Constructions of the classical body

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Yogesh C. Patel and Gloria S. Tannenbaum

Montreal has had a longstanding interest in somatostatin. Two years ago when the final planning began for the International Congress of Endocrinology in Quebec City in July 1984, we seized the opportunity for having a separate Satellite Symposium on somatostatin here in Montreal. We felt that after a decade of uniformly vigorous growth in somatostatin research, the opportune moment had arrived for a review of the most significant past developments and for setting the directions for the future. Knowing the futility of trying to cover every aspect of the burgeoning somatostatin field in a two day scientific program, we opted for a detailed analysis of selected areas which were reasonably mature and of areas of greatest new activity. To attain these objectives, 27 leading international experts actively involved in their fields were invited to present an indepth review of their work in one of five major categories of somatostatin research. Thirty minutes at the end of each session were assigned for a three way, comprehensive discussion of some of the core concepts between the session moderators, the panellists and the audience. The feedback that we have received from the participants leaves little doubt that the meeting was a scientific and social success.This book fulfills our final commitment towards the Meeting which was to record the proceedings in a timely publication. Chapters were received from all but one of the invited speakers and have been carefully edited to ensure uniformity of presentation and nomenclature. Transcripts of the panel discussions required extensive editing to transform the frequently unstructured spoken word into lucid prose. The resultant product, we believe, qualifies as a state of the art monograph on somatostatin research which should excite all scholars in the field and be of value to anyone interested in the biology of neuropeptide systems.

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Walter J. Karplus

Each day we are bombarded with news of a new catastrophe of worldwide proportions promising to obliterate a part, if not all, of humankind. Confronted with these warnings of impending doom, our best defense is to understand how valid--or invalid--these predictions of calamity are. By perceiving these threats in a wise and sagacious way, we can best meet future challenges by not earmarking precious resources for wrong or misleading reasons. Walter Karplus, a professor of computer sciences at UCLA, in his 35 years of experience has made predictions for all kinds of phenomena by generating models and computer simulations. His decades of experience have taught him what we can and cannot predict with any accuracy. Dr. Karplus surveys the most hotly debated catastrophes that many scientists have predicted will imminently endanger the lives of countless people all over the globe.^ These catastrophes include the depletion of the ozone layer, the Greenhouse Effect, nuclear radiation, acid rain, the AIDS epidemic, the population explosion, another Great Depression, and earthquakes. Drawing on his superb background, he assesses the strengths and weaknesses of arguments propounding the seriousness of these calamities. All the while, he never allows us to lose sight of the profound shortcomings of scientific prediction. In his singularly engaging manner, Dr. Karplus traces the fascinating art of prediction from our earliest ancestors to today. He pronounces at what point prediction, even within science, becomes a black art. He elucidates the problems that computer simulations have in predicting events and goes on to pinpoint when and where these models lapse into the area of pure conjecture. Through reason and wit, Walter Karplus teaches us how to bring a trained eye to the predictions of disaster that unceasingly assault us.^ The Heavens Are Falling is an illuminating and entertaining work that bestows on us the wisdom to make informed judgments before taking arms against a sea of troubles.

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organized by Philippe Vergne

Accompanying the artists first full-scale survey exhibition, this generously illustrated book explores Doug Aitkens work across mediums, disciplines, and themes. From photography to architecture, and from video to spoken word, Doug Aitken has delved into a variety of art forms to create a provocative body of work. This volume surveys the full scope and depth of Aitkens work: sound pieces, sculpture, architectural experiments, land art and happenings, which embrace a collaborative spirit across disciplines and beyond walls, to re-imagine the nature of what a work of art can be. Interspersed with hundreds of color illustrations, the books essays examine the plethora of ideas the artist tackles from environmental decay to the end of linear time and explain how and why Aitken challenges many artistic barriers.

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V.K. Triandafillov

This edition of V.K. Triandafillov's classic contribution to Soviet military theory makes accessible to Western military historians and analysts one of the most important works from the interwar period. Triandafillov was an outstanding commander who helped to shape the military art, theory and doctrine of the Red Army as it sought to come to grips with the problem of future war. A conscript who rose through the ranks to become an officer in the Tsarist Army, Triandafillov saw combat in both the First World War and the Russian Civil War. As one of that first generation of young Red Commanders taught by some of the finest military specialists, he sought to link the theory and practice of war, to use past experience to comprehend future conflict. Triandafillov's contribution to the theories of deep battle, successive operations and deep operations, and to the study of 'future war', is historically significant and his methodology still merits serious reflection and study. First published in 1929, his book offers key insights into the professional military's assessment of the need for the industrialization and militarization of the Soviet economy and society in the light of the prevailing assumptions about probable opponents in a future war.