Providing a proven set of energy efficiency measures and opportunities for saving energy and reducing operating costs for existing homes, this volume presents general tools and procedures for performing home weatherization such as insulation improvements as well as methods to reduce air leakage. The author describes several techniques and technologies that can reduce energy use or operating costs, including methods to retrofit existing homes to be net-zero energy buildings. Each chapter contains simplified calculation methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of various efficiency measures. The final chapter offers a series of case studies including examples of weatherized homes.

Heritage stones are those stones that have been used for many years, even centuries, to build the historic buildings and monuments of places around the world. Some of these stones are still being used for construction, but others are no longer used, either because quarries were exhausted or closed or because architects and constructors do not know about their particularities and importance. Several scientific papers discuss many of these stones, and a number of papers are currently being prepared, but this book is the first to emphasize the importance and significance of natural stone in the construction of a city, Salamanca, recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1988. In light of this recognition, Salamanca has a duty to preserve all historic buildings that make up the city by restoring those that are starting to deteriorate centuries after their construction. This book describes the buildings, the stones (all quarried centuries ago in the surrounding area), and the stone quarries, some of them inactive for many years, but that should still allow extraction of blocks on demand to restore and replace damaged specimens in the buildings, preserving the very character that saw the city receive recognition by UNESCO in the first place. There are many other places around the world that should follow this initiative and disseminate the importance of their heritage stones. This book will be of interest to professionals and academics in Geology, Engineering, architectural and artistic work in stone, both construction and conservation, but also to the general public.

No engineering structure can be built on the ground or within it without the influence of geology being experienced by the engineer. Yet geology is an ancillary subject to students of engineering and it is therefore essential that their training is supported by a concise, reliable and usable text on geology and its relationship to engineering. In this book all the fundamental aspects of geology are described and explained, but within the limits thought suitable for engineers. It describes the structure of the earth and the operation of its internal processes, together with the geological processes that shape the earth and produce its rocks and soils. It also details the commonly occurring types of rock and soil, and many types of geological structure and geological maps. Care has been taken to focus on the relationship between geology and geomechanics, so emphasis has been placed on the geological processes that bear directly upon the composition, structure and mechanics of soil and rocks, and on the movement of groundwater. The descriptions of geological processes and their products are used as the basis for explaining why it is important to investigate the ground, and to show how the investigations may be conducted at ground level and underground. Specific instruction is provided on the relationship between geology and many common activities undertaken when engineering in rock and soil.

World Statistics on Mining and Utilities provides a unique biennial overview of the role of mining and utility activities in the world economy. This extensive resource from UNIDO provides detailed time series data on the level, structure and growth of international mining and utility activities by country and sector. Country level data is clearly presented on the number of establishments, employment and output of activities such as: coal, iron ore and crude petroleum mining as well as production and supply of electricity, natural gas and water.This unique and comprehensive source of information meets the growing demand of data users who require detailed and reliable statistical information on the primary industry and energy producing sectors. The publication provides internationally comparable data to economic researchers, development strategists and business communities who influence the policy of industrial development and its environmental sustainability. Contents: About this Publication Introduction Part I: Summary Tables Part II: Country Tables

An International Textbook, from A to Z Highway Engineering: Pavements, Materials and Control of Quality covers the basic principles of pavement management, highlights recent advancements, and details the latest industry standards and techniques in the global market. Utilizing the author's more than 30 years of teaching, researching, and consulting experience, this text focuses on the design, construction, maintenance, and management of pavements for roads and highways, and covers the main topics in highway engineering. The author integrates pavement materials, material testing for acceptability and quality assurance, asphalt mix design, flexible and rigid pavement design, construction, maintenance and strengthening procedures, quality control of production and acceptance of asphalts, pavement evaluation, asphalt plants, and pavement recycling. He also includes both European and American (ASTM and AASHTO) standards and practice, and is extensively illustrated with references, tables, graphs, charts, and photographs. The book contains 18 chapters that cover: Soils for roadworks Aggregates for unbound, hydraulically bound materials, and bituminous mixtures Bitumen and bituminous binders Laboratory tests and properties of paving bitumen and bitumen emulsion Hot and cold bituminous mixtures Fundamental mechanical properties of bituminous mixtures and testing Production, transportation, laying, and compaction of bituminous mixtures Quality control and acceptance of bituminous mixtures Methods for determining stresses and strains in pavements Pavement design and construction Thickness design methodologies for flexible and rigid pavements Pavement maintenance Rehabilitation and strengthening Pavement evaluation Equipment for measuring surface and structural characteristics Pavement management Pavement recycling Written for civil engineering students and engineers engaged in highway projects or laboratory testing, Highway Engineering: Pavements, Materials and Control of Quality covers pavement engineering comprehensively as a textbook for undergraduates and graduates, and a valuable reference for practicing professionals.

In Unearthing Conflict Fabiana Li analyzes the aggressive expansion and modernization of mining in Peru since the 1990s to tease out the dynamics of mining-based protests. Issues of water scarcity and pollution, the loss of farmland, and the degradation of sacred land are especially contentious. She traces the emergence of the conflicts by discussing the smelter-town of La Oroya-where people have lived with toxic emissions for almost a century-before focusing her analysis on the relatively new Yanacocha gold mega-mine. Debates about what kinds of knowledge count as legitimate, Li argues, lie at the core of activist and corporate mining campaigns. Li pushes against the concept of "equivalence"-or methods with which to quantify and compare things such as pollution-to explain how opposing groups interpret environmental regulations, assess a project's potential impacts, and negotiate monetary compensation for damages. This politics of equivalence is central to these mining controversies, and Li uncovers the mechanisms through which competing parties create knowledge, assign value, arrive at contrasting definitions of pollution, and construct the Peruvian mountains as spaces under constant negotiation.

This book focuses on agglomeration, or the size enlargement process, of iron ores. This process sits at the interface of mineral processing and extractive metallurgy. The book begins with a discussion of raw materials preparation and the beneficiation process. It then describes fundamental principles of the sintering and pelletization processes, including formation of green mix through granulation and green balls as well as chemical reactions during sintering. Finally, it offers a brief description of iron making processes and correlations related to the agglomerates: quality parameters and BF productivity and coke rate.

Legislation, Technology and Practice of Mine Land Reclamation contains the proceedings of the Beijing International Symposium on Land Reclamation and Ecological Restoration (LRER 2014, Beijing, China, 16-19 October 2014). The contributions cover a wide range of topics: - Monitoring, prediction and assessment of environmental damage in mining areas - Subsidence land reclamation and ecological restoration - Soil, vegetation and biological diversity - Mining methods and measures for minimization of land and environmental damage - Solid wastes and AMD treatment - Contaminated land remediation - Land reclamation and ecological restoration policies and management - Surface mined land reclamation and ecological restoration - Case study on mining reclamation and ecological restoration Legislation, Technology and Practice of Mine Land Reclamation will be of interest to engineers, scientists, consultants, government officials and students involved in environmental engineering, soil science, ecology, forestry, mining, and land reclamation and ecological restoration in mining areas.

Elements of Petroleum Geology, Fourth Edition is a useful primer for geophysicists, geologists and petroleum engineers in the oil industry who wish to expand their knowledge beyond their specialized area. It is also an excellent introductory text for a university course in petroleum geoscience. This updated edition includes new case studies on non-conventional exploration, including tight oil and shale gas exploration, as well as coverage of the impacts on petroleum geology on the environment. Sections on shale reservoirs, flow units and containers, IOR and EOR, giant petroleum provinces, halo reservoirs, and resource estimation methods are also expanded.

Sorption technique was employed to remove heavy metals from gold mining effluent using natural and plant materials for sustainability. An assessment of the effluent quality of a gold mining company in Ghana indicated that arsenic, copper and cyanide were the major pollutants in the process effluent. Arsenic and copper were successfully removed from the effluent by the studied materials. The research showed that the down-flow fixed-bed treatment configuration is an ideal system for the simultaneous removal of copper and arsenic from low concentration gold mining effluent, in addition to other heavy metals present in very low concentrations.

In the last decades coal production capacity has increased rapidly and its quality, power and the reliability of equipment has steadily improved. Moreover, stability of production processes can be controlled better. In connection with that, unification of scientific schools focusing on "Mining of deposits" is an integral trend from the viewpoint of technical and technological policy.

This collection of papers represents the scientific and technical achievements with regard to mineral deposits mining intensification based on effective use of modern techniques and technologies. Also, specific attention is paid to progressive and innovational technologies in the coal industry of leading countries.

Widening the range of mining-geological conditions under which drivage and maintenance of mining activities are carried out, requires application of new constructive decisions. Hence, this collection of papers is focusing on the following topics: results of new equipment introduction; experiments on mutual interaction of roof support elements, protective construction and near-the-contour rock massif; analytical and calculation methods of geomechanical tasks solution; development of gas hydrates and technologies of underground coal gasification; studies on environment protection; economic aspects; management and marketing in mining production, and other important aspects of mineral deposits exploitation.

Aluminium was one of most cartelised industries in the international economic panorama of the 20th century. Born following the discovery of electrolytic smelting process in 1886, this industry, even in its infancy, established a cartel which characterised its history until nearly 1980. Managers of the aluminium industry from various historical eras and countries shared the same vision about the development of their industry: to keep prices as stable as possible in order to encourage expansions and to provide return on investments. Price instability, which characterised the trade of other commodities, was unknown to the aluminium industry. This book neither argues that cartels are fundamentally evil, nor attempts to demonstrate that cartels are optimal business organisations. It instead provides an in-depth and frank analysis of the internal working of industrial organisations and of the interplay between cartels and political powers and institutions. The International Aluminium Cartel offers explanations for the construction and collapse of cartels, descriptions of their operations, and an historical interpretation of their experiences. Incorporating information gleaned from a unique collection of private and public archives from several countries, this unique study will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including academics interested in industrial and business history.

Negotiated agreements play a critical role in setting the conditions under which resource development occurs on Indigenous land. Our understanding of what determines the outcomes of negotiations between Indigenous peoples and commercial interests is very limited. With over two decades experience with Indigenous organisations and communities, Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh's book offers the first systematic analysis of agreement outcomes and the factors that shape them, based on evaluative criteria developed especially for this study; on an analysis of 45 negotiations between Aboriginal peoples and mining companies across all of Australia's major resource-producing regions; and on detailed case studies of four negotiations in Australia and Canada.

An Ideal Source for Geologists and Others with Little Background in Engineering or Mechanics Practical Rock Mechanics provides an introduction for graduate students as well as a reference guide for practicing engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers. The book considers fundamental geological processes that give rise to the nature of rock masses and control their mechanical behavior. Stresses in the earth's crust are discussed and methods of measurement and prediction explained. Ways to investigate, describe, test, and characterize rocks in the laboratory and at project scale are reviewed. The application of rock mechanics principles to the design of engineering structures including tunnels, foundations, and slopes is addressed. The book is illustrated throughout with simple figures and photographs, and important concepts are illustrated by modern case examples. Mathematical equations are kept to the minimum necessary and are explained fully-the book leans towards practice rather than theory.This text: Addresses the principles of rock mechanics as it applies to both structural geology and engineering practice Demonstrates the importance of and methods of geological characterisation to rock engineering Examines the standard methods of rock mechanics testing and measurement as well as interpretation of data in practice Explains connections between main parameters both empirically as well as on the basis of scientific theory Provides examples of the practice of rock mechanics to major engineering projects Practical Rock Mechanics teaches from first principles and aids readers' understanding of the concepts of stress and stress transformation and the practical application of rock mechanics theory. This text can help ensure that ground models and designs are correct, realistic, and produced cost-effectively.

The extractive sector is a particular area of expertise for Canada and more than half of Canada's mining assets abroad are located in Latin America, specifically in Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. The Canada-Colombia accord was the first free-trade agreement in the world to include annual Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIA), and also includes a labour side accord where abuse complaints can be formally registered. Using Colombia as a case study, James Rochlin and his international and multidisciplinary line up of Canadian and Colombian scholars, and activists working in the area of human rights, and the judiciary explore: What is the best way to identify and operationalize for mutual benefit the concentric space between the interests of extractive corporations in profit and security, on the one hand, and the interests of the host communities in the promotion of human rights and human security, on the other? What can the four emblematic and diverse cases in Colombia (Meta, Sergovia, Marmato, and Bolivar/La Guajira) tell us about how to fine tune and improve a newly implemented governmental HRIA to render it an increasingly useful global instrument to promote simultaneously corporate security and human security for host communities? What is the most efficient and effective way to design and implement Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in a manner that promotes simultaneously corporate security and community human security? Written in a clear and accessible style, Profits, Security, and Human Rights presents practical lessons on how to promote both corporate security and human security in communities where the extractive sector operates in the Global South.

Artisanal mining is commonly associated with violent conflict, rampant corruption and desperate poverty. Yet millions of people across Sub Sahara Africa depend on it. Many of them are living in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to important mineral reserves, but also to a plethora of armed groups and massive human rights violations. African Artisanal Mining from the Inside Out provides a rich and in-depth analysis of the Congolese gold sector. Instead of portraying miners and traders as passive victims of economic forces, regional conflicts or disheartening national policies, it focuses on how they gain access to and benefit from gold. It shows a professional artisanal mining sector governed by a set of specific norms, offering ample opportunities for flexible employment and local livelihood support and being well-connected to the local economy and society. It argues for the viability of artisanal gold mining in the context of weak African states and in the transition towards a post-conflict and more industrialized economy. This book will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduates studying natural resources and development as well as those in development studies, African studies, sociology, political economy, political ecology, legal pluralism, and history.

Land, Chiefs, Mining explores aspects of the experience of the Batswana in the thornveld and bushveld regions of the North-West Province, shedding light on defi ning issues, moments and individuals in this lesser known region of South Africa. Some of the focuses are: an important Tswana kgosi (chief ), Moiloa II of the Bahurutshe; responses to and participation in the South African War and its aftermath, 1899-1907; land acquisition; economic and political conditions in the reserves; resistance to Mangope's Bophuthatswana; the impact of game parks and the Sun City resort; rural resistance and the liberation struggle; and African reaction to the platinum mining revolution. Written in a direct and accessible style, and illustrated with photographs and maps, the book provides an understanding, for a general reader ship, of the region and its recent history. At the same time it opens up avenues for further research. The authors, Andrew Manson and Bernard Mbenga, both based at North-West University, Mahikeng Campus, have, for some thirty years, been studying and writing on the region's past.

After more than three decades of economic malaise, many African countries are experiencing an upsurge in their economic fortunes linked to the booming international market for minerals. Spurred by the shrinking viability of peasant agriculture, rural dwellers have been engaged in a massive search for alternative livelihoods, one of the most lucrative being artisanal mining. While a burgeoning literature is acknowledging the spread of artisanal mining, this book is the first to probe its societal impact and potential for extending economic opportunity and participatory forms of democracy. Delineating the paradoxes of artisanal miners working alongside the expansion of large-scale mining investment in Africa, Mining and Social Transformation in Africa concentrates on the Tanzanian experience. Written by authors with fresh research insights, focus is placed on how artisanal mining is configured in relation to local, regional and national mining investments and social class differentiation. The work lives and associated lifestyles of miners and residents of mining settlements are brought to the fore, asking where this historical interlude is taking them and their communities in the future. The question of value transfers out of the artisanal mining sector, value capture by elites and changing configurations of gender, age and class differentiation, all arise.

Emotions in the workplace have until recently been seen simply as a distraction. We often think of work as rational, logical and non-emotional. But organisations are waking up to the key role of emotions and affect at work. Emotions influence how we make decisions, how we relate with one another and how we make sense of our surroundings. Whilst organisations are slowly embracing the pivotal role of emotions, designers and managers of workplaces have been struggling to keep up. New insights from hard sciences such as neuropsychology are presenting a radically different interpretation of emotions. Yet workplace designers and facilities managers still rely on measuring non-specific states such as satisfaction and stress. In this book we attempt to capture modern-day interpretations of emotion, looking at emotion in terms of transactions and processes rather than simple cause and effect. We entertain the idea of an 'emotionally intelligent building' as an alternative to the much-hyped intelligent building. The assertion is that we should create environments that are emotionally intelligent. Rather than focusing on the aptitudes or shortcomings of individuals at work, we should place closer attention on the office environment. It's not that we are emotionally disabled - it's the environment that disables us! The ability of you and me to interpret, control and express emotions may not simply be a result of our own make-up. A radically different outlook considers how our workspace and workplace debilitates or enables our emotional understanding. In the modern workplace there are many innovations that can undermine our emotional intelligence, such poorly implemented hot-desking or lean environments. Contrariwise there are key innovations such as Activity Based Working (ABW) that have the potential to enhance our emotional state. Through a series of unique case studies from around the world, we investigate key concepts that can be used by designers and facilities managers alike. No longer should designers be asked to incorporate emotional elements as intangible un-costed 'add-ons'. This book provides a shot in the arm for workplace design professionals, pointing to a new way of thinking based on the emotional intelligence of the workplace.

Indigenous peoples have historically gained little from large-scale resource development on their traditional lands, and have suffered from its negative impacts on their cultures, economies and societies. During recent decades indigenous groups and their allies have fought hard to change this situation: in some cases by opposing development entirely; in many others by seeking a fundamental change in the distribution of benefits and costs from resource exploitation. In doing so they have utilised a range of approaches, including efforts to win greater recognition of indigenous rights in international fora; pressure for passage of national and state or provincial legislation recognising indigenous land rights and protecting indigenous culture; litigation in national and international courts; and direct political action aimed at governments and developers, often in alliance with non-governmental organisations (NGOs). At the same time, and partly in response to these initiatives, many of the corporations that undertake large-scale resource exploitation have sought to address concerns regarding the impact of their activities on indigenous peoples by adopting what are generally referred to as "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) policies. This book focuses on such corporate initiatives. It does not treat them in isolation, recognising that their adoption and impact is contextual, and is related both to the wider social and political framework in which they occur and to the activities and initiatives of indigenous peoples. It does not treat them uncritically, recognising that they may in some cases consist of little more than exercises in public relations. However, neither does it approach them cynically, recognising the possibility that, even if CSR policies and activities reflect hard-headed business decisions, and indeed perhaps particularly if they do so, they can generate significant benefits for indigenous peoples if appropriate accountability mechanisms are in place. In undertaking an in-depth analysis of CSR and indigenous peoples in the extractive industries, the book seeks to answer the following questions. What is the nature and extent of CSR initiatives in the extractive industries and how should they be understood? What motivates companies to pursue CSR policies and activities? How do specific political, social and legal contexts shape corporate behaviour? What is the relationship between indigenous political action and CSR? How and to what extent can corporations be held accountable for their policies and actions? Can CSR help bring about a fundamental change in the distribution of benefits and costs from large-scale resource exploitation and, if so, under what conditions can this occur? Earth Matters gathers key experts from around the world who discuss corporate initiatives in Alaska, Ecuador, Australia, Canada, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Russia. The book explores the great diversity that characterises initiatives and policies under the name of "corporate social responsibility", the highly contingent and contextual nature of corporate responses to indigenous demands, and the complex and evolving nature of indigenous-corporate relations. It also reveals much about the conditions under which CSR can contribute to a redistribution of benefits and costs from large-scale resource development. Earth Matters will be essential reading for those working in and studying the extractive industry worldwide, as well as those readers looking for a state-of-the-art description of how CSR is functioning in perhaps its most difficult setting.

This book is about geoplasticity, solid mechanics of rock, jointed rock and soil beyond the domain of a purely elastic deformation. Plastic deformation is irreversible and begins at the limit to elasticity with any attempt at further loading. Stress at the limit to elasticity is "strength" which is described by a functional relationship amongst stresses, that is, by a yield function or failure criterion. Mohr-Coulomb, Drucker-Prager and Hoek-Brown criteria are well-known examples in geomechanics. Beyond the elastic limit, but still within the realm of small strain increments, a total strain increment is the sum of an elastic increment and a plastic increment. The elastic increment is computed through an incremental form of Hooke's law, isotropic or anisotropic as the case may be. Computation of the plastic part is at the core of any plasticity theory and is approached through the concept of a plastic potential. The plastic potential is a function of stresses and perhaps other material parameters such as plastic strain and temperature. Derivatives of the plastic potential with respect to stress lead to the plastic part of the total strain increment. If the yield criterion and plastic potential are the same, then the plastic stress-strain relationships are "associated rules of flow" and follow a "normality" principle. Normality is in reference to a graphical portrayal in principal stress space where the plastic strain increment is perpendicular to the yield surface. If the plastic potential and yield criterion are different, as is often the case in geoplasticity, then the rules of flow are "non-associated". Drucker's famous stability postulate implies normality at a smooth point on the yield surface, convexity of the yield function and other important features of plasticity theory in geomechanics. However, there is no point to proceeding to theoretical analyses without physical justification. Hence, the physical foundations for application of plasticity theory to rock, jointed rock and soil are examined in Chapter 2 of this book. A brief review of continuum mechanics principles is given in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 focuses on plane plastic strain and "sliplines". The technical literature is replete with numerous diagrams of sliplines, especially in discussions of foundations on soils, but the relevant mathematics is often lacking and with it genuine understanding. Examples illustrate application of theory to traditional geomechanics problems such as computation of retaining wall forces in soils, foundation bearing capacity of soil and rock, wedge penetration of rock under confining pressure and others. Brief discussions of anisotropy, visco-plasticity and poro-plasticity are presented in Chapters 6, 7 and 8. This book will be of interest to civil, geological and mining engineers, particularly those involved in reliable design of excavations and foundations beyond elasticity, especially in jointed rock.

So much has been said about Marikana since the tragedy of 16 August 2012 where 34 miners were shot dead by police. South Africans are divided, with many supporting the miners and others supporting the police. The news and the images of the massacre made headlines around the globe for weeks. What the world didn’t take into account was who and what it took to bring that news from the small town of Rustenburg to the world.

Reporting from the Frontline by Gia Nicolaides is about personal experiences describing incidents behind the scenes from the main action. While most journalists spent weeks covering the unfolding events at Marikana, many didn’t have the opportunity to tell their own stories. A large group of journalists, producers and television presenters gathered at the North West Platinum Mine when several deaths were reported and the violence broke out. While the nation and the world focused on what was happening on the ground, no one asked how the media dealt with this tragedy. As with any good movie, critics want to know what it took to create it.

These stories will take you to the production centre of Marikana where the journalists watched, listened and interviewed in order to weave the stories together. The way Marikana was told to the world is quite different to what happened to the journalists who covered it. Their stories will show a completely different perspective.

For over 80 years, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has been a leader in the promotion of ethical practice within the field of engineering. One of the Society's greatest contributions is the formation and adoption of the NSPE Code of Ethics. But the code, with its six "Fundamental Canons," is only truly instructive if engineers can bridge the gap between principles and action. Here there is no substitute for personal reflection on the ethical and philosophical issues that underlie the code. If done well, such reflection provides an indispensable basis for moral problem solving. Beyond the Code: A Philosophical Guide to Engineering Ethics is designed to complement the NSPE Code of Ethics by helping readers "go beyond" in their understanding of the philosophical issues bound up in the code. Each chapter addresses one of the Fundamental Canons of the NSPE code, and provides a philosophical analysis of the various parts of each canon by employing contemporary and classical texts. This unique approach to engineering ethics guides students and professionals in their readings of the appended selections to refine their understanding of the code in order to apply it to the practical challenges of today's engineers. Key Features: Is the first introduction to engineering ethics that helps students understand and apply the NSPE Code of Ethics to engineering practice Includes a Preface from Arthur E. Schwartz, NSPE Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel, and NAFE Executive Director As a hybrid text, includes primary philosophical texts with extensive introductions and guided reading questions from the book's three authors Offers case studies from the NSPE Board of Ethical Review, allowing students to see a direct connection between the issues discussed in the text and real-world engineering practice Includes the following pedagogical aids: "Key Terms and Concepts" for each chapter "Preparing to Read" sections before each primary source reading "Guided Reading Questions" after each primary source reading "Going Beyond-Our Questions for a Deep Dive" after each case study.

The past few decades have witnessed remarkable growth in the application of passive seismic monitoring to address a range of problems in geoscience and engineering, from large-scale tectonic studies to environmental investigations. Passive seismic methods are increasingly being used for surveillance of massive, multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and development of enhanced geothermal systems. The theoretical framework and techniques used in this emerging area draw on various established fields, such as earthquake seismology, exploration geophysics and rock mechanics. Based on university and industry courses developed by the author, this book reviews all the relevant research and technology to provide an introduction to the principles and applications of passive seismic monitoring. It integrates up-to-date case studies and interactive online exercises, making it a comprehensive and accessible resource for advanced students and researchers in geophysics and engineering, as well as industry practitioners.

This book is a summary of the main restoration works carried out at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem that commenced in September 2013. Work on roof wooden structures, wall and floor mosaics, internal plasters, wooden architraves and painted columns of the naves, external wall surfaces and Narthex is all presented in a sequence of reports that accompany the reader up to the final interventions through accurate descriptions of historical and archaeological features, initial state of conservation and appropriate techniques of conservation and restoration. Topics are treated with the methodological and linguistic rigor specific to each disciplinary sector involved even if, in the interest of making reading and comprehension easier, it was sometimes preferred to present only significant case studies, which are nevertheless representative of groups of wider and more complex problems. Through the reading of this work, the reader can simply fulfil his desire for knowledge and obtain answers to certain curiosities about the past history of the Church. At the same time, useful guidelines in dealing with conservation and restoration interventions at historic-architectural sites of similar complexity can be found. The book is, therefore, addressed to a generic reader, interested in the history and conservation of one of the most representative examples of our heritage, but also, in light of its technical and scientific value, to university students, technicians, restorers, architects, structural engineers, archaeologists and historians.