New Releases by Chris Harris

Trains of the former Southern Railway route from London Waterloo to Bournemouth & Weymouth were hauled by steam locomotives until July 1967, by which time this was the last steam-operated main line on the British Rail system. From the 1940s onwards many of these trains were in the hands of Bulleid''s 4-6-2 ''Pacifics''.

Plenty of sports franchises have stories that flow from hopelessness to prosperity. That was the backdrop when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became world champions, but how many others had to perform with an accompanying laugh track? How many used the number one overall draft pick on a player (Bo Jackson) who surveyed the scene, shrugged his shoulders, and decided to play baseball? How many essentially gave away their battered and star-crossed quarterback (Steve Young), suddenly jump-starting his route to the Hall of Fame? How many had a coach (John McKay), who, when asked what he thought of his team''s execution, wryly replied, I''m in favor of it? How many work in an antiquated training facility (One Buc Place) that hosts exterminators more often than the owners? For nearly a generation, they were the Yucks. Then they transformed themselves from frogs into princes. Tales from the Bucs Sideline is their story, warts and all. From winless wonders to world champions, from hapless players too embarrassed to show their faces in public to superstars who are constantly in your face. One and off the field, this is the story of how a franchise can transform from woeful to wonderful, complete with all the unforgettable (and forgettable) moments and characters.

In 1953 a young female Japanese monkey called Imo began washing sweet potatoes in water prior to eating, presumably to remove dirt and sand grains. Soon other monkeys had copied her behaviour and potato-washing gradually spread throughout the entire troop. When, three years after her first invention, Imo devised a second novel foraging behaviour, that of separating wheat from sand by throwing mixed handfuls into water and scooping out the floating grains, she was almost instantly heralded around the world as a monkey genius. Imo is probably the most celebrated of animal innovators. In fact, many animals will invent new behaviour patterns, adjust established behaviours to a novel context, or respond to stresses in an appropriate and novel manner. Innovation is an important component of behavioural plasticity, vital to the survival of individuals and potentially of critical importance to those endangered or threatened species forced to adjust to changed or impoverished environments. In this text, Simon Reader and Kevin Laland provide a comprehensive study of this subject.

You''re no idiot, of course! You know it''s not wise to venture into a dark alley alone late at night, and you always tell your kids not to talk to strangers. But when it comes to preventing--and handling--an attack against yourself, your home, or your family, you feel closer to the Cowardly Lion than Braveheart. Don''t buy a bulletproof vest just yet! The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Self-Defense is your best bet for maximum protection, short of hiring an NFL lineman as your bodyguard. In this Complete Idiot''s Guide, you get:

The world''s first anti-travel guide gives you the dirt on where not to go, why not to go there, and what not to do once you''ve arrived.

Describes several adaptive neural and fuzzy networks and introduces the associate memory class of systems. The Albus CMAC, the B-spline network and a class of fuzzy systems are described and analyzed. Their desirable features, such as local learning, are stressed and the algorithms are evaluated.

The problem with lure fishing is that finding the right plug and spinner for the right situation is difficult. With full descriptions of nearly 300 lures, plus advice on how to use them and suggestions for alternatives, this book guides the reader towards the correct lure for every situation.