Abstract
This paper discusses how the introduction of new materials in recent decades has provided urban designers and architects with the opportunity to transform the relationship that has historically existed between people and their environments through innovations in construction and the materials from which these buildings are constructed. This paper provides an overview of some of the historical issues, such as the history of plastics, ceramics, semiconductors and reviews questions about the design issues that emerge from the nature of the materials themselves. This is followed by a summary of the research and salient findings in the conclusion.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
Historical Issues and Influences
Emergent Technological and Design Issues
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Citing the example of Japan finding itself in need of coal during the 1930s, Bell reports that the Japanese simply acquired more material by invading Manchuria and appropriating their resources. This author also observed early on that the materials revolution would have a profound effect on how architects and designers selected the materials needed for any given applications, and suggested that new technologies would emerge that would allow for completely customizable materials for any given purpose. This, in fact, is what has taken place in recent years. Indeed, innovations in materials science as well as manufacturing applications that have introduced new composites and the potential for increasingly tiny applications of these substances at the molecular level through nanotechnology promise even more science-fiction-into-science fact realities. "

Tags:alchemists, scientists, bioinformatics, engineering, biomaterials, innovations

Abstract
This paper explains why Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania played a major role in the American Industrial Revolution in the early 19th Century. The paper cites the city's strategic geographic position, its natural channels for transportation, its labor force and raw materials as factors.

From the Paper
"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania played a pivotal role in the American Industrial Revolution at the beginning of the century. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art describes Pittsburgh as a major 'hub' of the Industrial Revolution with its plentiful raw materials, natural channels for transportation, and its abundance of laborers. Pittsburgh was central not only for its rich natural resources, but also for its strategic geographic position and its advantage as the site of inventions that were key to the Industrial Revolution-particularly the steamboat invented by Robert..."

Tags:American Industrial Revolution, Pittsburgh, Westinghouse, steel industry, iron industry, confluence of rivers, Fulton, steamboat

Abstract
This essay discusses the main factors that led to the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and describes the changes in the social and economic organization of the period.

From the Paper
"There were a number of factors, from technology to changing views on human nature, that led to the socioeconomic movement known as the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain during the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution basically defines the period when there was a change in social and economic organization resulting from the replacement of hand tools by machine and power tools. This development of large scale industrial production took place in England starting at about..."

Tags:raw materials, coal, railroads, working class, middle class, Europe, population, land, agriculture, politics, transportation, labor, energy

Abstract
This paper explores Michael Walzer's analysis of the revolution of 1640 in England, "Revolution of the Saints." The paper focuses on the reasons for the Puritans and Protestants' success in achieving radical political change.

From the Paper
"In "Revolution of the Saints," Michael Walzer provides an account of the dramatic socio-political changes wrought by Puritan radicals in the English revolution of Calvinists. Clergy are labeled rootless intellectuals by Walzer and the individuals who follow them as self-disciplined agents of social and political reconstruction."

Tags:social order, feudalism, work ethic, spirituality, Calvin, Calvinism, materialism, capitalism, ethos

Abstract
This paper demonstrates that the foundations of the computer revolution have created a research revolution. According to the paper, this research revolution has completely changed the manner in which research can be done, the rate it can be done and the amount of material that is available at any given time.

From the Paper
"Research databases, once they have been compiled can rapidly collect more information than an individual needs about any given topic. The individual can seek information on infectious diseases, history, culture, sociology and with a discerning eye can formulate whatever desired outcomes they have within their context. Furthermore, this can be done in a matter of moments, as compared to the arduous manner in which research was done before computers. Some academics, calling back to the days of their own dissertations, where footnote reformatting required a completely new document, call the computer revolution amazing but at the same time question the ease at which information is gained and demand hard copy research from students. "

Tags:interactive, media, Internet, education, collect, information

Abstract
This paper explains that the phenomenon of material consumption is an integral aspect of contemporary society, but the 'consumer revolution' occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century resulting in the emergence of a whole new class of consumers through the rise in family incomes and hence an increase in their personal disposable incomes. The author points out that the availability of new goods, through (1) the development of the British Empire and increase in colonial power and (2) expansion and change of British based manufacturers, clearly fuelled the surge in consumer spending on new exotic goods and fashion. The paper states that the English society was a perfect breeding ground for this change and is the most significant contribution to the 'consumer revolution'; the desire to consume--the demand--was always there and industrialization 'supplied' the goods.

From the Paper
"Economic development was the key to understanding why material objects were no longer limited to the few, but were brought within the reach of an increasing number of people. Also key to this understanding and to what our topic is concerned, was the vast metamorphosis in style, variety and availability of exotic, new and traditional goods. Even necessities witnessed a transformation in their production giving more choice to the ever discerning consumer. It is of course true that the availability and changing demand of these so-called 'new' goods contributed heavily to the emergence of this material culture, but what we must also stress that the desire to consume was always there. It was the ability to do so that was that was new."

Tags:demand, supply, empire, manufacturing, desire

Abstract
The paper provides a comparison between the descriptions of the process, goals, and results of the Constitutional Convention authored by Carol Berkin in "A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution" and the same descriptions presented by Robert Middlekauff in "The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789". The paper focuses on these books' content, presentation of the material, introduction into the Constitutional Convention and approaches to the subject matter.

Outline:
Introduction
Comparison: Berkin and Middlekauff

From the Paper
"What actually transpired was that the American political system had allowed the Supreme Court to basically elect Bush, 5-4 (five Republicans and four Democrats). And one wonders what Patrick Henry, John Adams and Richard Henry Lee among other delegates to the convention would have said - if they had a crystal ball and could see into the year 2000 - about the U.S. Supreme Court trumping the Florida Supreme Court's power. Berkin writes on page 17 that Henry, Adams and Lee were "Americans when they contrasted themselves with the citizens, government officials, and soldiers of England." But at home, they were "Virginians, New Jerseyites, Connecticut men." Clearly the state's rights were important to a group of highly educated men who had just helped win the Revolutionary War and hence they had shed the shackles of powerful central government in England.
"In 2000 it was state's rights being snuffed out by the federal power structure when the U.S. High Court cut off the recounting of ballots in Florida (ordered by the Florida Supreme Court) that might have given Al Gore a victory. Later, in November 2001, the technical re-counts (by the National Opinion Research Center) showed Gore might have actually may have won if "overvotes" were taken into consideration."

Tags:Constitutional, Convention, delegates, George, Washington, slavery

Abstract
The paper highlights the role of David Hume and Immanuel Kant in rescuing the tradition of rationalism, specifically Hume's "science of man" and Kant's "Copernican revolution of the mind" which places man at the center of all reasoning. The paper shows how both Hume and Kant are engaged in constructing a metaphysics of morality where they reject the concept of certainty in a materially objective sense.

From the Paper
"The atomists of ancient Greece tried to overcome uncertainty by ideas and concentrating on material substance, picturing it as composed of indestructible fundamental units, which Democritus labeled 'atoms'. Of course, this too was a concept, but by picturing the metaphysical building block of the universe in such tangible terms he turned epistemology into a science, and in the process gave birth to the notion of determinism - ie certainty as obtained through empirical investigation. Determinism was a reinvigorated quest with the advent of the European Renaissance."

Tags:empiricism, Cartesian, determinism, free, will, reason, Descartes, Newton

Abstract
This paper is a theoretical paper referring to postmodernism's distinction between space and place in relation to the revolution in plastics architecture of the post-WWII era. The paper discusses how several subtopics examine postmodern assumptions on humanity, material culture, consciousness and architecture, arguing that they may prove false. The paper addresses post-1940s synthetic architecture as source of new capability and creativity among architects better able to serve their public. The paper's last sections refer to the need for humanist architecture as a solution to much affecting design and its criticism in early 21st century. The paper also touches upon creolization, the eventual breakdown of globalization, derivative forms, total spaces and the retained or intensified human sense of place.

Tags:space/place, pomo critique, plastics

Abstract
The paper examines male and female gender roles and discusses how they have magnified the myth of women's equality with men. The notion of gender confusion, and a subconscious fear of independence by women is documented in the research published in 1981, by feminist author Colette Dowling. She labeled this phenomenon the Cinderella Complex, and her research, conducted in the 1970s has served as the foundation for research on male and female roles in today's society. There is an abundance of material available on this topic, some of which are examined and include current research, books and movies that have been released using the theme of "Cinderella."

From the Paper
"In the decades following Colette Dowling's 1981 introduction of the concept of gender confusion and misconceptions that she called the Cinderella Complex, women as well as men gradually became more comfortable with the reversal of sexual roles. As society moved toward the end of the twentieth century, the vivid images of the female as the damsel in distress and the male as the protective provider appeared to be fading from its collective consciousness and to be associated much more with the past than with the present. A mass media that had contributed greatly to the repeated impression of these older sexual stereotypes began during this era to promote a perception of the female reflective of her new, improved and much more liberated place within society. Standard-Times correspondent Sarah Guille pointed out this promotional transition in a 1999 article dealing with modern myths and their effects on both media and society. Guille noted that modern scenarios portrayed a Cinderella who, "instead of being carried off in a horse-drawn carriage to a fairy-tale castle with Prince Charming, went to work and could make her own ball gown, build her own castle and take responsibility for her own happily ever after" (Damaged by the Myth)."

Tags:myth, sex, weaker, male, female, structure, cinderella, reversal, roles, complex, freedom, liberation, values, gender, confusion, stereotypes, perception, media, damsel, distress, syndrome, financial, emotional, psychological, culture, fairy, tale