Are ghosts real? Are there truly haunted places, only haunted people, or both? And how can we know? Taking neither a credulous nor a dismissive approach, this first-of-its-kind book solves those perplexing mysteries and more--even answering the question of why we care so very much. Putting aside purely romantic tales, this book examines the actual evidence for ghosts--from eyewitness accounts to mediumistic productions (such as diaphanous forms materializing in dim light), spirit photographs, ghost-detection phenomena, and even CSI-type trace evidence. Offering numerous exciting case studies, this book engages in serious investigation rather than breathless mystifying. Pseudoscience, folk legends, and outright hoaxes are challenged and exposed, while the historical, cultural, and scientific aspects of ghost experiences and haunting reports are carefully explored. The author--the world's only professional paranormal investigator--brings his skills as a stage magician, private detective, folklorist, and forensic science writer to bear on a topic that demands serious study.

John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation, and a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. In 1543 he penned A Treatise on Relics, and their religious-historical influence.

Introduction: botany and importance. Taxonomy and systematics. Important mango cultivars and their descriptors. Breeding and genetics. Reproductive physiology. Ecophysiology. Fruit diseases. Foliar, floral and soilborne diseases. Physiological disorders. Pests. Crop production: propagation. Crop production: mineral nutrition. Crop production management. Postharvest physiology. Postharvest technology and quarantine treatments. World mango trade and the economics of mango production. Fruit processing. Biotechnology.

It would be possible to challenge the Cell biology through a Cell Philosophy? By re-thinking the cell as a lively Being and subsequently to change the Cell itself into a Being? Into a lively Being? Called CELLULAR BEING? Our ambition, our enterprise, our philosophical and biological ambitions, is encouraged by the huge development of Cell and Molecular Biology in the last decades of the second Millennium and the first two decades of the third Millennium Through the philosophy of cell, through the philosophy of genetic code contained into the DNA, of its physiology and pathology, is enriched thus the self-reflection about the living planetary system into which the Cell itself, in its uni-cellularity or multi-cellularity, has been the oldest living Being, der älteste lebendigen Dasein, Cell is the Being itself, whatever in its uni-cellularity as prokaryote or eukaryote, as unicellular organism, or pluricellular ones, whatever in fungi, in plants or animals, in its physiological conditions or physiopathological ones, being then the basic substratum of all living system in the last of ca. about four billions years… …Then, once again, it is not important the words, into which the books are written, or into which the words are expressed through their morphology or dys-morphology, but the idea or ideas behind them, towards a re-thinking of a concept-o-logical biology, as a revalorization of life itself, Umwertung aller Lebendigewerte, within the uniqueness of our blue planet system… The science of astronomy, the science of cosmology, of geology, of biology, are addressing not only to the readers, whatever they are in the world, but primarily to the bipolarity of readers - thinkers, as the evolutionary development of the word of reader to the concept of thinker, both intertwined into a CONCEPTOLOGICAL FIELD OF CREATORS, through which myself is correlated into the triad reader - thinker - creator… Cellularologist

In order to know myself better, gnothi seauton, I have to descend into the strongholds of meditation, of pondering and of wise silencing, whatever through Greek philosophy or Hinduism philosophy… In order to know myself better, gnothi seauton, I have to know what is uncertain around me and inside me, whatever through myself as individual atman, or through a deity of salvation, as Brahman, or through a deliverer as redeemer of multitudes… In order to know myself better, gnothi seauton, I have to know what is unknown around me and inside of me, by making a presumptive jump towards final stage of becoming by reaching out the re-absorption into the final principle… Ultimately, in order to know ourselves better, of what is known, of what is uncertain and of what is unknown around me and inside me, and inside us as Species Sapiens, it is the duty-triad in every school, in every college or university, of all those who are trying the ontological jump in our Species, seen and analyzed as an epos era of the triad Anthropology – Sapientology – Individuality… Atmanologist

"If the Balkans hadn't existed, they would have been invented" was the verdict of Count Hermann Keyserling in his famous 1928 publication, Europe. Over ten years ago, Maria Todorova traced the relationship between the reality and the invention. Based on a rich selection of travelogues, diplomatic accounts, academic surveys, journalism, and belles-lettres in many languages, Imagining the Balkans explored the ontology of the Balkans from the sixteenth century to the present day, uncovering the ways in which an insidious intellectual tradition was constructed, became mythologized, and is still being transmitted as discourse. Maria Todorova, who was raised in the Balkans, is in a unique position to bring both scholarship and sympathy to her subject, and in a new afterword she reflects on recent developments in the study of the Balkans and political developments on the ground since the publication of Imagining the Balkans. The afterword explores the controversy over Todorova's coining of the term Balkanism. With this work, Todorova offers a timely, updated, accessible study of how an innocent geographic appellation was transformed into one of the most powerful and widespread pejorative designations in modern history.

This work stresses the process of preparing a research paper: searching for information in both print and nonprint sources; synthesizing what is learned with original ideas and interpretations; organizing the whole; and then writing and revising.

How the love and labor of parents have changed our understanding of autism Autism has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years, thanks to dramatically increasing rates of diagnosis, extensive organizational mobilization, journalistic coverage, biomedical research, and clinical innovation. Understanding Autism, a social history of the expanding diagnostic category of this contested illness, takes a close look at the role of emotion—specifically, of parental love—in the intense and passionate work of biomedical communities investigating autism. Chloe Silverman tracks developments in autism theory and practice over the past half-century and shows how an understanding of autism has been constituted and stabilized through vital efforts of schools, gene banks, professional associations, government committees, parent networks, and treatment conferences. She examines the love and labor of parents, who play a role in developing—in conjunction with medical experts—new forms of treatment and therapy for their children. While biomedical knowledge is dispersed through an emotionally neutral, technical language that separates experts from laypeople, parental advocacy and activism call these distinctions into question. Silverman reveals how parental care has been a constant driver in the volatile field of autism research and treatment, and has served as an inspiration for scientific change. Recognizing the importance of parental knowledge and observations in treating autism, this book reveals that effective responses to the disorder demonstrate the mutual interdependence of love and science.

Offering an in-depth consideration of the impact which humanities have had on the processes of architecture and design, this book asks how we can restore the traditional dialogue between intellectual enquiry in the humanities and design creativity. Written by leading academics in the fields of history, theory and philosophy of design, these essays draw profound meanings from cultural practices and beliefs. These are as diverse as the designs they inspire and include religious, mythic, poetic, political, and philosophical references. This timely and important book is not a benign reflection on humanities' role in architectural design but a direct response to the increased marginalization of humanities in a technology driven world. The prioritization of technology leaves critical questions unanswered about the relationships between information and knowledge, transcription and translation, and how emerging technologies can usefully contribute to a deeper understanding of our design culture.