Book reviews

Filippo Mazzonis (ed.) (1995) L'ltalia contemporanea e la storiografia internazionale (Venice: Marsilio), pp. 1‐315, 54,000 lire, ISBN 88‐317‐6207‐9.

Giuseppe Ricuperati (1994) Le avventure di uno stato ‘ben amministrato’. Rappre‐sentazioni e realtà nello spazio sabaudo tra Ancien Régime e Rivoluzione (Turin: Tirrenia Stampatori), pp. 1‐249.

Angela Groppi (ed.) (1996) Il lavoro delle donne (Rome‐Bari: Laterza), pp. i‐xvi, 1‐530,50,000 lire, ISBN 88‐420‐4868‐2 hardback.

Anna Bravo and Anna Maria Bruzzone (1995) In guerra senza ami: Stone di donne, 1940‐1945 (Rome/Bari: Laterza), pp. 1‐214, 25,000 lire, ISBN 88‐420‐4590‐X paperback.

Stefano Cavazza (1977) Piccole patrie: Feste popohri tra regione e nazione durante il fascismo (Bologna: II Mulino), pp. 1‐263,32,000 lire, ISBN 88‐15‐05762‐5 paperback.

Barbara Spackman (1996) Fascist Virilities: Rhetoric, Ideology, and Social Fantasy in Italy (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), pp. 1 ‐187, US$ 18, ISBN 0‐8166‐2787‐8 paperback.

Jane C. Schneider and Peter T. Schneider (1996) Festival of the Poor. Fertility Decline and the Ideology of Class in Sicily, 1860‐1980 (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press), pp. 1‐322, ISBN 0‐8165‐1544‐1 hardback, ISBN 0‐8165‐1519‐0 paperback.

Franco Ferraresi (1996) Threats to Democracy, the Radical Right in Italy after the War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), pp. 1‐311, $35, ISBN 0‐691‐04499‐6 hardback.

Gianfranco Pasquino (1996) 1945‐1996: Profilo delta politica in Italia (Bari: Laterza), pp. 1‐117, plus CD‐ROM 1945‐1996: Archivio della politica in Italia, Gianfranco Pasquino with the collaboration of Marzia Zannini, ISBN 88‐420‐5139‐X.

Michela De Giorgio and Christiane Klapisch‐Zuber (eds) (1996) Storia del matrimonio (Bari and Rome: Laterza), pp. 1‐481, 50,000 lire, ISBN 88‐420‐5016‐4.     

Use of Pushover Analysis for Predicting Seismic Response of Irregular Buildings: A Case Study

Structural irregularity undermines capability of conventional methods for 2D pushover analysis to closely approximate results from inelastic dynamic analysis. In recent years, different methods have been developed to overcome such limitation and their suitability has been checked with reference either to idealized building models or to geometrically simple tested structures. In this paper, suitability of one such method, proposed by Fajfar et al. [2005] Fajfar, P., Maru?i?, D. and Perus, I. 2005. Torsional effects in the pushover-based seismic analysis of buildings. Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 9(6): 831–854. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], is evaluated considering an existing school building which presents both vertical and plan irregularities. Types of irregularity encompass not only those usually considered by seismic codes but also those deriving from a bad conceptual design and construction inaccuracies, very frequent at the year of construction (1974). It is found that, even under such complex irregularity conditions, this ‘modified’ pushover analysis correlates well results from inelastic dynamic analysis almost up to failure, since, in most cases, its predictions of interstorey drifts and plastic rotations are conservatively close to values from inelastic dynamic analysis. Even failure mechanism, consisting of a floor mechanism at the third level, is correctly predicted, thus demonstrating adequacy of such method for actual framed structures.     

The Strange Case of Dr. Bucaille: Notes for a Re‐examination

The present essay focuses on the figure of Maurice Bucaille and on his contribution to the discourse on Islam and science. Its purpose is twofold. First of all, it aims to provide the reader with a concise map of the ideas of the French author, reconstructing their core and their interrelations. Furthermore, it aims to question what I define as “the apparent naivety” of Bucaille's work, a reason why he can sometimes be too easily dismissed, by pinpointing a number of original features of his intellectual activity. My argument is that Bucaille deserves more attention for two good reasons: firstly, because of the influence that he de facto exerts on Muslim societies, secondly, because of some highly specific characteristics of his discourse. Such features not only distinguish his contribution from analogous ones, but also give rise to interpretative questions, which have as yet been either overlooked or unsatisfactorily addressed. Closely connected to this thesis is the idea that Bucaille's work constitutes a good starting point for a discussion amongst scholars of different disciplines and from different cultural backgrounds. The first section reconstructs Bucaille's life and works. The second section focuses on his method and ideas regarding science. The third section is devoted to Bucaille's conclusions following his study of the Bible and the Qur'an, and therefore deals more closely with the core of his ideas. The fourth section covers Bucaille's complementary criticism of the theory of evolution. In the fifth section I examine the possible reasons behind the scant scholarly attention concerning Bucaille. In the final section I propose an interpretative model of Bucaille's figure conceived as a system of concentric spheres and I raise, for each one of them, several questions, which have so far been, in my view, insufficiently investigated, thus setting an agenda for further scholarly work.     

The tragedy of the commodity and the farce of AquAdvantage Salmon

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve AquAdvantage Salmon as the first genetically modified animal for human consumption. The genetic modifications allow the proprietary fish to grow at a rate twice as fast as a wild salmon, leading to greater ‘efficiency’ in terms of reduced costs and reduced time to market. This article provides an analysis of the ways in which AquAdvantage Salmon exemplifies capitalist market forces controlling and guiding the terms of salmon recovery and conservation. The authors trace historical developments within the salmon industry to demonstrate how capitalist commodity production has impacted fishing communities. They reject the oft-cited ‘tragedy of the commons’ hypothesis offered to explain fisheries crises. In its place, they offer the conceptual framework of the ‘tragedy of the commodity’ to explore how capitalist market forces and complicit state regulations amplify rather than resolve global environmental problems.     

Seismic Assessment of a Monumental Building through Nonlinear Analyses of a 3D Solid Model

ABSTRACT

The paper analyzes the static behavior and the seismic vulnerability of the “San Francesco ad Alto” building in Ancona (Italy), which is currently used as a Regional Headquarter of the Marche Region by the Italian Army and was formerly a monastery. The global static structural behavior and the dynamic properties have been evaluated using the Finite Element modeling technique, in which the nonlinear behavior of masonry has been taken into account by proper constitutive laws. The concepts of homogenized material and smeared cracking are used to evaluate the capacity of the monastery to withstand lateral loads together with the expected demands resulting from seismic actions (N2 method), using a nonlinear static analysis (pushover). The comparison of seismic demand and capacity confirms the susceptibility of these types of buildings to extensive damage and collapse, as frequently observed in similar buildings. This paper aims to point out that advanced numerical analyses can offer significant information on the understanding of the actual structural behavior of historical buildings. It is believed that the methodology and the overall conclusions of this case study are valid for many historical monasteries in Europe.     

An X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) investigation in human and animal fossil bones from Holocene to Middle Triassic

We examined by Rietveld refinement of X-ray Diffraction patterns a series of 61 human and animal fossil bones in an age range from present time to Middle Triassic (around 245 Ma). This approach, supplemented by elemental analysis according to X-ray Fluorescence, has permitted to obtain a quantitative evaluation of the mineralogical phases in the specimens, thus allowing to reconstruct the mineralization process involved. Concerning the apatite phase, after adopting a monoclinic geometry for the unit cell, the method permits to determine with fair degree of precision the unit cell volume, which is found to decrease in relatively short geological times as a function of the fluorine substitution process for the hydroxyl group –OH. After excluding the role of a high-temperature fire treatment to the bones, it is found that a certain linear correlation may exist over the geological time scale involved between the age of the specimen and the average crystallite size. This observation permits to use the XRD pattern as an evaluation of the age of the fossil, although the stratigraphic observations, where available, remain as the main reliable source for dating such biomaterials. The uncertainty related to this age estimation may be hardly better than 15–20% in absolute, because of various assumptions involved in the XRD methodology used and in the variability of the burial environment that may be subjected to discontinuous changes over the very long time of deposition.     

Molar crown height: not always a reliable method for the evaluation of age-at-death

In this study, we tested the validity of molar crown height, which changes according to the degree of tooth wear, for the evaluation of age-at-death. The sample consisted of 372 first and second molars (lower and upper) from 157 individuals of known sex and age-at-death. For each molar, we measured the height of the two cusps most subjected to wear (protocone and hypocone for the upper M1 and M2; protoconid and hypoconid for the lower M1 and M2). The correlation between crown height and age-at-death was assessed by linear regression analysis. The resulting models were not very robust since a significant correlation was only found for a small part of the sample, at best (maxillary M1) around 35%. The result slightly improved when bucco-lingual diameter (BL diameter), ante-mortem tooth loss and dental caries were considered, mainly for the maxillary M2 for which the model using age-at-death and BL diameter as independent variables explained 47% of the sample (p < 0.001).     

Using toponymy to reconstruct past land use: a case study of ‘brüsáda’ (burn) in southern Switzerland

Toponyms are frequently the outcome of a creative process, a subjective interpretation by the local inhabitants at the time of naming. They often survive changes in the local landscape, thus becoming historical documents of landscape dynamics or changes in land use. In this contribution we provide a systematic synchronic analysis of the toponym brüsáda (burn) in Canton Ticino. In total, 182 instances of place names containing brüsáda were recorded, of which 102 cases (56.0%) were localised. Based on oral information provided by the local people or on archival documents, it was possible to group the selected toponyms into different meaning classes such as burnt building, exposed sites, pasture-land and others without any indication (classified here as generic). On the basis of etymological, topographic, documentary, bibliographic, and historic evidence, as well as proxy-archives (such as charcoal in lake sediments), we hypothesise that most of the toponyms associated with pasture-land – and probably also a large portion of the generic toponyms – are directly or indirectly related to the habit of using fire to clear brushwood to improve pasture-land or to eliminate trees. In the study area, the practice of pasture-fires appears to have been a very well controlled and targeted activity in medieval times. In contrast, pasture-fires became very frequent and uncontrolled in the second half of the nineteenth century up until the Second World War. Our study confirms the usefulness and suitability of toponymy, in combination with other disciplines, for ecohistorical reconstructions of past environmental and land-use changes.     

John Howard and the ‘Anglospherist’ reshaping of Australia

The conceptual category of the Anglosphere never found explicit currency in John Howard's narrative when he was prime minister. While in office, he ostentatiously avoided ‘putting Australia into a particular sphere – Anglo or otherwise’. This article suggests instead that his endeavour to reshape Australia drew on an Anglospherist perspective. The reshaping of Australia he undertook when he won office rested on two pillars of Anglospherism: the rejection of multiculturalism and the alignment to countries with ‘shared values’ in Australia's external relations. The article traces how these two Anglospherist precepts found actual implementation in Howard's re-framing of ‘Australian multiculturalism’ and re-conceptualisation of ‘Australia's engagement with Asia’.

约翰·霍华德担任总理期间,英语圈的说法在他的叙述里并不通行。在他的官方官样文章里,他明确地避免把澳大利亚放进特定的圈子——英语圈也好,别的圈也好。霍华德在职的时候重塑澳大利亚的努力,其实是基于英语圈的视角。他赢得竞选时要重塑澳大利亚的事业,有两个英语圈的支柱：拒绝多元文化;对外关系中优先“持共同价值观”的国家。本文研究了霍华德如何将这两个英语圈思路落实到对“澳大利亚多元文化”的重新塑造、对“澳大利亚与亚洲关系”的重新思考中的。     

A short note on the archaeometric study of two sculptures in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gabinetto Segreto</Emphasis> of Naples National Archeological Museum: the ‘Pan and the She-Goat’ group and the ‘Bikini Venus’

Presented here are the results of an archeological and archaeometric study of two famous marble sculptures displayed in the Gabinetto Segreto of the National Archeological Museum of Naples: the “Pan and She-Goat” group from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and the statue of the “Bikini Venus” leaning on a statuette of Priapus from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. This study offers some art historical observations about the sculptures and the first minero-petrographic (polarizing microscopy on thin section and x-ray diffraction on powders) and isotopic (C and O stable isotope ratio) investigation of their marble types. The results indicate that the “Pan and She-Goat” group employed the statuary white Carrara variety, while the Parian lychnites was used for the “Bikini Venus”. Analyses proved also that the red finishing layer present on the latter statue is composed by sandyx.