Michael D. Friedman’s second edition of this stage history of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus adds an examination of twelve major theatrical productions and one film that appeared in the years 1989–2009. Friedman identifies four lines of descent in the recent performance history of the play: the stylised, realistic, darkly comic, and political approaches, which culminate in Julie Taymor’s harrowing film Titus (1999). Aspects of Taymor’s eclectic vision of ancient Rome under the grip of mode...

While it is well known that the Delian problems are impossible to solve with a straightedge and compass – for example, it is impossible to construct a segment whose length is cube root of 2 with these instruments – the discovery of the Italian mathematician Margherita Beloch Piazzolla in 1934 that one can in fact construct a segment of length cube root of 2 with a single paper fold was completely ignored (till the end of the 1980s). This comes as no surprise, since with few exceptions pape...

Since the 1930s, philosophy has been divided into two camps: the analytic tradition which prevails in the Anglophone world and the continental tradition which holds sway over the European continent.A Parting of the Ways looks at the origins of this split through the lens of one defining episode: the disputation in Davos, Switzerland, in 1929, between the two most eminent German philosophers, Ernst Cassirer and Martin Heidegger. This watershed debate was attended by Rudlf C...

Kant's Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science is one of the most difficult but also most important of Kant's works. Published in 1786 between the first (1781) and second (1787) editions of the Critique of Pure Reason, the Metaphysical Foundations occupies a central place in the development of Kant's philosophy, but has so far attracted relatively little attention compared with other works of Kant's critical period. Michael Friedman's book develops a new and complete reading of this wo...

The book offers an extensive study on the convoluted history of the research of algebraic surfaces, focusing for the first time on one of its characterizing curves: the branch curve. Starting with separate beginnings during the 19th century with descriptive geometry as well as knot theory, the book focuses on the 20th century, covering the rise of the Italian school of algebraic geometry between the 1900s till the 1930s (with Federigo Enriques, Oscar Zariski and Beniamino Segre, among othe...

When three of the Fantastic Four are lured into the Negative Zone by the evil Blastaar, the Invisible Woman enlists the Silver Surfer to help. But they face an even greater threat: Prodigion, a destroyer of worlds akin to Galactus, the planet devourer to whom the Surfer was once Herald. Can the Surfer atone for his past actions with Galactus? And is Prodigion truly a Negative Zone version of Galactus... or is the truth more deadly than even the world's greatest heroes can imagine?

Seven years ago, Captain Jean-Luc Picard first faced the judgment of the Q Continuum -- a race of beings with God-like powers over time and space who presumed to gauge humanity's fitness to exist in the galaxy. Seven years ago they suspended judgment, but now a decision has been reached: The human race will be eliminated, not only in the present, but throughout time. Humanity will never have existed at all.The only chance to save mankind lies with Captain Picard. An old enemy has gr...

Ambassador Spock continues his mission to unify the Romulan and Vulcan peoples, but is captured by a Romulan spy. Starfleet dispatches its best ship, the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM 1701-D, and its most respected captain, Jean-Luc Picard, to secure the release of the ambassador. Ambassador McCoy, now over 140 years old, is also sent to assist in the negotiations. But the situation becomes further complicated when another of Spock's former shipmates, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott confiscates a...

Three hundred years ago, the S.S. Valiant was destroyed during an ill-fated attempted to cross the legendary Galactic Barrier. Starfleet had always assumed that the Valiant had perished with all hands aboard, until a pair of unusual humanoids arrive at Starbase 209, claiming to be the descendants of a handful of Valiant survivors who found refuge on an M-Class planet beyond the Barrier.Even more shocking, the visitors warn that a hostile alien species, the Nuyyad, are preparing to ...

Before he commanded the Starship Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard was the captain of the deep space exploration vessel, the U.S.S. Stargazer, on an incredible twenty-two year voyage. Now Picard is reunited with his old crew for the first time in over a decade, on a mission to see his former first officer installed as ruler of the Daa'Vit Empire.The reunion turns deadly when a ruthless assassin begins eliminating the U.S.S. Stargazer crew one by one. Picard's present and...

In Mallparks, Michael Friedman observes that just as cathedrals represented power relations in medieval towns, and skyscrapers epitomized those within industrial cities, sports stadiums exemplify urban America at the turn of the twenty-first century.Grounded in the spatial theories of Henri Lefebvre and George Ritzer's analyses of consumption spaces, the book examines how the designers of this generation of baseball stadiums follow the principles of theme ...

In Mallparks**, Michael T. Friedman observes that as cathedrals represented power relations in medieval towns and skyscrapers epitomized those within industrial cities, sports stadiums exemplify urban American consumption at the turn of the twenty-first century.** Grounded in Henri Lefebvre and George Ritzer's spatial theories in their analyses of consumption spaces, Mallparks examines how the designers of this generation of baseball stad...