, and which ones wouldn't work at all?Wizards, Aliens, and Starshipsdelves into the most extraordinary details in science fiction and fantasy--such as time warps, shape changing, rocket launches, and illumination by floating candle--and shows readers the physics and math behind the phenomena.
With simple mathematical models, and in most cases using no more than high school algebra, Charles Adler ranges across a plethora of remarkable imaginings, from the works of Ursula K. Le Guin toStar TrekandAvatar, to explore what might become reality. Adler explains why fantasy in the Harry Potter and Dresden Files novels cannot adhere strictly to scientific laws, and when magic might make scientific sense in the muggle world. He examines space travel and wonders why it isn't cheaper and more common today. Adler also discusses exoplanets and how the search for alien life has shifted from radio communications to space-based telescopes. He concludes by investigating the future survival of humanity and other intelligent races. Throughout, he cites an abundance of science fiction and fantasy authors, and includes concise descriptions of stories as well as a glossary of science terms.
Wizards, Aliens, and Starshipswill speak to anyone wanting to know about the correct--and incorrect--science of science fiction and fantasy.
eBook
Solomon's Secret Arts
The late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are known as the Age of Enlightenment, a time of science and reason. But in this illuminating book, Paul Monod reveals the surprising extent to which Newton, Boyle, Locke, and other giants of rational thought and empiricism also embraced the spiritual, the magical, and the occult.
Although public acceptance of occult and magical practices waxed and waned during this period they survived underground, experiencing a considerable revival in the mid-eighteenth century with the rise of new antiestablishment religious denominations. The occult spilled over into politics with the radicalism of the French Revolution and into literature in early Romanticism. Even when official disapproval was at its strongest, the evidence points to a growing audience for occult publications as well as to subversive popular enthusiasm. Ultimately, finds Monod, the occult was not discarded in favor of \"reason\" but was incorporated into new forms of learning. In that sense, the occult is part of the modern world, not simply a relic of an unenlightened past, and is still with us today.
eBook
The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests
An introduction to pollination ecology in Australian rainforests, especially subtropical rainforests.
eBook