Visions of the End in Interwar British Art

The cessation of hostilities to the Great War with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 brought the largest and most devastating war hitherto known to an end. It was meant to be the “War to End War”, yet a little over twenty years later in 1939 it was eclipsed by the devastation of the Second World War. The shadow of war loomed over the intervening years, which were marked by pronounced speculation on where human society was going; for every prophet of doom anticipating collapse into degradation, animosity, and self-annihilation there was a contrasting viewpoint awaiting the move towards a better new world. Further, these assessments often overlapped. This thesis examines the impact of apocalyptic ideas within British art in the interwar years. It looks at painting, drawings, prints, and sculpture, addressing the use and development of apocalyptic concepts during the period 1918-1939, and explicitly relates contemporary anxieties and apocalyptic evocations with Christian apocalyptic narratives. Interwar British society at large identified with Christian traditions, either as products of a Christian education and state, or through belief. The Apocalypse is central to Christian hope. The project surveys this under appreciated aspect of the period in order to recognise the influence of Judeo-Christian apocalyptic traditions. The apocalyptic orientation, both in its religious and secular forms, has been recognised as a manifestation arising from anxiety in the contemporary context. This thesis reveals a British permutation of a general (European) trend

The effective stress shear parameters of a clay stabilized with lime

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1961.MIT copy bound with: Ripple plate efficiencies for an absorption tower / Edward J. Bing. 1961.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 19).by Leslie G. Bromwell.B.S

Comparing attentional bias to smoking cues in current smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers using a dot-probe task

Much evidence documents that individuals with emotional and drug-use disorders demonstrate biased attention toward stimuli associated with their disorder. This bias appears to diminish following successful treatment. Two studies examined whether current cigarette smokers show biased attention toward smoking-related images compared with non-smokers (Studies 1 and 2) and whether this bias is less pronounced in former smokers (Study 2). Attentional bias toward cigarette-related photographs was examined using the dot-probe task. Pairs of images (one smoking-related) appeared side by side for 500 ms on a computer screen prior to the presentation of a probe (an asterisk) replacing one of the photographs. Subjects struck a key as quickly as possible to indicate the probe location. Attentional bias was defined as faster reaction times when the probe replaced the smoking-related image. In both studies, current smokers displayed significantly greater attentional bias toward cigarette stimuli than did non-smokers. Former smokers in Study 2 displayed an intermediate level of bias, but did not differ significantly in bias score from either of the other groups. These results support further use of the dot-probe task as a measure of attentional bias in non-abstinent smokers and in individuals undergoing smoking cessation treatment

Soil mechanical properties at the Apollo 14 site

The Apollo 14 lunar landing provided a greater amount of information on the mechanical properties of the lunar soil than previous missions because of the greater area around the landing site that was explored and because a simple penetrometer device, a special soil mechanics trench, and the modularized equipment transporter (Met) provided data of a type not previously available. The characteristics of the soil at shallow depths varied more than anticipated in both lateral and vertical directions. While blowing dust caused less visibility impairment during landing than on previous missions, analysis shows that eroded particles were distributed over a large area around the final touchdown point. Measurements on core-tube samples and the results of transporter track analyses indicate that the average density of the soil in the Fra Mauro region is in the range of 1.45 to 1.60 g/cm^3. The soil strength appears to be higher in the vicinity of the site of the Apollo 14 lunar surface experiments package, and trench data suggest that strength increases with depth. Lower-bound estimates of soil cohesion give values of 0.03 to 0.10 kN/m^2, which are lower than values of 0.35 to 0.70 kN/m^2 estimated for soils encountered in previous missions. The in situ modulus of elasticity, deduced from the measured seismic-wave velocity, is compatible with that to be expected for a terrestrial silty fine sand in the lunar gravitational field

Years of Life Lost (before they can ossify)

The forced extraction of raw materials and life forms from the Earth’s biosphere sustains human feats of modernity. From precious metals to fossil fuels, from copper to uranium, and the rare earth minerals essential to modern infrastructure and electronics, the history of mining is deeply rooted in the unfolding sociopolitical climate of the Sonoran Desert. By transforming ore into commodities, corporate mining throughout the Sonoran Desert has been a source of immense wealth for some, but has also led to waste, environmental contamination, illness and premature death in rural, low-income, predominantly communities of color. Years of Life Lost (before they can ossify) is a multimedia art installation that visualizes this toxic aftermath through slag rock, a mining byproduct left behind in massive mounds of waste, and glass bones that both represent the years of life lost by people living near waste due to the harmful chemicals that enter their body without their consent. The promise of industrialization to modernize and improve our lives is contrasted with the reality of the underlying intentions of corporate operations that produce and prioritize value in monetary form while devaluing and harming ecosystems necessary for life and the environmental health of local communities. The state’s supporting role is revealed through a mathematical calculation used in policy decision-making that figures the years of life lost in relation to human productivity and profit. Within the exhibition, the viewer is witness to the political and economic forces that are enmeshed in constellations of flesh, tissue, rock, bone, soil, and precious moments of life that were never lived

A list of things for Mr. Bromwell to do in regards to the Lima conference

A list of things for Mr. Bromwell to do in regards to the Lima conference

Mothers of the Sea: Female Lighthouse Keepers and Their Image and Role within Society

Lighthouses are an endearing symbol of our nation's nautical past. However, these structures are quickly disappearing from the landscape and with them often go their history and the important part that they played in the development of the United States. The stories of the men and women who cared for these structures during their times of use are also lost. This thesis examines the often overlooked role of the female lighthouse keeper. Female keepers were women who took on a traditionally masculine position. They held a government job and performed intense physical labor at a time when women were considered incapable of such jobs. This study examines the history of individual female lighthouse keepers and the contributions they made within the context of maritime history and public policy, as these issues related to American and British society over the last 200 years. It also considers the effects that governmental changes had on these women and what role they have played in popular culture both in the past and today