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  • Book cover of Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions

    Relates the physical and geometric elegance of geologic structures within the Earth's crust and the ways in which these structures reflect the nature and origin of crystal deformation through time. The main thrust is on applications in regional tectonics, exploration geology, active tectonics and geohydrology. Techniques, experiments, and calculations are described in detail, with the purpose of offering active participation and discovery through laboratory and field work.

  • Book cover of Lives of Indian Images

    For many centuries, Hindus have taken it for granted that the religious images they place in temples and home shrines for purposes of worship are alive. Hindu priests bring them to life through a complex ritual "establishment" that invokes the god or goddess into material support. Priests and devotees then maintain the enlivened image as a divine person through ongoing liturgical activity: they must awaken it in the morning, bathe it, dress it, feed it, entertain it, praise it, and eventually put it to bed at night. In this linked series of case studies of Hindu religious objects, Richard Davis argues that in some sense these believers are correct: through ongoing interactions with humans, religious objects are brought to life. Davis draws largely on reader-response literary theory and anthropological approaches to the study of objects in society in order to trace the biographies of Indian religious images over many centuries. He shows that Hindu priests and worshipers are not the only ones to enliven images. Bringing with them differing religious assumptions, political agendas, and economic motivations, others may animate the very same objects as icons of sovereignty, as polytheistic "idols," as "devils," as potentially lucrative commodities, as objects of sculptural art, or as symbols for a whole range of new meanings never foreseen by the images' makers or original worshipers.

  • Book cover of Worshiping Śiva in Medieval India

    Saiva liturgy is performed in a world that oscillates: a world permeated by the presence of Siva, where humans live in a condition of bondage and where the highest aim of the soul is to attain liberation from its fetters. In this account of Indian temple ritual, Richard Davis uses medieval Hindu texts to describe the world as it is envisioned by Saiva siddhanta and the way daily worship reflects that world and acts within it. He argues that this worship is not simply a set of ritualized gestures, but rather a daily catechism in which the worshiper puts into action all the major themes of cosmic Saiva philosophy the cyclic pattern of emission and reabsorption, the human path of attaining liberation, the manifestation of divinity in the world, and the proper interrelationship of humanity and god. In re-creating the convictions and intentions of a well-versed worshiper of the twelfth century, Davis moves back and forth between philosophical and ritual texts, demonstrating the fundamental Saiva belief that the capacities of humans to know about the world and to act within it are two interrelated modalities of the unitary power of consciousness.

  • Book cover of The Bhagavad Gita

    The life and times of India's most famous spiritual and literary masterpiece The Bhagavad Gita, perhaps the most famous of all Indian scriptures, is universally regarded as one of the world's spiritual and literary masterpieces. Richard Davis tells the story of this venerable and enduring book, from its origins in ancient India to its reception today as a spiritual classic that has been translated into more than seventy-five languages. The Gita opens on the eve of a mighty battle, when the warrior Arjuna is overwhelmed by despair and refuses to fight. He turns to his charioteer, Krishna, who counsels him on why he must. In the dialogue that follows, Arjuna comes to realize that the true battle is for his own soul. Davis highlights the place of this legendary dialogue in classical Indian culture, and then examines how it has lived on in diverse settings and contexts. He looks at the medieval devotional traditions surrounding the divine character of Krishna and traces how the Gita traveled from India to the West, where it found admirers in such figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Aldous Huxley. Davis explores how Indian nationalists like Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda used the Gita in their fight against colonial rule, and how contemporary interpreters reanimate and perform this classical work for audiences today. An essential biography of a timeless masterpiece, this book is an ideal introduction to the Gita and its insights into the struggle for self-mastery that we all must wage.

  • Book cover of Empathy
    Mark H Davis

     · 2018

    This book provides the readers with much of the understanding of empathy, examining empathy from the standpoint of contemporary social/personality psychology and emphasizing these disciplines' traditional subject matter and its research techniques.

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    This biography of Rear Admiral Davis by his son fills in a needed chapter in American Civil War naval history. Admiral Davis played an important role in the western campaigns on the Mississippi, at Memphis and at Vicksburg. He worked against the blockade runners and was appointed to the Bureau of Navigation.His son, also Charles, served as Chief Intelligence Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence from September 1889 to August 1892. One of his daughters married Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

  • Book cover of Jacqueline Bouvier
    John H. Davis

     · 2008

    Critical Acclaim for Jacqueline Bouvier John Davis's intimate memoir of his beloved first cousin "Readers longing for a dignified and elegant approach to Jackie's early years will enjoy this biographical gem by John H. Davis." --Boston Herald "Goes a long way to highlight the formative influence of her privileged back-ground and her warm relationship with her father, the philandering Jack (Black Jack) Bouvier." --Los Angeles Times "Re-creates a colorful, fast-fading slice of American life as it flourished in the shadows of toll hedges and long lineages." --The Miami Herald "The most charming and reliable in the batch [of Jackie books] is Davis's memoir." --The Atlanta Journal and Constitution "Entertaining, a guilty pleasure." --The Associated Press "This tender memoir of Jackie's early years sheds much light on the future woman we all wanted to know but never could." --The Star-Ledger (Newark)

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  • Book cover of The Feats of an Unsung American Heroine
    John H. Davis

     · 2016

    The book commemorates my mother, Millie B. Davis, for her achievements and contributions as a virtuous woman and mother, devoted Christian, outstanding member of the community, and loyal citizen of the United States. Mothers play an indispensable role in the existence of the human race; without them, the United States or any other nation would not exist. Therefore, when a mother conscientiously performs her inherent duties and responsibilities, notwithstanding prevailing adversities, she is justifiably an unequivocal heroine of the universe.

  • Book cover of The Battle of Cunaxa, and the Death and Character of Cyrus, Etc. [Edited by Henry H. Davis.] Gr. & Eng