Re-tell Lecture : Exercise 2

Here, the issue of global warming is discussed. Recent climate change over the last half of the 20th century is thought to be driven largely by greenhouse gas emissions, with carbon dioxide playing a large role. The carbon cycle describes the reservoirs of carbon (atmosphere, terrestrial biomass and ocean) and the exchanges that occur between these reservoirs. Inputs of carbon to the atmosphere include burning of fossil fuels and respiration from biomass. Vegetation also removes carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and a similar uptake of carbon from the atmosphere occurs in the ocean through biological processes. Residence time for carbon in the atmosphere can be computed and is estimated to be a few hundred years. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has been measured directly since the 1950s, and longer records exist over geologic time from ice core data. Temperature data for the 20th century shows a strong warming from about 1970 to the present day.

There are different types of encyclopedias. Some are general and have pages on lots of topics. The English language Encyclopedia Britannica and German Brockhaus are general encyclopedias. Some are about specific topics. For example, there are encyclopedias of medicine or philosophy. Others include the Dictionary of National Biography, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, and Black’s Law Dictionary. There are also encyclopedias that that cover many topics with one perspective or one cultural bias. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of these.
There are two main ways of organizing printed encyclopedias: from A to Z (the alphabetical way) or by categories. Most encyclopedias go from A to Z.Many dictionaries have similar information to encyclopedias. All encyclopedias were printed, until the late 20th century when some were on CD-ROM. 21st century encyclopedias are mostly online by Internet.

Printing was reinvented in 15th century Europe. Though slow to develop at first, print became the main means of communication between people who wished to record knowledge. It was hugely successful, largely because, with an alphabetic system of writing, print was much more economical than copying, and permitted many times as many copies to be available for readers. It was a revolution which helped all aspects of life in Europe, at a time when Europe was becoming the dominant region of the world.
Along with a technology for printing words, there were various means for printing graphics. Carving on blocks of wood and engraving on copper were used up until about 1800. After that, a bewildering array of inventions arrived, including ways to print photographs.
Machines to speed printing, cheaper paper, automatic stitching and binding all arrived in the 19th century during the industrial revolution. What had once been done by a few men by hand was now done by limited companies on huge machines. The result was much lower prices, and a much wider readership.