The years 1953-54 marked the conquests of 2 unattainable peaks - Mt Everest and the Four Minute Mile. This is the story of the long quest for the 'Magic Mile', almost 200 years in the making. The methods the runners used, the secrets they uncovered, were passed through the generations, until the quest reached its climax on the 6th May 1954.
If you want to experience something, run a marathon' - Emil ZatopekThe London Marathon salutes 25 years of the London Marathon by exploring the incredible physical and mental challenge that lies at the very heart of marathon running.
Bryant's book is a strong and significant argument for the centrality of humour in Melville's novels. The purpose of Melville and Repose is dual: to ground the uses of humour in Melville in sensitive readings of contemporaneous European and American writings, and to offer a definitive account of humour as the shaping force of Melville's narrative voice for the duration of his literary career. Bryant argues that Melville fused a "rhetoric of geniality" adopted from the British with a "rhetoric of deceit" borrowed from the American tall tale in order to create his own amiably cosmopolitan "rhetoric of aesthetic repose." Thorough research, an engaging style, and full, scholarly readings of the oeuvre combine to make this book a welcome addition to the libraries of Melville scholars and enthusiasts.
A midnight crime and a freak death at an animal sanctuary result in a disparate herd of rescued horses and ponies taking to the roads, led by their unique leader, 'Lady Patricia.' Does she have a destination in her mind? Why was the equine exodus raised in the House of Commons? Who is assisting her quest for freedom? Why is a former commando involved? Who wants to kill her?
John Bryant has assembled a unique collection of critical writings dealing with the life, art, and influence of Herman Melville. More than just a survey of his works, this book is an intellectual guide that comprises the learning and insight of twenty-five noted Melville scholars, as well as their suggestions for further research. In combining criticism and bibliography, each chapter assesses the critical debates that have emerged concerning Melville's thought and art. The Companion also examines Melville's life and influence on the world of books, modern thought, foreign cultures, and popular culture.
As the news constantly reminds us, recent advances in the biomedical sciences have brought within reach things that were unthinkable only a few years ago: - Designer babies - Genetically enhanced athletes - Human clones - Stem cell treatment - Medical technology - Transhumanism All these issues raise huge questions. Our power to intervene in the natural course of human life is immense: but what should we be doing and what should we avoid? And what about the inequalities of technological power across the globe? Biologist and ethics expert Dr John Bryant begins by placing modern biomedical science in its recent social history context, before moving on to discuss ethics and whether our normal ethical frameworks can cope with the questions thrown up by these huge issues. Throughout the book, Bryant encourages the reader to engage with the questions he addresses.
Systems Theory and Scientific Philosophy constitutes a totally new approach to philosophy, the philosophy of mind and the problems of artificial intelligence, and is based upon the pioneering work in cybernetics of W. Ross Ashby. While science is humanity's attempt to know how the world works and philosophy its attempt to know why, scientific philosophy is the application of scientific techniques to questions of philosophy.
A comprehensive exploration of Melville's formative years, providing a new biographical foundation for today's generations of Melville readers Herman Melville: A Half Known Life, Volumes 1 and 2, follows Herman Melville's life from early childhood to his astonishing emergence as a bestselling novelist with the publication of Typee in 1846. These volumes comprise the first half of a comprehensive biography on Melville, grounded in archival research, new scholarship, and incisive critical readings. Author John Bryant, a distinguished Melville scholar, editor, critic, and educator, traces the events and experiences that shaped the many-stranded consciousness of one of literature’s greatest writers. This in-depth and innovative biography covers Melville's family history and literary friendships, his father-longing, god-hunger, and search for the hidden nature of Being, the genesis of his liberal politics, his empathy for African Americans, Native Americans, Polynesians, South Americans, and immigrants. Original perspectives on Melville’s earliest identities—orphaned son, sibling, farmer, teacher, debater, lover, actor, sailor—provide the context for Melville’s evolution as a writer. The biography presents new information regarding Melville's reading, his early orations and acting experience, his life at sea and on the road, and the unsettling death of his older, rival brother from mercury poisoning. It provides insights on experiences such as Melville's trauma at the loss of his father, his learning to write amidst a coterie siblings, his struggles to find work during economic depression, his journey West, his life in whaling and in the navy, and his vagabondage in the South Pacific during the moment of American and European imperial incursions. A significant addition to Melville scholarship, this important biographical work: Explores the nature and development of Melville's creative consciousness, through the lens of his revisions in manuscript and printAssesses Melville's sexual growth and exploration of the spectrum of his masculinitiesHighlights Melville's relevance in contemporary democratic societyDiscusses Melville's blending of dark humor and tragedy in his unique version of the picturesqueExamines the 'replaying' of Melville's life traumas throughout his entire works, from Typee, Omoo, Redburn, White-Jacket, Moby-Dick, Pierre, Israel Potter, and The Confidence-Man to his shorter works, including "Bartleby," his epic Clarel, his poetry, and his last novella Billy BuddCovers such cultural and historical events as the American revolution of his grandparents, the whaling industry, New York slavery, street life and theater in Manhattan, the transatlantic slave trade, the Jacksonian economy, Indian removal, Pacific colonialism, and westward expansion Written in an engaging style for scholars and general readers alike, Herman Melville: A Half Known Life, Volumes 1 and 2 is an indispensable new source of information and insights for those interested in Melville, 19th-century and modern literature and culture, and readers of general American history and literary culture.
"This is a stunning book, so rare and so beautiful. I cannot recommend it highly enough." --Matthew A. LaPineSuffering has been made holy by Christ's proximity to it.This is the story of Christ's nearness to my own suffering--my mental breakdown, my journey to the psych ward, my long, slow, painful recovery--and how Christ will use even our agony and despair to turn us into servants and guests of the mercy offered in his gospel.We cannot answer suffering. And yet suffering demands an answer. If Jesus is the answer to suffering, what kind of answer is Jesus? Everything that could be taken from a person was taken from him. The worst things a person could be made to see and feel were seen and felt by Christ. All of this came to a point in the nails driven into his hands and became a word that cannot be unspoken--his body broken and his blood poured out for us. Suffering has been made holy by Christ's proximity to it.
In the space of 24 hours in July 1908, dramatic events came to a climax at the first London Olympic Games. The marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards set at that time has since been accepted worldwide and this thrilling account of heroism, ambition and scandal tells for the first time the story of three remarkable men whose destinies collided in the battles that overshadowed these Games. It is a tale that stretches from rural Italy to the battlefields of the Boer War; from Ellis Island to Broadway and beyond to explore the foundations of the modern sporting and marathon movements and celebrate the strength of the human spirit.
Bayesian Demographic Estimation and Forecasting presents three statistical frameworks for modern demographic estimation and forecasting. The frameworks draw on recent advances in statistical methodology to provide new tools for tackling challenges such as disaggregation, measurement error, missing data, and combining multiple data sources. The methods apply to single demographic series, or to entire demographic systems. The methods unify estimation and forecasting, and yield detailed measures of uncertainty.The book assumes minimal knowledge of statistics, and no previous knowledge of demography. The authors have developed a set of R packages implementing the methods. Data and code for all applications in the book are available on www.bdef-book.com."This book will be welcome for the scientific community of forecasters…as it presents a new approach which has already given important results and which, in my opinion, will increase its importance in the future." ~Daniel Courgeau, Institut national d'études démographiques
How do you draw a straight line? How do you determine if a circle is really round? These may sound like simple or even trivial mathematical problems, but to an engineer the answers can mean the difference between success and failure. How Round Is Your Circle? invites readers to explore many of the same fundamental questions that working engineers deal with every day--it's challenging, hands-on, and fun. John Bryant and Chris Sangwin illustrate how physical models are created from abstract mathematical ones. Using elementary geometry and trigonometry, they guide readers through paper-and-pencil reconstructions of mathematical problems and show them how to construct actual physical models themselves--directions included. It's an effective and entertaining way to explain how applied mathematics and engineering work together to solve problems, everything from keeping a piston aligned in its cylinder to ensuring that automotive driveshafts rotate smoothly. Intriguingly, checking the roundness of a manufactured object is trickier than one might think. When does the width of a saw blade affect an engineer's calculations--or, for that matter, the width of a physical line? When does a measurement need to be exact and when will an approximation suffice? Bryant and Sangwin tackle questions like these and enliven their discussions with many fascinating highlights from engineering history. Generously illustrated, How Round Is Your Circle? reveals some of the hidden complexities in everyday things.
Science fact sometimes looks more like science fiction. GM technology is already embedded in drug manufacture and in agriculture. Soon we may be able to alter the genetic make-up of our unborn children: the technology is now available for human gene therapy and even cloning. Furthermore, spare body-parts may one day be grown from human embryonic cells. With these unprecedented choices comes a minefield of complex ethical questions. - What are appropriate uses for genetic modification? What is the status of the human embryo? - How can we maintain proper regard for the creation? - Are we 'playing God' or simply using our God-given talents? In this bewildering maze there is no consensus about right and wrong. Ethical debates are dominated by pragmatism and concern for individual rights. Biological scientist John Bryant and doctor/pastor John Searle believe it is essential that we apply the teachings of Jesus to the dilemmas that arise from modern biological science. Approaching the Bible and the field of biotechnology with equal rigour they explore how Christians can make balanced ethical decisions in the current cultural and social climate.
