La cucina medievale di Laura Mancinelli

La cucina medievale di Laura Mancinelli

Author: Giusi Audiberti

Publisher: Il Leone Verde Edizioni

Published: 2012-07-26

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 8865800550

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È innegabile che tra Laura Mancinelli, il buon cibo e la perizia culinaria intercorrano ottimi rapporti. Non a caso la sua autobiografia Andante con tenerezza si apre proprio con una ricetta, quella delle “melanzane imbottite”, che erano “molto più buone” quando le preparava con le sue mani: esse rappresentano per la Mancinelli il passato, prima che la malattia la colpisse. Nelle sue opere il buon cibo è fonte di allegria, di serenità, di consolazione; può essere dono, legame, ricordo; è arte e cultura; ha stretti rapporti con la nostra naturalità biologica, con la nostra complessità sociale e con la nostra apertura mentale. E intorno al cibo ruota un piccolo e variegato universo fatto di persone, ambienti, oggetti, ingredienti, ricette, utensili: dal cuoco (o cuoca) ai paioli e alle padelle, dall'orto al forno, dalla dispensa allo spiedo, dai ceppi accesi nel camino alle stoviglie scintillanti sulla tavola imbandita. Il cibo è per la scrittrice uno dei piaceri genuini della vita: e poiché “la vita è tutto quello che abbiamo”, “nulla è più saggio… che cercarvi la gioia che vi si può trovare”.


Book Synopsis La cucina medievale di Laura Mancinelli by : Giusi Audiberti

Download or read book La cucina medievale di Laura Mancinelli written by Giusi Audiberti and published by Il Leone Verde Edizioni. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: È innegabile che tra Laura Mancinelli, il buon cibo e la perizia culinaria intercorrano ottimi rapporti. Non a caso la sua autobiografia Andante con tenerezza si apre proprio con una ricetta, quella delle “melanzane imbottite”, che erano “molto più buone” quando le preparava con le sue mani: esse rappresentano per la Mancinelli il passato, prima che la malattia la colpisse. Nelle sue opere il buon cibo è fonte di allegria, di serenità, di consolazione; può essere dono, legame, ricordo; è arte e cultura; ha stretti rapporti con la nostra naturalità biologica, con la nostra complessità sociale e con la nostra apertura mentale. E intorno al cibo ruota un piccolo e variegato universo fatto di persone, ambienti, oggetti, ingredienti, ricette, utensili: dal cuoco (o cuoca) ai paioli e alle padelle, dall'orto al forno, dalla dispensa allo spiedo, dai ceppi accesi nel camino alle stoviglie scintillanti sulla tavola imbandita. Il cibo è per la scrittrice uno dei piaceri genuini della vita: e poiché “la vita è tutto quello che abbiamo”, “nulla è più saggio… che cercarvi la gioia che vi si può trovare”.


La cucina medievale: umori, spezie e miscugli

La cucina medievale: umori, spezie e miscugli

Author: Laura Malinverni

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2016-03-25

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1326606832

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Questo volume presenta due saggi di Laura Malinverni sulla cucina medievale.


Book Synopsis La cucina medievale: umori, spezie e miscugli by : Laura Malinverni

Download or read book La cucina medievale: umori, spezie e miscugli written by Laura Malinverni and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questo volume presenta due saggi di Laura Malinverni sulla cucina medievale.


Cosa V

Cosa V

Author: Elizabeth Fentress

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 9780472113637

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A presentation of seven years' archaeological excavation, research, and analysis of the site of Cosa


Book Synopsis Cosa V by : Elizabeth Fentress

Download or read book Cosa V written by Elizabeth Fentress and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A presentation of seven years' archaeological excavation, research, and analysis of the site of Cosa


Color and Colorimetry. Multidisciplinary Contributions

Color and Colorimetry. Multidisciplinary Contributions

Author: Maurizio Rossi

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 9788838761379

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Book Synopsis Color and Colorimetry. Multidisciplinary Contributions by : Maurizio Rossi

Download or read book Color and Colorimetry. Multidisciplinary Contributions written by Maurizio Rossi and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Imagined Immigrant

The Imagined Immigrant

Author: Ilaria Serra

Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0838641989

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Using original sources--such as newspaper articles, silent movies, letters, autobiographies, and interviews--Ilaria Serra depicts a large tapestry of images that accompanied mass Italian migration to the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century. She chooses to translate the Italian concept of immaginario with the Latin imago that felicitously blends the double English translation of the word as "imagery" and "imaginary." Imago is a complex knot of collective representations of the immigrant subject, a mental production that finds concrete expression; impalpable, yet real. The "imagined immigrant" walks alongside the real one in flesh and rags.


Book Synopsis The Imagined Immigrant by : Ilaria Serra

Download or read book The Imagined Immigrant written by Ilaria Serra and published by Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using original sources--such as newspaper articles, silent movies, letters, autobiographies, and interviews--Ilaria Serra depicts a large tapestry of images that accompanied mass Italian migration to the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century. She chooses to translate the Italian concept of immaginario with the Latin imago that felicitously blends the double English translation of the word as "imagery" and "imaginary." Imago is a complex knot of collective representations of the immigrant subject, a mental production that finds concrete expression; impalpable, yet real. The "imagined immigrant" walks alongside the real one in flesh and rags.


Imperial City

Imperial City

Author: Susan Vandiver Nicassio

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-10-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0226579743

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In 1798, the armies of the French Revolution tried to transform Rome from the capital of the Papal States to a Jacobin Republic. For the next two decades, Rome was the subject of power struggles between the forces of the Empire and the Papacy, while Romans endured the unsuccessful efforts of Napoleon’s best and brightest to pull the ancient city into the modern world. Against this historical backdrop, Nicassio weaves together an absorbing social, cultural, and political history of Rome and its people. Based on primary sources and incorporating two centuries of Italian, French, and international research, her work reveals what life was like for Romans in the age of Napoleon. “A remarkable book that wonderfully vivifies an understudied era in the history of Rome. . . . This book will engage anyone interested in early modern cities, the relationship between religion and daily life, and the history of the city of Rome.”—Journal of Modern History “An engaging account of Tosca’s Rome. . . . Nicassio provides a fluent introduction to her subject.”—History Today “Meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letters, and secondary sources, enabling [Nicassio] to bring her story to life.”—History


Book Synopsis Imperial City by : Susan Vandiver Nicassio

Download or read book Imperial City written by Susan Vandiver Nicassio and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-10-15 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1798, the armies of the French Revolution tried to transform Rome from the capital of the Papal States to a Jacobin Republic. For the next two decades, Rome was the subject of power struggles between the forces of the Empire and the Papacy, while Romans endured the unsuccessful efforts of Napoleon’s best and brightest to pull the ancient city into the modern world. Against this historical backdrop, Nicassio weaves together an absorbing social, cultural, and political history of Rome and its people. Based on primary sources and incorporating two centuries of Italian, French, and international research, her work reveals what life was like for Romans in the age of Napoleon. “A remarkable book that wonderfully vivifies an understudied era in the history of Rome. . . . This book will engage anyone interested in early modern cities, the relationship between religion and daily life, and the history of the city of Rome.”—Journal of Modern History “An engaging account of Tosca’s Rome. . . . Nicassio provides a fluent introduction to her subject.”—History Today “Meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letters, and secondary sources, enabling [Nicassio] to bring her story to life.”—History


The Complete Danteworlds

The Complete Danteworlds

Author: Guy P. Raffa

Publisher:

Published: 2009-05-15

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13:

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Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy has, despite its enormous popularity and importance, often stymied readers with its multitudinous characters, references, and themes. But until the publication in 2007 of Guy Raffa’s guide to the Inferno, students lacked a suitable resource to help them navigate Dante’s underworld. With this new guide to the entire Divine Comedy, Raffa provides readers—experts in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Dante neophytes, and everyone in between—with a map of the entire poem, from the lowest circle of Hell to the highest sphere of Paradise. Based on Raffa’s original research and his many years of teaching the poem to undergraduates, The CompleteDanteworlds charts a simultaneously geographical and textual journey, canto by canto, region by region, adhering closely to the path taken by Dante himself through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. This invaluable reference also features study questions, illustrations of the realms, and regional summaries. Interpreting Dante’s poem and his sources, Raffa fashions detailed entries on each character encountered as well as on many significant historical, religious, and cultural allusions.


Book Synopsis The Complete Danteworlds by : Guy P. Raffa

Download or read book The Complete Danteworlds written by Guy P. Raffa and published by . This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy has, despite its enormous popularity and importance, often stymied readers with its multitudinous characters, references, and themes. But until the publication in 2007 of Guy Raffa’s guide to the Inferno, students lacked a suitable resource to help them navigate Dante’s underworld. With this new guide to the entire Divine Comedy, Raffa provides readers—experts in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Dante neophytes, and everyone in between—with a map of the entire poem, from the lowest circle of Hell to the highest sphere of Paradise. Based on Raffa’s original research and his many years of teaching the poem to undergraduates, The CompleteDanteworlds charts a simultaneously geographical and textual journey, canto by canto, region by region, adhering closely to the path taken by Dante himself through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. This invaluable reference also features study questions, illustrations of the realms, and regional summaries. Interpreting Dante’s poem and his sources, Raffa fashions detailed entries on each character encountered as well as on many significant historical, religious, and cultural allusions.


Standard Colorimetry

Standard Colorimetry

Author: Claudio Oleari

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-01-19

Total Pages: 521

ISBN-13: 1118894448

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Colour is a sensation and as such it is a subjective and incommunicable quantity. Colour measurement is possible because we can create a correspondence between colour sensations and the light radiations that stimulate them. This correspondence concerns the physics of light radiation, the physiology of the visual process and the psychology of vision. Historically, in parallel to standard colorimetry, systems for colour ordering have been developed that allow colour specifications in a very practical and concrete way, based on the direct vision of material colour samples arranged in colour atlases. Colour-ordering systems are sources of knowledge of colour vision, which integrate standard colorimetry. Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software: Describes physiology and psychophysics useful to understand colorimetry Considers all the photometric and colorimetric systems standardized by CIE (XYZ, CIELAB, CIELUV, LMS) Presents colorimetric instrumentation in order to guide the reader toward colorimetric practice Discusses colorimetric computation to understand the meaning of numerical colour specification Considers colorimetry in colour syntheses and in imaging colour reproduction Includes ready-to-use, freely-available software, “Colorimetric eXercise”, which has multiple toolboxes dedicated to displaying CIE systems, atlases, any colour and its whole numerical specification colour-vision phenomena and tests Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software is an accessible and valuable resource for students, lecturers, researchers and laboratory technicians in colour science and image technology. Follow this link to download the free software “Colorimetric eXercise”: http://booksupport.wiley.com/ Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software is published in partnership with the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC). Find out more at www.wiley.com/go/sdc


Book Synopsis Standard Colorimetry by : Claudio Oleari

Download or read book Standard Colorimetry written by Claudio Oleari and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Colour is a sensation and as such it is a subjective and incommunicable quantity. Colour measurement is possible because we can create a correspondence between colour sensations and the light radiations that stimulate them. This correspondence concerns the physics of light radiation, the physiology of the visual process and the psychology of vision. Historically, in parallel to standard colorimetry, systems for colour ordering have been developed that allow colour specifications in a very practical and concrete way, based on the direct vision of material colour samples arranged in colour atlases. Colour-ordering systems are sources of knowledge of colour vision, which integrate standard colorimetry. Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software: Describes physiology and psychophysics useful to understand colorimetry Considers all the photometric and colorimetric systems standardized by CIE (XYZ, CIELAB, CIELUV, LMS) Presents colorimetric instrumentation in order to guide the reader toward colorimetric practice Discusses colorimetric computation to understand the meaning of numerical colour specification Considers colorimetry in colour syntheses and in imaging colour reproduction Includes ready-to-use, freely-available software, “Colorimetric eXercise”, which has multiple toolboxes dedicated to displaying CIE systems, atlases, any colour and its whole numerical specification colour-vision phenomena and tests Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software is an accessible and valuable resource for students, lecturers, researchers and laboratory technicians in colour science and image technology. Follow this link to download the free software “Colorimetric eXercise”: http://booksupport.wiley.com/ Standard Colorimetry: Definitions, Algorithms and Software is published in partnership with the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC). Find out more at www.wiley.com/go/sdc


Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen

Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen

Author: Ethan Stowell

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2010-09-21

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 158008818X

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Welcome to Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen--not so much a place as a philosophy. Here food isn’t formal or fussy, just focused, with recipes that honor Italian tradition while celebrating the best ingredients the Pacific Northwest has to offer. We’re talking about a generous bowl of steaming handmade pasta--served with two forks for you and a friend. Or perhaps an impeccably fresh crudo, crunchy cucumber and tangy radish accenting impossibly sweet spot prawns. Next up are the jewel tones of a beet salad with lush, homemade ricotta, or maybe a tangle of white beans and clams spiked with Goat Horn pepper--finished off with a whole roasted fish that begs to be sucked off the bones. Oh, some cheese, a gooseberry compote complementing your Robiola, or the bittersweet surprise of Campari sorbet. This layered approach is a hallmark of Ethan’s restaurants, and in his New Italian Kitchen, he offers home cooks a tantalizing roadmap for re-creating this style of eating. Prepare a feast simply by combining the lighter dishes found in “Nibbles and Bits”—from Sardine Crudo with Celery Hearts, Pine Nuts, and Lemon to Crispy Young Favas with Green Garlic Mayonnaise—or adding recipes with complex flavors for a more sophisticated meal. Try the luscious Corn and Chanterelle Soup from “The Measure of a Cook;” or the Cavatelli with Cuttlefish, Spring Onion, and Lemon from “Wheat’s Highest Calling.” Up the ante with a stunning Duck Leg Farrotto with Pearl Onions and Bloomsdale Spinach from “Starches to Grow On,” or choose one of the “Beasties of the Land,” like Skillet-Roasted Rabbit with Pancetta-Basted Fingerlings. Each combination will nudge you and your guests in new, unexpected, and unforgettable directions. Every page of Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen captures the enthusiasm, humor, and imagination that make cooking one of life’s best and most satisfying adventures. It’s got to be good--but it’s also got to be fun.


Book Synopsis Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen by : Ethan Stowell

Download or read book Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen written by Ethan Stowell and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2010-09-21 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welcome to Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen--not so much a place as a philosophy. Here food isn’t formal or fussy, just focused, with recipes that honor Italian tradition while celebrating the best ingredients the Pacific Northwest has to offer. We’re talking about a generous bowl of steaming handmade pasta--served with two forks for you and a friend. Or perhaps an impeccably fresh crudo, crunchy cucumber and tangy radish accenting impossibly sweet spot prawns. Next up are the jewel tones of a beet salad with lush, homemade ricotta, or maybe a tangle of white beans and clams spiked with Goat Horn pepper--finished off with a whole roasted fish that begs to be sucked off the bones. Oh, some cheese, a gooseberry compote complementing your Robiola, or the bittersweet surprise of Campari sorbet. This layered approach is a hallmark of Ethan’s restaurants, and in his New Italian Kitchen, he offers home cooks a tantalizing roadmap for re-creating this style of eating. Prepare a feast simply by combining the lighter dishes found in “Nibbles and Bits”—from Sardine Crudo with Celery Hearts, Pine Nuts, and Lemon to Crispy Young Favas with Green Garlic Mayonnaise—or adding recipes with complex flavors for a more sophisticated meal. Try the luscious Corn and Chanterelle Soup from “The Measure of a Cook;” or the Cavatelli with Cuttlefish, Spring Onion, and Lemon from “Wheat’s Highest Calling.” Up the ante with a stunning Duck Leg Farrotto with Pearl Onions and Bloomsdale Spinach from “Starches to Grow On,” or choose one of the “Beasties of the Land,” like Skillet-Roasted Rabbit with Pancetta-Basted Fingerlings. Each combination will nudge you and your guests in new, unexpected, and unforgettable directions. Every page of Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen captures the enthusiasm, humor, and imagination that make cooking one of life’s best and most satisfying adventures. It’s got to be good--but it’s also got to be fun.


New Trends In Analytical, Environmental And Cultural Heritage Chemistry

New Trends In Analytical, Environmental And Cultural Heritage Chemistry

Author: Lorenzo Tassi

Publisher:

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 9788178953434

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This volume is intended to provide a general overview of principles and practical applications of various areas of analytical chemistry, in particular (but not exclusively) in the contexts of environmental and cultural heritages conservation. It is only since the 80 s that the production of more sensible recording instruments, the miniaturization of analytical devices and the huge growth of computational power, have become widely accessible and diffused for routine investigations. Recent advances in the use and applications of uncommon techniques and relevant working methodologies, e.g. synchrotron radiation, will probably exert a permanent influence in future studies. The development of hardware and software has awakened the interest in exploration of huge datasets, e.g. instrumental signals and images, and nowadays is an irreplaceable tool in defining correlations between objects, systems, mathematical variables, and so on. The result has been a great proliferation of research studies and applications in all the fields, so that the Analytical Chemistry has acquired a major status in the broad area of Applied Sciences. In fact, in all of these great developments, the analytical chemists have played, and still play, a pivotal role. During the past three decades, just the time that we have been active in research and teaching activities, we had the fortunate and exclusive opportunity to assist to the quite general and spectacular transition from the macro-branch to micro-branch of the subject area. Thus, we have the great responsibility towards the new generations of scientists to stimulate interests and to provide guidance about micro-analytical chemistry, both in lecturing and in research. It is our opinion that analytical chemistry has been the mainmast in every chemical career of the past, and we believe that the rigid discipline of conducting micro-analytical experiments is an essential part of the training of every new chemist. All around the world, analytical chemistry is developing micro- and ultra-micro-analysis systems to such an extent that it is impossible to see, with the naked eye, the minute samples sent in for analysis. These highly performing methodologies make possible micro-sampling of materials and substrates both for destructive or not destructive analysis, without causing perceptible deterioration of the object or the system under study. Obviously, the acquisition of the best knowledge and competences about techniques and working methodologies by the analysts in manipulating micro-samples, are only the essential prerequisites in order to gain the best results, while laboratory protocols and good-laboratory-practice must be perfectly attained during the operations. Probably, these concepts are the leit-motif of the entire book. We have assumed the responsibility for the general outline of the book. We hope to have successfully assembled an interesting and versatile mix of various ingredients such as peoples and machines, ideas and results, techniques and methodologies, experiments and theories, materials and simulated models: a true cocktail provided by different chemists acting in very different analytical fields. The book is formally divided into three sections, covering topics about : - general aspects of analytical chemistry (chapters 1-5, whose key words should be : traceability in chemical measurements, sequential injection analysis, NMR and HR-MAS, electron transfer in pesticides, multivariate analysis of analytical signals); - applications in the environmental context (chapters 6-8, specific arguments are : microwave techniques for sample manipulation, thermal methods of analysis, continuous and semi-continuous analytical methods in paleoclimatic studies); - some applications in the cultural heritage and conservation studies (chapters 9-17, treating stone cleaning and conservation, colour measurement on paintings, MS and GC-MS analytical procedures for painting analysis, salt weathering, synchrotron radiation and lasers applications to cultural heritages, investigations of historical glasses and papers, and more than this). In some cases this subdivision was artificially forced and, therefore, it was not rigidly followed. In fact some chapters, for their not-at-all specific content, could be placed everywhere along the chapter sequence, disregarding the apparent pertinence and the actual location in one section. With this final aim in mind, each contributor was requested to present the state of the art in his field, by introducing and applying contemporary statements of topics that he considers relevant to his research field and for the editorial assignment. In the preliminary call and in the subsequent editorial coordination of this material, the primary intent has been to avoid, as much as possible, unnecessary overlapping of the various chapters. Some chapters, however, have been written to provide an historical development and a survey of recent exciting advances. Their particular aim is to outline the basic principles, to illustrate such success in applicative studies as is possible with current methods, and to indicate their potential scope and present limitations. Accordingly, there is no attempt to provide anything in the nature of an encyclopaedic coverage, but rather, after a general survey of analytical studies and applications, each specialist or co-authorship has emphasized what he regards as the essential bases and recent developments of his topics. Finally, the Editors wish to address their gratitude to the Authors of the chapters. As in all works involving multiple authors, a great deal of the success of the venture depends upon their cooperation, as well as upon the prompt advising by publisher staff. This book is no exception to these rules. Authors contributions required much of their valuable time, which they must have sparingly withdrawn from their research, teaching and many other related activities. Furthermore, it was a particular pleasure for the Editors to be able to call upon recognized and reputed scientists, and, between them, many young research postgraduate students as contributors. As research fellows, or former research fellows, we are delighted to see their enthusiastic participation and their excellent research targets, so that the book exhibits, we hope, a tastefully arrangement. The efforts of these Authors should be commended. A special thank is extended to Transworld Research Nertwork for its fine production of this series in Scientific Communication.


Book Synopsis New Trends In Analytical, Environmental And Cultural Heritage Chemistry by : Lorenzo Tassi

Download or read book New Trends In Analytical, Environmental And Cultural Heritage Chemistry written by Lorenzo Tassi and published by . This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is intended to provide a general overview of principles and practical applications of various areas of analytical chemistry, in particular (but not exclusively) in the contexts of environmental and cultural heritages conservation. It is only since the 80 s that the production of more sensible recording instruments, the miniaturization of analytical devices and the huge growth of computational power, have become widely accessible and diffused for routine investigations. Recent advances in the use and applications of uncommon techniques and relevant working methodologies, e.g. synchrotron radiation, will probably exert a permanent influence in future studies. The development of hardware and software has awakened the interest in exploration of huge datasets, e.g. instrumental signals and images, and nowadays is an irreplaceable tool in defining correlations between objects, systems, mathematical variables, and so on. The result has been a great proliferation of research studies and applications in all the fields, so that the Analytical Chemistry has acquired a major status in the broad area of Applied Sciences. In fact, in all of these great developments, the analytical chemists have played, and still play, a pivotal role. During the past three decades, just the time that we have been active in research and teaching activities, we had the fortunate and exclusive opportunity to assist to the quite general and spectacular transition from the macro-branch to micro-branch of the subject area. Thus, we have the great responsibility towards the new generations of scientists to stimulate interests and to provide guidance about micro-analytical chemistry, both in lecturing and in research. It is our opinion that analytical chemistry has been the mainmast in every chemical career of the past, and we believe that the rigid discipline of conducting micro-analytical experiments is an essential part of the training of every new chemist. All around the world, analytical chemistry is developing micro- and ultra-micro-analysis systems to such an extent that it is impossible to see, with the naked eye, the minute samples sent in for analysis. These highly performing methodologies make possible micro-sampling of materials and substrates both for destructive or not destructive analysis, without causing perceptible deterioration of the object or the system under study. Obviously, the acquisition of the best knowledge and competences about techniques and working methodologies by the analysts in manipulating micro-samples, are only the essential prerequisites in order to gain the best results, while laboratory protocols and good-laboratory-practice must be perfectly attained during the operations. Probably, these concepts are the leit-motif of the entire book. We have assumed the responsibility for the general outline of the book. We hope to have successfully assembled an interesting and versatile mix of various ingredients such as peoples and machines, ideas and results, techniques and methodologies, experiments and theories, materials and simulated models: a true cocktail provided by different chemists acting in very different analytical fields. The book is formally divided into three sections, covering topics about : - general aspects of analytical chemistry (chapters 1-5, whose key words should be : traceability in chemical measurements, sequential injection analysis, NMR and HR-MAS, electron transfer in pesticides, multivariate analysis of analytical signals); - applications in the environmental context (chapters 6-8, specific arguments are : microwave techniques for sample manipulation, thermal methods of analysis, continuous and semi-continuous analytical methods in paleoclimatic studies); - some applications in the cultural heritage and conservation studies (chapters 9-17, treating stone cleaning and conservation, colour measurement on paintings, MS and GC-MS analytical procedures for painting analysis, salt weathering, synchrotron radiation and lasers applications to cultural heritages, investigations of historical glasses and papers, and more than this). In some cases this subdivision was artificially forced and, therefore, it was not rigidly followed. In fact some chapters, for their not-at-all specific content, could be placed everywhere along the chapter sequence, disregarding the apparent pertinence and the actual location in one section. With this final aim in mind, each contributor was requested to present the state of the art in his field, by introducing and applying contemporary statements of topics that he considers relevant to his research field and for the editorial assignment. In the preliminary call and in the subsequent editorial coordination of this material, the primary intent has been to avoid, as much as possible, unnecessary overlapping of the various chapters. Some chapters, however, have been written to provide an historical development and a survey of recent exciting advances. Their particular aim is to outline the basic principles, to illustrate such success in applicative studies as is possible with current methods, and to indicate their potential scope and present limitations. Accordingly, there is no attempt to provide anything in the nature of an encyclopaedic coverage, but rather, after a general survey of analytical studies and applications, each specialist or co-authorship has emphasized what he regards as the essential bases and recent developments of his topics. Finally, the Editors wish to address their gratitude to the Authors of the chapters. As in all works involving multiple authors, a great deal of the success of the venture depends upon their cooperation, as well as upon the prompt advising by publisher staff. This book is no exception to these rules. Authors contributions required much of their valuable time, which they must have sparingly withdrawn from their research, teaching and many other related activities. Furthermore, it was a particular pleasure for the Editors to be able to call upon recognized and reputed scientists, and, between them, many young research postgraduate students as contributors. As research fellows, or former research fellows, we are delighted to see their enthusiastic participation and their excellent research targets, so that the book exhibits, we hope, a tastefully arrangement. The efforts of these Authors should be commended. A special thank is extended to Transworld Research Nertwork for its fine production of this series in Scientific Communication.