Martin Palmer – författare

SACRED LAND will enable you to discover the hidden secrets and meaning of the landscape around you, town or country, modern or old, wherever you live in Britain. There has been a dramatic growth in interest in our own history, buildings, landscape, sacred places, beliefs and culture over the last few years and this book will equip you with the tools to unlock the meaning, stories and history that are literally embedded in our landscape. It takes us from street names to churches; from hill forts to burial mounds; from the way a road bends to the shapes of fields in order to understand better the land that lies beneath our feet. In the literal shape of our countryside can be detected the eddies of time, politics, belief, warfare, passion and the durability of the human existence.SACRED LAND is a fascinating, accessible read and the perfect reference guide to have in your home or in your car. It will be of interest to everyone who loves history, sacred places and sacred history, and those who like to explore their ancestry and roots.

This book, arising from over twenty years experience of working with the world's major faiths, draws extensively upon joint World Bank and ARC (Alliance of Religion & Conservation) /WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature) projects world wide. It shows, through stories, land management, myths, investment policies, legends, advocacy and celebration, the role the major faiths have, do and can play in making the world a better place. The major faiths are the oldest institutions in the world and have survived essentially because they are constantly evolving and changing. There is much to be learnt by newer institutions such as the World Bank and the multitudes of NGOs about how to remain true to what you believe but change and grow as you develop. The book explores issues of climate change, forestry, asset management, education and biodiversity protection and does so using the techniques of the great faiths - storytelling, example and celebration. It reveals a variety of world views and it asks us to see that our personal view may be just one amongst many.The challenge of living with integrity in a pluralist world underlies the book and it offers models of how diversity is crucial in attempting to ensure we have a sustainable world.

The Memoirs of the AMS is devoted to the publication of new research in all areas of pure and applied mathematics. The Memoirs is designed particularly to publish long papers of groups of cognate papers in book form, and is under the supervision of the Editorial Committee of the AMS journal Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. All papers are peer-reviewed.

Walk down the streets of Chinatown in any city and look around. She is there. Walk through the downtown streets, look in a shop window. She is there. Go to any city in China and open your eyes. She is there, too. Kuan Yin is the most ubiquitous Chinese deity—and the most loved. She is the living expression of compassion whose gentle face and elegant figure form the centre of devotion in most Chinese homes and workplaces. Until relatively recently, she was barely known in the West, and few studies had been made of her. Originally published as Kuan Yin by Harper Collins in 1995 (and republished as The Kuan Yin Chronicles by Hampton Roads in 2009), this seminal work explores the origins and evolution of the goddess in ancient China, early Buddhism, Taoism, and shamanism. Religious scholar Martin Palmer and Chinese divination expert Man-Ho Kwok discuss the Kuan Yin myths and stories, and Jay Ramsay provides fresh translations of 100 Kuan Yin poems that function both as literature and divination tools.

The world's religions have emerged as one of the great geopolitical forces shaping our lives. Understanding these beliefs is crucial to understanding ethnic tension and the clash of cultures, as well as being fundamental to world peace. Even where people have moved away from formal religious practices, the legacies of traditional beliefs continue to inform their sense of self, and their values and customs. This atlas maps the impact of major world religions, their divisions and contemporary challenges. It shows, country by country, how religions spread their influence through broadcasting, missionary work, education and banking; how they relate to governments; how they help to alleviate the effect of poverty; and the role they play in conflict. The atlas covers a wide range of topics including new religious movementsatheism and agnosticism ethical investment persecution and recovery aidsexual equality the environment Plus the book includes an essential reference table on the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has had a rapid impact on the library world. Its advantage over other technologies used in libraries is usually seen to be its ability to combine the functions of the barcode and the security tag, but with the added advantages of being able to read multiple items seemingly simultaneously without need of line of sight. The customer-friendly self-service that this combination of features makes possible is at the heart of the attraction of RFID for most libraries. This practical and straightforward book is designed to help library managers decide whether RFID has anything to offer them and – if so – how to make the most of the benefits while coping with the challenges inherent in this rapidly developing technology. It also offers many further sources of information to follow up. Applicable to all types of libraries, its contents include:RFID, libraries and the wider worldRFID in libraries: the background and the basicsRFID, library applications and the library management systemstandards and interoperabilityprivacyRFID and health and safetyRFID and library designbuilding a business case for RFID in libraries, and requesting proposalsstaffing: savings, redeployment or something else?buying a system: evaluating the offersinstalling RFID: project managementmaking the most of RFID: a case studyRFID, libraries and the future. Readership: RFID has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of library service delivery. Written by an expert in the field, this book is a very worthwhile investment for all those library professionals considering converting to RFID for their libraries, as well as those who are implementing it already.