Linum To Oyster

The Himalaya has profoundly shaped the cultures of the Indian subcontinent, with many Himalayan peaks considered sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Some of the world's major rivers – the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rise in the Himalayas. These rivers have abundant seasonal and annual water supply. The mountain ranges and river basins share trans-boundary connectedness. Still, mountain people living on hills have limited access to water for drinking and agriculture. Covering around 27% of the Earth’s land surface, the mountains contribute to the sustenance and wellbeing of over half the human population for water, food, and clean energy. Yet mountains are under threat from climate change, land degradation, overexploitation, and natural disasters, with potentially far-reaching and devastating consequences, both for mountain communities and downstream populations. The book covers interdisciplinary domains of science, humanities and commerce, hence beneficial for all types of readers equally. Promotion of awareness and education on conservation and sustainable utilization of bioresources and strengthening networks, coordination with the help of central government departments, state governments, NGOs and local institutions is urgently needed.

Research on the Ayurvedic materia medica, in particular its drugs of plant origin, is a venture bristling with pitfalls despite the apparent confidence displayed in the lists of botanical identifications of medicinal plants in numerous publications on the subject. This self-assurance is unwarranted in quite a few cases, as this study will demonstrate.The majority of these lists of botanical equivalents of Sanskrit plant names are not based on own research; instead, they usually reflect a consensus reached somehow among Indian ayurvedic scholars. The course of events that resulted in this agreement remains uninvestigated. Setting aside the role of leading authorities and trend-setting publications, one of the factors involved may be the significance of a seemingly trustworthy and scientifically-looking pharmacopoeia for the Indian ayurvedici in their competition with western medicine. In this respect the developments referred to are understandable.From a strictly scientific point of view caution is required. When trying to take stock of the situation, one's attention is arrested by the prevalence of North-Indian influences and opinions in the secondary literature on the Indian materia medica. The concurrence mentioned is a North-Indian product that may be looked upon as an artefact since regional differences in the identifications tend to be disregarded. Though exceptions do occur, most often books by authors hailing from northern India fail to pay attention to the plants employed under the same Sanskrit names in southern India and areas such as, for instance, Gujarat and Orissa.

Rice is a first step toward a history of rice and its place in capitalism from global and comparative perspectives.

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The world's most comprehensive, well documented, and well illustrated book on this subject. With extensive subject and geographic index. 28 photographs and illustrations - mostly color. Free of charge in digital PDF format.