Michael Atkinson – författare

This book provides practical and buildable solutions for the design of foundations for housing and other low-rise buildings, especially those on abnormal or poor ground. A wealth of expert information and advice is brought together dealing with the key aspects a designer must consider in order to achieve effective and economic foundation designs. This second edition of Structural Foundations Manual for Low-Rise Buildings has been completely updated in line with the new government guidelines on contaminated land and brown-field sites. The book includes well-detailed design solutions and calculations, actual case histories, illustrations, design charts and check lists, making it a user-friendly reference for contractors, structural engineers, architects and students who have to deal with foundations for low-rise buildings on sites with difficult ground conditions.

The Secret Marriage of Sherlock Holmes is about reading, a process that we take for granted. But Sherlock Holmes, the cultural icon to whose exploits Michael Atkinson gives new readings, became famous by taking nothing for granted. Holmes's adventures can be read in new ways, including ways that he himself would have found startling, but which can give contemporary readers satisfaction. In clear, accessible prose that will engage specialists and lay readers alike, Atkinson engages in "a series of flirtations" with nine of Arthur Conan Doyle's favorite detective fictions, using the tools of modern literary theory, from depth psychology to deconstruction. Bluebeard, the kundalini serpent, and Conan Doyle's mother pop up alongside Jung, Nietzsche, and Derrida as guides to new understandings of these classic stories. Just as Holmes uses treatises on tobacco ash and tattoos to give fresh readings to puzzling facts, Atkinson employs widely different critical strategies to unravel the mysteries of reading itself. "What a delightful book! This is surely the most interesting writing you will ever read about Sherlock Holmes, but it is much more. Michael Atkinson gives us literary criticism at its best: the sheer fun of watching a bold and imaginative reader breathe into well-loved, but well-worn, fictions new and enchanting life. Atkinson's mind races as nimbly as Holmes's own, and he makes the stories our hansom cab through human nature itself. A tour de force!" ---Norman N. Holland, author of Murder in a Dephi Seminar"A book that speaks directly to readers. . . Atkinson sees far beneath the surface of the Sherlock stories to provide fascinating commentary." ---Cincinnati Post"Atkinson demonstrates a love and knowledge of the Holmes stories. . . I would recommend The Secret Marriage of Sherlock Holmes enthusiastically to any lover of the Canon who is prepared to have their perceptions widened." ---Mystery Writers of America Michael Atkinson is Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Cincinnati.

This book comprises a collection of papers from participants at the IMCS Workshop on Computational and Geometric Aspects of Modern Algebra, held at Heriot-Watt University in 1998. Written by leading researchers, the papers cover a wide range of topics in the vibrant areas of word problems in algebra and geometric group theory. This book represents a timely record of recent work and provides an indication of the key areas of future development.

In the chapters of his 'Physics' commented on here, Aristotle disagrees with Pre-Socratic philosophers about the basic principles that explain natural changes. But he finds some agreement among them that at least two contrary properties must be involved, for example hot and cold. His own view is that there are two contrary principles at a more abstract level: the form possessed at the end of a change and the privation of that form at the beginning. But there is also a third principle needed to supply continuity - the matter to which first privation and later form belong. Despite the apparent disagreements, Simplicius, the Neoplatonist commentator, wants to emphasise the harmony of all pagan Greek thinkers, as opposed to Christians, on such a basic matter as first principles. He therefore presents not only the Pre-Socratics and Aristotle, but also himself and earlier commentators of different schools as all in basic agreement.

Traceable as far back as the work of the path-breaking Chicago School of Sociology in the 1920s and 1930s, subculture and counterculture have long been conceptual staples of the discipline. Implemented originally to designate and describe smaller, often deviant or delinquent, groups within larger social communities, the terms gained pace in their use in mid-twentieth century criminological research, and especially with the development of Cultural Studies in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where they became widely used to describe processes of social class-based opposition, resistance and protest. More recently, sociologists have moved beyond a strict conformity-resistance model in accounting for the behaviour of sub-communities that coalesce around particular values, behaviours, or preferences.Indeed, contemporary sociological research has raised the possibility that the term subculture in particular may have entirely outgrown its usefulness. While the term counterculture has also languished, there is no doubt that the sorts of social groups to which these terms have historically referred are more extensive and colourful than ever. Certainly this is the case in sport. Put simply, all societies are replete with their own versions of Tribal Play which encompass and represent wider social patterns, processes, and struggles.This volume is a collection of 16 readings on aspects of sub-community life in sport that showcases the breadth and depth of sport subcultural research by a group of international scholars representing varied theoretical and methodological orientations. Some of the sport communities examined include soccer hooligans, endurance athletes, disabled athletes, environmentally conscious surfers, and X-Games participants.This fourth volume in the "Research in the Sociology of Sport" series is edited by two sociologists whose academic training, research and teaching span three of the subdisciplines in which the concepts of subculture and counterculture have been most avidly used and critically tested (Criminology/Youth/Sport), and whose subcultural ventures both in sport and as sociologists are extensive. Michael Atkinson is Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Loughborough University in the UK, and Kevin Young is Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary, Canada.

Offers a cross section of international fringe cinema.Outside the shrinking American film-culture market there is a vast movie-crazed world where madmen, geniuses, and apostates roam freely, subject to a relatively minimal degree of corporate industry and spin control. In Exile Cinema, prominent film critics profile the oeuvres of working, thriving international filmmakers-from Bela Tarr to Judith Helfand, from Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Guy Maddin to Chantal Akerman and Michele Soavi, from Chris Marker to the newest thresholds of contemporary film. These filmmakers battle the greatest odds a modern artist can face: the opposition of mass culture at large and a medium that requires enormous expenditures in every stage of production and distribution. Naturally, the average American moviehead rarely gets a chance to see these marginalized directors' work and often knows about them only through dazzled rumors and rhapsodic hearsay. Whimsical and deeply subjective, the viewpoints and evangelisms in Exile Cinema will serve as salve for the cineaste's lonesome fury.

Looking back on a century that witnessed the emergence of motion pictures to become, almost immediately, a dominant cultural force in our lives, this penetrating and provocative book argues that “movies (like cathedrals) cannot help but display the subconscious impulses oftheir society.” From D.W. Griffith to the Marx Brothers to film noir, “what are conceived and consumed as innocent pop movies ... are in fact manifestations of wild horror, superstitious ignorance, fatalistic dread and bigoted savagery.”

Many myths surround male bodies and associated bodywork, especially when such bodywork is labelled culturally or socially atypical or 'problematic'. Bodybuilding, for example, has been explained in terms of gender inadequacy and an 'Adonis complex' akin to reverse anorexia, while men electing to undergo aesthetic cosmetic surgery are deemed 'too concerned' about their appearance and thus woman-like. Myths also discredit men and boys who do not engage in appropriate bodywork when this is expected. For instance, amidst public health concerns surrounding a so-called 'obesity epidemic', men and boys who resist physical activity and/or attempts to promote a 'healthy weight' are deemed ignorant, apathetic and in need of correction. Drawing on extensive field research conducted in North America and Britain over a twenty year period, this book challenges such masculine myth making. Mindful of a rich sociological tradition that seeks to understand the social world as lived and experienced, the authors provide insights that are likely to challenge common perceptions of various groups of men and boys, their diverse physical cultures, shared ways of being and identities. Presenting empirically grounded understandings of diverse bodily practices and discourses including bodybuilding, cosmetic surgery, dieting and nightclub security, Challenging Myths of Masculinity will appeal to scholars of sociology, geography and cultural studies, with interests in gender, embodiment and masculinities.

This book provides practical and buildable solutions for the design of foundations for housing and other low-rise buildings, especially those on abnormal or poor ground. A wealth of expert information and advice is brought together dealing with the key aspects a designer must consider in order to achieve effective and economic foundation designs. This second edition of Structural Foundations Manual for Low-Rise Buildings has been completely updated in line with the new government guidelines on contaminated land and brown-field sites. The book includes well-detailed design solutions and calculations, actual case histories, illustrations, design charts and check lists, making it a user-friendly reference for contractors, structural engineers, architects and students who have to deal with foundations for low-rise buildings on sites with difficult ground conditions.

Many myths surround male bodies and associated bodywork, especially when such bodywork is labelled culturally or socially atypical or 'problematic'. Bodybuilding, for example, has been explained in terms of gender inadequacy and an 'Adonis complex' akin to reverse anorexia, while men electing to undergo aesthetic cosmetic surgery are deemed 'too concerned' about their appearance and thus woman-like. Myths also discredit men and boys who do not engage in appropriate bodywork when this is expected. For instance, amidst public health concerns surrounding a so-called 'obesity epidemic', men and boys who resist physical activity and/or attempts to promote a 'healthy weight' are deemed ignorant, apathetic and in need of correction. Drawing on extensive field research conducted in North America and Britain over a twenty year period, this book challenges such masculine myth making. Mindful of a rich sociological tradition that seeks to understand the social world as lived and experienced, the authors provide insights that are likely to challenge common perceptions of various groups of men and boys, their diverse physical cultures, shared ways of being and identities. Presenting empirically grounded understandings of diverse bodily practices and discourses including bodybuilding, cosmetic surgery, dieting and nightclub security, Challenging Myths of Masculinity will appeal to scholars of sociology, geography and cultural studies, with interests in gender, embodiment and masculinities.

The chapters in this edited collection examine how the culture of masculinity intersects with issues of health, homophobia, and the suppression and silencing of anxieties about body image among men and boys. Examining the bodily dividends and trade-offs associated with male participation in physical activity is central to understanding how educators in particular might better engage all boys in healthy life practices, not only those privileged by muscularity and physicality. Contributions explore evidence of intimidation and body fears that is largely unheard and unexplored in locker rooms and classrooms. Introducing critical perspectives emerging from current evidence-based international research to shed light on curricular and policy initiatives aimed at producing healthy children, this book will powerfully inform and provoke discussion.

GOLFLAND IRELAND is the hardback guide to the array ofgood, great and utterly glorious courses across the island of Ireland - all ofthem. Planning a trip to Ireland or simply dreaming of one?GOLFLAND IRELAND is the essential, definitive work. Every Irish course is here.GOLFLAND IRELAND is both practical reference book and highly desirable gift, it isstylishly laid out, showcasing fabulous photography by David Cannon, theworld's finest and most famous golf photographer. As well as the comprehensive and detailed guides to eachcourse, GOLFLAND IRELAND contains historical overviews, portraits of Ireland'skey golf figures, as well as suggested itineraries and maps. GOLFLAND IRELAND is for Ireland's own golfers as well as for thosefrom all over the world who are dreaming about or planning a trip to walk itsfamous fairways - such as Portrush, Portmarnock, Royal County Down,Ballybunion, Waterville and many more - and to discover its less-well-known,lovely and hidden outposts. Ireland's golfing riches can be overwhelming and GOLFLANDIRELAND is simply the best way to navigate them. From Ardglass: "Ardglass is an adventure of a course, withsplendid views to the Mountains of Mourne, over the Irish Sea to the Isle ofMan, and beyond to Scotland and England. The golf is very good and select holesare truly great."From The Island: "Confusingly, The Island is no longerstrictly on an island, but it does sit on its own peninsula, surrounded by thesea on three sides. In contrast to other coastal courses in this centraleastern stretch, The Island has heaving dunes. Sure, it can be said of so manyIrish links courses, especially on the other side of the island, that they havemighty sandhills. But really, these are something to behold."From Spanish Point: "This is a mature nine-hole linkscourse, established in 1896, overlooking the beach at Spanish Point, halfwaybetween Lahinch and Doonbeg. It's twice round for a par 68 at over 5,000 yards.And you probably will want to play it twice. Out here, on the Wild AtlanticWay, the longest coastal touring route in the world, this sporty links has twopar 5s and closes with two uproarious par 3s."GOLFLAND IRELAND is the second title from publishing house, Oltomo. Thefirst title is GOLFLAND SCOTLAND.

This volume takes a fresh approach to qualitative research on sport and physical culture by presenting "student friendly" engaging chapters that clearly articulate the significance and practice of qualitative and/or critical methods in plain and convincing language. It outlines contemporary, cutting-edge approaches in qualitative research methods that students in undergraduate programs in sociology and sociology of sport, as well as, for instance, sport, exercise, kinesiology, or health, can understand clearly. Chapters revolve around one principal method in qualitative methodology, and look at why certain methodological choices were made, what problems were faced, and how these were overcome. Classic issues in methodology, contemporary issues in research methods and innovative trends in qualitative research are addressed through case study examples from emerging and exciting areas of research in sport studies. Topics covered include: historical methods; ethnography; auto-ethnography; embodied methods; interviewing; narratives; participatory action methods; interpretative phenomenological analysis; media analysis; and visual methods.

At a timewhen the public discussion of mental illness in society is reaching a highpoint, athletes and other sports insiders remain curiously silent about theirprivate battles with a range of mental illnesses. While a series ofprofessional athletes have exposed the deep, dark secret related to thepervasiveness of mental illness in high performance sport, relatively little isknown, sociologically, about what mental illness culturally means inside sport. This editedcollection showcases research on how sport, as a social institution, mayactually produce dangerous cultural practices and contexts that foster thedevelopment of mental illness within athlete groups. Further, chapters alsoillustrate how sport, when organized with sensitivity and care, may serve tohelp manage mental illnesses. Rather than analyzing mental illness as anindividual phenomenon, contributors to this volume equally attest to how mentalillness is socially developed, constructed, managed, and culturally understoodwithin sport settings. The book highlights the relevance of a range of theoriespertinent to the social study of mental illness including dramaturgy, culturalstudies, learning theory, symbolic interaction, existentialism, and total paintheory. Chapters range from the discussion of depression, anxiety, eatingdisorders, drug addiction, epilepsy, mental trauma, stigma, the mass mediationof mental illness, and the promise of sport as a vehicle for personal andcollective recovery.

For many, Blue Velvet is David Lynch's masterpiece. It represents a unique act of cinema: an 80s Hollywood studio film as radical, visionary and cabalistic as anything found in the avant-garde; a mysteriously symbolic and subterranean 'cult' movie that nevertheless has recognisable stars and was broadly distributed; a genre piece with the ambience of a fearsome, hyper-composed nightmare; an American 'art film' by Hollywood's only reputable 'art film' director.Michael Atkinson’s intricate and layered reading of the film shows how crystallises many of Lynch’s chief preoccupations: the evil and violence underlying the surface of suburbia, the seedy by-ways of sexuality, the frightening appearance of the adult world to a child's eyes, presenting it as the definitive expression of the traumatized innocence which characterizes Lynch's work.In his afterword to this new edition, Atkinson situates Blue Velvet within a culture that has changed drastically in the 35 years since its release, and in doing so, he considers the film's lasting significance as it slowly turns from contemporary phenomenon to an interpretable artifact.

"What a helpful book! This will be a 'friend ' to many undergraduate students looking for clarification."- Helen Hazelwood, St Mary's University College

"This is a great book that really helps the students understand research and the complex processes that can often daunt even the most intelligent students."- Phil Barter, Middlesex University

"Few can bring research methods to life like Mike Atkinson. His breadth of research interests and experience mean he can introduce you to all you need to know and inspire you to get down to doing some research yourself."- Dominic Malcolm, Loughborough University

This book systematically demonstrates the significance and application of research methods in plain language. Written for students, it contains the core methodological concepts, practices and debates they need to understand and apply research methods within the field of sport and exercise. It provides a comprehensive panoramic introduction which will reassure and empower students.

Written by a leading academic and drawing on years of teaching experience, it includes carefully cross-referenced entries which critically engage with interdisciplinary themes and data. Each concept includes:

clear definitionssuggestions for further readingcomprehensive examplespractical applications

Pragmatic, lucid and concise the book will provide essential support to students in sports studies, sport development, sport and exercise science, kinesiology and health.