In this novel/allegory the narrator/author sets sail in the yacht Impossible to search for Mount Analogue, the geographically located, albeit hidden, peak that reaches inexorably toward heaven.

The cult classic allegory of a man’s search for enlightenment and self-knowledge by the French poet and literary critic. In Mount Analogue, Rene Daumal introduces readers to an anonymous protagonist much like himself: a young author who travels in the literary circles of mid-20th century Paris. When the author is reminded of an article he once wrote about the symbolism of mountains in ancient mythologies, his speculation about “the ultimate symbolic mountain” sets him on a journey to discover it. The narrator/author sets sail in the yacht Impossible to search for Mount Analogue, the geographically located, albeit hidden, peak that reaches inexorably toward heaven. Daumal’s symbolic mountain represents a way to truth that “cannot not exist,” and his classic allegory of man’s search for himself embraces the certainty that one can know and conquer one’s own reality.

National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson returns to future Earth in a sharply wrought satire of art and truth in the midst of colonization. When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth — but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents’ jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv’s miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. And since the vuvv crave anything they deem classic Earth culture (doo-wop music, still life paintings of fruit, true love), recording 1950s-style dates for the vuvv to watch in a pay-per-minute format seems like a brilliant idea. But it’s hard for Adam and Chloe to sell true love when they hate each other more with every passing episode. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he’s willing to go — and what he’s willing to sacrifice — to give the vuvv what they want.

The French poet and author of Mount Analogue shares a satirical allegory of the absurdities of intellectual society. As in Rene Daumal’s cult classic Mount Analogue, A Night of Serious Drinking concerns an autobiographical protagonist on a mind-expanding journey. But rather than seeking enlightenment, the anonymous narrator recounts an evening getting drunk with a group of friends. As the party becomes intoxicated and exuberant, the narrator’s wandering lead him from seeming paradises to the depths of pure hell. The characters our hero encounters go by absurd titles, such as Anthographers, Fabricators of useless objects, Scienters, Nibblists, and Clarificators. Yet the inhabitants of these strange realms are only too familiar: scientists dissecting an animal in their laboratory, a wise man surrounded by his devotees, politicians angling for influence, and poets expounding their rhetoric. Their hilarious antics and intellectual games reveal incisive social commentary that combines poetic imagination and philosophical depth.

Pataphysics: the science of imaginary solutions, of laws governing exceptions and of the laws describing the universe supplementary to this one. Alfred Jarry's posthumous novel, Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician, first appeared in 1911, and over the next 100 years, his pataphysical supersession of metaphysics would influence everyone from Marcel Duchamp and Boris Vian to Umberto Eco and Jean Baudrillard. In 1948 in Paris, a group of writers and thinkers would found the College of 'Pataphysics, still going strong today. The iconoclastic René Daumal was the first to elaborate upon Jarry's unique and humorous philosophy. Though Daumal is better known for his unfinished novel Mount Analogue and his refusal to be adopted by the Surrealist movement, this newly translated volume of writings offers a glimpse of often overlooked Daumal: Daumal the pataphysician. Pataphysical Essays collects Daumal's overtly pataphysical writings from 1929 to 1941, from his landmark exposition on pataphysics and laughter to his late essay, "The Pataphysics of Ghosts." Daumal's "Treatise on Patagrams" offers the reader everything from a recipe for the disintegration of a photographer to instructions on how to drill a fount of knowledge in a public urinal. This volume also includes Daumal's column for the Nouvelle Revue Française, "Pataphysics This Month." Reading like a deranged encyclopedia, "Pataphysics This Month" describes a new mythology for the field of science, and amply demonstrates that the twentieth century had been a distinctly pataphysical era.

Intuitive Analog Circuit Design outlines ways of thinking about analog circuits and systems that let you develop a feel for what a good, working analog circuit design should be. This book reflects author Marc Thompson's 30 years of experience designing analog and power electronics circuits and teaching graduate-level analog circuit design, and is the ideal reference for anyone who needs a straightforward introduction to the subject. In this book, Dr. Thompson describes intuitive and "back-of-the-envelope" techniques for designing and analyzing analog circuits, including transistor amplifiers (CMOS, JFET, and bipolar), transistor switching, noise in analog circuits, thermal circuit design, magnetic circuit design, and control systems. The application of some simple rules of thumb and design techniques is the first step in developing an intuitive understanding of the behavior of complex electrical systems. Introducing analog circuit design with a minimum of mathematics, this book uses numerous real-world examples to help you make the transition to analog design. The second edition is an ideal introductory text for anyone new to the area of analog circuit design. - LTSPICE files and PowerPoint files available online to assist readers and instructors in simulating circuits found in the text - Design examples are used throughout the text, along with end-of-chapter examples - Covers real-world parasitic elements in circuit design and their effects

From Josef Albers and John Cage to Charles Olson and Robert Rauschenberg, the teachers and students of Black Mountain shaped postwar culture Founded in North Carolina in 1933, Black Mountain College ranks alongside the Bauhaus as one of the most innovative schools of the 20th century. Inspired by the forward-thinking pedagogical ideas of philosopher John Dewey, the experimental, interdisciplinary college combined the ideas of radical European modernism with the philosophy of American pragmatism and teaching methods designed to encourage personal initiative as well as the social competence of the individual. Visual arts, economics, physics, dance, architecture and music were all taught on an equal footing, and teachers and students lived together in a democratically organized community. The second director of the school was Josef Albers, and John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Buckminster Fuller, Walter Gropius, Franz Kline and Charles Olson were among its teachers. As a result, the college played a foundational role in the development of a range of avant-garde practices, and exerted an enormous influence on the development of the arts in the second half of the 20th century. Briefly out of print and quickly becoming a sought-after book, this gloriously designed and illustrated volume was first published for the exhibition An Interdisciplinary Experiment, 1933-1957, held at the Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. It remains unrivaled for its sympathetic design and fulsome documentation. A profusion of archival materials--including photographs of classes in progress and college housing with its Albers-designed furniture, and page spreads from college bulletins and issues of Robert Creeley's Black Mountain Review--is presented alongside contemporary essays. Happily back in print, Black Mountain: An Interdisciplinary Experiment 1933-1957traces the key moments in the history of this legendary school.