Ancient Traces

In a series of different chapters Michael Baigent examines a number of enigmas surrounding such ancient mysteries as Atlantis and the Pyramids. He investigates such questions as whether there were ancient contacts between Europe and America,and whether a great catastrophe hit the planet around 10000 BC. And in the process he calls into question much of today's orthodoxy on such subjects.

Have you ever wondered what left behind those prints and tracks on the seashore, or what made those marks or dug those holes in the dunes? Life Traces of the Georgia Coast is an up-close look at these traces of life and the animals and plants that made them. It tells about how the tracemakers lived and how they interacted with their environments. This is a book about ichnology (the study of such traces) and a wonderful way to learn about the behavior of organisms, living and long extinct. Life Traces presents an overview of the traces left by modern animals and plants in this biologically rich region; shows how life traces relate to the environments, natural history, and behaviors of their tracemakers; and applies that knowledge toward a better understanding of the fossilized traces that ancient life left in the geologic record. Augmented by illustrations of traces made by both ancient and modern organisms, the book shows how ancient trace fossils directly relate to modern traces and tracemakers, among them, insects, grasses, crabs, shorebirds, alligators, and sea turtles. The result is an aesthetically appealing and scientifically grounded book that will serve as source both for scientists and for anyone interested in the natural history of the Georgia coast.

Traces of Modernism surveys the competing social and political visions that marked the transition from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, and the complex relationships and connections between these visions. A host of international contributors consider an extensive range of philosophical and artistic ideologies--from Bauhaus and Italian futurism to plans for totalitarian state-building--that bloomed in the wake of the World War One and the ensuing worldwide revolutions. These ideologies developed amid the uneasy backdrop of new kinds of international cooperation that were periodically punctuated by sharp bursts of fervid nationalism. At the center of each essay in Traces of Modernism stands the image of the machine, a metaphor for technological innovation and new systems of order that stood unfortunately ready for corruption by forces of authoritarianism.

Traces of a Daoist Immortal is a Daoist-infused tour de force on the Daoist mountain hermit Chén Tuán 陳摶 (Xīyí 希夷 [Infinitesimal Subtlety]; d. 989) and his fellow “hidden immortals.” Breaking various academic taboos, including hyper-historicism, social constructivism, and conformist mentalities, here Komjathy, in an aspirational gesture towards unbridled inquiry, offers annotated translations and scholarly introductions to ten major works associated with the Daoist immortal. The book also contains a cutting-edge, mythopoetic introduction that addresses the life and legend of Chén Tuán, his connection to the Western Marchmount of Huàshān 華山 (Mount Hua; Huàyīn, Shǎnxī), Daoist views about sleeping, dreaming, waking, as well as Daoist time-being.

The author, Duncan Ferguson, draws upon his years as chaplain and professor in university settings, where seeking answers to hard and perplexing questions are the order of the day. One that continually surfaces is whether there is any evidence of divine transcendence in the natural world, in history, or in the human experience. Is there a God who might provide universal values, guidance to those seeking solutions to the overwhelming problems we face, and a measure of inner peace for troubled souls? This question is considered one of the most difficult to answer in a definitive way, and in a university setting, it is often answered by a clear no or simple neglect in that the question is not generally viewed as within the domain of the goals of the university. Dr. Ferguson believes that it is, and that it should be explored by our best minds in our universities and indeed the best minds in the world, by those with game-changing power, and by committed and compassionate seekers. It is especially not the exclusive domain of cultic preachers. He explores what might be interpreted as evidence of a divine Transcendence, looking within the natural world, human history, the history of religious thought in the great religions, and the need for divine guidance as the human family faces the critical crisis of the survival of planet Earth. Universal values, compassion, justice, and peace, often rooted in the great religious traditions, should guide us.

The two-volume A Companion to Sparta presents the first comprehensive, multi-authored series of essays to address all aspects of Spartan history and society from its origins in the Greek Dark Ages to the late Roman Empire. Offers a lucid, comprehensive introduction to all aspects of Sparta, a community recognised by contemporary cities as the greatest power in classical Greece Features in-depth coverage of Sparta history and culture contributed by an international cast including almost every noted specialist and scholar in the field Provides over a dozen images of Spartan art that reveal the evolution of everyday life in Sparta Sheds new light on a modern controversy relating to changes in Spartan society from the Archaic to Classical periods

An innovative multidisciplinary study of the relationship between visual perception and temporal meaning in ancient Greek literature and history writing