Free-Radical-Induced DNA Damage and Its Repair: A Chemical Perspective

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Understanding of the molecular basis of DNA damage and its repair has increased dramatically in recent years, and substantial knowledge now exists concerning the products arising from free-radical attack on DNA. Free-radical DNA damage may lead to mutations, cancer, and cell death. Free radicals have various sources, notably ionizing radiation and oxidative stress. In radiotherapy for cancer and with some anticancer drugs, use is made of cell death by excessive DNA damage. The mechanisms leading to products of free-radical attack which have been studied in models and with small double-stranded DNA fragments are discussed in detail, and the basics of the underlying free-radical chemistry are dealt with in separate chapters.

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Make sure your boiler runs at maximum efficiency!

Do you know how much make-up water you need in your boiler? How much blowdown? How to calculate the amount of chemical you need to add, and when? This guide provides answers to these and many more questions about water treatment in industrial plants. It gives you a solid understanding of water treatment problems and solutions, so you can improve treatment efficiency and communicate more effectively with water treatment specialists and chief engineers. You get technical details of water treatment in a clear, precise, and easy-to-understand manner to help you handle daily concerns. It includes helpful suggestions on how to calculate amounts of chemical to be used in steam boilers, cooling towers, and ion exchange equipment; discusses scale, corrosion, algae growth, microbiological growth, and the chemicals and equipment used to control these problems; covers pumps, pump calculations, hydronic systems, control devices, and treatments; and much more.

Customer Reviews:

Lots of Discussion but Few Measures.......2000-07-30

First, I have returned this book. I did not completely read it, but rather skimmed through and was disappointed with my findings. It is pitched at a comparatively elementary level, not the quantitative measures of benefit to a process engineer. In general the teaching presented, which appeared to be little, was inconsistent with the content implied by the title.

Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering Guide: Biological Processes, Volume II

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Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering Guide: Biological Processes, Volume II
Gaetano Celenza
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Loose Leaf

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ASIN: 1566767687

Book Description

Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering is a step-by-step implementation manual in three volumes, detailing the selection and design of industrial liquid and solid waste treatment systems. It consolidates all the process engineering principles required to evaluate a wide range of industrial facilities, starting with pollution prevention and source control and ending with end-of-pipe treatment technologies. Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering guides experienced engineers through the various steps of industrial liquid and solid waste treatment. The structure of the text allows a wider application to various levels of experience. By beginning each chapter with a simplified explanation of applicable theory, expanding to practical design discussions, and finishing with system Flowsheets and Case Study detail calculations, readers can "enter or leave" a section according to their specific needs. As a result, this set serves as a primer for students engaged in environmental engineering studies AND a comprehensive single-source reference for experienced engineers. Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering includes design principles applicable to municipal systems with significant industrial influents. The information presented in these volumes is basic to conventional treatment procedures, while allowing evaluation and implementation of specialized and emerging treatment technologies. What makes Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering unique is the level of process engineering detail. The facility evaluation section includes a step-by-step review of each major and support manufacturing operation, identifying probable contaminant discharges, practical prevention measures, and point source control procedures. This theoretical plant review is followed by procedures to conduct a site specific pollution control program. The unit operation chapters contain all the details needed to complete a treatment process design.

Industrial Waste Treatment Processes Engineering Guide: Pollution Prevention, Volume I

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Industrial Waste Treatment Processes Engineering Guide: Pollution Prevention, Volume I
Gaetano Celenza , and Gaetano J. Celenzo
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1566767679

Book Description

Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering includes design principles applicable to municipal systems with significant industrial influents. The information presented in these volumes is basic to conventional treatment procedures, while allowing evaluation and implementation of specialized and emerging treatment technologies. What makes Industrial Waste Treatment Process Engineering unique is the level of process engineering detail. The facility evaluation section includes a step-by-step review of each major and support manufacturing operation, identifying probable contaminant discharges, practical prevention measures, and point source control procedures. This theoretical plant review is followed by procedures to conduct a site specific pollution control program. The unit operation chapters contain all the details needed to complete a treatment process design.

Water Quality International '94 Part 3: Chemical and Petrochemical Waste Management; Industrial Waste Treatment

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Water Quality International '94 Part 3: Chemical and Petrochemical Waste Management; Industrial Waste Treatment
T. Asano , K. K. Chin , A. G. Dahlberg , and W. O. K. Grabow
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Paperback

Water Treatment Chemicals Electronic Handbook: An International Guide to More Than 2,500 Products by Trade Name, Chemical, Function and Manufacturer (Gower Chemical Reference)

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Water Treatment Chemicals Electronic Handbook: An International Guide to More Than 2,500 Products by Trade Name, Chemical, Function and Manufacturer (Gower Chemical Reference)
Michael Ash , and Irene
Manufacturer: Gower Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0566078031

Water Treatment Chemicals: An Industrial Guide

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Water Treatment Chemicals: An Industrial Guide
Ernest W. Flick
Manufacturer: Noyes Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0815512910

Book Description

Data on over 1300 water treatment chemicals, applications, and services. Product information may include product category, company name, trade name, product number and description, and properties and characteristics.

Advanced treatment. (Buyers Guide): An article from: Public Works

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Advanced treatment. (Buyers Guide): An article from: Public Works

Manufacturer: Hanley-Wood, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Handbook of Water Treatment Chemicals: An International Guide to More Than 3400 Products by Trade Name, Chemical, Function, and Manufacturer

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Handbook of Water Treatment Chemicals: An International Guide to More Than 3400 Products by Trade Name, Chemical, Function, and Manufacturer

Manufacturer: Gower Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0566078015

Aboveground Storage Tank Inspection Guide (McGraw-Hill Professional Engineering)

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Aboveground Storage Tank Inspection Guide (McGraw-Hill Professional Engineering)
Philip Myers
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

"Addresses critical inspection requirements needed to avoid expensive and hazardous incidents."

--George Moorvich, P.E.

"Will help in actual evaluation of ASTs for regulatory and mechanical integrity compliance."

--Tim Schindler, P.E.

Your #1 AST integrity and safety source

First in the field, this definitive guide provides essential information for anyone who designs, builds, inspects, or regulates aboveground storage tanks. Going far beyond the American Petroleum Institute's Standard 653, AST expert Philip Myers' Aboveground Storage Tank Inspection Guide gives you clear, readable, authoritative guidance on:

Every aspect of maintaining the ongoing integrity and safety of ASTs

All subjects on the American Petroleum Institute's tank inspector certification exam

Storage tank design and engineering fundamentals

Specifics on corrosiveness and corrosion, linings and coatings, cathodic protection, fabrication and construction, foundations and materials, safe work and welding practices, and much more

Seismic design, floating roofs, leak-detecting bottoms, seals, and secondary containment

Fire and explosion hazard avoidance

With more than a million storage tanks in use by the petroleum industry alone, and many more serving chemical and paper and pulp companies, the need is high for knowledgeable professionals competent in assuring tanks' safety and integrity. For the sake of water supplies, aquifers, and human health and safety, Aboveground Storage Tank Inspection Guide helps any professional perform this job efficiently and thoroughly.

Regulations and Laws

Codes and Standards

Types and Classifications

Safe Work Practices

Systems and Units

Engineering Principles

Corrosion

Linings and Coatings

Cathodic Protection

Scope API 650

Foundations

Materials of Construction

Major Components

Design

Seismic Design

Floating Roofs

Seals

Appurtenances

Fabrication and Welding

ASME IX

Quality Control Processes

NDE Methods in ASME V

Other Inspection Methods

API 650/653 NDE Requirements

New Tank Inspection

API 653 Overview

Assessment and Suitability

Inspection

Repairs and Alterations

Reconstruction

Settlement

API 575

Leak Detection

Leak Detection Bottoms

Secondary Containment

Siting Considerations

Book Description

This textbook has been developed from a course taught at Harvard over the last decade. The course covers principally the theory and physical applications of linear algebra, and of the calculus of several variables, particularly the exterior calculus.

The authors adopt the 'spiral method' of teaching covering the same topic several times at increasing levels of sophistication and range of application. Thus the student develops a deep intuitive understanding of the subject as a whole and an appreciation of the natural progression of ideas.

This the second volume, opens with an introduction to algebraic topology, introduced by the analysis of electrical networks or mathematically speaking, the topology of one-dimensional complexes.

Chapters 15-18 develop the exterior differential calculus as a continuous version of the discrete theory of complexes. Facts of the exterior calculus are presented: exterior algebra, k-forms, pullback, exterior derivative and Stokes' theorem.

Chapter 16 presents another physical theory, electrostatics. The authors argue that the dielectric properties of the vacuum determine Euclidean geometry in three-dimensional space. The basic facts of potential theory are presented.

Chapters 17 and 18 continue and conclude the study of the exterior differential calculus, developing the notions of vector fields and flows, interior products and Lie derivatives, and applying them to magnetostatics. The star operator is discussed in a general context.

Chapter 19 can be thought of as the culmination of the course. It applies the results of the preceding chapters to the study of Maxwell's equations and the associated wave equations.

The last two chapters covercomplex analysis and elementary asymptotics, and the book ends with a sophisticated treatment of thermodynamics.

Customer Reviews:

Good stuff badly written.......2003-08-05

I'm going to mention the second volume almost exclusively. This is where the action is located. It is hard to find any equivalent treatment of circuit theory using algebraic topology. You should have some mathematics background or some patience and a stack of books on algebra and algebraic topology so you can understand what these authors write so poorly. However, while the text (vol.2) loses a star for being horribly written, it gains four stars for the amazing content. If you are patient you will see a side of circuits you have never dreamt of and then you will be led into the generalized (continuous) version which is electromagnetics.

If you are looking for some really accessible and really interesting mathematics on circuits and EM buy this book (or buy it used, I bought my hardcover for 10$) You might also find it useful to consult the appendix in Frankel's Geometry of Physics for comparison.

Have fun and keep in mind that the book is written by sadists, clever and intelligent, but sadists all the way!

Simply fascinating!.......2002-08-30

In short, I find this kind of a book very rare indeed.

If you are doing physics and electronics at the undergraduate level, this book will open your eyes to a whole new unified approach to several on-the-surface different topics. I wonder why many course designer's haven't looked at this book and realized how accessible it has made some of the relatively modern concepts. The authors laudably attend on each concept with a passion to make the reader confident of grasping at least a few different ways of looking at it, keeping the core well in view all the time. It is also to their credit to have kept the beauty in the ideas intact with a good balance of abstraction and concrete instances.

In particular, the authors treatment of exterior calculus is an eye opener if you are new to the topic. For a student only exposed to traditional methods, it is a revealer to see the laws of linear electrical circuits as well as Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism being expressed in precisely the same language. It is totally to the credit of the authors to have presented the concepts in such a simple to understand progression. For example, they make you see clearly why you have understood the divergence theorem or Stokes theorem of conventional vector calculus if you've grasped the essence of the calculus of functions of a single variable. Its a fantastic voyage folks, and you've got some of the best guides methinks.

All those who find physics and mathematics a drag at college should grab this book and be enlightened. I wish they fix some of the errors in the book in future editions, but the errors don't at all hinder the learning.

Ten thumbs up!

An interested amateur physicist.......2002-04-03

I don't understand why some of the reviews here are mediocre. Although I haven't read the book to any depth, I have a knack of knowing whether a book exudes quaity by browsing briefly through it to get a general feel; the breadth of the material presented is breathtaking and at least eye-opening. Here are some reviews from the back cover...
American Journal Of Physics:- Not only is the mathematics clean, elegant, and modern blah, blah, blah... This is first rate!
Times Higher Education Supplement:-
...There is to my knowledge no comparable book, and it is hard to imagine a more inspiring one.
Remember also that there are two volumes.

a difficult book with few rewards.......2001-04-16

I can only say one good thing about this book: it steered me towards a couple of really worthwhile books. I began to read Bamberg/Sternberg about five years ago, when I was looking for a book that could explain the mathematics that physicists use. It was heavy going from the first chapter, although I am not a neophyte in mathematics. I found it slow, obscure, devoid of true proofs and explanations when I needed them most. As another reader said, the books is perfunctory while it seems it wants to aim high. I finally gave up, after the tremendously confusing chapter 5 on scalar products. But I followed a couple of their bibliographic suggestions. In particular, I read the very enjoyable and rewarding Loomis and Sternberg, "Advanced Calculus," a classic textbook, not an easy one, but one that rewards hard work. Loomis/Sternberg is a comprehensive, solid, insightful book that covers a lot of the material of Bamberg/Sternberg's first volume. I took up Bamberg/Stenberg this week again, after a hiatus of several years, having digested several books on linear algebra, topology, and functional analysis, and I still find it very difficult to read Chapter 1. The reason: nothing is fully explained or proven. Rather, the book reads like a collection of hints that barely connect and in places is painfully slow. My advice: don't try to read it unless you are forced to. For a neat, useful, modern introduction to mathematical physics, try Hassani. Or go back to that jewel, Loomis/Sternberg, if you can find it.

a course in mathematics for students of physics.......2001-01-09

i could hardly believe that in the chapter on linear algebra, the authors never discuss any but 2 dimensional spaces (claiming that it is easily generalized. not so!)... and the chapter on differential forms left me scratching my head... it introduces them by a taylor expansion, and claims that they are mappings, but never explains or motivates that.

i found that this book covers its topics only perfunctorily, and aims to high, thinking that it is more mathematical than it actually is. i would recommend frankel instead (a slightly more advanced text, but much better written).

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Course in Mathematics for Students of Physic, 2 volumes complete.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IBFBNC

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Course in Mathematics for Students of Physic, 2 volumes complete.
Paul Bamberg
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M46MLA

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A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics, 1990 Volumes 1 and 2

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000EHHMS2

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, witty and clever: you'll laugh so hard at Candide.......2005-05-18

Candide is another one of those books I wish I'd been forced to read at some point in my education, whether in my comparative literature classes in high school (which as previously mentioned, wasn't very comparative if the teacher didn't care for the author) or in one of my several philosophy classes in university. Either way, it's been on my list of books to read for ages now, and seeing as David had it on a shelf, unread and lonely, I decided to pick it up and give it a go.

Candide is a fast read, something that I was three-quarters of the way through after my commute on Monday (thirty-five minutes each way) and finished after another half-hour of light reading this afternoon after returning from the doctor's surgery. The only real way to describe it is to imagine what would happen if Camus travelled back in time and decided to write a book with Swift. Candide is funny, sarcastic, satirical, and incredibly entertaining, which is surprising considering I didn't exactly have the best translation in the world at my disposal. It's the story of a young and naïve servant to a nobleman and how his journey in life, most of which is taken up with seeking after his unrequited love, is filled with sadness and joy, and how his outlook determines the course of his action.

Like most satirists, Voltaire did not stop to consider friends or enemies: he took shots at everyone from the Catholic clergy to Protestants and even his own philosophers who continue to espouse beliefs even after they no longer believe in them because "it is the proper thing to do." Brilliant, witty, and clever, this is probably one of my new favourite satirical works, right up there with "A Modest Proposal." It's definitely not something that would be enjoyed in a required university class, but anyone who's studied comparative religion or philosophy, or is at least familiar with the absurdities in all philosophical systems, should enjoy this book.

Life's too mysterious, don't take it serious.......2003-01-24

Having enjoyed Leonard Bernstein's Candide for a long time and just read my way through the Candide inspired Sotweed Factor, it was time to get through to the source.

Upon completing the original French version, it is no wonder that this book is such an inspiring perennial classic. I very much object to the notion that this book is an anti-everything nihilist manifesto. Some words of explanation.

During the age enlightment mankind made big strides in some areas of science. The development of differential calculus by Newton and Leibniz suddenly allowed mankind a better understanding of the way "God ran the Universe". Based on these supposedly universal laws, Leibniz took the stance that our world could not be anything else than the one and only perfect solution that a divine power had found to the self-imposed problem of creation. The best of all possible worlds.

Against this backdrop Voltaire wrote his satiric redux of Homer meeting Cervantes to discuss the book of Job. In a style that (in the original French) is light and whimsical Voltaire debunks the notion that life takes place in an ordered universe. He certainly is not against everything, but rightfully speaks out against idiotic notions on the virtue of war and cruel religious blindness.

Voltaire has left us with a very light, funny and user-friendly fairytale, that may not be quite up there with the great Homer and especially Cervantes, but deserves a place on every bookshelf.

Some Candides Are Better Than Others.......2002-12-08

No the story doesn't change from edition to edition, but the supplementary material provided does change. Candide isn't just some hectic adventure story. It really fails as literature in this regard, and certainly Voltaire's purpose was not to make you chuckle while you whiled away a few empty hours. He would weep to think that you missed out on what he was really trying to tell you. Rest easy. I am not going to launch into a stuffy monologue on Leibnitz and 18th century French Catholicism, but in essence you should know that this is the essence of the story. The philosopher Leibnitz (who with Isaac Newton independently invented Calculus) explained the existence of evil in the world thusly: God, in his infinite wisdom, thought of all possible worlds that he could create, and he chose this one; therefore this must be the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire was also continually chastising the Catholic Church for it's lack of tolerance of other beliefs, and for its aristocratic pomp.

Enter now the Norton Critical Edition of Candide. This book presents the 75 page story along with 130 additional pages of various articles and essays on the times in which it was written; commentary by Voltaire and by his contemporaries; and critiques of the story by modern writers. Sure there are always a few dull, academic essays making their mandatory appearance in a book like this, but my suggestion is just to skip them. After all there are a lot of them to choose from.

Learn the story behind the story so to speak. After all it is the background of Candide that makes Candide the forceful satire that it is.

VOLTAIRE THE RETROSPECTIVE.......2002-11-30

The French writer Voltaire's (1694-1778) novel 'Candide' is a biting, satirical, cynical, and inimical story of an inexperienced and innocent young man who is much misled early in life by Pangloss, his philosophy teacher. Tragi-comical in style, the whole work is certainly the spiritual forefather of 'Waiting for Godot', but it is vastly inventive, the satire is funny, and the action rollicks around the world in a rapid succession of colorful and exciting places. Candide alternately fights for his life, flees for his life, ponders the meaning of life, makes his fortune, or simply travels to stave off boredom. If this were a Mel Brooks film it would be a cross between 'Blazing Saddles', 'Men In Tights', and 'Life Stinks'. There is a grisly and surreal cartoon element to the proceedings with characters constantly being killed by sword, fire, hanging, earthquake, drowning, and whatever, who then come back to life when you least expect it, looking much the worse for wear.

Candide may be on a journey of discovery, but he is just not able to understand anything he discovers. In the school of life he is certainly bottom of the class, and seemingly aspires to stay there. Pangloss has taught him that however things appear, life is arranged so that, 'all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds' - which sounds to me like a parody of a famous scripture from the New Testament letter to the Romans. This absurdist Positive Mental Attitude is then slowly and relentlessly beaten out of the hapless Candide, who learns some of the practical lessons of life while never actually being in danger of learning anything about its meaning and purpose. All in all, anyone who believes in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the empirical philosophy of the good and sensible British school, or any Eastern religion in general, will find their ideas roundly lampooned, insulted, and mocked herein.

Candide starts life in Germany, rattles around Europe, travels to South America and finds El Dorado, gains and looses a vast fortune, returns to Europe, visits Turkey and Persia, and is thrashed by three philosophers in Denmark. The narrative obiter dicta may state that 'In life everything grows wearisome', but the Candide view is: 'Everything is not so good as in El Dorado; but everything is not too bad'. An exhaustingly banal conclusion.

It is difficult to see what positive views are contained in this book. Everyone is denigrated. Nothing is sacred and therefore nothing really matters. Everything finishes downbeat, so this is a dangerous work to read with a too-open mind. In fact, the whole book reeks of what sociologists self-congratulatingly call the 'debunking motif', which explains the tenor of the whole. Voltaire was famed abroad and prolific in his lifetime, but time has proved that trenchantly 'being against things', however right you may be, does not bring a lasting fame worth having. 'Candide' is but a small sliver of Voltaire's life output, and his situation reminds me of the works of the ancient Greek Archilochus, who, a century after Homer and Hesiod was dubbed the first 'poet of blame'. But unlike the classics of Homer and Hesiod, only slivers of Archilochus' works remain to this day, whilst his waspish reputation has survived quite well.

Voltaire's Amusing Intellectual Masterpiece.......2002-01-11

"Candide," subtitled "Optimism" and purporting to be "translated from the German of Doctor Ralph with the additions which were found in the Doctor's pocket when he died at [the Battle of] Minden in the Year of Our Lord 1759," is the single work of Voltaire that continues to be read and recognized as a canonical work of Western literature. A mere seventy-five pages long, it is an amusing and, at times, cruel book that satirically lays waste to many philosophical ideas of its time while simultaneously illuminating the mind, the temperament and the personal conflicts of its author, a man who, perhaps more than any other, came to define the intellectual spirit of eighteenth century France.

At its most abstract level, "Candide" examines the age-old question of why a supposedly omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent god would create a world so afflicted with evil and suffering. This question particularly troubled Voltaire following the great Lisbon earthquake and fire in November 1755, which killed as many as forty thousand people.

Hence, in the very first page of "Candide," the reader encounters one of literature's most famous characters, Pangloss, the learned tutor of Candide, who "gave instruction in metaphysico-theologico-cosmoloonigology." Echoing the popularizers of Leibniz, the early eighteenth century German philosopher, Pangloss espouses the notion that there cannot be cause without effect, that we live in the best of all possible worlds:

"It is clear, said he, that things cannot be otherwise than they are, for since everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end. Observe: noses were made to support spectacles, hence we have spectacles. Legs, as anyone can plainly see, were made to be breeched, and so we have breeches. Stones were made to be shaped and to build castles with; thus My Lord has a fine castle, for the greatest Baron in the province should have the finest house; and since pigs were made to be eaten, we eat pork all year round. Consequently, those who say everything is well are uttering mere stupidities; they should say everything is for the best."

From the introduction of this philosophical idea, Voltaire proceeds to narrate a dizzying tale (really, a series of tales, like Chinese boxes or Russian dolls or the Arabian Nights) of the adventures of Candide, Cunegonde, Pangloss, Cacambo, and a host of other characters, adventures that include war, torture, dismemberment, and death and utterly confound any claim that we live in the best of all possible worlds. At the same time Voltaire satirically challenges certain prevailing ideas, however, he also introduces a plethora of personal, political and historical references, thereby making "Candide" a sort of literary and intellectual cornucopia of Voltaire's thought. In the words of Robert Adams, the able translator and editor of the Norton Critical Edition of the work, "`Candide' is at the same time a novel of abstract ideas with long, complex histories and a highly personal book, into which Voltaire poured an immense amount of himself-his experiences, his enmities, his learning, his desires, his anguish."

The Norton Critical Edition of "Candide" contains extensive and useful background materials on the text, including valuable discussions of the philosophical ideas adumbrated in Voltaire's tale and excerpts from critical studies, books and letters that have been published over the years since the book was written. Among these materials, "Gestation: `Candide' Assembling Itself", an excerpt from Haydn Mason's 1975 book on Voltaire, is particularly useful in understanding the context in which Voltaire wrote, including the effect that the catastrophe in Lisbon and the Seven Years' War had on his thinking.

Average customer rating:

New to Candide, I loved this edition

Best of all possible editions...

Candide (Norton Critical Edition)
Voltaire
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0393096491

Book Description

This edition is essentially that of Richard Aldington edited with reference to the French editions by Andr Morize and George R. Havens. Norman L. Torrey's introduction is a brief commentary on Voltaire's central purpose of reducing the doctrine of philosophical optimism to absurdity. Also included are a list of principal dates in the life of Voltaire and a selected bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

New to Candide, I loved this edition.......2006-06-27

I admit, I was attracted by the pretty blue cover. This book is really packaged beautifully. Peter Constantine is the latest translator of Voltaire's work (I know because the pretty cover announces as much), but having never read any earlier translations, I am not equipped to critique it by comparison.

That said, I really enjoyed the book, despite having no prior exposure to Voltaire or 18th-century literature. Reading the mini-biography, introduction, and footnotes were more than sufficient for me to understand Voltaire's allusions.

The story has all the elements of an epic adventure: love, violence, far-off and strange lands, reuniuns, resurrections. But unlike the longer epics, calamity drives the story more than heroism or mission. Candide and his friends suffer one disfiguring catastrophe after another, yet there is a stubborn air of "logical" optimism. The prose is simple and clear, like a children's story; this underscores an odd pairing of innocence and disaster throughout.

This edition of Candide is a great read, even if you're just pulled into its orbit by the pretty cover.

Best of all possible editions..........2004-07-14

According to many scholars, Voltaire (pen name for Francois Marie Arouet) was the embodiment of the Enlightenment. Born in Paris is 1694, he was well educated by the Jesuits, studying law prior to turning to writing as a profession. His lampoons and satires won him fame and infamy; he was imprisoned and exiled at various times for his writing. He was forced into exile from France to England; later, he was invited to work for Frederick the Great in Berlin (politics and his reputation blew rapidly in the ever-changing winds of Europe). Voltaire wrote 'Candide' shortly after this period, when he had moved to Geneva. In 1778, the year of his death, he returned to Paris, a triumphant celebrity -- many of his ideas served to strengthen the movements that would eventually culminate in the French Revolution.

The story of 'Candide', the primary character in the Voltaire's novel, is the story of the search for answers. It is hard to classify 'Candide' solely as a political satire, or indeed in any other genre where it might find similarities. Voltaire explores religious and theological ideas, social and political situations, personal and intellectual issues, and the general strand of history. How could an omnipotent and benevolent God permit the world to be as it is? How can human beings, supposedly rational beings, treat each other as they do? How can rational beings act, feel and believe so irrationally?

The Enlightenment brought the ideas of Deism forward as important, and began to explore in earnest intellectual and political freedoms for people. The acquisition of knowledge, both pure theory and experiential/applied, was of high value. Candide was a student more than anything else, although in the course of the story, he holds many roles. Others who appear include Pangloss, the know-it-all philosophy teacher; Cunegonde, Candide's on-again, off-again love interest (who has her own set of adventures reported); Martin, another scholar (this one rather hopeless, in more ways than one); various other characters including Jewish merchants, Grand Inquisitors (the Enlightenment equivalent of Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition), and other bit players.

Candide travels all across Europe, from Westphalia through the Latin countries, ending up finally in Constantinople. No stone is unturned to expose the foibles of the locals, the problems of the travelers, and questionable underside of all society as they move from place to place, culture to culture, and crisis to crisis. Ultimately, the plot is not as important as the characters and characterisations -- for a book written in the 1700s, it is remarkably modern, hinting at sexual innuendo (including homosexuality) among royals and clergy, making fun of the military mindset and leadership (the king of the Bulgars is modeled upon Frederick the Great, and the Bulgar army is the Prussian army) and the church (the pope here has an illegitmate daughter, etc.).

The key satire, however, is against Leibniz, philosopher and mathematician, very intelligent but obviously not in directions Voltaire cared for. Leibniz had a directional metaphysics and historical sense -- this was the best of all possible worlds (the most famous phrase from the novel, put in Pangloss' mouth); the amiable but not-swift-on-the-uptake Pangloss is the stand-in for Leibniz.

Norton's Critical Edition includes several essays, in addition to the text of Voltaire's 'Candide' -- the novel itself is a mere 77 pages, translated by Robert Adams of UCLA. There are several background pieces, including a general survey of the intellectual background, philosophical explanations, and a brief biography of Voltaire.

Essays on criticism include discussion of Voltaire's narrative art, the ideas of pessimism and providence (it is worth remember here that Voltaire's purpose in writing 'Candide' was as a critique against optimism, of a sort), and various controversies. This is truly a fascinating collection, with pieces by such heavyweights in literary history as William Blake and Heinrich Heine giving their impressions on Voltaire and the issues addressed in 'Candide'. Gustave Flaubert and Anatole France give reflections on Voltaire's humanity; Victor Hugo discusses his greatness.

As Adams says, it is a surprise to find that 'Candide', a classic, is nonetheless funny. However, that is because it is so readily identifiable -- many heroes in modern stories are re-worked Candides of one sort or another; it is an Enlightenment Everyman, and we live in a period still heavily invested in and self-identified with Enlightenment ideas.

This is obviously the best of all possible Norton Critical Editions of Voltaire's 'Candide' from Adams.

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Candide Of Optimism A New Translation Backgrounds Criticism (A Norton Critical Edition)
Robert M. Adams
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Candide or optimism (Norton Critical editions)
Voltaire (Robert M. Adams editor)
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Candide or Optimism - A New Translation, Backgrounds, Criticism - A Norton Critical Edition
Robert M. Voltaire; Translated and Edited by Adams
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Candide; or, Optimism: A new translation, backgrounds, criticism (A Norton critical edition)
Voltaire
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French | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Candide, or Optimism a Norton Critical Edition

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