Book reviews

The History of Political and Social Concepts: A Critical Introduction. By Melvin Richter (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), vii + 204 pp., £ 35 cloth.

The Life of Adam Smith. By Ian Simpson Ross (Oxford: Clarendon, 1995) xxviii + 495 pp. £25.00 cloth.

Martin Heidegger and the Holocaust. Edited by Alan Milchman and Alan Rosenberg (Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, 1996) xiv + 271 pp. $60.00 cloth.

The Making of Portuguese Democracy. By Kenneth Maxwell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 250 pp. £14.95/$19.95 paper.

Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763–1815. By Ken Alder (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), xvi + 476 pp. $59.50/£45 cloth.

The Wars of Eduard Shevardnaze. By Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl and Melvin A. Goodman (Unversity Park, PA: Pennsylvania State Press, 1997), xxiii + 331 pp. $29.95/£26.95 cloth.

The Legacy of the French Revolution. Edited by Ralph C. Hancock and L. Gary Lambert (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996), viii + 299 pp. $19.95 paper.

Suffering and the Remedy of Art. By Harold Schweizer (State University of New York Press, 1997), xii +211 pp. $17.95 paper.

Intimacy and Exclusion: Religious Politics in Pre‐Revolutionary Baden. By Dagmar Herzog (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), x + 252 pp. $49.50/£42.50 cloth, $16.95/£13.95 paper.

In Search of Dreamtime: The Quest for the Origin of Religion. By Tomoko Masuzawa (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), 223 pp. $15.95 paper.

Courtship, Illegitimacy and Marriage in Early Modern England. By Richard Adair (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996), ix + 273 pp. £40 cloth.

Correlation and Regression Analysis: A Historian's Guide. By Thomas J. Archdeacon (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994), xxi + 352 pp. $44.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Unified Theories of Cognition. By Allen Newell (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), xiii + 549 pp. $19.95 paper.

Discipline and Experience: The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution. By Peter Dear (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), xii + 290 pp. $60.00 cloth, $24.00 paper.

The Transformation of Natural Philosophy: The case of Philip Melanchthon. By Sachiko Kusukawa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), xv + 246 pp. $59.95/£35.00 cloth.

Otto Neurath: Philosophy Between Science and Politics. By Nancy Cartwright, Jordi Cat, Lola Fleck, and Thomas E. Uebel (Cambrdige: Cambridge University Press, 1996), xii + 288 pp. $59.95/£35.00 cloth.

Aramis or The Love of Technology. By Bruno Latour. Translated by Catherine Porter (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), x + 314 pp. $45.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Galileo on the World Systems: A New Abridged Translation and Guide. Translated and edited by Maurice A. Finocchiaro (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), xi + 435 pp. $55.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Europe's Economy Looks East: Implications for Germany and the European Union. Edited by Stanley W. Black (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), xvi + 363 pp. £45.00/$ 64.95 cloth.

The Transformation of Capitalist Society. By Zellig S. Harris (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997), xiii + 245 pp. £19.50 paper.

Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland. By William Ian Miller (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1997), xii + 407 pp. $17.95 paper.

From Virgil to Vietnam: The Founding Legend of Western Civilization. By Richard Waswo (Hanover: University Press of New England, 1997), xvi + 356 pp. n.p.g. cloth.

Reading Seminar XI: Lacan's Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. Edited by Richard Feldstein, Bruce Fink, and Maire Jaanus (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), xv + 291 pp. $16.95 paper.

Nature and the Idea of a Man‐Made World: An Investigation into the Evolutionary Roots of Form and Order in the Built Environment. By Norman Crowe (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995 hardback, 1997 paper), 270 pp. $17.50 paper.

The Gothic Body: Sexuality, Materialism and Degeneracy at the Fin de Siècle. By Kelly Hurley (Cambridge University Press, 1996), xii + 203 pp. £30.00 $49.95 cloth.

Russia's Constitutional Revolution: Legal Consciousness and the Transition to Democracy 1985–1996. By Robert B. Ahdieh (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), viii + 255 pp. £26.95 $30.00 cloth, £13.50 $14.95 paper.

Hunters and Collectors: the Antiquarian Imagination in Australia. By Tom Griffiths (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), xiv + 416 pp. £45.00/$64.95 cloth.

Persecution, Extermination, Literature. By Sem Dresden, trans. by Henry G. Schogt (University of Toronto Press 1995), viii + 237 pp. N. America $45.00 cloth, $17.95 paper, Europe $54 cloth, $2.55 paper.

Essays on the Anthropology of Reason. By Paul Rabinow (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1996), vxii + 190 pp. $49.50 £40.00 cloth, $14.95 paper.

Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany. By Charles S. Maier (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), xx + 441 pp. $29.95 cloth.

History: What & Why?: Ancient, Modern and Postmodern Perspectives. By Beverley Southgate (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), xii + 167 pp. £11.99 paper.

Genealogies of the Text: Literature, Psychoanalysis, and Politics in Modern France. By Jeffrey Mehlman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), xi + 262 pp. $59.95 cloth.

Launching Europe: An Ethnography of European Cooperation in Space Science. By Stacia E. Zabusky (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), xii + 257 pp. $17.95 paper/$49.50 cloth.

Elizabeth Gaskell: The Early Years. By John Chapple (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1997), xviii + 492 pp. £25.00 cloth.

Adam Ferguson: An Essay on the History of Civil Society. Edited by Fania Oz‐Salzberger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), xxxv + 283 pp. £37.50/$54.95 cloth.

Greek Heroine Cults. By Jennifer Larson (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995) xv + 235 pp., £33.50 cloth, £16.00 paper.

Florence Nightingale: Letters from the Crimea 1854–1856. Edited by Sue M. Goldie (Oxford: Mandolin, 1997), xx + 326 pp. £9.00 paper.

A History of Heaven: The Singing Silence. By Jeffrey Burton Russell (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997), xv + 220 pp. $24.95 cloth.

Heidegger's Silence. By Berel Lang (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1996), xi + 129 pp. $19.95 cloth.

Simon de Montfort. By J. R. Maddicott (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), xxiii + 404 pp., 14.95/ $24.95 paper.

Communities of Violence: Persecutions of Minorities in the Middle Ages. By David Nirenberg (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), viii + 301 pp. $29.95/£23.95, cloth.     

The spatial distribution of population in Spain: An anomaly in European perspective

We exploit the GEOSTAT 2011 population grid with a very high 1 km² resolution to document that Spain presents the lowest density of settlements among European countries. Only a small fraction of the Spanish territory is inhabited, particularly in its southern half, which goes hand in hand with a high degree of population concentration. We uncover through standard regression analysis and spatial regression discontinuity that this anomaly cannot be accounted for by adverse geographic and climatic conditions. The second part of the paper takes a historical perspective on Spain's settlement patterns by showing that the spatial distribution of the population has been very persistent in the last two centuries, and that the abnormally low density of settlements with respect to European neighbors was already visible in the 19th century, which indicates that this phenomenon has not emerged recently as a consequence of the transformations associated with industrialization and tertiarization. Using data on ancient sites, we find that Spain did not feature scarcity of settlements in comparison to other countries in premedieval times, suggesting that its current anomalous settlement pattern has not always existed and is, therefore, not intrinsic to its geography.     

Multi-resolution morpho-bathymetric survey results at the Pozzuoli–Baia underwater archaeological site (Naples,Italy)

Here we show the results of two morpho-bathymetric surveys carried out on the underwater archaeological area of the Pozzuoli Bay (Naples, Italy). Such area is enclosed in the Campi Flegrei active volcanic complex, where bradyseism and recent volcanic activity strongly influenced the coastline shape over the last 2 Ka. The Digital Elevation Model (DTM) of the seafloor allowed to draw the main archaeological features of the Bay, that also include the military complex of Portus Iulius and the ancient thermal and villa complex of Baianus Lacus. The extraction of archaeological features from DTM was achieved thanks to the use of a GIS-derived tool based on the profile curvature algorithm. Thus, the Villa dei Pisoni (1st Century B.C.) and the thermal complex of Secca delle Fumose were investigated by using ultra-high resolution DTMs, that show the presence of Roman pilae for the protection of coastal buildings and also the inner planimetry of the Villa dei Pisoni complex. The observation of coastal engineering structures give also the opportunity to formulate some hypothesis on the evolution of morphology and of the sedimentary pattern of the area, while depth of archaeological remains allowed a rough computation of the rate of subsidence, resulted to be 2.55 (±0.5) mm/y for the Eastern sector (Pozzuoli) and 2.90 (±0.5) mm/y for the western (Baia).     

Modeling Mechanisms of Cultural Diversity and Ethnicity in Hunter–Gatherers

This paper aims to analyze the emergence of ethnicity and cultural differentiation in hunter–gatherer groups, using computer simulation methods. The existence of differences and similarities between populations has long been a major topic of investigation for archaeologists, who have traditionally used material culture as a means to identify different human groups. Today, this approach is perceived as being too simplistic. However, in the absence of satisfactory models, it often continues to be assumed as valid. In this paper, we present a preliminary model and its computer implementation to predict how hunter–gatherer societies interacted and built cultural identities as a consequence of the way they interacted. Our starting point for such analysis assumes the definition of ethnicity as the production and reproduction of group identity among members of a community, resulting from restricted cooperation flows. Results are compared with ongoing ethnoarchaeological research of Patagonian hunter–gatherers.     

Research,knowledge transfer,and innovation: The effect of Italian universities’ efficiency on local economic development 2006−2012

We test whether there is a link between the performance of universities, measured through a concept of efficiency, and the economic development of the regions in which they operate. Indicators of teaching, research, and third mission are considered as outputs. To handle endogeneity problems between the efficiency of universities and economic development, a system generalized method of moments and then an instrumental variable approach are used. Our findings reveal that the presence of efficient universities fosters local economic development. Knowledge spillovers occur to areas that are in close geographical proximity to efficient universities. Results are robust to different estimation strategies.     

Modeling the Impact of Technological Innovation on Environmental Efficiency: A Spatial Panel Data Approach

Technological progress has widely been acknowledged as a key driver in the achievement of environmental sustainability, and a new concern has recently arisen for assessing the role of differences in regional innovation performances with respect to the pursuit of pollution targets. We investigate the impact of innovative activities on environmental efficiency at the regional level, adopting a spatial panel data approach to account for dependence between geographical observations and to get deeper insights into spatial knowledge spillovers arising from agglomeration economies. The spatial panel analysis covers 103 Italian provinces (equivalent to NUTS3 regions) on four major air pollutants (i.e., CO₂, CH₄, NMVOC, CO) over the 1995–2010 period. Our findings show that the state of local technology development, proxied by patents, has a positive impact on GDP emission efficiency and that its magnitude is higher for more localized pollutants as a result of larger spillover effects. Finally, to analyze the Italian North-South dualism of emission levels of pollutants, we offer a spillover effect study to emphasize the remarkable difference among effects in the territory. This calls for closer attention to the local relevance of the pollution damage when environmental impact of innovation strategies is to be evaluated.     

Funerary practices and kinship in an Early Bronze Age society: a Bayesian approach applied to the radiocarbon dating of Argaric double tombs

The main aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis on kinship relations (affinity/marriage vs descent/consanguinity, and matrilocality) expressed in the funerary record of the El Argar Bronze Age society (South-east Iberia, 2200–1550 cal BCE), taking into account the absolute chronological dimension of double adult tombs. A set of 23 double tombs having radiocarbon dates for both skeletons were selected, and radiocarbon calibration and Bayesian probability analysis was conducted. The results support the ‘descent’ hypothesis, since for most of the cases the chronological distance between individuals buried together was larger than two decades. Finally, several guidelines for future research are suggested in order to overcome shortages in current chronological and archaeological data.     

The ROMACONS Project: a Contribution to the Historical and Engineering Analysis of Hydraulic Concrete in Roman Maritime Structures

Since all long-distance trade in the Roman world travelled by water, Roman harbour design and construction have special importance. Harbour excavation must be supplemented by analysis of the components of the hydraulic concrete, structural analysis of the cementing materials, and consideration of the design of the wooden formwork. The authors have begun collecting large cores from concrete blocks at Roman harbours and other maritime structures, analysing the materials used, the method of placement, and the structural characteristics of the resulting concrete. These data have provided new information on the engineering properties of Roman concrete, the process of funding and execution, and the trade in the volcanic ash which was the crucial component of hydraulic concrete.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society