Table of Contents
1. The Project Environment.
2. Managing Electronic Development Projects.
3. Approval Agencies.
4. The Six Steps.
5. Step One: Research and Gathering Information.
6. Step Two: Define the Problem (Develop Design Specifications).
7. Step Three: Develop a Solution Plan (Project Scheduling).
8. Step Four: Execution (The Preliminary Design).
9. Step Four: Execution (Component Selection).
10. Step Four: Execution (The Design Breadboard).
11. Step Four: Execution (Prototype Development).
12. Step Five: Verify the Solution (The Design Verification).
13. Step Six: Conclusion (Design Improvements and Project Performance Monitoring).
Appendix A. Component Reference Information.
Appendix B. Test Equipment.
Appendix C. Miscellaneous Contact Information.
Forewords & Introductions
GOLDEN PHARAOHS, LOST CITIES, GRINNING HUMAN skeletons—rchaeology is the stuff of romance and legend. Many people still think of archaeologists as adventurers and treasure hunters, like Indiana Jones of Hollywood movie fame seeking the elusive Holy Grail. This enduring image goes back to the late nineteenth century, when archaeologists like Heinrich Schliemann of Troy fame could still find lost civilizations and excavate three royal palaces in a week. Today, few, if any, archaeologists behave like Indiana Jones. They are scientists, not adventurers, as comfortable in an air-conditioned laboratory as they are on a remote excavation.
The development of scientific archaeology from its Victorian beginnings ranks among the greatest triumphs of twentieth-century science. Archaeology has changed our perceptions of ourselves in profound ways, giving us a better understanding of our biological and cultural diversity. Welcome to the fascinating world of archaeology!
The eleventh edition of People of the Earth comes at a time when new discoveries and archaeological methodologies are deeply affecting our understanding of the human past. This edition continues a more-than-30-year tradition of clear, jargon-free writing for the beginning student, the incorporation of the latest scholarship, and an accessible (five-part) organization of the story of world prehistory. This time, I have added both valuable new content and effective new pedagogy to what has always been a straightforward narrative. But the basic objective remains the same: to provide an interesting journey through the "7-million-year-old landscape of the human past. At the same time, the book attempts to achievegeographic balance, giving equal time to both well-trodden and less-well-known parts of the world. Any world prehistory that does otherwise is presenting a skewed picture of the human past. People of the Earth is an adventure in archaeology. I hope you enjoy your sojourn in its pages.
Writing a straightforward narrative of human prehistory is a mammoth task, especially at a time when a torrent of new literature about archaeological discoveries around the world is revolutionizing our knowledge of the remote past. We are well beyond the point where a single author can possibly hope to keep up with every new find and intellectual development in world archaeology, but I have done my best, while trying to keep the narrative as simple and uncluttered as possible. The past five years alone have witnessed remarkable discoveries, among them new early fossil hominids from East Africa, major changes in our understanding of the evolution of modern humans, new perceptions of the beginnings of farming, and a revolution in our knowledge of short-term climatic change in the past.
Changes in the Eleventh Edition
Our knowledge of world prehistory increases constantly, mostly in fits and starts, but occasionally in a dramatic way, when new fossil discoveries in Chad, in the Sahara Desert, rewrite an entire chapter of early human evolution, or the decipherment of Maya script adds a new dimension to our understanding of an early civilization. For the most part, however, the changes are relatively small and undramatic.
The eleventh edition reflects a combination of a few major discoveries, like the 7-million-year-old mysterious primate Sahelanthropus tchadensis in Chad, with numerous less spectacular, but nevertheless important, advances like new data on the origins of wheat in Turkey, new insights into the date of the famous Ice Man in the Italian Alps, and so on.
Following reviewer suggestions, I have retained the same basic organization of the book for this edition. Chapter 1 introduces world prehistory and discusses new perceptions of the subject derived from new perspectives on the past. We survey alternative perspectives on the past and outline some of the important theoretical frameworks that influence our thinking about prehistory. People of the Earth has always been designed as a straightforward narrative, which is why the book is not written with a specific theoretical view. Judging from reviewer and user comments, this is a wise decision, as this allows instructors to add their own biases and viewpoints to the basic narrative material. I have, of course, paid careful attention to such major controversies as the origins of modern humans and the first settlement of the Americas, where an even-handed perspective is essential. The eleventh edition includes Site Boxes in each chapter, which discuss key locations and discoveries where more detailed information is valuable. Examples include the spectacular Grotte de Chauvet cave paintings in France and the Lords of Sipan from coastal Peru, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. A series of boxes in the early chapters of the book describes key dating methods at appropriate places in the text.
This narrative of world prehistory is divided into five parts. Part I (Chapters 2 and 3) discusses human beginnings, what is sometimes called "archaic prehistory," the human past from the earliest times up to the appearance of Homo sapiens sapiens, ourselves. Here we cover important new fossil discoveries of recent years and such fascinating sites as Boxgrove in southern England. We also continue to take account of new theoretical advances in cognitive, or "postprocessual," archaeology, especially of the emerging synthesis of evolutionary psychology and archaeology. Part II (Chapters 4 to 7) discusses what I call the "Great Diaspora," the spread of anatomically modern humans through the world during and immediately after the late Ice Age. We go from Southwest Asia to Europe and Eurasia, then straight into the Americas, a logical order preferred by many users. Part 11 includes coverage of the new AMS radiocarbon chronology for first settlement made possible by extended calibration curves. From the Americas, we move on to Africa and Australia, with Chapter 7; "Intensification and Complexity," immediately preceding the chapters on the first farmers.
Part III describes the origins of food production, with Chapter 8 devoted to the theoretical background and the following five chapters discussing the earliest farming in different areas of the world. New discussions in this edition include the increasing impact of refined AMS chronologies, genetic fingerprinting of potentially domesticable animals and plants, and a fresh generation of research into the origins of rice cultivation. Important new perceptions of the Mississippian and other, more complex farming societies in eastern North America also receive more extended treatment.
Parts IV and V cover the early civilizations of the Old World and the Americas, with Chapter 14 describing the major theories of the origins and collapse of states. The ferment of theorizing has diminished somewhat in recent years, as fieldworkers wrestle to document their theories with new data from the field. At the same time, a new emphasis on ideology and the archaeology of the intangible is throwing fresh light on preindustrial civilization. There is expanded coverage of the origins of Egyptian civilization, as well as of South and Southeast Asian states. Maya archaeology has been revolutionized in recent years by the decipherment of ancient glyphs and by our new understandings of the turbulent political history of Maya states. We take account of some of these advances here, but, alas, do not have space for extended coverage.
Much of this edition consists of small changes, which come from reading hundreds of books and scientific papers and from discussions with colleagues in all parts of the world. Revision and updating occur throughout. Individually, the modifications are inconspicuous, but taken together, they represent a considerable change from the tenth edition. The number of illustrations has increased, although one suffers from the inevitable frustration of writing about a visual subject and being restricted by space and budget as to the number of pictures one can include. As in earlier editions, I suggest a brief list of further readings after each chapter and cross-reference the text to an updated "Bibliography of World Prehistory" for those who wish to delve more closely into topics treated briefly in the book.
As always, the book is designed for easy accessibility and effective learning. People of the Earth is free of distracting features that draw the reader away from the main narrative. High-interest chapter-opening vignettes, which describe a moment of discovery or reconstruct life in the past, grab the student's interest from the outset. Chronological tables at the beginning of each chapter, as well as chapter summaries, clearly defined key terms, and updated "Guides to Further Reading" at the end of each chapter, also add to the effectiveness of the book as a learning tool.
Other pedagogical features include the following:
- Special time-line columns at the opening of each part of the book. By means of varied shading, each time line tells at a glance which period of time the part covers, as well as which periods have already been covered and are yet to be covered in the text.
- Expanded picture captions that augment the visual information.
- A unique innovation in this eleventh edition of People of the Earth: a stand-alone Study Companion. This paperback, written by Brian Fagan, contains commentary on the narrative, tables, and line drawings and is intended as a study aid to be taken to class. If your instructor does not assign the Companion as part of your text package for your course, you can easily and quickly order it on-line from the publisher (see the box at the end of the Preface).
A Note on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web has become an important medium of communication for archaeologists, like everyone else. This is a confusing universe for those unfamiliar with the Web, especially since so much is changing all the time. However, the major Web sites are here to stay and offer links to other important locations. Everything operates with Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), some of which we list here.
The Virtual Library for archaeology worldwide is ArchNet. This is both geographically and subject-matter based, covering everything from the archaeology of Australia to method and theory and site tours. There are also listings of academic departments, museums, and other archaeological organizations, even of journals. ArchNet is an extraordinary resource; it does not claim to be comprehensive, but it covers a huge range of topics. The European equivalent is ARGE, the Archaeological Resource Guide for Europe. This site also lists areas and subjects and is multilingual. Both ArchNet and ARGE have links to virtually any kind of archaeology you are looking for.
Realize that Web pages and addresses change all the time, so this information may already be out of date. Many departments of anthropology and archaeology and dozens of excavations and sites have Web sites, which you can access through ArchNet.
Ancillary Materials
The ancillary materials that accompany this textbook are carefully created to enhance the topics being discussed.
Instructor's Manual with Tests. For each chapter in the text, this manual provides a detailed outline, list of objectives, discussion questions, classroom activities, and additional resources. The test bank includes multiple-choice, true/false, and essay questions for each chapter.
TestGen. This dual-platform CD-ROM is a test generator designed to allow the creation of personalized exams.
CD-ROM. In the back of every new copy of People of the Earth, Eleventh Edition, is an exciting CD-ROM that allows students to review key topics and study important concepts in more depth. Interactive simulations, text-specific study questions, and an extensive map and table reference section will help to make the learning experience more enjoyable.
Companion Website™. In tandem with the text, students can now take full advantage of the World Wide Web to enrich their study of prehistory through the Fagan Companion Website™. This resource correlates the text with related material available on the Internet. Features include chapter objectives, study questions, research projects, and links to additional material that can reinforce and enhance the content of each chapter.
Research Navigator™. Research Navigator™ is the easiest way for students to start a research assignment or research paper. Complete with extensive help on the research process and three exclusive databases of credible and reliable source material, it includes EBSCO's ContentSelect™ Academic Journal Database, The New York Times Search-by-Subject Archive, and "Best of the Web" Link Library. Research Navigator™ helps students quickly and efficiently make the most of their research time.
Evaluating Online Resources, Anthropology 2004. This guide encourages students to be critical consumers of online resources. References related specifically to the discipline of anthropology are included. Also included with the guide is an access code for Research Navigator™. This guide is free when packaged with People of the Earth, Eleventh Edition.
Read an Excerpt
PREFACE:
Preface
Many years ago, I began my engineering career after earning a BSEE degree. Before my senior year, I was fortunate to find summer employment at an electronics company that provided me with important field experience. Even with that experience, there were many job situations that I was not prepared for as I proceeded through the apprentice years of my professional career. So, I gathered and saved the information and skills that I needed to deal with these job situations. As the information accumulated, I got the idea for a book that would discuss practical issues that many electronics professionals encounter on their first job.
Later in my career, I began teaching as an adjunct professor at a local college. My growing file comprised topics of practical information that became natural examples of ways to apply the theoretical subjects I was teaching. Today, my primary career is teaching electronics technology at the college level. Faced with the challenge of preparing students to enter the fast-paced world of electronics, my idea for a book that would help bridge the gap from academia to industry found new life.
During my academic experience, two courses helped bridge this gap for me. The first was a senior project course, where the student selected and defined a design project and then proceeded to complete, build, and test the design. The second was a course on professional methods that dealt with the process of solving engineering problems. These courses formed the foundation for the book.
My first approach was to write a "Senior Project" textbook based upon an engineering problem-solving process. The concept includedan actual design project and the many practical topics encountered while completing one. As this concept developed, it naturally expanded and evolved into an electronics project management textbook. This occurred as the initial manuscript presented an example project in a real company setting, which required a discussion of some project management topics. Reviewers' comments suggested the market for an electronics-oriented project management book.
This book prepares electronics professionals for their first job and supplies them with the practical tools that enhance their ability to perform in their first position. To accomplish this, the following strategies were established:
- Review the operation of a company
- Discuss teamwork and the role of the electronics professional
- Present methods of project management
- Define an engineering problem-solving process
- Discuss the practical aspects of an electronic project
This text was developed with my industrial experience as a backdrop and would have been impossible without a transition back into the academic world. My early notes and memories about on-the-job experiences and design problems saw new life as I tried to bring real-world examples into classroom discussions. The material has been class tested with senior project classes for the last two years, and their thoughts, ideas, and comments have provided valuable feedback. Many reviews were completed and these provided many ideas and topics that enhanced the initial manuscript.
The topics discussed in this book are presented in the simplest possible form. The book is intended for use at many levels; but a basic understanding of electronics is assumed. The broad subject area addressed limits the depth to which any concept can be explored. Each chapter starts with an introduction that highlights the topics to be covered. In each section examples are provided wherever practical to enhance the topic discussions. Each chapter concludes with a summary and exercises that will vary depending on the chapter topic. This information is discussed as an actual design project is completed as an ongoing example throughout the book. The project example is included as a separate section at the end of each chapter, starting with Chapter 4.
The book is targeted as a textbook for electronic project management, a senior project, or applied electronics courses. It is most applicable to four-year programs but is also well suited to the second year of a two-year program. The first three chapters axe a preliminary to the actual project discussion. Chapter 1 covers the operation of a typical company, strategic planning, teamwork, and the role of the electronics professional. Chapter 2 discusses engineering project management, concurrent engineering, and total quality management. Chapter 3 addresses the subject of agency approvals.
The Six Steps, a process for solving engineering problems, are presented in Chapter 4. The Six Steps are applied to engineering projects one step at a time in the ensuing chapters. Chapter 5 deals with Step One, Research and Gathering Information. Chapter 6 covers Step Two, Define the Problem and Project Specifications. Step Three, Developing a Solution Plan and Project Scheduling, is presented in Chapter 7. Step Four is the execution of the solution plan or the actual completion of the project. This is discussed in sequence in Chapters 8 through 11 as the topics of preliminary design, component selection, breadboarding, and prototyping are addressed. Chapter 12 discusses Step Five, Design Verification. Chapter 13, the final chapter, reviews Step Six, Conclusion and Project Performance Monitoring. Chapters 4 through 13 cover a complete project.
Included with this text is a copy of the demonstration version of Microsoft Project 98. This is one of the leading project management software packages available. The software is useable for 120 days, enough for one semester. By utilizing Microsoft Project 98, the student will be able to directly apply the discussion presented in Chapter 7 (Project Scheduling) and will be able to complete an actual project schedule.
Three appendixes are supplied as a reference to the project information that is covered in the main body of the book. Appendix A includes reference material for resistors, capacitors, and inductors such as color codes and standard values. Semiconductor package information is included for through-hole and surface-mount technology electronic components. Appendix B is a general reference for test equipment and includes specific measurement methods for digital multimeters and oscilloscopes. Appendix C contains contact information (mail and Web addresses) for professional organizations, periodicals, and approval agencies that are useful to electronics professionals.
An instructor's manual is available with answers/solutions for the end-of-chapter exercises and transparency masters.
I present this book as the "glue" that can hold together all the ether technical and theoretical information that goes into an electronics education. As an instructor in this program, my personal project is to prepare students for jobs in the electronics industry, and this book is a milestone in this important project.
Acknowledgments
First, I would like to thank all my teachers, professors, and mentors as they helped me develop the insight that is the basis for this book. Thanks to Donna Conroy, Prentice Hall sales representative, for her suggestion to write this book and her support in obtaining reference material. Many thanks to Scott Sambucci, Acquisitions Editor; Tim Flem, Production Coordinator; and Jim Reidel, Copy Editor, who all worked closely with me to develop and finalize the book.
Special thanks to my design and layout classes of 1998 and 1999 and the reviewers of the manuscript who all had a significant impact on what is now printed on these pages: John Blankenship, DeVry Institute of Technology; Tim Dempsey, DeVry North Brunswick; Julio R. Garcia, San Jose State University; Richard L. Henderson, DeVry Institute of Technology; and Lee Rosenthal, Farleigh Dickinson University.
Finally, thanks to Microsoft Corporation for their support and for allowing the inclusion of Microsoft Project 98 with the book.
Joseph Stadtmiller
Mohawk Valley Community College
(3149 ratings)
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