BRILL
Color, line, and space; the neuroscience of spatio-chromatic vision.
The ability of animals to perceive color differences seems to have existed for at least half a billion years. Primates turned this already complex phenomenon into a massive neural investment considered independent of a perception of luminance that is evolutionarily older than the color system. Both color and luminance are central to this collection of 11 papers that are based on psychophysical experiments informed by neural and computational models, and the result is useful to those working in or studying visual neuroscience, psychology, ophthalmology, cognitive science and computer science. Topics include an introduction to spatio-chromatic interactions, neural adjustments to chromatic blur, color contrast influences in perceiving shape, Fechner-Benham subjective colors and McCollough effects, cone contrast computations, surface interpolation, lightness and illumination in terms of gradients, a neural model of surface perception, and two contributions on the watercolor illusion. VSP is a subsidiary of Brill. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Farming in a global economy; a case study of Dutch immigrant farmers in Canada.
Schryer (Guelph U., Ontario) was born in the Netherlands and emigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. Except for knowing little about farming, he has an ideal background for a study of Dutch immigrant farmers in Canada — that is, from historical, demographic, and sociological perspectives. His study addresses why farmers of Dutch heritage are over-represented among commercial farmers in Canada, and he presents a profile of their diversity and impact on agriculture in specific regions during a period of rapid economic change and globalization. The volume includes an appendix on a statistical method (dual scaling) useful for understanding patterns of common traits. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Insects and mites feeding on olive; distribution, importance, habits, seasonal development, and dormancy.
The olive tree, the source of food essential to several significant cultures, can host many dozens of species of insects and mites. Tzanakakis conducts a rigorous review of the literature on the origin of the olive tree and its cultivation along with listing 116 species of insects and 30 species of mites known to infest it. He comments on the geographical distribution, host plants, feeding habits and seasonal history of 34 species of phytophagous insects and seven species of mites, covering the Homoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Eriophyoidea and Tetranychoidea associated with the olive tree, and provides a set of color photographs. He explains the debates between authors about seasonal history and makes suggestions for further research. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Monograph of living chitons (Mollusca: polyplacaphora); v.6: Suborder ischnochitonina (concluded); schizochitonidae & chitonidae, additions to volumes 1-5.
Piet Kaas and Richard Van Belle began their project of describing and illustrating every known species of chitons in 1985 with the first volume of their Monograph of Living Chitons series and continued with four subsequent volumes until Kaas' death in 1996. The sixth volume was completed by Van Belle (Royal Atheneum of Sint-Niklaas) and Strack (Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, The Netherlands). The new volume covers 167 species, three of which are new. The text describes two important families: the schizochitonidae and chitonidae, the latter of which includes species-rich genera and sub- genera. The text is well illustrated and includes additions to volumes 1 through 5 up to 1996. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Nicole Oresme's De Visione Stellarum (On Seeing The Stars); a critical edition of Oresme's treatise on optics and atmospheric refraction, with an introduction, commentary, and English translation.
Oresme's fourteenth-century treatise takes a surprising path from rather conventional natural philosophy to the idea that the stars are not where they seem, and so perhaps nothing is where it seems. This seminal work on atmospheric refraction proved that light travels along a curve through the atmosphere, and also questioned whether any data acquired through the senses is entirely valid. Burton (history, U. of North Alabama) provides a remarkably accessible translation, given the complexity of the content, and also gives solid background information about Oresme's life and work, the times of his writing and publishing De visione stellarum, and the problems with tracing his influences. The overview and commentary are particularly helpful and explain what made Oresme's work so startling, seeing as it came before Newton and Hooke. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Pressure-sensitive design and formulation; application; v.2.
The subject was addressed in a previous work, Pressure-Sensitive Formulation (VSP, 2000), but the growing popularity of pressure-sensitive adhesives has led to coverage of design considerations in a separate, two-volume work, of which this is the second volume. Emphasis here is on practical aspects (the first volume addresses theoretical aspects). Beginning with a survey of information on the basis of design and formulation, applications and techniques considered here include pressure-sensitive adhesives of controlled water-absorbing capacity, removable and repositionable pressure-sensitive materials, UV-curable pressure-sensitive adhesives, and pressure-sensitive design and formulation in practice. Each article provides process steps and describes the science behind all the stickiness. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Pressure-sensitive design, theoretical aspects; v.1.
The subject was addressed in a previous work, Pressure-Sensitive Formulation (VSP, 2000), but the growing popularity of pressure-sensitive adhesives has led to coverage of design considerations in a separate, two-volume work, of which this is the first volume. Emphasis here is on theoretical aspects (the second volume addresses practical aspects). After an introduction covering market and design shifts and parameters of design and formulation, papers by industry experts cover such topics as pressure-sensitive adhesive as a material property and as a process, the role of the design and formulation of pressure-sensitive products, principles of pressure-sensitive design and formulation, general performance, synthesis and properties as well as applications of water-soluble acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives, and novel hydrocolloid formulations based on the nanocomposite concept. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Two Hippocratic treatises on sight and on anatomy.
Craik (classics honorary, St. Andrews U.) offers new translations and commentary of On Sight and On Anatomy, two works related to the Hippocratic corpus; the first, however, is a brief surgical manual on eye afflictions may have originated in Africa, while the account of basic human anatomy may have come from a source in northern Greece. Craik closely analyzes both texts, commenting on the various interpretations of both theory and practice that readers of the time could have made. She places the works within their medical and historical contexts, and includes the illustrations for the non-expert and a list of authors and texts. The result is a tantalizing look into what we once believed and also into what more we still need to know. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
