Gareth Williams

An insightful history of the first hundred years of DNA, Unraveling The Double Helix tells the story one of the greatest triumphs of modern science.Unraveling the Double Helix covers the most colorful period in the history of DNA, from the discovery of "nuclein" in the late 1860s to the publication of James Watson's The Double Helix in 1968. These hundred years included the establishment of the Nobel Prize, antibiotics, x-ray crystallography, the atom bomb and two devastating world wars—events which are strung along the thread of DNA like beads on a necklace. The story of DNA is a saga packed with awful mistakes as well as brilliant science, with a wonderful cast of heroes and villains. Surprisingly, much of it is unfamiliar. The elucidation of the double helix was one of the most brilliant gems of twentieth century science, but some of the scientists who paved the way have been airbrushed out of history. James Watson and Francis Crick solved a magnificent mystery, but Gareth Williams shows that their contribution was the last few pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle assembled over several decades.The book is comprehensive in scope, covering the first century of the history of DNA in its entirety, including the eight decades that have been neglected by other authors. It also explores the personalities of the main players, the impact of their entanglement with DNA, and what unique qualities make great scientists tick.

Alternate Cover Edition can be found here. The Loch Ness Monster: a creature that should have died out with the dinosaurs, or a legend built on hoaxes and wishful thinking?Sir Peter Scott, internationally renowned naturalist and president of the World Wildlife Fund, was convinced that the Monster existed. So were senior scientists at London's Natural History Museum and Chicago University; they lost their jobs because they refused to renounce their belief in the creature. For decades, the scientific establishment was determined to quash attempts to investigate Loch Ness - until Nature, the world's greatest research journal, published an article by Peter Scott featuring underwater photographs of the Monster. Drawing extensively on new material, Gareth Williams takes a wholly original look at what really happened in Loch Ness. A Monstrous Commotion tells the story as never before: a gripping saga populated by colourful characters who do extraordinary things in pursuit of one of evolution's wildest cards.Meticulously researched and dazzlingly written, this book will appeal to anyone fascinated by nature and its mysteries - and to everyone who enjoys a beautifully crafted detective story with a strong cast of heroes and villains, plenty of twists and an unexpected ending.

The story of the rise and fall of smallpox, one of the most savage killers in the history of mankind, and the only disease ever to be successfully exterminated (30 years ago next year) by a public health campaign.

The objects unearthed in 1939 from an Anglo-Saxon ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, rank among the most splendid treasures in the collection of the British Museum. Bringing together fine craftsmanship from England, Germany, Scandinavia, Alexandria and far Byzantium, the spectacular finds included gold and garnet jewellery, silverware, drinking vessels with silver-gilt fittings, a lyre and a sceptre, as well as the iconic helmet, all deliberately buried in the early seventh century as grave-goods for an important, though unidentified, warrior.The Sutton Hoo ship-burial was one of the most exciting discoveries ever made in British archaeology. This beautifully designed introduction to the treasure details the most significant pieces contained within it and explores the circumstances of its burial, discovery and excavation, as well as its lasting legacy and fame.

The Viking ship is one of the most iconic images of the Viking Age. As well as including well-known vessels such as the spectacular ship-burials from Gokstad and Oseberg in southern Norway, Viking Ships introduces the newly-conserved Roskilde 6 ship from Denmark. Measuring at over 37 metres, this is the longest Viking ship ever discovered and will form the core of the touring exhibition Vikings: life and legend. The Vikings used their shipbuilding skills to command the sea; their famous ships permitted the exploration, colonization and the raids for which they are best known. This book will explore the evolution of their sea-going vessels and celebrate this outstanding feature of the Viking Age

This tried and tested textbook is well known for its clear layout of content that expresses even the most difficult scientific content in a clear and engaging way. It is a firm favourite with science teachers and students alike. Content matched to the 2011 GCSE science specifications,including IGCSE.

Through the ages, chess has served as more than a simple recreational diversion, but as a game of strategy, rich in metaphor and symbolism. But its meaning resides as much in the structure of the game -- the roles and abilities of the pieces and their relationship to one another and the board -- as in its playing. Moreover, it is not simply the strategy in chess that thrills players. Lovers of chess and its challenges are equally enthralled by the individual chess pieces that comprise the set. Now, for the first time in a popular, illustrated format is an exhaustive examination of the pieces that make up the chess set. Master Pieces: "The Architecture of Chess" studies the historical development, miniature artistry, and design of chess pieces. The book considers the function and role of each piece, the symbolism hidden in its design, and the influence of war, as well as architecture, on its iconography. The evolution of chess design is featured prominently, including the development of the familiar Staunton set. Written by collector and chess expert Gareth Williams, and fully illustrated with examples of some of the most beautiful and famous chess sets from all over the world, Master Pieces is the ideal gift for chess players everywhere.

In the two centuries before the Norman invasion of England, Anglo-Saxon and Viking forces clashed repeatedly in battle, with mixed success for both sides. After the Vikings defeated three out of the four great Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and came close to defeating the fourth in the 860s and 870s, they conquered and settled large areas of England. The surviving West Saxon kingdom in turn conquered the Viking settlements in England to create the first unified English kingdom in the mid-10th century, before a new wave of Viking raids led to the Danish conquest of England in 1016. Fifty years later a Norwegian army sought to conquer England again, under the leadership of the celebrated Viking warrior Harald Hard-Counsel. His defeat at Stamford Bridge in 1066 is often seen as the end of the Viking age in England.The two sides are seen as very different in popular perceptions, but how much are these differences based on fact, and how much on the bias of the surviving contemporary accounts and later historical traditions? And how far did the two sides learn from each other in the course of 200 years of conflict? Drawing upon historical accounts from both English and Scandinavian sources, and on archaeological evidence, Gareth Williams presents a detailed comparison of the weaponry, tactics, strategies and underlying military organization of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and considers the developments which took place on both sides between the arrival of the Vikings' 'Great Raiding Army' in 865 and the battle of Stamford Bridge.

Advanced Biology for You has been carefully designed to be interesting and motivating to the AS/A2 student, with features that make it highly supportive of individual learning. Written by an experienced author team, with the same straightforward approach as the successful New for You GCSE series.

Linear Algebra with Applications is a flexible blend of theory, important computational techniques, and interesting applications. Instructors can select the topics that give the course their desired perspective. The text provides a solid foundation in the mathematics of linear algebra, while introducing some of the important computational aspects of the field, such as algorithms. The presentation of interesting applications has been one of the most compelling features of this book provides students a well balanced coverage of standard linear algebra topics that apply mathematics by examining real-life applications, making for a enlightening learning experience.

From the award-winning author of Angel of Death comes a comprehensive and engaging narrative of mankind's battle against polio.For much of the twentieth century, polio inspired terror as the 'morning paralysis' which could invade any home and disable or kill a previously healthy person. The cruelty of the disease is epitomised by the iconic images of the crippled child and the iron lung. This is the story of mankind's struggle against polio, is compelling, exciting and full of twists and pardoxes. One of the grand challenges of modern medicine, it was a battleground between good and bad science. Some research won Nobel Prizes; other work was flawed or fraudulent, holding up progress and endangering patients' lives. Gareth Williams takes an original view of the journey to understanding and defeating polio, exploring the profoundly moving experiences of victims alongside the medical and scientific landmarks in the history of the disease. Praise for Angel of Death: 'An engaging narrative, in which medical history is interweaved with social history and reflections on contemporary issues' BBC History Magazine 'Wonderful. Wonderfully-researched, vividly-written, an example of medical history at its absolute best.' Michael Neve

Drawing upon contemporary literary and historical accounts from the North Atlantic to the Arab world, surviving examples of weapons and armor, and practical experimentation and reconstructions by modern weapon-smiths and re-enactors, Weapons of the Viking Warrior casts new light on how Viking weapons were made and used in battle.Viking warriors used an array of distinctive weaponry on the battlefield, but they have become entangled in myth and legend. This book tells the full, true story.Between the late 8th and late 11th century Viking warriors had a massive impact not just in northern Europe, but across a huge arc from the western Mediterranean round through northern Europe and the Baltic to the Middle East and Central Asia. Their success depended in part on their skills in battle, their unique sense of strategic mobility, and on the quality of their weapons and equipment. Written by an expert on early medieval weaponry, this book examines the weapons of the typical Viking warrior, dispels some of the myths of the popular image, such as double-headed axes, and considers the range of weapons that actually underpinned the Vikings' success including bows and arrows.

Written by a team of experienced authors and examiners, Biology for Cambridge IGCSE First Edition is a comprehensive resource, endorsed by Cambridge International Examinations and matching specification 0610. It is ideal for international school students, content presented clearly and concisely to make it accessible to students with wide ranging backgrounds. Study tips throughout the text address common misconceptions and errors. Innovative 'lesson on a page' double page spread formats are used to present topics, providing all pertinent material and emphasising the key learning points. Each chapter has a section of exam-style questions, written by experienced examiners, which closely match papers 1, 2 and 3. There is also a section dedicated to the Alternative to Practical paper in each title. A revision checklist for each title covers the whole syllabus to ensure students know what they have covered.

Discovered in 2007 and acquired by the British Museum and York Museums Trust, the Vale of York hoard was buried in the late 920s in the reign of the West Saxon king Athelstan, in what is now North Yorkshire. The spectacular gold and silver jewellery, ingots and coins in the hoard originally came from regions ranging from Ireland to the Middle East. They represent Christianity, Islam and the worship of Thor, reflecting the amazing cultural diversity, contact and exchange in the Viking world, as well as the scope of Viking raiding and trading.This book describes the individual items in the Vale of York treasure and explores the historical and political context of the burial of this exceptional hoard, offering a fascinating picture of the Viking age.

Drawing on deconstruction, postcolonial theory, cultural studies, and subaltern studies, The Other Side of the Popular is as much a reflection on the limitations and possibilities for thinking about the politics of Latin American culture as it is a study of the culture itself. Gareth Williams pays particular attention to the close relationship between complex cultural shifts and the development of the neoliberal nation-state. The modern Latin American nation, he argues, was built upon the idea of "the people," a citizenry with common interests transcending demographic and cultural differences. As nations have weakened in relation to the global economy, this moment—of the popular as the basis of nation-building—has passed, causing seismic shifts in the relationships between governments and cultural formations. Williams asserts that these changed relationships necessitate the rethinking of fundamental concepts such as "the popular" and "the nation." He maintains that the perspective of subalternity is vital to this theoretical project because it demands the reimagining of the connections between critical reason and its objects of analysis. Williams develops his argument through studies of events highlighting Latin America’s uneasy, and often violent, transition to late capitalism over the past thirty years. He looks at the Chiapas rebellion in Mexico, genocide in El Salvador, the Sendero in Peru, Chile’s and Argentina’s transitions to democratic governments, and Latin Americans’ migration northward. Williams also reads film, photography, and literary works, including Ricardo Piglia’s The Absent City and the statements of a young Salvadoran woman, the daughter of ex- guerrilleros , living in South Central Los Angeles. The Other Side of the Popular is an incisive interpretation of Latin American culture and politics over the last few decades as well as a thoughtful meditation on the state of Latin American cultural studies.

With a clear, concise approach, this comprehensive resource will support your EAL learners in understanding key scientific concepts. A step-by-step approach will help every learner reach their potential in science.

The Handbook of Diabetes contains a wealth of clinical wisdom against a backdrop of clinical science that will be of help to all members of the diabetes care team. The new Second Edition of this highly-acclaimed text has been extensively revised and completely rewritten to provide a concise, accessible account of key issues in this important area.The design and layout of the book have been completely revised to make the information even more accessible, and a plethora of colour illustrations and legends, together with accompanying text, provide a didactic combination for all members of the health-care team.

This book makes a case for infrapolitics as an enactment of intellectual responsibility in the face of a tumultuous world of war and of technological value extraction on a planetary scale.Infrapolitical Passages proposes to clear a way through some of the dominant political determinations and violent symptoms of contemporary globalization. In doing so, Gareth Williams makes a case for infrapolitics as an enactment of intellectual responsibility in the face of a tumultuous world of war and of technological value extraction on a planetary scale.The book offers a theory of globalization as a gigantic, directionless crisis in humanity’s symbolic organization, as well as a theory of global economic warfare as the very positing of directionlessness and, at the same time, facticity. Williams’s infrapolitics stands at a distance from the biopolitical, which it understands as domination presenting itself as the production of specific forms of subjectivity in the face of the commodity. The subsequent obscuring of being signals the need to circumvent the instrumentalization of life as subordination to the metaphysics of subjectivity, representation, and politics.Infrapolitical Passages works to confront that which is unavailable in subjectivity and representation, opening a way for facticity in the age of globalization in order to make room for the infrapolitical question for existence.

The Amazing Book of Chess, Learn from an experienced chess teacher how to master the skills of the greatest of board games. With his expert guidance you will soon appreciate how to deliver checkmate, and the tactical principles underlying successful play.

The first biography ever written about the legendary Viking king, Eirik Bloodaxe: Heir to the throne of Norway, murderer and warrior king who established reigns of power both in Norway and England. Written by one of the world's foremost experts on the Viking Age, Gareth Williams, curator of medieval coinage at the British Museum in London, this is a must read for every viking enthusiast!Based on his research into all available sources, Williams gives us a fascinating look at the man who above all else embodies the characteristics of the Viking warrior, as well as the relations and power struggles between the Norwegian and Anglo-Saxon dynasties in the 10th Century.

Chess is the king of board games, mentally challenging yet still great fun to play at the most basic beginners level. This beautifully illustrated little book teaches you how to play this addictive game of skill using annotated colour photographs and diagrams to explain the pieces, the moves and the winning strategy.

The remarkable story of the forgotten British scientists who enabled the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb<.b> Atomic weaponry is widely understood as a story of American scientific achievement—but scientists working in Britain played a vital role in its development. Including Nobel Prize winners and Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, these scientists have long since been forgotten. But without their expertise, Robert Oppenheimer’s research at Los Alamos would never have succeeded. Gareth Williams unearths the true story of the top-secret British atomic programme, codenamed “Tube Alloys,” established in 1940. These pioneering scientists struggled to convince sceptics in Britain and the USA that an atomic “super-bomb” capable of destroying entire cities was feasible, and could be built in time to influence the outcome of the Second World War. Williams shows how the British atomic programme, despite the often disruptive involvement of political leaders such as Winston Churchill, was vital to the success of the Manhattan Project. The Impossible Bomb sheds new light on how humanity’s deadliest weapons came to exist—and the massive destruction they wrought.

Contemporary furniture design has grown in popularity in recent years, but why? The Furniture Machine looks at the furniture industry and at design trends since 1990, to unravel the appeal of contemporary design. Who are the leading designers and what are the dominant styles of the period, from Minimalism to Blobjects and the New Antiques? Which technical or material innovations, like CAD-CAM and rapid prototyping, have changed the way furniture is made? Who are the most influential design thinkers, and what ideas have most influenced the look of furniture?Drawing on the collections of the V&A Museum and elsewhere, The Furniture Machine seeks to answer these questions through the work of the major designers of the period.

بسیاری از علاقه‌مندان به فلسفه در ایران که با فضای مجازی بیگانه نیستند نام دانشنامه فلسفه استنفورد را شنیده‌اند و چه بسا از این مجموعه کم نظیر بهره هم برده‌ باشند. این دانشنامه حاصل طرحی است که اجرای آن در سال ١٩٩٥ در دانشگاه استنفورد آغاز شد و همچنان ادامه دارد. این مجموعه از مدخل‌های مناسبی برای ورود به گستره‌های متنوع فلسفی برخوردار است و کسی که می‌خواهد برای اولین بار با مسأله یا مبحثی در فلسفه آشنا شود، یکی از گزینه‌های راهگشایی که پیش ‌رو دارد این است که ابتدا به سراغ مدخل یا مدخل‌های مربوط به آن در این دانشنامه برود.نگارش، تدوین و انتشار مدخل‌های دانشنامه فلسفه استنفورد به سرپرستی "دکتر ادوارد. ن. زالتا" افزون بر این‌که پیوندی فراگیر میان فضای دانشگاهی و عرصه عمومی برقرار کرده، ویژگی‌های درخور توجه دیگری هم دارد و آن اینکه این دانشنامه به ویژه به کار دانشجویان و محققانی می‌آید که می‌خواهند در زمینه‌ای خاص پژوهش کنند.ترجمه و انتشار تدریجی این دانشنامه به زبان فارسی و فراهم کردن امکان مواجهه شمار هرچه بیشتری از خوانندگان علاقه‌مند با آن از جمله اهدافی بوده که چه بسا مورد نظر بانیان این طرح بوده لذا "انتشارات ققنوس" با همکاری گروهی از مترجمان به سرپرستی "دکترمسعودعلیا" و با کسب اجازه از گردانندگان دانشنامه فلسفه استنفورد (SEP) اقدام به ترجمه و انتشار این دانشنامه می‌نماید و امیدوار است چاپ این مجموعه استمرار پیدا کند.

Coins are among the most important sources of information for the Anglo-Saxon period. In addition to what they tell us about the Anglo-Saxon economy, the combination of inscriptions and images provide evidence about kingship, religion and cultural identity.Written by one of the foremost experts on Anglo-Saxon coins, this book provides an overview of Anglo-Saxon coins in their historical context, drawing on recent finds as well as famous treasures to provide an authoritative account of current interpretations. Covering the period from the Anglo-Saxon settlements of the fifth century, through the emergence of the great kingdoms of Kent, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex, to the Viking invasions of the mid-ninth century and the conquest of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms apart from the Wessex of Alfred the Great, this is an essential volume for any aspiring amateur archeologist, coin collector or student interested in this historical period.

Ledsagende katalog til udstillingen VIKING på Nationalmuseet fra d. 22. juni - 17. november 2013