Taking the concept of beauty seriously, this encyclopedia examines how humanity has sought and continues to seek what is "beautiful" in a variety of cultural contexts, giving readers an understanding of how to look at beauty both intellectually and critically. Is beauty ever more than "skin deep"? Arguably yes, considering that the concept of beauty—and the pursuit of it—has shaped cultures worldwide, across every time period, and has even served to change the course of history. Studying beauty practices yields insight into social status, wealth, political ideology, religious doctrine, and gender expectations, including gender nonconformity. A truly interdisciplinary text, Beauty around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia presents an insightful perspective on beauty that draws from philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and feminist studies, giving readers a unique view of world beauty practices. This volume offers information about beauty practices from the past to the present in alphabetical entries that address terms and topics such as "beards," "dreadlocks," "Geisha," "moko tattoos," and "progressive muscularity." Readers will better comprehend how beauty shapes many social interactions in profound ways worldwide, and that the unspoken social agreements that shape ideals of attractiveness and desirability within any given culture can matter very much. The encyclopedia's entries challenge readers to consider the questions "What is beauty?" and "Why does it matter?" A comprehensive bibliography is a valuable resource for further research.

Corporate Disasters: What Went Wrong and Why profiles the biggest corporate mistakes or misdeeds throughout history -- covering the people, the times, the decisions made. This volume covers Marketing and Launch Flops. Each essay puts the business and its operators in the context of its own time, explaining the market, social, and technology forces at play, and each explores the key make-or-break decisions that led to disaster.

This fully revised and expanded 2nd edition provides a single authoritative resource describing the concepts of color and the application of color science across research and industry. Significant changes for the 2nd edition include: New and expanded sections on color engineering More entries on fundamental concepts of color science and color terms Many additional entries on specific materials Further material on optical concepts and human visual perception Additional articles on organisations, tools and systems relevant to color A new set of entries on 3D presentation of color In addition, many of the existing entries have been revised and updated to ensure that the content of the encyclopedia is current and represents the state of the art. The work covers the full gamut of color: the fundamentals of color science; the physics and chemistry; color as it relates to optical phenomena and the human visual system; and colorants and materials. The measurement of color is described through entries on colorimetry, color spaces, color difference metrics, color appearance models, color order systems and cognitive color. The encyclopedia also has extensive coverage of applications throughout industry, including color imaging, color capture, display and printing, and descriptions of color encodings, color management, processing color and applications relating to color synthesis for computer graphics are included. The broad scope of the work is illustrated through entries on color in art conservation, color and architecture, color and education, color and culture, and biographies of some of the key figures involved in color research throughout history. With over 250 entries from color science researchers across academia and industry, this expanded 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology remains the most important single resource in color science.