This work is an exploration of the nature of the city from its beginnings to contemporary Cairo, the largest city the world has known. It explores the city's 'raison d'etre', functions and forms, its achievements and problems, from fortifications to sewers, factories to markets, theatres and bars.

From the gold potatoes at the Sun Temple in Cuzco, Peru, the muddy ones in Ireland and those grown in China for MacDonalds chips, via Mrs Beeton, Charles Darwin, Lenin and Chairman Mao, to the mapping of the potato genome, the story of the spud is both satisfying and fascinating.

A Philosophy of Christian Materialism offers a new religious engagement with the public sphere via means of interdisciplinary analysis and empirical examples, developing what the authors call a Relational Christian Realism building upon interaction with contemporary Philosophy of Religion. The book argues that the current discourse on public religion is inadequate in addressing the issues now to be faced, including: material religious practice in the sphere of education; the growth of alternative political movements and the developing awareness of environmental concerns and urban social...

The text addresses the impact of globalization within engineering, particularly on working practices and prospects for creativity. It suggests that accepted norms of economic activity create enclosures and thresholds within the profession, which-as engineers increase their awareness (reflexivity)-will shape the future of engineering, and the values which underpin it. It is aimed at practicing engineers and those in training and is an introduction to the social and political context currently setting new challenges for the profession.