A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 title Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world. Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestselling The End of History and the Last Man and one of our most important political thinkers, provides a sweeping account of how today’s basic political institutions developed. The first of a major two-volume work, The Origins of Political Order begins with politics among our primate ancestors and follows the story through the emergence of tribal societies, the growth of the first modern state in China, the beginning of the rule of law in India and the Middle East, and the development of political accountability in Europe up until the eve of the French Revolution. Drawing on a vast body of knowledge—history, evolutionary biology, archaeology, and economics—Fukuyama has produced a brilliant, provocative work that offers fresh insights on the origins of democratic societies and raises essential questions about the nature of politics and its discontents.

Labor is the most important of the three traditional factors of production (land, labor and capital), accounting for some 75 per cent of the GDP. It is therefore important to focus on issues of labor economics. In this book the approach taken will be that of the free market philosophy of libertarianism, the perspective that allows the maximum of freedom, consistent with the responsibility of all to respect the equal rights of all others. The position of this book on unions is unique outside of the libertarian movement, and this is indicative of its analysis of several other issues, such as minimum wages. For scholars on the left, it is almost true that unions can do no wrong (for Marxists, they do not do enough, but that is another story). Their role is to raise wages for the workingman, and this task is almost unstintingly applauded. Conservatives, on the other hand, oppose unions root and branch (except for their support of foreign wars, which is also another story). To this end they support a welter of regulations, designed to reduce their power: limitations of check offs, forced secret ballots, etc. For libertarians, the analysis depends, intimately, on whether or not these are voluntary organizations. If they are, there is no more justification for imposing secret ballots on them than to do so for the chess or garden club. If they are not, they should not be weakened by restrictions, but, rather, banned, and their leaders imprisoned.

During the last few decades, research into natural products has advanced tremendously thanks to contributions from the fields of chemistry, life sciences, food science and material sciences. Comparisons of natural products from microorganisms, lower eukaryotes, animals, higher plants and marine organisms are now well documented. This book provides an easy-to-read overview of natural products. It includes twelve chapters covering most of the aspects of natural products chemistry. Each chapter covers general introduction, nomenclature, occurrence, isolation, detection, structure elucidation both by degradation and spectroscopic techniques, biosynthesis, synthesis, biological activity and commercial applications, if any, of the compounds mentioned in each topic. Therefore it will be useful for students, other researchers and industry. The introduction to each chapter is brief and attempts only to supply general knowledge in the particular field. Furthermore, at the end of each chapter there is a list of recommended books for additional study and a list of relevant questions for practice.

Natural products chemistry-the chemistry of metabolite products of plants, animals and microorganisms-is involved in the investigation of biological phenomena ranging from drug mechanisms to gametophytes and receptors and drug metabolism in the human body to protein and enzyme chemistry. Introduction to Natural Products Chemistry has collected the

'Total Synthesis of Natural Products' is written and edited by some of today's leaders in organic chemistry. Eleven chapters cover a range of natural products, from steroids to alkaloids. Each chapter contains an introduction to the natural product in question, descriptions of its biological and pharmacological properties and outlines of total synthesis procedures already carried out. Particular emphasis is placed on novel methodologies developed by the respective authors and their research groups. This text is ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, as well as organic chemists in academia and industry.

Current discoveries and research into bioactive natural products Medicinal Chemistry of Bioactive Natural Products provides a much-needed survey of bioactive natural products and their applications in medicinal chemistry. This comprehensive reference features articles by some of the world's leading scientists in the field on discovery, structure elucidation, and elegant synthetic strategies--developed for natural products--with an emphasis on the structure activity relationship of bioactive natural products. The topics have been carefully chosen on the basis of relevance to current research and to importance as clinicially useful agents. Rather than attempting to be a comprehensive encyclopedia of bioactive natural products, Medicinal Chemistry of Bioactive Natural Products guides the reader to the key developments in the field. By providing not only practical detail but a historical perspective on the chemistry and biology of the compounds under consideration, the book serves as a handy resource for researchers in their own work developing pharmaceuticals, and as an inspiring introduction for young scientists to the dynamic field of bioactive natural products research. Enhanced by examples with updated research results, the discussion covers such topics as: * The chemistry and biology of epothilones * Vancomycin and other glycopeptide antibiotic derivates * Antitumor and other related activities of Taxol and its analogs * The antimalarial properties of the traditional Chinese medicine, Quinghaosu (artemisinin) * Huperzine A: A natural drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease * The medicinal chemistry of ginkgolides from Ginkgo biloba * Recent progress in Calophyllum coumarins as potent anti-HIV agents * Plant-derived anti-HIV agents and analogs * Chemical synthesis of annonaceous acetogenins and their structurally modified mimics

Natural Products provides an insight into significant developments in some of the promising areas of natural products chemistry. Natural products are of great interest and promise in the present day research directed towards drug design and discovery. This book brings together leading scientists of the world, an overview of current discoveries and trends in this remarkable field. The topics, ranging from natural products chemistry and phytochemistry in their most basic form to molecular biology, pharmacology and in silico drug design, summarize years of extensive research in each area, and provide insight in the new themes of natural products research. The book serves as a valuable resource for researchers in their own fields to predict promising leads for developing pharmaceuticals to treat various ailments and disease manifestations; it also motivates young scientists to the dynamic field of bioactive natural products research.