https://arab.news/9sqwd
Authors: Richard V. Fisher, Grant Heiken, And Jeffrey Hulen
Whenever a volcano threatens to erupt, scientists and adventurers from around the world flock to the site in response to the irresistible allure of one of nature’s most dangerous and unpredictable phenomena.
In a unique book probing the science and mystery of these fiery features, the authors chronicle not only their geologic behavior but also their profound effect on human life.
Author: DONALD R. PROTHERO
After the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, mammals became the dominant terrestrial life form on our planet. Roaming the earth were spectacular beasts such as saber-toothed cats, giant mastodonts, immense ground sloths, and gigantic giraffe-like rhinoceroses.
Here is the ultimate illustrated field guide to the lost world of these weird and wonderful prehistoric creatures.
Author: Shannon Mattern
Computational models of urbanism—smart cities that use data-driven planning and algorithmic administration —promise to deliver new urban efficiencies and conveniences. Yet these models limit our understanding of what we can know about a city.
“A City Is Not a Computer” reveals how cities encompass myriad forms of local and indigenous intelligences and knowledge institutions, arguing that these resources are a vital supplement and corrective to increasingly prevalent algorithmic models.
RIYDH: A Saudi researcher has written a book shedding light on around 125 inscriptions from the first three Hijri centuries.
Saad bin Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri’s 219-page “Islamic Inscriptions from Aliyat Najd” is split into two sections.
The first covers Aliyat Najd and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, Najd and its borders, and the pilgrimage and trade routes passing through Aliyat Najd, while the second details inscriptions, and their interpretation.
Some of the roadside inscriptions help depict the religious, economic, and literature aspects of the period.
Al-Tuwaijri collected inscriptions from 26 locations – Al-Dawadmi, Al-Neer, Umm Rakah, Muraifik, Arwa, Al-Diniah, Muhayriqah, Shatab, Masel Al-Jumh, Turban, Al-Thainiyya, Muraykha, Al-Sabaan, Musayira Al-Thunduwa, Al-Khais, Al-Soudha, Al-Alam, Sokman, Smeghan, Samra, east of Masel Al-Jumh, Hellit, Dariyah, Moisel, Al-Yankir, and Al-Huwar.
He was able to categorize them based on their implications, such as religious, prayers, Qur’anic verses, literature, poetry, and memorial.
Based on the way the letters were drawn, he estimated that the inscriptions dated back to the first three Hijri centuries and from them was able to identify tribes that had settled or visited the areas.
The inscriptions provide an insight into the movements and economic activities of the region’s inhabitants, along with the natural resources found in the area.
Al-Tuwaijri faced several challenges including the expansive area, difficult terrain, and lack of studies on Islamic inscriptions in Najd.
Author: Hector Beltran
In “Code Work,” Hector Beltran examines Mexican and Latinx coders’ personal strategies of self-making as they navigate a transnational economy of tech work.
Beltran shows how these hackers apply concepts from the code worlds to their lived experiences, deploying batches, loose coupling, iterative processing (looping), hacking, prototyping, and full-stack development in their daily social interactions—at home, in the workplace, on the dating scene, and in their understanding of the economy, culture, and geopolitics.
Author: Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
The Yuan dynasty endured for a century, leaving behind an architectural legacy without equal, from palaces, temples, and pagodas to pavilions, tombs, and stages.
With a history enlivened by the likes of Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, this spectacular empire spanned the breadth of China and far, far beyond, but its rulers were Mongols.
“Yuan” presents the first comprehensive study in English of the architecture of China under Mongol rule.
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt looks at cities such as the legendary Shangdu as well as the architecture the Mongols encountered on their routes of conquest.
She examines the buildings and monuments of diverse faiths in China during the period, from Buddhist and Daoist to Confucian, Islamic, and Christian, as well as unusual structures. Steinhardt dispels long-standing views of the Mongols as destroyers of cities and architecture across Asia, showing how the khans and their families built more than they tore down.
