Electrical and Optical Polymer Systems (Plastics Engineering (Marcel Dekker, Inc.), 45.)

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"Offers background information, methods of characterization, and applications for electrical and optical polymers, including biopolymers, and tutorial sections that explain how to use the techniques."

Photonic Polymer Systems (Plastics Engineering) (Plastics Engineering , Vol 49)

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Photonic Polymer Systems (Plastics Engineering) (Plastics Engineering , Vol 49)

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0824701526

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"Furnishes the necessary background information, methods of characterization, and applications of optic and photonic systems based on polymers. Provides detailed tutorial chapters that offer in-depth explanations of optic and photonic fundamentals and synthesis techniques."

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Technological improvements have greatly increased the ability of marine scientists to collect and analyze data over large spatial scales, and the resultant insights attainable from interpreting those data vastly increase understanding of poplation dynamics, evolution and biogeography. Marine Metapopulations provides a synthesis of existing information and understanding, and frames the most important future directions and issues.

* First book to systematically apply metapopulation theory directly to marine systems
*Contributions from leading international ecologists and fisheries biologists
*Perspectives on a broad array of marine organisms and ecosystems, from coastal estuaries to shallow reefs to deep-sea hydrothermal vents
*Critical science for improved management of marine resources
*Paves the way for future research on large-scale spatial ecology of marine systems

Contributions of adult oligochaete emigration and immigration in a dynamic soft-sediment community [An article from: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology]

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Contributions of adult oligochaete emigration and immigration in a dynamic soft-sediment community [An article from: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology]
R. Junkins , B. Kelaher , and J. Levinton
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000RR8BAM

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This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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It is well known that adult dispersal is common in soft bottom intertidal and shallow subtidal communities. We here report on the first study that attempts to quantify the effects of both immigration and emigration on patches of soft sediment communities. Some species show adaptive emigration from the seabed, although dispersal direction, distance, and colonization success are probably strongly dependent on hydrodynamics, morphological adaptations to dispersal, and the ability to select appropriate target microsites. The naid oligochaete Paranais litoralis is a numerically dominant benthic species in southern New England and New York mud flats and tends to reproduce mainly or exclusively by means of budding of new individuals. When population density is high and resources in short supply, budding frequency is reduced, worms grow longer, and may emigrate from the sediment. We quantified emigration by means of a conical trap and quantified immigration with sediment dishes. We followed emigration/immigration during the typical late spring population explosion and crash cycle of worms within the sediment, which is driven by a seasonal cycle of provision and exhaustion of organic detrital food supply. Emigration was proportionally maximal either at or after the population peak, consistent with a response to food shortage. Over a span of ca. 50 m, we found no net movement in either direction along a transect, nor was emigration or immigration correlated with local density in the sediment. Nevertheless, both emigration and immigration were important in our 2004 sampling, and immigration especially had an important impact on population densities. We do not know the relative capture efficiencies of the emigration and immigration apparatus, so more needs to be done to understand the impacts of dispersal in this and other systems.

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Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

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introspective, subtle, but passionate and full of drama.......2007-06-12

"Giovanni's Room", set in Paris of the 1950's, is a memorable study of a tormented soul of a young American, David. Narrated in the first person singular, this novel is deep and dark, making the reader feel the David's emotions and passions.

David, who moved to France like many young Americans after the World War II, to pursue the freedom within the artistic atmosphere and the traditions of the Old World, found in fact the side of himself he did not expect to uncover.

Starting the story at the point of total exhaustion, on the verge of madness, just about to leave the South of France for Paris again (and then, perhaps, finally to return to the States - although the ending is open in this respect) David recollects his relationship with Giovanni, an Italian barman whom he met on the night while searching for money to pay his hotel bill (or for another accommodation). When Hella, David's girlfriend, travels in Spain trying to organize her thoughts far from David and get to know herself better in solitude, David decides to ask Jacques, a man he knew casually, for money. Jacques invites him for dinner and then they end up going for a couple of drinks to the gay bar. Jacques is a friend of the owner, Guillaume, and they abandon themselves in a conversation, although Jacques clearly fancies the young barman. When two older men leave them alone, David and Giovanni immediately feel attracted to each other and by the morning they go together to Giovanni's room, where David subsequently moves. Guillaume, who gave Giovanni the job in hope to win the boy's heart, is very jealous; Jacques is also a bit upset, but both of them hope that the relationship won't last.

Well... the relationship does not last, and this is the information revealed at the very beginning of the novel. David is, all in all, a disagreeable character (another novel in which the main character is not likeable, yet evoking sympathy in the reader because of his complexity and misery, and certainly possessing some charm, which he uses without scruples), who acts egoistically and opportunistically, but also according to convention. By being selfish and cruel to those who love him, he destroys not only them, but also himself. He cannot accept his love for Giovanni, because he fights his gay tendencies (he cannot even think about himself as gay and always tries to distinguish himself from "old fairies" like Guillaume and Jacques), but when he finally gives in, it is too late to rescue the relationship. Here lies, for me, the universal message in the story: what happens if by our own silliness, mistake, carelessness, or hard-headedness, whatever, we lose the love of our life and, worse, have an utterly destructive influence on him or her?

Giovanni is a great character, he is a complete opposite of David - he follows his instincts to the point of abandoning himself in them, at the same time doing it completely unconsciously - he is convinced that he acts very rationally and has reasonable plans for the future. When David leaves him upon Hella's return to Paris, Giovanni loses all the grip onto reality and that leads to the tragedy.

Hella, the only significant female character in the novel (except marginal, although complex, Sue, who is another person in the collection of people used by David) is also very interesting - basically, David treats her exactly the same as he treats Giovanni, but she is much more down-to earth and with typical American self- control manages to get back on her feet.

The story takes place in Paris, the protagonist breathes the existentialis atmosphere, wandering in the narrow, old streets during the night. His desperation does not prevent him from perceiving the beauty of the city, but at the same time the city adds to his melancholy. In a different setting the story would undoubtedly be different, and so the novel seamlessly connects its time, place and plot.

James Baldwin created a remarkable novel, full of introspective, universal questions that never get outdated. He managed to write about the problems, which at his time were rather hidden and unspoken. Very subtle prose and concise form round up the list of "Giovanni's Room's" qualities. This is the first book by this author I have read and I will definitely try more.

A Masterpiece.......2007-05-25

Giovanni's Room is such a poignant, touching, and finely crafted novel that deals with homosexuality, love, and death in a way that one rarely finds in one. The characters, each and every single one of them, are as real as anybody today in the 21st century. The emotions described in the book are so real and vivid that the novel rarely reads like a novel. A touching story, sharp social commentary, and a very vivid view of what homosexuality was like back in the 1960's in Paris.

An affair of the heart threatened by society's "clutter and disorder".......2006-11-03

"Giovanni's Room" is unique among Baldwin's novels for its all-white cast of characters--a decision that, his letters revealed, worried Baldwin somewhat, fearing that his portrayals would not seem authentic. His concerns turned out to be baseless; both Giovanni and David are convincing characters whose magnetism and flawed idealism stand in sharp relief to the cynical, grimy atmosphere of the bars and rooms they inhabit.

David is engaged to be married when his fiancee, Hella, travels to Spain to "find out" what she wants from life--and from David. He then meets Giovanni in a Parisian bar and their fate is sealed as soon as they enter Giovanni's tiny, claustrophobic room and its "outlines of clutter and disorder." David's internal struggle begins immediately: "if I do not open the door at once and get out of here, I am lost. But I knew I could not open the door, I knew it was too late."

I've come to think of Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" as the inverted (no pun intended) example of Forster's "Room with a View," the book it oddly and inexplicably reminds me of. Although Baldwin is tragic where Forster is comic, the impossible coupling of stalwart David and carefree Giovanni echo the equally improbable pair of straitlaced Lucy and bohemian George. And in each novel, the foreign setting strips away David's and Lucy's inhibitions while it enhances Giovanni's and George's forwardness.

Both books, too, deal with a typically nineteenth-century theme, pitting moral honesty and romantic love against what "proper" society expects of its members. David is expected to marry Hella, as Lucy is expected to marry Cecil, and the comic or tragic outcome of each novel is determined entirely by the sincerity of the choices made by its characters. In Baldwin's more modern version, however, the virtue of David and Giovanni's relationship and the (yes) innocence of their love cannot ultimately withstand the pressures of society and the strictures of David's upbringing, and, inexorably, the couple become as sullied as the "clutter and disorder" of Giovanni's room.

Although strange and foriegn, its idea is still compelling.......2006-05-04

This book was written a long time ago for a completely different audience. That being said, this is still a good book that gives insight on to the lives of people in France in the early 20th century as well as possibly opening people's eyes to the idea of homosexuality in a whole new light. Baldwin creates real people, that could be me or you, and puts them in a situation that isnt too far fetched to consider, and does a good job of showing how people act.
Although it is old and slightly out dated, it is still an interesting and worth while read in today's world.

"Can we not have a life together?".......2006-03-14

"Love him and let him love you."

A young American expatriate in Paris is torn between relationship with a woman and love affair with a man. Set in the 1950s, Giovanni's Room is a man's excruciating repentance, or rather reminiscence, of one particular lie among the many lies he has told in his life. Could it be the first love, or maybe his only love, because David has never for an instant truly forgotten his first love, Giovanni, and the thought of whom often gives a guilty lurch in his stomach. He feels in himself a faint, dreadful stirring of what so overwhelming stirs in him. He meets Giovanni at the bar while his girlfriend Hella vacations in Spain. But David is uneasy about this relationship that is no more than just a sexual escapade with Giovanni. A feeling of contempt and pique conquers him to an extent that fear and anguish have become the surface on which he slips and tumbles. Is David really confused as he claims to be? Or is he just afraid of being despised? He is on a constant struggle for social approbation that he will forfeit his Giovanni's love for him - maybe his love for Giovanni as well? He thinks being with Hella will rescue him from his love for Giovanni.

At first I am not sure how much David cherishes Giovanni until he confesses his irrevocable love for him. That he will never be able to love anyone like he loves Giovanni intensifies his mental struggle with the forbidden love: What kind of life can two men have together? He keeps on fighting his life, fighting his love because he sees no prospect of a life shared by two men. Beneath this struggle for social acceptance is laden with a deep calling to abandon the conventional norms of success, worth, and love. He views this abject terror of desire with interminable cynicism and cruelty.

Giovanni's Room explores the troubling emotions of man's heart with unusual candor and yet with dignity and intensity. It delves into the most controversial issue of morality with an artistry. The most touching and absorbing thing is Giovanni's unconditional love for David, whose fearful intimation opens in him a hatred for Giovanni that is as powerful as his love for him. This love for Giovanni has been meticulously suppressed, and is not recognized until the ineluctable separation, which compounds David's scruple. The loss compounds his regret of not confessing his love. Even though Giovanni is very fond of him already, Giovanni's affection and loyalty do not make him happy or proud, as it should. Aren't we all somehow like David? We always want to wait to make sure the feeling is right, but how can we be sure? To David Love can only be measured by the grief so inconsolable that is concomitant of his loss. To the rest of us it's a message to drop our ego for an ideal relationship.

James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories: Go Tell It on a Mountain / Giovanni's Room / Another Country / Going to Meet the Man (Library of America)

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A valuable edition of some of the best writings on race.

James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories: Go Tell It on a Mountain / Giovanni's Room / Another Country / Going to Meet the Man (Library of America)
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1883011515

Amazon.com

A novelist, essayist, playwright, and public intellectual, James Baldwin's writings on the subject of race in America undeniably made him one of the greatest African American writers of the 20th century. As the civil rights movement gained momentum in the two decades following World War II, Baldwin landed squarely in the public eye, and his prose communicated the hope and frustration of the fight for racial equality. In James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories, editor Toni Morrison draws heavily on Baldwin's early work, including his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, as well as Giovanni's Room, which was praised by the New York Times for its "unusual candor ... and intensity." As pertinent today as it was some 30 years ago, the fiction found in this collection is powerful, eloquent, and a fitting tribute to a consummate writer.

Book Description

With burning passion, the authority of experience, and a sharp, epigrammatic wit, these essays articulate issues of race, democracy, and American identity. This edition--the most comprehensive gathering of Baldwin's nonfiction ever published--presents the complete texts of the landmark collections "Notes of a Native Son" (1955) and "Nobody Knows My Name" (1961); "The Fire Next Time" (1963), a classic analysis of America's racial divide; "No Name in the Street" (1972); and "The Devil Finds Work" (1976); and 36 more essays, including nine never before collected.

Customer Reviews:

A valuable edition of some of the best writings on race........1998-04-14

The Library of America is engaged in publishing definitive texts of the best-known writing in the U.S. Including James Baldwin in this series - and having Toni Morrison edit these volumes - has generated considerable critical review. It is remarkable that James Baldwin can still exercise so much hold over us. Both the fiction and the essays have a kind of raw power: it makes us realize how sensitive the nerve of "race relations" still is. "Go Tell It on the Mountain" - one of the early autobiographical stories - has already become an American classic. Baldwin's homosexuality and his ambiguous feelings towards the white establishment makes this a painful coming-of-age novel. There is no easy access to some one so at-odds with himself and his society - and no greater rewards for anyone interested in the literature of self-discovery. These are fine volumes. They are well worth owning and belong on the shelves of anyone interested in American literature. Not all collections are worth having. The Library of America - and these Baldwin volumes - are worth owning, and they are certainly worth reading.

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Giovanni's Room

Manufacturer: Dell 2881
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000EMJCIK

Product Description

Baldwin's 1956 novel, his second, was daring for its time, depicting a young man deep into Paris's second expatriate movement following World War II as he grapples with his sexual identity. He is drawn both to his fianc?e and to a male Italian bartender with whom he begins an affair.

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GIOVANNI'S ROOM
J. BALDWIN
Manufacturer: JOSEPH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SHUKW8

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Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Fiction

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Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Corgi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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GIOVANNI'S ROOM
JAMES BALDWIN
Manufacturer: M Joseph
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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