The Society of Jesus was formed by Ignatius Loyola and six friends in Paris in 1534 and approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. The order grew to become one of the biggest and most widespread within the Roman Catholic church. The Society's strength led to suspicion, distrust and campaigns of humiliation. Portugal banished the Jesuits in 1759. Charles III expelled all Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767. Pope Clement XIV abolished the Society as a corporate form in July 1773. Yet the Jesuits had introduced the first printing press in the Missions as from 1700 compared with 1780 in Buenos Aires and 1808 in Brazil. Through the Guarani knowledge and jesuits learning Europe was informed about hundreds of previously unknown plants, many of them with medicinal benefits. In the 21st century the plants are still sought after by the world's major pharmaceutical corporations. But it was the stone-age Guarani who had names for 1100 plants!

This unique collection of photographs features over ten years of collaborations with the most important space and research centers in the world, resulting in a one-of-a-kind story of the human race to the stars. Vincent Fournier's visionary photographs provide an imaginative look at space exploration by merging fantasy with reality in images of rockets, otherwordly landscapes, research facilities, and cosmonauts. To produce these extraordinary images, Fournier has collaborated with the world's major space centers and astronomical observatories, including NASA, the European Space Agency, the Russian space agency, and the European Southern Observatory. Readers are given access to confidential locations and projects such as the NASA SLS rocket. Fournier's artistic vision creates a unique look at the history of space exploration, from the early Sputnik and Apollo programs to the future Mission on Mars. The images invite us to focus on our perceptions of space and time. Fournier questions our past and future utopias--what are our expectations for the future and has the future already happened? The evocative images document and archive while also exploring humankind's myths and fantasies about the future.

An "alternate history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium's ... colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier"--Amazon.com.

A series of essays by an international and trans-disciplinary group of contributors which explores the nature and extent of the utopian impulse. Working across a range of historical periods and cultures, the book investigates key aspects of utopian theory, texts, and socio-political practices.

Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.

This book critically examines the relationship between man and society in Utopian systems. In order to do this, the author reviews a selection of Utopian and dystopian literature. There are excerpts from fiction, philosophy, social and political history, and an appraisal of the relevant issues. Various topics relating to Utopia such as harmony, freedom and its expression, conflict, machines and thought, homosexual rights to marriage, the future of world languages, the function of religion and God, social control and democracy are explored with a view to investigating man's conflict with himself and society. Many of these issues are relevant not only to today but to the 22nd century too. This book provides a thought-provoking addition to the body of literature on the subject.