The Difference Engine (by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling)

The Difference Engine is an alternate history and a prime example of the steampunk sub-genre (of science fiction). It posits a Victorian Britain in which great technological and social change has occurred after entrepreneurial inventor Charles Babbage succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer (actually his analytical engine rather than the difference engine).

Despite the industry being shutdown by two world wars, having its martial arts films dismissively labeled as "chopsocky," and operating on shoestring budgets, the films of Hong Kong have been praised and imitated all over the world. From its beginning in 1909 with the silent short Stealing the Roast Duck to the martial arts classic Enter the Dragon (1973) to Peter Chan's Perhaps Love (2005), a reinvention of Chinese musicals via Hollywood, the vast cinema of Hong Kong has continually reinvented itself. Stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li have become household names, and actors like Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Stephen Chiau, Michelle Yeoh, and Chow Yun-fat continue to gain fame throughout the world.

The Australian National University is a major centre of research in the humanities, fine arts, and the natural, physical and social sciences. A comparatively small but research-intensive university, it provides wonderful opportunities to introduce undergraduate students to research activity early in their university studies. Cross-sections: the Bruce Hall Academic Journal has been established to promote academic excellence, to provide a means by which our students can experience the process of preparing manuscripts for publication and to strengthen links between undergraduate students and ANU academic staff.
Bruce Hall has a long-standing tradition of academic distinction of which we are very proud. This journal is our latest and most ambitious way of celebrating the best work of members of our community. The pieces included in the following pages are representative of the breadth of academic experience in the Hall as well as the great depth of interest of each author in their chosen area of study. We hope the collected works in this volume will serve as exemplars for other students in Hall, encouraging them to match the authors’ efforts as well as the quality of their resulting manuscripts and artworks.

This book contains great information on the history of Kali (arnis, escrima, etc) as well as the basic concepts and drills that are taught by Dan Inosanto. None would argue that Danny Inosanto is one of the leading authorities on Filipino martial arts and his book demonstrates his depth of knowledge. It is complete with pictures and diagrams, making a lot of the information relatively easy to learn. Learning any type of movement from a book is difficult, but this book does a pretty good job of making the information clear. It's a collectors item as well as a great martial arts reference.