A fusion of reflections on the spiritual importance of rocks and stones in the world's cultures and religions and practical tips on creating and maintaining a rock garden. With illustrations from an internationally known garden designer and artist.

Presenting a thorough, comprehensive theory of spiritual capital based on solid academic research, 'Spiritual Capital' serves to reinforce and amplify the notion of a moral economic core that is beginning to feature in contemporary economic arguments. In this rare major work wholly dedicated to the subject of spiritual capital, Sam Rima explains the desperate need for revolutionary and transformational thinking in the area of economic policy and practice and makes the case for a new moral foundation to business and economics that directly addresses today's financial and business crisis. Writing in an accessible style, and drawing on examples from several continents, Rima explains spiritual capital theory in terms of the resources needed for its creation, how it is formed, how it can be invested and what the return on investment can be. The book provides practical tools for measuring a personal or organizational store of spiritual capital, along with clear guidelines on how to engage in spiritual capital formation. These will benefit business leaders interested in developing viable and sustainable enterprises capable of avoiding the disconnection between economic policy and social reality. There are also recommendations here for policy makers regarding the macro application of spiritual capital theory. This important contribution to Gower's Transformation and Innovation Series will appeal to business leaders and policy makers, academicians and students in the fields of sociology, theology, and economics, and anyone interested in social and economic justice issues, social innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

Gardens can be formal or wild, serene or ostentatious, native or exotic, colourful or monochrome --according to Trisha Dixon, if we like a person, we will probably like their garden In a series of written reflections, interwoven with her evocative, painterly photographs, Trisha explores the relationship that exists between ourselves, our gardens and the natural landscape. Beyond the design and the plants, there is the feel of the garden, which captures the heart from the moment you enter a landscape and stays with you long after you have left. In a chapter on Gardens of the Mind, Trisha explores how artists, thinkers and writers have acknowledged and found value in the spirit of gardens and landscapes. Socrates found truth and beauty beyond Athens' city walls in a sacred grove. Closer to home, Jorn Utzon, designer of Sydney's Opera House sought inspiration and solace in a sandstone beach cave and Arthur Boyd experienced the Shoalhaven as a Wagnerian opera or a Mozart symphony. In Our Ancient Land, Trisha writes about landscapes full of stories, songlines and tracks. She welcomes the shift away from an Anglocentric approach to landscape design to one that shows an intimate engagement with the spirit of place, an acknowledgement of the Aboriginal history and mythology embedded in the land. This is not just to be found in the ancient heart of the country. In Melbourne's Royal Park, for example, bounded by noisy traffic and high-rise buildings, landscape designer Gordon Ford has created a bush pool that you'd feel fortunate to find in the interior of the Kimberley. Her message is the need to understand and respect the environment in our garden making. By approaching nature with humility, rather than a desire to control it, we can make our gardens places of beauty and peace, which nurture body and soul. She explains different approaches to garden design, exploring the teachings of landscape architects and designers of renown. And she frames this in the context of a harsh and changing climate that we need to embrace. Full-colour photographs show the golden glow of seed heads, a Eucalypt reflected in a still pool, magnificent angophoras and mossy outcrops in an escarpment garden on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Here is Annie Snodgrass' Jilba garden in Young, bursting with a Mediterranean palette of greens, purples and white. Here is Philip Cox's South Coast retreat, showing a total harmony of landscape and understated, rustic architecture.

Presenting a thorough, comprehensive theory of spiritual capital based on solid academic research, 'Spiritual Capital' serves to reinforce and amplify the notion of a moral economic core that is beginning to feature in contemporary economic arguments. In this rare major work wholly dedicated to the subject of spiritual capital, Sam Rima explains the desperate need for revolutionary and transformational thinking in the area of economic policy and practice and makes the case for a new moral foundation to business and economics that directly addresses today's financial and business crisis. Writing in an accessible style, and drawing on examples from several continents, Rima explains spiritual capital theory in terms of the resources needed for its creation, how it is formed, how it can be invested and what the return on investment can be. The book provides practical tools for measuring a personal or organizational store of spiritual capital, along with clear guidelines on how to engage in spiritual capital formation. These will benefit business leaders interested in developing viable and sustainable enterprises capable of avoiding the disconnection between economic policy and social reality. There are also recommendations here for policy makers regarding the macro application of spiritual capital theory. This important contribution to Gower's Transformation and Innovation Series will appeal to business leaders and policy makers, academicians and students in the fields of sociology, theology, and economics, and anyone interested in social and economic justice issues, social innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

Jill Nokes, an authority on native plants and ecological restoration, traveled across the state of Texas, seeking out residents who had transformed their yards and gardens into oases of art and exuberant personal expression. In this book, she presents their stories, told in their own words, about why they created these handmade places and what their yard art has come to mean to them and to their communities.

An exciting and refreshing call to arms, The Planthunter is a new generation of gardening book for a new generation of gardener that encourages readers to fall in love with the natural world by falling in love with plants.

Brilliant photographs of scholars' rocks, or Chinese ornamental stones, from a leading collection Shaped by nature and selected by man, scholars' rocks, or gongshi, have been prized by Chinese intellectuals since the Tang dynasty, and are now sought after by Western collectors as well. They are a natural subject for the photographer Jonathan Singer, most recently acclaimed for his images of those other remarkable hybrids of art and nature, Japanese bonsai. Here Singer turns his lens on some 150 fine gongshi, ancient and modern, from the world-class collection of Kemin Hu, a recognized authority on this art form. In his photographs, Singer captures the spiritual qualities of these stones as never thought possible in two dimensions; he shows us that scholars' rocks truly are, in Hu's words, "condensations of the vital essence and energy of heaven and earth." Hu contributes an introductory essay on the history and aesthetics of scholars' rocks, explaining the traditional terms of stone appreciation, such as shou (thin), zhou (wrinkled), lou (channels), and tou (holes). She also provides a narrative caption for each stone, describing its history and characteristics.