Drylands, which cover over half the world's area, have witnessed rapid development, exploitation and change with the discovery of mineral reserves, urbanization and population growth. Environmental management is critical to the conservation and sustainable use of resources. This comprehensive text offers a systematic study of the physical nature of drylands and the history of human response to and uses of these harsh landscapes. Detailed case studies, including urban as well as pastoral dr...

This book, first published in 1976 and in this second edition in 1988, combines an examination of the political, cultural and economic geography of the Middle East with a detailed study of the region’s landscape features, natural resources, environmental conditions and ecological evolution. The Middle East, with its extremes of climate and terrain, has long fascinated those interested in the fine balance between man and his environment, and now its economic and political importance in worl...

Named Top 10 "Best Lit Mags of 2023" by Chill SubsCarefully curated stories from After Dinner Conversation magazine to create a themed short story book about the philosophy and ethics of business. Perfect for classrooms and book clubs, each story is 1,500-7,000 words and comes with five suggested discussion questions.Story Summary ListThe Pool: A good-willed apartment complex owner deals with ever-com...

Structural Integrity and Durability of Advanced Composites: Innovative Modelling Methods and Intelligent Design presents scientific and technological research from leading composite materials scientists and engineers that showcase the fundamental issues and practical problems that affect the development and exploitation of large composite structures. As predicting precisely where cracks may develop in materials under stress is an age old mystery in the design and building of large-scale en...

Named Top 10 "Best Lit Mags of 2023" by Chill SubsCarefully curated stories from After Dinner Conversation magazine to create a themed short story book about the philosophy and ethics of research. Perfect for classrooms and book clubs, each story is 1,500-7,000 words and comes with five suggested discussion questions.Story Summary ListThe Mind Reader: An outspoken bar patron runs an experiment to see if the wo...

Delight in intriguing, thought-provoking conversations about ethics, philosophy, and social issues! After Dinner Conversation is a monthly literary magazine publishing short fiction. Each issue features both established writers and up-and-coming authors who contribute fascinating philosophical insights on controversial topics like marriage equality, assisted suicide, the meaning of death, animal rights and defining your "purpose." It's time to go deep in search of truth! I...

Peter Beaumont has been on the ground in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya as the 'Arab Spring' has blossomed. He has witnessed the uprisings in all their messy reality. In this ebook he explains what is going on in the region and explodes the myths that the uprisings can be interpreted as an easily explainable revolution.He draws linkages between the countries ruled over by authoritarian regimes that promise 'reform' which is actually impossible to deliver, the frustration and anger this h...

"After Dinner Conversation" Magazine - February 2021People Used To Die Every Day: A young man is caught in a lie to his partner; he has been illegally "sleeping" at night.Pandora's Dreams: A new technology allows the recording, playback, and sale of dreams.The Library Of Gromma: A young boy must protect the machine that preserves the memories of his grandmother and his community.

Synopsis: A new technology allows the recording, playback, and sale of dreams.After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth. Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories, audio and video podcast discussions, across genres, as accessible examples of abstract e...

An award-winning, alarming account of "one of the central challenges facing civilization" ( The Washington Post Book World).Offering ecological, historical, and cultural perspectives, this "well-researched and thought-provoking book" (Minneapolis Tribune) explains how we are using, misusing, and abusing our planet's most vital resource.Reporting from hot spots as diverse as China, Las Vegas, and the Middle East, where swelling populations and unche...

Martin Empson draws on a Marxist understanding of history to grapple with the contradictory potential of our relationship with our environment. In so doing he shows that human action is key, both to the destruction of nature and to the possibility of a sustainable solution to the ecological crises of the 21st century.

This new revised edition of African Civilizations re-examines the physical evidence for developing social complexity in Africa over the last six thousand years. Unlike the two previous editions, it is not confined to tropical Africa but considers the whole continent. Graham Connah focuses upon the archaeological research of two key aspects of complexity, urbanism and state formation, in ten main areas of Africa: Egypt, North Africa, Nubia, Ethiopia, the West African savanna, the West Afric...