Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel

Book Description

Virtually undeveloped one hundred years ago, Israel, the promised "land of milk and honey," is in ecological disarray. In this gripping book, Alon Tal provides--for the first time ever--a history of environmentalism in Israel, interviewing hundreds of experts and activists who have made it their mission to keep the country's remarkable development sustainable amid a century of political and cultural turmoil.
The modern Zionist vision began as a quest to redeem a land that bore the cumulative effects of two thousand years of foreign domination and neglect. Since then, Israel has suffered from its success. A tenfold increase in population and standard of living has polluted the air. The deserts have bloomed but groundwater has become contaminated. Urban sprawl threatens to pave over much of the country's breathtaking landscape. Yet there is hope. Tal's account considers the ecological and tactical lessons that emerge from dozens of cases of environmental mishaps, from habitat loss to river reclamation. Pollution in a Promised Land argues that the priorities and strategies of Israeli environmental advocates must address issues beyond traditional green agendas.

Customer Reviews:

University Research Paper.......2007-01-11

I recently completed a university research paper on air pollution in Israel and found this book to be an important source. The closest copy of this book was hundreds of miles away. The book was purchased and used for the paperand then donated to the university library. I found this book to be the ultimate source for information on the topic.

The definitive text on Israel's environmental history.......2002-10-05

Pollution in a Promised Land is a masterpiece of research and compilation written by the one Israeli who probably is as responsible as anyone in the country for moving the nascent Israeli environmental movement into the 21st century. If it is not already Pollution in a Promised Land is surely bound to become the text of choice for anyone interested in the development of the Israeli environmental movement in response to the environmental challenges faced by Israelis. Alon Tal has captured it all and told a very interesting story.

Engaging History of Institutions and Activism.......2002-09-10

This is an engaging book describing the economic and institutional development of the Holy Land from the time of the Turks, through the British Mandate period, to the present day. Despite the heft of this volume, the book is a very enjoyable read, and provides a fascinating perspective on the development of the institutions of the State of Israel, the priorities of the naescent state that led to environmental degredation, and the individuals, public interest groups, and government institutions that have tried and often succeeded to stem the tide.
The author, as a founding member of Israel's premier environmental legal advocacy group, has a unique, often first hand view of many of the recent events.

Engaging read - Fascinating stories - a real lively book........2002-08-05

It's really refreshing to read something about Israel that isn't focused, yet again, on the Arab-Israel conflict, but on an entirely different universe of challenges. If you like history that relies on interesting anecdotes then you'll really like this book.

Oren Rosenthal
Newton, MA

Book Description

This City-Smart(tm) guide is packed with family activities for every budget. It points travelers to the best attractions, from Minneapolis's historical St. Anthony Falls to St. Paul's historic waterways, along with locals' favorite picks for sightseeing, dining, and places to stay.

Customer Reviews:

Out of date, short on maps, and lacking style.......2002-03-01

I've just returned from a visit to the Twin Cities. My wife and I picked this book up because it was the cheapest guide on the shelf. You get what you pay for. This edition, at least, is out of date - many of the places of interest noted in the book have closed down or changed significantly. The maps in the book are limited to a very small area of downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis - yet the book recommends plenty of places that are off the maps provided. Finally, having gotten used to Lonely Planet guides, it's hard to fathom how this author could make his topic as dull as he does. That's my two cents - I'd recommend against buying the book.

Excellent Guide Book.......2000-06-23

Small paperback contains all the necessary information to make the most out of any visit or long-term stay in the Twin Cities!

Customer Reviews:

The Story of Survival.......2003-03-07

Somerset Fry's Chronicle of the history of the Jewish people , can be enjoyed by both children aged 12 up , and by adults.
It is concise but interesting, and filled with very pertinent exhibits, diagrams and illustrations.
The book covers the history of the Jewish people from the migration of the Hebrew chieftain, Abraham from Ur in modern day Iraq to Canaan, which soon after became the Land of Israel, up to the glorious days after Israel defeated the combined Arab armies of neighboring Arab attackers during the 1967 Six Day War.
He gives his own historical perspective of events during the biblical period, while giving information about how the Jewish religion was shaped, in inserts on Jewish festivals, holidays and religious customs and regulations.

Unfortunately, in the chapter about how the Jewish self-determination was crushed, after the destruction by the Romans of the Temple and Jerusalem, he does not recount how the Roman Emperor Hadrian named Israel 'Palestine' in order to cut us off from our land and heritage.
Now those cruel ones who again wish to cut us off from our land and heritage , once again refer to Israel as 'Palestine'.
The spirit of the Roman Empire lives on in the UN , university campuses and leftist academics around the world, the Arabs , most European governments etc-all of whom wish to obliterate the name of Israel, and so refer to Eretz Yisrael as the hideous abomination-'Palestine'.
In the name of 'Palestine' Jewish men, women and children are being murdered, as so many times before in history.
While the term 'Palestinian' and 'Palestine' has only been used exclusively to refer to the Arabs who claim ownership of the Land of Israel-after 1967, it is unfortunate that the name had been used by historians so often as the name 'Palestine' is a colonial creation, and to use it to refer to Israel prior to the naming of this land as 'Palestine' is simply superfluous-it should never be recognized as a legitimate name for Israel and Judea, at any time.

Like most history books on the Jewish people, he focuses very little on the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa, during the Roman exile, from 70 BCE to 1948.
Unfortunately European historians on Jewish history, both Jew and Gentile, have tended to paint the story of the Jews in Arab countries as an idyllic existence, while in fact they lived under conditions of extreme inequality and persecution, often being subjected to massive and vicious pogroms by their Arab neighbors and overlords, sometimes greater and more genocidal, than the pogroms of Europe, with the obvious exception of Hitler's holocaust.

He gives a good, concise account of the Jewish achievements in Europe, and the persecutions which the Jews in Europe where subjected to, throughout the ages. Particularly interesting are the stories of some of the Spanish Jews like Gracia Nasi, the most beautiful and adored Jewess of her day, and her nephew, Joseph Nasi, duke of Naxos.
And also the Jewish roots of Christopher Columbus and the Jewish role in Columbus' discovery of America.

In his chapter on 'The Struggle for Equal Rights' he unfortunately refers to Karl Marx, as the example of Jews playing an important part in 'every constructive movement of the nineteenth century.

Karl Marx was one of the greatest self-hating Jews in history, whose works are filled with the most vicious and blatant anti-Semitism.

It is not therefore suprising that he spawned one of the cruelest, most destructive and murderous ideologies ever.
Communism has been responsible for over 100 million deaths and the destruction of countless lives.
Today the Marxist world has adopted the
vilification and planned destruction of Israel ,as their primary cause, to add to their long list of cruelties (With G-D's help we will not let them succeed).
Especially on university campuses around the world the disciples of Marx (many of them 'Jewish') are engaging in this cruel campaign against Israel.

The book ends , after a chapter on the holocaust on the creation of the State of Israel ,a d the situation of Israel , in 1970 , the year in which this book was written.
He asks the question about the Jewish people: 'Have the days of their tribulation at last come to an end?'

Isn't it tragic to see how this was not to be so , with the worldwide campaign to destroy Israel and the murder of Jewish men , women and children , today , almost every day.
It is so true , the words of Nachmanides - The actions of the fathers are assigned to the children.

Once more we are struggling against anti-Jewish hatred as we fight to retain our homeland against a world which wants to take it away and give it to the Arabs.
Our history is an important tool in giving us the morale we need to win this battle for survival

Book Description

-- Utne Reader

Customer Reviews:

A clear jewel in the sea of postmodern confusion.......1997-12-09

This book is sheer brilliance. The fact that it is taken from lectures may be the reason behind its clear and unpretentious language. But while clear and unpretentious, Professor Keller's reflections shows philosophy, or for that matter academics, in its simplest yet most currently significant form: rather than bombarded with theoretical jargon (read nonsense if you wish), the reader is presented with a history of a specific knowledge (the biologist's explanation of "life" in the early and mid 20th. century). The preface serves as an outline of how to read this book, and, when effective, sets the context for reading any similar epistemological analysis. Unlike many other "postmodern" philosophical works, this book fits beautifully in the context it sets. It is multi-dimensional - feminists, philosophers, biologists, and others will benefit from incisive commentary which is extremely pertinent to their field. As a work which is set (and sets itself) in the context of epistemological relativism, it has one drawback: within the next few years, I expect its relevance to shift, from work of contemporary genius and immediate relevance to harbinger of new epistomological foundations. Still, it is refreshing to read a work of genius by a living person; if you have not realized this yet, I recommend you take a few days to read this book and be enlightened . . .

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Refiguring Life
Evelyn Fox Keller
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQ2IGE

Refiguring Life: Metaphors of Twentieth-Century Biology

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Refiguring Life: Metaphors of Twentieth-Century Biology
Evelyn Fox. Keller
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQ2I32

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Symposium on Adsorption from Solution: In Honour of Professor D.H. Everett, F.R.S.
D.H.; Ottewill, Ronald H.; Smith, Al; Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain); Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain); Rochester, Colin H. Everett
Manufacturer: Academic Press Inc.,U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHMK5M

Book Description

The Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics was created in 1965 by a group of LD Landau's pupils. Very soon, it was widely recognized as one of the world's leading centers in theoretical physics. According to Science Magazine, the Institute in the eighties had the highest citation index among all the scientific organizations in the former Soviet Union. This collection of the best papers of the Institute reflects the development of the many directions in the exact sciences during the last 30 years. The reader can find the original formulations of well-known notions in condensed matter theory, quantum field theory, mathematical physics and astrophysics, which were introduced by members of the Landau Institute.

Product Description

During the period 19641972, Stephen L Adler wrote seminal papers on high energy neutrino processes, current algebras, soft pion theorems, sum rules, and perturbation theory anomalies that helped lay the foundations for our current standard model of elementary particle physics. These papers are reprinted here together with detailed historical commentaries describing how they evolved, their relation to other work in the field, and their connection to recent literature. Later important work by Dr Adler on a wide range of topics in fundamental theory, phenomenology, and numerical methods, and their related historical background, is also covered in the commentaries and reprints. This book will be a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers in the fields in which Dr Adler has worked, and for historians of science studying physics in the final third of the twentieth century, a period in which an enduring synthesis was achieved.

Asymptotic Theory Of Quantum Statistical Inference: Selected Papers

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Asymptotic Theory Of Quantum Statistical Inference: Selected Papers

Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9812560157

Mathematica(R) in Theoretical Physics: Selected Examples from Classical Mechanics to Fractals (TELOS)

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Mathematica(R) in Theoretical Physics: Selected Examples from Classical Mechanics to Fractals (TELOS)
Gerd Baumann
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387944249

Book Description

Mathematica in Theoretical Physics illustrates how Mathematica can be utilized to solve physical problems and deal with theoretical concepts. A translation of the highly successful German language book published by Springer-Verlag in 1993, this title includes over one hundred new pages containing more examples in classical mechanics. Non-trivial examples in electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, and general relativity are also provided. The author also includes the derivation of scaling solutions in non-linear physics and has added an introduction to Mathematica specifically designed for physicists and engineers - expanding and strengthening the original work. The diskette contains program code in Mathematica Notebook format.

Selected Mathematical Methods in Theoretical Physics

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Selected Mathematical Methods in Theoretical Physics
Vladimir P. Krainov
Manufacturer: Gordon & Breach Science Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Selected Mathematical Methods in Theoretical Physics shows how a scientist who knows the answer to a problem, either intuitively or through experiment, can develop a mathematical method to prove that answer. The author first discusses the formulation of differential or integral equations for describing the physical procession, the basis of more general physical laws. He then works out the approximate solution of these equations using small dimensionless physical parameters or using numerical parameters for the objects under consideration. The chapters can be read in sequence or studied independently. Each one contains many examples of simple physical models as well as problems for students to solve.

Selected Problems in Theoretical Physics

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Selected Problems in Theoretical Physics
A. Di Giacomo
Manufacturer: World Scientific Pub Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9810216149

Book Description

This book is a collection of more than 100 problems selected from the examination questions for a graduate course in theoretical physics. Every problem is discussed and solved in detail. A wide range of subjects is covered, from potential scattering to atomic, nuclear and high energy physics.
Special emphasis is devoted to relativistic quantum mechanics and its application to elementary processes: S-matrix theory, the role of discrete symmetries, the use of Feynman diagrams and elementary perturbative quantum field theory.
The course attaches great importance to recitation sessions, where thorough problem solving becomes a true test of mastery of theoretical background.
The authors are experts in their fields. A Di Giacomo taught "theoretical physics" for about 20 years. G Paffuti and P Rossi held recitations for several years. More recently, Haris Panagopoulos followed suit. He assisted the authors in preparing this English version translated from the Italian.
For physicists and especially for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in theoretical physics, this book is a positive guide in the intricacies of problem-solving. A further feature that adds practical value to this book is that most problems correspond to realistic physical processes and their numerical results are compared to experimental values whenever possible.

Selected Questions of Mathematical Physics and Analysis (Proceedings of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics)

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Selected Questions of Mathematical Physics and Analysis (Proceedings of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics)
I. V. Volovich , Yu. N. Drozhzhinov , and A. G. Sergeev
Manufacturer: American Mathematical Society
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Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

This collection, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the birth of VasiliiSergeevich Vladimirov, consists of original papers on various branches of analysis and mathematical physics. It presents work relating to the following topics:--the theory of generalized functions--complex and $p$-adic analysis--mathematical questions of quantum field theory and statistical mechanics--computational mathematics and differential equations.

First Landau Institute Summer School July 1993: Selected Proceedings

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First Landau Institute Summer School July 1993: Selected Proceedings
V. Mineev
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 2884491384

Book Description

The papers from these proceedings have been selected for their timeliness and relevance to the modern physics community. Topics covered include theory of high T _c superconductors and superconductivity in heavy Fermion systems, turbulence, spin glasses, fluctuations and phase transitions, and electron-electron correlations. The educational emphasis should be valuable to the advanced graduate student as well as to many practicing researchers.
In July 1993 the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics hosted its first summer school for students of theoretical physics. The book is the result of this collaboration by many of Russia's top scientists to bring an extensive modern treatment of their work to an international audience of students and colleagues in the physical sciences.

Selected Papers of Morikazu Toda (Series in Pure Mathematics)

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Selected Papers of Morikazu Toda (Series in Pure Mathematics)

Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
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Binding: Hardcover

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Matter Particled: Patterns, Structure And Dynamics, Selected Research Papers Of

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Matter Particled: Patterns, Structure And Dynamics, Selected Research Papers Of

Manufacturer: Imperial College Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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This unique volume contains a selection of more than 80 of Yuval Neemans papers, which represent his huge contribution to a large number of aspects of theoretical physics. The works span more than four decades, from unitary symmetry and quarks to questions of complexity in biological systems and evolution of scientific theories. In keeping with the major role Neeman has played in theoretical physics over the last 40 years, a collaboration of very distinguished scientists enthusiastically took part in this volume. Their commentary supplies a clear framework and background for appreciating Yuval Neemans significant discoveries and pioneering contributions.

Book Description

Witty and engrossing, this early work displays the precocious intelligence, lively imagination, and flair for storytelling that Charlotte Brontë brought to perfection in her later fiction. Foreword by Libby Purves.

Lady Emily Charlesworth is in love with Leslie, a struggling artist. Lord Percy, a fierce, arrogant aristocrat, will do anything to lay his hands on Leslie’s chosen bride. As war breaks out between Verdopolis—Brontë’s imaginary political state—and Senegal, the lovers do battle for control of Emily’s heart. With its exotic m&#eacute;lange of political intrigue, amorous subterfuge, and Gothic scenery, The Green Dwarf reveals the dynamic and experimental nature of Brontë’s “long apprenticeship in writing.” Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855) is best remembered for her perennially popular novel Jane Eyre.

Customer Reviews:

The Green Dwarf : imagination and energy.......2007-06-14

While this may be viewed as Charlotte Bronte's most obvious attempt to imitate the historical romance of Sir Walter Scott (in particular The Black Dwarf), it is well worth reading for a glimpse of the energy and imagination of Charlotte Bronte as a 17 year old.

Those who are familiar with the juvenilia of the Brontes will recognise some of the fictional places and heroes. Those who are not may read for the sheer pleasure of encountering one of the earlier writings of Charlotte. There is an energy and creativity here that is, to me, less obvious in Charlotte's published novels.

Recommended to all Bronte fans but, specifically, for those who enjoy Charlotte's novels.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Charlotte Brontë's beginnings.......2005-10-02

The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense by Charlotte Brontë. Recommended.

The Green Dwarf demonstrates that literary achievement owes perhaps as much to experience and craft as to ability.

Set in the exotic colonial city of Verdopolis in Africa, The Green Dwarf is awkward on its own as a novella. It's framed at the beginning as a tale within a tale; the recuperating Lord Charles, apparently a renowned literary figure, requests his venerable friend Bud to tell him a story, which turns out to be the story of the green dwarf. There are references near the beginning and end to "Captain Tree," who would apparently figure in other juvenilia by the Brontë siblings.

A time-worn adage about writing is to "write what you know." The Green Dwarf exemplifies the practical reason for this bit of wisdom; the Brontë siblings did not know Africa, so little of Verdopolis resembles a colonial African city or town. Even the descriptions of hills, glens, and forests, save for the occasional mention of a palm, evoke an English or Scottish setting, not an African one. It's also never revealed in which part of the vast African continent Verdopolis lies. The nature of the "African Olympic Games," the characters' names, the occasional anachronism, and the plot of a lady in distress lend the Green Dwarf the air of a fairy tale in a fictional setting.

Interestingly, Brontë's imagination is perhaps limited by her chronological age and her social and cultural experience and milieu. The piece villain says, "Beautiful creature . . . Behold me, fair lady, and know into whose power you have fallen!" A more mature or modern writer might hint at something more sinister to follow, as Brontë will later hint at Rochester's depravity and his paternity of his ward Adele, but after this ominous line the kidnapper merely gloats and then leaves to serve his country.

The Green Dwarf's beginning and early Napoleonic aside are nonsensical, its language overblown, and its plot awkward (and interrupted by authorial intrusions such as, "It may now be as well to connect the broken thread of my rambling narrative before I proceed further."). Brontë's imagination shines through at times, in whimsy, in images, and in words. The ailing Lord Charles is fed a diet that consists of, among other delicacies, ". . . stewed cockchafers . . . and roasted mice." In his rambles, he suddenly comes upon the green, foam-covered sea, which his "excited fancy" sees as a plains covered with "white flowers and tender spring grass and the thickly clustered masts of vessels . . . transformed into groves of tall, graceful trees, while the smaller craft took the form of cattle reposing in the shade"-quite a vision for the recovering poet. And Bertha's comment upon the arrival of Lady Emily answers its own question: "But what have you brought such a painted toy as this here for? There's no good in the wind, I think."

Brontë foreshadows the significance of the "carroty-haired hero of the cart and asses" when he defeats Colonel Percy's magnificent steeds and chariot in a race. She also cleverly keeps him a man of mystery: How did he win the race? How did he happen to be at the right place at the right time to find Colonel Percy's servant "at a very lonely part of the road"? If he is more than human, why does he need Colonel Percy's money to pay for his vices? Or is he a representative?

In many ways, The Green Dwarf reads more like a play than a novella. with the awkward authorial intrusions serving as scene breaks. Even the Ashantees and their king Quashie are mere plot devices who enter the scene, breathe wind into the plot's sails, and add nothing to the drama.

Work on The Green Dwarf and other juvenilia undoubtedly fired Brontë's continued interest in writing. She achieved success when she left Verdopolis and Africa behind and focused her imagination and her ability to convey it on what she knew and had experienced-the often difficult, lonely, isolated lives of independent, intelligent women in the 19th century, women who, like Jane Eyre, do what they believe is right at the cost of their own happiness.

Diane L. Schirf, 2 October 2005.

Charlotte Bronte Never Fails to Inspire & Challenge Me!.......2005-06-14

I have been a Bronte addict since the age of 14, and this book was a marvelous treasure! I was challenged in a new and refreshing way to rediscover the powerful intellectual genius that was the Bronte's works. A very interesting and altogether unique book, The Green Dwarf is like walking through a museum of Charlotte's mind! I love this book! If you want a deeper glimpse into the heart of the Bronte world, then definitely read this book, you will be inspired anew.

Chandra: Chandrasekhar Sets of White Dwarfs & Supernova Cores

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Chandra: Chandrasekhar Sets of White Dwarfs & Supernova Cores
James A. Green
Manufacturer: Greenwood Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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