Beyond the Centaur questions the accuracy and usefulness of the virtually unquestioned ancient consensus that persons are composed of unequally valued, hierarchically stacked antagonistic components, usually soul or mind and body. Part I explores the gradual historical development of this notion of person. Part II consists of a thought experiment, examining an understanding of persons, not as stacked components, but as intelligent bodies--one entity. It explores how a new understanding of persons can affect in important and fruitful ways how we live: how we move, feel, think, believe, and die.

Explores the implications of our animal origins and posthuman futures for our understanding of our humanity and our relations with other species.

16-year-old Dawn meets Amelia while navigating the social currents of yet another new school. Despite her abusive stepfather's best efforts, she has made a friend. At least Dawn thinks she’s a friend. Everybody gets butterflies in their stomach when they see their friends, right? After an accident at school, Dawn accidentally travels to Faracai, a world populated by centaurs. Provided with an unexpected opportunity to escape her stepfather, Dawn must decide whether to move permanently to Faracai and sacrifice her new friendship, or return to her world to be with Amelia, the first person to show her kindness. BEYOND THE THRESHOLD is a young adult story of believing in oneself, learning to trust, first loves, and found families.

This book serves as a fascinating progress report on the outer solar system, offering a way to better appreciate the newest findings. It unlocks some of the mysteries surrounding Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto — from the drama of their discoveries to the startling results of Voyager 2’s historic 1989 encounter with Neptune.

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.

This exciting survey of the American space science program is the work of a top NASA administrator. Ranging from the laboratory to launching pad and from international conference halls to lunar wastelands, it chronicles technological advances, explores the relationship of space science to general science, and places the space program in a broader social, political, and economic context. Homer E. Newell was instrumental in the founding of NASA and worked for the agency from its inception until 1973. In the early 1960s, he influenced or directly controlled virtually all of the free world's nonmilitary unmanned space missions. Newell's insider perspective offers fascinating insights into the personalities, opinions, and steady advance of ideas that characterize the U.S. space program.

What is life and where can it exist? What searches are being made to identify conditions for life on other worlds? If extraterrestrial inhabited worlds are found, how can we explore them? In this book, two leading astrophysicists provide an engaging account of where we stand in our quest for habitable environments, in the Solar System and beyond. Starting from basic concepts, the narrative builds scientifically, including more in-depth material as boxed additions to the main text. The authors recount fascinating recent discoveries from space missions and observations using ground-based telescopes, of possible life-related artefacts in Martian meteorites, extrasolar planets, and subsurface oceans on Europa, Titan and Enceladus. They also provide a forward look to future missions. This is an exciting, informative read for anyone interested in the search for habitable and inhabited planets, and an excellent primer for students in astrobiology, habitability, planetary science and astronomy.