Andrew Ure (1778-1857), Scottish chemist, scientific writer and professor at the University of Glasgow, was an enthusiast of the new manufacturing systems that were emerging in the nineteenth century.
His Dictionary is a well-known and much-used work, which went to several editions. This, a reprint of the 1867 6th edition, is alphabetically arranged and well-illustrated with nearly 2000 wood engravings, plus numerous tables. Packed with thousands of useful technical and statistical information on material, chemical and machine processes, and industries, it covers an exceptional...

Can elements of one culture--kinship relations, for example--be profitably compared to similar elements in other cultures? According to much anthropological thinking of recent decades, the answer is "no." Cultures are closed systems, many people argue, and their internal elements can only be understood with respect to the culture as a whole. Cultural anthropologist Robert C. Hunt, drawing on his vast experience studying cultures around the world, here makes a powerful counter-argument that the various elements making up a culture not only can but must be compared across cultures if we are to...