Why doesn’t stomach acid dissolve the stomach itself? Why are there more tornados in the Midwest than on the coast? This volume answers these questions and over 200 more, shedding light on the science behind them. As informative as it is entertaining, it addresses every major branch of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, geology, meteorology, astronomy, and cosmology. It highlights some of the big ideas that helped shape science as we know it, and discusses the future of science with regards to nanotechnology, genetic modification, molecular medicine, and string theory.

From Buddhism in Afghanistan to Zen Buddhism, this book offers an in-depth overview of this fascinating religion.In approximately 700 A-to-Z entries, "Encyclopedia of Buddhism" provides easy access to the terms, concepts, personalities, historical events, institutions, and movements that helped shape the history of Buddhism and the way it is practiced today. Although the primary focus of the encyclopedia is clearly on Buddhism in all its forms, this easy-to-use resource also provides introductions to Daoism, Shinto, Confucianism, and other religious practices in East and Southeast Asia.The entries include: Anatman; Asoka; Bodhi tree; Buddhism in the United States; Pema Chodron; Christian-Buddhist relations; Dalai Lama; Daoism in China-Taiwan; Eightfold Path; Falun Gong; Feng shui; Hermann Hesse; Japan Buddhist Federation; Karma; Mandala; Nirvana; Questions of King Milinda; Schools of Chinese Buddhism; Stupa; Tea ceremony; Traditional Buddhist ethics; War and violence; and, Zen Buddhism.

This encyclopedia covers almost every aspect of the Jack the Ripper murders in considerable detail, exposes a number of myths and corrects many points of misinformation about this notorious British criminal history. It contains a chronology and the following sections - the victims, the witnesses, the police, and others who played a part.

The current world seems to be preoccupied with religious warfare, but the period between 1000 and 1650 had more heated exchanges and battles based on religious belief, as this work documents. Its geographic scope encompasses the then-known civilized world from Europe to China, Africa, and the Americas; and its more than 2,000 entries treat a remarkable range of topics: technologies, ideas, social and class relations, major confessional groups, theological disputes, and more. Examples include Armor, Infantry, Islam, Justification by faith, Military discipline, Puritans, Ship of the line, Siege warfare, and Wheel lock. A number of entries are biographical, among them those for Oliver Cromwell, Salah al-Din, and Girolamo Savonarola. But the most space is devoted to "narrative recounting of major wars and key battles and sieges"--the Crusades, the English civil wars, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, to name a few. Length ranges from a line or two for Enfilade and Palfrey to more than 11 pages for Thirty Years' War. Some entries end with suggested readings, and cross-referencing is extensive.

Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America covers the archaeology not only of the region known as Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) but also of the cultural areas where pre-Columbian cultural traits were carried by migrants, from the U.S. Southwest to northern Ecuador. These cultural traits include farming techniques, food preparation, clothing, tools, weapons, games, architectural characteristics, writing, calendars, and religious beliefs. The editors present "a very broad introductory overview briefly summarizing what we know about the earliest human populations, the emergence and spread of food production and the rise of complex societies.

The morning-after pill. Condom distribution in the schools. The Pill. Roe v. Wade. Few issues are as divisive in contemporary society as birth control. Men and women continue to battle over the legality and morality of a woman’s ability to control when to have children. Few matters have altered society and culture so profoundly in recent years as the new contraceptive options available to women developed by scientists and birth control advocates.

They're all there, starting with Anthony Joseph Accardo (1906-1992), the Chicago mob leader known as Tony to crime pals, Mr. Accardo to underlings, Joe Batters to his subordinates, and as "having more brains before breakfast than Al Capone had all day" to syndicate supporters, and working through the alphabet to Abner "Longy" Zwillman (1899-1959), a crime-syndicate founder and New Jersey boss, one of the most feared of the Jewish Mafia, known as the "Al Capone of new Jersey," and much revered for his love affair with Jean Harlow.

Grade 9 Up–Ancient Celtic peoples have made lasting contributions to current literature and culture in many parts of the world. Monaghan's 12-page introduction summarizes their possible origins, religious beliefs, languages, society, mythology, and relations with other cultures while the approximately 1000 alphabetically arranged entries describe gods, goddesses, heroes, folkloric elements, sacred sites, objects, and place names. Listings are by the most commonly accepted spelling of each item. Variant spellings often follow. Although an extensive bibliography is appended, many individual entries are followed by the bibliographic sources pertaining to them, complete down to specific pages. The well-designed index indicates each main article's page number in boldface, but also lists page numbers of related articles. This is a complex subject pieced together from Roman and Christian writings, oral traditions and archaeological artifacts, yet the author makes it comprehensible. Readers who enjoy compilations such as Joseph Jacobs's Celtic Fairy Tales (Dover, 1968) can use this encyclopedia to learn more about the interrelation of characters and the culture that created them.

Essential details of every major battle on land and sea in recorded history, from the first battle of Megiddo in 1479 B.C. to the Grenada conflict in 1984. Included: strategic situations, roles played by political/military leaders, troop numbers and training, tactics and objectives, casualties and losses and military/political consequences. Index. 99 illustrations.

"Designed to provide an introduction to the many topics in health and behavior for diverse audiences," this A-Z work is an important development for the field of public health. Topics cut across all of the fields that compose health and behavior, including theories and methods in health and behavior, biopsychosocial interactions and basic behavioral and social processes, epidemiology of risk and protective factors, health promotion and disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and policy and organizational issues. Social and cultural factors are also covered, including, for example, Crowding and health, Health disparities, Latino health and behavior, and Social or status incongruence. More than 200 signed entries by credentialed contributors range in length from 1 to 9 pages and are followed by bibliographies for further reading. Two appendixes, repeated in both volumes, are particularly helpful--an annotated 15-page directory of online resources and predominantly national health and behavior organizations and a 67-page general bibliography. Author and subject indexes conclude the set.

The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places is the first directory to be written by dozens of the world's leading paranormal investigators. Research notes, location background, first-hand accounts, and many anomalous photographs featuring ghostly manifestations comprise the hundreds of haunted listings in this directory. For years, paranormal investigative groups have been studying their local ghosts with scientific equipment as well as with more esoteric methods, such as psychics and seances. This directory is a repository of some of their most profound cases. From across the United States, Canada, and many spots around the globe, ghost investigators tell of their sometimes harrowing experiences, share their research, and give readers an overview of both well-known and obscure haunted locales. From private residences to inns and restaurants, battlefields to museums and libraries, graveyards to churches, The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places will offer supernatural tourists a guide to points of interest through the eyes of the ghost hunters. This reference also offers names, addresses, phone numbers, and Web addresses to each location covered. Feeling brave? You may just want to stop and visit some ghosts on your next trip. Jeff Belanger is a voracious fan of the unexplained. He's been studying and writing about the supernatural for regional and national publications since 1997. Belanger is the founder of Ghostvillage.com, the Internet's largest supernatural community, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. He's the author of: The World's Most Haunted Places: From the Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com (New Page Books 2004), and The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places

The fun and easy way to grow orchids
Orchids, as anyone who has read Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or has seen the movie Adaptation knows, inspire a passionate following. And their popularity is rising: according to the USDA, more than 12.7 million orchids were sold in the U.S. last year. Brimming with black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages of color photos, this friendly guide introduces would-be orchid fanciers to today's most popular and intriguing orchid varieties—and shows step by step how to select healthy plants at a nursery or commercial grower, cultivate them successfully at home, promote blooms, create beautiful orchid displays, and even produce hybrids.

From sacred mountains and places of pilgrimage to visions and out-of-body travel, this reference explores unusual and unexplained physical events, apparitions, and other phenomena rooted in religious beliefs. Each entry features a balanced presentation and includes a description of the phenomenon, the religious claims surrounding the occurrence, and a scientific response. Touring the world and history, this comprehensive reference includes entries on angels, comets, Marian apparitions, and religious figures such as Jesus, Mohammad, and Lao Tzu.

Encyclopedia of the Undead traces those shadowy entities – vampires, werewolves, ghouls and monsters – that lurk just outside the range of human vision and inhabit our most frightening tales. Drawing on a wide range of beliefs and literature, it traces these horrors from their earliest recorded inceptions and charts their impact upon the human psyche. In this book, history and terror mix to create the things that lurk in the darkest corners of our minds.
You’ll find detailed descriptions of terrors from all over the world – from the mist-shrouded mountains of Eastern Europe to the sweltering jungles of the Caribbean islands, from the dark, stone-lined tombs of the uncoffined dead beneath the remote New England hills to the dark magics that lurk beneath the thriving, colorful surface of a city like New Orleans. In addition to the more conventional creatures, Encyclopedia of the Undead also details some of the more obscure Things that gnaw at the edges of men’s minds – Incubi and Succubi, the Mara, and the dark legends that have influenced writers from Sheridan Le Fanu to H.P. Lovecraft.
This is a book for all those who are interested in the darker side of the human mind – the side that examines and even embraces those beliefs and imaginings that form the basis of our most archetypical fears. This is the book for those brave enough to plumb the depths of our worst nightmares!

These are happy hunting days for lovers of dinosaur paraphernalia. As such, the Macmillan encyclopedia has something for everyone: colored reconstructions of the animals matched with a text whose style is accessible to most enthusiasts but whose content is extensive enough for more serious students. Both newly discovered and classic fossil animals are included, and there is background information to put each animal in time, place, and taxonomic perspective. The book's strongest feature is its inclusion of vertebrate animals other than dinosaurs. The variety of fossil fish and mammals should convince the skeptical that dinosaurs had no monopoly on bizarre structure.

Grade 3-6–Though the title of this thematically arranged set may imply a reference tool for beginning readers, it is actually best suited for older elementary-age browsers. Most subjects are covered in a single spread–one page of text opposite a color photo or computer-generated picture. Subject headings are clearly displayed and entries feature mini-quizzes, fun facts, and cross-references. The first volume covers "The Earth and Earth Sciences"; other volumes include "Physical Sciences and Technology," "The Arts," "People in History," "Folklore and Religions," continents, plants, and animals. There is some overlap in the listings–many creative artists are found in "People in History" rather than with their colleagues in "The Arts." Coverage of the continents includes country listings and famous attractions. Less proficient readers will appreciate the large print and bolded vocabulary words, which are explained in a glossary at the back of each volume. The final volume contains a brief atlas, a comprehensive glossary, and a cumulative index. What most distinguishes this set from others is the "cross-cultural, international perspective" it embraces, apparent in the artists and people it celebrates. Children read about Basho, haiku poet from Japan; Hassan Fathy, Egyptian architect; Wole Soyinka, black African Nobel Prize for Literature winner; and Rabindranath Tagore, poet laureate of India. While easier and more appealing than the Grolier Student Encyclopedia (2003), it is less comprehensive than the World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia

Published in association with Time magazine, the Encyclopaedia Britannica Almanac 2009 includes more coverage of key subjects such as the arts, business, people, science, and the world than any other leading almanac. The Year in Review Read about the buildup to the U.S. presidential election, the controversial expansion of the biofuels industry and its rippling effects on land use and world commodity prices, the subprime mortgage crisis and housing market collapse, and more. Celebrities and Newsmakers Learn about the lives of influential political leaders, athletes, authors, and heroes.
Bursting with facts about people, current events, history, geography, sports, religion, science and technology, health and medicine, money and business, and statistics on almost every imaginable topic, the Britannica Almanac 2009 has more coverage of key subjects than any other leading almanac.

How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come to Be As They Are
No toaster is an island. In fact, as Harvey Molotch demonstrates in this sparkling tour of how things are created, the everyday objects of our life are a delicate and clever intermingling of design, timing and functionality that mirrors contemporary life.
Where Stuff Comes From is about paper clips, post-its, bathtubs, cars and all the other stuff in our lives. It is about how these items were imagined into existence and made a part of the American material culture. From the designer to the manufacturer to the business owner to the consumer, Molotch guides us through the worlds of technology, design, corporate culture and popular culture, giving us a sense of how and why we want stuff. He rolls up his sleeves and goes behind the scenes at trade shows and in design studios to speak with the product-makers who gave us the Nike swoosh and Volkswagen's resurrected Beetle.
A witty and surprising voyage into the aesthetic unconscious of the consumer, Where Stuff Comes From probes the meaning of the objects in our lives and what our possessions say about us. Ultimately, Molotch opens a fascinating window into our economy, society and culture by unlocking the complex strategies behind simple things.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development is a definitive, accessible and up-to-date account of all aspects of child development. Written by an international team of leading experts, it adopts an interdisciplinary approach covering topics that range from neonatal development to education, encompassing pediatrics, neuroscience, theories and research methods, physical development, social development, cognitive development, psychopathology and parenting.

The Encyclopedia of Terrorism presents authoritative coverage of what is currently one of the world's most important topics. With more than 300 articles, the encyclopedia provides detailed discussions of the who, what, where, when, and why of terrorism. Up-to-date and timely, the articles cover such topics as Al-Qaeda, biological terrorism, extremism, Saddam Hussein, Jihad, Zacarias Moussaoui, and suicide bombers. Its concise, readable format and detailed chronology, photographs, maps, and charts make this an essential reference.

A comprehensive reference providing concise information on the key places, people, events, and culture of more than 500 years of Roman history, from the reign of Julius Caesar to the fall of the last Roman emperor (Romulus Augustulus) in 476 A.D. Includes 54 line drawings and six maps, as well as a chronology of major events, a glossary of governmental, military, and social titles, a chronological listing of the emperors, and genealogies of the major imperial dynasties and families.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANCIENT EGYPT is the first single-volume reference guide to the remarkable culture that flourished on the banks of the Nile from the predynastic period, 3200 B.C., to the fall of the New Kingdom in 1070 B.C.
Illustrated with more than 175 line drawings, maps, and time charts, over 1,500 entries span all the gods, rulers, cities, and themes important in ancient Egypt

The two-volume Encyclopedia of American Race Riots is part of the Greenwood Milestones in African American History series. The two editors are from Ohio State University, and both have published and lectured in the area of African American studies. Eighty scholars contributed to the work. Although people tend to think of racial issues being more prevalent in the South, this work shows that race riots and incidents have occurred in all parts of the U.S. Arranged alphabetically, the more than 260 entries deal with key incidents, individuals, organizations, concepts, themes, events, and trends associated with race riots in America. Particular emphasis is on the twentieth century and on white-black relations; however, other racial and ethnic groups, such as Asians and Hispanics, are included. Although the focus is primarily on race riots, related issues, such as lynching, urban riots, and assassinations, are also included. Entries average in length from 500 to 1,000 words, but discussions of specific riots tend to be longer. Cross-references are indicated in boldface within the text, and there are see also references at the end of entries. Selected readings also appear at the end of each entry. A "Guide to Related Topics" groups entries under 22 headings (e.g., "Civil Rights Movement," "Responses to Racial Violence"). A "Chronology of American Race Riots and Racial Violence" covers 1863 through September 2005. An extensive bibliography leads the reader to further information, and a detailed index provides additional access to the information contained in the set. Twenty-three primary documents include excerpts of reports and eyewitness accounts of racial violence. An excellent foreword gives a historical perspective of American race rioting. A "Select Historiography of Race Riots" describes scholarship on this topic. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the work. The set provides a more detailed look at race riots than resources on the broader topic of African American history.

Feng shui, magnet therapy, polarity therapy, qigong, reiki, therapeutic touchAwhat do they have in common? They are all "subtle energy practices," just one section in this wide-ranging encyclopedia. Others include skeletal manipulation methods, mind/body medicine, sensory therapies, massage (from infant massage to myofascial trigger point therapy), movement therapy, somatic practices, and body-oriented psychotherapies. Editor Allison defines a body-mind discipline as "an organized program of activity that seeks to awaken and activate the links between body, mind, and spirit." This very well arranged text is divided into 16 sections, each of which begins with an introductory essay discussing the disciplines included in that section. Each discipline is described by a certified practitioner in terms of history, basic principles, and potential benefits and risks. Short resource/reading lists follow each discipline description. Allison, a dancer and educator, has done an excellent job of pulling together information on some 125 therapies. Whether you want to know about brain gym or just plain old yoga, this encyclopedia is a great starting point.

"The Encyclopedia of Insects" is a comprehensive work devoted to all aspects of insects, including their anatomy, physiology, evolution, behavior, reproduction, ecology, and disease, as well as issues of exploitation, conservation, and management. Articles provide definitive facts about all insects from aphids, beetles and butterflies to weevils and yellowjackets. Insects are beautiful and dreadful, ravenous pests and devastating disease vectors, resilient and resistant to eradication, and the source of great benefit and great loss for civilization. Important for ecosystem health, they have influenced the evolution of other life forms on our planet including humans. Anyone interested in insects, from university professors and researchers to high school students preparing a report, will find "The Encyclopedia of Insects" an indispensable volume for insect information. This book offers an unprecedented collection in 1,276 pages covering every important aspect of insects. It presents 270 original articles, thoroughly peer reviewed and edited for consistency. It features 1,000 figures and tables, including 500 full-color photographs. It includes the latest information contributed by 250 experts in 17 countries. It is designed to save research time with a full glossary, 1,700 cross-references, and 3,000 bibliographic entries.

What are the origins of table manners? What are the politics of cannibalism? Why is the left hand thought to be sinister? These apparently unrelated questions all hinge on the fundamental notion of taboo. Far from being peripheral leftovers from distant times and places, taboos are a crucial part of any society, determining how people must and must not behave. The Encyclopedia of Taboos is a mine of unusual information from around the world, including a comprehensive analysis of individual taboos from the ancient world to the present day, covering both well- and lesser-known examples

How did the Sunni Shiite split in medieval times bring about modern tensions between Iran and Iraq? Middle Ages Reference Library helps students answer this question and many other enigmas by encouraging them to see how events and ideas are linked. Included in this set are: Middle Ages: Almanac, covering the different civilizations and peoples of Medieval times; Middle Ages: Biographies, a 2-vol. compilation of biographical essays on significant individuals of the era; and Middle Ages: Primary Sources, presenting an insightful collection of excerpts from relevant letters, journal entries, poems and more from the era.