Tom Scott – författare

"David Bodycombe has one of the most devious minds I've ever encountered" - Victoria Coren Mitchell, author and host of Only Connect"The only quiz book where it’s mildly disappointing when you know an answer because you don’t get the satisfaction of working it out" - James Harkin, creator and host of No Such Thing As A FishFrom hit YouTuber Tom Scott and Only Connect question editor David Bodycombe comes a new type of quiz book – but can you outsmart the questions?Why do Australians with swimming pools always make sure there’s a float available, tied to a nearby tree? Where in London might you find a regularly scheduled passenger train that nobody will ever board? And why was the small Californian town of Yreka once famous for its local bread supplier?Welcome to Lateral – where curiosity meets creativity and thinking differently is the only way forward. Each of the 100 questions enclosed within these pages isn’t what it seems at first, and has been designed to make you think outside the box in order to answer it.Whether you’re in the mood for a solitary challenge, or you’re looking for the next big hit for game night, Lateral is the perfect companion for anyone who loves to think outside the box – or just enjoys a fascinating conversation."Excellent, sideways-thinking fun" - Matt Parker, bestselling author of Humble Pi and Love Triangle"Mind-melting, hilarious good fun - the perfect addition to a games night" - Jack Chesher, bestselling author of London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers

The current debate about the best methods of European organization - central or regional - is influenced by an awareness of regional identity, which offers an alternative to the rigidities of organization by nation-state. Yet where does the sense of regionalism come from? What are the distinctive factors that transform a geographical area into a particular 'region'? Tom Scott addresses these questions in this study of one apparently 'natural' region - the Upper Rhine - between 1450 and 1600. This region has been divided between three countries and so historically marginalized, yet Dr Scott is able to trace the existence of a sense of historical regional identity cutting across national frontiers, founded on common economic interests. But that identity was always contingent and precarious, neither 'natural' nor immutable.

This regional study examines the declining fortunes of a craft town on the Upper Rhine from 1450 to 1530, in the context of its relations with the country communities around it. In the debate on the transition between feudalism and capitalism in this period, rival interpretations have focused on town and country in isolation from each other. Tom Scott has used the techniques of historical and economic geography to examine them as a totality, consciously writing regional history, but also contributing to the wider history and theory of revolution as he extends these techniques to analyse popular protest.

Renewed interest in Swiss history has sought to overcome the old stereotypes of peasant liberty and republican exceptionalism. The heroic age of the Confederation in the fifteenth century is now seen as a turning-point as the Swiss polity achieved a measure of institutional consolidation and stability, and began to mark out clear frontiers. The Swiss and their Neighbours, 1460-1560 questions both assumptions. It argues that the administration of the common lordships by the cantons collectively gave rise to as much discord as co-operation, and remained a pragmatic device not a political principle. It argues that the Swiss War of 1499 was an avoidable catastrophe, from which developed a modus vivendi between the Swiss and the Empire as the Rhine became a buffer-zone, not a boundary. It then investigates the background to Bern's conquest of the Vaud in 1536, under the guise of relieving Geneva from beleaguerment, to suggest that Bern's actions were driven not by predeterminate territorial expansion but by the need to halt French designs upon Geneva and Savoy.The geopolitical balance of the Confederation was fundamentally altered by Bern's acquisition of the Vaud and adjacent lands. Nevertheless, the political fabric of the Confederation, which had been tested to the brink during the Reformation, proved itself flexible enough to absorb such a major reorientation, not least because what held the Confederation together was not so much institutions as a sense of common identity and mutual obligation forged during the Burgundian Wars of the 1470s.

No detailed comparison of the city-state in medieval Europe has been undertaken over the last century. Research has concentrated on the role of city-states and their republican polities as harbingers of the modern state, or else on their artistic and cultural achievements, above all in Italy. Much less attention has been devoted to the cities' territorial expansion: why, how, and with what consequences cities in the urban belt, stretching from central and northern Italy over the Alps to Switzerland, Germany, and the low countries, succeeded (or failed) in constructing sovereign polities, with or without dependent territories. Tom Scott goes beyond the customary focus on the leading Italian city-states to include, for the first time, detailed coverage of the Swiss city-states and the imperial cities of Germany. He criticizes current typologies of the city-state in Europe advanced by political and social scientists to suggest that the city-state was not a spent force in early modern Europe, but rather survived by transformation and adaption. He puts forward instead a typology which embraces both time and space by arguing for a regional framework for analysis which does not treat city-states in isolation but within a wider geopolitical setting.

No detailed comparison of the city-state in medieval Europe has been undertaken over the last century. Research has concentrated on the role of city-states and their republican polities as harbingers of the modern state, or else on their artistic and cultural achievements, above all in Italy. Much less attention has been devoted to the cities' territorial expansion: why, how, and with what consequences cities in the urban belt, stretching from central and northern Italy over the Alps to Switzerland, Germany, and the Low Countries, succeeded (or failed) in constructing sovereign polities, with or without dependent territories.Tom Scott goes beyond the customary focus on the leading Italian city-states to include, for the first time, detailed coverage of the Swiss city-states and the imperial cities of Germany. He criticizes current typologies of the city-state in Europe advanced by political and social scientists to suggest that the city-state was not a spent force in early modern Europe, but rather survived by transformation and adaption. He puts forward instead a typology which embraces both time and space by arguing for a regional framework for analysis which does not treat city-states in isolation, but within a wider geopolitical setting.

Society and Economy in Germany, 1300-1600 surveys the social and economic development of the German-speaking lands from the age of the Black Death to the eve of the Thirty Years War. It examines the political geography and social structure of the Holy Roman Empire as a constitutional polity in both church and state deeply etched by feudal-aristocratic values. The book questions the validity of a 'late medieval agrarian crisis', and the traditional account of the divergent social and economic development between simple landlordship in the West and a revived seigneurialism east of the Elbe. Tom Scott examines in detail patterns of regional and economic change and town-country relations, and the emergence of city-states in Germany and Switzerland. Broad coverage is given to demands for reform within the Empire, which influenced the sixteenth-century religious reformers, as well as to the many urban and rural revolts. The book concludes with reflections on Germany in the age of confessionalization and social discipline, including the rise of a witch craze. This comprehensive survey incorporates the latest research, emphasising regional analysis as the only way to comprehend Germany's diversity.

Over the last twenty years research on the Reformation in Germany has shifted both chronologically and thematically toward an interest in the ’long’ or ’delayed’ Reformations, and the structure and operation of the Holy Roman Empire. Whilst this focus has resulted in many fascinating new insights, it has also led to the relative neglect of the early Reformation movement. Put together with the explicit purpose of encouraging scholars to reengage with the early ’storm years’ of the German Reformation, this collection of eleven essays by Tom Scott, explores several issues in the historiography of the early Reformation which have not been adequately addressed. The debate over the nature and function of anticlericalism remains unresolved; the mainsprings of iconoclasm are still imperfectly understood; the ideological role of evangelical doctrines in stimulating and legitimising popular rebellion - above all in the German Peasants’ War - remains contentious, while the once uniform view of Anabaptism has given way to a recognition of the plurality and diversity of religious radicalism. Equally, there are questions which, initially broached, have then been sidelined with undue haste: the failure of Reforming movements in certain German cities, or the perception of what constituted heresy in the eyes of the Reformers themselves, and not least, the part played by women in the spread of evangelical doctrines. Consisting of seven essays previously published in scholarly journals and edited volumes, together with three new chapters and an historical afterword, Scott’s volume serves as a timely reminder of the importance of the early decades of the sixteenth century. By reopening seemingly closed issues and by revisiting neglected topics the volume contributes to a more nuanced understanding of what the Reformation in Germany entailed.

Over the last twenty years research on the Reformation in Germany has shifted both chronologically and thematically toward an interest in the ’long’ or ’delayed’ Reformations, and the structure and operation of the Holy Roman Empire. Whilst this focus has resulted in many fascinating new insights, it has also led to the relative neglect of the early Reformation movement. Put together with the explicit purpose of encouraging scholars to reengage with the early ’storm years’ of the German Reformation, this collection of eleven essays by Tom Scott, explores several issues in the historiography of the early Reformation which have not been adequately addressed. The debate over the nature and function of anticlericalism remains unresolved; the mainsprings of iconoclasm are still imperfectly understood; the ideological role of evangelical doctrines in stimulating and legitimising popular rebellion - above all in the German Peasants’ War - remains contentious, while the once uniform view of Anabaptism has given way to a recognition of the plurality and diversity of religious radicalism. Equally, there are questions which, initially broached, have then been sidelined with undue haste: the failure of Reforming movements in certain German cities, or the perception of what constituted heresy in the eyes of the Reformers themselves, and not least, the part played by women in the spread of evangelical doctrines. Consisting of seven essays previously published in scholarly journals and edited volumes, together with three new chapters and an historical afterword, Scott’s volume serves as a timely reminder of the importance of the early decades of the sixteenth century. By reopening seemingly closed issues and by revisiting neglected topics the volume contributes to a more nuanced understanding of what the Reformation in Germany entailed.

By the year 2000, the most critical world problem--as things stand now--will be sustaining the human race. The quality and the availability of food will continue to be central to this issue. However, since the beginning of the final quarter of the twentieth century, few attempts have been made to organize and integrate information applying our knowledge of the regulation of plant growth to the enhancement of the world's yield of food, forage, fiber, and other useful plants. It is appropriate, therefore, to approach a solution to future human needs by combining an area of basic science with a defined and needed application of it. The purpose of this NATO Advanced Study Institute--Plant Regulation and World Agriculture--is reflected in the content of this volume. It covers a wide range of physiological processes including photosynthesis, translocation, seed germination, source­ sink relationships, water relationships, flowering, fruiting, and adaptations to stress. The identification, chemistry, and bio­ chemistry of naturally occurring as well as known and new synthetic plant growth regulators are discussed in relation to productivity, growth retardation, and herbicidal activity. Other topics include plant breeding and genetics, tissue culture and its use in the improvement of and the increase in plant varieties, and ecological implications in agriculture. Chapter titles in bold print in the Table of Contents designate keynote presentations for the three major subtopics in Section II.