تحسين النتائح
ترتيب حسب
من
الى
الصفحة 5
الصفحة 5
Knowledge from a Human Point of View
Explores some of the historical roots and epistemological ramifications of perspectivism. Perspectivism has recently emerged in philosophy of science as an interesting new position in the debate between scientific realism and anti-realism.
Climatic Changes and Water Resources in the Middle East and North Africa
The subject is described and discussed in three main chapters and different case studies.All topics in this book are complimentary and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between global climate change, world water cycle and water resources. A valuable and meaningful interdisciplinary mixture of topics is combined in this book.
Climate-Smart Food
This book asks just how climate-smart our food really is. It follows an average day's worth of food and drink to see where it comes from, how far it travels, and the carbon price we all pay for it. From our breakfast tea and toast, through breaktime chocolate bar, to take-away supper, Dave Reay explores the weather extremes the world’s farmers are already dealing with, and what new threats climate change will bring. Readers will encounter heat waves and hurricanes, wildfires and deadly toxins, as well as some truly climate-smart solutions. In every case there are responses that could cut emissions while boosting resilience and livelihoods. Ultimately we are all in this together, our decisions on what food we buy and how we consume it send life-changing ripples right through the global web that is our food supply.
Climate change : Environment and history of the Near East
When the ?rst edition of this book was published in 2004, the following year 2005 has happened to have been the warmest year since 1880, when the ?rst reliable worldwide instrumental records came into existance. Claiming no li- age between the publication of our book and the temperature record, yet this record demonstrates the trend of increase in the global surface temperatures during thepast20years,reinforcedbyevidenceofriseofatmosphere’sand oceans’ temperatures, and increased melting of ice and snow in the arctic and antarctic regions as well as on mountain tops. All these observations are par- leled by the increase in the quantity of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere, causing most probably, the global greenhouse effect. In order to try and predict, what might be the impact of this effect on the on the natural and human environments of the Near East, (Figs. 1–1d) the authors adopted the saying that the past is the key for the future. The practical conclusion of this principle says that the acquiring knowledge of the impact of past climate changes on the nature and human societies, may allow conclusions with regard to future possible impact of climate changes. By correlating proxy data of all types, paleo-sea and lake levels, paleo-hydrology, pollen pro?les, environmental isotopes as well as archaeological and historical documents, the authors tried to collect as much as possible of this knowledge.
Charge Migration in DNA : Perspectives from Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
Charge migration through DNA has been the focus of considerable interest in recent years. A deeper understanding of the nature of charge transfer and transport along the double helix is important in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry and nanotechnology. It has also important implications in biology, in particular in DNA damage and repair. This book presents contributions from an international team of researchers active in this field.
Chaos, Nonlinearity, Complexity : The Dynamical Paradigm of Nature
This carefully edited book presents a focused debate on the mathematics and physics of chaos, nonlinearity and complexity in nature. It explores the role of non-extensive statistical mechanics in non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and presents an overview of the strong nonlinearity of chaos and complexity in natural systems that draws on the relevant mathematics from topology, measure-theory, inverse and ill-posed problems, set-valued analysis, and nonlinear functional analysis. It presents a self-contained scientific theory of complexity and complex systems as the steady state of non-equilibrium systems, denoting a homeostatic dynamic equilibrium between stabilizing order and destabilizing disorder.
Changing Forests : Collective Action, Common Property, and Coffee in Honduras
It merges political ecology, collective-action theories, and institutional analysis to study how the people and forests have changed through socioeconomic and political transitions. It studies the complex, often contradictory relationships between the people and their natural resources to understand why forest cover endures."Changing Forests" therefore encompasses three broad phases: (1) the premodern period, which considers historic perturbations in western Honduras from the period of colonialism into the middle of the twentieth century; (2) the period of state-led logging and intervention in La Campa, which caused major degradation in forest cover; and (3) the recent period in which export coffee production transformed property rights, and people’s perceptions of the forest gained new conservationist and economic dimensions. Each phase entails perspectives and experiences that influenced human use of forests, and shaped subsequent transformations.
Chance : The life of games and the game of life
With its many easy-to-follow mathematical examples, this book takes the reader on an almost chronological trip through the fascinating and amazing laws of chance, omnipresent in the natural world and in our daily lives. Along the route many fascinating topics are discussed, such as: challenging probability paradoxes; "paranormal" coincidences; game odds; causes and effects; interpretation of opinion polls; winning chances as a game proceeds; the nature of randomness; entropy and randomness; randomness in life; algorithmic complexity and the undecidability of randomness; possibilities and limitations of learning the laws of a Universe immersed in chance events. This charming book will inform and entertain the scientist and non-scientist alike.
Ceramic and Glass Materials : Structure, Properties and Processing
Ceramic and Glass Materials: Structure, Properties and Processing is a concise and comprehensive guide to the key ceramic and glass materials used in modern technology. Each chapter focuses on the structure-property relationships for these important materials and expands the reader’s understanding of their nature by simultaneously discussing the technology of their processing methods. In each case, the resulting understanding of the contemporary applications of the materials provides insights as to their future roles in twenty first century engineering and technology. Organized to be a practical and comprehensive resource, each chapter is dedicated to a specific material such as: alumina, mullite, sillimanite minerals, aluminates, quartz and silicas, refractory oxides, clays, concrete and cement, lead compounds, and zirconia.
Cellulose : Molecular and Structural Biology : Selected Articles on the Synthesis, Structure, and Applications of Cellulose
Cellulose: Molecular and Structural Biology is an up-to-date treatise on the most advanced and provocative research into the biosynthesis, structure, and applications of nature’s most abundant macromolecule and renewable resource, cellulose.Molecular, biochemical, and evolutionary aspects of cellulose biosynthesis are reviewed in a variety of living organisms, including cyanobacteria, eubacteria, (Acetobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli), vascular plants (including Arabidopsis, forest trees, and maize), and tunicates.
Cathodic Arcs : From Fractal Spots to Energetic Condensation
Cathodic Arcs: From Fractal Spots to Energetic Condensation is the first book in over a decade dedicated to the physics and technology of cathodic arcs. It includes a detailed account of arc history, a textbook-like introduction to cathode phenomena, and some basic physics of expanding plasmas; it deals with the infamous macroparticle issue and describes a host of practical plasma filter solutions. In contrast to previous books on cathodic arcs, the focus is on the relation of arc plasmas and their properties to surface modification and thin film deposition. The book contains sections on basic plasma physics and thin film materials science. It also deals with practical issues of coatings such as stress control and the often-underrated issue of the coating’s color. By stressing the fractal nature of cathode spots, the theme of fluctuations can be found throughout the book: fluctuations affect all plasma properties and thereby have consequences for plasma-based surface modifications and film growth.
Cassini at Saturn- Huygens Results
Cassini At Saturn – Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn June 2004 so this update includes 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. As the Cassini spacecraft approached its destination in spring 2004, the quality of the images already being returned by the spacecraft clearly demonstrated the spectacular nature of the close-range views that will be obtained. The book contains a 16-page colour section, comprising a carefully chosen selection of the most stunning images to be released during the spacecraft’s initial period of operation.
Building the Foundation : Whole Numbers in the Primary Grades : The 23rd ICMI Study
This twenty-third ICMI Study addresses for the first time mathematics teaching and learning in the primary school (and pre-school) setting, while also taking international perspectives, socio-cultural diversity and institutional constraints into account. One of the main challenges of designing the first ICMI primary school study of this kind is the complex nature of mathematics at the early level. Accordingly, a focus area that is central to the discussion was chosen, together with a number of related questions. The broad area of Whole Number Arithmetic (WNA), including operations and relations and arithmetic word problems, forms the core content of all primary mathematics curricula. this study presents a meta-level analysis and synthesis of what is currently known about WNA, providing a useful base from which to gauge gaps and shortcomings, as well as an opportunity to learn from the practices of different countries and contexts.
Braid Groups
Braids and braid groups have been at the heart of mathematical development over the last two decades. Braids play an important role in diverse areas of mathematics and theoretical physics. The special beauty of the theory of braids stems from their attractive geometric nature and their close relations to other fundamental geometric objects, such as knots, links, mapping class groups of surfaces, and configuration spaces. In this presentation the authors thoroughly examine various aspects of the theory of braids, starting from basic definitions and then moving to more recent results. The advanced topics cover the Burau and the Lawrence--Krammer--Bigelow representations of the braid groups, the Alexander--Conway and Jones link polynomials, connections with the representation theory of the Iwahori--Hecke algebras, and the Garside structure and orderability of the braid groups.
Bonding in Microsystem Technology
Bonding in Microsystem Technology starts with descriptions of terminology, kinds of microsystems and market analysis. Followed by the presentation of mechanisms of wet etching, set of process parameters, description of micromachining methods, examples of procedures, process flow-charts and applications of basic micromechanical structures in microsystems are shown. Next, high-temperature, low temperature and room-temperature bonding and their applications in microsystem technology are presented. The following part of the book contains the detailed description of anodic bonding, starting from analysis of properties of glasses suitable for anodic bonding, and discussion of the nature of the process. Next all types of anodic bonding and sealing procedures used in microsystem technology are presented.
Blind Speech Separation
This is the first book to provide a cutting edge reference to the fascinating topic of blind source separation (BSS) for convolved speech mixtures. Through contributions by the foremost experts on the subject, the book provides an up-to-date account of research findings, explains the underlying theory, and discusses potential applications. The individual chapters are designed to be tutorial in nature with specific emphasis on an in-depth treatment of state of the art techniques. Blind Speech Separation is divided into three parts:Part 1 presents overdetermined or critically determined BSS. Here the main technology is independent component analysis (ICA). ICA is a statistical method for extracting mutually independent sources from their mixtures. Part 2 addresses underdetermined BSS, where there are fewer microphones than source signals. Here, the sparseness of speech sources is very useful; we can utilize time-frequency diversity, where sources are active in different regions of the time-frequency plane.Part 3 presents monaural BSS where there is only one microphone. Here, we can separate a mixture by using the harmonicity and temporal structure of the sources. We can build a probabilistic framework by assuming a source model, and separate a mixture by maximizing the a posteriori probability of the sources.
Blameworthy Belief : A Study in Epistemic Deontologism
Believing the wrong thing may sometimes have drastic consequences. The question as to when a person is not only ill-guided, but genuinely at fault for holding a particular belief is an important one: It touches upon the roots of our understanding of such notions as criminal negligence and moral responsibility. The answer to this question may influence the extent to which we are willing to submit each other to punishments ranging from mild resentment to harsh prison terms. This book presents an extensive effort to shed light on the conditions under which we may appropriately deem someone blameworthy for holding a particular belief. It regiments and unifies several debates within contemporary epistemology, ethics and legal scholarship. Finally, the book brings a new philosophical look on issues like our power to control beliefs and the extent and nature of foresight.
Biophotonics
More profound understanding of the nature of light and light-matter interactions in biology has enabled many applications in the biology and medical fields. So a new discipline is born, namely biophotonics. The aim of this book is to review the current state-of-the-art of the field by means of authoritative chapters written by the world leaders of the respective fields. Biosensors, biochips, optical tomography, optical microsurgery, photodynamics therapy, bioactivation of gene, photobiology of skin, and nanobiophotonics are each introduced and recent advances presented. This book will be useful not only to physicians, biologists, physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and engineers but also to graduate students who are interested in these rapidly developing fields.
BioNanoFluidic MEMS
BioNanoFluidic MEMS explains nanofabrication and nanomaterials synthesis suitable for the development of biosensors. The fundamentals initiate an awareness for engineers and scientists who would like to develop and implement novel biosensors for various applications. In addition, the material covered includes: BioNanoFluidic MEMS connection between the interdisciplinary nature of BioNanoFluidics and MEMS BioNanoFluidics and sensor technology including Micro-Mechanical Sensors and Chemical Sensor Technologies ands-on steps for implementation of biosensor fabrication including a discussion of the clean room lithography process and etching, microsensor systems lamination, PDMS moulding, parylene deposition, and others Interconnection between the interdisciplinary nature of BioNanoFluidics and MEMS BioNanoFluidics and sensor technology including Micro-Mechanical Sensors and Chemical Sensor Technologies
Biomineralization II : Mineralization Using Synthetic Polymers and Templates
In nature, biological organisms produce mineralized tissues such as bone, teeth, diatoms, and shells. Biomineralization is the sophisticated process of production of these inorganic minerals by living organisms. Construction of organic–inorganic hybrid materials with controlled mineralization analogous to those produced by nature has recently received much attention because it can aid in understanding the mechanisms of the biomineralization process and development of biomimetic materials processing. The biomineralization processes use aqueous solutions at temperatures below 100 ◦C and no toxic intermediates are produced in these systems. This series presents critical reviews of the present position and future trends in modern chemical research. The short and concise reports on chemistry are each written by world renowned experts. This series is still valid and useful after 5 or 10 years.
