Baker John R.

Compton: the most violent and crime-ridden city in America. What had been a semi-rural suburb of Los Angeles in the 1950s became a battleground for the Black Panthers and Malcolm X Foundation, the home of the Crips and Bloods and the first Hispanic gangs, and the cradle of gangster rap. At the centre of it, trying to maintain order was the Compton Police Department, never more than 130-strong, and facing an army of criminals that numbered over 10,000. At any given time, fully one-tenth of Compton's population was in prison, yet this tidal wave of crime was held back by the thinnest line of the law - the Compton Police. John R. Baker was raised in Compton, eventually becoming the city's most decorated officer involved in some of its most notorious, horrifying and scandalous criminal cases. Baker's account of Compton from 1950 to 2001 is one of the most powerful and compelling cop memoirs ever written - an intensely human account of sacrifice and public service, and the price the men and women of the Compton Police Department paid to preserve their city.

This book provides a general introduction to the biological and evolutionary bases of religion and is suitable for introductory level courses in the anthropology and psychology of religion and comparative religion. Why did human ancestors everywhere adopt religious beliefs and customs? The presence and persistence of many religious features across the globe and time suggests that it is natural for humans to believe in the supernatural. In this new text, the authors explore both the biological and cultural dimensions of religion and the evolutionary origins of religious features.

Toxicological and pharmacological effects arise when chemicals interact with biophysical functions in discrete cell types. Researchers have a continuing need to screen novel compounds for their potential therapeutic needs and, once these have been discovered, to understand their molecular actions. Histochemistry can be used to facilitate the development of the knowledge on the distribution of a compound, the receptors to which it binds and the modulation of the physiological functions that are being investigated. The aim of this book is to draw conventional mechanistic biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology closer to an appreciation of the molecular interactions between cells and chemicals. Different techniques and examples of their application are discussed, in order to show how they can provide an understanding of the mechanistic basis of chemically induced biological responses, their consequences and significance.