Originally published in 1954, this was the first factual history of comedy films and the men and women who had since 1894 kept us laughing in the cinema. It traces the beginning of comic motion pictures and the pioneer work of Paul, Gaumont, Hepworth, Pathe and Zecca. Then comes the picture palace craze and the success of the early Italian and French comedies and trick films. The work of Al Christie and Mack Sennett in America, and the rise of American films, is fully described, as knockabout gives way to slapstick, and salaries and box-office receipts soar. Now come Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and all the other bright figures of the Roaring Twenties, with favourites like Buster Keaton and Will Rogers to the fore. The development of sound and its effect on the comedians is explained, and the story comes up to date through the thirties and forties to 1954. Some of the hundreds of names to whom tribute is paid include Mabel Normand, Larry Semon, Roscoe Arbuckle, Monty Banks, Max Linder, Harry Langdon, Will Hay, the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope, Fernandel and Alec Guinness. These are only a few of the many whose careers are traced. The book is illustrated by a number of carefully selected photographs, many of which are unique. This edition, first published in 1968 has been revised but the period it covers remains the same, 1894-1954, sixty years of film humour.

Biomimetics is the idea of creating new technologies abstracted from what we find in biology. Ocean Innovation: Biomimetics Beneath the Waves seeks that technological inspiration from the rich biodiversity of marine organisms. Bringing both a biological and engineering perspective to the biomimetic potential of oceanic organisms, this richly illustrated book investigates questions such as: How can we mimic the sensory systems of sea creatures like sharks, sea turtles, and lobsters to improve our ability to navigate underwater? What can we do to afford humans the opportunity to go unnoticed by marine life? How can we diffuse oxygen from water to enable deep diving without the risk of decompression sickness? Each chapter explores an area where we, as divers and technologists, can benefit from understanding how animals survive in the sea, presenting case studies that demonstrate how natural solutions can be applied to mankind's engineering challenges.

Countering the many claims that the best days of capitalism are over following the economic meltdown of 2008 onwards, this book provocatively argues that a new golden age of capitalism - or upwave - began around 2002, and despite the unstable markets in the western world of the past few years, this upwave will produce previously unseen levels of wealth creation during the next twenty years. Basing this theory on the commercialisation of new technologies and the growth of new markets, the author claims that these positive trends are key to economic recovery in the US, UK and Europe. It argues that the most serious problem facing some countries in the west is government debt and that macroeconomic policy is of limited use in flexible and adaptive economies, where innovation, entrepreneurship and private investment should be encouraged in a range of cities and city regions. This highly original book will interest those concerned with national economies, nation states and urban policy.

Countering the many claims that the best days of capitalism are over following the economic meltdown of 2008 onwards, this book provocatively argues that a new golden age of capitalism - or upwave - began around 2002, and despite the unstable markets in the western world of the past few years, this upwave will produce previously unseen levels of wealth creation during the next twenty years. Basing this theory on the commercialisation of new technologies and the growth of new markets, the author claims that these positive trends are key to economic recovery in the US, UK and Europe. It argues that the most serious problem facing some countries in the west is government debt and that macroeconomic policy is of limited use in flexible and adaptive economies, where innovation, entrepreneurship and private investment should be encouraged in a range of cities and city regions. This highly original book will interest those concerned with national economies, nation states and urban policy.

Over the past two decades, city economies have restructured in response to the decline of older industries. This has involved new forms of planning and urban economic development, a return to traditional concerns of city building and a focus on urban design. During this period, there has also been a marked rise in our understanding of cultural development and its role in the design, economy and life of cities. In this book, John Montgomery argues that this amounts to a shift in urban development. He provides a long overdue look at the dynamics of the city, that is, how cities work in relation to the long cycles of economic development and suggests that a new wave of prosperity, built on new technologies and new industries, is just getting underway in the Western world. The New Wealth of Cities focuses on what effect this will have on cities and city regions and how they should react. Original and wide-ranging, this book will be a definitive resource on city economies and urban planning, explaining why it is that cities develop over time in periods of propulsive growth and bouts of decline.

This book presents a computer-aided approach to the design of mechatronic systems. Its subject is an integrated modeling and simulation in a visual computer environment. Since the first edition, the simulation software changed enormously, became more user-friendly and easier to use. Therefore, a second edition became necessary taking these improvements into account. The modeling is based on system top-down and bottom-up approach. The mathematical models are generated in a form of differential-algebraic equations and solved using numerical and symbolic algebra methods. The integrated approach developed is applied to mechanical, electrical and control systems, multibody dynamics, and continuous systems.

This book presents a computer-aided approach to the design of mechatronic systems. Its subject is an integrated modeling and simulation in a visual computer environment. Since the first edition, the simulation software changed enormously, became more user-friendly and easier to use. Therefore, a second edition became necessary taking these improvements into account. The modeling is based on system top-down and bottom-up approach. The mathematical models are generated in a form of differential-algebraic equations and solved using numerical and symbolic algebra methods. The integrated approach developed is applied to mechanical, electrical and control systems, multibody dynamics, and continuous systems.

This dictionary and phrasebook offers a selection of the most common words and useful phrases in Yucatec Maya. 1,500 dictionary entries and 20 phrasebook chapters include phonetic pronunciation and translations for each word or phrase in English as well as in Spanish, the language of most non-Maya communication in Mexico and Central America. An introduction to the language and grammar, a pronunciation guide, and practical cultural information about the Maya make this the ideal language guide for the traveler and adventurer!

Eight million people throughout Mexico and Central America speak the Mayan language. The most common branch of Mayan, Yucatec Maya is spoken in the entirety of the Yucatan Peninsula, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, as well as in areas of Belize. John Montgomery is an illustrator, epigrapher and writer, who is earning his Ph.D. in Precolumbian Art from the University of New Mexico. A ten-year stay in Central America inspired his passion for the Maya region, its people and history. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife and children, who are descendants of the highland Maya.

This authoritative work is the first visual dictionary of Maya glyphs published since the script's complete deciphering, offering a much-needed, comprehensive catalogue of 1100 secured glyphs. Each entry includes the illustrated glyph, its phonetic transcription, Mayan equivalent, part of speech, and meaning. About the Author John Montgomery is an illustrator, epigrapher, writer, and PhD candidate in the field of Pre-Columbian Art at the University of New Mexico. He also teaches art history at the South-western Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque. A long and varied experience in Central America first inspired his interest in the ancient Maya. His glyphic illustrations based on a lifetime of involvement with Maya glyph decipherment. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The ancient Maya civilisation of Mesoamerica was one of five in the history of the world to invent an original, functional writing system. Maya scribes documented the history of their civilisation in hieroglyphic script, yet by the nineteenth century there was not a single person left who could read this pictorial writing.