This book considers the role of Western philosophy in the 21st century in the light of historical developments; and presents contributions from experts in a number of fields including philosophy, sociology, history, politics and literature.

Combining traditional documentary research with new analytical strategies, Robert J. Ferry creates a rich, three-dimensional picture of early Caracas. His reconstitution and interpretation of important genealogical histories provide a model for historical studies of Latin American and other societies. Ferry’s work partially eclipses previously accepted ideas about colonial Caracas. He shows how the society was dominated by a commercial-agricultural elite and demonstrates that women were responsible for arranging marriages and maintaining family lineages, that marriages among first cousins were very common, and that elite residence was matrifocal. The Colonial Elite of Early Caracas focuses on the salient features of the society and economy: agriculture, commerce, and labor. The first section treats the seventeenth-century transition from Indian encomienda labor to African slave labor. The society created by slavery and the cacao trade in the eighteenth century is the main subject of the second section of the book. Throughout, Ferry leads the reader to a deeper understanding of the elite planters of Caracas, who were wheat farmers in the seventeenth century and cacao hacienda owners in the eighteenth. Ferry also explores how some families suceeded in retaining wealth and local authority from one generation to the next. That success is momentarily halted in the 1730s and 1740s, and the revolt of Juan Francisco de León in 1749 is viewed as a crisis of both the colony’s elite and the smallholder, immigrant class to which León himself belonged. The response to León’s rebellion represents a major effort on the part of the Spanish crown to restructure royal authority in the colony, arguably the first of the Bourbon reforms in the American colonies. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Susan Sontag: An Annotated Bibliographycatalogues the works of one of America's most prolific and important 20th century authors. Known for her philosophical writings on American culture, topics left untouched by Sontag's writings are few and far between. This volume is an exhaustive collection that includes her novels, essays, reviews, films and interviews. Each entry is accompanied by an annotated bibliography.

Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Structures is a book primarily directed towards practicing structural designers who are interested in applying performance-based concepts to seismic design. Since much of the material presented in the book has not been published elsewhere, it will also be of considerable interest to researchers, and to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of earthquake engineering who wish to develop a deeper understanding of how design can be used to control seismic response. The design philosophy is based on determination of the optimum structural strength to achieve a given performance limit state, related to a defined level of damage, under a specified level of seismic intensity. Emphasis is also placed on how this strength is distributed through the structure. This takes two forms: methods of structural analysis and capacity design. It is shown that equilibrium considerations frequently lead to a more advantageous distribution of strength than that resulting from stiffness considerations. Capacity design considerations have been re-examined, and new and more realistic design approaches are presented to insure against undesirable modes of inelastic deformation. The book considers a wide range of structural types, including separate chapters on frame buildings, wall buildings, dual wall/frame buildings, masonry buildings, timber structures, bridges, structures with isolation or added damping devices, and wharves. These are preceded by introductory chapters discussing conceptual problems with current force-based design, seismic input for displacement-based design, fundamentals of direct displacement-based design, and analytical tools appropriate for displacement-based design. The final two chapters adapt the principles of displacement-based seismic design to assessment of existing structures, and present the previously developed design information in the form of a draft building code. The text is illustrated by copious worked design examples (39 in all), and analysis aids are provided in the form of a CD containing three computer programs covering moment-curvature analysis (Cumbia), linear-element-based inelastic time-history analysis (Ruaumoko), and a general fibre-element dynamic analysis program (SeismoStruct). The design procedure developed in this book is based on a secant-stiffness (rather than initial stiffness) representation of structural response, using a level of damping equivalent to the combined effects of elastic and hysteretic damping. The approach has been fully verified by extensive inelastic time history analyses, which are extensively reported in the text. The design method is extremely simple to apply, and very successful in providing dependable and predictable seismic response. Authors Bios M.J.N.Priestley Nigel Priestley is Professor Emeritus of the University of California San Diego, and co-Director of the Centre of Research and Graduate Studies in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (ROSE School), Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS), Pavia, Italy. He has published more than 450 papers, mainly on earthquake engineering, and received numerous awards for his research. He holds honorary doctorates from ETH, Zurich, and Cujo, Argentina. He is co-author of two previous seismic design books “Seismic Design of Concrete and Masonry Buildings” and “Seismic Design and Retrofit of Bridges”, that are considered standard texts on the subjects. G.M.Calvi Michele Calvi is Professor of the University of Pavia and Director of the Centre of Research and Graduate Studies in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (ROSE School), Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS) of Pavia. He has published more than 200 papers and is co-author of the book “Seismic Design and Retrofit of Bridges”, that is considered a standard text on the subject, has been involved in important construction projects worldwide, such as the Rion Bridge in Greece and the upgrading of the Bolu Viaduct in Turkey, and is coordinating several international research projects. M.J.Kowalsky Mervyn Kowalsky is Associate Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University and a member of the faculty of the ROSE School. His research, which has largely focused on the seismic behaviour of structures, has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the North Carolina and Alaska Departments of Transportation, and several industrial organizations. He is a registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina and an active member of several national and international committees on Performance-Based Seismic Design.

Because of their structural simplicity, bridges tend to beparticularly vulnerable to damage and even collapse when subjectedto earthquakes or other forms of seismic activity. Recentearthquakes, such as the ones in Kobe, Japan, and Oakland,California, have led to a heightened awareness of seismic risk andhave revolutionized bridge design and retrofit philosophies. In Seismic Design and Retrofit of Bridges, three of the world's topauthorities on the subject have collaborated to produce the mostexhaustive reference on seismic bridge design currently available.Following a detailed examination of the seismic effects of actualearthquakes on local area bridges, the authors demonstrate designstrategies that will make these and similar structures optimallyresistant to the damaging effects of future seismicdisturbances. Relying heavily on worldwide research associated with recentquakes, Seismic Design and Retrofit of Bridges begins with anin-depth treatment of seismic design philosophy as it applies tobridges. The authors then describe the various geotechnicalconsiderations specific to bridge design, such as soil-structureinteraction and traveling wave effects. Subsequent chapters coverconceptual and actual design of various bridge superstructures, andmodeling and analysis of these structures. As the basis for their design strategies, the authors' focus is onthe widely accepted capacity design approach, in which particularlyvulnerable locations of potentially inelastic flexural deformationare identified and strengthened to accommodate a greater degree ofstress. The text illustrates how accurate application of thecapacity design philosophy to the design of new bridges results instructures that can be expected to survive most earthquakes withonly minor, repairable damage. Because the majority of today's bridges were built before thecapacity design approach was understood, the authors also devoteseveral chapters to the seismic assessment of existing bridges,with the aim of designing and implementing retrofit measures toprotect them against the damaging effects of future earthquakes.These retrofitting techniques, though not considered appropriate inthe design of new bridges, are given considerable emphasis, sincethey currently offer the best solution for the preservation ofthese vital and often historically valued thoroughfares. Practical and applications-oriented, Seismic Design and Retrofit ofBridges is enhanced with over 300 photos and line drawings toillustrate key concepts and detailed design procedures. As the onlytext currently available on the vital topic of seismic bridgedesign, it provides an indispensable reference for civil,structural, and geotechnical engineers, as well as students inrelated engineering courses. A state-of-the-art text on earthquake-proof design and retrofit ofbridges Seismic Design and Retrofit of Bridges fills the urgent need for acomprehensive and up-to-date text on seismic-ally resistant bridgedesign. The authors, all recognized leaders in the field,systematically cover all aspects of bridge design related toseismic resistance for both new and existing bridges. * A complete overview of current design philosophy for bridges,with related seismic and geotechnical considerations * Coverage of conceptual design constraints and their relationshipto current design alternatives * Modeling and analysis of bridge structures * An exhaustive look at common building materials and theirresponse to seismic activity * A hands-on approach to the capacity design process * Use of isolation and dissipation devices in bridge design * Important coverage of seismic assessment and retrofit design ofexisting bridges