The primaeval blessing, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, ' first announced to humankind in Genesis 1.28 is renewed to Noah and his sons after the flood in Genesis 9.1. There is widespread scholarly consensus that the ensuing dispersion in Genesis 10.1-32 and 11.1-9 is the means by which the creation blessing is fulfilled. Kaminski argues that the primeval blessing is not fulfilled in the Table of Nations and that Yahweh's scattering Noah's descendants in the Babel story does not contribute positively to the creation theme. Rather, the creation blessing is being taken up in the primary line of Shem (Genesis 11.10-26), which leads directly to Abraham. She further suggests that divine grace is not absent after the Babel judgment, as is commonly assumed, but is at work in the Shemite genealogy. She argues that the primeval blessing, which is unfulfilled in the primaeval history, is taken up by Abraham and his descendants by means of a divine promise. While the blessing is in the process of being realised in the patriarchal narratives, it is not fulfilled. The multiplication theme is resumed, however, in Exodus 1.7, which describes Israel's proliferation in Egypt. This is the first indication that the creation blessing is fulfilled. Realisation of the primaeval blessing progresses after the flood, therefore, from Noah to Israel. Yet God's blessing on Israel is not for their sake alone - it is the means through which the divine intention for creation will be restored to the world. JSOTS413

A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Three easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students Praise for SGBC: "Pastors and lay people will welcome this new series, which seeks to make the message of the Scriptures clear and to guide readers in appropriating biblical texts for life today." -Daniel I. Block, Wheaton College and Graduate School "An extremely valuable and long overdue series that includes comment on the cultural context of the text, careful exegesis, and guidance on reading the whole Bible as a unity that testifies to Christ as our Savior and Lord." -Graeme Goldsworthy, author of According to Plan "Engagingly readable, it not only explores the biblical text but offers a range of applications and interesting illustrations." -Craig S. Keener, Asbury Theological Seminary "I love the SGBC series. It makes the text sing and helps us hear the story afresh." -John Ortberg, Senior Pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church "A perfect tool for helping every follower of Jesus to walk in the story that God is writing for them." -Judy Douglass, Cru

Probabilistic analysis is increasing in popularity and importance within engineering and the applied sciences. However, the stochastic perturbation technique is a fairly recent development and therefore remains as yet unknown to many students, researchers and engineers. Fields in which the methodology can be applied are widespread, including various branches of engineering, heat transfer and statistical mechanics, reliability assessment and also financial investments or economical prognosis in analytical and computational contexts.

"Stochastic Perturbation Method in Applied Sciences and Engineering" is devoted to the theoretical aspects and computational implementation of the generalized stochastic perturbation technique. It is based on any order Taylor expansions of random variables and enables for determination of up to fourth order probabilistic moments and characteristics of the physical system response.

Key features: Provides a grounding in the basic elements of statistics and probability and reliability engineeringDescribes the Stochastic Finite, Boundary Element and Finite Difference Methods, formulated according to the perturbation method Demonstrates dual computational implementation of the perturbation method with the use of Direct Differentiation Method and the Response Function Method Accompanied by a website (www.wiley.com/go/kaminski) with supporting stochastic numerical softwareCovers the computational implementation of the homogenization method for periodic composites with random and stochastic material propertiesFeatures case studies, numerical examples and practical applications

"Stochastic Perturbation Method in Applied Sciences and Engineering" is a comprehensive reference for researchers and engineers, and is an ideal introduction to the subject for postgraduate and graduate students.

Murder Mystery / 5m, 2f 2008 Mystery Writer s of America Edgar Award nominee for Best Play. After robbing a savings and loan, Brian takes refuge in a down-and-out used book store run by Maddy and Betty. The book store s principal customer is Christopher, who steals books his brother pays for at the end of each week. A suspicious cop has the shop surrounded. Roger, a public defender, enters in a clown costume. It s his day off and he is moonlighting. After bullets fly during a comic siege, Brian turns himself in to Claudia, a no-nonsense assistant district attorney, but first he hides some of the money he has stolen. Brian s partner Eddie is under Claudia s thumb and ordered to remain mute. Late that night, Brian, Maddy, Betty, Christopher and Roger converge on the book store to retrieve the stolen money. Brian has made a deal to return the stolen money. However everyone decides to kill Brian and share the money. In confusion, Betty is shot by Maddy, Brian decides to turn himself in, but first he lets the women keep some of the money.

Mystery Drama / Stuart Kaminsky / 7m (one teen), 2f / Unit Set Winner of the 2008 Angie Award for Playwrighting! The Edgar Prize-winning author Kaminsky tells the tale of one of literature's most famous detectives: Sherlock Holmes. In a witty, imaginative story filled with twists and unexpected surprises, Detective Holmes unravels a murder only to find himself the unwilling target of the killer-at-large. Along with the aid of his loyal and inquisitive companion, Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes uses his masterful power of deduction to make a nebulous situation seem "simply elementary." The Final Toast is an exciting new take on the classic characters of fiction we know and love, and its ending will please even the most savvy mystery connoisseurs. The Final Toast had its world premier at the 2008 International Mystery Writer's Festival.

Drawing on the talents of many of Florida's notable writers, Stuart Kaminsky offers an enticing selection of Florida mystery fare. Follow professional investigators and amateur sleuths alike as they steadfastly and patiently uncover one clue at a time to finally reveal the identity of a killer or the answer to a riddle. And in some of these thought-provoking stories, the only sleuth is the reader. Go figure.

The juxtaposition of 'favour' and 'righteousness' in the flood narrative raises an interpretative and theological problem: Is Noah chosen because of divine favour or because of his piety ? Source-critical scholars identify two different theologies by J and P: J understands Noah's election to be an act of grace whereas P emphasizes Noah's righteousness as the basis for his election. Scholars who interpret the flood narrative according to its final form argue that Noah is chosen because he is righteous. This view is problematic, however, since in the primaeval history grace is shown to the 'undeserving', thus it is characteristically unmerited. This book entails an exegetical analysis of, and according to, the final form of the text, with particular attention being given to the meaning and function of these verses in the Toledot structure. Kaminski argues against the commonly held view that Noah finds favour because he is righteous, and seeks to demonstrate that divine favour is unmerited in accordance with the theme of grace in the primaeval history and in Genesis as a whole. Thus what sets the flood story in motion is not Noah's righteousness, but the divine favour he finds.

The collisions of neutral or charged gaseous particles with solid surfaces govern many physical and chemical phenomena, as has been The gas/solid phenomena in turn depend on a recognized for a long time. great variety of processes such as the charge transfer of the gas/solid interface, adsorption and desorption, the energy transfer between an incident particle and the surface, etc. Our knowledge of these processes, however, is only fragmentary. This is partly due to the difficulty in adequately controlling the ex perimental conditions. Consequently, until recently the data were usually so complex that reliable information about a particular elementary process could not be deduced. Within the last five to ten years, however, the techniques of ultra-high vacuum and surface preparation have developed rapidly and there has been a booming and widespread interest in the role of gas/solid interactions in such diverse fields as plasma physics, thermonuclear reactions, thermionic energy conversion, ion propulsion, sputtering corrosion of the surface of satellites and ion engines, ion getter pumps, deposition of thin films, etc. This led to extensive investigations of numerous gas/solid phenomena, such as surface ionization, sputtering, emission of secondary electrons and ions from surfaces under atom and/or ion impact, ion neutralization, and the thermal accomodation of gaseous particles on surfaces. As a result, it has become possible to gather a variety of valuable information."

Four years ago, Lew Fonesca's wife Catherine was struck and killed in a hit-and-run. Grief-stricken, he fled to Chicago and wound up in Sarasota, Florida where he's made a living as a process server. Four years on, he's still savoring his depression like fine wine, and his therapist--and sparring partner--has had enough. It's time, she tells Lew, to get on with his life. Time to go back to Chicago and find out what really happened to his wife.
 Lew hates to admit it, but Ann Horowitz might be right. Even if it kills him, he has to know the truth about his wife's death. So he returns to his home, his family, his friends--and a mystery. He's resolved to dig until he finds out who killed his wife. In doing so, he'll uncover both sweet and painful memories of his past. He'll also confront a murderer who'll not hesitate to kill again to make sure hidden secrets stay buried.

As a hard-boiled Hollywood PI enlists Al Capone's help to save the Marx Brothers, Kaminsky "makes the totally wacky possible" (The Washington Post). It's 1941 and the Marx Brothers' first movie for MGM, Go West, has the country in stitches. But now Chico Marx is worried he's going to need stitches when he receives a severed ear in the mail--a simple message from a Chicago bookie who wants $120,000, or else. Chico is baffled because, although he loves to gamble, he's never made a bet in Chicago. Desperate, he turns to the king of Hollywood, Louis B. Mayer, who puts in a call to Toby Peters. A Hollywood private detective who's proven himself adept at keeping scandals out of the tabloids, Peters flies to Florida for an interview with Al Capone, deposed lord of the Chicago underworld. The retired bootlegger's mind has gone soft, and he doesn't know anything about Chico's bookie, but he suggests Peters speak to his brother. With Scarface's good word as an introduction, the PI heads to Chicago. But it will take more than a good sense of humor to keep Groucho, Harpo, and especially Chico from getting axed. Edgar Award-winner Stuart Kaminsky's "Toby Peters series was a delight. They were written with more than a dash of humor and featured a variety of improbable real-life characters, ranging from the Marx Brothers to Judy Garland" (Library Journal).

After a very long absence, Forge is delighted to be bringing back one of Edgar-Award winning Stuart Kaminsky's best loved characters, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov. Rostnikov is a Russian bear of a man, an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Russia. Known as "The Washtub," Rostnikov is one of the most engaging and relevant characters in crime fiction, a sharp and caring policeman as well as the perfect tour guide to a changing (that is, disintegrating) Russia. Surviving pogroms and politburos, he has solved crimes, mostly in spite of the powers that rule his world.
In "People Who Walk in Darkness," Rostnikov travels to Siberia to investigate a murder at a diamond mine, where he discovers an old secret...and an even older personal problem. His compatriots head to Kiev on a trail of smuggled diamonds and kidnapped guest workers, and what they discover leads them to a vast conspiracy that not only has international repercussions but threatens them on a very personal level.
"" "People Who Walk in Darkness" is a fast-paced novel of modern Russia told by one of mystery's finest storytellers.

"The Dead Don't Lie" is the latest in Edgar Award winner and MWA's Grand Master Stuart Kaminsky's Abe Lieberman mystery series. Lieberman and his partner, Bill Hanrahan, are hell or heaven bent on making the mean streets of Chicago just a little safer. As usual they have their hands full. Three prominent members of the Turkish community are all brutally murdered and Lieberman must find out what, if anything, ties these murders together. It doesn't help that the key to the puzzle might be an event that took place over a century ago. Bill Hanrahan finds himself assigned to a case where a hospitalized chef claims to have been beaten by two people and shot by a third, a bespectacled Chinese man. As Bill digs deeper he finds himself at odds with an old nemesis, a man who has an unusual affinity for Bill's wife.
Both Lieberman and Hanrahan struggle to do the right thing even if it means bending the letter, not the spirit, of the law.

A Moscow cop is left out in the cold in this "impressive" Edgar Award winner for Best Mystery Novel (The Washington Post Book World). When forced to choose between the law and the party line, Police Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov has a disturbing tendency to fight for justice, and that has won him no friends at the Kremlin. Now his enemies in the KGB have arranged a transfer to the lowest rungs of Moscow law enforcement, a backwater department assigned to only the most hopeless cases, one of which is about to take Rostnikov deep into Siberia. A corrupt commissar has been stabbed through the eye with an icicle. A murder at this level should be a top priority, but Rostnikov gets the distinct impression that the powers-that-be would prefer this case go unsolved--and that Rostnikov not survive this Siberian winter. "As always, Kaminsky provides a colorful, tightly written mystery . . . filled with twists, countertwists, and a surprise ending that is plausible and clever." --Chicago Tribune

In this "marvelously entertaining" mystery, a hard-boiled Hollywood private eye investigates a murdered Munchkin on the set of The Wizard of Oz (Newsday). A year after The Wizard of Oz's smash success, the yellow brick road is crumbling. The famous sets have been left standing on a soundstage in the depths of the MGM back lot in case the studio greenlights a sequel. But that doesn't explain what Judy Garland is doing there--or why she finds a Munchkin in full costume, lying facedown with a knife buried in his back. To avoid even a whiff of scandal and protect Judy's wholesome image, the studio boss hires Toby Peters, a Hollywood private detective with a reputation for discretion. But as Peters quickly learns, the real threat to Miss Garland isn't the tabloids--it's the psychopathic killer who stalks the back lot and plans to kill the young actress next. In addition to the murder mystery swirling around Judy Garland, the second Toby Peters novel features cameos from "Clark Gable and Raymond Chandler [who] give an assist in this imaginative mystery recreated from yesterday's movie-land" (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland).

On March 11, 1985, a van was pulled over in Warsaw for a routine traffic check that turned out to be anything but routine. Inside was Marek Kaminski, a Warsaw University student who also ran an underground press for Solidarity. The police discovered illegal books in the vehicle, and in a matter of hours five secret police escorted Kaminski to jail. A sociology and mathematics major one day, Kaminski was the next a political prisoner trying to adjust to a bizarre and dangerous new world. This remarkable book represents his attempts to understand that world.

As a coping strategy until he won his freedom half a year later by faking serious illness, Kaminski took clandestine notes on prison subculture. Much later, he discovered the key to unlocking that culture--game theory. Prison first appeared an irrational world of unpredictable violence and arbitrary codes of conduct. But as Kaminski shows in riveting detail, prisoners, to survive and prosper, have to master strategic decision-making. A clever move can shorten a sentence; a bad decision can lead to rape, beating, or social isolation. Much of the confusion in interpreting prison behavior, he argues, arises from a failure to understand that inmates are driven not by pathological emotion but by predictable and rational calculations.

Kaminski presents unsparing accounts of initiation rituals, secret codes, caste structures, prison sex, self-injuries, and of the humor that makes this brutal world more bearable. This is a work of unusual power, originality, and eloquence, with implications for understanding human behavior far beyond the walls of one Polish prison.