Transcendental Magic is a classic of occultism, prized for its wide-ranging wisdom, thorough guidance and revelatory contents. Written by Eliphas Levi in the mid-19th century, Transcendental Magic offers seekers of occult knowledge a bounty of guidance and knowledge. Informed by research spanning many centuries of arcane arts, the author offers us profound guidance to the ceremonial rituals one must perform in order to make contact with spirits and other non-corporeal entities of the universe. In Levi's explanations we encounter various figures of occult lore. Monad is synonymous with God; the creator of everything contained in our physical plane. Derived from the Pythagorean school, through Levi we learn how Monad interacts with the creation. This discussion is related to the Kabbalah, which attempts to define the relationship between what is infinite and what is finite.

Practically every display technology in use today relies on the flat, energy-efficient construction made possible by liquid crystals. These displays provide visually-crisp, vibrantly-colored images that a short time ago were thought only possible in science fiction. Liquid crystals are known mainly for their use in display technologies, but they also provide many diverse and useful applications: adaptive optics, electro-optical devices, films, lasers, photovoltaics, privacy windows, skin cleansers and soaps, and thermometers. The striking images of liquid crystals changing color under polarized lighting conditions are even on display in many museums and art galleries - true examples of 'science meeting art'. Although liquid crystals provide us with visually stunning displays, fascinating applications, and are a rich and fruitful source of interdisciplinary research, their full potential may yet remain untapped.

Electron storage rings play a crucial role in many areas of modern scientific research. In light sources, they provide intense beams of x-rays that can be used to understand the structure and behavior of materials at the atomic scale, with applications to medicine, the life sciences, condensed matter physics, engineering, and technology. In particle colliders, electron storage rings allow experiments that probe the laws of nature at the most fundamental level. Understanding and controlling the behavior of the beams of particles in storage rings is essential for the design, construction, and operation of light sources and colliders aimed at reaching increasingly demanding performance specifications. Introduction to Beam Dynamics in High-Energy Electron Storage Rings describes the physics of particle behavior in these machines. Starting with an outline of the history, uses, and structure of electron storage rings, the book develops the foundations of beam dynamics, covering particle motion in the components used to guide and focus the beams, the effects of synchrotron radiation, and the impact of interactions between the particles in the beams. The aim is to emphasize the physics behind key phenomena, keeping mathematical derivations to a minimum: numerous references are provided for those interested in learning more. The text includes discussion of issues relevant to machine design and operation and concludes with a brief discussion of some more advanced topics, relevant in some special situations, and a glimpse of current research aiming to develop the "ultimate" storage rings.

2015 Best Book Award from the Communal Studies Association The captivating story of the people of Heaven's Gate, a religious group focused on transcending humanity and the Earth, and seeking salvation in the literal heavens on board a UFO In March 1997, thirty-nine people in Rancho Santa Fe, California, ritually terminated their lives. To outsiders, it was a mass suicide. To insiders, it was a graduation. This act was the culmination of over two decades of spiritual and social development for the members of Heaven's Gate. In this fascinating overview, Benjamin Zeller not only explores the question of why the members of Heaven's Gate committed ritual suicides, but interrogates the origin and evolution of the religion, its appeal, and its practices. By tracking the development of the history, social structure, and worldview of Heaven's Gate, Zeller draws out the ways in which the movement was both a reflection and a microcosm of larger American culture. The group emerged out of engagement with Evangelical Christianity, the New Age movement, science fiction and UFOs, and conspiracy theories, and it evolved in response to the religious quests of baby boomers, new religions of the counterculture, and the narcissistic pessimism of the 1990s. Thus, Heaven's Gate not only reflects the context of its environment, but also reveals how those forces interacted in the form of a single religious body. In the only book-length study of Heaven's Gate, Zeller traces the roots of the movement, examines its beliefs and practices, and tells the captivating story of its people.

The Holy Web offers entree to the world revealed by contemporary science and the difference the new models of our life on earth make to understanding Christianity. The author shows how the church's mission is to become and to nurture a dynamic "web of relationships" in which all humanity can find itself part of a wondrous whole. Wessels offers a profound reading of biblical categories. He shows convincingly that the new universe story made popular by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme is not only open to religious interpretation but that the biblical symbols of creation, redemption, sin, grace, life and death, God-Christ-Spirit, faith, hope and love reveal the meaning of the universe to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.