Science & Nature Books

Engineering Education Quality Assurance

Engineering Education Quality Assurance

Science & Nature

Engineering Education Quality Assurance: A Global Perspective provides a world-wide view of the history and the current conditions of Engineering Education Quality Assurance. This book provides the first wide-ranging picture of Quality Assurance schemes from essentially every continent and the issues related to their development and implementation. In addition, a generic Engineering Education Quality Assurance Model is described that synthesizes all of the extant approaches and provides a structure for future development.The book begins with an overview of the history and background of Quality Assurance in higher education and Engineering Education over the past century. This is followed by a discussion of the general issues and challenges facing Quality Assurance in the 21st century from global, regional and national perspectives. Then the history and current conditions of Engineering Education Quality Assurance in a sample of ten different countries around the world are discussed. The last section provides a variety of strategies and techniques to aid in the development and institutionalization of effective Quality Assurance approaches.Engineering Education Quality Assurance: A Global Perspective brings together leading academics and professionals from fifteen different countries who share their wealth of experience and insights. Their collective expertise provides a snap-shot of the current state of Quality Assurance in higher education and Engineering Education, an explanation of how we got to where we are, and a road-map for the future.

Paying the Price

Paying the Price

Science & Nature

This book considers the effectiveness of insurance coverage for low-probability, high-consequence events such as natural disasters--and how insurance programs can successfully be used with other policy tools, such as building codes and standards, to encourage effective loss reduction measures. The authors discuss the reasons for the dramatic increase in insured losses from natural disasters since 1989 and the concern that insurers have about their ability to provide coverage against more such events in the future. It addresses why there has been an increasing demand for hazards insurance, what types of coverage private insurers are willing to offer, and the role of reinsurance and private-/public-sector initiatives at the state and federal levels for providing protection to victims of natural disasters. Detailed case studies of the challenges facing Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and California following the Northridge earthquake in 1994 reveal the challenges facing the insurance industry as well as other concerned stakeholders. The National Flood Insurance Program illustrates how a public-/private-sector partnership can mitigate damages and provide financial protection to victims. The book identifies new initiatives for reducing future losses and providing funds for recovery through cooperation by the relevant parties.

Schonen schadet

Schonen schadet

Science & Nature

Wer etwas will, muss etwas tun dafür. Klingt logisch. Ist aber anstrengend. Dennoch - oder gerade deswegen: Entwicklung braucht Herausforderung. Der Weg des geringsten Widerstandes führt immer bergab. Wer seinen Kindern (oder anderen, die es nötig haben) einen Gefallen tun will, lässt es nicht zu, dass sie sich mit dem inneren Schweinehund anfreunden. Denn die Menschen, die einen beim Jammern unterstützen, sind keine hilfreichen Weggefährten, wenn es darum geht, etwas aus sich zu machen. Und darum geht es doch eigentlich.

Bat Cave

Bat Cave

Science & Nature

Students in Ms. Hennon’s class at The Alliance Early Learning School learned about bats.  To demonstrate their learning they wrote this eBook.  We hope you enjoy!

Future Trends in Biotechnology

Future Trends in Biotechnology

Science & Nature

Systems Metabolic Engineering: The Creation of Microbial Cell Factories by Rational Metabolic Design and Evolution, by Chikara Furusawa, Takaaki Horinouchi, Takashi Hirasawa, Hiroshi Shimizu Impacts of Quorum Sensing on Microbial Metabolism and Human Health, by Yang-Chun Yong, Jian-Jiang Zhong CHO Glycosylation Mutants as Potential Host Cells to Produce Therapeutic Proteins with Enhanced Efficacy, by Peiqing Zhang, Kah Fai Chan, Ryan Haryadi, Muriel Bardor, Zhiwei Song Cell-Free Biosystems for Biomanufacturing, by Chun You, Y.-H. Percival Zhang Lipid Bilayer Membrane Arrays: Fabrication and Applications, by Xiaojun Han, Guodong Qi, Xingtao Xu, Lei Wang RNA Aptamers: A Review of Recent Trends and Applications, by Kyung-Nam Kang, Yoon-Sik Lee

Diferentes

Diferentes

Science & Nature

Lo que el reino animal nos enseña sobre el sexo, el género y las relaciones humanas.El gran estudioso de los primates Frans de Waal aborda en Diferentes la actual y debatida prevalencia del género (la división cultural entre lo masculino y lo femenino) sobre el sexo (la división biológica entre machos y hembras). Explora también los condicionantes tanto genéticos como culturales que subyacen a la conducta humana y a las diferencias respecto a la agresividad, la cooperación o la competencia entre machos y hembras de chimpancés y bonobos, y su reflejo en las relaciones de hombres y mujeres. Rebatiendo las teorías que postulan que toda conducta viene dictada por la herencia genética, el autor subraya lo que monos y primates pueden enseñarnos acerca de la identidad y la actividad sexual. Es hora de abandonar mitos como el de la mayor impulsividad sexual masculina frente a la femenina o los referidos a la homosexualidad (presente en más de cuatrocientas especies animales) o el mundo trans (una condición que también existe en el reino animal). De Waal ilustra sus a menudo polémicos argumentos con deliciosas historias anécdotas sobre los animales que ha estudiado a lo largo de su dilatada carrera.«Un libro brillante y fascinante, una aproximación comprensiva y equilibrada a las más candentes controversias sobre sexo y género.» Yuval Noah Harari«Las reflexiones que Frans de Waal nos brinda en Diferentes nos proporcionan la serena evaluación biológica que el actual debate sobre la cuestión de las diferencias de género requiere.» Desmond Morris, autor de El mono desnudo«Se requiere mucho valor para que un hombre se aventure hoy en día en el campo minado de las diferencias de género. Pero Frans de Waal confía en sus dotes de narrador, en su sincero respeto por la cultura y su estrecho conocimiento de las sociedades de bonobos y chimpancés para vencer con elegancia en esta trinchera.» Sarah Blaffer Hrdy«Tras leer un libro de Frans de Waal, es imposible ver a nuestra propia especie como antes.» Tamara Mendelson, The Washington Post«Comprometido, iluminador y profundamente informativo.» Kirkus Review

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY OPTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY OPTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Science & Nature

'This book could not be more timely — published after a year that saw the costliest slew of weather disasters in history along with one of the deadliest pandemic, the emergence and spread of which is linked to climate change ... This book will be a valuable resource for scientists, policy makers but also educators and especially a young generation of readers who want to be informed citizens shaping the right choices for their local communities but also as cosmopolitan citizens of the world.'Journal of Indian Physics AssociationThe signs of global warming can be seen everywhere — hotter summers, frequent heavy rains, prolonged droughts, more severe forest fires, fiercer storms (including snow storms) and cyclones, as well as melting polar ice caps. Our indiscriminate actions are raising the spectre of millions of climate refugees who are victims of battles for water, crops, fish, and so on. It is poignant that the poorer countries, that are the least equipped to face these calamities have contributed the least to global warming, but are the worst hit.Only a concerted effort from the entire world by a rapid transition to renewable, clean and green energy sources, while checking wastage, deforestation and pollution, and a genuine adjustment in lifestyles towards moderation can avert the Earth, the only habitable planet we know, from turning into a hothouse.

Wybrakowane

Wybrakowane

Science & Nature

„Wybrakowane” to poruszająca książka, która rzuca nowe światło na historię medycyny, podróż przez wieki błędnych diagnoz, krzywdzących mitów i niedowierzania wobec kobiet i ich cierpienia. Elinor Cleghorn sama doświadczyła bezsilności, kiedy lekarze ignorowali jej ból i objawy aż przez siedem lat – po upływie których w końcu zdiagnozowano u niej tocznia. Osobista walka z chorobą stała się punktem wyjścia dla monumentalnego studium na temat tego, jak medycyna od wieków zawodzi kobiety. Cleghorn z wielką pasją i precyzją ukazuje, jak od okresu starożytnej Grecji, przez mroczne czasy procesów czarownic, aż po współczesne zmagania z nierozpoznanymi dotąd chorobami cierpiące kobiety były lekceważone, demonizowane, a wreszcie – poddawane brutalnej kontroli. Autorka ujawnia, jak wiele z dzisiejszych medycznych uprzedzeń i błędów ma swoje korzenie w przeszłości oraz jak te zaniedbania wpłynęły na życie i zdrowie niezliczonych kobiet. To opowieść o cierpieniu, ale także o sile i walce, oddanie hołdu biegnącej przez wieki sztafecie chorujących kobiet, które nie ustawały w domaganiu się szacunku oraz prawa do wiedzy i decydowania o swoim ciele. Jeśli kiedykolwiek czułaś się zlekceważona przez medycynę, jeśli szukałaś odpowiedzi na przyczynę swoich dolegliwości i spotkałaś się z niedowierzaniem – ta książka jest dla ciebie. Płynne połączenie studium i pasji. Wybrakowane to książka, która stanowi definicję słowa „nieodkładalna” Telegraph Bogata w szczegóły, szeroko zakrojona i doprowadzająca do furii opowieść… To studium nie tylko przekonujące, ale też niezbędne Observer Pełna pasji i gniewu opowieść o historii The Times Odkrywcza, miejscami wzbudzająca gniew Sunday Express Mocna… Nie da się czytać Wybrakowanych bez smutku, frustracji i rosnącego poczucia słusznego gniewu. Styl Cleghorn jest żywy, zebrała ogromną ilość materiału New York Times Dokładne kompendium o historii kobiet w świecie Zachodu… fascynująca i Feministyczna historyczka i akademiczka Cleghorn – sama będąca ofiarą błędnej diagnozy – prezentuje wiedzę z pierwszej ręki, a jej tematem są płciowe uprzedzenia w medycynie. To książka naukowa, ale też osobista; szczegółowe, ale kompletne studium niebezpiecznych, przestarzałych praktyk i postaw w medycynie Booklist Wyjątkowo porywające spojrzenie na medykalizację kobiecego ciała. Wybrakowane pochłoną was bez reszty. Hallie Rubenhold, autorka książki Pięć. Nieopowiedziane historie kobiet zamordowanych przez Kubę Rozpruwacza

Genesi

Genesi

Science & Nature

“L’origine dell’universo in un racconto, scientifico ma denso di suggestioni” La Lettura Forse avevano davvero ragione i Greci, in principio era il caos. Molte osservazioni della fisica moderna sembrerebbero confermarlo. Ma cos’è successo nei primi istanti di vita dell’universo? Davvero la scienza del XXI secolo fa ritornare d’attualità il racconto di Esiodo, che racchiude l’origine del tutto in un verso splendido e fulminante: “All’inizio e per primo venne a essere il caos”? E oggi l’universo è il sistema organizzato e affidabile che ci appare o è dominato ancora dal disordine? Per scoprirlo, ogni giorno schiere di uomini e donne esplorano gli angoli più reconditi della materia, usano i grandi telescopi o i potenti acceleratori di particelle con cui, come ieri i Greci con i loro racconti, stanno cercando di rispondere alla più antica tra tutte le domande. Tonelli ci mostra come costruire una cosmogonia non sia più affare per specialisti, e il mito e la scienza abbiano in fondo la stessa funzione: permettere all’essere umano di trovare il proprio posto nell’universo.

Tools of Systems Thinkers

Tools of Systems Thinkers

Science & Nature

Think with clarity, depth, and speed. Become an effective problem solver and decision maker.We often have blind spots for the actual reasons that cause problems in our lives. So we try to fix our issues based on assumptions, false analysis, and mistaken deductions. This can bring a lot of misunderstanding, anxiety, and frustration into our personal and work relationships.Tools of Systems Thinkers shares powerful strategies to organize your thoughts into transparent patterns and find the real roots of your problems and fix them once and for all.Notice details others miss. See through complexity.Resist jumping to conclusions prematurely. Evaluate information correctly and consistently to make better decisions. Stop sabotaging your self-interest. Overwrite your autopilot with logical and analytical tools. This unique book will give them to you. Learn to utilize mental models and system maps to your greatest advantage.Mental models provide transparency, order, deeper understanding, and context to your problem. System maps can become your leading cognitive tool to find a clear solution that lasts. Change your thinking, change your results.Albert Rutherford is an internationally bestselling author and a retired corporate executive. His books draw on various sources, from corporate system building, organizational behavior analysis, scientific research, and his life experience. He has been building and improving systems his whole adult life and brings his proven strategies to you. Regain focus. Discover relevant information.•Find out the 5 most powerful mental models and system maps.•Learn to create a visual representation of complex problems with dynamic systems.•Use system tools to fix your everyday problems.•Find real-life examples and exercises to deepen your knowledge at the end of each chapter. Make smart and clear decisions.Change your way of thinking. Master analytical, critical, and creative thinking. Become a systems thinker and discover how to approach your life from an entirely new perspective.

Planetary Specters

Planetary Specters

Science & Nature

Neel Ahuja tracks the figure of the climate refugee in public media and policy over the past decade, arguing that journalists, security experts, politicians, and nongovernmental organizations have often oversimplified climate change and obfuscated the processes that drive mass migration. To understand the systemic reasons for displacement, Ahuja argues, it is necessary to reframe climate disaster as interlinked with the history of capitalism and the global politics of race, wherein racist presumptions about agrarian underdevelopment and Indigenous knowledge mask how financial, development, migration, and climate adaptation policies reproduce growing inequalities.Drawing on the work of Cedric Robinson and theories of racial capitalism, Ahuja considers how the oil industry transformed the economic and geopolitical processes that lead to displacement. From South Asia to the Persian Gulf, Europe, and North America, Ahuja studies how Asian trade, finance, and labor connections have changed the nature of race, borders, warfare, and capitalism since the 1970s. Ultimately, Ahuja argues that only by reckoning with how climate change emerges out of longer histories of race, colonialism, and capitalism can we begin to build a sustainable and just future for those most affected by environmental change.

Tunnel Visions

Tunnel Visions

Science & Nature

“A detailed and engaging account of the development of the superconducting supercollider, one of the largest scientific undertakings in the United States.” —Journal of American HistoryStarting in the 1950s, US physicists dominated the search for elementary particles; aided by the association of this research with national security, they held this position for decades. In an effort to maintain their hegemony and track down the elusive Higgs boson, they convinced President Reagan and Congress to support construction of the multibillion-dollar Superconducting Super Collider project in Texas—the largest basic-science project ever attempted. But after the Cold War ended and the estimated SSC cost surpassed ten billion dollars, Congress terminated the project in October 1993.Drawing on extensive archival research, contemporaneous press accounts, and over one hundred interviews with scientists, engineers, government officials, and others involved, Tunnel Visions tells the riveting story of the aborted SSC project. The authors examine the complex, interrelated causes for its demise, including problems of large-project management, continuing cost overruns, and lack of foreign contributions. In doing so, they ask whether Big Science has become too large and expensive, including whether academic scientists and their government overseers can effectively manage such an enormous undertaking.“Focusing on the scientific, technical, and political conflicts that led to delays, ever rising costs, and eventually the SSC’s cancelation by Congress, Tunnel Visions is a true techno-thriller.” —Burton Richter, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics“Most good science stories are tales of discovery and success, but failure can be just as riveting. Here two historians and an archivist describe the greatest particle physics experiment that never was.” —Scientific American

TIME The Science of Good and Evil

TIME The Science of Good and Evil

Science & Nature

One of the great enigmas of humanity is why we have such a devastating capacity for evil as well as such an enormous ability to do good. What makes some people commit violent harm, while others risk their lives to help those they may not even know? Now, to explore and navigate this essential question of human behavior, the editors at TIME bring you the special edition 'The Science of Good and Evil.' You'll examine "The Roots of Good and Evil," and consider the capacity for morality in animals. Then consider "What Makes Us Moral" by looking at the seemingly innate moral compass of human children and the role that nurturing plays in developing it. Follow modern neuroscience deep into the brain to see what it can tell us about where good and evil behavior might reside and what role genuine love plays in their development. Through it all, visit and analyze tales of senseless acts of violence and the profound acts of selflessness that occur in their wake. As destructive technologies and artificial intelligence continue to develop and strengthen, there has never been a more important time to understand the nature of our capacity for good and evil.

Towards a New Scientific Realism

Towards a New Scientific Realism

Science & Nature

This book presents an argument for a new type of scientific realism beyond naturalism, correlationism and what the author terms 'objective realism'. To achieve this positive philosophical proposal, Jan Voosholz develops a thorough critique of current debates surrounding realism and antirealism in philosophy of science as well as those concerning new and speculative realism. Moreover, in order to provide a new outlook for the philosophy of the natural sciences, this book advances and introduces decisive arguments to that debate from speculative and new realist discussions in ontology and epistemology. Consequently, it develops a unique starting point for a pluralistic philosophy of nature. Any proponent or adversary of new, speculative, perspectival or pragmatic realism, ontic or epistemic structural realism, scientific pluralism, feminist or structural empiricism, selective scepticism, non-reductive or reductive naturalism with an interest in general philosophy of science should take the careful reconstruction of the debates and the novel arguments presented in this book into account. Readers interested in philosophy and the sciences with an interest in these areas of theoretical philosophy will find in this book an informative and comprehensive outline of the state of the art in the epistemology and ontology of the natural sciences.

The Secret Teachings Of All Ages

The Secret Teachings Of All Ages

Science & Nature

CONTAINS FULL PACK OF HALL’s LECTURES A classic since 1928, this masterly encyclopedia of ancient mythology, ritual, symbolism, and the arcane mysteries of the ages is available for the first time in a compact "reader's edition." Like no other book of the twentieth century, Manly P. Hall's legendary The Secret Teachings of All Ages is a codex to the ancient occult and esoteric traditions of the world. Students of hidden wisdom, ancient symbols, and arcane practices treasure Hall's magnum opus above all other works. While many thousands of copies have sold since its initial publication in 1928, The Secret Teachings of All Ages has previously been available only in oversized, expensive editions. For the first time, Hall's celebrated classic is now published in an affordable trade paperback volume. Literally hundreds of entries shine a rare light on some of the most fascinating and closely held aspects of myth, religion, and philosophy from throughout the centuries. More than one hundred line drawings and a sixteen-page color insert reproduce some of the finest illustrations of the original book, while reset and reformatted text makes this edition of The Secret Teachings of All Ages newly accessible to readers everywhere. 

The Demon in the Machine

The Demon in the Machine

Science & Nature

Physics World Book of the YearA Financial Times, Sunday Times, and Telegraph Best Science Book of the YearWhat is life? For generations, scientists have struggled to make sense of this fundamental question, for life really does look like magic: even a humble bacterium accomplishes things so dazzling that no human engineer can match it. Huge advances in molecular biology over the past few decades have served only to deepen the mystery.In this penetrating and wide-ranging book, world-renowned physicist and science communicator Paul Davies searches for answers in a field so new and fast-moving that it lacks a name; it is a domain where biology, computing, logic, chemistry, quantum physics, and nanotechnology intersect. At the heart of these diverse fields, Davies explains, is the concept of information: a quantity which has the power to unify biology with physics, transform technology and medicine, and force us to fundamentally reconsider what it means to be alive—even illuminating the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe.From life’s murky origins to the microscopic engines that run the cells of our bodies, The Demon in the Machine journeys across an astounding landscape of cutting-edge science. Weaving together cancer and consciousness, two-headed worms and bird navigation, Davies reveals how biological organisms garner and process information to conjure order out of chaos, opening a window onto the secret of life itself.

Range Investigations in Arizona

Range Investigations in Arizona

Science & Nature

This bulletin from the United States Department of Agriculture discusses the findings of several range investigations in Arizona in the early-20th century, when the agricultural aspects of Arizona's economy were being optimized. This book was created from a scan of the original artifact, and as such the text of the book is not selectable or searchable.