Peter Townsend

This book presents new evidence of inequalities in health found among communities in the North of England. Townsend et al relate this evidence to long-term national health trends and variations in material deprivation.

This book is an autobiography of Peter Townsend (1914 -1995), a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot, an Ace, WWII war hero, who later became equerry of King George VI, and was said to be the love of Princess Margaret’s life. The book provides an unique first person experience of a RAF fighter pilot, his simple but deep love for England, the innocent bravery of a young officer in defending England, as well as first hand stories and insights into the royal family, the famous love story with Princess Margaret and his subsequent exile life in France with his second wife and kids. The writing is natural, sincere and touching, ranging from sweet, funnny, and at times, heartbreaking. This is a book worth your time reading.

"The Evolution of Music through Culture and Science aims to recognise the impact of science on music, why it occurs, how we respond, and even to tentatively see if we can predict future developments. Technology has played an immense role in the development of music as it has enabled the production of new sounds, introduced new instruments and continuously improved and modified existing ones. Printing, musical notation, and modern computer aids to composition, plus recordings and electronic transmission have equally enabled us to have access to music from across the world. Such changes, whether just more powerful pianos, or new sounds as from the saxophone, have inspired composers and audiences alike. Acoustics and architecture play similar roles as they changed the scale and performance of concert halls, and with the advent of electronics, they enabled vast pop music festivals. No aspect of modern music making has been untouched by the synergy with scientific innovation. This is not a one-way interaction as the early attempts to make recordings were a major motivating force to design the electronics for amplifiers and these in turn inspired and enabled the designs of semiconductor electronics and modern computer technology. To appreciate the impact of technology on music does not require any prior scientific background as the concepts are invariably extremely simple and are presented here without technical detail. Understanding music and why we like different genres is far more complex, as this involves our personal background and taste. Both aspects change with time, and there is no contradiction in enjoying items as diverse as baroque madrigals, symphonies, jazz or pop music, or music from totally different cultures"--

Technological progress comes with a dark side where good ideas and intentions produce undesirable results. The many and various unexpected outcomes of technology span humorous to bizarre, and even result in situations which threaten our survival. Development can be positive for some, but negative and isolating for others (e.g. older or poorer people). Progress is often transient, as faster electronics and computers dramatically shorten retention time of data and knowledge (e.g. documents, data, and photos will be unreadable within a generation). This is also destroying past languages and cultures in a trend to globalisation. Advances cut across all areas of science and life, and the scope is vast from biology, medicine, agriculture, transport, electronics, computers, long range communications, to a global economy.

"Memoirs of aerial combat at night during the Battle of Britain"--Jacket.