The religious politics of prophecy: Or, Richard Brothers's Revealed Knowledge confuted

The messianic messages delivered to Londoners by the self-styled prophet, Richard Brothers, were regarded by many sceptical observers and pamphleteers as eccentric or, worse still, the embarrassing utterances of someone wishing to reprise the political turmoil of a by-gone era marred by religious ‘fanaticism’. This article shows the extent to which Brothers's messages, as set down in his Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times (1794–1795), were absolutely central to the religious politics and culture of the 1790s—or what one contemporary critic mockingly referred to as the ‘age of prophecy’. Brothers's prophecies came to the attention of the British government, which culminated in his arrest for treasonable practices in March 1795 when he became a cause célèbre, before being confined to an asylum for eleven years. He was deemed a criminal lunatic but, as this article seeks to demonstrate, his ‘prophetic imagination’ arose out of the same rich theological, political and cultural context that spurred ‘radicals’ like Tom Paine, whilst inspiring poets and artists such as William Blake. If the content of his prophecies were regarded by contemporary sceptics for having no validity, it remains true to say that Richard Brothers, as an educated gentleman and naval officer, dramatically altered 18th-century expectations and perceptions of what prophets were and the nature of prophecy itself.     

Hub-and-Spoke Networks in Air Transportation: An Analytical Review

In this review we survey advances in analysis of the hub location problem and its variants. In the course of the review opportunities for enhanced analysis become apparent. We emphasize the most pressing areas for further work. We found that first, research needs to be devoted to developing more reliable heuristics for the multiple assignment model and its extensions and second, that additional research is needed to understand the conditions under which the model will tend to have integer solutions. Research in this area will contribute to the solution of a longstanding puzzle in economics about the allocation of indivisible resources.     

Extensions to the Hub Location Problem: Formulations and Numerical Examples

Although a tremendous amount of analytical research is being conducted on the hub location problem, few models exist that extend the number of characteristics found in actual hub-and-spoke networks. Four extensions are presented in this paper: (1) a capacitated network model; (2) a minimum threshold model; (3) a model that endogenously determines the number of open hubs for the network; and (4) a model that incorporates a flow-dependent cost function for the spokes as well as the interhub links. Both the capacitated and the minimum threshold models drop the assumption of a completely interconnected network commonly found in hub location models. Numerical results show that total network costs are often minimized by closing a few interhub links. The third extension is the first known hub location model to determine the optimal number of hubs based on the needs of the network. In this model, the number of open hubs depends on the distribution of flows in the network and how cost effectively the flows can be moved across the network. Previous models that endogenously determined the number of open hubs utilized a fixed cost for establishing each hub in order to limit the number of hubs in the network. The final extension recognizes the potential of all links to amalgamate flows and includes a separate flow-dependent cost function for the spokes in addition to the one for the interhub links. Numerical results are shown for all four models.     

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan in the northeastern Basin of Mexico was an unusually large and influential early city and state. This article reviews recent research trends in Teotihuacan from its founding and explosive growth ca. 100 BC into the largest city in Mesoamerica. Biogenetics provide details of how immigration fueled the city’s growth and shaped its multiethnic composition and link Teotihuacan to other parts of the central highlands and more distant regions. Urban theory highlights the importance of neighborhoods and how their composition changed. Collective aspects of irrigation, markets, warfare and the military, and ideology encouraged the development of Teotihuacan’s corporate governance. Although Teotihuacan politically dominated central Mexico, its control over the regional economy was not as centralized. Beyond its hinterland, Teotihuacan’s foreign relations were a mosaic of trade diasporas, diplomatic exchanges, pilgrimages, emulation, and strategic direct interventions of limited duration. As its foreign influence retracted, Teotihuacan faced challenges from its hinterlands and intermediate elites and factions that culminated in the burning and desecration of the urban center. The Epiclassic saw the change from Teotihuacan’s regional state to city-states and confederations. Although much reduced in size, Postclassic Teotihuacan retained an enormous legacy that subsequent states sought for their historical validation.     

Pacific Islands Ichthyoarchaeology: Implications for the Development of Prehistoric Fishing Studies and Global Sustainability

The Pacific Islands—consisting of culturally diverse Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—is the ideal region to investigate the development of prehistoric fishing studies, as nowhere else on Earth is there such environmental contrasts among island types and their marine environments. We review the ichthyoarchaeological literature for the Pacific and assess developments in recovery methods, reference collections, taxonomic identifications, quantification, taphonomy and site-formation processes, ethnoarchaeology, approaches to diet and subsistence reconstructions, sustainability, and the importance of applied zooarchaeology for fisheries management and conservation. Ichthyoarchaeologists are beginning to work more closely with resource managers, fisheries biologists, policy makers, and indigenous communities to produce holistic studies of conservation management, resource sustainability, and assessments of human impacts on marine ecosystems over centuries to millennial time scales.