Discusses the reactions of seventeenth and eighteenth-century writers of Irish history to the unprecedented turbulence of the age. Ireland and the Irish, it is often argued, have been mired for centuries in mindsets which employ the past in order to trace and justify the enmities of the present. However, as Constructing the Past: Writing Irish History 1600-1800 seeks to underscore, the truth of such interactions with the Irish past is far more complex and dynamic. Spanning two hundred years of history, this book finds a relationship with the past which is as adaptive as it is rigid, as iconoclastic as it is reactionary. Beginning with an Introduction by Roy Foster, this innovative volume incorporates a wide range of perspectives on how history in Ireland has been written and perceived from the early-modern period onward. Drawing upon both key moments - including the Cromwellian invasion, the 1688 Revolution and 1798, to name a few - as well as forgotten incidents, each article discusses the ways in which the presentationof the past in Ireland has been forged by the circumstances of its writers and context of those memories. Drawing upon contributions by both highly accomplished and up-and-coming historians of Ireland, Britain and Europe, Constructing the Past seeks to illuminate how the Irish past has been constructed, torn down and again rebuilt by the Irish and historians of Ireland alike. STEPHEN PAUL FORREST serves as the Director of Operations forthe Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation; MARK WILLIAMS is currently reading for a Doctorate in Modern European History at Hertford College, Oxford.

Complete Gentlemen is the first study to look beyond the Italian Grand Tour to the wider culture of educational travel that thrived among British and Irish landowners between 1650 and 1750. Ansell reconstructs dozens of encounters with continental Europe, revealing how the varying means, ambitions, and obligations of families produced widely differing experiences of educational travel. Where historians usually isolate time abroad, he pays unprecedented attention to what families thought and did before, after, and instead of foreign travel, stages that uncover its true significance for British and Irish society. This innovative approach requires a deep source base over several generations, provided by the manuscript archives of four clusters of families from England and Ireland. Ansell uses these archives to relate travel, too often a stand-alone topic, to broader questions in social and cultural history, exploring the meanings of time abroad for social mobility, elite formation, landed identity, masculinity, and Englishness.

A senior and well-published scientist describes, through anecdotes, parables, and stories how scientists conceive, ask, and answer questions, and how what they do develops from the culture of their time. Part 1 describes the origins of modern biological science. It addresses issues such as why the story of evolution arose in the 19th C, and not before or after, how the evidence was gathered, and how its misuse led to some terrible decisions by societies. Part 2 describes the rules for experimental science, what constitutes a good versus a poor experiment, how hypotheses, such as the hypothesis or the origin of AIDS, are tested and evaluated. The author goes on to describe the origins of molecular biology and the "cool tricks" that created a billionfold greater ability to analyze living things, leading to the miraculous capabilities that we have today.

A senior and well-published scientist describes, through anecdotes, parables, and stories how scientists conceive, ask, and answer questions, and how what they do develops from the culture of their time. Part 1 describes the origins of modern biological science Part 2 describes the rules for experimental science, what constitutes a good versus a poor experiment, how hypotheses, such as the hypothesis or the origin of AIDS, are tested and evaluated. The author goes on to describe the origins of molecular biology and the "cool tricks" that created a billionfold greater ability to analyze living things, leading to the miraculous capabilities that we have today.