O'Reilly Media | UML in a Nutshell

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of UML in a Nutshell is the domestic short-hair cat (Felis catus). Cats have been kept as pets for thousands of years, originally for their skill in ridding homes of mice and rats; domestic cats are descended from the European wildcat (Felis silvestris). While cats make excellent pets, they are not as obedient as dogs, as their social structure in the wild is not based on submission to a leader. They are most closely related to fellow carnivores hyenas and mongooses. Cats spend about two-thirds of their time napping or sleeping.

Domestic cats have much in common with their wild relatives. Cat bodies are engineered for supremely efficient hunting: excellent balance, silent paws, sharp claws and teeth, sensitive whiskers, flexible muscles and skeletons. Their sight is especially attuned to moving objects, but they do need a small amount of light to see at night. It's not true that cats always land on their feet; it is true that given enough distance, they usually can orient their bodies correctly using their tails as counterweight. Science has not yet determined exactly why or how cats purr.

Cats have been both revered and feared throughout history. Ancient Egyptians worshipped them, adorned them with jewelry, and mummified them; the Egyptian goddess Bastet had the head of a cat, and was associated with beauty, grace, and fertility. During the Middle Ages, though, they were believed to be associated with witches and the devil. Paula Carroll served as production coordinator. Argosy provided editorial and production services. Megan Morahan created the illustrations using Macromedia FreeHand 7; Robert Romano coordinated the art program. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker technical support. Seth Maislin wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with Quark XPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Whenever possible, our books use RepKover(TM), a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover's limit, perfect binding is used.

The inside layout was designed by Nancy Priest and implemented in FrameMaker 5.0 by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. This colophon was written by Nancy Kotary.

Return to UML in a Nutshell