Auyang, Sunny Y., How is Quantum Field Theory Possible?, Oxford University Press 1995 Jacket: 'Quantum field theory (QFT) combines quantum mechanics with Einstein's special theory of relativity and underlies elementary particle physics. This book presents a philosophical analysis of QFT. It is the first treatise in which the philosophies of space-time, quantum phenomena and particle interactions are encompassed in a unified framework.' 
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Christie, Agatha, Easy to Kill, Pocket 1984 Jacket: 'A retired police officer, little old lady who knew too much, an antique dealer with a taste for witchcraft ad a ultiple murderer . . . ' 
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Dawkins, Richard, Climbing Mount Improbable, W. W. Norton & Company 1997 Amazon editorial review: 'How do species evolve? Richard Dawkins, one of the world's most eminent zoologists, likens the process to scaling a huge, Himalaya-size peak, the Mount Improbable of his title. An alpinist does not leap from sea level to the summit; neither does a species utterly change forms overnight, but instead follows a course of "slow, cumulative, one-step-at-a-time, non-random survival of random variants" -- a course that Charles Darwin, Dawkins's great hero, called natural selection. Illustrating his arguments with case studies from the natural world, such as the evolution of the eye and the lung, and the coevolution of certain kinds of figs and wasps, Dawkins provides a vigorous, entertaining defense of key Darwinian ideas.' 
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Dershowitz, Alan, and Sally Peters (editor), Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bulow Case, Pocket Books 1990  
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Jones, Gareth Stedman, Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion, Bellnap Press 2016 Acknowledgements: '. . . However interesting Marx's life was, his enduring importance derives from the impact of the ideas he developed in a remarkable series of texts, whose status and meaning have been the occasion of fierce political arguments since their inception. Perhaps in order to steer clear of once violent and still simmering political passions surrounding these texts, scholarly biographers of Marx have tended to offer descriptive account of Marx's theoretical writings, and have preferred to concentrate on his life. By contract, I have decided to may as much attention to his thought s to his life. I treat his writings as the interventions of an author within particular political and philosophical contexts that the historian must carefully reconstruct. For all his originality, Marx was not a solitary explorer advancing along an untrodden path toward a novel and hitherto undiscovered theory. Instead, whether as a philosopher, political theorist or critic of political economy, his writing were intended as interventions in already existing field of discourse. . . . That is why I have paid as much attention to the utterances and reactions of contemporaries as to Marx's own words.' 
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Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '. . . Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding' 
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Tanenbaum, Andrew S, Computer Networks, Prentice Hall International 1996 Preface: 'The key to designing a computer network was first enunciated by Julius Caesar: Divide and Conquer. The idea is to design a network as a sequence of layers, or abstract machines, each one based upon the previous one. . . . This book uses a model in which networks are divided into seven layers. The structure of the book follows the structure of the model to a considerable extent.'  
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Alexandra Petri, Oh, good, Donald Trump is God now, ' The Amazon is burning. Darkness covers São Paulo at noon. The economy is wilting. The Federal Reserve chair dreamed of seven lean oxen, and when he awakened, all his yield curves had inverted. Sean Spicer is on “Dancing With The Stars.” Do not think that these are signs that we drift, alone, through an indifferent universe, where everything is absurd and nothing is funny. Do not mistake these omens. All has been revealed.' back

Ariel Cohen and Rafal Alasa, Africa's Oil and Gas Sector: Implications for U.S. Policy, 'An attractive investment environment, especially in the lucrative energy sector, is the key to Africa's modernization. Developing sugarcane ethanol as an alternative energy sector is an important avenue in diversifying away from oil. The U.S. government and the private sector should strive to be the principal partners of their African counterparts in developing African energy resources for the benefit of Africans and Americans.' back

Bryan Stevenson, Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment. Both still define our criminal justice system., ' The United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any nation on Earth: We represent 4 percent of the planet’s population but 22 percent of its imprisoned. In the early 1970s, our prisons held fewer than 300,000 people; since then, that number has grown to more than 2.2 million, with 4.5 million more on probation or parole. Because of mandatory sentencing and “three strikes” laws, I’ve found myself representing clients sentenced to life without parole for stealing a bicycle or for simple possession of marijuana. And central to understanding this practice of mass incarceration and excessive punishment is the legacy of slavery.' back

Carly Osborne, Curious Kids: why do we cry?, ' When you cry, your parents, teachers or friends know that you’re having a big feeling. Then they can help you feel better with a hug, or a talk about your feelings. So why do we cry? Well, partly because our bodies are made that way. But also because crying is how people around us show their feelings, and we learn to show our feelings the same way. Crying helps us share and care. And I think that’s a wonderful thing.' back

Catherine Williams, Dodgy high-rise apartments are making devlopers rich but owners are forgotten, ' There is an urgent need to re-build public confidence in a sector which, through poor self-regulation, has churned out more and more homes needing costly repairs. Some are uninhabitable. But we should also be asking about what return owners are really receiving on these apartment homes which are making property developers filthy rich. As a licensed builder and a spectator of real estate trends, I feel the most frustrating element of the current predicament is that the bill for repairing the current stock of dodgy apartments will ultimately lie with current owners. back

Dalai Lama - Wikipedia, Dalai Lama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Dalai Lama . . . is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, a Bodhisattva of Compassion. The name is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning "ocean" or "big" (coming from Mongolian title Dalaiyin qan or Dalaiin khan. translated as Gyatso in Tibetan) and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning "master, guru".' back

Elizabeth Bruenig, In God's country, back

Henry Olsen, U.S. business leaders have taken a step to finally renew the American social compact, ' The Business Roundtable represents the chief executives of nearly 200 of the nation’s largest businesses, so it matters when it speaks about business management. Its recent statement renouncing the “shareholder value” theory of management is therefore an important step toward renewing the social compact of the United States.' back

Hugo Grotius - Wikipedia, Hugo Grotius - Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia, ' Hugo Grotius (10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645) . . . , was a Dutch jurist. Along with the earlier works of Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili, he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France. back

Joanna Slater, A young Indian couple married for love. Then the bride's father hired assassins, ' Pranay, 23, was a Dalit, a term used to describe those formerly known as “untouchables.” Amrutha, 21, belongs to an upper caste. Her rich and powerful family viewed the couple’s union as an unacceptable humiliation. Her father, T. Maruthi Rao, was so enraged that he hired killers to murder his son-in-law, court documents say.' back

John Paul II, Fides et Ratio: On the relationship between faith and reason , para 2: 'The Church is no stranger to this journey of discovery, nor could she ever be. From the moment when, through the Paschal Mystery, she received the gift of the ultimate truth about human life, the Church has made her pilgrim way along the paths of the world to proclaim that Jesus Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).' back

John Paul II, Fides et Ratio: On the relationship between faith and reason. , para 2: 'The Church is no stranger to this journey of discovery, nor could she ever be. From the moment when, through the Paschal Mystery, she received the gift of the ultimate truth about human life, the Church has made her pilgrim way along the paths of the world to proclaim that Jesus Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).' back

Katherine Kornei, A Supernova Was Hiding in Antarctica's Snow, ' Recently, scientists analyzed dust collected from Antarctic snow and found an excess of radioactive iron. After ruling out contamination from nuclear weapons testing and other sources, the team concluded that the iron was produced by supernovas, fleeting explosions of stars more massive than the sun.' back

Kendra Pierre-Louis, How to Rebound After a Disaster:Move, Don't Rebuild, Research Suggests, ' “There’s a definite rhetoric of, ‘We’re going to build it back better. We’re going to win. We’re going to beat this. Something technological is going to come and it’s going to save us,’” said A.R. Siders, an assistant professor with the disaster research center at the University of Delaware and lead author of the paper. “It’s like, let’s step back and think for a minute,” she said. “You’re in a fight with the ocean. You’re fighting to hold the ocean in place. Maybe that’s not the battle we want to pick.” ' back

Kundun - Wikipedia, Kundun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Kundun is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grandnephew of the Dalai Lama, stars as the adult Dalai Lama, while Tencho Gyalpo, a niece of the Dalai Lama, appears as the Dalai Lama's mother. . . . "Kundun" (སྐུ་མདུན་ Wylie: sku mdun in Tibetan), meaning "presence", is a title by which the Dalai Lama is addressed. Kundun was released only a few months after Seven Years in Tibet, sharing the latter's location and its depiction of the Dalai Lama at several stages of his youth, though Kundun covers a period three times longer. ' back

Kurt Gödel - Wikipedia (Later life and death), Kurt Gödel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Later in his life, Gödel suffered periods of mental instability and illness. He had an obsessive fear of being poisoned; he would eat only food that his wife, Adele, prepared for him. Late in 1977, she was hospitalized for six months and could no longer prepare her husband's food. In her absence, he refused to eat, eventually starving to death.[31] He weighed 29 kilograms (65 lb) when he died. His death certificate reported that he died of "malnutrition and inanition caused by personality disturbance" in Princeton Hospital on January 14, 1978.' back

Libby Porter, Amaara Raheem, Blanche Verlie, Bronwyn Lay and Mick Douglas, What kind of state values a freeway heritage above the heritage of our oldest living culture?, ' A Major Road Projects Victoria proposal to extend the Western Highway will destroy sacred Djab Wurrung trees and places. They have been protecting these trees for more than a year, but faced eviction – from their own Country – by today’s deadline. All this is happening as the government is conducting treaty negotiations across the state. What kind of world do we live in when freeways are valued as of greater cultural significance than the practice of the oldest living culture in the world? Threatening to evict Djab Wurrung while proposing heritage status for the Eastern Freeway is a surreal perversion of law, heritage and community value.' back

Madeleine Thien, Can Hong Kong Avoid Becoming Tiananmen, ' Thirty years ago, on May 19, 1989, Zhao Ziyang, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, stood in Tiananmen Square. It was 5 in the morning and Zhao, exhausted, holding a loudspeaker, addressed student demonstrators, thousands of whom were on Day 7 of a hunger strike. “Students, we came too late,” he said. “I am sorry. Sorry. Whatever you say and criticize about us is deserved.” . . . The next day, martial law was declared and Zhao was placed under house arrest. Fifteen days later, the People’s Liberation Army entered Tiananmen Square, leaving carnage in its wake. Zhao died in 2005. His distinguished career has been erased inside China, his name deleted from public records and his face wiped from photographs.' back

Maggie Hsberman, Annie Karni and Danny Hakim, A Call With the President Gets the N.R.A. Results, 'President Trump spent at least 30 minutes on the phone Tuesday with Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, the latest conversation in an aggressive campaign by gun rights advocates to influence the White House in the weeks since the back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. The call ended the way that Mr. LaPierre had hoped it would: with Mr. Trump espousing N.R.A. talking points in the Oval Office and warning of the radical steps he said Democrats wanted to take in violation of the Second Amendment.' back

Michelle Wong. Tony Cheung. Sum Lok-kei and Victor Ting, Demonstrators offer sparkling vision of unity as estimated 135,000 people form 60km of human chains to encircle city in "Hong Kong Way', 'Anti-government protesters formed long human chains across Hong Kong on Friday night, standing on pavements in snaking lines that stretched along three railway lines in an unprecedented event they dubbed the “Hong Kong Way”. They began at 7pm, flocking outside MTR stations and lines and at other gathering points, from where they spread out over a couple of hours to stand side by side in human chains extending from Kennedy Town to Causeway Bay, from Kowloon Tong to Yau Ma Tei, along the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront, and from Tsuen Wan to Lai King, as well as further east along the Kwun Tong line. back

Nicolaus Mills, How Slave Owners Dictated the Language of the 2nd Amendment, ' The case for seeing the Second Amendment as part of the early debate over slave control and militias has been made with great persuasiveness by former Pennsylvania Assistant Attorney General Anthony F. Picadio in both the 2019 Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly and Transpartisan Review and by law professor Carl T. Bogus in the University of California, Davis Law Review of 1998.' back

Owain Emslie & Danielle Wood, Rethink inheritances. These days they no longer help the young, they go to the already middle-aged, ' A sample of estates from Victoria’s probate office suggests the median estate in Victoria is worth around A$500,000. That’s likely to be close to what it is Australia-wide. But many are much larger. About 20% are worth more than A$1 million, and 7% are more than A$2 million. Property is the largest component, accounting for about half of the average value. The main beneficiaries of “final” estates (estates without a surviving spouse) are children, who receive about three-quarters of all inheritance money.' back

Rafael Beer, Just as in 1914, the Brexit buildup is making calamity feel inevitable, ' Reading about the summer of 1914 in the summer of 2019 is salutary in conflicting ways. It is a reminder to keep anxiety about Brexit in perspective. . . . But there are echoes of an older, bloodier emergency: the nation’s course irreversibly changed by a combination of cultural complacency, political pomposity, bogus patriotism and unthinking submission to the timetable. . . . Even with a century of hindsight it is impossible to discern a point of no return, a junction at which all future paths, by whatever gradient or circuitous route, converged on disaster. If history doesn’t afford that view, how are we to know in real time when such a moment is close, or has been passed? ' back

Raul Corazzon, Veritas in Latin Middle Ages from Augustine to Paul of Venice, 'In the second medieval work on truth, the Questiones disputatae De veritate of Thomas Aquinas (1256-59), the matter is different, however In this writing the adaequatio-formula is to be found again and again. It is therefore especially owing to Thomas Aquinas that the formula has become so current.' back

Rebecca Woods, 'Like" isn't a lazy linguistic filler = the language snobs need to, like, pipe down, ' For nary a season of Love Island, or any programme predominantly aimed at young people, may pass without a flurry of grumpy think pieces on the protagonists’ language habits. And few linguistic habits cause as much ranting from those seeking to protect the fair English tongue as use of the word like. After several decades of like-bashing, which long predate Love Island’s arrival on our screens, commentators, headteachers and professors all continue to denounce the “excessive” use of the word like among “the young”.' back

Samia Khatun, Friday Essay: how a Bengali book in Broken Hill sheds new light on Australian history, ' In the 1960s, long after the end of the era of camel transportation, when members of the Broken Hill Historical Society were restoring the mosque on the corner of William Street and Buck Street, they found a book in the yard, its “pages blowing in the red dust” in the words of historian Christine Stevens. Dusting the book free of sand, they placed it inside the mosque, labelling it as “The Holy Koran”. . . . Among letters, a peacock feather fan and bottles of scent from Delhi, the large book lay, bearing a handwritten English label: “The Holy Koran”. Turning the first few pages revealed it was not a Quran, but a 500-page volume of Bengali Sufi poetry.' back

Shaun Walker, New evidence emerges of Russian role in Ukraine conflict, ' Newly collated evidence documenting Russian military involvement in the conflict in Ukraine will be used to bolster legal claims against the Russian state by Ukrainian volunteer fighters. Forensic Architecture, a London-based research group, has collected and catalogued evidence of Russian military involvement in the battle of Ilovaysk in August 2014, including the presence of a model of tank used only by the Russian armed forces at that time. The evidence will be appended to a case to be ruled on by the European court of human rights (ECHR) and has been released on a publicly viewable online platform.' back

Stage Beauty - Wikipedia, Stage Beauty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Stage Beauty is a 2004 British-American-German romantic period drama directed by Richard Eyre. The screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher is based on his play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which was inspired by references to 17th-century actor Edward Kynaston made in the detailed private diary kept by Samuel Pepys. ' back

The Conversation Media Group, The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news, and ideas from leading academics and researchers, 'Welcome to The Conversation Launched in March 2011, The Conversation is an independent source of information, analysis and commentary from the university and research sector. The site is in development and we welcome your feedback.' back

Tim Soutphommasane, Suffer the perpetrator: Pell and the twisted inversion of victimhood, ' Back in March, Pell was sentenced to a minimum of three years and eight months' jail for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in 1996, while he was archbishop of Melbourne. The reaction of his supporters was extraordinary enough. Prominent Catholics, two former prime ministers, and the usual army of right-wing commentators launched defences of Pell, as well as attacks on a Victorian County Court jury's unanimous finding of Pell's guilt. There were charges that Pell had been claimed by trumped-up charges, and by a campaign of vilification. Conservatives are supposed to be champions of the rule of law. Not this time.' back

Volker Huls, lawanddevelopment.org - exploring the links between law and economic development, 'Good Governance is easily prescribed, but must become a mindset of all involved to make the system work. Less and least developed countries are often governed by inherited laws that are complex and inaccessible for their citizens. Without acceptance by their subjects, they weaken and cease to safeguard the nation state against failure lawanddevelopment.org provides a unique repository of materials that explore these links between law, recovery, and economic development.' back

W.J. Korab-Karpowicz, Plato: Political Philosophy (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy), 'Plato’s greatest achievement may be seen firstly in that he, in opposing the sophists, offered to decadent Athens, which had lost faith in her old religion, traditions, and customs, a means by which civilization and the city’s health could be restored: the recovery of order in both the polis and the soul.' back

Wesley Morris, For centuries black music, forged in bondage, has been the sound of complete artistic freedom.No wonder everybody is always stealing it., ' Four hundred years ago, more than 20 kidnapped Africans arrived in Virginia. They were put to work and put through hell. Twenty became millions, and some of those people found — somehow — deliverance in the power of music. Lil Nas X has descended from those millions and appears to be a believer in deliverance. The verses of his song flirt with Western kitsch, what young black internetters branded, with adorable idiosyncrasy and a deep sense of history, the “yee-haw agenda.” But once the song reaches its chorus (“I’m gonna take my horse to the Old Town Road, and ride til I can’t no more”), I don’t hear a kid in an outfit. I hear a cry of ancestry. He’s a westward-bound refugee; he’s an Exoduster. And Cyrus is down for the ride. Musically, they both know: This land is their land.' back