Swanendael, the first communal experiment in America, was established in 1663 by Mennonites from Holland. The scant records available on the community show that 41 people, led by Pieter Cornelisz Plockhoy, settled in an area near Lewes, Delaware, in the late summer. These ""souls,"" as they were called, shared all things in common, refused to keep slaves, practiced religious toleration for all but Catholics and ""stiff-necked Quakers,"" and had the first free school in the New World. The opening of the New World made America the ideal location for many experimental communities. Its unspoiled and inexpensive land encouraged social experimentation and as a result most of the world's communes have been established in the United States. This encyclopedia details the over 500 communes established in America, from Swanendael (1663) through Tolstoy Farm, which was founded in 1963. Entries include the name of the commune, the years it operated, the community's leaders, a brief history, a discussion of extant buildings or artifacts, and sources for further study.

Throughout history, humans have sought ways not only to acquire but to preserve knowledge. From when to plant crops to who begat whom, even the earliest people worked to gather and store information. Today, computers and other technologies have almost completely changed the world of information access and storage. This history traces the development of knowledge-collecting from early humans, whose minds served as repositories of culture and lore, through the first libraries and encyclopedias, to the many advances of the twentieth century. Ironically it is with these latest advances that the preservation of knowledge has foundered.For example, CD-ROMs can last no doubt for decades - but the software programs that run them will not, because they are constantly being upgraded. Both well-known and obscure pieces of the information story are explored in this work. From Diderot's encyclopedia, to anonymous librarians of the ancient world, the people who created information storage systems and the systems themselves are all presented. It is fully indexed.

Today the doors of China are opening to foreign investment and trade as never before, but the history of contact between China and the West goes back many centuries. Goods from China were being traded in Rome long before the birth of Christ, transported over the famous silk road that crossed Mongolia and Russia. But not until the mid-fifteenth century, when Marco Polo published his account of his travels, did China really capture the European imagination. Subsequent centuries saw missionary trips to China by Franciscans and Jesuits, a European craze for Chinese silk and porcelain, European visits to Tibet, the infamous Opium War between Britain and China, and further instances of contact, commerce, and conflict. China has shown amazing economic growth since 1949, and today it has set ambitious goals for growth in trade and technology. This book traces the history of Western exploration in and trade with China. It follows the events outlined above and touches on many other highlights, including exploration by the Russian Nikolay Przhevalsky, who traveled deep into China and today is largely remembered for the horse he discovered and identified there; the travels of nineteenth-century women explorers in China; American Roy Chapmans discovery of the first fossilized dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert; and the competition between two American explorers to be the first to capture a live panda. Also included are a chronology of Chinese history and a pronunciation guide.