Questions that we do not yet know the answer to. An example of such a story is 'The last baby'. What could happen if the quality of our seeds continues to deteriorate? The story 'The first pharaoh', on the other hand, deals with the question of the origin of diversity. Another example is 'Armpit sweat'. In this story, it has been emphasized that the smell of the partner could be essential for a lasting relationship. Also, some stories such as 'space-sex' give you the opportunity to come up with your own plot. They provide inspiration to let the imagination run wild. Similar to a joke, these short stories are intended to make the audience think and possibly to make you laugh. The stories should be read with a wink, because life is serious enough. That's why the short story collection is called 'KUL'. The stories give food for thought and are worth telling. Each story is unique and grabs you from the start. Sometimes they seem more like a consideration, a philosophical train of thought, or a statement. But they are all narrative. Some stories are humorous, some start with a statement and develop it further into the future.

Presents lessons on using an almanac.

In the mid-nineteenth century the eyes of western European explorers were firmly fixed on advancing inland from former maritime colonies in the Americas, Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Australasia, their motives often being inextricably bound up with concerns of imperial politics and commerce. Simultaneously, further east, Russians resumed their perceived mission to civilise Asia, following their own country’s humiliation during the Crimean War. From a springboard of Siberian territories acquired gradually over the previous three centuries, discovery and expansion radiated from the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, founded in 1845 and incorporating initiatives drawn from descendants of immigrant French and German scientists who themselves inspired a new generation of liberal intellectuals. A key personality in that movement was the Society’s librarian and secretary of its physical geography section, P. P. Semenov (1827-1914), a member of a minor gentry family who had been tutored by a pupil of Linnacus and who had studied under Ritter and von Humboldt at Berlin during a tour of Europe in 1853-4. From them he conceived the notion of travelling to the virtually unknown lands of Central Asia, ostensibly to verify opinions on the existence there of active volcanoes and glaciers. In reality his ambition was to penetrate beyond the Kazakh steppe and to reach the fabled Celestial Mountains, the Tian’-Shan’ range, which constituted the politically sensitive border between Russia and China and the equally hostile buffer zone of Muslim kahnates. Accompanied only by a serf servant, in May 1856 Semenov embarked on a 18-month journey from St Petersburg through Kazan’ to Semipalatinsk, and thence via the Altai to the newly established Russian settlement of Vernoe (later Alma-Ata, now Almaty). Subsequently he received a Cossack escort on his trek into the high plateaus and ridges surrounding Issyk-kul’, to ’the very heart of Asia’. Throughout his

John Mauceri, who has stood on podiums before storied symphonies, operas, and ballets around the world, brings a lifetime of experience to bear in this informative, brilliantly entertaining exploration of his profession. As Mauceri traces the lineage of his craft, from Felix Mendelssohn (the first to use a baton) to the present day, he shows us how conducting is itself a composition: of legacy and tradition, of techniques handed down—and more than a trace of ineffable magic. Weaving clear musical explanations together with memorable accounts of working alongside masters like Bernstein and Stokowski, Mauceri reveals how conductors approach a piece with a combination of personal interpretation, imagination, and insight into the composer’s intent; what it takes to communicate solely through gesture, with sometimes hundreds of performers at once; and the occasionally glamorous, often challenging life of the itinerant maestro. Illuminating and instructive, inflected with candor, humor, and grace, Maestros and Their Music is the perfect guide to the allure and theater, passion and drudgery, rivalries and relationships of the conducting life.

An exploration of the benefits and problems of using the Internet in education.

The next elegant edition in the Knickerbocker Classic series, Le Morte d'Arthur is unabridged and complete. Originally published in 1485 by William Caxton, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur remains the most exciting and magical interpretation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. For Arthurian fans worldwide, this stunning gift edition has a cloth binding, ribbon marker, and is packaged neatly in an elegant slipcase. Featuring a new introduction and the elegant illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898), this volume of Le Morte d'Arthur is an indispensible classic for every home library.