Despite a growing literature on identity theory in the last two decades, much of its current use in archaeology is still driven toward locating and dating static categories such as ‘Phoenician’, ‘Christian’ or ‘native’. Previous studies have highlighted the various problems and challenges presented by identity, with the overall effect of deconstructing it to insignificance. As the humanities and social sciences turn to material culture, archaeology provides a unique perspective on the interaction between people and things over the long term. This volume argues that identity is worth studying not despite its slippery nature, but because of it. Identity can be seen as an emergent property of living in a material world, an ongoing process of becoming which archaeologists are particularly well suited to study. The geographic and temporal scale of the papers included is purposefully broad to demonstrate the variety of ways in which archaeology is redefining identity. Research areas span from the Great Lakes to the Mediterranean, with case studies from the Mesolithic to the contemporary world by emerging voices in the field. The volume contains a critical review of theories of identity by the editors, as well as a response and afterward by A. Bernard Knapp.

Following the overwhelming success of Material World, European material experts MatériO have compiled and described innovative materials for architecture and design in the sequel: Material World 2. Once again architects, interior architects and designers can look up the ideal manufacturer, and gain inspiration for their building exteriors, interiors, and innovative products. Material World 2 is as comprehensive as the first volume: here architects and designers will find detailed product information, addresses, and contact details of manufacturers for every material featured. In addition, each material entry is accompanied by case studies, which show the material in specific applications.

Over the course of the last decade, Ronald Hill has dedicated his research efforts to answering the question: How do the poor survive in America's material world? Hill identifies six subgroups among the poor, including the "hidden homeless," homeless families living in shelters, poor children, and the rural poor. Approximately 13 percent of Americans (35 million people) live in poverty. That rate soars for children: it is estimated that nearly one in five young people lives in a home without adequate income, shelter, food, and health care. Bearing in mind the specific needs of each community, Hill proposes solutions that attack the roots of poverty by utilizing impoverished groups' strengths and understanding their weaknesses.

A photo-journey through the homes and lives of 30 families, revealing culture and economic levels around the world.

In Material Acts in Everyday Hindu Worlds, Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger analyzes the agency of materiality—the ability of materials to have an effect on both humans and deities—beyond human intentions. Using materials from three regions where Flueckiger conducted extensive fieldwork, she begins with Indian understandings of the agency of ornaments that have the desired effects of protecting women and making them more auspicious. Subsequent chapters bring in examples of materiality that are agentive beyond human intentions, from a south Indian goddess tradition where female guising transforms the aggressive masculinity of men who wear saris, braids, and breasts to the presence of cement images of Ravana in Chhattisgarh, which perform alternative theologies and ideologies to those of dominant textual traditions of the Ramayana epic. Deeply ethnographic and accessibly written, Material Acts in Everyday Hindu Worlds expands our understanding of material agency as well as the parameters of religion more broadly. This book is freely available in an open access edition thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships Open Book Program—a limited competition designed to make outstanding humanities books available to a wide audience. Learn more at the Fellowships Open Book Program at https://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/FOBP, and access the book online at the SUNY Open Access Repository at https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/8716.

A veritable cornucopia of over 100 innovative materials, this book also offers architects and designers clever ideas on how to use them. Think of smart materials, for example, which react to changes in the immediate environment, and of materials that produce exceptional optical effects. Consider light but strong composites, flexible building materials and finishing materials for use in architectonic projects. A short description accompanies each item, along with information on composition, technical qualities and possible uses. An application for each material featured includes a good description, illustrations and realisation-related data. A survey of manufacturers and/or suppliers, complete with details on how to contact them, makes this book an indispensable source of information for professionals.

What makes us who we are? From a scientific viewpoint, any individual's existence is improbable at best. Consciousness as an actuality is inarguable; its nature, however, remains elusive. This work argues the view of self as a field of pure consciousness, debating the existence of a continuing self and drawing conclusions about this entity and its relation to the physical body and the physical world. Beginning with an exploration of the relationship between mind and matter, it discusses ostensible psi phenomena such as extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis and their implications for our understanding of the mind and the cosmos. Additional topics include the perennial mind-body problem; the role of consciousness in quantum mechanics (and conversely the role of quantum mechanics in the study of consciousness); the anthropic principle; and evidence for Intelligent Design. Quasi-religious questions such as the survival of consciousness after death are also addressed.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for thousands of years. Without them, our modern world would not exist, and the battle to control them will determine our future. • Finalist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award The fiber-optic cables that weave the World Wide Web, the copper veins of our electric grids, the silicon chips and lithium batteries that power our phones and cars: though it can feel like we now live in a weightless world of information—what Ed Conway calls “the ethereal world”—our twenty-first-century lives are still very much rooted in the material. In fact, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials, from sand to stone to wood to metal. And in Material World, Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates. Material World is a celebration of the humans and the human networks, the miraculous processes and the little-known companies, that combine to turn raw materials into things of wonder. This is the story of human civilization from an entirely new perspective: the ground up.

Tired of the clichés often trotted out about craft, Perri Lewis makes it her task to bring the world of making into the 21st century. In Material World, Perri enlists the help of luminaries from the worlds of art, craft, design and fashion to share their knowledge and advice. Among these include Rob Ryan, Emma Bridgewater, Grayson Perry, Philip Treacy, Tatty Devine, Topshop and Tracey Emin. Instead of just giving the reader individual projects, you can learn the techniques for crafts such as paper-cutting, dress-making, printing, encrusting, leather work and tailoring. However, if you prefer more guidance, there are 15 projects to make, including découpage shoes, a patchwork Louis chair and a printed scarf. With the compiled words of wisdom of these experts, and Perri's own timeless advice, you'll be up and running with scissors in no time.

Intelligence in a Materials World contains 87 refereed papers selected from those presented at the Third International Conference on Intelligent Processing and Manufacturing of Materials. The contents span the full scope of the field of materials production and manufacturing from all parts of the world. The focus of this book is on practical applications of intelligent hardware and software. Topics include: New Intelligent Software Methods and Models Production of Raw Materials Biologically-Inspired Systems Simulation and Design of New Materials Atomistic and Electronic Modeling Web-based Design Metrology and Instrumentation Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Agent-based Large-Scale System Simulation Environmental Systems Planning and Scheduling Applications in Space Exploration Financial Transactions Materials Forming Rolling and Sheet Metal Systems Machining and Finishing Processes Language Recognition and Communication Cross-Disciplinary Research This book is an essential reference tool for individuals interested in applying state-of-the-art artificial Intelligence and its related modeling methods within areas that deal with materials production and manufacturing, from raw materials and ore to final consumer products. IPMM is an organization of over 400 individuals from over 45 countries who come together every two years to share in new ideas and applications that use intelligence (artificial or otherwise) to achieve new designs, novel planning methods, improved system optimization techniques, advanced process control or monitoring methods in different fields dealing with material science and engineering.