A nuanced reframing of the dual importance of reading and observation for early modern naturalists. Historians traditionally argue that the sciences were born in early modern Europe during the so-called Scientific Revolution. At the heart of this narrative lies a supposed shift from the knowledge of books to the knowledge of things. The attitude of the new-style intellectual broke with the text-based practices of erudition and instead cultivated an emerging empiricism of observation and experiment. Rather than blindly trusting the authority of ancient sources such as Pliny and Aristotle, practitioners of this experimental philosophy insisted upon experiential proof. In A Centaur in London, Fabian Kraemer calls a key tenet of this master narrative into question—that the rise of empiricism entailed a decrease in the importance of reading practices. Kraemer shows instead that the early practices of textual erudition and observational empiricism were by no means so remote from one another as the traditional narrative would suggest. He argues that reading books and reading the book of nature had a great deal in common—indeed, that reading texts was its own kind of observation. Especially in the case of rare and unusual phenomena like monsters, naturalists were dependent on the written reports of others who had experienced the good luck to be at the right place at the right time. The connections between compiling examples from texts and from observation were especially close in such cases. A Centaur in London combines the history of scholarly reading with the history of scientific observation to argue for the sustained importance of both throughout the Renaissance and provides a nuanced, textured portrait of early modern naturalists at work.

In this study of the relationship between men and their horses in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England, Monica Mattfeld explores the experience of horsemanship and how it defined one’s gendered and political positions within society. Men of the period used horses to transform themselves, via the image of the centaur, into something other—something powerful, awe-inspiring, and mythical. Focusing on the manuals, memoirs, satires, images, and ephemera produced by some of the period’s most influential equestrians, Mattfeld examines how the concepts and practices of horse husbandry evolved in relation to social, cultural, and political life. She looks closely at the role of horses in the world of Thomas Hobbes and William Cavendish; the changes in human social behavior and horse handling ushered in by elite riding houses such as Angelo’s Academy and Mr. Carter’s; and the public perception of equestrian endeavors, from performances at places such as Astley’s Amphitheatre to the satire of Henry William Bunbury. Throughout, Mattfeld shows how horses aided the performance of idealized masculinity among communities of riders, in turn influencing how men were perceived in regard to status, reputation, and gender. Drawing on human-animal studies, gender studies, and historical studies, Becoming Centaur offers a new account of masculinity that reaches beyond anthropocentrism to consider the role of animals in shaping man.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, A Checklist, 1700-1974, Volume one of Two, contains an Author Index, Title Index, Series Index, Awards Index, and the Ace and Belmont Doubles Index.

British Tank Production and the War Economy, 1934-1945 explores the under-researched experiences of the British tank industry in the context of the pressures of war. Benjamin Coombs explores the various demands placed on British industry during the Second World War, looking at the political, military and strategy pressures involved. By comparing the British tank programme with the Canadian, American, Russian and Australian equivalents, this study offers an international perspective on this aspect of the war economy. Topics covered include the premature contraction of the tank programme and dependence on American armour, the supply of the Valentine tank to the Russian authorities and the ongoing employment of the tank in the postwar peacetime markets.

Matheson provides the first comprehensive chronology for Polygnotos's own works, and then analyzes the distinctive, evolving Polygnotan style first isolated by Sir John Beazley, comparing this style to that of contemporary Athenian workshops and demonstrating its seminal influence on the later vase painting of southern Italy.

This carefully crafted ebook: “DICKENS'S LONDON” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Novels The Pickwick Papers Oliver Twist Nicholas Nickleby The Old Curiosity Shop Barnaby Rudge Martin Chuzzlewit David Copperfield Little Dorrit A Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations Our Mutual Friend Short Stories Sketches by Boz The Beadle. The Parish Engine. The Schoolmaster. The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-pay Captain The Four Sisters The Election for Beadle The Broker's Man The Ladies' Societies Our Next-door Neighbour The Streets – morning The Streets – night Shops and their Tenants Scotland Yard Seven Dials Meditations in Monmouth-Street Hackney-coach Stands Doctors' Commons London Recreations The River Astley's Greenwich Fair Private Theatres Vauxhall Gardens by Day Early Coaches Omnibuses The Last Cab-driver, and the First Omnibus cad A Parliamentary Sketch Public Dinners The First of May Brokers' and Marine-store Shops Gin-shops The Pawnbroker's Shop Criminal Courts A Visit to Newgate Thoughts about People A Christmas Dinner The New Year Miss Evans and the Eagle The Parlour Orator The Hospital Patient The Misplaced attachment of Mr. John Dounce The Mistaken Milliner The Dancing Academy Shabby-Genteel People Making a Night of It The Prisoners' Van The Boarding-house Mr. Minns and his Cousin Sentiment The Tuggses at Ramsgate Horatio Sparkins The Black Veil The Steam Excursion The Great Winglebury Duel Mrs. Joseph Porter A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle The Bloomsbury Christening The Drunkard's death Sketches of Young Gentlemen Sketches of Young Couples Master Humphrey's Clock Sunday Under Three Heads Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.