Since 1964 the main function of the European Mechanics Committee has been to arrange Euromech Colloquia. These are three- or four-day meetings for the discussion of current research on a specified and relatively narrow topic in mechanics, by about 50 specialists chosen for their active involvement in research in that topic. The organization of each Euromech Colloquium is entrusted by the Committee to one or two selected scientists of repute in the field, and these organizers are enjoined to achieve a friendly and informal forum for discussion, with a minimum of paper work and expenditure. Over 220 Euromech Colloquia have been held since 1964 (about 40 each in France, West Germany and Britain and the remainder in 18 countries in both western and eastern Europe) on a wide range of topics drawn from the mechanics of solid materials, hydrodynamics, gas dynamics and mechanical systems. The Committee believes that collectively, Euromech Colloquia have made a significant contribution to the exchange of ideas on topics in mechanics within Europe and have thereby helped to overcome the barriers to easy scientific communication in that sorely divided continent. A few years ago the European Mechanics Committee turned its atten tion to the possible need for European conferences on a larger scale than Euromech Colloquia."

Stretching 1,200 kilometres across six countries, the colossal mountains of the Alps dominate Europe, geographically and historically. Enlightenment thinkers felt the sublime and magisterial peaks were the very embodiment of nature, Romantic poets looked to them for divine inspiration, and Victorian explorers tested their ingenuity and courage against them. Located at the crossroads between powerful states, the Alps have played a crucial role in the formation of European history, a place of intense cultural fusion as well as fierce conflict between warring nations. A diverse range of flora and fauna have made themselves at home in this harsh environment, which today welcomes over 100 million tourists a year. Leading Alpine scholar Jon Mathieu tells the story of the people who have lived in and been inspired by these mountains and valleys, from the ancient peasants of the Neolithic to the cyclists of the Tour de France. Far from being a remote and backward corner of Europe, the Alps are shown by Mathieu to have been a crucible of new ideas and technologies at the heart of the European story.

Following the sudden death of his 27 year old daughter Felicity, in Way of Wakan, David Mathieu shares a moving personal understanding of Lakota (Sioux) beliefs surrounding death. Learned decades earlier from two Lakota medicine men on the Cheyenne River reservation in South Dakota, the author reflects on what he experienced long ago and how the death of Felicity has led to a deeper understanding of Lakota spirituality. Formerly a professor of American Indian Studies and teacher of Lakota language, David's newfound grasp of the Lakota notion of Wakan (mystery) reveals much that is universal about death and grief. Beginning as a funeral eulogy, Way of Wakan becomes an elegy, not only about the death of a beloved young daughter, but on the profound comfort that can be found in accepting the "not knowing" understanding of death and afterlife as with the Lakota.