Black is Beautiful identifies and explores the most significant philosophical issues that emerge from the aesthetic dimensions of black life, providing a long-overdue synthesis and the first extended philosophical treatment of this crucial subject. * The first extended philosophical treatment of an important subject that has been almost entirely neglected by philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of art * Takes an important step in assembling black aesthetics as an object of philosophical study * Unites two areas of scholarship for the first time philosophical aesthetics and black cultural theory, dissolving the dilemma of either studying philosophy, or studying black expressive culture * Brings a wide range of fields into conversation with one another from visual culture studies and art history to analytic philosophy to musicology producing mutually illuminating approaches that challenge some of the basic suppositions of each * Well-balanced, up-to-date, and beautifully written as well as inventive and insightful

Laser-based optical spectroscopies are powerful and versatile techniques that are continuing to evolve and find new applications. This book presents reviews of recent progress in our understanding of the spectra and dynamical processes of optically excited states of condensed matter, focusing on the advances made possible by the application of laser-based optical spectroscopies. Reviews are given of the optical properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconducting materials and structures, the properties of defect centers in insulators, two-photon nonlinear processes in insulators, optical energy diffusion in inorganic materials, and relaxation in organic materials. The individual chapters emphasize the methodology common to the various investigations. The volume is designed to be suitable as an introduction to applied laser spectroscopy of solids, as well as providing an update on the status of the field.

Black is Beautiful identifies and explores the most significant philosophical issues that emerge from the aesthetic dimensions of black life, providing a long-overdue synthesis and the first extended philosophical treatment of this crucial subject. * The first extended philosophical treatment of an important subject that has been almost entirely neglected by philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of art * Takes an important step in assembling black aesthetics as an object of philosophical study * Unites two areas of scholarship for the first time philosophical aesthetics and black cultural theory, dissolving the dilemma of either studying philosophy, or studying black expressive culture * Brings a wide range of fields into conversation with one another from visual culture studies and art history to analytic philosophy to musicology producing mutually illuminating approaches that challenge some of the basic suppositions of each * Well-balanced, up-to-date, and beautifully written as well as inventive and insightful

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.