How far back does the oldest human (hominid) date from?

A)     250,000 years
B)     500,000 years
C)     1,000,000 years
D)     2.3 million years
E)     4.4 million years

Before I give you the answer (and before you search it online), you might want to know that back in 2005, National Geographic launched its Genographic Project. National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Spencer Wells and his team of renowned international scientists began using the latest in genetic computational technologies to analyze historical patterns in DNA from participants around the globe to obtain further insight into our genetic origins.  The project is ongoing and you can participate and discover the migration paths your ancient ancestors followed thousands of years ago.

Ardipithecus ramidus

And the answer to question #1 is E. Named “Ardi,” (short for Ardipithecus ramidus) an international team of paleontologists discovered the oldest known skeleton of a potential human ancestor in Aramis, Ethiopia back in the early 1990’s. Some debate still remains whether Ardi is indeed the oldest human ancestor ever found. According to Tim White, paleontologist at the University of Berkeley’s Human Evolution Research Center, “It’s not a chimp. It’s not a human. “

Pop Quiz question #2.

What time period is generally considered the dawning of the Industrial Revolution?

A)     1760
B)     1780
C)     1800
D)     1820
E)      1840

Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)

Before we pick a date, let’s quickly remind ourselves of the one of the most influential and unsung heroes of the Industrial Revolution, Richard Trevithick.  A British inventor and mining engineer, it took years of experimentation and frustration for Trevithick to finally bring to life the world’s first high pressure cylindrical boiler and the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive, all around the turn of the 19^th century.

Did you answer question #2? It was Arnold Toynbee, famous 19^th century British economist and social reformer, who is first credited with describing England’s economic development from 1760 to 1840 as the “Industrial Revolution.” Answer A.

To encourage further study and learning on the major historical developments of humanity’s past, Questia is opening its doors to five of the top most researched history books and articles from our library. These books and articles were individually selected by our librarians and each one will spur you on as you plow into your history studies.

Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Chris Gosden

This VSI to prehistory will introduce the reader to four and a half million years of human existence. Many of the familiar aspects of modern life are no more than a century or two old, yet our deep social structures and skills were in large measure developed by small bands of our prehistoric ancestors many millennia ago. Chris Gosden invites us to think seriously about who we are by considering who we have been.

Women’s Influence on Classical Civilization

Editors: Fiona Mchardy, Eireann Marshall

Written by an international range of renowned academics, this volume explores how women in antiquity influenced aspects of culture normally though of as male. Looking at politics, economics, science, law and the arts, the contributors examine examples from around the ancient world asking how far traditional definitions of culture describe male spheres of activity, and examining to what extent these spheres were actually created and perpetuated by women.

The Oxford History of Medieval Europe

Editor: George Holme

Covering a thousand years of history, this volume tells the story of the creation of Western civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean. Now available in a compact, more convenient format, it offers the same text and many of the illustrations which first appeared in the widely acclaimed Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe. Written by expert scholars and based on the latest research, the book explores a period of profound diversity and change, focusing on all aspects of medieval history

The Industrial Revolution in World History. Edition: 2nd

Author: Peter N. Stearns

This concise, accessible new edition from noted historian Peter N. Stearns examines the industrial revolution as a global phenomenon, in terms of causes and results extending through the 20th century and into the present.

The “New” Cold War History and the Origins of the Cold War

Author: Joseph M Siracusa

Siracusa writes his own analysis on the meaning and significance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1998, the United States Congress passed legislation recognizing the dates of the Cold War as starting in September 2, 1945 and lasting until December 26, 1991.

For more information on human history, check out Questia’s topic page on archeology. 

Influential 19th century psychologist and philosopher, William James

In life, there are no guarantees. While you can control much of what goes on in your life, there are instances when issues can arise, overwhelming our abilities to manage and control our responses to them. Counseling psychology is one of the largest specialty practices within the field of psychology. Counseling psychologists take a more generalized approach when helping patients with any one of their psychosomatic problems.

William James was an influential 19^th century psychologist and philosopher who wrote a pioneering paper called The Principles of Psychology, blending his own research and thoughts about psychology, philosophy and physiology. He offered ideas to practicing psychologists and counselors such as “stream of thought” and the theory that emotions occur as a result of physiological processes or reactions to events.

Today’s counselors and psychologists deal with a host of behavioral issues, some of which have only recently been identified, including binge eating disorder and attention deficit disorder. We at Questia wanted to open the doors to our digital library by granting access to reference works on five books that explore psychological and counseling topics such as addiction, bereavement and group ethics.

Addiction

Author Carlo C. Diclemente critically examines how the United States views the problem of addictive behavior in society, pointing out serious shortcomings in current perspectives and the efforts at interdiction, prevention, criminalization, and treatment that they support. Diclemente offers a new approach in the form of an alternative, integrative perspective for understanding addiction and recovery. It is his premise that addiction and recovery should be viewed as a process of behavior change.

[Diclemente, C. C. (2003). Addiction and Change: How Addictions Develop and Addicted People Recover. New York: Guilford Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Eating Disorders

In this second volume, a series of clinicians and scientists update the latest thinking, knowledge and understanding on the subject of eating disorders. New conditions such as binge eating disorder have been introduced into the diagnostic system and many chapters have been updated to reflect the new thinking surrounding the relationship between food and the human nervous system. Editors included a paper by Professor Gerald Russell examining the history of anorexia nervosa.

[Treasure, J., Schmidt, U., & Furth, E. V. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of Eating Disorders (2nd ed.). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Bereavement

Authors Susan Lendrum (physiologist) and Gabrielle Syme (linguist), provide a practical approach to loss and bereavement in counseling and psychotherapy. Both experienced the loss of loved ones in their lives and when they met, it became an opportunity for them to explore and eventually create courses to train those who work with the grieving. In this book, Lendrum and Syme share what they have learned in the areas of depression and bereavement and encourage readers of their approach to work with others, in a group as part of a training program, or in counseling supervision, or with a trusted colleague or friend.

[Lendrum, S., & Syme, G. (2004). Gift of Tears: A Practical Approach to Loss and Bereavement in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Hove, England: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Group Counseling

This book is intended to present some of the basic information about groups, and their leaders to help educate and guide those in understanding the structure, needs, dynamics, and specific techniques for leading these groups. With a focus on psychoeducational group leadership, Author Nina W. Brown includes personal development exercises designed to help the reader become more self-aware and to seek out other avenues for personal growth and development

[Brown, N. W. (2004). Psychoeducational Groups: Process and Practice (2nd ed.). New York: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Counseling Ethics

This book explores the intersection of therapy and philosophical ethics. The discrepancy between the ethical standards expected of a profession and the realities of psychotherapeutic work is a crucial theme for therapists. Patients challenge therapists in ways that raise issues that cannot be considered simply as technical. Questions of therapists concerning their religious beliefs, or how a patient can expect to justify going into therapy to friends who view it merely as self-indulgence force therapists to think clearly about such issues and how it impacts their work.

[Barnes, F. P., & Murdin, L. (Eds.). (2001). Values and Ethics in the Practice of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Visit Questia’s topic page on psychology and counseling for more information. If not already a member, you can try Questia free for one day and conduct research into counseling and development in our books and journals.

Enjoy!

Bate, David. Photography: The Key Concepts. New York: Berg, 2009. http://www.questia.com/read/120769912.

Bennett, Paul. Abnormal and Clinical Psychology: An Introductory Textbook. 2nd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press, 2006. http://www.questia.com/read/118349566.

Doyle, Christine E. Work and Organizational Psychology: An Introduction with Attitude. Hove, England: Psychology Press, 2003. http://www.questia.com/read/108122715.

Holzer, Harold, ed. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The First Complete, Unexpurgated Text. New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. http://www.questia.com/read/120747706.

Laird, Sally, ed. Voices of Russian Literature: Interviews with Ten Contemporary Writers. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1999. http://www.questia.com/read/120737022.

Moreno, Francisco Jose. Before Fidel: The Cuba I Remember. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120684318.

Nankivell, John H. Buffalo Soldier Regiment: History of the Twenty-Fifth United States Infantry, 1869-1926. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. http://www.questia.com/read/120745787.

O’neil, Judy, and Victoria J. Marsick. Understanding Action Learning. New York: AMACOM, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120712825.

Thompson, Graham. American Culture in the 1980s. Twentieth-Century American Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120737282.

Willis, Roy, and Patrick Curry. Astrology, Science, and Culture: Pulling Down the Moon. New York: Berg, 2004. http://www.questia.com/read/120752336.

Enjoy access to this free reading for a whole month, and have a wonderful holiday!

Enjoy!

Cannon, L. (2000). President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime. New York: Public Affairs. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Cogliano, F. D. (2006). Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Ellis, J. J. (2001). Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Gardner, M. R. (2002). Harry Truman and Civil Rights: Moral Courage and Political Risks. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Gienapp, W. E. (2002). Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Kloppenberg, J. T. (2011). Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Krieg, J. P. (Ed.). (1987). Dwight D. Eisenhower: Soldier, President, Statesman. New York: Greenwood Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Liebovich, L. W. (2003). Richard Nixon, Watergate, and the Press: A Historical Retrospective. Westport, CT: Praeger. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Link, A. S. (Ed.). (1982). Woodrow Wilson and a Revolutionary World, 1913-1921. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Posner, R. A. (2000). An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Ratner, L. A. (1997). Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Roosevelt, T. (1913). Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Rozell, M. J., & Pederson, W. D. (Eds.). (1997). FDR and the Modern Presidency: Leadership and Legacy. Westport, CT: Praeger. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Rozell, M. J., Pederson, W. D., & Williams, F. J. (Eds.). (2000). George Washington and the Origins of the American Presidency. Westport, CT: Praeger. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Silvestri, V. N. (2000). Becoming JFK: A Profile in Communication. Westport, CT: Praeger. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.questia.com

Enjoy access to this content free for a whole month, and congratulations to all those first-time voters!

While a global phenomenon, American consumerism became a focus of critical examination by Thorstein Veblen at the tail end of the 19^th century. Veblen combined sociology and economics in his study of the leisure class, coining the term, conspicuous consumption to describe wasteful economic activities committed by those supported by the middle and lower classes. Twelve percent of the world’s population lives in North America and Western Europe and accounts for 60 percent of private consumption spending, according to the WorldWatch Institute.

As we head on into the holiday shopping season, we at Questia, wanted to open our digital library by granting access to reference works on five books that explore the topics of consumer consumption, materialism, and modern consumer culture.

Consumer consumption

Why do consumers buy and consume particular products, brands, and services from the multitude of alternatives afforded by their environments? The authors present many diverse ideas about consumer motivation and how it might be studied.  This book seeks to provide an up-to-date snapshot of the current state of knowledge concerning numerous key issues on the why of consumption. [Ratneshwar, S., David Glen Mick, and Cynthia Huffman, eds. The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals and Desires. London: Routledge, 2000. Questia. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.]

Materialism and conspicuous consumption

If the economy is doing well, why aren’t we happier? This is the central question authors Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss seek to answer by studying the life, work and consumption habits of Australians. The book describes how corporations, advertisers, the media and politicians operate to ensure that Australians are always thinking about what they lack, rather than using the opportunities our wealth presents for living rich lives and building a better society. [Hamilton, Clive, and Richard Denniss. Affluenza: When Too Much Is Never Enough. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2005. Questia. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.]

Popular culture’s influence on consumption behavior

Authors David Bell and Joanne Hollows critically examine the contributing factors to the conception of and role of lifestyle. One of the key aims of the book is to show how watching makeover television or cooking from a celebrity chef’s book are significant social and cultural practices, through which we work on our ideas about taste, status and identity. The book explores the ways in which ideas of the ‘ordinary’ and of ‘ordinary people’ permeate not only lifestyle media, but also the ways in which people understand their own lived practices. [Bell, David, and Joanne Hollows, eds. Ordinary Lifestyles: Popular Media, Consumption and Taste. Maidenhead, England: Open UP, 2005. Questia. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.]

Consumer psychology

This book focuses on the ‘why and how’ of consumer behavior: why people buy what they do and how they go about doing this. The authors are sophisticated theorists as well as empirical researchers. Their approach draws not only on social-psychological theories of attitude formation, attitude/behavior relations, and attitude change but also on ideas from cognitive and emotional psychology. [Bagozzi, Richard P., Zeynep Gürhan-Canli, and Joseph R. Priester. The Social Psychology of Consumer Behaviour. Philadelphia: Open UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.]

The development of modern consumer culture

Author Gary Cross’s interest in consumption is rooted in a fascination with the concrete interrelationships between people and things. Cross’s central thesis of this book is that consumerism — the understanding of self in society through goods — has provided, on balance, a more dynamic and popular, while less destructive, ideology of public life than most political belief systems in the twentieth century. [Cross, Gary. An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America. New York: Columbia UP, 2000. Questia. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.]

Visit Questia’s topic page on consumerism for more information.  If not already a member, you can try Questia free for one day and conduct research into consumerism books and journals.

Election Day is November 6th! To help you gain some fascinating background on voting through the ages, we’re sharing 15 of our most popular books on elections and politics. We were even able to quickly create a perfect MLA bibliography using Quesita’s handy bibliography tool! Did you know Questia will automatically generate your bibliography in MLA, APA or Chicago format? Be sure to try it out as you work on your next research paper or project. (And, hey, why not choose a political topic with all this free, librarian-selected research?)

Alvarez, R. Michael, and Thad E. Hall. Electronic Elections: The Perils and Promises of Digital Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2008. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Anderson, Christopher J., Andre Blais, Shaun Bowler, Todd Donovan, and Ola Listhaug. Losers’ Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2005. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Caplan, Bryan. The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2008. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Chhibber, Pradeep, and Ken Kollman. The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2004. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Farrell, David M., and Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, eds. Do Political Campaigns Matter? : Campaign Effects in Elections and Referendums. London: Routledge, 2002. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Franz, Michael M. Choices and Changes: Interest Groups in the Electoral Process. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Gerken, Heather K. The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2009. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Gunther, Richard, Jose Ramon Montero, and Juan J. Linz, eds. Political Parties: Old Concepts and New Challenges. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Han, Hahrie. Moved to Action: Motivation, Participation, and Inequality in American Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2009. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Hillygus, D. Sunshine, and Todd G. Shields. The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2008. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

King, Anthony, ed. Leaders’ Personalities and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Neuman, W. Russell, George E. Marcus, Ann N. Crigler, and Michael Mackuen, eds. The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Sartori, Giovanni. Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. Colchester, England: ECPR, 2005. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Simon, Adam F. The Winning Message: Candidate Behavior, Campaign Discourse, and Democracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Webb, Paul, David Farrell, and Ian Holliday, eds. Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Enjoy access to this content free for a whole month, and be sure to cast your vote in November to make your voice heard this election season!