A vast array of natural organic compounds, the products of primary and secondary metabolism, occur in plants. This dictionary provides basic information, including structural formulae, on plant constituents. It profiles over 3000 substances from phenolics and alkaloids through carbohydrates and plant glycosides to oils and triterpenoids. For each substance, the author presents the trivial name, synonyms, structural type, chemical structure showing stereochemistry, molecular weight and form...

Lucian of Samosata's 'On the Syrian Goddess' is a captivating blend of travelogue, philosophy, and satire, exploring the religious practices and beliefs of the ancient Syrians. Written in the 2nd century AD, Lucian's work stands out for its witty and humorous tone, often poking fun at the superstitions and rituals of the Syrian cults. The narrative style is engaging and filled with vivid descriptions of temples, rituals, and religious ceremonies, offering a unique insight into the cultural...

Get the facts about the biggest beauty and skincare trends from Instagram's cosmetic science expert Dr Michelle Wong.Will eating dairy give me acne? Do I need to wear sunscreen every day? How often should I wash my hair? What's the best way to fade scars? And is "clean beauty" really as healthy as it sounds?The Science of Beauty reveals the truth behind the bold marketing claims and viral TikTok trends, and tells you what you really need to know ab...

This remarkable and daringly original book proposes a new way of thinking about the Greeks and their myths in the age of the great Homeric hymns. It combines a lifetime's familiarity with Greek literature and history with the latest archeological discoveries and the author's own journeys to the main sites in the story to describe how particular Greeks of the eighth century BC travelled east and west around the Mediterranean, and how their extraordinary journeys shaped their ideas of their ...

C. P. Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria’s ancient past. Figures from antiquity speak with telling interruptions from the author in such poems as ‘Anna Comnena’ and ‘You did not understand’, while precise moments of history are seen with a sense of foreboding, as in ‘Ides of March...

Revised and significantly expanded, the new edition of this handbook provides full information on the use of essential oils in the field of contemporary aromatherapy, based on the research evidence behind their therapeutic applications.The author provides the historical and cultural context for our understanding of aromatherapy, with an overview of its relationships with Greek, Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. She gives a detailed account of how essential oils are created, how and w...

The Lords of Avaris is one man's journey in search of the legendary origins of the Western World.Our story begins in a small rock-cut tomb below the desolate ruin-mound of Jericho in the Jordan Valley. This is the start of an epic journey of discovery, in the Homeric mould, which ranges across the ancient lands and archaeological sites of the Mediterranean. From Joshua's Jericho to Romulus' Rome, the true chronicle of our pre-Christian past is uncovered revealing an extrao...

A professional toxicologist and health writer offers an enlightening and accessible room-by-room guide to identifying and removing potentially toxic items, along with suggestions for safe, affordable alternatives.From the bedroom mattress and pillows to daily cleaning products for the kitchen and bath, toothbrushes, and even furniture and clothing, toxins are embedded in many products and items used regularly in the home—and they are making us sick. Hom...

Translations, like everything else, wear out over time, as language, and those who read or use it, change. With a poet like Cavafy, who was so precisely tuned to the idiom of his peers, it is even more important to update the English versions of his poems frequently, so that they have the same immediate resonance with the times as the originals had with their time. This is, of course, an impossible task. There is no single word, much less any phrase, that has exactly the same weight and hi...

This encyclopedic reference work on pharmacognosy covers the study of those natural substances, principally plants, that find a use in medicine. Its popularity and longevity stem from the book's balance between classical (crude and powdered drugs' characterization and examination) and modern (phytochemistry and pharmacology) aspects of this branch of science, as well as the editor's recognition in recent years of the growing importance of complementary medicines, including herbal, homeopat...

Ostensibly written by an English knight, the Travels purport to relate his experiences in the Holy Land, Egypt, India and China. Mandeville claims to have served in the Great Khan's army, and to have travelled in 'the lands beyond' - countries populated by dog-headed men, cannibals, Amazons and Pygmies. Although Marco Polo's slightly earlier narrative ultimately proved more factually accurate, Mandeville's was widely known, used by Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Frobisher, and insp...

The thirteen-book series includes over 1200 illustrations. This volume covers: The Nile and Egypt, The Gods of Egypt, and The Legendary History of Egypt. According to Wikipedia: "Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (June 23, 1846 – June 30, 1916) was a French Egyptologist... Among his best-known publications are the large Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient classique (3 vols., Paris, 1895-1897, translated into English by Mrs McClure for the S.P.C.K.), displaying the history of the whole o...