Clearly lays out the issues related to plastics' effects on the environment, while also serving as a practical, non-academic guide for making sustainability decisions about plastics recycling and the newest bio-based plastics Company managers, product developers, policy makers, environmental researchers, and plastics industry engineers are under increasing pressure to find ways of minimizing the environmental footprint of plastic products. This accessible book is designed to help readers understand the life-cycle impacts of various plastics, clarifying the technical research and practical arguments to show when bio-based and recycled plastics might be useful options for reducing the overall energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste associated with traditional plastics. Plastics and Sustainability compares traditional fossil fuel-based plastics with bio-based plastics in terms of properties, environmental impacts, and costs – indicating what the most effective approaches could be for using recycled, biodegradable, or various bio-based materials. The book makes objective comparisons between bioplastics and all commonly used plastics, focusing on how they affect production economics, product requirements, and retailer and consumer needs. It incorporates research concerning life-cycle assessment, production techniques, and commercial applications, and presents «green» guidelines about product design, recycling, processing efficiency, and material selection. The book also reports on recent industry developments and commercial trends in an effort to synthesize conclusions that are necessary for finding the right balance between bio-based and fossil-fuel based plastic products. Check out the author's blog at http://www.plastech.biz/blog.
The use of neurovascular ultrasound is of increasing importance in neurological practice, both for radiologists and increasingly by neurologists themselves. Written by the world’s most renowned expert, this book explains ultrasound examination of a stroke patient scanning protocols interpretation of the results Case examples (with a standard template presentation correlating presentation to waveform output) reinforce the book's practical nature. Illustrated with photos of the tests, explanations, and with actual waveforms, images, and result interpretation, and enhanced with 'pearls' and 'avoiding pitfalls' features, it is a practical reference for those learning ultrasound as well as those using ultrasound in their practices.
Der Autor zeigt nicht nur auf, wie sich Schwarmintelligenz entfaltet, er gibt auch ein praxisnahes Konzept fur ihre gelungenen Umsetzung im Arbeitsalltag – klar durchdacht und pragnant ausformuliert. Michael Best, Hessischer Rundfunk, ARD-Borsenredaktion Schwarmintelligenz fasziniert durch erstaunliche Ergebnisse – doch kaum ein Unternehmen hat bisher ihr au?ergewohnliches Potenzial entdeckt, geschweige denn von ihr profitiert. Erst ganz allmahlich gerat Schwarmintelligenz ins Blickfeld neugieriger Fuhrungskrafte. Das liegt sicher auch daran, dass innerbetriebliche Fuhrungsinstrumente zur Aktivierung von Schwarmintelligenz bis dato nicht zur Verfugung standen. Schwarmintelligenz beruht auf geschickter Vernetzung unterschiedlicher Kompetenzen der Schwarmmitglieder. Komplexe Sachverhalte erscheinen unter vielen Blickwinkeln und werden dadurch treffender erfasst. Entrepreneurship halt Einzug, MitarbeiterInnen erproben das Neue. Der Innovationsdruck von au?en wird durch einen inneren Innovationsmotor erganzt. Leistungen gelingen kundengerechter, die Arbeitseffizienz steigt, Reaktionszeiten verkurzen sich. Reibungsverluste werden eliminiert, Burokratie und Verwaltungsmentalitat nehmen ab. Dieses Buch stellt – zum Teil erstmalig und exklusiv – die fur den betrieblichen Einsatz von Schwarmintelligenz erforderlichen Fuhrungsinstrumente vor. Es untersucht Vorteile und Wirkungsweise von Schwarmintelligenz und weist einen leicht gangbaren, praxisorientierten Weg, Schwarmintelligenz erfolgreich in Unternehmen einzubinden. Die Techniken und Methoden sind umfassend beschrieben und erlauben es, kontinuierliche Innovation durch Schwarmintelligenz im Arbeitsalltag sofort und unkompliziert umzusetzen. Fur Fuhrungskrafte aller Ebenen und Fachrichtungen ist das Buch ein Muss, aber auch fur Nachwuchskrafte und alle MitarbeiterInnen, die zukunftsorientiert verandern wollen.
Throughout history, human societies have struggled to ensure that all people have access to sufficient food to lead active and healthy lives. Despite great global effort, events of the early 21st century clearly demonstrate that food remains a pressing challenge which has significant implications for security. In this book, Bryan McDonald explores how processes of globalization and global change have reshaped food systems in ways that have significant impacts for the national security of states and the human of communities and individuals. Over the past few decades, local, regional, and national food systems have increasingly become intertwined in an emerging global food network. This complex web of relations includes the production, harvest, processing, transport, and consumption of food. While this global food network provides new opportunities for improving health and well-being, it also gives rise to new sources of security threats and vulnerabilities. This detailed and comprehensive introduction to the major issues impacting global food security will be essential reading for students and scholars in security studies, international politics, and environmental studies.
The period in which we live is marked by increasingly frequent and intense cultural encounters of all kinds. However we react to it, the global trend towards mixing or hybridization is impossible to miss, from curry and chips – recently voted the favourite dish in Britain – to Thai saunas, Zen Judaism, Nigerian Kung Fu, ‘Bollywood’ films or salsa or reggae music. Some people celebrate these phenomena, whilst others fear or condemn them. No wonder, then, that theorists such as Homi Bhabha, Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy, and Ien Ang, have engaged with hybridity in their work and sought to untangle these complex events and reactions; or that a variety of disciplines now devote increasing attention to the works of these theorists and to the processes of cultural encounter, contact, interaction, exchange and hybridization. In this concise book, leading historian Peter Burke considers these fascinating and contested phenomena, ranging over theories, practices, processes and events in a manner that is as wide-ranging and vibrant as the topic at hand.
This book is a critical introduction to contemporary French philosopher Jacques Rancière. It is the first introduction in any language to cover all of his major work and offers an accessible presentation and searching evaluation of his significant contributions to the fields of politics, pedagogy, history, literature, film theory and aesthetics. This book traces the emergence of Rancière’s thought over the last forty-five years and situates it in the diverse intellectual contexts in which it intervenes. Beginning with his egalitarian critique of his former teacher Louis Althusser, the book tracks the subsequent elaboration of Rancière’s highly original conception of equality. This approach reveals that a grasp of his early archival and historiographical work is vital for a full understanding both of his later politics and his ongoing investigation of art and aesthetics. Along the way, this book explains and analyses key terms in Rancière’s very distinctive philosophical lexicon, including the ‘police’ order, ‘disagreement’, ‘political subjectivation’, ‘literarity’, the ‘part which has no part’, the ‘regimes of art’ and ‘the distribution of the sensory’. This book argues that Rancière’s work sets a new standard in contestatory critique and concludes by reflecting on the philosophical and policy implications of his singular project.
Peter Sloterdijk is one of the most challenging and contentious thinkers currently working within the European tradition. This is the first collection devoted to his work for English-language audiences and will act as an introduction to his work, set an agenda for engagement with his ideas, and relate his writings to a range of political, theoretical and practical contexts. Since his philosophical bestseller Critique of Cynical Reason (1983), Sloterdijk has exercised an important influence over German and other European thought and recently interest in his diverse oeuvre has grown considerably. The past few years have seen a number of his books translated into English, with many more to come. The book seeks to do justice to the breadth of Sloterdijk’s work throughout his career, orientated around the central topics of cynicism, ressentiment, the posthuman, space and world, art and literature, language, social science and his role as a public intellectual. Contributors include Babette Babich, Sjoerd van Tuinen, Eduardo Mendieta, Marie-Eve Morin, Efrain Kristol, Wieland Hoban, Nigel Thrift, Jean-Pierre Couture, and Sloterdijk himself. An explicitly interdisciplinary project, Sloterdijk Now is a crucial introduction to the work of this central thinker, in its complexity, variety and notoriety. It is set to spark debate amongst students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.
The rise of digital photography and imaging has transformed the landscape of visual communication and culture. Events, activities, moments, objects, and people are ‘captured' and distributed as images on an unprecedented scale. Many of these are shared publicly; some remain private, others become intellectual property, and some have the potential to shape global events. In this timely introduction, the ubiquity of photography is explored in relation to interdisciplinary debates about changes in the production, distribution, and consumption of images in digital culture. Ubiquitous Photography provides a critical examination of the technologies, practices, and cultural significance of digital photography, placing the phenomenon in historical, social, and political-economic context. It examines shifts in image-making, storage, commodification, and interpretation as highly significant processes of digitally mediated communication in an increasingly image-rich culture. It covers debates in social and cultural theory, the history and politics of image-making and manipulation, the current explosion in amateur photography, tagging and sharing via social networking, and citizen journalism. The book engages with key contemporary theoretical issues about memory and mobility, authorship and authenticity, immediacy and preservation, and the increased visibility of ordinary social life. Drawing upon a range of sources and original empirical research, Ubiquitous Photography provides a comprehensive introduction to critical academic debate and concrete developments in the field of digital photography. It is essential reading for students and scholars interested in media and society, visual culture, and digital technology.
In today’s uncertain world, the concept of global governance has never been more relevant or widely discussed. But what does this elusive idea really mean, and why has it become so important? This pacey introduction sheds new light on the issues involved, offering readers a comprehensive account of competing conceptions of global governance, and evaluating the ways in which rival theories strive to make sense of our complex world. In a series of short, accessible chapters, Timothy Sinclair guides readers through the key perspectives on this crucial topic. In each, he assesses a range of actors and assumptions using real world issues – from global financial crisis and climate change to the politics of gender relations – to show how questions of global governance carry quite specific implications for the everyday lives of people in different parts of the world. Supplemented by thought-provoking ‘problems to consider’, as well as annotated reading guides at the end of each section, the book equips students to make up their own minds which approach or approaches might be cogent and for what purposes. Written with verve and clarity, this compelling introduction brings problems of global governance to life ably showing why and how they are both relevant and compelling for all citizens in the 21st century.
This new book offers a clear and accessible exposition of Hayden White's thought. In an engaging and wide-ranging analysis, Herman Paul discusses White's core ideas and traces the development of these ideas from the mid-1950s to the present. Starting with White's medievalist research and youthful fascination for French existentialism, Paul shows how White became increasingly convinced that historical writing is a moral activity. He goes on to argue that the critical concepts that have secured White's fame – trope, plot, discourse, figural realism – all stem from his desire to explicate the moral claims and perceptions underlying historical writing. White emerges as a passionate thinker, a restless rebel against scientism, and a defender of existentialist humanist values. This innovative introduction will appeal to students and scholars across the humanities, and help develop a critical understanding of an increasingly important thinker.