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For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's
journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with
the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that,
measured by major advances, the greatest decade in the history of
brain studies was mid-twentieth century, especially the 1950s. The
first to focus on worldwide contributions in this period, the book
ranges through dozens of astonishing discoveries at all levels of
the brain, from DNA (Watson and Crick), through growth factors
(Hamburger and Levi-Montalcini), excitability (Hodgkin and Huxley),
synapses (Katz and Eccles), dopamine and Parkinson's (Carlsson),
visual processing (Hartline and Kuffler), the cortical column
(Mountcastle), reticular activating system (Morruzzi and Magoun)
and REM sleep (Aserinsky), to stress (Selye), learning (Hebb) and
memory (HM and Milner). The clinical fields are also covered, from
Cushing and Penfield, psychosurgery and brain energy metabolism
(Kety), to most of the major psychoactive drugs in use today
(beginning with Delay and Deniker), and much more.
The History of British Birds reviews our knowledge of avifaunal
history over the last 15,000 years, setting it in its wider
historical and European context. The authors, one an ornithologist,
the other an archaeologist, integrate a wealth of archaeological
data to illuminate and enliven the story, indicating the extent to
which climatic, agricultural, and social changes have affected the
avifauna. They discuss its present balance, as well as predicting
possible future changes.
Biomedical ethics is a burgeoning academic field with complex and
far-reaching consequences. Whereas in Western secular bioethics
this subject falls within larger ethical theories and applications
(utilitarianism, deontology, teleology, and the like), Islamic
biomedical ethics has yet to find its natural academic home in
Islamic studies.
Primarily intended for postgraduate students and researchers in the
fields of condensed matter science, chemical physics and material
science, who plan to use the muon spin rotation, relaxation amd
resonance (mSR) techniques, this book combines for the first time a
detailed discussion of the physical information contained in the
measured polarization functions with real-life examples taken from
the literature.
The regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continues
to generate controversy. On the one hand, they are actively
promoted by the biotechnology industry as vital to ensuring food
security. Yet, on the other hand, consumer resistance persists, not
least in the European Union, and such lack of confidence extends
not just to GM food itself but also to the regulatory regime, where
legal issues are inextricably linked with economics and politics.
Since their discovery, disinfection by-products (DBPs) have become one of the major driving forces in drinking water regulations, research and water utility operations throughout the world. The list of DBPs that can occur in treated drinking waters has grown from a few trihalomethanes to a long list of halogenated and non-halogenated organic or inorganic compounds. This list is expected to continue to grow as the analytical techniques are improved, as more information on their toxicity is developed, and as more occurrence studies are conducted. This book documents the latest DBP research findings, including emerging issues and state-of-the-art studies. Specifically, papers on the occurrence, formation, control, and health effects of emerging (unregulated) halogenated (e.g., brominated) and nonhalogenated (e.g., nitrosamines) DBPs (e.g., emerging nitrogenous vs. regulated carbonaceous DBPs) are presented. In addition to the characterization and reactivity of natural organic matter to form DBPs, new studies on algal organic matter and treated wastewater as sources of DBPs and their precursors are discussed.
One of the greatest mathematicians in the world, Michael Atiyah has earned numerous honors, including a Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. While the focus of his work has been in the areas of algebraic geometry and topology, he has also participated in research with theoretical physicists. For the first time, these volumes bring together Atiyah's collected papers--both monographs and collaborative works-- including those dealing with mathematical education and current topics of research such as K-theory and gauge theory. The volumes are organized thematically. They will be of great interest to research mathematicians, theoretical physicists, and graduate students in these areas.
Kinship ties-the close relationships found within the family-have
been a central focus of evolutionary biological analyses of social
behavior ever since biologist William Hamilton extended the concept
of Darwinian fitness to include an individual's actions benefiting
not only his own offspring, but also collateral kin. Evolutionary
biologists consider organisms not only reproductive strategists,
but also nepotistic strategists. If a person's genes are just as
likely to be reproduced in her sister as in her daughter, then we
should expect the evolution of sororal investment in the same way
as one expects maternal investment. This concept has revolutionized
biologists' understanding of social interaction and developmental
psychologists' understanding of the family. However, kinship ties
have largely been ignored in other areas of psychology,
particularly social psychology.
The Arctic Tundra and adjacent Boreal Forest or Taiga support the most cold-adapted flora and fauna on Earth. The evolutionary capacity of both plants and animals to adapt to these thermally limiting conditions has always attracted biological investigation and is a central theme of this book. How the polar biota will adapt to a warmer world is creating significant and renewed interest in this habitat. The Arctic has always been subject to climatic fluctuation and the polar biota has successfully adapted to these changes throughout its evolutionary history. Whether or not climatic warming will allow the Boreal Forest to advance onto the treeless Tundra is one of the most tantalizing questions that can be asked today in relation to terrestrial polar biology. Tundra-Taiga Biology provides a circum-polar perspective of adaptation to low temperatures and short growing seasons, together with a history of climatic variation as it has affected the evolution of terrestrial life in the Tundra and the adjacent forested Taiga. It will appeal to researchers new to the field and to the many students, professional ecologists and conservation practitioners requiring a concise but authoritative overview of the biome. Its accessibility also makes it suitable for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in tundra, taiga, and arctic ecology.
A variety of different social, natural and technological systems can be described by the same mathematical framework. This holds from Internet to the Food Webs and to the connections between different company boards given by common directors. In all these situations a graph of the elements and their connections displays a universal feature of some few elements with many connections and many with few. This book reports the experimental evidence of these Scale-free networks'' and provides to students and researchers a corpus of theoretical results and algorithms to analyse and understand these features. The contents of this book and their exposition makes it a clear textbook for the beginners and a reference book for the experts.
Following Ionic Liquids: Industrial Applications to Green Chemistry, SS #818, by the same editors, this book focuses on exciting new developments in ionic liquids.
This volume contains ten new essays focused on the exploration and articulation of a narrative that considers the notion of order within medieval and modern philosophy-its various kinds (natural, moral, divine, and human), the different ways in which each is conceived, and the diverse dependency relations that are thought to obtain among them. Descartes, with the help of others, brought about an important shift in what was understood by the order of nature by placing laws of nature at the foundation of his natural philosophy. Vigorous debate then ensued about the proper formulation of the laws of nature and the moral law, about whether such laws can be justified, and if so, how-through some aspect of the divine order or through human beings-and about what consequences these laws have for human beings and the moral and divine orders. That is, philosophers of the period were thinking through what the order of nature consists in and how to understand its relations to the divine, human, and moral orders. No two major philosophers in the modern period took exactly the same stance on these issues, but these issues are clearly central to their thought. The Divine Order, the Human Order, and the Order of Nature is devoted to investigating their positions from a vantage point that has the potential to combine metaphysical, epistemological, scientific, and moral considerations into a single narrative.
As technology progresses, we are able to handle larger and larger datasets. At the same time, monitoring devices such as electronic equipment and sensors (for registering images, temperature, etc.) have become more and more sophisticated. This high-tech revolution offers the opportunity to observe phenomena in an increasingly accurate way by producing statistical units sampled over a finer and finer grid, with the measurement points so close that the data can be considered as observations varying over a continuum. Such continuous (or functional) data may occur in biomechanics (e.g. human movements), chemometrics (e.g. spectrometric curves), econometrics (e.g. the stock market index), geophysics (e.g. spatio-temporal events such as El Nino or time series of satellite images), or medicine (electro-cardiograms/electro-encephalograms). It is well known that standard multivariate statistical analyses fail with functional data. However, the great potential for applications has encouraged new methodologies able to extract relevant information from functional datasets. This Handbook aims to present a state of the art exploration of this high-tech field, by gathering together most of major advances in this area. Leading international experts have contributed to this volume with each chapter giving the key original ideas and comprehensive bibliographical information. The main statistical topics (classification, inference, factor-based analysis, regression modelling, resampling methods, time series, random processes) are covered in the setting of functional data. The twin challenges of the subject are the practical issues of implementing new methodologies and the theoretical techniques needed to expand the mathematical foundations and toolbox. The volume therefore mixes practical, methodological and theoretical aspects of the subject, sometimes within the same chapter. As a consequence, this book should appeal to a wide audience of engineers, practitioners and graduate students, as well as academic researchers, not only in statistics and probability but also in the numerous related application areas.
The mathematical theory of Krylov subspace methods with a focus on solving systems of linear algebraic equations is given a detailed treatment in this principles-based book. Starting from the idea of projections, Krylov subspace methods are characterised by their orthogonality and minimisation properties. Projections onto highly nonlinear Krylov subspaces can be linked with the underlying problem of moments, and therefore Krylov subspace methods can be viewed as matching moments model reduction. This allows enlightening reformulations of questions from matrix computations into the language of orthogonal polynomials, Gauss-Christoffel quadrature, continued fractions, and, more generally, of Vorobyev's method of moments. Using the concept of cyclic invariant subspaces, conditions are studied that allow the generation of orthogonal Krylov subspace bases via short recurrences. The results motivate the important practical distinction between Hermitian and non-Hermitian problems. Finally, the book thoroughly addresses the computational cost while using Krylov subspace methods. The investigation includes effects of finite precision arithmetic and focuses on the method of conjugate gradients (CG) and generalised minimal residuals (GMRES) as major examples. There is an emphasis on the way algebraic computations must always be considered in the context of solving real-world problems, where the mathematical modelling, discretisation and computation cannot be separated from each other. The book also underlines the importance of the historical context and demonstrates that knowledge of early developments can play an important role in understanding and resolving very recent computational problems. Many extensive historical notes are included as an inherent part of the text as well as the formulation of some omitted issues and challenges which need to be addressed in future work. This book is applicable to a wide variety of graduate courses on Krylov subspace methods and related subjects, as well as benefiting those interested in the history of mathematics.
Developed for the new International A Level specification, these new resources are specifically designed for international students, with a strong focus on progression, recognition and transferable skills, allowing learning in a local context to a global standard. Recognised by universities worldwide and fully comparable to UK reformed GCE A levels. Supports a modular approach, in line with the specification. Appropriate international content puts learning in a real-world context, to a global standard, making it engaging and relevant for all learners. Reviewed by a language specialist to ensure materials are written in a clear and accessible style. The embedded transferable skills, needed for progression to higher education and employment, are signposted so students understand what skills they are developing and therefore go on to use these skills more effectively in the future. Exam practice provides opportunities to assess understanding and progress, so students can make the best progress they can.
Beekeeping is a sixteen-billion-dollar-a-year business. But the
invaluable honey bee now faces severe threats from diseases, mites,
pesticides, and overwork, not to mention the mysterious Colony
Collapse Disorder, which causes seemingly healthy bees to abandon
their hives en masse, never to return.
Because of their vital role in the emergence of humanity, tools and their uses have been the focus of considerable worldwide study. This volume brings together international research on the use of tools among primates and both prehistoric and modern humans. The book represents leading work being done by specialists in anatomy, neurobiology, prehistory, ethnology, and primatology. Whether composed of stone, wood, or metal, tools are a prolongation of the arm that acquire precision through direction by the brain. The same movement, for example, may have been practiced by apes and humans, but the resulting action varies according to the extended use of the tool. It is therefore necessary, as the contributors here make clear, to understand the origin of tools, and also to describe the techniques involved in their manipulation, and the possible uses of unknown implements. Comparison of the techniques of chimpanzees with those of prehistoric and modern peoples has made it possible to appreciate the common aspects and to identify the differences. The transmission of ability has also been studied in the various relevant societies: chimpanzees in their natural habitat and in captivity, hunter-gatherers, and workmen in prehistoric and in modern times. In drawing together much valuable research, this work will be an important and timely resource for social and behavioral psychologists, anthropologists, paleontologists, and animal behaviorists.
The emphasis of Planetary Atmospheres is on comparative aspects of
planetary atmospheres, generally meaning comparison with the Earth,
including atmospheric composition, thermal structure, cloud
properties, dynamics, weather and climate, and aeronomy. The goal
is to look for common processes at work under different boundary
conditions in order to reach a fundamental understanding of the
physics of atmospheres. As part of a general Physics course, the
material is chosen to emphasise certain aspects that will be of
broad topical interest:
This volume comprises a set of research papers that together will provide an up-to-date survey of the current state of the art in numerical analysis. The contributions are based on talks given at a conference in honour of Jim Wilkinson, one of the foremost pioneers in numerical analysis. The contributors were all his colleagues and collaborators and are leading figures in their respective fields. The breadth of Jim Wilkinson's research is reflected in the main themes covered: linear algebra, error analysis and computer arithmetic, algorithms, and mathematical software. Particular topics covered include analysis of the Lanczos algorithm, determining the nearest defective matrix to a given one, QR-factorizations, error propagation models, parameter estimation problems, sparse systems, and shape-preserving splines. As a whole the volume reflects the current vitality of numerical analysis and will prove an invaluable reference for all numerical analysts.
This is a textbook on the theory and calculation of molecular
electromagnetic and spectroscopic properties designed for a
one-semester course with lectures and exercise classes. The idea of
the book is to provide thorough background knowledge for the
calculation of electromagnetic and spectroscopic properties of
molecules with modern quantum chemical software packages.
Calls for a "consilient" or "vertically integrated" approach to the study of human mind and culture have, for the most part, been received by scholars in the humanities with either indifference or hostility. One reason for this is that consilience has often been framed as bringing the study of humanistic issues into line with the study of non-human phenomena, rather than as something to which humanists and scientists contribute equally. The other major reason that consilience has yet to catch on in the humanities is a dearth of compelling examples of the benefits of adopting a consilient approach. Creating Consilience is the product of a workshop that brought together internationally-renowned scholars from a variety of fields to address both of these issues. It includes representative pieces from workshop speakers and participants that examine how adopting such a consilient stance -- informed by cognitive science and grounded in evolutionary theory -- would concretely impact specific topics in the humanities, examining each topic in a manner that not only cuts across the humanities-natural science divide, but also across individual humanistic disciplines. By taking seriously the fact that science-humanities integration is a two-way exchange, this volume takes a new approach to bridging the cultures of science and the humanities. The editors and contributors formulate how to develop a new shared framework of consilience beyond mere interdisciplinarity, in a way that both sides can accept.
The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists to finally agree that the Covid pandemic was caused by an airborne virus. In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air, and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections, only to die in obscurity. Air-Borne chronicles the dark side of aerobiology with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Air-Borne also leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes—as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind. Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on Covid and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.
This textbook describes the physics of semiconductor nanostructures
with emphasis on their electronic transport properties. At its
heart are five fundamental transport phenomena: quantized
conductance, tunnelling transport, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the
quantum Hall effect, and the Coulomb blockade effect.
The book provides a unifying insight into fluctuation phenomena in a broad variety of vibrational systems of current interest. It consists of individual chapters written by leading experts in the field. The chapters are self-contained and complement each other. The ongoing rapid development of well-characterized mesoscopic vibrational systems has made it possible to address fundamental physics problems and to explore new approaches to quantum and classical measurements, with applications to quantum information, condensed matter physics, and engineering. The book gives an account of major results in this direction. The topics include dynamics and quantum control of microcavity modes coupled to qubits, measurements with bifurcation-based amplifiers and new types of such amplifiers; switching rate scaling and new quantum mechanisms of metastable decay; wave mixing and parametric excitation in the quantum regime; collective phenomena and the interaction-induced discrete time symmetry breaking; and back-action and shot noise in electron-vibrational systems. |
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