Policy-Making Processes and the European Constitution

This new volume presents a wealth of fresh data documenting and analyzing the different positions taken by governments in the development of the European Constitution. It examines how such decisions have substantial effects on the sovereignty of nation states and on the lives of citizens, independent of the ratification of a constitution. Few efforts have been made to document constitution b…

Globalisation and its Economic Consequences

Given the rising criticisms of and growing doubts about globalisation, this timely edited volume looks at globalisation and its economic impact on eight countries in Asia and the Pacific region, namely Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States (US), and Vietnam. The eight selected countries are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and yet…

Chinese Historical Thinking : An Intercultural Discussion

The book presents Chinese historical thinking by four articles. It is covered the ancient origin and the development to modernity and is commented by seven international experts. Presentation and comments find ›second thought‹ by three other international scholars, and at the end the whole discussion find an answer by the authors of the first presentations. The complex structure of …

Illusions in Motion: Media Archaeology of the Moving Panorama and Related Spe…

Tracing the cultural, material, and discursive history of an early manifestation of media culture in the making. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, huge circular panoramas presented their audiences with resplendent representations that ranged from historic battles to exotic locations. Such panoramas were immersive but static. There were other panoramas that moved—hundreds, and proba…

The Psychophysical Ear: Musical Experiments, Experimental Sounds, 1840-1910

An examination of how the scientific study of sound sensation became increasingly intertwined with musical aesthetics in nineteenth-century Germany and Austria. In the middle of the nineteenth century, German and Austrian concertgoers began to hear new rhythms and harmonies as non-Western musical ensembles began to make their way to European cities and classical music introduced new composit…

Application of Jump Diffusion Models in Insurance Claim Estimation