Two adventures from the early 1980s with Peter Davison starring as the Time Lord. In 'Kinda' (1982), the Doctor (Davison), Tegan (Janet Fielding), Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) land on paradisical Deva Loka, for rest and recuperation. However, the military expediton on the planet has lost several crew members, and the Doctor and Adric are taken hostage by the near hysterical Hindle. Meanwhile, Tegan's dreams have provided the gateway to an ancient evil, the snake-like Mara. The Doctor must prevent the Mara from taking over the Kinda and destroying the expedition, as the wheel of creation begins to turn. In 'Snakedance' (1983), a loose sequel to 'Kinda', Tegan must have made a mistake when she was setting the co-ordinates for the TARDIS, because the Doctor certainly hadn't intended landing on Manussa. When the Doctor learns that Manussa was once the home of the Sumaran Empire, he realises that an evil force has begun to take over Tegan's will. This force, the Mara, is planning to use Tegan as a vehicle to retake power on Manussa. Just as the celebrations to commemorate the destruction of the Sumaran Empire by the Federation are about to take place, the Legend of Mara is about to come true.

More electronic puppet action in this, the second of the 'Thunderbirds' films. This time round, Tracy Island's resident genius Brains designs a revolutionary new aircraft, the Skyship One, only to see it hijacked on its maiden voyage. The Thunderbirds team get ready to come to the rescue, but with Alan Tracy and Lady Penelope trapped on board the Skyship, and Thunderbirds 1 and 2 heading into a trap set up by the hijackers, it's not going to be that easy.

How have modern democracies squared their commitment to equality with their fear that disparities in talent and intelligence might be natural, persistent, and consequential? In this wide-ranging account of American and French understandings of merit, talent, and intelligence over the past two centuries, John Carson tells the fascinating story of how two nations wrestled scientifically with human inequalities and their social and political implications.

Surveying a broad array of political tracts, philosophical treatises, scientific works, and journalistic writings, Carson chronicles the gradual embrace of the IQ version of intelligence in the United States, while in France, the birthplace of the modern intelligence test, expert judgment was consistently prized above such quantitative measures. He also reveals the crucial role that determinations of, and contests over, merit have played in both societies--they have helped to organize educational systems, justify racial hierarchies, classify army recruits, and direct individuals onto particular educational and career paths.

A contribution to both the history of science and intellectual history, "The Measure of Merit" illuminates the shadow languages of inequality that have haunted the American and French republics since their inceptions.