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'No one is fool enough to choose war instead of peace - in peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons' One of the masterpieces of classical literature, The Histories describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colourful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, The Histories offers a compelling Greek view of the world in the fifth century BC. This celebrated translation of The Histories has been extensively revised and includes an updated bibliography, chronology, glossary and additional notes.

the Greek portrayal of old age in literature, art, and inscriptions, with a study of the duration of life among the ancient Greeks on the basis of inscriptional evidence.

Discovered in 1958 by James Mellaart, Catalhoyuek, located on the Konya Plain in Turkey, is an archaeological site of tremendous importance. Today, under the direction of Ian Hodder, excavations continues unabated. This multi-faceted biography tells the story of Catalhoyuek from a variety of angles. It tells the story of the discovery of the site, of those that directed excavations and the team of diggers and experts working there, as well as their relationships, rivalries and personal aims. However, the book also provides insights into the process of archaeology, discussing what the findings of the Neolithic Dawn of Civilization'. This behind-the-scenes look at the site and the people drawn to it each season is both engaging and informative, much like the site itself. A revealing narrative of people and ideas at the working face of archaeology' - Colin Renfrew.

At the end of the twentieth century more people are living into their seventies, eighties, nineties, and beyond, a process expected to continue well into the next millennium, This life spancould only have been dreamed of in earlier centuries; now many can expect to survive to old age inreasonably good health and remain active and independent to the end, in contrast to the high death rate, ill health, and destitution which affected all generations in the past.Yes this change is generally greeted not with triumph but with alarm. It is assumed that the longer people live, the longer they are ill and dependent, thus burdening a shrinking younger generation with the cost of pensions and health care. It is also widely believed that 'the past' saw fewsurvivors into old age and thse could be supported by their families without involoving the tax payer.In this first survey of old age throughout English history, these assumptions are challenged. Vivid pictures are givenof the ways in which very large numbers of older people lived oftern vigorous and independent lives over many centuries. The book argues that old people have always been highlyvisible in English communities, and concludes that as people live longer, due to the benefits of the rise in living standards, far from being burdens they can be valuable contributors to their families and to society.

Everyone knows the small-world phenomenon: soon after meeting a stranger, we are surprised to discover that we have a mutual friend, or we are connected through a short chain of acquaintances. In his book, Duncan Watts uses this intriguing phenomenon--colloquially called "six degrees of separation"--as a prelude to a more general exploration: under what conditions can a small world arise in any kind of network? The networks of this story are everywhere: the brain is a network of neurons; organisations are people networks; the global economy is a network of national economies, which are networks of markets, which are in turn networks of interacting producers and consumers. Food webs, ecosystems, and the Internet can all be represented as networks, as can strategies for solving a problem, topics in a conversation, and even words in a language. Many of these networks, the author claims, will turn out to be small worlds. How do such networks matter? Simply put, local actions can have global consequences, and the relationship between local and global dynamics depends critically on the network's structure. Watts illustrates the subtleties of this relationship using a variety of simple models---the spread of infectious disease through a structured population; the evolution of cooperation in game theory; the computational capacity of cellular automata; and the sychronisation of coupled phase-oscillators. Watts's novel approach is relevant to many problems that deal with network connectivity and complex systems' behaviour in general: How do diseases (or rumours) spread through social networks? How does cooperation evolve in large groups? How do cascading failures propagate through large power grids, or financial systems? What is the most efficient architecture for an organisation, or for a communications network? This fascinating exploration will be fruitful in a remarkable variety of fields, including physics and mathematics, as well as sociology, economics, and biology.

This book is about the inner workings of one of nature's most complex animal societies: the honey bee colony. It describes and illustrates the results of more than fifteen years of elegant experimental studies conducted by the author. In his investigations, Thomas Seeley has sought the answer to the question of how a colony of bees is organized to gather its resources. The results of his research--including studies of the shaking signal, tremble dance, and waggle dance, and other, more subtle means by which information is exchanged among bees--offer the clearest, most detailed picture available of how a highly integrated animal society works. By showing how several thousand bees function together as an integrated whole to collect the nectar, pollen, and water that sustain the life of the hive, Seeley sheds light on one of the central puzzles of biology: how units at one level of organization can work together to form a higher-level entity. In explaining why a hive is organized the way it is, Seeley draws on the literature of molecular biology, cell biology, animal and human sociology, economics, and operations research. He compares the honey bee colony to other functionally organized groups: multicellular organisms, colonies of marine invertebrates, and human societies. All highly cooperative groups share basic problems: of allocating their members among tasks so that more urgent needs are met before less urgent ones, and of coordinating individual actions into a coherent whole. By comparing such systems in different species, Seeley argues, we can deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that make close cooperation a reality.

Featuring extensive references, updated for this paperback edition, Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome constitutes a landmark contribution to biomedicine and the evolutionary biology of aging. To enhance gerontology's focus on human age-related dysfunctions, Caleb E. Finch provides a comparative review of all the phyla of organisms, broadening gerontology to intersect with behavioral, developmental, evolutionary, and molecular biology. By comparing species that have different developmental and life spans, Finch proposes an original typology of senescence from rapid to gradual to negligible, and he provides the first multiphyletic calculations of mortality rate constants.

This work looks at the biological mechansims of ageing in four parts. It looks at the definition and measurement of ageing; the evolution and description of ageing; theories of ageing; and prospects within research and the societal field of ageing.

Explores the relationships between these glands and the physiological processes of aging

A multidiscipline reference volume on the biology of aging

According to Dr. Roy Walford, there's no need for plastic surgery or obsessive exercising to escape the effects of time. He argues that longevity can be significantly increased by a diet that contains all the required nutrients but about a third fewer calories. In this completely revised edition of The 120 Year Diet, Dr. Walford explains - and backs up his explanation with laboratory evidence - why he believes that the anti-aging diet can preserve one's vital, productive years and extend the human life span to well beyond its present maximum. A perfect companion to the author's The Anti-Aging Plan, this book also includes 20 days of varied high-nutrition menus that contain fewer than 1,500 calories a day.

Global Air Pollution in Aging: Reading Smoke Signals is a complete reference connecting environmental pollution research to the human aging process. Since 1800, lifespans have more than doubled as infections declined and medicine improved. But the 20th century introduced a new global scourge of air pollution from fossil fuels with the potential to damage arteries, hearts and lungs that has been related to chronic exposure of air pollution from fossil fuels. Risk areas of study include childhood obesity, brain damage associated with air pollution, increased risk for autism in children and dementia in older adults. In humans and animals, air pollution stimulates chronic inflammation in different organs, and genetic vulnerability to air pollution is being recognized, particularly for carriers of the Alzheimer risk gene ApoE4.

It is from the discards of former civilizations that archaeologists have reconstructed most of what we know about the past, and it is through their examination of today's garbage that William Rathje and Cullen Murphy inform us of our present. Rubbish! is their witty and erudite investigation into all aspects of the phenomenon of garbage. Rathje and Murphy show what the study of garbage tells us about a population's demographics and buying habits. Along the way, they dispel the common myths about our "garbage crisis"--about fast-food packaging and disposable diapers, about biodegradable garbage and the acceleration of the average family's garbage output. They also suggest methods for dealing with the garbage that we do have.

Written by Caleb Finch, one of the leading scientists of our time, The Biology of Human Longevity - Inflammation, Nutrition, and Aging in the Evolution of Lifespans synthesizes several decades of top research on the topic of human aging and longevity particularly on the recent theories of inflammation and its effects on human health. The book expands a number of existing major theories, including the Barker theory of fetal origins of adult disease to consider the role of inflammation and Harmon's free radical theory of aging to include inflammatory damage. Future increases in lifespan are challenged by the obesity epidemic and spreading global infections which may reverse the gains made in lowering inflammatory exposure. This timely and topical book will be of interest to anyone studying aging from any scientific angle. * Author Caleb Finch is a highly influential and respected scientist, ranked in the top half of the 1% most cited scientists * Provides a novel synthesis of existing ideas about the biology of longevity and aging * Incorporates important research findings from several disciplines, including Gerontology, Genomics, Neuroscience, Immunology, Nutrition

In Chance, Development, and Aging, two leading biological gerontologists review and evaluate all of the available data to elucidate the respective roles played by genes and chance developmental events in determining the course of aging in individuals. The combination of genetic and externalenvironmental influences provides only an incomplete answer. Inbred laboratory animals, for example, exhibit a wide range of life spans despite having nearly identical genes and environments. Similarly, uncovering the genetic risks for Alzheimer's disease has not enabled doctors to predict withconfidence its onset and severity. This book argues that understanding chance events, specifically random variations during prenatal development, is essential for answering these questions. The book draws on the extensive research in developmental biology on random variations in form and function,while putting this research in a new context. The discussion sheds light on a range of questions, from understanding menopause to explaining why identical twins are not truly identical. The book will be invaluable for gerontologists, geneticists, developmental and reproductive biologists,physiologists, and a broad range of physicians and investigators in experimental medicine.