A collection of Kipling's strangest tales with almost every one accompanied by a linked poem. As an SF fan I am of course delighted that the very first tale in the collection is science fiction "As Easy as A.B.C." the sequel to his "With the Night Mail" It also includes a depiction of hatred on the home front in "Mary Postgate" and contrasting humour in an extended revenge prank aimed at a whole town "The Village that Voted the Earth was Flat". One exceedingly mad tale made no sense the first three times I read it but became much (but not entirely) clearer when I discovered that the key unwritten word was witchcraft. However I will not give the title of that story so I don't entirely spoil it (Peter Dunn)
In this comic masterpiece from the writer of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kippling. The book tells of four friends who team up with a carnival master to exact revenge on a quibbling bureaucrat, accidentally creating an international obsession spiraling beyond their control. Surreal, hilarious, and quintessentially English, it is one of Kipling's least-known works that indeed deserve much attention.
Regulus, a Roman general, defeated the Carthaginians 256 B.C., but was next year defeated and taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, who sent him to Rome with an embassy to ask for peace or an exchange of prisoners. Regulus strongly advised the Roman Senate to make no terms with the enemy. He then returned to Carthage and was put to death. The Fifth Form had been dragged several times in its collective life, from one end of the school Horace to the other. Those were the years when Army examiners gave thousands of marks for Latin, and it was Mr. King's hated business to defeat them. Hear him, then, on a raw November morning at second lesson. 'Aha!' he began, rubbing his hands. 'Cras ingens iterabimus aequor. Our portion to-day is the Fifth Ode of the Third Book, I believe--concerning one Regulus, a gentleman. And how often have we been through it?'
A Publishers Weekly Best Book One of the New York Public Library's "25 Books to Remember" for 1999 Lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched, filled with fascinating facts and astonishing descriptions of animal behavior, Bruce Bagemihl's Biological Exuberance is a landmark book that will change forever how we look at nature. Homosexuality in its myriad forms has been scientifically documented in more than 450 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and other animals worldwide. Biological Exuberance is the first comprehensive account of the subject, bringing together accurate, accessible, and nonsensationalized information. Drawing upon a rich body of zoological research spanning more than two centuries, Bagemihl shows that animals engage in all types of nonreproductive sexual behavior. Sexual and gender expression in the animal world displays exuberant variety, including same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, sex, and co-parenting—even instances of lifelong homosexual bonding in species that do not have lifelong heterosexual bonding. Part 1, "A Polysexual, Polygendered World," begins with a survey of homosexuality, transgender, and nonreproductive heterosexuality in animals and then delves into the broader implications of these findings, including a valuable perspective on human diversity. Bagemihl also examines the hidden assumptions behind the way biologists look at natural systems and suggests a fresh perspective based on the synthesis of contemporary scientific insights with traditional knowledge from indigenous cultures. Part 2, "A Wondrous Bestiary," profiles more than 190 species in which scientific observers have noted homosexual or transgender behavior. Each profile is a verbal and visual "snapshot" of one or more closely related bird or mammal species, containing all the documentation required to support the author's often controversial conclusions.
The more we study the world around us, the more living things we discover every day. The planet is full of millions of species of plants, birds, animals, and microbes, and every single one including us is part of a big, beautiful, complicated pattern. When humans interfere with parts of the pattern, by polluting the air and oceans, taking too much from the sea, and cutting down too many forests, animals and plants begin to disappear. What sort of world would it be if it went from having many types of living things to having just one?--
This book investigates facets of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. It considers design-determining factors and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures.
