Antarctica fascinates us with its awe-inspiring beauty, wildlife, and tales of the heroic age of exploration. Often described as the last frontier, this frozen continent is critical to all life on earth. Professor David Vaughan shares the excitement of his first trip to Antarctica, his passion for the ice, and his 40-year quest to solve a scientific conundrum - is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet stable and will climate change drive it into irreversible retreat. For the first time we go behind the scenes to discover what it takes to undertake polar research. This is a gripping memoir by a pioneer in Antarctic science who did so much to uncover and communicate the rapid changes taking place on Earth's southernmost continent. There are fascinating, funny and startling stories from forty years of expeditions taking scientific measurements in this most chilly and remote of environments. And there are insightful and moving reflections on the nature of planetary change and the inadequate political response, on collaborating across boundaries for the common good, and on facing a terminal diagnosis. Professor Peter Stott MBE, Professor in Detection and Attribution, University of Exeter and Science Fellow, Met Office. Author of Hot Air.

Antarctica fascinates us with its awe-inspiring beauty, wildlife, and tales of the heroic age of exploration. Often described as the last frontier, this frozen continent is critical to all life on earth. Professor David Vaughan shares the excitement of his first trip to Antarctica, his passion for the ice, and his 40-year quest to solve a scientific conundrum - is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet stable and will climate change drive it into irreversible retreat. For the first time we go behind the scenes to discover what it takes to undertake polar research. This is a gripping memoir by a pioneer in Antarctic science who did so much to uncover and communicate the rapid changes taking place on Earth's southernmost continent. There are fascinating, funny and startling stories from forty years of expeditions taking scientific measurements in this most chilly and remote of environments. And there are insightful and moving reflections on the nature of planetary change and the inadequate political response, on collaborating across boundaries for the common good, and on facing a terminal diagnosis. Professor Peter Stott MBE, Professor in Detection and Attribution, University of Exeter and Science Fellow, Met Office. Author of Hot Air.

Minerals existed long before any forms of life, playing a key role in the origin and evolution of life; an interaction with biological systems that we are only now beginning to understand. Exploring the traditional strand of mineralogy, which emphasises the important mineral families, the well-established analytical methods (optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction) and the dramatic developments made in techniques over recent decades, David Vaughan also introduces the modern strand of mineralogy, which explores the role minerals play in the plate tectonic cycle and how they interact with the living world.

Demonstrating how minerals can be critical for human health and illness by providing essential nutrients and releasing poisons, Vaughan explores the multitude of ways in which minerals have aided our understanding of the world.

ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Sir Frederick Ashton (1904 - 1988) remains one of the great figures of twentieth-century ballet, whose place in British ballet is comparable to Balanchine's in America. Ashton's choreographic career began in 1926, when his first ballet was presented as part of a London revue. In this book, David Vaughan traces that entire career, during which Ashton became first a leading dancer and choreographer, and later Director of the Royal Ballet.

Ashton created more than eighty ballets, as well as innumerable smaller works, including dances for operas, musical comedies, and films. Vaughan follows Ashton's development through this immensely creative life, from early works such as Facade and Les Rendezvous, to such masterpieces of his maturity as Symphonic Variations, Scenes de ballet, Daphnis and Chloe, La Fille mal gardée, The Dream, Enigma Variations, and A Month in the Country. Each of his important ballets is described and analysed in detail, and most are illustrated, with over 260 drawings and photographs.

As a parallel theme to the accomplishments of this one master, the history of British ballet is presented, from its humble beginnings in the 1920s and 1930s through to the late twentieth century - a story in which Ashton played a crucial part as the choreographer whose works have formed and defined what has come to be recognised as the English style of classical ballet.

Finally, though the book is not a biography in the conventional sense, a picture emerges of a wise and witty man, the most modest of geniuses, beloved by all who worked with him.

David Vaughan's Frederick Ashton and his Ballets, originally published in 1977 and long unavailable, remains the definitive chronicle of Ashton's choreographic career. This revised edition of Vaughan's seminal work includes a new final chapter and an updated chronology of work, and is an essential book both for historians of twentieth-century ballet and for lover of Ashton's work.

The Fourth Quadrant tells the tale of Anil Patel. A series of professional disasters force Anil (24, single and luckless) to swallow his pride and join the family business. But this is not the usual sort of family business. Not only is murder casually dropped into the job description, but our hero continually finds himself in situations that would have lesser men running for an easier line of work. Driven by financial necessity and the institutional lunacy of a multinational corporation, he leaves his home in Manchester and embarks on a trip to India, a return to his roots that will change his life forever. But there is more to life than business. Anil is also driven by the love of a girl. A love that grows stronger with each day of absence. The Fourth Quadrant describes a road trip in which the outer limits of love, stress and companion animal welfare are seen through the shimmering heat of Rajasthan. The people and events described will bring smiles of recognition to all.

Merce Cunningham reached the age of 75 in 1994, an age at which many creative artists are content to rest on their laurels, or at least to leave behind whatever controversies they may have caused during their careers. No so Cunningham. In the first place, his 70s have been a time of intense creativity in which he has choreographed as many as four new works a year. Cunningham is a strongly committed as ever to the discovery of new ways of moving and of making movement, refusing to be hampered by the physical limitations that have come with age. Since 1991 every new work has been made at least in part with the use of the computer program Life Forms, which enables him to devise choreographic phrases that he himself would be unable to perform - and which challenge and develop the virtuosity of the young dancers in his company.
The essays collected in this special issue of Choreography and Dance were written over the last few years and discuss various aspects of the work of Cunningham as seen both from the outside and the inside.

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The Little Book of Herefordshire is a compendium full of information that will make you say, 'I never knew that!' Contained within is a plethora of entertaining facts about Herefordshire's famous and occasionally infamous men and women, its literary, artistic and sporting achievements, transport, battles, ghostly appearances and customs both ancient and modern. A reliable reference and a quirky guide, this book can be dipped into time and again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Merce Cunningham reached the age of 75 in 1994, an age at which many creative artists are content to rest on their laurels, or at least to leave behind whatever controversies they may have caused during their careers. No so Cunningham. In the first place, his 70s have been a time of intense creativity in which he has choreographed as many as four new works a year. Cunningham is a strongly committed as ever to the discovery of new ways of moving and of making movement, refusing to be hampered by the physical limitations that have come with age. Since 1991 every new work has been made at least in part with the use of the computer program Life Forms, which enables him to devise choreographic phrases that he himself would be unable to perform - and which challenge and develop the virtuosity of the young dancers in his company.
The essays collected in this special issue of Choreography and Dance were written over the last few years and discuss various aspects of the work of Cunningham as seen both from the outside and the inside.