Thomas Weber's book comprises a series of biographical reflections about people who influenced Gandhi, and those who were, in turn, influenced by him. Whilst previous literature tended to focus on Gandhi's political legacy, Weber's book explores the spiritual, social and philosophical resonances of these relationships, and it is with these aspects of the Mahatma's life in mind, that the author selects his central protagonists. These include friends such as Henry Polak and Hermann Kallenbach, who are not as well known as (...) those usually cited, but who left a deep impression nevertheless, and motivated some of Gandhi's major life changes. Conversely, the work of luminaries such as E. F. Schumacher and Gene Sharp reveal the Mahatma's influence in arenas which are not traditionally associated with his thinking. Weber's book offers intriguing insights into the life and thought of one of the most significant figures of the twentieth century. (shrink)

Hydrogen activation on the (100) surface of MoS2 structures was investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. Linear and quadratic synchronous transit methods with a conjugate gradient refinement of the saddle point were used to localize transition states. The calculations include heterolytic and homolytic dissociation of hydrogen; that is, an H2 molecule dissociates on an MoS2 catalyst surface into two hydrogen atoms, which react further with the catalyst surface under formation of either one Mo-H and one S-H (heterolytic) or (...) of two S-H surface groups (homolytic). Our results favor the heterolytic adsorption of hydrogen. Ni- and Co-promoted MoS2 have been considered to investigate the secondary promotional effect on the H2 dissociation. The authors observed a negative secondary promotional influence on the H2 dissociation in the case of Ni-promoted MoS2, whereas Co shows a positive effect. (shrink)

The early biographies of Gandhi were more or less hagiographies, telling the story of Gandhi, the saintly politician and the liberator of colonial India. Even though Gandhi himself had discussed the topics of his lustfulness and his decision to embrace celibacy in his 1927 autobiography, these matters were glossed over or simply ignored. As time has gone on, Gandhi has caused increasing problems for those of his biographers and interpreters who wanted to hold him up as a paragon but also (...) wanted to tell the truth. And more recently, reevaluations of the Gandhi story have at times bordered on the sensational through the documentation of his eccentricities and religious austerities and in particular his attitudes to sexuality and his ‘experiments’ with the power of celibacy.In 1946, Nirmal Kumar Bose became Gandhi’s translator and secretary during the Mahatma’s Noakhali pilgrimage to bring peace to war-torn rural Bengal. He commenced what would become a central battlefield of Gandhi schol .. (shrink)