In the context of dramatically changing contemporary patterns of mate selection in China, Mate Selection in China focuses upon both the causes and consequences the societal changes which have resulted in a considerable shift in the ways in which young adults go about finding a spouse. Tracking a period of change, from a long history of patriarchal families and arranged marriages, into an environment wherein individuals are relatively free to choose their intimate partners, Blair, Madison and Fang demonstrate and analyse how recent shifts in divorce, cohabitation, and pre-marital sex have altered young adults' perceptions of marriage. Delving into demographic factors, such as the skewed sex ratio among young adults which have resulted in an overabundance of young males, cultural factors, such as increasingly individualistic forms of dating, and social and economic change which has resulted an increasingly materialistic middle-class, this book highlights that while traditional influence of parents in the selection of partners for their children has been overtaken, mate selection choices are not entirely made by the individuals themselves. Providing a comprehensive examination of mate selection within an ever-changing context, this book is a fascinating read for scholars interested in the impact of culture of family and marriage.

Lucretius (c. 99 BCE-c. 55 BCE) is the author of De Rerum Natura, a work which tries to explain and expound the doctrines of the earlier Greek philosopher Epicurus. The Epicurean view of the world is that it is composed entirely of atoms moving about in infinite space. The implications of this view are profound: the proper study of the world is the province of natural philosophy (science); there are no supernatural gods who created the world or who direct its course or who can reward or punish us; death is simply annihilation, and so there is no next life and no torment in an underworld. Epicurus, and then his disciple Lucretius, advocated a simple life, free from mental turmoil and anguish.The essays in this collection deal with Lucretius's critique of religion, his critique of traditional attitudes about death, and his influences on later thinkers such as Isaac Newton and Alfred Tennyson. We see that Lucretius's philosophy is connected to contemporary philosophy such as existentialism and that aspects of his thought work against trying to separate the sciences and the humanities.Lucretius: His Continuing Influence and Contemporary Relevance is the title of a 2009 conference on Lucretius held at St. John Fisher College, when many of the ideas in these essays were first presented.