Christopher Alexander owns what many now believe to be the finest collection of early Turkish carpets in the western world, with perhaps half being the only specimens of their kind anywhere. In this richly illustrated, oversized volume--featuring four hundred illustrations, eighty in full color--Alexander takes readers on an engaging tour of his fabulous collection. Readers will see a 13th-century Seljuk Carpet with Dragons, a 15th-century Animal Carpet, a scarlet-niched Transylvanian Prayer Rug, a turquoise Lattice Carpet from Alcaraz, a 16th-century blue Medallion Keyhole Design from Bergama, a rare 16th-century White Field Bird Carpet, the dazzling color and brilliant geometry of a 15th-century Karapinar with Three Gulls, and perhaps Alexander's favorite, a 15th-century Star Karapinar with Flowers (whose designs he describes as "the high point of all Sufi art, the state of liberation, in which the artist is so free, that he is able to be completely natural"). In addition, Alexander elaborates on his theory that these carpets teach structure to artists and architects through the beauty of their form. This lavishly produced volume makes an important contribution to the world of rug scholarship. Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these pieces will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.

"The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques deals with all aspects of materials, techniques, conservation, and restoration in both traditional and nontraditional media, including ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, works on paper, textiles, video, digital art, and more. Drawing upon the expansive scholarship in The Dictionary of Art and adding new entries, this work is a comprehensive reference resource for artists, art dealers, collectors, curators, conservators, students, researchers, and scholars." "Similar in design to The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, this one-volume reference work contains articles of various lengths in alphabetical order. The shorter, more factual articles are combined with larger, multi-section articles tracing the development of materials and techniques in various geographical locations. The Encyclopedia provides unparalleled scope and depth, and it offers fully updated articles and bibliography as well as over 150 illustrations and color plates." "The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques offers scholarly information on materials and techniques in art for anyone who studies, creates, collects, or deals in works of art. The entries are written to be accessible to a wide range of readers, and the work is designed as a reliable and convenient resource covering this essential area in the visual arts."

Making Art History is a collection of essays by contemporary scholars on the practice and theory of art history as it responds to institutions as diverse as art galleries and museums, publishing houses and universities, school boards and professional organizations, political parties and multinational corporations. The text is split into four thematic sections, each of which begins with a short introduction from the editor, the sections include: Border Patrols, addresses the artistic canon and its relationship to the ongoing 'war on terror', globalization, and the rise of the Belgian nationalist party. The Subjects of Art History, questions whether 'art' and 'history' are really what the discipline seeks to understand. Instituting Art History, concerns art history and its relation to the university and raises questions about the mission, habits, ethics and limits of university today. Old Master, New Institutions, shows how art history and the museum respond to nationalism, corporate management models and the 'culture wars'.

WISDOM FROM THE WOMEN HEALERS OF THE PSYCHEDELIC UNDERGROUND The use of entheogens, or psychedelics, is out of the closet today. LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and other medicines once associated only with the counterculture are now being legally studied for their healing properties. But as Rachel Harris shows, the underground use and study of psychedelics by women dates back to the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece. Harris interviews the modern women elders carrying on this tradition to gather their hard-won wisdom of experience. Any reader interested in inspiration, healing, and enlightenment will find here a wonder-filled narrative packed with provocative and perhaps life-changing insight.

The essays are organized around the twin themes of semblance and subjectivity. Whereas the concept of semblance, or illusion, points to Adorno's links with Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud, the concept of subjectivity recalls his lifelong struggle with a philosophy ofconsciousness stemming from Kant, Hegel, and Lukacs.

Business rules management system (BRMS) is a software tools that work alongside enterprise IT applications. It enables enterprises to automate decision-making processes typically consisting of separate business rules authoring and rules execution applications. This proposed title brings together the following key ideas in modern enterprise system development best practice. The need for service-oriented architecture (SOA). How the former depends on component-based development (CBD). Database-centred approaches to business rules (inc. GUIDES). Knowledge-based approaches to business rules. Using patterns to design and develop business rules management systems Ian Graham is an industry consultant with over 20 years. He is recognized internationally as an authority on business modelling, object-oriented software development methods and expert systems. He has a significant public presence, being associated with both UK and international professional organizations, and is frequently quoted in the IT and financial press.