A fully revised edition of the acclaimed field guide to the birds of the Middle EastThe Middle East is home to some of the most spectacular birdlife in the world. This field guide covers all species—including vagrants—found in the Arabian Peninsula (including Socotra), Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Cyprus. It features 180 superb color plates depicting some 900 species and subspecies as well as 646 color distribution maps that show the breeding range for almost every species. Maps and detailed species accounts are opposite the plates, making this marvelously illustrated guide ideal for easy reference in the field. Features fully revised and updated text, plates, and maps Covers more than 50 additional species and subspecies Includes more than 100 new illustrations as well as new information on the status and distribution of endemic species Now comes with QR codes of vocalizations
An incisive overview of the macroeconomics of financial crises—essential reading for students and policy experts alikeWith alarming frequency, modern economies go through macro-financial crashes that arise from the financial sector and spread to the broader economy, inflicting deep and prolonged recessions. A Crash Course on Crises brings together the latest cutting-edge economic research to identify the seeds of these crashes, reveal their triggers and consequences, and explain what policymakers can do about them.Each of the book’s ten self-contained chapters introduces readers to a key economic force and provides case studies that illustrate how that force was dominant. Markus Brunnermeier and Ricardo Reis show how the run-up phase of a crisis often occurs in ways that are preventable but that may go unnoticed and discuss how debt contracts, banks, and a search for safety can act as triggers and amplifiers that drive the economy to crash. Brunnermeier and Reis then explain how monetary, fiscal, and exchange-rate policies can respond to crises and prevent them from becoming persistent.With case studies ranging from Chile in the 1970s to the COVID-19 pandemic, A Crash Course on Crises synthesizes a vast literature into ten simple, accessible ideas and illuminates these concepts using novel diagrams and a clear analytical framework.
"If you want to learn about why human welfare overall has gone up so much over time, you should read The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality."--Bill Gates"There is nobody better than Angus Deaton to explain why our lives are longer, healthier, and more prosperous than those of our great-grandparents. The story he tells is much more than an inexorable march of progress--it has also been unequal, uneven, and incomplete, and at each step, politics has played a defining role. This is a must-read for anybody interested in the wealth and health of nations."--Daron Acemoglu, coauthor of Why Nations Fail"At once engaging and compassionate, this is an uplifting story by a major scholar."--Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion"Magisterial and superb."--William Easterly, author of The White Man's Burden"The Great Escape tells the two biggest stories in history: how humanity got healthy and wealthy, and why some people got so much healthier and wealthier than others. Angus Deaton, one of the world's leading development economists, takes us on an extraordinary journey--from an age when almost everyone was poor and sick to one where most people have escaped these evils--and he tells us how the billion still trapped in extreme poverty can join in this great escape. Everyone who wants to understand the twenty-first century should read this book."--Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules--for Now"Deaton's account of global advances in health is magisterial. It is especially convincing in disentangling economic progress from technological growth as sources of health improvements. A very big story, this book should affect the way we think about human development and the role of science and science-based government programs. The language is modest and graceful, the use of evidence compelling, and the illustrations highly attractive."--Samuel Preston, University of Pennsylvania"This factual, sober, and very timely book deals with issues surrounding the higher incomes and longer lives enjoyed by an increasing proportion of the world's population. It assesses improvements in conditions that would have seemed almost a fantasy for people living only a few generations ago. Deaton's arguments, written in an elegant and accessible style, are powerful and challenge conventional opinions."--Branko Milanovic, author of The Haves and the Have-Nots"This splendid book discusses how, in the last two hundred fifty years, large numbers of people have achieved levels of well-being that were previously available only to a few individuals, and how this achievement has given rise to equally unprecedented inequalities. Unique in its focus and scope, exceptional knowledge and coherence, and careful argumentation, The Great Escape is highly illuminating and a delight to read."--Thomas Pogge, Yale University
From the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times bestselling coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, candid reflections on the economist's craft When economist Angus Deaton immigrated to the United States from Britain in the early 1980s, he was awed by America's strengths and shocked by the extraordinary gaps he witnessed between people. Economics in America explains in clear terms how the field of economics addresses the most pressing issues of our time--from poverty, retirement, and the minimum wage to the ravages of the nation's uniquely disastrous health care system--and narrates Deaton's account of his experiences as a naturalized US citizen and academic economist. Deaton is witty and pulls no punches. In this incisive, candid, and funny book, he describes the everyday lives of working economists, recounting the triumphs as well as the disasters, and tells the inside story of the Nobel Prize in economics and the journey that led him to Stockholm to receive one. He discusses the ongoing tensions between economics and politics--and the extent to which economics has any content beyond the political prejudices of economists--and reflects on whether economists bear at least some responsibility for the growing despair and rising populism in America. Blending rare personal insights with illuminating perspectives on the social challenges that confront us today, Deaton offers a disarmingly frank critique of his own profession while shining a light on his adopted country's policy accomplishments and failures.
This is the tale of the modern Space Age, detailing all the risks, rewards and rivalries that have fueled space exploration over the decades. Jump into a world of ambitious entrepreneurs and determined spacefaring nations, of secret spy satellites and espionage, of all the cooperative and competing interests vying for dominance in ways little known to the public. Written by an Italian aeronautical engineer with over thirty years of experience in government and private industry, this English translation explains how and why the game has fundamentally evolved and where it is headed next. Exploring such topics as GPS and cyberspace, the economics of private and public industry and the political motivations of emerging spacefaring powerhouses like China, this book is an engaging foray into the ongoing battle for our terrestrial home through extraterrestrial means.
Why leaders, not citizens, are the driving force in Europe’s crisis of democracyAn apparent explosion of support for right-wing populist parties has triggered widespread fears that liberal democracy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. Democracy Erodes from the Top reveals that the real crisis stems not from an increasingly populist public but from political leaders who exploit or mismanage the chronic vulnerabilities of democracy.In this provocative book, Larry Bartels dismantles the pervasive myth of a populist wave in contemporary European public opinion. While there has always been a substantial reservoir of populist sentiment, Europeans are no less trusting of their politicians and parliaments than they were two decades ago, no less enthusiastic about European integration, and no less satisfied with the workings of democracy. Anti-immigrant sentiment has waned. Electoral support for right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, reflecting the idiosyncratic successes of populist entrepreneurs, the failures of mainstream parties, and media hype. Europe’s most sobering examples of democratic backsliding—in Hungary and Poland—occurred not because voters wanted authoritarianism but because conventional conservative parties, once elected, seized opportunities to entrench themselves in power.By demonstrating the inadequacy of conventional bottom-up interpretations of Europe’s political crisis, Democracy Erodes from the Top turns our understanding of democratic politics upside down.
A global history of commercial and cultural exchange between two great powers of the medieval ageIn the mid-thirteenth century, Europe was shaken by the Mongol invasions. Realizing the immense potential for accessing remote markets in the East, Venetian merchants, diplomats, and seafarers established far-flung commercial networks with the Mongol Empire. Venice and the Mongols tells the story of this dynamic new era in world history, one that saw one of the most advanced maritime powers of the age bridge East and West in a new global marketplace created by the Mongol conquests. In a panoramic narrative spanning nearly two centuries, Nicola Di Cosmo and Lorenzo Pubblici describe how Mongolian support of European merchants allowed for the exchange of goods and ideas across their vast empire, and how cooperation with the khans enabled the Venetian city-state to trade safely, grow its influence, and expand its territory eastward while opening Europe to new markets. Di Cosmo and Pubblici shed light on trade practices, legal structures, and cultural relations, and share new perspectives on Marco Polo's travels in Mongol-controlled territories. They examine Venetian strategies in the face of Mongol and Genoese rivalry and show how the city-state adapted to the challenges posed by the decline of Mongol authority and the ascendance of the Ottomans in the latter half of the fourteenth century. Blending vivid storytelling with rich archival research, Venice and the Mongols challenges conventional perspectives on the Mongols as mere agents of destruction and shows how Venice ushered in a new era of commerce and diplomacy in an interconnected medieval world.
Most people will say something feels terribly wrong...with reality, the world, life. Why is that? Because something is wrong. This whole experience called "life on Earth" is a falsified lie. Standard spirituality, religion and the New Age tell us that we live in a wonderful world, made by a creator who loves us, and who is always waiting for our prayers. Yet some groups, such as the Gnostics and Cathars, believed that we live in a virtual reality simulation, fashioned by an evil creator, with the purpose of consuming our energy and keeping our soul trapped. Plato created the allegory of the Cave to present that we live in a non- real reality, and in fact, are prisoners in it. Exit the Cave takes a candid exploration into the reincarnation trap, by unpacking a plethora of diverse information from ancient texts and near death experiences, to movies such as Dark City and Westworld in an attempt to deconstruct and understand Plato's Cave allegory. Most significant of it all, is how important it is to be prepared at the moment of one's death - our only true "guaranteed experience." What awaits us on the other side of turning our back on constant incarnations in a pit of suffering? Perhaps it is what our soul has been dreaming of for eons... going Home.
How the Einsteinian revolution can be understood as the result of a long-term evolution of science The revolution that emerged from Albert Einstein's work in the early twentieth century transformed our understanding of space, time, motion, gravity, matter, and radiation. Beginning with Einstein's miracle year of 1905 and continuing through his development of the theory of general relativity, Einstein spurred a revolution that continues to reverberate in modern-day physics. In The Einsteinian Revolution, Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn trace the century-long transformation of classical physics and argue that the revolution begun by Einstein was in fact the result of a long-term evolution. Describing the origins and context of Einstein's innovative research, Gutfreund and Renn work to dispel the popular myth of Einstein as a lone genius who brought about a revolution in physics through the power of his own pure thought. We can only understand the birth of modern physics, they say, if we understand the long history of the evolution of knowledge. Gutfreund and Renn outline the essential structures of the knowledge system of classical physics on which Einstein drew. Examining Einstein's discoveries from 1905 onward, they describe the process by which new concepts arose and the basis of modern physics emerged. These transformations continued, eventually resulting in the establishment of quantum physics and general relativity as the two major conceptual frameworks of modern physics-and its two unreconciled theoretical approaches. Gutfreund and Renn note that Einstein was dissatisfied with this conceptual dichotomy and began a search for a unified understanding of physics-a quest that continued for the rest of his life.
Using everyday computational power to tackle complexand seemingly unsolvablemath problemsConfronted by a math problem of seemingly impenetrable difficulty, what can you do? In The Delicate Art of Brute Force, Paul Nahin shows how even if you cant solve such a problem, you can still get an answer. The computational power of your own computerthe desktop in your home office, the laptop on your coffee tablecan be deployed to overwhelm a problems complexity through a massive number-crunching assault. Nahin presents a series of apparently intractable math problems and shows the thought process that allows computational solution. Most of the problems are not abstract constructions but originate in the real worldone chapter is titled How Wi-Fi Coverage and Anti-Submarine Warfare Are the Same. For each one, Nahin compares computational and analytical approaches, demonstrating how well the computer solutions agree with theory. As a bonus, sometimes the computational solution is better, giving more insight or greater flexibility.Along the way, Nahin traces the evolution of high-speed electronic computation, explaining that it upended the way analysts approach complex math problems. After the postwar debut of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and the ever more powerful electronic computers that came afterward, problems that were simply too difficult or messy for analytical treatment could be defeated by the application of pure brute forcethe ability of computers to perform an enormous number of simple operations in just minutes. Today, we can harness that computational power from our couches. Accessible to anyone whos mastered high school calculus, this engaging book gives both mathematicians and nonmathematicians plenty to think about. Autorid: Paul J. Nahin
A groundbreaking study of one of the most important and influential artists of the postwar periodJoseph Beuys (19211986) was one of the most significant artists of the twentieth centuryand one of the most controversial. Working in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, he explored a radically expanded concept of art through a practice that ranged from performative actions to large-scale sculptural ensembles. While some contemporaries found his claim that everyone is an artist liberating, even revolutionary, others accused him of fostering a dangerous cult of personality. In Joseph Beuys and History, the first rigorous art historical study of the artist in English, Daniel Spaulding presents a striking new interpretation of Beuyss work and career.By putting Beuys in the context of Germanys postwar recovery, Spaulding shows that the artists superimposed biological, political, and economic metaphors offered a powerful way to think about the trajectory of human freedom, the place of art in capitalist modernity, and the possibility of an ecological aesthetics. At the same time, his oeuvres disquieting echoes of the Nazi past suggest that not everything could be reconciled in what Beuys called social sculpture.A definitive account of an often-misunderstood figure, Joseph Beuys and History proposes an ambitious rewriting of the dominant narrative of modern and contemporary art, drawing from Marxian value-form theory, Hans Blumenbergs metaphorology, and ecological thought. Precisely because Beuys went to the extremes of art, the book demonstrates, he belongs at the center of its history. Autorid: Daniel Spaulding
Pre-order the must-have cosy crime novel of the year! Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Ian Moore and Robert Thorogood!Having won the Golden Trowel Award for best community gardening club, Gill and the Bromley Botanists are poised to turn the Chequered Lawns Golf Club into a flower farm.Confident they can succeed with their new plan, Gill has already handed in her notice at Chislehurst Green Insurance and Mike has left Dobbies. The soil beneath the pristine turf of the eighteen hole golf club looks rich and fertile. Life is looking up. But before they've even broken ground with a digger, the Bromley Botanists' golden trowel starts to lose its shine...When a dead body turns up during excavation work the golf club becomes a crime scene, and once again The Gardeners Club turn their attention to tracking down the truth in order to save their dream.As the motley crew come together once again, it's up to Gill and her friends to dig deep into the past to let their future bloom!
How Frederick the Great and George Washington embody the competition between liberal democracy and authoritarianism Both Frederick the Great and George Washington saw themselves as model rulers exemplifying different modes of enlightened governance. Frederick, absolute ruler of Prussia, styled himself as the embodiment of enlightenment from above; Washington, as the first president of the United States, held himself accountable to Congress, with the power of the presidency subject to checks and balances. In this unique study, Jürgen Overhoff traces the parallel lives of two of the most important and influential statesmen of the eighteenth century, from their early years to their ascension to political power and their historical legacies. Overhoff considers the significance of each man not only in the context of his own country but in the larger geopolitical space of Atlantic history. Overhoff describes how Washington admired Fredericks actions during the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War) in the 1750s, when Frederick allied with the British and North Americans. Later, Frederick was impressed by Washingtons leadership of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Prussia and the United States even signed a friendship treaty after the war. But, as Overhoff shows, the two men had very different ideas about the principles of the Enlightenment, monarchy, and democracy. Despite his Enlightenment bona fides, Frederick ruled Prussia by edict and decree, always with the goal of maintaining his own power. Washington famously stepped down after two terms in office. Overhoff argues convincingly that the political trajectories of Frederick and Washington shed light on the contemporary clash between authoritarianism and democracy. Autorid: Jürgen Overhoff, Patrick Baker
A guide to learning basic programming by writing fun, working programs that gradually become more complexThis classroom-tested, workbook-style text teaches basic programming by guiding readers to write Python programs that mimic interactive chatbots. Unlike textbooks with opaque examples explained in dry, monotonous code, Python Practice Lab engages readers immediately, with more than thirty motivating and hands-on examples. Readers learn by writing fun, working programs that gradually become more difficult as new concepts are introduced. Most exercises are open ended, promoting creativity in the process of learning. Along with coding practice, the book offers brief introductions to a range of other topics in computer science, including recommendation systems, computer vision, and big data, and relates these subjects to the programming concepts covered in the book. Python Practice Lab will be an essential resource for anyone who wants to learn to program, instructors teaching Python to beginners, and students who want to supplement their coursework by building compete and functional programs.Uses natural language and text strings rather than math as the main building blocks for learning about program structureRewrites code comprehension exercises in equivalent code with inclusive and approachable variables rather than terse, single-letter variablesChallenges readers to write a full program in each chapterPresents a selection of projects at the end of the book that integrates the concepts introduced in previous chapters Autorid: Angelica Lim, Victor Cheung
A lively and engaging guide to vital habits of mind that can help you think more deeply, write more effectively, and learn more joyfullyHow to Think like Shakespeare is a brilliantly fun exploration of the craft of thoughtone that demonstrates what weve lost in education today, and how we might begin to recover it. In fourteen brief chapters that draw from Shakespeares world and works, and from other writers past and present, Scott Newstok distills enduring practices that can make learning more creative and pleasurable.Challenging a host of today's questionable notions about education, Newstok shows how mental play emerges through work, creativity through imitation, autonomy through tradition, innovation through constraint, and freedom through discipline. It was these practices, and a conversation with the pastnot a fruitless obsession with assessmentthat nurtured a mind like Shakespeare's. And while few of us can hope to approach the genius of the Bard, we can all learn from the exercises that shaped him.Written in a friendly, conversational tone and brimming with insights, How to Think like Shakespeare enacts the thrill of thinking on every page, reviving timelessand timelyways to stretch your mind and hone your words. Autorid: Scott Newstok
A bold new conception of the republic for a planet in crisisRepublicanism is arguably the most powerful political idea in history, an extraordinary feat of human imagination that balances individual liberty with collective responsibility. The Environmental Republic reclaims this idea as the path to sustaining our life together on a changing planet, reframing our relationship to the environment not as a constraint on liberty but as its republican foundation.Giulio Boccaletti argues that we must renew our commitment to freedom and civic responsibility through popular sovereignty. He presents the environmental republic as a necessary alternative to blind faith in technocratic management, the shallow moralizing and apocalyptic rhetoric of some activists, and the disingenuous skepticism of vested interests. Our environmental challenges are not simply about “agreeing on the facts” or living within technical limitations—they reflect a deeper failure of political institutions. Drawing on the history of ideas and real-world examples, Boccaletti presents a political framework that places our relationship to our surroundings at the heart of how we exercise our voice, coordinate collective action, and define development itself.Offering hope in an anxious age of rising authoritarianism and widespread pessimism, The Environmental Republic challenges the false choice between environmental protection and human freedom, showing how place-based institutions can deliver both sustainability and human development through true self-governance.
A stunningly illustrated exploration of the lives of wolves around the worldHunted to near extinction, wolves evoke a sense of our planet’s dwindling wildernesses. Rather than fear them, we should better understand the crucial role they play in ecosystems throughout the world. This engaging, fact-filled book shares insights into the family histories, relationships, and significant life challenges of wolves while linking them to broader questions about wildlife conservation and management. Written by a world-renowned expert in wolf behavior and reintroduction, Wolf: The Illustrated Biography offers a unique perspective on these charismatic animals, charting the life stories of wolves in all their diversity and complexity. Profiles wolves from North America, Europe, and Asia, describing their key characteristics, habitats, distinguishing features, common prey, and distinctive behaviors Discusses evolutionary history, biology, ecology, taxonomy, and past and current geographical distribution Covers key stages in the lives of wolves, from pregnancy and den building to birth and adolescence, play fights and learning to hunt, traveling with and leaving the pack, social hierarchy and bonds within packs, communication, territoriality, and more Emphasizes the leadership role of alpha females in the everyday life of the pack Explores the complex relationship between wolves and humans throughout history Considers the prospects for wolf populations in an age of accelerating environmental degradation
How a modern radio works, told through mathematics, history, and selected puzzlesThe modern radio is a wonder, and behind that magic is mathematics. In The Mathematical Radio, Paul Nahin explains how radios work, deploying mathematics and historical discussion, accompanied by a steady stream of intriguing puzzles for math buffs to ponder. Beginning with oscillators and circuits, then moving on to AM, FM, and single-sideband radio, Nahin focuses on the elegant mathematics underlying radio technology rather than the engineering. He explores and explains more than a century of key developments, placing them in historical and technological context.Nahin, a prolific author of books on math for the general reader, describes in fascinating detail the mathematical underpinnings of a technology we use daily. He explains and solves, for example, Maxwell’s equations for the electromagnetic field. Readers need only a familarity with advanced high school–level math to follow Nahin’s mathematical discussions. Writing with the nonengineer in mind, Nahin examines topics including impulses in time and frequency, spectrum shifting at the transmitter, the superheterodyne, the physics of single-sideband radio, and FM sidebands. Chapters end with "challenge problems” and an appendix offers solutions, partial answers, and hints. Readers will come away with a new appreciation for the beauty of even the most useful mathematics.
Valmistu lõpututeks elamusteks LEGO® City Lava Landi Ameerika mägedel! Roni vagunisse ja sõida vulkaani tippu. Siis lase gravitatsioonil võtta kontroll, kui sa mööda rada kihutad, vallandades kukkuva tulise laavakivi. Hüppa pöörlevale kaevanduskärudega karussellile või külasta kommiletti, suveniirikioskit või mänguautomaati. Aga ole ettevaatlik, sest seal on suur kivikoletis! AMEERIKA MÄGEDE EHITUSKOMPLEKT – Lapsed saavad nautida põnevaid sõite funktsioonirohke LEGO® City Lava Landi Ameerika mägede (60501) mudelikomplektiga, mis on mõeldud lõbustusparkide fännidele 8 MINIFIGUURI ROLLIMÄNGUDEKS – Seiklusjanulistel lastel on kõik vajalik lõputute lugude jutustamiseks paljude tegelastega, sealhulgas täiskasvanud pargikülastajad, päevalillekaelapaelaga laps ja liigutatav kivikoletis REALISTLIKUD SÕIDUFUNKTSIOONID – Käivita 3 vaguniga rong Ameerika mägede tipust, et vallandada kukkuv laavakivi, seejärel keera nuppu, et panna kaevanduskärudega karussell pöörlema LOOVAD DETAILID – Lõbusad seiklused ootavad mänguasjade teemapargis, kus on kommikiosk, mänguautomaat, suveniiripood, atraktsioonikaamera ja minifiguuride tarvikud KINGIIDEED LASTELE – See komplekt on suurepärane sünnipäeva- või pühadekingitus 8-aastastele ja vanematele poistele ja tüdrukutele, kes armastavad Ameerika mägede mänguasju ja põnevaid teemaparke Rohkem LEGO® CITY seiklusi, mida avastada – Lapsed saavad laiendada oma mängumaailma, liites Lava Landi Ameerika mäed teistele LEGO® City tootevaliku komplektidele (müüakse eraldi) DIGITAALNE JUHEND – Avasta rakendus LEGO® Builder, kus lapsed saavad suumida ja pöörata mudeleid 3D-vaates, jälgida ehituse edenemist ning avastada teisi komplekte Mõõdud – 1165-osaline komplekt teemapargimudeliga, mille kõrgus on 27 cm, laius 54 cm ja sügavus 27 cm
A panoramic history of America’s first climate migrantsFrom the mid-nineteenth century through the dustbowl years of the Great Depression, a new kind of migrant worker became a familiar sight in communities across America. The Hobo traces the journeys of these homeless men and woman, showing how hobo work was an adaptation to energy transitions and a harsh and unpredictable climate, and how the hobo played a central role in the histories of industrialization and westward expansion.Challenging common depictions of the hobo as a world-weary, bearded man in ragged clothes, Robert Suits reveals how these wandering laborers were often fastidious and heartbreakingly young. Forever on the move due to economic hardship and climate disaster, they chased harvests and took seasonal jobs in industries like logging and mining. Too often they couldn’t find employment at all. Suits describes the difficult, dangerous, and highly unstable jobs they worked while shedding light on the hobo life and philosophy, from their techniques for stowing away on railroads to their unique blend of socialist, anarchist, and anti-work thought. He traces the emergence of the hobo to the advent of steam and the need for manual laborers in places where this new technology couldn’t reach and describes how a growing reliance on the internal combustion engine brought an end to hobo work.Drawing on oral histories, environmental data, and cutting-edge digital methods, The Hobo paints an unforgettable portrait of an eclectic group of wandering radicals, troublemakers, poets, and writers, demonstrating how their experiences upend some of our basic assumptions about how environments and technologies shape society.
"A fascinating look into the origins of modern man."—Publishers Weekly"Authoritative."—New York Times • "A masterpiece."—Wilson QuarterlyUnraveling the mystery surrounding the ancient mother tongue that gave us English and other languages spoken by half the worldRoughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization. Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries—the source of the Indo-European languages and English—and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.
