The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World Review

Roughly 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.

A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age

A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age Review

Laslett argues that the Third Age - beyond the breadwinning and child-rearing years - is that of greatest personal fulfilment, the apogee of life. Combining social history, sociology and philosophy, this book provokes new thinking on one of the crucial changes in the modern world.

A Secular Age

A Secular Age Review

What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we--in the West, at least--largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean--of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others.

Taylor, long one of our most insightful thinkers on such questions, offers a historical perspective. He examines the development in "Western Christendom" of those aspects of modernity which we call secular. What he describes is in fact not a single, continuous transformation, but a series of new departures, in which earlier forms of religious life have been dissolved or destabilized and new ones have been created. As we see here, today's secular world is characterized not by an absence of religion--although in some societies religious belief and practice have markedly declined--but rather by the continuing multiplication of new options, religious, spiritual, and anti-religious, which individuals and groups seize on in order to make sense of their lives and give shape to their spiritual aspirations.

What this means for the world--including the new forms of collective religious life it encourages, with their tendency to a mass mobilization that breeds violence--is what Charles Taylor grapples with, in a book as timely as it is timeless.

(20070909)

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys Review

Playing off the themes in the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Where the Wild Things Are, this informative, practical, and encouraging guide will help parents guide boys down the path to healthy and authentic manhood. Wild Things addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual parts of a boy, written by two therapists who are currently engaged in clinical work with boys and their parents and who are also fathers raising five sons. Contains chapters such as “Sit Still! Pay Attention!” “Deficits and Disappointments,” and “Rituals, Ceremonies, and Rites of Passage.”

Child Behavior: The Classic Child Care Manual from the Gesell Institute of Human Development

Child Behavior: The Classic Child Care Manual from the Gesell Institute of Human Development Review

The long-awaited revision of the bestselling and definitive child care manual from the internationally renowned Gesell Institute of Human Behavior.

Child Behavior

The classic child care manual from the
internationally renowned Gesell Institute

Since it was first published, Child Behavior has become classic reading for parents and professionals around the world. This authoritative guide offers the basics of child development, addressing exactly how children's bodies can affect their behavior. The authors not only discuss what to do to treat specific behavior problems but actually advise parents on how, in many instances, they can prevent many common and more serious problems. The authors' practical, accessible advice covers a variety of issues including:

• Everyday activities such as eating, sleeping, and dreams
• Intelligence and success in school
• Stress and fears
• Relationships with parents and siblings
• Discipline
• Talking about difficult subjects such as religion, death, adoption, and divorce
• What to do if further help is needed, with a full explanation of diagnostic tests and treatments

People of the year: they range in age from 24 to 70. Some were arrested while fighting for equality. Others broke the rules by speaking out when no ... (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)

People of the year: they range in age from 24 to 70. Some were arrested while fighting for equality. Others broke the rules by speaking out when no ... (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) Review

This digital document is an article from The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine), published by Thomson Gale on January 16, 2007. The length of the article is 2628 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: People of the year: they range in age from 24 to 70. Some were arrested while fighting for equality. Others broke the rules by speaking out when no one else would. And a few brought change through simple acts of kindness. They all deserve to be honored.( )
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 16, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 978 Page: 54(6)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better: Speech and Language Skills for Ages 6-14 (Topics in Down Syndrome)

Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better: Speech and Language Skills for Ages 6-14 (Topics in Down Syndrome) Review

As children with Down syndrome reach age 6 they encounter more complex speech and language demands in their learning and relationships with others. This is when gaps in communication abilities between children with Down syndrome and their typically developing peers begin to widen. Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better provides parents and professionals with the information and resources they need to improve their child s communication at school, at home, and in the wider community.
Written by Dr. Libby Kumin, an expert in Down syndrome and communication, this is the only book about speech and language issues for children with Down syndrome ages 6-14, and is the sequel to Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome. Encouraging and parent-friendly, it covers the scope of speech and language issues important for this age group, from understanding language pragmatics to building conversation skills and from using augmentative and alternative communication systems to improving speech intelligibility. Chapters include case studies, research, home and school activities for practice, and present:

The distinctions between language and speech

Factors that make speech and language difficult (articulation, grammar, fluency)

The evaluation process (school or private evaluation)

Assessment of language and speech skills

Language treatment (grammar, vocabulary, reading)

Speech treatment (articulation, fluency, apraxia)

Communication skills at school

Communication skills at home & in the community

Conversational skills (how to start & end conversations, take turns, stay on topic)

Assistive technology for communication (assessing need, types of augmentative or alternative communication, the right match for your child)

A suggested reading list, resource guide, and appendices (sample evaluations and blank forms) complement the wealth of practical suggestions and strategies in Helping Children with Down Syndrome Communicate Better. Parents, therapists, and teachers will want to refer to it often to help children make communication progress and participate fully in their lives.