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  Stress Management and Longevity: The Importance of Physical and Social Activity In Later Life

  Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha

  The world is aging. Age is accompanied by opportunities as well as challenges. This book addresses the relationship between longevity, aging, and stress. It describes the varied stressors of later life and presents effective coping mechanisms. The book emphasizes the importance of physical and social activity and the healing power of nature.

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  The Social Geography of Healthy Aging

  Jasmin Tahmaseb McConatha and Karin Volkwein-Caplan

  The healthy and successful transition to later life can be a difficult experience. This book discusses the historical, cultural, and social psychological factors that shape the quality of life of older women and men. A central premise of the proposed book is that where we live is vital to how we age, Thus, this book has a look at stories of older women and men who are from different cultural backgrounds.

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  Discovering Evolution Equations with Applications: Volume 1-Deterministic Equations

  Mark A. McKibben

  Discovering Evolution Equations with Applications: Volume 1-Deterministic Equations provides an engaging, accessible account of core theoretical results of evolution equations in a way that gradually builds intuition and culminates in exploring active research. It gives nonspecialists, even those with minimal prior exposure to analysis, the foundation to understand what evolution equations are and how to work with them in various areas of practice.

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  Discovering Evolution Equations with Applications: Volume 2-Stochastic Equations

  Mark A. McKibben

  Most existing books on evolution equations tend either to cover a particular class of equations in too much depth for beginners or focus on a very specific research direction. Thus, the field can be daunting for newcomers to the field who need access to preliminary material and behind-the-scenes detail. Taking an applications-oriented, conversational approach, Discovering Evolution Equations with Applications: Volume 2-Stochastic Equations provides an introductory understanding of stochastic evolution equations.

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  Differential Equations with MATLAB: Exploration, Applications, and Theory

  Mark A. McKibben and Micah Webster

  A unique textbook for an undergraduate course on mathematical modeling, Differential Equations with MATLAB: Exploration, Applications, and Theory provides students with an understanding of the practical and theoretical aspects of mathematical models involving ordinary and partial differential equations (ODEs and PDEs). The text presents a unifying picture inherent to the study and analysis of more than 20 distinct models spanning disciplines such as physics, engineering, and finance.

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  Topics and Methods in q-Series

  James McLaughlin

  The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the many aspects of the subject of basic hypergeometric series. The book essentially assumes no prior knowledge but eventually provides a comprehensive introduction to many important topics. After developing a treatment of historically important topics such as the q-binomial theorem, Heine's transformation, the Jacobi triple product identity, Ramanujan's 1-psi-1 summation formula, Bailey's 6-psi-6 summation formula and the Rogers-Fine identity, the book goes on to delve more deeply into important topics such as Bailey- and WP-Bailey pairs and chains, q-continued fractions, and mock theta functions. There are also chapters on other topics such as Lambert series and combinatorial proofs of basic hypergeometric identities.The book could serve as a textbook for the subject at the graduate level and as a textbook for a topic course at the undergraduate level (earlier chapters). It could also serve as a reference work for researchers in the area.

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  The Intricate Nature of Mathematics

  Viorel Nitica and Catalin Nitica

  This book emerged from a set of lecture notes used by one of the authors to teach a 200 level course in Nature of Mathematics. The course was introduced as a bridge from traditional Calculus I, II, III courses to higher level courses of Mathematics, such as Abstract Algebra and Advanced Calculus. The book introduces basic notions from set theory, symbolic logic, functions and relations, number theory, combinatorics and graph theory. It also gives an introduction to more abstract mathematical proofs. The techniques discussed in the book include: direct proof, in particular proof by enumeration of cases, proof by contradiction, proof by mathematical induction, proofs using Well Ordering Principle, pigeonhole principle, inclusion-exclusion principle and coloring arguments.

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  Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip Through the World of Animal Intoxication

  Oné R. Pagán

  From the cup of coffee that jumpstarts the day to dangerously addictive drugs, the recreational use of plants with psychoactive properties has a long history among humans. But, as with many things, it turns out that other animals got there first. From parrots to primates, consuming medicinal chemicals is an instinctive behavior that helps countless organisms fight infection and treat disease. But the similarities don’t end there: Like us, many creatures also consume substances that have no apparent benefit . . . except for inducing intoxication. In fact, animals have been using drugs for recreational purposes since prehistoric times. We may even have animals to thank for the idea—legend says that coffee was discovered by observing the behavior of goats that had eaten it. In his previous book, Strange Survivors, author and biologist Oné R. Pagán introduced readers to some of the truly bizarre strategies animals use to survive in the cutthroat world of natural selection. Now, in Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins, he sheds light on the surprising cravings they indulge when it’s time to unwind. In this book, you’ll get an eye-opening glimpse into the mind-altering behavior of the non-human members of the animal kingdom, spanning insects to elephants—including the dolphin species that apparently likes to pass around an intoxicating pufferfish as if they were sharing a joint. Combining fascinating science with humor and enthusiasm, Pagán’s latest is full of the kind of unforgettable stories and odd facts that you’ll find yourself repeating to everyone you meet. From fruit fly happy hour to the evolutionary reasons behind nature’s drugs, Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins takes you on a trip through the colorful world of animal intoxication—and along the way, explores what this science reveals about the surprising connections between all the world’s creatures.

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  Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life

  Oné R. Pagán

  In the evolutionary arms race that has raged on since life began, organisms have developed an endless variety of survival strategies. From sharp claws to brute strength, camouflage to venom―all these tools and abilities share one purpose: to keep their bearer alive long enough to reproduce, helping the species avoid extinction. Every living thing on this planet has developed a time-tested arsenal of weapons and defenses. Some of these weapons and defenses, however, are decidedly more unusual than others. In Strange Survivors, biologist Oné R. Pagán takes us on a tour of the improbable, the ingenious, and the just plain bizarre ways that creatures fight for life.

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  The First Brain: The Neuroscience of Planarians

  Oné R. Pagán

  Discusses why the planarian is a unique organism, and what role it has played in neurobiological research. Accessibly written for the non-scientist reader, but contains enough detail to be useful for the scientific community as well. Shows the variety of ways that the planarian has affected biology, zoology, neuroscience.

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  The Voice of the Heart: A science fiction and autism story

  Oné R. Pagán

  From the Introduction: Like any parent, I want to see my children happy, with lives of their own. Sadly, when you have a child with a disability, this dream of independence is oftentimes not an option. A virtually universal worry of any parent of such a child is what is going to happen when we are no longer able to take care of them. What would be of my child? Will others treat him well? Will he be safe and respected? Will he be loved? Quite frankly, these questions terrify me and oftentimes keep me awake at night. The main character in this story lives in a moment in time when he has the means and the technology to make sure that his child is taken care of throughout his whole life. A dad can dream, right? I, for one, would do what my protagonist did in a split second. Would you? How far would you go to take care of your precious child?

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  Tourism and the Power of Otherness: Seductions of Difference

  David Picard and Michael A. Di Giovine

  This book explores the paradoxes of Self-Other relations in the field of tourism. It particularly focuses on the 'power' of different forms of 'Otherness' to seduce and to disrupt, and, eventually, also to renew the social and cosmological orders of 'modern' culture and everyday life.

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  Russia During the Period of Radical Change, 1992-2002

  Yury Polsky

  This book is focused on current economic, political and cultural affairs in Russia. It is hoped that students of international politics in general and all avid Russia-watchers will acquire from this volume a better grasp of what is going on there, and what we might expect to see in Russia in the foreseeable future. Important events of Russian history are presented, the knowledge of which is necessary in order to assess the present situation in Russia. The following treatment is not a full inventory of events. Rather, it is a summary of what is commonly known to Russians and should be known to every student of Russian politics and culture.

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  Handbook of Media Psychology: The Science and The Practice

  Grant J. Rich, V. Krishna Kumar, and Frank H. Farley

  This comprehensive and up-to-date resource presents the state of the science in the expanding and widely influential field of media psychology and technology. Covering theoretical concepts, research, and practice, this handbook explores key areas relevant to developing media psychology and technology in today's world.

  The impact of media and technology is discussed as are the uses and misuses of various media outlets, including television, film, and social media. How media affects public opinion and attitudes is given special attention, as are psycho-social and neuropsychological factors. The authors are recognized experts in this field, many associated with the American Psychological Association’s Society of Media Psychology and Technology. This relevant and timely handbook provides researchers and academics with rich wide-ranging presentations of an area critical to the dissemination and discussion of results and implications of ongoing scientific investigations for bringing about social change in democratic societies through the use of media and technology.

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  Adventures in Blogging: Public Anthropology and Popular Media

  Paul Stoller

  Paul Stoller has been writing a popular blog for the Huffington Post since 2011. Blogging, says Stoller, allows him to bring an anthropological perspective to contemporary debates, but it also makes him a better writer: snappier, more concise, and more focused on the connection he wants to make with readers. In this collection of selected blog posts, Stoller models good writing while sharing his insights on politics (including the emergence of "Trumpism" and the impact of ignorance on US political practices), higher education, social science, media, and well-being. In the process, he discusses the changing nature of scholarly communication and the academy’s need for greater public engagement.

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  Embodying Colonial Memories: Spirit Possession, Power, and the Hauka in West Africa

  Paul Stoller

  A study of the West African Hauka - spirits that grotesquely mimic and mock "Europeans" of the colonial epoch. The author considers spirit possession as a set of embodied practices with serious social and cultural consequences. Embodying Colonial Memories is the first in-depth study of the West African Hauka, spirits in the body of (human) mediums which mimic and mock Europeans of the colonial epoch. Paul Stoller, who was initiated into a spirit possession troupe, recounts an insider's tale of the Hauka with respect and "brotherly" deference. He combines narrative description, historical analysis, and reflections on the importance of embodiment and mimesis to social theory, with particular reference to the Songhay peoples of the Republic of Niger.

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  Fusion of the Worlds: Ethnography of Possession Among the Songhay of Niger

  Paul Stoller

  "Stoller brilliantly recreates the reality of spirit presence; hosts are what they mediate, and spirits become flesh and blood in the 'fusion' with human existence. . . . An excellent demonstration of the benefits of a new genre of ethnographic writing. It expands our understanding of the harsh world of Songhay mediums and sorcerers."—Bruce Kapferer, American Ethnologist

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  Gallery Bundu: A Story of an African Past

  Paul Stoller

  In Paul Stoller's work of fiction framed by African storytelling, David is the 52-year-old co-owner of Gallery Bundu, an African art shop in New York City. As a young man in the late 1960s, he joined the Peace Corps to avoid the draft. Assigned to teach English in Niger, he was eager to seek out adventure, and he found it—from drugged-out American expatriates and mamba-filled forests to seductive African women. In the course of his stay in Niger, David meets and falls in love with Zeinabou, a strikingly beautiful woman who professes her love to him, though David believes that he is not the only man she dates. Two weeks before his anticipated return to the United States, Zeinabou informs David that she is pregnant with what she believes is his child. Not knowing how to react, David flees Niger and returns to America ridden with guilt. The hastiness of David's decision will shadow his every move for the rest of his life and will lead him to eventually return to Niger and try to make amends.

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  Jaguar: A Story of Africans in America

  Paul Stoller

  Issa Boureima is a young, hip African street vendor who sells knock-off designer bags and hats in an open-air market on 125th street in Harlem. His goal is to become a "Jaguar"—a West African term for a keen entrepreneur able to spot trends and turn a profit in any marketplace. This dynamic world, largely invisible to mainstream culture, is the backdrop of this timely novel.

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  Money Has No Smell: The Africanization of New York City

  Paul Stoller

  In February 1999 the tragic New York City police shooting of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed street vendor from Guinea, brought into focus the existence of West African merchants in urban America. In Money Has No Smell, Paul Stoller offers us a more complete portrait of the complex lives of West African immigrants like Diallo, a portrait based on years of research Stoller conducted on the streets of New York City during the 1990s.

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  Sensuous Scholarship

  Paul Stoller

  Among the Songhay of Mali and Niger, who consider the stomach the seat of personality, learning is understood not in terms of mental activity but in bodily terms. Songhay bards study history by "eating the words of the ancestors," and sorcerers learn their art by ingesting particular substances, by testing their flesh with knives, by mastering pain and illness. In Sensuous Scholarship Paul Stoller challenges contemporary social theorists and cultural critics who—using the notion of embodiment to critique Eurocentric and phallocentric predispositions in scholarly thought—consider the body primarily as a text that can be read and analyzed. Stoller argues that this attitude is in itself Eurocentric and is particularly inappropriate for anthropologists, who often work in societies in which the notion of text, and textual interpretation, is foreign.

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  Stranger in the Village of the Sick: A Memoir of Cancer, Sorcery and Healing

  Paul Stoller

  Stranger in the Village of the Sick follows Stoller down this unexpected path toward personal discovery, growth, and healing. The stories here are about life in the village of the healthy and the village of the sick, and they highlight differences in how illness is culturally perceived. In America and the West, illness is war; we strive to eradicate it from our bodies and lives. In West Africa, however, illness is an ever-present companion, and sorcerers learn to master illnesses like cancer through a combination of acceptance, pragmatism, and patience.

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  The Cinematic Griot: The Ethnography of Jean Rouch

  Paul Stoller

  The most prolific ethnographic filmmaker in the world, a pioneer of cinéma vérité and one of the earliest ethnographers of African societies, Jean Rouch (1917-) remains a controversial and often misunderstood figure in histories of anthropology and film. By examining Rouch's neglected ethnographic writings, Paul Stoller seeks to clarify the filmmaker's true place in anthropology.

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  The Power of the Between: an Anthropological Odyssey

  Paul Stoller

  Beginning with his early days with the Peace Corps in Africa and culminating with a recent bout with cancer, The Power of the Between is an evocative account of the circuitous path Stoller’s life has taken, offering a fascinating depiction of how a career is shaped over decades of reading and research. Stoller imparts his accumulated wisdom not through grandiose pronouncements but by drawing on his gift for storytelling. Tales of his apprenticeship to a sorcerer in Niger, his studies with Claude Lévi-Strauss in Paris, and his friendships with West African street vendors in New York City accompany philosophical reflections on love, memory, power, courage, health, and illness.

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  The Sorcerer's Burden: The Ethnographic Saga of a Global Family

  Paul Stoller

  This book emerges from the author's 35 years of research and thought about the Songhay people of Niger. This ethnographic novel follows the life of Omar Dia, the oldest son of a West African sorcerer. When his father falls ill and dies, the great sorcerer vomits a small metal chain onto his chest. Following the path of his ancestors, Omar swallows the chain, becoming his father's successor, which means that he takes on the sorcerer's burden. The book also describes how custodians of traditional knowledge are creatively adapting to the forces of globalization—all in a highly accessible narrative text.