Photothermal science continues to be an area of rapid development and active investigation, as is demonstrated by this volume. The various contributions present fundamental research in materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine, as well as important applications of photothermal techniques in nondestructive evaluation, aeronomy and pollution control, and other areas. The topics treated include measurements of spectral properties of gases, the theory of thermally generated elastic waves, a method of monitoring local surface displacements, materials characterization and nondestructive evaluation of materials, studies of the dynamics of primary photophysical processes, fast energy exchange at surfaces and at interfaces (e.g. in medicine and photobiology), thermal EXAFS and XANES applied to metals and semiconductors, and imaging of magnetic materials using microwave sources.

Catholic University Of America, Studies In Sociology, V1.

Humans and snakes have an intimate and ancient relationship that often revolves around either love or hate. Snakes can be seen as gods, spiritual messengers, symbols of fertility, and guardians of resources in virtually all cultures. But to those that fear them, snakes are seen as venomous creatures that cannot be trusted. In Secrets of the Snake Charmer, John Murphy, a research associate of the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, provides an in-depth, twenty-first century look at snakes utilizing the published research of other herpetologists as well as his own personal experiences and speculations. Murphy covers a wide range of topics such as the adaptability of snakes, the ways in which evolution has tinkered with snakes during the last 160 million years, and the impact snakes have on the ecological communities they live in. While sharing ideas about the origin of snakes, rattlesnake rattles, and spitting in cobras, Murphy presents an innovative portrayal of snakes that proves they co-evolve with their prey, predators, and parasites in order to fulfill a significant and novel role in the web of life.