Sydney Parkinson was one of the botanical artists on Captain Cook's journey's on the Endeavour. He was the first botanical artist to draw and paint plants collected on the exploratory voyages and he was the first artist to set foot on Australian soil, to draw an authentic Australian landscape, and to portray Aboriginals from direct observation. Everything is included in this large volume in the way of explanatory texts which accompany over 250 plates, nearly all of them executed by Parkinson as original drawings and paintings. The chapters correspond to the main areas in which discoveries were made. Much of the original material is still available for inspection at the British Museum (Natural History). A substantial proportion of the plates are in full colour, and included with them is information about the current whereabouts of the original material.

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder with cardinal motor signs of resting tremor, bradykinesia and lead-pipe rigidity. In addition, many patients display non-motor symptoms, including a diminished sensation of smell, gastrointestinal problems, various disorders of sleep and some cognitive impairment. These clinical features - particularly the motor signs - manifest after a progressive death of many dopaminergic neurones in the brain. Although currently available, conventional therapies can reduce the signs of the disease, the progression of this neuronal death has proved difficult to slow or stop, and the condition is relentlessly progressive. Hence, there is a real need to develop a treatment that is neuroprotective, one that slows the pathology of the disease effectively. At present, there are several neuroprotective therapies in the experimental pipeline, but these are for the patients of tomorrow. This book focuses on two therapies that are readily available for the patients of today. They involve the use of exercise and light (i.e. photobiomodulation, the use of red to infrared light therapy (λ=600-1070nm) on body tissues). The two therapies are tied together in several ways. First, in animal models of Parkinson's disease, they each have been shown to offer the key feature of neuroprotection, stimulating a series of built-in protective mechanisms within the neurones, that helps their survival, to self-protect and/or self-repair. There are also some promising indications of neuroprotection and many beneficial outcomes in parkinsonian patients. Further, both exercise and light therapies are similar in that they are non-invasive and safe to use, with no known adverse side-effects, making their combination with the conventional therapies, such as dopamine replacement drug therapy and deep brain stimulation, all the more feasible. Given the heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease in humans, tackling the condition from a range of different angles - with a number of different therapies - would only serve to enhance the positive outcomes. This book considers the use of exercise and light therapies, proposing that they have the potential to make a powerful "dynamic duo", offering a most effective neuroprotective treatment option to patients.

Every hour in the UK, two people are told they have Parkinson’s disease. For Kate Swindlehurst, the diagnosis was a turning point: refusing to be defined by her condition, she chose instead a radically different path. This is the story of an extraordinary year. It begins with a single tango lesson but grows into an exploration of the dance itself, its history, its music and its incredible healing potential. It is a year in which Kate explored and documented ‘the tango effect’ – the emotional and social benefits of dance on Parkinson’s symptoms. Her personal account echoes what science is beginning to tell us about the powerful and transformative impact of Argentine tango. Intimate and unflinching, The Tango Effect challenges our perceptions of living with a chronic condition. Above all, it takes an honest look at the dark side of the illness while celebrating moments of joy, interconnectedness, acceptance and liberation.

A compact edition of Joseph Banks’ extraordinary botanical engravings of flora discovered on Captain Cook’s first voyage. Joseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771. A gifted and wealthy young naturalist, Banks collected exotic flora from Madeira, Brazil, Tierra del Fuego, the Society Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and Java, bringing back over 1,300 species that had never been seen or studied by Europeans. On his return, Banks commissioned over 700 engravings. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, they are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created. The Florilegium was never published in Banks’ lifetime, and it was not until 1990 that a complete set in color was issued under the direction of the British Museum. It is from these prints that the new compact edition of Joseph Banks’ Florilegium is selected, as directed by David Mabberley, who has provided expert botanical commentaries. Art historian Mel Gooding sets the works in context while an afterword by Joe Studholme describes the history of modern printing. Joseph Banks’ Florilegium is not only a great work of science, but also a major achievement in collaborative Enlightenment art and a volume of outstanding beauty.

The name Captain James Cook is one of the most recognisable in Australian history - an almost mythic figure who is often discussed, celebrated, reviled and debated. But who was the real James Cook? This Yorkshire farm boy would go on to become the foremost mariner, scientist, navigator and cartographer of his era, and to personally map a third of the globe. His great voyages of discovery were incredible feats of seamanship and navigation. Leading a crew of men into uncharted territories, Cook would face the best and worst of humanity as he took himself and his crew to the edge of the known world - and beyond. With his masterful storytelling talent, Peter FitzSimons brings the real James Cook to life. Focusing on his most iconic expedition, the voyage of the Endeavour, where Cook first set foot on Australian and New Zealand soil, FitzSimons contrasts Cook against another figure who looms large in Australasian history: Joseph Banks, the aristocratic botanist. As they left England, Banks, a rich, famous playboy, was everything that Cook was not. The voyage tested Cook's character and would help define his legacy. Now, 240 years after James Cook's death, FitzSimons reveals what kind of man James was at heart. His strengths, his weaknesses, his passions and pursuits, failures and successes. James Cook reveals the man behind the myth.

In 1770 H.M. Bark Endeavour arrived in New Holland, Australia, the 'Continent of Smoke'. On board were Lieutenant James Cook, gentleman naturalist Joseph Banks, natural history artist Sydney Parkinson, and Midshipman James Magra. For the first time, this book combines the journals of these men to present a single, cohesive narrative that brings the story to life as never before. The journals are complimented by over 300 images, including charts, costal profiles, plans of harbors, and many original drawings executed during the voyage of the animals, people and landscape unique to the region. Of the many titles that are available concerning Cook and his voyaging, few focus on Cook’s New Holland experience. Most commonly these titles are interpretative accounts, and heavily weighted with the author’s opinion. However, here the story of New Holland is told in the words of the explorers themselves, containing first hand accounts of all the elements of drama, risk and first discovery. Focusing particularly on the contact with the Indigenous people and how they were first described by Europeans, this is an adaption of the discovery story made accessible to the general reader as well as the historian, without compromising the integrity of the original document. These adventurers were men of their own time, constrained by the common beliefs that fashioned the lives of people two hundred and fifty years ago. If some of their words sit uncomfortably with current thinking, we should remind ourselves that some of our own beliefs and actions, might similarly be thought beyond the pale by future generations, and that we too may find ourselves the target of criticism from those who come after us.