Sakura Himedaka is the Guard of Spring. She has chosen to take her revenge on the ones who kidnapped her beloved lady, as well as the ones who stood back and let it happen. She will protect her master with her life, and she has abandoned any threat to her resolve-even a budding love with the man who once taught her. This battlefield is only for those with an iron will. Now the dance of spring begins.

Once upon a time, there was Winter. Winter was once the only season in the world-but such an existence was too lonely to bear, and so it created Spring to love. Before long, the earth wished for more time to rest in the cycle, and Summer and Autumn were born. The ones who carry the cycle are called the Agents of the Four Seasons. Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, disappeared from this land ten years ago, taking the season of spring with her. Now, after incredible hardship, she has returned to restore the cycle to its proper state-and, as in the myth passed down since the dawn of time, she sends her love to Winter.

“I love your summer.” After the long-awaited return of the Agent of Spring, Hinagiku Kayo, and New Year’s surprise attack on Summer and Autumn, the Four Seasons have formed an unprecedented united front. While they successfully overcame many hardships, a new challenge has arisen. The Hazakura sisters have become the first dual Agents in history. Is this a good or bad omen? Summer has arrived, and the Agents’ story begins once more.

Is the universe ultimately meaningful, ordered to an end of transcendental value? Or is it merely the product of random interactions in which organization emerges only locally and by chance and is conserved only so long as rare and improbable conditions prevail? There can, in fact, be no more important question, for on the resolution of this question depends the significance of all our worldly labors. The Ultimate Meaningfulness of the Universe represents a new departure in this debate, arguing that because it describes rather than explains the universe, mathematical physics is radically incapable of addressing this question. The book argues for a new scientific research paradigm that while incorporating and building on the description of the universe supplied by modern mathematical physics, goes beyond it in a restored discipline of teleological explanation. The book sketches applications in the physical, biological, and social domains, and shows that powerful evidence already points toward the ultimate meaningfulness of the universe.

One of the main motives for British imperialism in Africa was economic gain. This collection examines the ways in which Britain developed Africa, and, in so doing, benefited her own economy.

Books of Fate and Popular Culture in Early China is a comprehensive introduction to the manuscripts known as daybooks, examples of which have been found in Warring States, Qin, and Han tombs (453 BCE–220 CE). Their main content concerns hemerology, or “knowledge of good and bad days.” Daybooks reveal the place of hemerology in daily life and are invaluable sources for the study of popular culture. Eleven scholars have contributed chapters examining the daybooks from different perspectives, detailing their significance as manuscript-objects intended for everyday use and showing their connection to almanacs still popular in Chinese communities today as well as to hemerological literature in medieval Europe and ancient Babylon. Contributors include: Marianne Bujard, László Sándor Chardonnens, Christopher Cullen, Donald Harper, Marc Kalinowski, Li Ling, Liu Lexian, Alasdair Livingstone, Richard Smith, Alain Thote, and Yan Changgui.

The second volume of Dr Joseph Needham's great work Science and Civilisation in China is devoted to the history of scientific thought. Beginning with ancient times, it describes the Confucian milieu in which arose the organic naturalism of the great Taoist school, the scientific philosophy of the Mohists and Logicians, and the quantitative materialism of the Legalists. Thus we are brought on to the fundamental ideas which dominated scientific thinking in the Chinese middle ages. The author opens his discussion by considering the remote and pictographic origins of words fundamental in scientific discourse, and then sets forth the influential doctrines of the Two Forces and the Five Elements. Subsequently he writes of the important sceptical tradition, the effects of Buddhist thought, and the Neo-Confucian climax of Chinese naturalism. Last comes a discussion of the conception of Laws of Nature in China and the West.

Liu Zhi (ca. 1670–1724) was one of the most important scholars of Islam in traditional China. His Tianfang xingli(Nature and Principle in Islam), the Chinese-language text translated here, focuses on the roots or principles of Islam. It was heavily influenced by several classic texts in the Sufi tradition. Liu’s approach, however, is distinguished from that of other Muslim scholars in that he addressed the basic articles of Islamic thought with Neo-Confucian terminology and categories. Besides its innate metaphysical and philosophical value, the text is invaluable for understanding how the masters of Chinese Islam straddled religious and civilizational frontiers and created harmony between two different intellectual worlds. The introductory chapters explore both the Chinese and the Islamic intellectual traditions behind Liu’s work and locate the arguments of Tianfang xingli within those systems of thought. The copious annotations to the translation explain Liu’s text and draw attention to parallels in Chinese-, Arabic-, and Persian-language works as well as differences.

The sports industry is large, visible, and growing—and it has a huge impact on society. That's obvious to die-hard fans who not only watch sporting events but buy everything from balls to ties to paperweights with their favorite team's logo. But even sports haters can't escape the onslaught of professional sports: They are asked to chip in as taxpayers to build public stadiums, and their children are, like it or not, exposed to events sponsored by alcohol and tobacco companies, not to mention the juvenile antics of star athletes. Businesses, of course, take a hit in productivity when the Olympics—or World Series or Super Bowl or World Cup—rolls around. Yet most of us love to watch, and play. The Business of Sports takes on this endlessly fascinating behemoth of an industry to make sense of it all. Yes, sports is big business. How big? Estimates of total annual U.S. spending on sporting goods and services range from $250 to $560 billion a year, and spending related to organized sport alone has been estimated at $200 billion per year. And it's getting bigger, casting an ever-larger shadow over the entire globe. The Business of Sports throws light on the subject by exploring the business and economic dynamics of the industry from a diverse array of perspectives that cover the industry's macroeconomic, management, and marketing/promotion issues. —Volume 1, Perspectives on the Sports Industry, documents the current size, scope, and magnitude of the sports industry in the U.S. and abroad—including the U.K. and China. It also examines the importance of the world's most visible sporting events, like the Olympics, and the impact of sporting events broadcast around the world. —Volume 2, Economic Perspectives on Sport, takes an in-depth look at the sports industry from an economic perspective. The volume delves into the inner workings of leagues and teams, covering economic issues from the design of sports leagues to franchise financial valuations to salary caps to labor relations. —Volume 3, Bridging Research and Practice, fills the gap between scholarly research on sport and practitioners working in the industry. Topics include evaluating talent, maintaining managerial efficiency, analyzing statistical performance indices, and assessing the noneconomic benefits of professional sports. Business and sports are a potent mix of two of the strongest forces moving our society today. And, as the stratospheric salaries of professional athletes indicate, the industry is going through major growth and change. To make sense of it all, it helps to understand the underlying economic principles driving the business decisions made daily by owners and managers in all corners of the world. The unique, multivolume format of The Business of Sports allows sports nuts, journalists, business people, and students to explore the wide variety of issues that fuel the world's crazy passion for all things athletic.