Patagonia, a Forgotten Land

Patagonia, a Forgotten Land
Author: C. A. Brebbia
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2006-11-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845640616
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This book describes the history of Patagonia from its discovery by Magellan to recent times. Since its early exploration Patagonia has been associated with conditions of extreme hardship and suffering. Men and ships were lost in the dangerous waters of the Straits of Tierra del Fuego, giving rise to tales of mysterious cities populated by the shipwrecked sailors, survivors of the many failed expeditions. Early Spanish attempts to colonize Patagonia ended in failure and the region remained largely uninhabited until the arrival of the Welsh in 1865. Their peaceful coexistence with the natives ended abruptly when the Argentine Army entered Patagonia and took over the Indian lands, which were promptly distributed to new settlers. As a new frontier society, Patagonia could not fail to attract its share of desperadoes and adventurers, the most notorious of whom are described in the book, including gold prospectors, hunters and bandits such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The volume also narrates the anarchist’s struggles that took place in Patagonia at the beginning of the 1900s and the unsuccessful attempt by Perón’s government to convert Argentina into a nuclear power. In the early 1800’s the French traveller and explorer D’Orbigny said, " Perhaps there is no region within the world of which so much has been said, but so little is known." Patagonia is still a largely unknown and uninhabited place, but it does have a rich history as described in this book.

Patagonia

Patagonia
Author: Colin McEwan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1400864763
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Some fourteen to ten thousand years ago, as ice-caps shrank and glaciers retreated, the first bands of hunter-gatherers began to colonize the continental extremity of South America--"the uttermost end of the earth." Their arrival marked the culmination of humankind's epic journey to people the globe. Now they are extinct. This book tells their story. The book describes how these intrepid nomads confronted a hostile climate every bit as forbidding as ice-age Europe as they penetrated and settled the wilds of Fuego-Patagonia. Much later, sixteenth-century European voyagers encountered their descendants: the Aünikenk (southern Tehuelche), Selk'nam (Ona), Yámana (Yahgan), and Kawashekar (Alacaluf), living, as the Europeans saw it, in a state of savagery. The first contacts led to tales of a race of giants and, ever since, Patagonia has exerted a special hold on the European imagination. Tragically, by the mid-twentieth century, the last remnants of the indigenous way of life had disappeared for ever. The essays in this volume trace a largely unwritten history of human adaptation, survival, and eventual extinction. Accompanied by 110 striking photographs, they are published to accompany a major exhibition on Fuego-Patagonia at the Museum of Mankind, London. The contributors are Gillian Beer, Luis Alberto Borrero, Anne Chapman, Chalmers M. Clapperton, Andrew P. Currant, Jean-Paul Duviols, Mateo Martinic B., Robert D. McCulloch, Colin McEwan, Francisco Mena L., Alfredo Prieto, Jorge Rabassa, and Michael Taussig. Originally published in 1998. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

'Magic is No Magic'

'Magic is No Magic'
Author: Jozef T. Devreese
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2008-11-12
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1845643917
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This book gives a comprehensive picture of the activities and the creative heritage of Simon Stevin, who made outstanding contributions to various fields of science, in particular physics and mathematics. Among the striking spectrum of his ingenious achievements, it is worth emphasizing that Simon Stevin is rightly considered as the father of the system of decimal fractions as it is in use today. Stevin also urged the universal use of decimal fractions along with standardization in coinage, measures and weights. This was a most visionary proposal. Stevin was the first since Archimedes to make a significant new contribution to statics and hydrostatics. He truly was "homo universalis." The impact of Stevin's work has been multilateral and worldwide, including literature (William Shakespeare), science (from Christian Huygens to Richard Feynman), politics (Thomas Jefferson) and many other fields. Thomas Jefferson, together with Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris, advocated introducing the decimal monetary units in the USA with reference to the book "De Thiende" by S. Stevin and in particular to the English translation of the book: "Disme: The Art of Tenths" by Robert Norton. In accordance with the title of this translation, the name of the first silver coin issued in the USA in 1792 was 'disme' (since 1837 the spelling changed to ('dime'). It was considered as a symbol of national independence of the USA.

Britain and the Making of Argentina

Britain and the Making of Argentina
Author: Gordon A. Bridger
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845646843
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The author reminds us all of the huge part that British capital, British people and British technology played in transforming Argentina into a modern 20th century economy. He also analyses the reasons for Argentina's loss of momentum in the post-war world.Much of the history has been forgotten and/or misjudged. That does not make it any less important. In fact, it deserves to be recognised as there are lessons that could be learned from the “golden decade” of development. Those who have an interest in history and development, especially in Argentina, including academics, journalists, historians, and economists will all find this economic and social history of interest.

The New Forest

The New Forest
Author: C.A. Brebbia
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2014-01-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845641450
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This book offers a personal view of the New Forest which stems from the author's many years of residence and research activities within the Forest. This has provided him with a deep appreciation of its unique rural charm and rich history. In writing this book the author wishes to share with readers his own enjoyment of this special part of England. Its difference from many other national parks is that it is home to many people and this has given the Forest a more dynamic environment. The New Forest has continued to develop and change over its ten centuries without losing its unique rural outlook. It has been a royal hunting ground, a source of timber to the nation, provided open space for grazing cattle, a source of minerals and charcoal, and more recently, a place dedicated to relaxation and leisure. In spite of these changes its character has remained remarkably unspoilt and many of its customs have survived to the present day. This New Edition (the first edition was published in 1998 and the second edition in 2008), includes additional historical material, updates and many new photos.

Enduring Patagonia

Enduring Patagonia
Author: Gregory Crouch
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2002-10-08
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0375761284
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Patagonia is a strange and terrifying place, a vast tract of land shared by Argentina and Chile where the violent weather spawned over the southern Pacific charges through the Andes with gale-force winds, roaring clouds, and stinging snow. Squarely athwart the latitudes known to sailors as the roaring forties and furious fifties, Patagonia is a land trapped between angry torrents of sea and sky, a place that has fascinated explorers and writers for centuries. Magellan discovered the strait that bears his name during the first circumnavigation. Charles Darwin traveled Patagonia's windy steppes and explored the fjords of Tierra del Fuego during the voyage of the Beagle. From the novel perspective of the cockpit, Antoine de Saint-Exupry immortalized the Andes in Wind, Sand, and Stars, and a half century later, Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia earned a permanent place among the great works of travel literature. Yet even today, the Patagonian Andes remain mysterious and remote, a place where horrible storms and ruthless landscapes discourage all but the most devoted pilgrims from paying tribute to the daunting and dangerous peaks. Gregory Crouch is one such pilgrim. In seven expeditions to this windswept edge of the Southern Hemisphere, he has braved weather, gravity, fear, and doubt to try himself in the alpine crucible of Patagonia. Crouch has had several notable successes, including the first winter ascent of the legendary Cerro Torre's West Face, to go along with his many spectacular failures. In language both stirring and lyrical, he evokes the perils of every handhold, perils that illustrate the crucial balance between physical danger and mental agility that allows for the most important part of any climb, which is not reaching the summit, but getting down alive. Crouch reveals the flip side of cutting-edge alpinism: the stunning variety of menial labor one must often perform to afford the next expedition. From building sewer systems during a bitter Colorado winter to washing the plastic balls in McDonalds' playgrounds, Crouch's dedication to the alpine craft has seen him through as many low moments as high summits. He recounts, too, the riotous celebrations of successful climbs, the numbing boredom of forced encampments, and the quiet pride that comes from knowing that one has performed well and bravely, even in failure. Included are more than two dozen color photographs that capture the many moods of this land, from the sublime beauty of the mountains at sunrise to the unrelenting fury of its storms. Enduring Patagonia is a breathtaking odyssey through one of the worldís last wild places, a land that requires great sacrifice but offers great rewards to those who dare to challenge it.

A Suitcase from the Titanic

A Suitcase from the Titanic
Author: Enrique Rodolfo Dick
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845646789
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The main character in the book wrote to his friend: "Josey, I'm embarking on the biggest steamship in the world, but I don't feel any pride, because at this moment I wish the `Titanic' were submerged at the bottom of the sea..." In his "A Case from the Titanic" author Enrique Dick takes us into a whirlwind of family history, Samuel and Annie Andrew arrive from Whitby, Yorkshire, England, to the vast pampas of Argentina, near the end of the nineteenth century.There Samuel is hired to administer one of the huge ranches of Ambrosio Olmos, a wealthy farmer in Córdoba. There in those fields without end, the Andrew family grows. Silvano Alfredo, Isabel, Wilfred, Ethel, Hilda, William and Edgar are born and raised. Eventually all of them will have their share of love, adventure and tragedy. Told by Enrique Dick, this book is based entirely on his family's real life events; in the pages about Argentina we learn about life at the “estancia”, the pride and joy of Ambrosio Olmos, a colourful figure of Argentina. As the years pass, the Andrew and Olmos families share more than just the relationship between owner and manager.Upon the untimely deaths of both Ambrosio Olmos and Samuel Andrew in 1906, Samuel's son Wilfred, a mere lad of twenty is hired by Olmos' widow, Mrs. Adelia María Harilaos to take over his father's administration of the ranch.Four of the seven brothers travel to England to study and meet their British relatives. Sooner or later most of them will return to their beloved land across the sea.Meantime, Wilfred confronts the maladies of running a huge ranch. Drought, hungry locusts, unruly gauchos and discontented tenants make his life difficult.Silvano, already a sailor navy officer, travels the seven seas aboard legendary Argentine navy ships.In 1911, as part of the Argentine naval legation, Silvano is involved in the construction of two famous battleships, the "Rivadavia" and the "Moreno," built in US Naval yards. While in the US, Silvano meets and falls in love with a winsome millionaire widow, Harriet Fisher.Silvano and Harriet set a date to be married. Jubilant, Silvano invites his brother Edgar, who is studying in Bournemouth, England, to attend the wedding.While in England, Edgar misses Josey, his friend in Argentina. When his brother's request arrives, Edgar has mixed feelings, Josey was about to arrive in England to take up her studies, and he was looking forward to meeting her there and to woe her. He consoles himself with the thought that he will be able to share a few days of joy with Josey before he sails for America. But fate intervened.The White Star Lines ship, the "Olympic", that Edgar is booked on, is stalled by lack of coal due to a strike. His ticket is transferred and made good for earlier sailing on the "Titanic". Lugging his small suitcase full of books, papers, postcards and family letters, Edgar posts his last letter to Josey explaining that his forced earlier departure on the Titanic will keep them apart.Time passes slowly as the Andrew family learns and accepts Edgar's fate. Eventually Edgar's sister, Ethel also visits their ancestral land and there studies in a young ladies school in Whitby learning to paint, embroider and sew will eventually becoming a confidant of her remaining brothers and a lady on her own right. Throughout the book an omniscient character is the coal of Cardiff, which changes destiny not only when becoming steam to propel the Rivadavia and the Moreno battleships when they travel to Argentina with Silvano aboard the Moreno, but also since the lack of coal for Edgar's intended ship places him aboard the doomed Titanic. For decades Edgar's death haunts the Andrew family until one day Edgar's small suitcase is retrieved from the bottom of the ocean. That day, the mementos of a life and the truth they generate as they are plucked from the submerged Titanic once again shake the feelings and origins of a family.Armed with this extraordinary occurrence and the contents of a suitcase from the Titanic, Enrique Dick embarked on a journey of discovery into his maternal family history.The result is a book that not only uncovers family secrets and historical facts but also opens a window into lives that impacted history as it was being created

Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations

Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations
Author: James B. Minahan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 590
Release: 2016-08-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610699548
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This book addresses the numerous national movements of ethnic groups around the world seeking independence, more self-rule, or autonomy—movements that have proliferated exponentially in the 21st century. In the last 15 years, globalization, religious radicalization, economic changes, endangered cultures and languages, cultural suppression, racial tensions, and many other factors have stimulated the emergence of autonomy and independence movements in every corner of the world—even in areas formerly considered immune to self-government demands such as South America. Researching the numerous ethnic groups seeking autonomy or independence worldwide previously required referencing many specialized publications. This book makes this difficult-to-find information available in a single volume, presented in a simple format accessible to everyone, from high school readers to scholars in advanced studies programs. The book provides an extensive update to Greenwood's Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World that was published more than a decade earlier. Each ethnic group receives an alphabetically organized entry containing information such as alternate names, population figures, flag or flags, geography, history, culture, and languages. All the information readers need to understand the motivating factors behind each movement and the current situation of each ethnic group is presented in a compact summary. Fact boxes at the beginning of each entry enable students to quickly access key information, and consistent entry structure makes for easy cross-cultural comparisons.

Rough Guide Ultimate Adventures

Rough Guide Ultimate Adventures
Author: Greg Witt
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1405384654
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Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel features adventures for all travellers, including “soft” experiences for those testing their bravery levels and extreme adventures for adrenalin junkies, each rated by physical, psychological, skill and wow factor! Whether your appetite for adrenalin takes you to arctic freezes, ocean depths or sweltering deserts, this book will tell you the how, why and when to plan your ultimate adventure. Experienced tour leader and trekker extraordinaire, Greg Witt brings cultural sensitivity and humour, as well as concise practical information. The guide is packed with maps & safety advice and includes information on all the best local guides. Make the most of your time on Earth with this spectacular foray into world adventures.

Patagonia

Patagonia
Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher:
Total Pages: 72
Release: 2020-04-12
Genre:
ISBN:
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*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of contemporary accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading Patagonia is in the southernmost region of South America, comprising about 400,000 square miles going from the Colorado River in the north to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in the south. Longitudinally, it covers the whole continental soil, going from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific's waters, including a few islands near the coast, part of the South American plate. The name, "Patagonia" comes from an observation made by Ferdinand Magellan, who visited the region during his historic expedition around the world. Marveled by the height of the indigenous people, he referred to the region as a "land of giants." Those giants were the Tehuelches, named by Magellan's expedition as Patagones, and the chronicles of that trip, written by Antonio Pigafetta, popularized the term "Patagones," a term that refers to their big feet (in Spanish, "patones" means "of big feet"). This description would later derive in the name Patagonia. From its discovery until the 20th century, the borders of Patagonia as well as those elements that define it as such have gone through several changes and names. The main thing for understanding its limits during the Spanish conquest is that Patagonia referred to the land south of the European area of influence. Back then, Patagonia was under control of indigenous inhabitants and, as such, outside European control or only partly influenced. It is no wonder, then, that the earliest limit was the Río de la Plata itself, where in 1536 (and again in 1580) the city of Buenos Aires was founded. Later on, the conquest of the territory, along with the work of cartographers from around the world, gave shape to the region.Today, the Patagonian region is politically separated between two countries, Argentina and Chile, as well as by the United Kingdom which controls the Falkland/Malvinas Islands' archipelago. There is also a division made between its two regions: the Cordillera and the steppe (or as it was historically called, "the desert"). The natural boundary between Chile and Argentina is the mountain range of Cordillera de Los Andes. As a whole, Patagonia has a low population density of only 2.2 inhabitants per square kilometer, and only five percent of the Argentine population resides in Patagonia, with the giant province of Santa Cruz having only 1.4 inhabitants per square kilometer. Some places in Patagonia are among the lowest in population density in the world, such as the Falkland Islands, with a density as low as just 0.3 inhabitants per square kilometer. The Patagonian inhabitants are mostly of European origin, but there are still a large number of aborigines. Topologically speaking, the Chilean region is extremely rugged, like no other place in the world. It is heavily compromised by the mountain range of the Andes, part of the American Cordillera which holds the highest volcanoes in the world. The volcanic activity of the Andes is still active today, with eruptions such as the Calbuco volcano (Los Lagos region) in 2015. South from the Corcovado Gulf, Chilean Patagonia is populated by so-called fjords, narrow sea entrances that navigate the high volcanic coasts. In this sense, the geography of Chilean Patagonia resembles the coasts of Norway or the British Columbia Coast in Canada. Vegetation also varies from west to east. On the Andean side, it is dense, while it is scarce on the side of the steppe, hence the "desert" nickname that the European conquerors and criollos had for it. Patagonia: The History of the Southernmost Region in South America looks at the long and winding history of the area, from its people to its geology and wildlife. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Patagonia like never before.