The first cultural history of early modern cryptography, this collection brings together scholars in history, literature, music, the arts, mathematics, and computer science who study ciphering and deciphering from new materialist, media studies, cognitive studies, disability studies, and other theoretical perspectives. Essays analyze the material forms of ciphering as windows into the cultures of orality, manuscript, print, and publishing, revealing that early modern ciphering, and the complex history that preceded it in the medieval period, not only influenced political and military history but also played a central role in the emergence of the capitalist media state in the West, in religious reformation, and in the scientific revolution. Ciphered communication, whether in etched stone and bone, in musical notae, runic symbols, polyalphabetic substitution, algebraic equations, graphic typographies, or literary metaphors, took place in contested social spaces and offered a means of expression during times of political, economic, and personal upheaval. Ciphering shaped the early history of linguistics as a discipline, and it bridged theological and scientific rhetoric before and during the Reformation. Ciphering was an occult art, a mathematic language, and an aesthetic that influenced music, sculpture, painting, drama, poetry, and the early novel. This collection addresses gaps in cryptographic history, but more significantly, through cultural analyses of the rhetorical situations of ciphering and actual solved and unsolved medieval and early modern ciphers, it traces the influences of cryptographic writing and reading on literacy broadly defined as well as the cultures that generate, resist, and require that literacy. This volume offers a significant contribution to the history of the book, highlighting the broader cultural significance of textual materialities.

The first cultural history of early modern cryptography, this collection brings together scholars in history, literature, music, the arts, mathematics, and computer science who study ciphering and deciphering from new materialist, media studies, cognitive studies, disability studies, and other theoretical perspectives. Essays analyze the material forms of ciphering as windows into the cultures of orality, manuscript, print, and publishing, revealing that early modern ciphering, and the complex history that preceded it in the medieval period, not only influenced political and military history but also played a central role in the emergence of the capitalist media state in the West, in religious reformation, and in the scientific revolution. Ciphered communication, whether in etched stone and bone, in musical notae, runic symbols, polyalphabetic substitution, algebraic equations, graphic typographies, or literary metaphors, took place in contested social spaces and offered a means of expression during times of political, economic, and personal upheaval. Ciphering shaped the early history of linguistics as a discipline, and it bridged theological and scientific rhetoric before and during the Reformation. Ciphering was an occult art, a mathematic language, and an aesthetic that influenced music, sculpture, painting, drama, poetry, and the early novel. This collection addresses gaps in cryptographic history, but more significantly, through cultural analyses of the rhetorical situations of ciphering and actual solved and unsolved medieval and early modern ciphers, it traces the influences of cryptographic writing and reading on literacy broadly defined as well as the cultures that generate, resist, and require that literacy. This volume offers a significant contribution to the history of the book, highlighting the broader cultural significance of textual materialities.

When every moment counts, count on Poisoning & Drug Overdose Speed is crucial when dealing with toxicologic and drug-related emergencies. Finding answers quickly is easier than ever with this streamlined eighth edition of Poisoning and Drug Overdose. This instant-answer guide provides the critical information needed to diagnose and manage drug-related emergencies and chemical exposures. Updated with newly released drugs and new information on existing drugs, the guide covers initial emergency management, including treatment of coma, seizures and hypotension; physical and laboratory diagnosis; and methods of decontamination and enhanced elimination of poisons. Poisoning and Drug Overdose, Eighth Edition is divided into four sections: Section I. Provides a stepwise approach to the evaluation and treatment of coma, seizures, shock, and other complications of poisoning and the proper use of gastric decontamination and dialysis procedures. Section II. Lists specific poisons and drugs, as well as the pathophysiology, toxic dose and level, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and specific treatment associated with each substance. Section III. Covers descriptions of therapeutic drugs and antidotes, including pharmacology indications, adverse effects, drug interactions, and recommended dosage. Section IV. Describes the approach to hazardous materials incidents; the evaluation of occupational exposures; and the toxic effects, physical properties, and workplace limits for over 500 common industrial chemicals. Poisoning and Drug Overdose, Eighth Edition is enhanced by numerous tables and charts, as well as a user-friendly index. This trusted resource has consistently been relied upon by front line professionals responding to drug-related emergencies and chemical exposures.