Mir

poetics of belonging in the region. --Book Jacket.

The heritage of the major Mir complex hardware elements is described. These elements include Soyuz-TM and Progress-M ; the Kvant, Kvant 2, and Kristall modules ; and the Mir base block. Configuration changes and major mission events of Salyut 6, Salyut 7, and Mir multiport space stations are described in detail for the period 1977-1994. A comparative chronology of U.S. and Soviet/Russian manned spaceflight is also given for that period. The 68 illustrations include comparative scale drawings of U.S. and Russian spacecraft as well as sequential drawings depicting missions and mission events.

* Details how a succession of Salyut space stations led to the development of Mir. * Depicts Mir’s assembly piece by piece, in space, between 1982 and 1996. * Describes how Mir became an international research laboratory. * Advises how Mir technology went on to form the ‘core modules’ of the ISS. * The definitive account of Mir throughout its life through to de-orbiting in March 2001.

Mir-Taqi-Miror Mir, as he is better knownwas one of the greatest poets of Urdu. The book is a fascinating story of his life of rare courage and grit. Orphaned at the age of eleven with the death of an ascetic father, with nothing to fall back on, young Mir was thrown into difficult times to face life and support his family. The Indian subcontinent faced internecine wars, and the great Mughal empire was crumbling in front of the child Mir, who was left to fend for himself and provide for his family. Mir witnessed the destruction and savagery of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali brought upon Delhi. These historical times left a deep impression on Mir as is seen in his poetic sensibilities. The book captures the personal travails of Mir, the drama of his time, and his soul- stirring poetry. Arguably the greatest of Urdu poets Ghalib made a rare unqualified exception when it came to Mir as he wrote: Rekhta ke tum hee ustaad nahin ho Ghalib, Kehte hain agle Zamane mein koi Mir bhi tha . . . Ghalib, you are not the only master of Urdu poetry Heard people say there was one Mir in the bygone era

In the “Thaw” following Stalin’s death, probing conversations about the nation’s violent past took place in the literary journal Novyi mir (New World). Readers’ letters reveal that discussion of the Terror was central to intellectual and political life during the USSR’s last decades. Denis Kozlov shows how minds change, even in a closed society.

Akbar’s commission of a Life of Christ from the Jesuit Jerome Xavier resulted in a fascinating text (1602) in which the author’s concern not to antagonize his Muslim hosts is apparent. The 27 miniatures were inspired by the text itself, resulting in unique interpretations of episodes that often do not find parallels in a European context.

Critical infrastructures are targets for terrorism and deliver a valuable vector through which the proliferation of CBRN and explosive precursors can be detected. Recent technological breakthroughs, notably in the field of near infrared (NIR), mid infrared (MIR), Terahertz (THz) and Gigahertz (GHz) sources and detectors, have led to rugged commercial devices, capable of standoff sensing a range of these dangerous substances. However, at the same time criminal and terrorist organizations have also benefited from the availability of technologies to increase the threat they pose to the security of citizens and a concerted effort is needed to improve early detection measures to identify activities, such as the production of homemade explosives or CBRN that can be potentially dangerous to society. The key global technological bottleneck to be overcome is the current lack of integration and networking of mature detection technology into early warning systems for critical infrastructures. Thus, this book brings together complementary information connecting the research of leading teams working on critical Infrastructure protection with academic developers and industrial producers of state of the art sensors.