New Releases by DE VILLIERS

The first book for general readers about the storied past of one of the world’s most fabled cities. Timbuktu — the name still evokes an exotic, faraway place, even though the city’s glory days are long gone. Unspooling its history and legends, resolving myth with reality, Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle have captured the splendour and decay of one of humankind’s treasures. Founded in the early 1100s by Tuareg nomads who called their camp “Tin Buktu,” it became, within two centuries, a wealthy metropolis and a nexus of the trans-Saharan trade. Salt from the deep Sahara, gold from Ghana, and money from slave markets made it rich. In part because of its wealth, Timbuktu also became a centre of Islamic learning and religion, boasting impressive schools and libraries that attracted scholars from Alexandria, Baghdad, Mecca, and Marrakech. The arts flourished, and Timbuktu gained near-mythic stature around the world, capturing the imagination of outsiders and ultimately attracting the attention of hostile sovereigns who sacked the city three times and plundered it half a dozen more. The ancient city was invaded by a Moroccan army in 1600, beginning its long decline; since then, it has been seized by Tuareg nomads and a variety of jihadists, in addition to enduring a terrible earthquake, several epidemics, and numerous famines. Perhaps no other city in the world has been as golden — and as deeply tarnished — as Timbuktu. Using sources dating deep into Timbuktu’s fabled past, alongside interviews with Tuareg nomads and city residents and officials today, de Villiers and Hirtle have produced a spectacular portrait that brings the city back to life.

The approximation of a continuous function by either an algebraic polynomial, a trigonometric polynomial, or a spline, is an important issue in application areas like computer-aided geometric design and signal analysis. This book is an introduction to the mathematical analysis of such approximation, and, with the prerequisites of only calculus and linear algebra, the material is targeted at senior undergraduate level, with a treatment that is both rigorous and self-contained. The topics include polynomial interpolation; Bernstein polynomials and the Weierstrass theorem; best approximations in the general setting of normed linear spaces and inner product spaces; best uniform polynomial approximation; orthogonal polynomials; Newton-Cotes , Gauss and Clenshaw-Curtis quadrature; the Euler-Maclaurin formula ; approximation of periodic functions; the uniform convergence of Fourier series; spline approximation,with an extensive treatment of local spline interpolation,and its application in quadrature. Exercises are provided at the end of each chapter

Looking beyond the closet at the lives and works of renowned queer public figures

Malko doorzocht een deel van het kerkhof, maar Joachim zag hij nergens. Toen hij naar de ingang liep, hoorde hij het grind achter zich knersen en keek hij om. Joachim de grafdelver kwam als een wildeman op hem af stormen, zijn grote machete in zijn hand. Zijn witte tanden waren zichtbaar in een hatelijke grijns. Hij hoef de machete op en slaakte een soort woest gegrom, klaar om op Malko in te hakken. .

Global warming, energy shortages, overpopulation — it''s no wonder that as a society, we''re in an apocalyptic mood. Out of an endless stream of gloomy prognoses for humanity''s future, we have emerged with little inspiration and few concrete ideas for change. Our Way Out is the first time that our most urgent global challenges have been treated as aspects of a single, larger crisis — and the first to acknowledge that while crises reinforce each other, solutions enable each other. The transformation to sustainability is already happening, in many small ways, in many parts of the world. Our Way Out shows us how we can scale up these efforts to create meaningful and lasting change. This is not a book on climate change, energy, or any other single issue — it is the story of how within the solutions to the global crises we face, lie the seeds of something greater. It is a handbook for immense and exciting worldwide change. And, not least of all, it offers us robust hope that we can make things better.

The main focus of this book is on actively engaging students in the mathematical processes of modeling and axiomatization. The book starts off with some challenging problems involving switching circuits. Students are then engaged in gradually developing a mathematical model in order to solve these problems. Suitable notation is firstly introduced for series and parallel switches, and then followed by truth tables, and the discovery of several interesting mathematical properties related to switching circuits.After development of the model and solution of the original problems, a section on systematization follows where students are led through some proof activities to identify a suitable set of axioms. The book concludes with a short historical overview of the development and application of Boolean Algebra.

What’s a Friend to Do? Sprout and Twig are late for school, so Twig ignores their teacher’s instructions and takes a shortcut. When his friend doesn’t show up in time for class, Sprout lies to their teacher about what happened. But as time passes and Twig still doesn’t come, Sprout grows worried. Should he tell the truth, even if it means his friend will get in trouble for disobeying? This lively adventure teaches children ages 4 to 7 the importance of always telling the truth and helps them remember that rules are made for a reason. Seeds of Faith for a Lifetime of Growth The earliest years of childhood provide fertile soil for seeds of faith, and the captivating Seedling and Sprout series offers the perfect way to introduce toddlers and preschoolers to the God who created their wonder-filled world. Each book is artfully designed with vibrant, contemporary illustrations and communicates vital truths that nurture young faith.

This book seeks to actively involve the reader in the heuristic processes of conjecturing, discovering, formulating, classifying, defining, refuting, proving, etc. within the context of Euclidean geometry. The book deals with many interesting and beautiful geometric results, which have only been discovered during the past 300 years such as the Euler line, the theorems of Ceva, Napoleon, Morley, Miquel, Varignon, etc. Extensive attention is also given to the classification of the quadrilaterals from the symmetry of a side-angle duality. Many examples lend themselves excellently for exploration on computer with dynamic geometry programs such as Sketchpad. The book is addressed primarily to university or college lecturers involved in the under-graduate or in-service training of high school mathematics teachers, but may also interest teachers who are looking for enrichment material, and gifted high school mathematics pupils.

Tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, pandemic—are these and other natural calamities more probable, and more frequent, than they were? Are things getting worse? De Villiers examines these questions in a time when we truly need to understand the dangers ahead and how to act in such a way that we''re preparing for the inevitable and not making things worse.

Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte puis marquis de Villiers de L''Isle-Adam (1838-1889), ne a Saint- Brieuc, est un ecrivain francais. Appele Mathias par sa famille, simplement Villiers par ses amis, il utilisait le prenom d''Auguste sur la couverture de certains de ses livres. Parmi ses ancetres collateraux, on releve le marechal Jean de Villiers, grand-Maitre de l''ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem, installe alors a Rhodes, et devenu depuis ordre de Malte, de 1288 a 1294 et viceroi de Chypre pendant le regne des Lusignan: a ce titre, Villiers pretendait avoir des droits sur le trone de Grece. Cet auteur essentiel du symbolisme francais fut un grand admirateur de Poe et de Baudelaire, un passionne de Wagner et un grand ami de Mallarme: cet aristocrate qui defendit la monarchie est en fait resolument moderne en esthetique. Familier de l''irreel, il part de postulats etranges, hors de toute realite. Idealiste impenitent, le reve seul l''enchante et l''exalte, non sans s''accompagner d''une ironie sombre qui reste sa marque. Ses oeuvres comprennent: L''Eve Future (1886), Tribulat Bonhomet (1887) et L''Evasion (1890).

In sparkling, insightful prose, the author explains how to understand natural calamities, prepare for their inevitable occurrence, and cope with the mass destruction they leave behind in their wake.

Letters: Set Them On Fire! is the definitive guide to writing employee letters that spark TOP PERFORMANCE - FAST! With today''s constant information bombardment depleting society''s trust - we are left immune to true communication. To overcome these barriers, Letters: Set Them On Fire! will show you how to move away from the darkness of rigid structures and templates, and into the light of original letter writing that TRULY MOTIVATES! Letters: Set Them On Fire! will be your guide on this bold adventure of releasing your motivational letter writing voice and using it to produce dramatic results - FAST! So bring on the EXCITEMENT! The process of setting people on fire and sparking passionate, sustainable Top Performances - FAST - is about to start!

Malko sentit son sang se figer dans ses veines. Il ne voyait plus que l''énorme fleur accrochée au revers du tailleur de la blonde. Elle se trouvait encore à trois mètres de lui. Si elle arrivait à un mètre et déclenchait son spray, il aspirerait le Polonium 210 et mourrait dans des souffrances atroces, quelques semaines plus tard. Il se leva brusquement, arrachant le Glock de sa ceinture et le braqua sur Valentina Starichnaya, et lança en russe : - Valentina ! Nié Dvigatrés ! Malko calcula qu''il avait encore vingt centimètres de marge. La Russe marqua un court temps d''arrêt, comme si elle obéissait à Malko, puis recommença à avancer.

A rich and fascinating biography of the world''s largest desert - its history, peoples, traditions, climate, creatures; its tastes, sights and sounds.

The restoration of land rights is a key factor in South Africa''s transformation. The complexities surrounding the restoration of land rights are often underestimated and the competing interests involved can cause the process to be protracted and emotional. Conflict of interest can be particularly great when land claims are instituted against national parks and other conservation areas cherished by the nation. While such parks and areas are vital for the local regional economic development of South Africa, historical wrings, which may have led to the establishment of these parks, must also be rectified. Many parks and conservation areas or parts thereof were, after all, established on land that had been expropriated from black people.

Le " bûcheron " se planta en face de Malko, et, avec une lenteur théâtrale, sortit de sa botte un long poignard, une sorte de couteau de boucher dont il fit tourner la lame devant le visage de Malko : - Je vais te couper les couilles moi-même, sale Tcheknik ! lança-t-il d''une voix avinée... pendant que l''assistance hurlait son approbation,

Since 1992 the South African debate on regional government has shifted its focus to the content of regional government and the way that it could contribute to democratisation, improved government, the prevention of conflict and the accommodation of ethnic and other diversities. The Centre for Constitutional Analysis at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has been actively involved in the stimulation and development of the debate on regional government in South Africa. Some of the initiatives taken by the Centre have included comparative research, the running of workshops, the involvement of international scholars and various publications. This latest book attempts to make a practical contribution to the debate and is therefore intended to provide practitioners with a framework that could be used for the solving of problems that are faced in and outside of the negotiation process.

Le premier barreau se détacha. Au même moment, une vingtaine de rats porteurs des germes de la peste avancèrent en couinant. Malko saisit le barreau et le brandit. Les rats ne reculèrent pas. S''ils attaquaient tous ensemble, c''était fini. On voyait leurs petites gueules roses s''ouvrir et se fermer. - Ils ont faim... dit Felipe.