This innovative book examines cross-cultural encounters before 1492, focusing in particular on the major cross-cultural influences that transformed Asia and Europe during this period: the ancient silk roads that linked China with the Roman Empire, the spread of the world religions, and theMongol Empire of the thirteenth century. The author's goal throughout the work is to examine the conditions--political, social, economic, or cultural--that enable one culture to influence, mix with, or suppress another. On the basis of its global analysis, the book identifies several distinctivepattern of conversion, conflict, and compromise that emerged from cross-cultural encounters. In doing so, it elucidates that larger historical context of encounters between Europeans and other peoples in modern times. _Old World Encounters_ is ideal for students of world geography, religion, andcivilizations.

The fast-growing field of Animal Studies is a varied and much contested domain. Engagement with animals has encouraged both collaboration and conflict between researchers within the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Animal Encounters comprises a series of meetings not only between diverse beasts, but also between distinct disciplinary methods, theoretical approaches, and ethical positions. The essays here collected come together from literary and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology, ecocriticism and art history, philosophy and feminism, science and technology studies, history and posthumanism, to study that most familiar and most foreign of creatures, ‘the animal’. These encounters between leading practitioners in the field highlight the promise and potential of interspecies exchange and mutual provocation.

"A resource such as 'Cross Encounters', where conversations are transcribed, proves to instruct, humble, and stir us up to zealous evangelism. Let God's people read this volume with gospel-believing gladness and humble delight in observing how God uses faithful witnesses to speak His gospel to the lost so the Spirit of grace may grant new birth!

As a historian of a different making, Francisco seeks to capture the heart of his past and that of spirituality through lifetime memories from boyhood days in Shanghai and Macau to day dreams as a young man in Hong Kong, from new family life in San Francisco as a naturalized citizen to rebirth of mind through a number of pilgrimages to Fatima, Medjugorje and Moscow with his extended family. Together with his spiritual partner and second wife of 30 years Terry, he witnessed the crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Red Square in Moscow for the 75th Anniversary of the ‘Fatima Apparition’ in Portugal. As just two amongst one thousand plus of God’s children from bishops to priests, theologians, brothers, sisters, youths and other laypersons that were there that day, they joined together at the 1992 World Youth Congress in Moscow to share a very special message with the world about the need for change. It was a message of ‘WARNING’ as prophesized by the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, on Sunday the 13th of May in the year 1917. But more importantly, it was also a call for love and spiritual renewal. There has been no phenomenon like it ever before recorded, but the miracle of the sun in Fatima continues to shine bright even at the darkest of times and is the hope behind this book. Many of history’s greatest thinkers have wrestled with the question of belief and non-belief in God through their literary circles and often simply by the way they have lived their lives: 1) “Is there a God?” and 2) “Why would He care about me?” Those are profound and universal questions considered in the first two books of this family story and re-visited here in this third encounter in trilogy. Though it might seem unlikely that any new arguments can be raised from either side between Science and Theology on Christendom, ultimately, each reader needs to ask through his or her own voice of Faith this question of GOD and His existence. It is at that spiritual juncture of question and answer that mankind may decide which path to follow. As seminarian students, Terry and Francis took three years of theology at St. Patrick Seminary & University in Menlo Park under the Diaconate Formation Program with the hopes of Francisco becoming a deacon with the Class of 2006. Though God had other plans for Francisco, both husband and wife humbly served at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco and at St. Bruno Church of the San Francisco Archdiocese for three decades. This soulful dialogue is for anyone seeking out answers about Judeo-Christian ethics and the belief that GOD reveals all in time.

New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller explores how people are changed by meeting Jesus personally—and how we can be changed encountering him today. The people who met Jesus Christ in person faced the same big life questions we face today. Like most of us, the answers handed down to them didn’t seem to work in the real world. But when they met Jesus, things immediately started to change for them. It seems he not only had the answers—he was the answer. In Encounters with Jesus, Timothy Keller shows how the central events and meetings in Jesus’ life can change our own lives forever. "Keller's work belongs on the bookshelf of every serious Bible student." —Examiner "Keller has mined the gold from these texts of Scripture, and any Christian is bound to have their minds expanded and hearts stirred." —Grace for Sinners

Take your gaming campaign to the next level with this inspiring, easy-to-use collection of random encounters perfect for any fantasy RPG. Spark your imagination fast with this collection of fun, engaging, and inspiring random encounter prompts. These expertly written options are organized into popular themes and locations so you can find what you need fast, whether you choose from the list or use the dice to choose randomly. With fantasy hooks to fit every game from Pathfinder to GURPS to D&D, there are options for all of your campaigns. Whether you’re playing from a game book or weaving your own homebrewed adventure, there’s always a need for short random encounters in between set pieces. Featuring fun full-color illustrations, you’ll engage more in your story and bring your game to life!

Neufert's Architects' Data is an essential reference for the initial design and planning of a building project. It provides, in one concise volume, the core information needed to form the framework for the more detailed design and planning of any building project. Organised largely by building type, it covers the full range of preliminary considerations, and with over 6200 diagrams it provides a mass of data on spatial requirements. Most illustrations are dimensioned and each building type includes plans, sections, site layouts and design details. An extensive bibliography and a detailed set of metric/ imperial conversion tables are included. Since it was first published in Germany in 1936, Ernst Neufert's handbook has been progressively revised and updated through 39 editions and many translations. This fourth English language edition is translated from the 39th German edition, and represents a major new edition for an international, English speaking readership. Reviews of the Previous Edition: "Neufert's Architects' Data was the first book I bought when I started my studies in architecture. It was invaluable for me then and it is still a useful aid in my designs." —Cesar Pelli "With this thorough rewrite Neufert has produced yet again an invaluable reference book." —The Architects' Journal

A practical guide that explains how we can design roads that are compatible with populations of small wildlife. Few of us think twice about driving on roads. Yet the very presence of roads and the act of driving on them can impact the ecological infrastructure that supports an animal's daily life. What chance does a turtle have of successfully laying its eggs when it needs to traverse a busy highway? Is it realistic to expect small mammals to breed when an interstate thoroughfare subdivides their population? These are the sorts of challenges faced by small, often slow-moving, animals, challenges that road engineers and ecologists are trying to address. For countless small species, vehicles traveling at high speeds are nothing less than missiles shooting across migration pathways. For too many animals, the danger can lead to the loss of populations, in part because they simply are not programmed to react to traffic. Salamanders faced with a two-lane road between the forest and their aquatic breeding site, for example, will typically cross that road regardless of the congestion. The result can be hundreds of flattened animals in a single night. Roads and Ecological Infrastructure is the first book to focus on reducing conflict between roads and small animals. Highlighting habitat connections and the challenges and solutions from both transportation and ecological perspectives, the volume covers various themes, including animal behavior related to roads and design approaches to mitigate the negative effects of roads on wildlife. The chapter authors—from transportation experts to university researchers—each promote a goal of realistic problem solving. Conceptual and practical, this book will influence the next decade or more of road design in ecologically sensitive areas and should prevent countless unnecessary wildlife fatalities. Published in association with The Wildlife Society.

Spanning Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Encounters with Emotions investigates experiences of face-to-face transcultural encounters from the seventeenth century to the present and the emotional dynamics that helped to shape them. Each of the case studies collected here investigates fascinating historiographical questions that arise from the study of emotion, from the strategies people have used to interpret and understand each other’s emotions to the roles that emotions have played in obstructing communication across cultural divides. Together, they explore the cultural aspects of nature as well as the bodily dimensions of nurture and trace the historical trajectories that shape our understandings of current cultural boundaries and effects of globalization.