Regular commercial contacts between Europe and Asia date back to at least the early years of the Christian era, but the pattern of trade underwent a structural modification following the Portuguese discovery of a route to the East Indies via the Cape of Good Hope. This volume illustrates the consequences of the arrival of large numbers of Europeans in the East. Europeans both participated in, modified and exploited existing trade relationships in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The studies reprinted here show how some environments, such as Japan, were hostile, whilst most states welcomed...

The history of the economic contacts between Asia and Europe dates back to at least the early years of the Common Era. But it was only after the overcoming of the transport technology barrier to the growth of trade between the two continents following the discovery by the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century of the all-water route to the East Indies that these contacts became regular and quantitatively significant. The Portuguese were joined at the beginning of the 17th century by the Dutch and the English East India companies. The Europeans operated in the Indian Ocean alongside the...

Energy Management: Conservation and Audit discusses the energy scenario, including energy conservation, management, and audit, along with the methodology supported by industrial examples. Energy economics of systems has been elaborated with concepts of life cycle assessment and costing, and rate of return. Topics such as energy storage, co-generation, and waste heat recovery to energy efficiency have discussed. The challenges faced in conserving energy sources (steam and electricity) have elaborated along with the improvements in the lighting sector. Further, it covers optimization procedures...