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sciencespies · 4 years

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A Notorious 17th-Century Pirate, the Many Lives of the Louvre and Other New Books to Read

https://sciencespies.com/nature/a-notorious-17th-century-pirate-the-many-lives-of-the-louvre-and-other-new-books-to-read/

A Notorious 17th-Century Pirate, the Many Lives of the Louvre and Other New Books to Read

When Captain Henry Every and his crew of marauders ambushed the pride of the Mughal fleet in September 1695, they set in motion an international crisis with lasting implications. As Steven Johnson, author of The Ghost Map and How We Got to Now, writes in Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt, Every’s capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai—and its trove of an estimated $200 million in gold, silver and jewels—led the British East India Company to take harsh retaliatory measures. In doing so, Johnson argues, the corporation and Every inadvertently sparked the birth of a modern phenomenon: multinational capitalism.

The latest installment in our “Books of the Week” series, which launched in late March to support authors whose works have been overshadowed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, details the search for Every, the many lives of the Louvre, the Montgomery bus boycott, the humans behind history’s greatest firsts and a titan of industry’s ideological clash with Theodore Roosevelt.

Representing the fields of history, science, arts and culture, innovation, and travel, selections represent texts that piqued our curiosity with their new approaches to oft-discussed topics, elevation of overlooked stories and artful prose. We’ve linked to Amazon for your convenience, but be sure to check with your local bookstore to see if it supports social distancing-appropriate delivery or pickup measures, too.

Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt by Steven Johnson

By all accounts, the Ganj-i-Sawai should’ve emerged victorious against the Fancy, a comparatively underequipped privateer ship. But luck was on Every’s side when the vessels met, and as Kirkus notes in its review of Enemy of All Mankind, Grand Mughal Aurangzeb’s flagship experienced a cannon misfire “even as a lucky shot from the pirate fleet took down the main mast.” Upon boarding the Ganj-i-Sawai, Every and his crew raped its women, tortured and murdered its men, and looted its treasure trove of goods.

The incident left the East India Company—and its trading interests in the Asian country—in a challenging position. Accused by Aurangzeb and his followers of hailing from a “nation of pirates” simply because Every was also British, the company teamed up with the crown to launch what Johnson deems the “first global manhunt.” Ultimately, the search proved only partially successful. Every escaped the hangman’s noose, though several of his comrades were captured and executed.

Despite this apparent failure, Johnson argues that the manhunt ushered in a much-needed reckoning between a soon-to-be outdated mode of money-making (autocracy funded by tithes, taxes and other forms of exploitation) and the way of the future: “a multinational corporation making money by trading goods with other nations, with shareholders profiting not just from the income generated, but also by the rising share price of the company itself.”

The Louvre: The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum by James Gardner

The Louvre is perhaps best known today as the home of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. But the palatial complex boasted a rich history long before the world’s most famous painting graced its walls. As James Gardner writes in his extensive exploration of the Parisian cultural institution—which he deems “as great a work of art as anything it contains”—the Louvre’s story actually stretches back some 7,000 years. “Before the Louvre was a museum,” the art critic explains in the book’s introduction, “it was a palace, and before that a fortress, and before that a plot of earth, much like any other.”

In 1191, French king Philippe Auguste ordered the construction of a defensive stronghold on the banks of the Seine River. Thousands of years earlier, according to Gardner, the site had served first as a campground and then as the home of a clay quarry and vineyard. During the 13th century, Charles V converted the fortress into a castle, laying the foundations for 16th-century king Francis I’s adoption of it as his main residence. But when Louis XIV chose Versailles as the main royal palace in 1682, the Louvre underwent a century of neglect. Finally, in 1793, the property assumed the role it holds to this day, opening as a public museum filled with art and artifacts—the majority of which were seized from France’s nobility amid the chaos of the French Revolution.

Writes Gardner, “What we see today is the result of no fewer than twenty distinct building campaigns that drew on the very diverse and unequal talents of scores of architects over eight centuries.”

Daughter of the Boycott: Carrying On a Montgomery Family’s Civil Rights Legacy by Karen Gray Houston

Fred and Thomas Gray played pivotal roles in the civil rights movement, aiding the organization of the Montgomery bus boycott and battling segregation in court, respectively. In Daughter of the Boycott, journalist Karen Gray Houston reflects on her relatives’ legacy, detailing how her father, Thomas—a founding member of the Montgomery Improvement Association—“drove his car to pick up black passengers to keep them off the buses [and] make the boycott a success,” while his younger brother, Fred, spearheaded legal cases that expanded voting rights and “desegregated transportation, schools, housing, and public accommodations.”

In addition to discussing her father’s and uncle’s work, Houston draws on interviews with individuals including the daughter-in-law of the manager whose bus line was targeted by protesters and the son of Aurelia Browder Coleman, lead plaintiff in the Browder v. Gayle Supreme Court case that resulted in the desegregation of Montgomery’s buses. According to Kirkus’ review of Daughter of the Boycott, Houston’s “real coup” is a conversation with fellow Browder plaintiff Claudette Colvin, who refused to yield her seat to a white passenger nine months before Rosa Parks famously did the same.

Who Ate the First Oyster?: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History by Cody Cassidy

To gain a better understanding of the individuals behind history’s “greatest firsts,” science writer Cody Cassidy interviewed more than 100 experts, started a fire with flint and pyrite, shaved his face with a piece of obsidian, and brewed beer using spoiled gruel. This unconventional research method ultimately yielded insights on 17 historical innovators whose accomplishments range from eating the first oyster to discovering soap, painting the world’s first masterpiece, inventing clothing and performing the first surgery.

Among the many curiosities highlighted in the book: The first person whose name survives in the historical record is an accountant named Kushim who lived some 5,000 years ago. A young Australopithecus mother crafted the world’s first invention—a baby sling—approximately three million years ago. And the creator of clothing, a Homo sapien the author nicknames Ralph, invented fashionable attire not for protection, warmth or modesty, but as decoration.

Cassidy’s sweeping exploration is limited by the simple fact that the individuals featured “lived before or without writing.” Still, he writes in the book’s introduction, “These are people who scholars know existed and whose extraordinary or fateful acts are the foundation of modern life.”

The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism by Susan Berfield

As Publishers Weekly notes in its review of journalist Susan Berfield’s debut book, Theodore Roosevelt and financier J.P. Morgan both hailed from upper-class families and endured childhoods marred by illness. Despite these similarities, the pair vehemently disagreed on political and economic issues: Whereas Roosevelt argued that big business “had to be accountable to the public,” according to Berfield, Morgan believed capitalism should operate unchecked by all except titans of industry.

These conflicting views came to a head on September 14, 1901, when President William McKinley’s assassination made his vice president, Roosevelt, the United States’ new commander in chief. Roosevelt and Morgan, who at the time was among the richest men in the nation, viewed each other with distrust and uncertainty. When Morgan reportedly said, “I am afraid of Mr. Roosevelt because I don’t know what he’ll do,” the president replied, “He’s afraid of me because he does know what I’ll do.”

The Hour of Fate’s main action unfolds in 1902, when the government accused Morgan’s Northern Securities of antitrust violations, only to be stymied by a coal mining union strike that left both the railroad industry and the country, which relied on coal to heat its citizens’ homes, in a precarious position.

Writes Berfield, “With millions of dollars on the line, winter bearing down, and revolution in the air, it was a crisis that neither man alone could solve.”

#Nature

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theeconomicreview · 4 years

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ON THE BOOKSHELF: May 2020

The Economic Review looks ahead at five new titles published next month.

1) FLASH CRASH by Liam Vaughan, Doubleday, pp. 272, $26.95. A thrilling new account of the 2010 Flash Crash that describes the downfall of lone wolf trader Navinder Singh Sarao.

2) A PHILOSOPHER’S ECONOMIST by Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind, University of Chicago Press, pp. 328, $45. A new assessment of Adam Smith’s contribution to economics that unpicks his nuanced view of the modern commercial world.

3) ULTIMATE PRICE by Howard Stephen Friedman, University of California Press, pp. 232, $26.95. Statistician Friedman takes a candid look at how companies and governments price human life -- and the inequalities these calculations often entail.

4) THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE IN AN AGE OF INEQUALITY edited by Gerald A Epstein. Edward Elgar (paperback edition), pp.288, $45. This important collection of essays looks at the damage inflicted on political structures and global finance by the 2008 financial crisis.

5) THE HOUR OF FATE by Susan Berfield. Bloomsbury, pp. 416, $30. An account of the battle that raged at the beginning of the twentieth century as US President Theodore Roosevelt sought to break up JP Morgan’s empire.

#econbooks

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wandashifflett · 4 years

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The Capital Letter: Week of August 3

Over at Capital Matters it was a busy week: coronavirus litigation, Susan Berfield’s new book, the next stimulus package, wage inequality, and more. from Rayfield Review News https://therayfield.com/the-capital-letter-week-of-august-3 from The Ray Field https://therayfieldreview.tumblr.com/post/625847086918795264

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therayfieldreview · 4 years

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The Capital Letter: Week of August 3

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insurancepolicypro · 5 years

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KHN’s ‘What The Well being?’: Tennessee Seeks Medicaid Adjustments

Can’t see the audio participant? Click on right here to pay attention on SoundCloud.

Tennessee introduced this week that it hopes to turn out to be the primary state to take the Trump administration up on its supply to rework funding for its Medicaid program right into a block grant. Tennessee, anticipated to formally file its plan this fall, is betting it might probably discover methods to decrease the prices of caring for its low-income sufferers with out slicing advantages or enrollment. Nevertheless it stays unclear if Tennessee’s plan could possibly be allowed underneath Medicaid regulation.

In the meantime, open enrollment for the Inexpensive Care Act begins in lower than six weeks. By all indications, shoppers in most elements of the nation may have extra selections and smaller premium will increase than in earlier years, even with out the authorized requirement for most individuals to have protection or pay a tax penalty.

And Congress continues to be struggling to seek out compromises on laws to deal with rising prescription drug costs and shock medical payments.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Well being Information, Anna Edney of Bloomberg Information, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Occasions and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner.

Additionally this week, Rovner interviews Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary, who has a brand new e book, “The Worth We Pay,” exploring why well being care within the U.S. prices a lot.

Among the many takeaways from this week’s podcast:

The Trump administration and a few conservative Republican lawmakers have lengthy sought to maneuver Medicaid to a block-grant system, through which states would get an outlined federal cost and thus have extra management over the best way to spend the cash to supply well being care to low-income residents. However the large unknown is the chance states take with such a system, particularly if some financial issue out of the blue makes extra folks eligible for Medicaid. The improved circumstances for shoppers shopping for medical insurance on the marketplaces in November come regardless of the GOP’s elimination of the tax penalty for not having insurance coverage. So had been Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump fallacious in arguing that the ACA couldn’t stand with out the mandate? Earlier this summer time, one factor appeared sure: Congress would move some kind of laws to guard shoppers in opposition to shock medical payments, which they get after being handled by a health care provider or hospital exterior their insurance coverage community. Democrats, Republicans and the White Home needed it. However an promoting blitz by non-public fairness corporations that personal doctor practices appears to be fraying that resolve. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan to curb drug costs — introduced Thursday — is more likely to face a troublesome time getting by a Republican Senate. Nevertheless it may show a potent argument for the Democrats within the 2020 elections. The Democratic presidential candidates’ combat over the place the celebration is headed on well being coverage is complicated voters and should make them a bit cynical concerning the probabilities of fixing present issues. That would have dire penalties for the celebration, since a lot of the Democrats’ success within the 2018 midterm elections was attributed to their message about well being care.

Plus, for additional credit score, the panelists suggest their favourite well being coverage tales of the week they suppose it’s best to learn too:

Julie Rovner: Bloomberg Information’ “Carcinogens Have Infiltrated the Generic Drug Provide within the U.S.” by Anna Edney, Susan Berfield and Evelyn Yu, and “Carcinogen Scare Units off International Race to Include Tainted Zantac,” by Edney

Anna Edney: The Washington Submit’s “The Vaping Business Has Shut Ties to Trump. His Ban Nonetheless Caught Them Off Guard,” by Laurie McGinley, Neena Satija, Josh Dawsey and Yasmeen Abutaleb

Jennifer Haberkorn: The Los Angeles Occasions’ “People’ Struggles With Medical Payments Are a International Idea in Different Nations,” by Noam Levey

Kimberly Leonard: The (Toronto) Globe and Mail’s “Toronto-Based mostly Hospital Community Commits Land to Constructing Inexpensive Housing,” by Kelly Grant

To listen to all our podcasts, click on right here.

And subscribe to What the Well being? on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Pocket Casts.

from insurancepolicypro http://insurancepolicypro.com/?p=1305

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photgraphyfmp · 7 years

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Project proposal

The main aims and objectives of this project are to create fashion images because ultimately I want to work in this industry, I will use a theme of weightlessness as I have become very inspired buy this idea and it can take many routes. Another aim is to create work that I will be happy to show to potential employers at my final exhibition. Overall I want to create an editorial/fashion campaign or editorial spread to sell a brand, using the theories of Sigmund Freud to appeal to my audiences desires and not just sell a product, rather a lifestyle as this is used in the fashion industry currently. The current working title of my project is Weightless that I do feel needs to change as my project has evolved with the research I have done.

My dissertation is about advertisement and fashion photography, focusing on the Sigmund Freud’s theory of the subconscious and how his nephew Edward Bernays bought this theory into the world of advertisement to create adverts that would target the publics inner desires and wants. I will be linking my FMP and Dissertation together and creating a fashion/editorial campaign/advertisement that will sell the idea of a lifestyle. A young, free, weightless lifestyle of someone who has not yet been hit with the worries, responsibilities and demands of adulthood yet. Clothing brands that create similar feelings in their advertisements are Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister & Jack Wills. All these brands are aimed at young adults and teenagers selling a fun exciting free lifestyle along with there products so I will be using the brands as key influences as I proceed in this project.

The research I am currently looking into is how the theories of Sigmund Freud have been used in the advertising industry, so far Edward Burnays has been a key part of this movement, taking his uncles (Freud) theories in the 1950s and implementing them into the world of advertising in the US. Burney’s created public relations at the end of the 19th century and started using propaganda in advertisement to keep the peace and control the masses after the war.

Looking into Abercrombie and Fitch specifically, similar methods are used. I have found quotes from journalists on the subject including:

“The brand mainly targets the youth segment. However, because of its portrayal of youth, it is loved by men and women of all ages” Marketing strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – A&F Marketing by Hitesh Bhasin for Marketing 91, November 21, 2017.

and

“He created a fantasy world, and plenty of teens wanted to be part of it.” The ageing of Abercrombie & Fitch - Susan Berfield and Lindsey Rupp for Bloomberg January 22, 2015.

These quotes clearly suggest an idea and lifestyle being sold more than just a product, something that the customer views and thinks he/she needs to feel better and with that product they will be like the people in the advertisements and fulfil there inner desires to be young and free.

The aesthetic of my work will be editorial/fashion with feelings of being free, youthful, limitless, soft, warm, exciting, weightless, fresh, relived of pressure and a no responsibilities attached kinds nature. (see below)

I will use an external flash and natural light and reflectors for my location shoot and a Bowen's kit, one light with either a large soft box or barn doors and reflectors, for my studio shoots. I want to create images with no harsh shadows and soft editorial lighting. I want it to look professional and well lit but with nothing to fancy so it stays natural and believable. (see below)

I will be shooting more than once but for my main shoot outside, on location I will shoot with the natural light from the sun at golden hour and use reflectors to ensure my subjects are lit nicely. I may use an external flash if i continue to shoot into the darker hours of the day or decide to create a video or moving image of some sort.

And for my studio shoots they will be lit like so (see below).

The outside Location will be in the english countryside, this will be influenced buy brands such as Jack Wills and

Abercrombie & Fitch as these particular brands are clearly selling a lifestyle similar to the approach I will take with my project. Hertford Road is a location I have found that I think is perfect as it really feels endless and free there, the land is very flat and you can see far into the distance giving of a feeling of no limits. (see below)

My key influencers in this project are Ignacio Torres (below)

Phillipe Halsman, (below)

Hiroyuki Seo, (below)

John Hillin, (below)

Abercrombie & Fitch(below)

Jack Wills.(below)

and Hollister. (below)

As I want my project to be fashion/editorial this will affect my work in the way that it will have to fit into this category, the images will need to look clean and ascetically pleasing. They will also have to be edited correctly and appeal to the target audiences.

The people who will view the work (target audience) will be firstly a brand wanting to create adverts similar and secondly the customer wanting to purchase products that will influence a certain lifestyle. (young adults and teenagers).

The destination for my work will be magazines, billboards, online still adverts and television/video adverts. The ultimate goal of this work would be to sell the clothing in the images, however as my project is about selling a lifestyle through an advert and appealing to young people and there desires it is less about the clothes in this case and more about the lifestyle portrayed while wearing the clothes. These factors mean the project I create will have to fit into the certain categories to appeal to these audiences like using young models in my work, clothing that will create a young, free lifestyle aesthetic and creating images that are visually appealing to younger people.

To bring this idea to life I will need to start shooting in the location I have scouted and start shooting more outside in general, I have done photoshoots outside before and love the look so will need to do what I did then here, for example (see below)

I also need to find clothing and accessories that suit this project maybe from the brands I have mentioned in my research. (see similar below)

This project is important to me because I hope to be working in an environment where I can create images like these and similar work so to have evidence that I can execute this type of photography well, will be very useful for me when looking for a job next year.

So far I have a few test shoots that have helped me to develop a solid idea that I am very happy to continue with for the rest of my project. I also have a lot of research into the aesthetic and visual aspects of what I want to create and a solid idea backed up with research of historical and contemporary sources that will help me going forwards in this project.

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