Since the Gilded Age, social scientists, middle-class reformers, and writers have left the comforts of their offices to "pass" as steel workers, coal miners, assembly-line laborers, waitresses, hoboes, and other working and poor people in an attempt to gain a fuller and more authentic understanding of the lives of the working class and the poor. In this first, sweeping study of undercover investigations of work and poverty in America, award-winning historian Mark Pittenger examines how intellectuals were shaped by their experiences with the poor, and how despite their sympathy toward working-class people, they unintentionally helped to develop the contemporary concept of a degraded and "other" American underclass. While contributing to our understanding of the history of American social thought, Class Unknown offers a new perspective on contemporary debates over how we understand and represent our own society and its class divisions.

Using social movements as a prism to illuminate the oft-hidden history of 20th-century Korea, this book provides detailed analysis of major uprisings that have patterned that country’s politics and society. From the 1894 Tonghak Uprising through the March 1, 1919, independence movement and anti-Japanese resistance, a direct line is traced to the popular opposition to U.S. division of Korea after World War Two. The overthrow of Syngman Rhee in 1960, resistance to Park Chung-hee, the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, as well as student, labor, and feminist movements are all recounted with attention to their economic and political contexts. South Korean opposition to neoliberalism is portrayed in detail, as is an analysis of neoliberalism’s rise and effects. With a central focus on the Gwangju Uprising (that ultimately proved decisive in South Korea’s democratization), the author uses Korean experiences as a baseboard to extrapolate into the possibilities of global social movements in the 21st century. Previous English-language sources have emphasized leaders—whether Korean, Japanese, or American. This book emphasizes grassroots crystallization of counter-elite dynamics and notes how the intelligence of ordinary people surpasses that of political and economic leaders holding the reins of power. It is the first volume in a two-part study that concludes by analyzing in rich detail uprisings in nine other places: the Philippines, Burma, Tibet, China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, and Indonesia. Richly illustrated, with tables, charts, graphs, index, and endnotes.

What is algebra? For some, it is an abstract language of x's and y’s. For mathematics majors and professional mathematicians, it is a world of axiomatically defined constructs like groups, rings, and fields. Taming the Unknown considers how these two seemingly different types of algebra evolved and how they relate. Victor Katz and Karen Parshall explore the history of algebra, from its roots in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, and India, through its development in the medieval Islamic world and medieval and early modern Europe, to its modern form in the early twentieth century. Defining algebra originally as a collection of techniques for determining unknowns, the authors trace the development of these techniques from geometric beginnings in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and classical Greece. They show how similar problems were tackled in Alexandrian Greece, in China, and in India, then look at how medieval Islamic scholars shifted to an algorithmic stage, which was further developed by medieval and early modern European mathematicians. With the introduction of a flexible and operative symbolism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, algebra entered into a dynamic period characterized by the analytic geometry that could evaluate curves represented by equations in two variables, thereby solving problems in the physics of motion. This new symbolism freed mathematicians to study equations of degrees higher than two and three, ultimately leading to the present abstract era. Taming the Unknown follows algebra’s remarkable growth through different epochs around the globe.

Emergency Characterization of Unknown Materials, Second Edition is fully updated to serve as a portable reference that can be used in the field and laboratory by workers who are responsible for a safe response to and management of unknown hazardous materials. As with the first edition, the book emphasizes public safety and the management of life safety hazards, including strategies and emerging technologies to identify the hazards presented by an unknown material. When responding to a hazardous material emergency involving an unknown substance, firefighters and HAZMAT teams are primarily interested in protecting public safety. The book details risk analysis procedures to identify threats and vulnerabilities, analyzing them to determine how such risks can be eliminated or reduced. If an unknown material can be identified with a high degree of confidence, that can considerably change the response, and measures to be taken. In addition, the book covers practical field applications with updated and additional examples of field instruments. The hazard identification methods presented are intended for use by frontline workers. The test methods presented involve manipulation of small sample amounts – using, literally, a hands-on approach. The three technologies used by first responders and military personnel to identify unknown chemicals, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and high-pressure mass spectroscopy, are covered in depth. Features Presents how to identify unknown materials and, if identification is not possible, to characterize the hazards of the material Offers practical examples to introduce new first responders to hazardous materials response Provides up-to-date field applications of the latest developments in commercially available instrumentation Details practical sample manipulations to help the reader successfully identify materials with popular high-end instrumentation Includes several examples of spectra and describes ways in which the reader can utilize data to inform decision making New coverage to this edition includes a chapter and content that focuses on sample manipulation and separations using instruments developed and revised since the first edition was published. These sample manipulations may be performed in the field with a very simple toolkit, which is fully outlined and explained in detail. Identifying the hazards of the unknown substance is essential to plan for response, contingencies and sustained actions. As such, Emergency Characterization of Unknown Materials, Second Edition will be a welcome and essential resource to all response and safety professionals concerned with hazardous materials.