In Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus a distinguished scholar turns away from learning and embraces necromancy to satisfy his yearning for knowledge, power and influence. Faustus trades his soul to Lucifer for the secrets of the universe, only to find that satisfaction remains beyond his grasp. His quest for fame and thirst for knowledge eventually results in his damnation. One of the most spectacular and popular plays of the Elizabethan stage, Faustus' fantastical mix of high-minded theology and low-brow slapstick has allured generations of readers and playgoers in the ensuing centuries. Christopher Marlowe's Faustus has been regularly rewritten, adapted, performed, and parodied across the ages, speaking to its tenacious grip upon the public imagination.This fully re-edited, modernised play text is accompanied by incisive commentary notes, while its lively introduction will helpfully guide you through the fume of fact and legend that has accompanied the play across the centuries, from its premiere in the late sixteenth century to its most recent incarnation on stage and film.The New Mermaids plays offer:· Modernized versions of the play text edited to the highest textual standards· Fully annotated student editions with obscure words explained and critical, contextual and staging insight provided on each page· Full introductions analyzing content, themes, author background and stage history

Teleportation, time machines, force fields, and interstellar space ships—the stuff of science fiction or potentially attainable future technologies? Inspired by the fantastic worlds of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Back to the Future, renowned theoretical physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku takes an informed, serious, and often surprising look at what our current understanding of the universe's physical laws may permit in the near and distant future.Entertaining, informative, and imaginative, Physics of the Impossible probes the very limits of human ingenuity and scientific possibility.

Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago. In Gregory Hays’s new translation—the first in thirty-five years—Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented. With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.

Scientist, painter, philosopher, anatomist, astronomer, engineer, inventor, courtier: Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance. This book surveys the life and work of a unique genius, from his childhood in Italy to his death in France. More than a biography, it sets his life in the context of the great courts he visited: Medici Florence, ducal Milan, royal France. Written for both younger and adult audiences, it presents a readable discussion of Leonardo's complex art, life, and thought, explores his ground-breaking research in medicine, hydraulics, metal-casting, mechanics, painting techniques, architecture, and the new science of warfare and weaponry, and examines his place in intellectual and art history.