Geoffrey Lloyd's pioneering new book uses a study of ancient Greek and Chinese science and culture to throw light on fundamental problems, both intellectual and moral, that we still face today. The issues range from the debate about realism and relativism in philosophy of science to doubts concerning the universal applicability of the discourse of human rights. Lloyd provides compelling evidence that ancient civilizations have much to offer contemporary debates in many fields of study.

The rich civilizations of ancient China and Greece built sciences of comparable sophistication--each based on different foundations of concept, method, and organization. In this engrossing book, two world-renowned scholars compare the cosmology, science, and medicine of China and Greece between 400 B.C. and A.D. 200, casting new light not only on the two civilizations but also on the evolving character of science.
Sir Geoffrey Lloyd and Nathan Sivin investigate the differences between the thinkers in the two civilizations: what motivated them, how they understood the cosmos and the human...

Atlantis remains a perrenial fascination, wild theories as to its whereabouts abound and it sits only just behind the Grail, the Templars and so on in the volume of pseudoarchaeology it has inspired. Here the eminent historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet in what was to be his last work wastes little time in dismissing the arguments for a 'real' Atlantis, he has done that elsewhere, but instead concentrates on the uses that have been made of the myth of Atlantis by those who have chosen to believe in its actual existence. During antiquity the myth was more often than not seen as precisely that, and it...

Liaison psychiatry, the recognition and management of psychiatric problems in the general medical setting, is an essential component of many doctors' work. Depression, anxiety and somatization disorders occur in about 50% of cases presented to primary care physicians. The Handbook of Liaison Psychiatry was first published in 2007 and is a comprehensive reference book for this fast-growing subspecialty. A team of experts in the field cover the full range of issues, from establishing a service and outlining the commonest problems encountered in general hospitals and primary care, to assessment...

Ancient Greece and China Compared is a pioneering, methodologically sophisticated set of studies, bringing together scholars who all share the conviction that the sustained critical comparison and contrast between ancient societies can bring to light significant aspects of each that would be missed by focusing on just one of them. The topics tackled include key issues in philosophy and religion, in art and literature, in mathematics and the life sciences (including gender studies), in agriculture, city planning and institutions. The volume also analyses how to go about the task of comparing,...