Cutting-edge medical technology and riveting, life-or-death personal dramas combine in this unprecedented, from-the-inside-out exploration of The Incredible Human Body.

The work consists of three parts--Humanity, Culture, and Social Life--and 40 major contributions. Part One emphasizes human beings as members of a species, how that species differs from others, how it has evolved, and how human populations have adapted to and in turn transformed their environments. Part Two deals with the origin and structure of human culture, and on the role of culture in action, perception, and cognition. Part Three examines the various aspects of the relationships and processes that are carried on by persons and groups in the course of social life.

Useful features such as cross-references within the text, full biographical references, suggestions for further reading and carefully illustrated line drawings make this an indispensable resource for all students of anthropology or sociology.

The World's Great Philosophers provides an introduction to and overview of some of the most profound and influential thinkers in the history of philosophy.

• Presents an introduction to and overview of some of the most profound and influential thinkers in the history of philosophy.
• Contains 40 essays, written by an outstanding international assembly of scholars.
• Provides cogent and accessible discussion of key philosophers from around the world.
• Conveys the historical panorama of philosophical thought on the nature of reality, the human condition, and basic human values.

David Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is the definitive statement of the greatest philosopher in the English language. His arguments in support of reasoning from experience, and against the "sophistry and illusion"of religiously inspired philosophical fantasies, caused controversy in the eighteenth century and are strikingly relevant today, when faith and science continue to clash.
The Enquiry considers the origin and processes of human thought, reaching the stark conclusion that we can have no ultimate understanding of the physical world, or indeed our own minds. In either sphere we must depend on instinctive learning from experience, recognizing our animal nature and the limits of reason. Hume's calm and open-minded skepticism thus aims to provide a new basis for science, liberating us from the "superstition" of false metaphysics and relegion. His Enquiry remains one of the best introductions to the study of philosophy, and his edition places it in its historical
and philosophical context.

Items in this Dictionary have been researched by anthropologists, archaeologists,  biologists, linguists, psychiatrists, psychologists, semioticians, and others who have studied human communication from a scientific point of view.