Impossible Engineering
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Impossible Engineering
Author: Chandra Mukerji
language: en
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Release Date: 2021-11-09
The Canal du Midi, which threads through southwestern France and links the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, was an astonishing feat of seventeenth-century engineering--in fact, it was technically impossible according to the standards of its day. Impossible Engineering takes an insightful and entertaining look at the mystery of its success as well as the canal's surprising political significance. The waterway was a marvel that connected modern state power to human control of nature just as surely as it linked the ocean to the sea. The Canal du Midi is typically characterized as the achievement of Pierre-Paul Riquet, a tax farmer and entrepreneur for the canal. Yet Chandra Mukerji argues that it was a product of collective intelligence, depending on peasant women and artisans--unrecognized heirs to Roman traditions of engineering--who came to labor on the waterway in collaboration with military and academic supervisors. Ironically, while Louis XIV and his treasury minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert used propaganda to present France as a new Rome, the Canal du Midi was being constructed with unrecognized classical methods. Still, the result was politically potent. As Mukerji shows, the project took land and power from local nobles, using water itself as a silent agent of the state to disrupt traditions of local life that had served regional elites. Impossible Engineering opens a surprising window into the world of seventeenth-century France and illuminates a singular work of engineering undertaken to empower the state through technical conquest of nature.
Screening the Fleet
Author: Jonathan Rayner
language: en
Publisher: White Rose University Press
Release Date: 2025-02-04
In Screening the Fleet, Prof. Jonathan Rayner explores the representation of the modern Royal Navy on British television over a fifty year period from 1973 to 2023. Contextualising his subject with significant aspects of earlier naval representation, in recruiting, documentary and public information films from the 1940s to the 1960s, Rayner then brings his focus forward to 1973-2023. The 1970s were a significant decade for naval representation on television, and saw the broadcast of two definitive series: the BBC’s drama series Warship and the acclaimed documentary series Sailor. These landmark series set the benchmark for naval representation in both realist and in fictional portrayals. They also set precedents for audience perceptions, and these have affected the production, and the reception, of the series on the Royal Navy that have followed. Rayner’s work investigates how advances in technology allow programme makers to use new techniques in the spheres of naval drama and documentary. More recent series also need to balance the required conventions for any portrayal of the navy on television with the revelatory or iconoclastic approaches now expected by modern audiences. In focussing on the changing portrayal of the Royal Navy on television, however, Rayner also surfaces how the Navy itself has evolved in the post-World War II world. The series analysed in Screening the Fleet also evidence the changing nature and increasing diversity of the naval community as a reflection of changing notions of Britishness. Offering the first study of its type, this volume highlights evolving and emerging trends in factual and fact-based television programmes through their portrayal of a highly popular, patriotic and persistent subject over a fifty year period. It debates developments in television and documentary approaches using the representation of the Royal Navy, and its changing position in perceptions of British identity.
Ancient Aliens:
Ancient Aliens: The Ultimate Guide reveals compelling evidence of extraterrestrial influence on humanity’s history and evolution through a science-driven, multidisciplinary lens. This book offers: In-depth analysis of ancient megalithic structures like the Pyramids of Giza, Baalbek, Puma Punku, and Göbekli Tepe — showcasing engineering feats that challenge conventional explanations. Exploration of global myths and legends describing “sky gods,” star travelers, and divine visitors from beyond Earth. Examination of ancient art and iconography that resemble modern technology, suggesting advanced knowledge preserved in stone. Insight into sophisticated astronomical knowledge encoded in monuments such as Stonehenge, Nazca Lines, and Teotihuacán. Investigation of Out-of-Place Artifacts (OOPArts) and lost technologies like the Antikythera Mechanism, Baghdad Battery, and Vedic vimanas. Discussion of genetic evidence and Sumerian texts proposing possible extraterrestrial intervention in human evolution. Connection of ancient accounts with modern Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings and official government disclosures. Balanced presentation with rigorous scientific inquiry, highlighting interdisciplinary evidence from archaeology, genetics, mythology, and astronomy. Thought-provoking insights on why mainstream academia resists these ideas and calls for openness to new paradigms. Encouragement for readers to explore the cosmic frontier with curiosity, critical thinking, and awe. Did you know? NASA and leading space agencies worldwide actively search for signs of extraterrestrial life, validating humanity’s long-standing fascination with the cosmos.