Classics Retold

The single most transformative event in the history of human bands, fundamentally altering both their biology and social structures was their mastery over fire.  It shifted humans from just  "another primate"  to a unique "cooking animal" with a high energy lifestyle. Even at this stage they moved in bands foraging. The bands were a sort of consanguin relationship.  Until at least 40000 years ago all humans lived in bands. In the course of our evolution we used ingenuity to out-source digestion, moving part of the process outside our bodies. This process is known as cooking and it served as a form of pre-digestion.  It broke down complex starch and denatured protein making them significantly easier to digest. To early humans, it was a gain of 30 to 50 percent of energy from the same amount of food.  Many plants like tubers and seeds that were toxic or indigestable when raw, became staple food source when cooked. Heat kills parasites and bacteria in raw meat...

The hill at one end of Bathsheba's dwelling extended into an uncultivated tract of land, covered with tall thickets of brake fern, plump and transparent, in hues of clear and untainted green.  At eight o'clock this midsummer evening, while the sun in the west still swept the tips of the ferns with its long, luxuriant rays Bathsheba appeared in their midst, their soft feathery arms caressed her upto her shoulders.  She paused, turned, went back over the hill, and down again to her own door, from where she cast a farewell glance upon the spot she had just left, having resolved not to remain near the place afterall. She saw a dim spot of artificial red moving round the shoulder of the rise.  It disappeared on the other side. She had doubts about the temerity of her decision.  Whether to go and abide by her promise, or remain here as nothing had happened. But her penchant for a visual of the sword exercise moved her legs towards the direction she traversed a few minutes ...

What might have been the number of members in the earliest human bands?  Human bands - small nomadic , egalitarian group of 30 to 50 people related by kinship are considered the primary social structure for most of the human history. Egalitarian means the members were of equal rights.  This may not be true to the word. The strongest male might have dominated the entire group. Children, followed by women might have experienced the greatest disability.  Since the group might not have engaged in wealth creation competition was limited to division of hunted meat or gathered fruits and nuts. Still the alf male must have dominated the band. Evolving over millions of years, these groups were defined by shared foraging, co-operative subsistence, and informal leadership. Foraging is the act of searching for, identifying, harvesting wild food sources from nature. It requires careful identification to avoid toxic lookalikes and awareness of contamination. Key Stages In The Evolutio...

British novelist and civil servant of Victorian era. 47 novels. Among these two series of six novels. They are Chronicles of Barsetshire and Palliser Novels. The first series were published between 1855 and 1867. They are set in fictional English county of Barsetshire. The novel deals with the life of clergy and gentry, and the political, amatory [1], and social manoeuvrings among them.  The series consists of the following:- 1. The Warden 1855 2. Berchester Towers 1857 3. Doctor Throne 1858 4. Framely Parsonage 1861 5. The Small House at Allington 1864 6. The Last Chronicle of Barset. 1867 These are the novels in the Pallisers:- 1. Can You Forgive Her? 1865 2. Phineas Finn 1869 3. The Eustace Diamonds 1873 4.  Phineas Redux.1874 5.  The Prime Minister 1876 6. The Dukes children 1880. The novels encompass several literary genres including family saga 

Weatherbury bees were late in swarming, this year. It was later part of June, and the day after Sergeant Francis Troy visited the farm, that Bathsheba Everdene was standing in her garden, watching a swarm in the air, and guessing their probable settling place. They were late and unruly. Sometimes, throughout the season they would settle on the lowest bough, on a currant-bush or espalier apple tree . Next year they would settle straight off to the tallest coastard, or quarrington [1] and there defy all invaders who did not come with ladders and staves to take them. Bathsheba shaded her eyes, by one hand, were following these multitudes of swarming bees, and they ultimately halted by one of the trees. The bustling swarm had swept the sky in a scattered and uniform haze, which now thickened to a nebulous centre.  This glided on to a bough, and grew still denser, till it formed a solid blank spot upon the light. All the men and women were engaged in saving the hay, Liddy too left the h...

This quote was attributed to Lieutenant Colonel James Brown, a British military officer and diplomat who served the East India Company in India during the late 18th century.  The statement reflects a cynical view of the military power common in the feudal, aristocratic and colonial contexts, where the standing army is seen as a tool for domestic control and the suppression of internal dissent rather than a force for external defence.  Colonel James Brown made this view in the context of his mission to Mughal court of shah Alam Il. Browne was sent by Governor General Warran Hastings to gather intelligence on the Sikh confederacy and other regional powers that threatened Company's interests.  Mughal Emperor was largely a figurehead depending on various regional powers.  Browne observed that the Emperor's military forces were increasingly used for internal coercion to extract revenue from restless subjects. He observed that large standing armies were a massive financial...

Espalier is a method of training and pruning a tree forcing it to grow against the wall or a free-standing trellis.  It originated in the Middle Ages as a way to grow fruit inside the safety of castle walls, many non-fruiting plants including yew, cotoneaster, magnolia, and dogwood can be espaliered.