Space Manufacturing,Satellite Power and Human Exploration

Abstract

Satellite power stations manufactured from non terrestrial materials may alleviate the global energy crisis as early as the 1990s. Costs may be competitive with coal and nuclear power and could provide an environmentally acceptable, inexhaustible and continuous supply of electricity anywhere on Earth. Habitats for the workforce employed in space manufacturing would offer a choice of gravities for living and recreation. Recent progress in this field and the interdisciplinary aspects of planning such a program are reviewed.     

The Solar Power Satellite – Progress So Far

Abstract

Energy supply and demand issues are explored and a rationale is presented for increasing reliance on the inexhaustible energy radiated by the Sun. The potential of solar energy to meet global energy needs is surveyed and the objectives for solar energy conversion in space for use on Earth are given. The concept of the solar power satellite, SPS, is introduced, and its advantages for the generation of continuous power compared with terrestrial solar energy conversion methods, are discussed. The technology options for converting solar energy in space, transmitting power, and converting it on Earth into electricity, are summarized. The requirements for space transportation systems, orbital assembly and maintenance are reviewed. The economic, environmental and societal issues inherent in the development and future implementation of the SPS concept, are highlighted. Possible organizational structures which would permit international participation in an SPS program, are presented. The conclusion is drawn that assessment of the technical, economic, environmental, and societal issues has not identified a single constraint which would preclude continuation of the SPS R+D program. This program could lead to a future decision to implement this major option for power generation on Earth. Comments on the National Research Council's report on the SPS are included.     

James Ceaser and the Restoration of Political Science

Abstract

Fedor Dostoevsky's The Devils (1872) has been habitually denounced as an artistically lacking, reactionary pamphlet. This article demonstrates how the novel instead presents a lucid analysis of basic functional principles of the political sphere, taking apart the inner mechanisms of political developments, their sources of social and intellectual energy, and the instruments of deception and illusion that are vital for their functioning. The Devils is interpreted as a fundamentally anti-political novel that exposes the irrational foundations, the schemes, and the consequences of political manipulation. Particular attention is devoted to the category of charismatic leadership by offering a new reading of the enigmatic character of Nikolai Stavrogin.     

Risks and Consequences in Energy Production

Abstract

The word risk is often used in association with energy production and in some case it is equated with consequences. The distinction is important and has implications for the study of energy system. Failure in a given energy system, such as nuclear power or hydroelectric dams, can give rise to human consequences, such a deaths, injuries or disease. The extent of these consequences varies from one system to another. Furthermore, the probability of such failures is a characteristic of the given system. For example, a nuclear reactor or hydroelectric dam may have a probability of one catastrophic failure in x years of operation where x is a large number. The probability multiplied by the number of deaths, injuries and illnesses caused by the failures—the consequences—can be taken as a measure of the risk, or risk index.     

A CAPTIVE'S STORY: PURITANS,PIRATES, AND THE DRAMA OF RECONCILIATION

Abstract

This essay examines the use of Hebrew sources in debates on church and state in civil war England. It fits within a developing historiography that seeks to uncover the deeper texture of early modern political discourse, and also poses questions about the prevalence of statist and secular understandings of public power in the context of the English civil war. Its specific focus is on debates on church government in the 1640s, studies of the Hebrew commonwealth in the 1650s, and the use of Hebraism by Hobbes and Harrington as an antidote to clericalism.     

Jerusalem Transformed in Post-Reformation England: The Case of the Cliffords and Beamsley Hospital

Abstract

This article explores the impact of the Tudor religious reforms in the rural upland parish of Kirkby Malhamdale, Craven, in the Yorkshire Dales, from the late medieval period, when it was dominated by the economic power of the monasteries, during the Dissolution and subsequent changes, to 1603. Although early churchwardens' accounts have not survived for the parish, the analysis draws upon a variety of contemporary sources including wills, ecclesiastical documents, manor court rolls and other miscellaneous material, as well as the fabric and structure of the parish church itself. Aspects of worship and ritual in Kirkby Malham, the response to the reforms, and the extent to which conformity in the reformed Church of England was established in the parish by the end of the sixteenth century, are examined.     

India's Energy Security: Challenges and Opportunities

A noted specialist on India's energy security reviews the range of energy-related issues that will have a bearing on that country's ability to sustain the high current rates of economic growth and development into the future. The author explores the multiple challenges India confronts in securing (through domestic production and external sources) an adequate mix of energy supplies (hydrocarbon fuels, nuclear power, renewable energy sources) and describes as well as analyzes a broad front of actions (both government programs and the activities of private companies) taken to address them. The analysis illuminates India's important role in the production and consumption of several forms of energy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O130, P280, Q400. 5 figures, 64 references.     

Forecasting Change in Industry and the Economy with Restricted Resources

Abstract

The objective of this model study is to show how cost-conscious managers in the petroleum refining, electric power and basic chemical industries will respond to policy decisions limiting or not limiting the discharge of any major water or air pollutant and the availability of petroleum fuels for use in electric power generation. This is accomplished by an integrated model of the above industries with economic supply functions for crude oil natural gas and coal and with economic demand functions for important energy end-products. The results of this study show the critical importance of regulating fuel use in electric power generation to achieve within the United States in 1985 both energy goals of independence at acceptable price and environmental goals of clean air and clean water at minimum costs. Prohibition of the use of petroleum fuel in new electric power generating plants is practically mandatory according to the model studies to substitute coal for clean fuels in electricity generation. This prohibition minimize both the market price for natural gas and the capital investments in new plants and equipment. It maximizes the economic conservation of energy by end product consumers and the attainment of clean water and relatively clean air. Unfortunately, greater sulfur dioxide emission must be tolerated, although this may be reduced by 83% if environmental standards with air emission controls are met.     

Soft power,Russia and the former Soviet states: a case study of Russian language and education in Armenia*

Abstract

As in human relations, attraction can be an influential force in international relations. A well-known tool in Western countries, in Russia ‘soft power’ has come into play mainly under Putin’s presidency in the 2000s. This paper focuses on language and education as sources generating ‘soft power’. It looks first on the institutional framework progressively established to attract and integrate culturally the former Soviet space. Second, it studies the evolution of the Russian language and education in Armenia. The findings suggest that even if the previous decline in the usage of Russian has been reversed, the monopoly once enjoyed by this language seems to be over. Russian is promoted in a multicultural environment – alongside English, French, German or Chinese – which reflects the new geopolitical reality. Multicultural landscape characterises also the Armenian higher education system.     

A Note on Medieval Peasant Demography

Abstract

The deed and mortgage registries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provide a revealing glimpse into the property and power relations of a community. Who owned what? Who was in a position to broker land deals or liens against property? Who accumulated land, and from whom did they acquire it? Consequently, property records are essential elements for understanding the spatial and relational aspects of property holding, especially in rural areas where other sources, such as city directories or fire insurance maps, are not available. Drawing upon her research of African American landowners in Georgia, the author discusses the basics of deeds and mortgages. She describes likely findings in land records and defines common terms and practices. She argucs that the practice of identifying the race of a grantor or grantee, using (col) or less frequently C. P. to denote skin color, varied over time and by locality. Reasons for this practice are discussed and some interpretive rules are offered that may help identify the deeds and mortgages of African Americans when skin color is not noted.     

Hannah Arendt's Political Theology of Democratic Life

Abstract

In this essay, I explore Hannah Arendt's suggestion that we conceptualize human power and freedom polytheistically if our aim is to understand the challenges and requirements of democratic self-governance. Although it is not clear that politics must always be understood through theological grammars, if it is to be, polytheism affirms that there may be multiple sources of value and of right, offering both a metaphysical counterpart to value pluralism and a vision of how to create political practices and institutions that mirror and honor both the equality and distinction of human beings.     

Pakistan,Uranium and the International Atomic Energy Agency, 1970–1980

ABSTRACT

This article explores how the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assisted Pakistan with exploring the front end of the fuel cycle. Drawing on new primary sources gathered from extensive fieldwork in Pakistan as well as the IAEA's archives, this article sheds new light on the changing direction and performance of the Pakistani nuclear program during the 1970s, focusing on the exploration of uranium. The analysis highlights the competing priorities faced by the IAEA at this time – specifically, how to handle the increasingly politicized balance between technology diffusion and non-proliferation – and how this affected the Agency's support for the nuclear program in Pakistan, as the program was secretly shifting away from nuclear energy toward a weapons project.     

Leonardo Bruni and the Poetics of Sovereignty

Abstract

Leonardo Bruni’s well-known oration, the Laudatio Florentinae urbis, has long stood at the center of discussions on the emergence of the modern republican state. Recent historiographical trends have emphasized the degree to which Bruni’s oration represents a propagandistic attempt both to portray Florence as a territorial power of Northern Italy keen to impose its sovereign authority on neighboring polities and as a republic intent on fashioning an image of itself as a popular sovereignty. It is in this second element of Bruni’s oration that we can discover his rhetorical purposes: he needed to give a distorted image of Florence as enjoying “popular” rule precisely because Florence was in fact moving in the opposite direction towards a more oligarchic concentration of political authority. The essay investigates the changes contemplated in revisions to Florence’s juridical codes at precisely the time of the oration’s composition, suggesting that when these two sources are juxtaposed, Bruni’s oration appears as a strongly ideological literary work the rhetorical gestures of which camouflage the actual historical and legal developments of Florence’s political life in the early fifteenth century.     

Scottish Windpumps & Windmills: New Information

Abstract

The author has examined documentary sources concerning the pioneering Lombe's Silk Mill on the River Derwent in Derby. He has combined evidence from both Italian and British sources with the physical remains and provided a reconstruction of the mill and its machinery layout. Its importance as a precursor of factory production in Britain is discussed.     

Soft-Stone Sources on Crete

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis and other analytical techniques enable archaeologists to match certain stone artifacts with their sources in the living rock. Steatite, serpentinite, and chlorite, which are often called “soft stones,” have been matched with considerable success in tests on New World samples. Matching artifacts and sources helps the archaeologist in determining prehistoric exchange systems and thus gain considerable insights into ancient cultures.

In order to provide basic information on soft-stone sources on Crete with which samples from artifacts may be compared, a review of the literature and two field surveys were undertaken. The results indicate that soft-stone sources on Crete are more extensive than formerly believed. The correlation between soft-stone deposits and the location of ancient sites is also considered.     

Imago Mundi Bibliography

 

The information supplied by National Representatives has been supplemented from other sources. Readers are urged to send information, press releases, exhibition catalogues, etc. directly to the Chronicle Editor, Imago Mundi, 76 Ockendon Road, London N1 3NW, UK (tony@tonycampbell.info), so that the next Chronicle can be as complete as possible. Chronicle considers all information that is current or historical at its closing date. Events after 2018 are not included.     

The structure of the pomor settlement complex on the Schønningholmane site (Hornsund,West Spitsbergen) archaeological data

This article is an attempt to develop a discussion within the archaeological world, with reference to a particular aspect of Russian hunting on Svalbard.

In general, such a discussion is vital, because the written sources concerning the Russian activity on Svalbard are rather weak (as is frequently the case with areas on the periphery of cultural centers).

Archaeology must therefore play an important role in the reconstruction of the archipelago's cultural history, even as recently as the 17th ‐19th centuries.     

Prophecy and Powerlessness

ABSTRACT

This essay attempts to answer questions faced by social movements about whether “prophetic” struggles for justice are necessarily destined either for failure (if they do not win power) or corruption (if they do). It draws on a neglected work of Martin Buber, Der Gesalbte [The Anointed], in which Buber presents the oral core of the Book of Samuel as originating with the school of the prophet Nathan, for lessons about the promise and danger of attempting to combine prophecy and power.     

The development of the bottle kiln in pottery manufacture in Britain

Abstract

This paper describes the types of bottle-shaped kiln used in the British pottery industry in the 1950s. It reviews the evidence of standing structures, archaeological fieldwork and documentary sources for their operation and antecedents. It concludes that their origins are to be found in developments of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and that their widespread adoption was as much for cultural as for technical reasons.