The historical and epistemological reflection on the applications of mathematical techniques to the Sciences of Nature - physics, biology, chemistry, and geology - today generates attention and interest because of the increasing use of mathematical models in all sciences and their high level of sophistication. The goal of the meeting and the papers collected in this proceedings volume is to give physicists, biologists, mathematicians, and historians of science the opportunity to share information on their work and reflect on the and mathematical models are used in the natural sciences today and in way mathematics the past. The program of the workshop combines the experience of those working on current scientific research in many different fields with the historical analysis of previous results. We hope that some novel interdisciplinary, philosophical, and epistemological considerations will follow from the two aspects of the workshop, the historical and the scientific* This proceedings includes papers presented at the meeting and some of the results of the discussions that took place during the workshop. We wish to express our gratitude to Sergio Monteiro for all his work, which has been essential for the successful publication of these proceedings. We also want to thank the editors of Kluwer AcademidPlenum Publishers for their patience and constant help, and in particular Beth Kuhne and Roberta Klarreich. Our thanks to the fallowing institutions: -Amministrazione Comunale di Arcidosso -Comunita Montana del Monte Amiata *Center for the History of Physics, UCLA -Centre F.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949there has been a rapid advance in climatology in China. The number of climatological stations has increased from less than 100 to more than of Chinese climatologists covers various 2,000, and the research work fields. The climate of China is no longer just a description of the average weather for an area or locality, but covers many fields such as the monsoon climate, the fluctuation of climate, the spatial and temporal variations of the climatic elements and physical and dynam ic climate. Four books on the climate of China, written in Chinese, have been published so far. There is, however, no excellent book written in English on the climate of China, although Volume 8 of the World Survey oj Climatology, dealing with the climates of northern and eastern Asia, edited by H. Arakawa in 1969, contains a chapter on the climate of China and Korea written by LE. M. Watts. The data sources for China are based mainly on observations from 1940-1952 and the climatological charts of China published by the Central Weather Bureau of China in 1953 and 1955. This monograph on The Climate ojChina by Prof. Dr. M. Dom ros and Prof. Peng Gongbing is the first comprehensive and advanced book in English on the climate of China."

Apart from Hotine's work on Mathematical Geodesy, several previously unpublished reports are collected in this monograph, complemented by extensive comments on these contributions and a complete bibliography of Hotine by the editor.

This book is an outgrowth of the NSF-CBMS conference Nonlinear Waves GBP3 Weak Turbulence held at Case Western Reserve University in May 1992. The principal speaker at the conference was Professor V. E. Zakharov who delivered a series of ten lectures outlining the historical and ongoing developments in the field. Some twenty other researchers also made presentations and it is their work which makes up the bulk of this text. Professor Zakharov's opening chapter serves as a general introduction to the other papers, which for the most part are concerned with the application of the theory in various fields. While the word "turbulence" is most often associated with f:l. uid dynamics it is in fact a dominant feature of most systems having a large or infinite number of degrees of freedom. For our purposes we might define turbulence as the chaotic behavior of systems having a large number of degrees of freedom and which are far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Work in field can be broadly divided into two areas: * The theory of the transition from smooth laminar motions to the disordered motions characteristic of turbulence. * Statistical studies of fully developed turbulent systems. In hydrodynamics, work on the transition question dates back to the end of the last century with pioneering contributions by Osborne Reynolds and Lord Rayleigh.

As we are moving ahead into the 21st century, our hunger for cost effective and environmentally friendly energy continues to grow. The Energy Information Administration of US has forecasted that only in the first two decades of the 21st century, our energy demand will increase by 60% compared to the levels at the end of the 20th century. Fossil fuels have been traditionally the major primary energy sources worldwide, and their role is expected to continue growing for the forecasted period, due to their inherent cost competitiveness compared to non-fossil fuel energy sources. However, the current fossil energy scenario is undergoing significant transformations, especially to accommodate increasingly stringent environmental challenges of contaminants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides or mercury, while still providing affordable energy. Furthermore, traditional fossil fuel utilization is inherently plagued with greenhouse gas emissions from combustion, especially carbon dioxide from stationary sources as well as from mobile sources. Should worldwide government policies dictate a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, such as proposed by the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation of carbon taxes, fossil fuels would lose their significant competitive appeal in favor of nuclear energy and renewable energy sources. However, the current non-fossil fuel energy share of the worldwide energy market is merely below 15%, and therefore, it is more likely that fossil fuel energy producers would adapt to the new requirements by developing and implementing emission control technologies, and emission trades among other strategies."

Although a considerable amount of information concerning the applications for arc plasmas in the materials sciences is available, it is contained in literally thousands of separate manuals, technical notes, textbooks, and government and industrial reports. Each source generally deals with only one specific application or, at best, a narrow range of utilization. This book was developed to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date compilation of information in the technology of arc plasma utilization. The book is divided into two general categories: flame spraying and materials evaluation. In the flame spraying section a comprehensive review of the plasma spraying process is presented. The design and operation of plasma spraying equipment are described. Included are a description of the nature of a plasma, and the design and operation of plasma generators, powder feed systems and accessory control equip ment. The general process procedures, and associated process variables are de scribed. Particular emphasis is given to the particle heating process and the mechanisms for adherence and cohesion of coatings. Competitive flame spraying equipment is also detailed (combustion process, detonation and electric arc) and compared with the plasma spray process. A discussion and compilation of flame sprayed ceramic and metal materials, their properties and applications are also included."

Planet Earth is part of our Galactic environment, not just the product of it, and it is still today influenced by phenomena related to Galactic forces. Specifically, our planet is affected by its near environment, in particular the small bodies in the Solar System. This book reviews the processes which cause the collisions of these small bodies with the Earth as well as the consequences of such collisions. The various articles take the reader through the Galaxy-Solar System connection to the orbital dynamics of the small bodies and to their number and distribution in near-Earth space. The hazards of the impacts of small bodies on Earth are evaluated, and the geophysical records of such impacts are discussed. The book takes the reader to the forefront of research on both impact cratering and the origin and evolution of small bodies in the Solar System. Thus it brings together two subjects, geophysics and astronomy, which are usually discussed in separate volumes but are closely knit together in this particular area of research.

Climate is the most important component of the Earth's environment and climatic fluctuations have a strong impact on water supplies, vegetation, energy use etc. Thus our understanding of the climatic system is of utmost importance. Leading experts in the field of climate modelling and paleoclimatology present the most recent methods for reconstructing past climatic variations and for modelling the climatic system and its evolution. The first of three parts is devoted to the climatic system and the physical basis for its modelling; the second summarizes the evolution of the global atmosphere, the ocean, the continents, the biosphere, and the ice sheets during recent climatic cycles; the last part focusses on the understanding of past and future climatic changes.

The environmental field is deep and wide. In the flood of information, how can people understand the underlying causes of what they hear about the environment from newspapers and television? This book was originally published in Japanese, with the aim of providing basic information about the ideas and methods to see and understand the interconnection between nature and human activities from a systematic point of view. The author subsequently prepared an English version of the same material for use as a textbook for the Global Environmental Leaders Program at Nagoya University, where he taught many students from Asia and Europe. The book covers diverse environmental issues such as climatic change, biodiversity preservation, energy conservation, and resource recycling. Readers can learn common methods of analysis and thinking to identify the core essence of economic and ecological interdependence, to look at problems from an overarching perspective, and to consider countermeasures to be taken.

Des Menschen Werk auf Erden kann vergehen, Doch Leben stets im Wandel wird bestehen. Heinrich Walter The importance of ecology for the fate of mankind is receiving ever wider recognition. A syncretic-holistic approach to ecology was recently given unexpected support by the well-known atomic physicist and pupil of Heisenberg, Fritjov Capra. In his book The Turning Point, published in 1982 in the U.S.A., Capra comments critically, from the viewpoint of the latest findings of subatomic physics, on the mechanical-analytical ap proach which still predominates in the biological sciences, and adds some philosophical reflections. The following quotations are important ecolo gically and may be of interest to biologists in general: "It is now becoming apparent that overemphasis on the scientific method and on rational, analytic thinking has led to attitudes that are profoundly anti-ecological. In truth, the understanding of ecosystems is hindered by the very nature of the rational mind. Rational thinking is linear, whereas ecological awareness arises from an intuition of non-linear systems .... The Cartesian view of the universe as a mechanical system provided a 'scientific' sanction for the manipulation and exploitation of nature that has become typical of Western culture .... The problem is that scientists, encouraged by their success in treating living organisms as machines, tend to believe that they are nothing but machines .... Modern physics can show the other sciences that scientific thinking does not necessarily have to be reductionist and mechanistic, that holistic and ecological views are also scientifically sound ...."

Mathematical models have become a crucial way for the Earth scientist to understand and predict how our planet functions and evolves through time and space. The finite element method (FEM) is a remarkably flexible and powerful tool with enormous potential in the Earth Sciences. This pragmatic guide explores how a variety of different Earth science problems can be translated and solved with FEM, assuming only basic programming experience. This book begins with a general introduction to numerical modeling and includes multiple sample Matlab codes to illustrate how FEM is implemented in practice. Textboxes have been included to provide additional detail, such as specialized Matlab usage or advanced topics. Covering all the key aspects, this is essential reading for those looking to master the technique, as well as those simply seeking to increase their basic level of understanding and appreciation of FEM.

The Monte Carlo method is based on the munerical realization of natural or artificial models of the phenomena under considerations. In contrast to classical computing methods the Monte Carlo efficiency depends weakly on the dimen sion and geometric details of the problem. The method is used for solving complex problems of the radiation transfer theory, turbulent diffusion, chemi cal kinetics, theory of rarefied gases, diffraction of waves on random surfaces, etc. The Monte Carlo method is especially effective when using multi-processor computing systems which allow many independent statistical experiments to be simulated simultaneously. The weighted Monte Carlo estimates are constructed in order to diminish errors and to obtain dependent estimates for the calculated functionals for different values of parameters of the problem, i.e., to improve the functional dependence. In addition, the weighted estimates make it possible to evaluate special functionals, for example, the derivatives with respect to the parameters. There are many works concerned with the development of the weighted estimates. In Chap. 1 we give the necessary information about these works and present a set of illustrations. The rest of the book is devoted to the solution of a series of mathematical problems related to the optimization of the weighted Monte Carlo estimates."

The reader may be surprised to learn that the word "aeronomy" is not found in many of the standard dictionaries of the English language (for exam ple. Webster's International dictionary). Yet the term would appear to exist, as evidenced by the affiliations of the two authors of this volume (Institut d'Aeronomie, Brussels, Belgium; Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA). Perhaps part of this obscu rity arises because aeronomy is a relatively new and evolving field of endeavor, with a history dating back no farther than about 1940. The Chambers dic tionary of science and technology provides the following definition: "aeronomy (Meteor. ). The branch of science dealing with the atmosphere of the Earth and the other planets with reference to their chemical com position, physical properties, relative motion,"

Over the last dozen years there has been a great development in the study of matter on the micro-scale by means of the light microscope, which has coincided with the rapid growth of auto mation and the use of computers. The manufacturers have responded to this challenge, and there is now available a large choice of modules for use with the microscope, both on the biological and non-biological side. This book is on microscope photometry. Photometry on the macro-scale can be applied to features of not less than about one millimetre in size. Below this lies the realm of microscope photometry which will be discussed both in theory and in practice. As a general rule no discussion of technical design of equipment is included, as such information is available in the handbooks of the particular manufacturers of equipment. It attempts to cover all the uses of the optical microscope photometer with its auxiliary equipment, and the first chapter describes the topics covered. In using the word' light' we apply its meaning to extend from UV to near IR. No attempt has been made to list all the works consulted. For each subject treated in this book a list is given of books and papers considered to be of key importance; in these will be found more detailed bibliographies."

Anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has been recognized as the primary agent in global climate change.
The volume discusses the possibilities for limiting that increase by the long-term storage of carbon in soils, vegetation, wetlands and oceans. Each of these storage media is analysed in detail to elucidate those processes responsible for the uptake and release of carbon. Several chapters address the practical prospects for deliberate interventions aimed at adjusting the balance in favour of uptake over release, i.e. sequestration, while having regard to simultaneous changes in the various environments.

Water is an extremely important factor in global environmental change. Water influences the processes causing change. The human and economic consequences of changes in the water system can be very significant. The aim of this NATO Advanced Study Institute was to present a state-of-the-art assessment of the role of water in global change, ranging from a consideration of atmospheric processes to the social and political impacts of changes in water resources. Many initiatives have recently been developed, such as international conferences and research programmes in particular themes, but there was still a need for information from these diverse activities to be brought together. One of the aims of the ASI was to encourage cross-fertilization between the various disciplines looking at water in the global system. This book contains the expanded written versions of the lectures presented during the AS! held in Italy in May/June 1994. It falls into two basic parts. The first twelve chapters cover the role of water in the climate system and climate modelling. Various areas of the water balance including global budgets, the effect of each element of the water balance on regional and global climates, and procedures used to model hydrological processes at all scales are discussed. Precipitation, ice, lake, groundwater, land surface and atmospheric considerations are included together with hydrological process linkage to climate models. Ocean effects were not covered as they were considered to be outside the scope of this particular AS!.

Earth scientists, who have worked together for 6 years in the priority pro gram "Hydrogeochemical Processes in the Hydrological Cycle Within the Unsaturated and Saturated Zones," have summarized the results of their research in this volume. This is the occasion to take stock and then look ahead. The priority program was set up by the Senate of The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in October 1981. This was preceded by lengthy and careful preparation by a Program Committee, and was finally recom mended by the Senate Commission for Joint Research in Earth Sciences. The main aim was the interdisciplinary research of geochemical processes in natural systems in the total underground water cycle, whereby water pollution was not to be considered. Officially started on 1 September 1982, the program has received a grant of DM 10. 9 Mio. from the DFG, and this has enabled it to support a total of 50 projects. Although at the beginning, practice-oriented projects, which were funded elsewhere, were not to be included, many of the results are applicable. The four categories presented were investigated with vary ing intensity. An early concentration on certain representative fields of measurement and research areas proved to be the right approach - this avoided a waste of effort in other fields. During the period of the priority program, new and topical questions arose, e. g."

Since the late 1960s the Indonesian state of East Kalimantan has witnessed a marked increase in the impact of human activities chiefly commercial logging and agricultural exploitation. Located on the island of Borneo, East Kalimantan also was subjected to prolonged droughts and extensive wildfires in 1982-83 and 1997-98 that were linked to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. The changes in the rainforest ecosystem in East Kalimantan during this 15-year cycle of severe ENSO events are the subject of this book. With an eye toward development of rehabilitation techniques for sustainable forest management, the authors examine possible interactive effects of drought, fire, and human impacts on the flora and fauna of the area.

279 4. 2. Basic formulation 280 4. 3. Variations on the theme 285 4. 4. C. S. Parameters 286 5. CONCLUSIONS 289 REFERENCES 290 CHAPTER 12 FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR FILLS AND EMBANKMENT DAMS D. J. NAYLOR 1. INTRODUCTION 291 2. NUMBER OF LAYERS - ACTUAL AND ANALYTICAL 292 3. DEFORMATION IN A RISING FILL 292 4. BASIC FINITE ELEMENT PROCEDURE 292 5. INTERPRETATION OF FINITE ELEMENT DIS PLACEMENTS - 1D CASE 294 6. NEW LAYER STIFFNESS REDUCTION 296 7. MODELLING COMPACTION 300 8. FINITE ELEMENT EFFECTIVE STRESS TECHNIQUES 302 8. 1. Undrained effective stress analysis 302 8. 2. Known pore pressure change analysis 305 9. FIRST FILLING AND OPERATION - GENERAL 306 10. LOADING DUE TO IMPOUNDING 308 10. 1. upstream membrane dam 308 10. 2. Internal membrane dam 308 10. 3. Zoned embankment dams 312 11. ANALYSIS OF FIRST FILLING AND OPERATION 312 11. 1. First filling 312 11. 2. Steady seepage condition 314 11. 3. Finite element considerations 314 12. COLLAPSE SETTLEMENT 314 xili 12. 1. Nobari and Duncan's method 317 12. 2. Generalisation of Nobari and Duncan's method 319 12. 3. One-dimensional example 320 323 13. APPLICATIONS 13. 1. carsington dam 323 13. 2. Beliche dam 325 13. 3. Monasavu dam 330 REFERENCES 335 APPENDIX: DERIVATION OF EQUIVALENT LAYER STIFFNESS 332 CHAPTER 13 CONCRETE FACE ROCKFILL DAMS NELSON L. DE S. PINTO 1. INTRODUCTION 341 2. CURRENT DESIGN PRACTICE 343 2. 1. Evolution 343 2. 2. Embankment 344 2. 2. 1."

This book has evolved by processes of selection and expansion from its predecessor, Practical Scanning Electron Microscopy (PSEM), published by Plenum Press in 1975. The interaction of the authors with students at the Short Course on Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis held annually at Lehigh University has helped greatly in developing this textbook. The material has been chosen to provide a student with a general introduction to the techniques of scanning electron microscopy and x-ray microanalysis suitable for application in such fields as biology, geology, solid state physics, and materials science. Following the format of PSEM, this book gives the student a basic knowledge of (1) the user-controlled functions of the electron optics of the scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe, (2) the characteristics of electron-beam-sample inter actions, (3) image formation and interpretation, (4) x-ray spectrometry, and (5) quantitative x-ray microanalysis. Each of these topics has been updated and in most cases expanded over the material presented in PSEM in order to give the reader sufficient coverage to understand these topics and apply the information in the laboratory. Throughout the text, we have attempted to emphasize practical aspects of the techniques, describing those instru ment parameters which the microscopist can and must manipulate to obtain optimum information from the specimen. Certain areas in particular have been expanded in response to their increasing importance in the SEM field. Thus energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry, which has undergone a tremendous surge in growth, is treated in substantial detail.

The sixth EUROTRAC Symposium was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, th st Gennany from 27 - 31 March 2000. Some 375 scientists from 28 different countries (from the USA to Uzbekistan) gathered together and contributed to a lively week. Symposium 2000 was the second Symposium of the second phase, EUROTRAC- 2 which is EUREKA environmental project number 1489, and also the ftrst one organised by the new team at the International Scientiftc Secretariat (ISS). We stayed with the tried and tested EUROTRAC format, giving ample time for poster sessions as well as side meetings and workshops. The invited talks, over 35 in all, contributed breadth and depth. The Symposium had the focal points of "Shaping the Future" and "Scientiftc Research and Environmental Policy". The "Highlights from the Subprojects" were well represented by a series of talks and of course by the ca 300 posters. Guest poster contributions added to the spectrum of scientiftc coverage. An innovation for 2000 is the publication of these Proceedings in a book containing the extended abstracts of the lectures and a companion CD-ROM with the extended abstracts of the posters as well as the lectures. The availability of the Proceedings on a CD will enable us to distribute them more widely.

Acidic deposition and its effect on aquatic ecosystems have become major scientific and public policy issues in the United States since the early 1970s, and many diverse studies have been completed. This book is the first comprehensive, integrated synthesis of available information on current and potential effects of acidic precipitation on lakes and streams in geographic regions with a high number of low-alkalinity surface water from the Adirondacks and the Southern Blue Ridge to the Upper Midwest to the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascades. Written by leading authors, the book examines the current status of water chemistry and characterizes the processes controlling water chemistry on a regional basis by using and comparing high-quality data sets. Methods for the assessment of long-term changes in water chemistry and their effects in fish and other biota are also presented. The book amply illustrates the substantial diversity among geographical regions with respect to the nature of surface waters and the complexity of their response to acidic deposition. This volume will be of great interest to researchers in limnology, aquatic ecology, environmental chemistry, hydrology, and atmospheric sciences. It will also serve as an important reference for environmental managers and policy makers.

The extraordinary growth and development of atmospheric sciences during the last dec ades, and the concern for certain applied problems, such as those related to the environ ment, have prompted the introduction of college and university courses in this field. There is consequently a need for good textbooks. A few appropriate books have appeared in the last few years, aimed at a variety of levels and having different orientations. Most of them are of rather limited scope; in par ticular, a number of them are restricted to the field of dynamics and its meteorological applications. There is still a need for an elementary, yet comprehensive, survey of the terrestrial atmosphere. This short volume attempts to fill that need. This book is intended as a textbook that can be used for a university course at a second or third year level. It requires only elementary mathematics and such knowledge of physics as should be acquired in most first-year general physicS courses. It may serve in two ways. A general review of the field is provided for students who work or plan to work in other fields (such as geophysics, geography, environmental sciences, space research), but are interested in acquiring general information; at the same time, it may serve as a general and elementary introduction for students who will later specialize in some area of atmospheric science."

Scientists concerned with the processes occurring in the stratosphere are becoming more and more aware of the role that the stratosphere may play in the global climate and in global change in general. This book focuses on the basic processes taking place in the stratosphere and on the stratospheric changes which may occur from either natural or anthropogenic forcing. Of major concern here is the consequence of the increasing Antarctic Ozone Hole and the possibility of similar processes occurring at northern latitudes. One of the expected consequences of the change in the stratospheric composition, mainly ozone depletion, is the change in the penetration of UV-B in the troposphere, at the surface, and in the top layers of the ocean. Monitoring and modeling of those changes are still in infancy, even though the implications may be of utmost importance for the entire biosphere. Several aspects of these consequences with regard to aquatic ecosystems, terrestrial vegetation and human health are presented by experts in these fields.

Throughout the last 20 years, the study of disasters has developed into a well respected body of know ledge in the social sciences. Disaster research has found its way to several disciplines and it has been remarkably receptive to multi and interdisciplinary impulses. Many disaster studies show how important and stimulating it is to explore events and developments which reach beyond the usual business of the social and political fabric. There. is quite a difference between the daily routines of social and political life, and the upheaval, stress, and shock of a life-threatening danger which may fall upon society. Even when the danger does not materialize to the fullest and society gets off with a fright, the population as well as the authorities may experience demanding situations and critical moments which ask for an effective and quick response. Although the study of disasters is in steady progress, there still remains a lot to be done. One of the blind spots in disaster research continues to be cross national knowledge of disasters and disaster management. Certainly, during the last decade a number of encouraging efforts have been made to promote a more international perspective in disaster management. But as disasters and crises will increasingly feature transnational and even global characteristics, in that sense disaster and crisis research are lagging behind. Students of disasters and crises cannot limit themselves to typically domestic and local events."