Any real understanding of where we stand scientifically today and where we are headed depends to a great extent on an awareness of how we reached those scientific achievements. The increased impact of science and technology on our lives makes such an understanding even more important. For this reason, this book is intended to provide information about the major works of science in the collections of the Library of Congress. These selected works are organized here by traditional scientific discipline and are treated in historical and, generally, chronological order. The contents contain chapters on: (1) astronomy; (2) botany; (3) zoology; (4) medicine; (5) chemistry; (6) geology; (7) mathematics; and (8) physics. A bibliography provides information about particular Library of Congress collections to which a book or manuscript may belong, as well as specific bibliographic information. Title translations are also included. (TW)

This book traces the development of exorcism in Catholic Christianity from the fourth century to the present day, and seeks to explain why exorcism is still so much in demand. This is the first work in English to trace the development of the liturgy, practice and authorisation of exorcisms in Latin Christianity. The rite of exorcism, and the claim by Roman Catholic priests to be able to drive demons from the possessed, remains an enduring source of popular fascination, but the origins and history of this controversial rite have been little explored. Arguing that belief in the need for exorcism typically re-emerges at periods of crisis for the church, Francis Young explores the shifting boundaries between authorised exorcisms and unauthorised magic throughout Christian history, from Augustine of Hippo to Pope Francis. This book offers the historical background to – and suggests reasons for – the current resurgence of exorcism in the global Catholic Church.

This catalogue was published to accompany Joanna Braithwaite's 'Wonderland', a touring exhibition organised by the Dunedin and Christchurch public art galleries. It showcases Braithwaite's extraordinary paintings of a world in which humans and animals are not bound by the laws of nature. Frogs falling from the sky and a whistling chihuahua are some of the bizarre yet compelling images to be found in this book. Exhibition: 22 July - 24 October 2005

With bracing clarity, James Elkins explores why images are taken to be more intricate and hard to describe in the twentieth century than they had been in any previous century. Why Are Our Pictures Puzzles? uses three models to understand the kinds of complex meaning that pictures are thought to possess: the affinity between the meanings of paintings and jigsaw-puzzles; the contemporary interest in ambiguity and 'levels of meaning'; and the penchant many have to interpret pictures by finding images hidden within them. Elkins explores a wide variety of examples, from the figures hidden in Renaissance paintings to Salvador Dali's paranoiac meditations on Millet's Angelus, from Persian miniature paintings to jigsaw-puzzles. He also examines some of the most vexed works in history, including Watteau's "meaningless" paintings, Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling, and Leonardo's Last Supper.