John Fleming (1785 1857) was a minister of the Church of Scotland, but in his time at the University of Edinburgh he had also studied geology and zoology. In the tradition of the country parson who was also a talented and knowledgeable naturalist, he published his first works on the geology of the Shetland Islands while serving there as a minister. His subsequent works led to his being offered the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, and subsequently at the newly created chair of natural history at the Free Church College in Edinburgh. The two-volume Philosophy of...

To satisfy the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people who pay good money to see stand-up every year, Malcolm Hardee presents a comedy club on the page with a bill featuring the glitterati of British stand-up comedy. We let the famous names and new talents alike try out their written humor and their only purpose is to make us laugh. We plan to make the book an annual event, and are sure it will soon become the world's largest virtual comedy club. Contributors include: Keith Allen, Jo Brand, Simon Day, Jenny Clair, Boothby Graffoe, Ricky Grover, Jeremy Hardy, Hattie Hayridge, John Hegley,...