Science & Nature - Books

Bilinear Control Systems

Science & Nature

A control system is called bilinear if it is described by linear differential equations in which the control inputs appear as coefficients. The study of bilinear control systems began in the 1960s and has since developed into a fascinating field, vital for the solution of many challenging practical control problems. Its methods and applications cross inter-disciplinary boundaries, proving useful in areas as diverse as spin control in quantum physics and the study of Lie semigroups.The first half of the book is based upon matrix analysis, introducing Lie algebras and the Campbell-Baker-Hausdorff Theorem. Individual chapters are dedicated to topics such as discrete-time systems, observability and realization, examples from science and engineering, linearization of nonlinear systems, and input-output analysis.Written by one of the leading researchers in the field in a clear and comprehensible manner and laden with proofs, exercises and Mathematica scripts, this involving text will be a vital and thorough introduction to the subject for first-year graduate students of control theory. It will also be of great value to academics and researchers with an interest in matrix analysis, Lie algebra, and semigroups.

Inséparables

Science & Nature

Et si la recherche de la vie dans l'univers était un miroir puissant, offrant à l'humanité une clé pour traverser la crise environnementale actuelle et trouver enfin sa place au sein de la biosphère ?Dans ce nouveau livre, l'astrobiologiste Nathalie A. Cabrol tourne son regard vers la Terre, et explore les destins entrelacés de l'habitabilité planétaire, de l'environnement et de la vie. En examinant les rouages de cette coévolution, elle met en lumière les réactions en chaîne que les bouleversements actuels risquent de déclencher, à des échelles surpassant largement notre capacité à y répondre une fois le système emballé.Inséparablesest une réflexion à la fois audacieuse et magistrale, un appel à la responsabilité collective. Mais c'est aussi un message d'espoir, offrant des clés pour un futur où l'humanité ne se considérera plus au centre de la biosphère et apprendra enfin à vivre en harmonie avec elle.

The Story of Neuroscience

Science & Nature

‘How can a three-pound mass of jelly that you can hold in your palm imagine angels, contemplate the meaning of infinity, and even question its own place in the cosmos?’ V. S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist, 2011 How we think, feel, move, remember, imagine, and experience the outside world and our own bodies is the domain of neuroscience. For millennia, the workings of the brain and nerves could be approached only through superstition and conjecture. Then, in the 19th century, neuroscience began to cast light on this most complex of our bodily systems. This book traces the development of neuroscience, from ancient beliefs to the technologies of the present day. Topics include: • the interaction of mind, soul, and body • the localization of functions within the brain • the workings of the nervous system • the motor system and how we move • the sensory system and how we construct perception • mental illness, brain damage, and lessons from dysfunction and disease • mental activity, including learning, memory, identity, and imagination

Medical Devices in Modern Healthcare

Science & Nature

Medical Devices in Modern Healthcare: Current Research on New Materials and Engineering, Device Evaluation and Regulatory Implications provides a comprehensive approach to existing and future technological developments in medical devices and their role in biomedical engineering. In particular, the book looks at the fabrication/manufacturing of medical devices across a wide range of device sectors. Importantly, regulatory perspectives and implications are considered in detail. - Provides an up-to-date overview of the rapidly evolving biomedical device sector - Covers both existing technologies and emerging technologies - Includes an analysis of the evaluation processes of newly developed medical devices together with the safety and regulatory concerns/implications

The Physics of Life

Science & Nature

The renowned scientist examines the mysteries of life and evolution through the lens of physics in this “riveting and poetic” book (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)In The Physics of Life, Adrien Bejan presents persuasive answers to such profound questions as “What is life, as physics?” and “Why do life, death, and evolution happen?” Heargues that the phenomenon of evolution is much broader and older than the evolutionary designs that constitute the biosphere. It is rooted in the process of power production and distribution that facilitates all movement on Earth, animate or inanimate.Breaking down concepts such as desire and power, sports health and culture, the state of economy, water and energy, politics and distribution, Bejan uses the language of physics to explain how each system works in order to clarify the meaning of evolution in its broadest scientific sense, moving the reader towards a better understanding of the world’s systems and the natural evolution of cultural and political development.This is evolution explained loudly but also elegantly, forging a path that flows sustainability.

Pseudoscience

Science & Nature

Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in our post-truth, fake news world. “ . . . an invaluable volume that examines the cognitive biases that lead to pseudoscience, the history of pseudoscience, and the reasons for its wide acceptance.” —Science-Based Medicine In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives. Covering health, agriculture, food science, infectious diseases, and more, contributors examine the:• Basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias• Costs of pseudoscience, from naturopathy to logical fallacies of anti-vaccination• Perceptions of scientific soundness• Mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology• Use of case studies and new media in science advocacyThrough case studies, analysis, and personal accounts, this fascinating study shows how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science.

Senèze: Life in Central France Around Two Million Years Ago

Science & Nature

The paleontological site of Senèze (Haute Loire, central France) was discovered in 1892 inside a volcanic crater. For over 40 years, local peasant Pierre Philis collected fossils and sold them to French and Swiss museums. The site became world-famous for its well-preserved skeletons of ungulates and carnivores, as well as rare but well-preserved remains of primates and other mammals. It is considered the reference fauna for the late Villafranchian and MNQ 18 biochronological units of European mammalian evolution, but the lack of provenance data made modern research difficult. From 2000-2006, the multidisciplinary Franco-American Senèze Research Project undertook five seasons of major fieldwork, with the goals of clarifying the age, stratigraphy and taphonomy of Senèze, as well as finding additional remains, especially of the less well-known taxa. In this volume, following a history of study and summary of the new fieldwork, four geological chapters consider field methods, stratigraphy, volcanology and dating. Combining argon-argon ages and paleomagnetic calibration, the newly recovered fossils are shown to date between 2.20 and 2.08 Ma, with concentrations ca. 2.20-2.18 and 2.10-2.08 Ma, significantly older than previously thought. Chapters on palynology, ichthyology and ornithology are followed by eight chapters on the fossil mammals. The chapter on biochronology places Senèze among other sites at the start of MNQ 18, which is estimated to end ca. 1.7 Ma. Of some 2200 specimens known from the site, over half are cervids, with bovids, rhinocerotids and equids far behind. According to data from palynology and the habitat preferences of the more common mammals, the paleoenvironment around the Senèze maar would have included forest, woodland and grassland, perhaps in a warmer and moister climate than today. Taphonomic studies revealed that bones often rested a long time under water, lacked any indication of carnivore attack and often displayed pathologies in their joints. It is likely that most of the associated skeletons were preserved undisturbed after large mammals fell into the paleolake and drowned without being able to climb out. This book responds to the long-held desire of later Cenozoic paleontologists to see a modern study of a site recognized worldwide as a biochronologic reference for the Plio-Pleistocene. Our study required renewed fieldwork using up to date techniques of topography, sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochronology and taphonomy. The systematic paleontology chapters are based on re-study of the entire body of Senèze fossils collected during more than a century of research. The volume will be of interest to paleontologists, especially those concerned with the evolution of the European fauna and with the taxa studied, as well as with paleoenvironmental reconstruction and biogeography. It will also be of value to mammalogists interested in analyses of near-modern taxa and to paleoanthropologists, archaeologists and taphonomists interested in the methods utilized and the role of Senèze as a comparative standard for a site of this age without human intervention. It will surely be an essential reference for all those who want to know more about Life in Central France Around Two Million Years Ago.

The Story of Chemistry

Science & Nature

‘The importance of the end in view prompted me to undertake all this work, which seemed to me destined to bring about a revolution in physics and chemistry.’ Antoine Lavoisier, 1773 Great advances in human history have often rested on and prompted progress in chemistry. The exploitation of fire, the development of pigments, and the discovery that metals could be smelted and worked laid the foundations of civilization. The search for better tools and weapons drove metallurgy, and the need for medicines and perfumes lay behind the first laboratories. This book traces a story of exploration and discovery, from the earliest applications of chemistry by our ancient forebears. For more than 1,000 years, alchemists pursued the transformation of matter until the advent of modern chemistry in the 17th century set us on the path to the complex science of today. Topics include: • prechemistry since prehistory • alchemy and the transmutation of metals • the rise of the scientific method • identifying the chemical elements • understanding gases • the nature of the atom • organic chemistry • chemical analysis

Coral and Coral Reefs

Science & Nature

The book deals with the structure and origin of Coral and Coral Reefs. They are, in a zoological sense, cousins, each of them being formed by the same kind of animals in what is substantially the same way. Each of these bodies is, in fact, the hard skeleton of a very curious and a very simple animal, more comparable to the bones of such animals as ourselves than to the shells of oysters or creatures of that kind; for it is the hardening of the internal tissue of the creature, of its internal substance, by the deposit in the body of a material which is exceedingly common, not only in fresh but in sea water, and which is specially abundant in those waters which we know as "hard, " those waters, for example, which leave a "fur" upon the bottom of a tea-kettle.

The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Color

Science & Nature

HARMONY is a state recognized by great philosophers as the immediate prerequisite of beauty. A compound is termed beautiful only when its parts are in harmonious combination. The world is called beautiful and its Creator is designated the Good because good perforce must act in conformity with its own nature; and good acting according to its own nature is harmony, because the good which it accomplishes is harmonious with the good which it is. Beauty, therefore, is harmony manifesting its own intrinsic nature in the world of form.

Heart of Science

Science & Nature

A novel epistemology of science contends that good science need not attain its aims, but it must justify its claims. In Heart of Science, philosopher Jacob Stegenga breaks with the most dominant epistemologies of science to argue that in judging scientific activity, we should focus on its justification, not the achievement of truth or knowledge. Yet, Stegenga argues, the aim of science goes far beyond justification and is, instead, a special kind of truth—common knowledge, a broadly shared and mutually justified scientific finding. Drawing on both historical examples and recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic, Stegenga outlines his approach before delving into its implications for scientific evaluation, testimony, values, progress, and credit, as well as the nature of science during times of crisis. Truth, he shows, may not be easily identified in the short term. However, an evaluation of scientific justification, grounded in shared standards, is possible. This framework helps us appraise—and appreciate—historical theories that ultimately weren’t accurate and offers fresh insights about appropriate science communication and public trust in scientific research. Justification and scientific rigor are not just means to an end, Stegenga writes, but the very heart of good science. Ambitious, authoritative, and accessible, Heart of Science offers a new vision for the philosophy of science.

The Power of Nuclear

Science & Nature

From the pilot's seat in the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to Chernobyl's exclusion zone and to the site in Finland where highly radioactive waste will be buried, this is the incredible story of nuclear power. Providing a vivid account of the characters and events that have shaped the world's most controversial energy source and our thinking around it, The Power of Nuclear weaves politics, culture and technology to explore nuclear power's past and future. In his quest to disentangle myth from facts, Marco Visscher asks: How dangerous is radiation? What should you do after a nuclear accident? Have nuclear weapons really made the world less safe? And why do some still reject the evidence showing the atom can provide unlimited clean energy, free countries of their dependence on fossil fuels and combat climate change? This is an informed look at what we might do with nuclear power - and what nuclear power is doing to us.

Histoire de l'électricité

Science & Nature

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

The Norm Chronicles

Science & Nature

Is it safer to fly or take the train? How dangerous is skydiving? And is eating that extra sausage going to kill you? We've all heard the statistics for risky activities, but what do they mean in the real world? In The Norm Chronicles, journalist Michael Blastland and risk expert David Spiegelhalter explore these questions through the stories of average Norm and an ingenious measurement called the MicroMort-a one in a million chance of dying. They reveal why general anesthesia is as dangerous as a parachute jump, giving birth in the US is nearly twice as risky as in the UK, and that the radiation from eating a banana shaves 3 seconds off your life. An entertaining guide to the statistics of personal risk, The Norm Chronicles will enlighten anyone who has ever worried about the dangers we encounter in our daily lives.

OntarioMedic FieldGuide 2012

Science & Nature

These are your new 2012 Ontario Protocols. This new format is easy to access and easy to read. The new Protocols reflect Ontario Base Hospital Group (OBHG) and AHA guidelines for BLS and ALS. Also included are Cardiac Emergencies and Rapid ECG Interpretation, Medical Emergencies and Strokes, Pediatric Emergencies and Child Birth, Traumatic Emergencies and Rapid Field Triage and Pediatric Drug Calculations for ages Neonate through 12 years.

Caos

Science & Nature

En los años ochenta físicos, biólogos, astrónomos y economistas crearon un modo de comprender la complejidad en la naturaleza. La nueva ciencia, llamada caos, ofrece un método para ver orden donde antes sólo se observaba azar e irregularidad, traspasando las disciplinas científicas tradicionales y enlazando especies inconexas de desorden, desde la turbulencia del tiempo atmosférico a los complicados ritmos del corazón humano, desde el diseño de los copos de nieve a los torbellinos arenosos del desierto. A pesar de surgir de una ardua actividad matemática, el caos es un saber del mundo cotidiano: cómo se forman las nubes, por qué se eleva el humo o cuál es la razón de que el agua se arremoline en los ríos. Caos - ya un clásico de la divulgación científica- es el relato de una idea que espantó y embrujó a los científicos que se dedicaron a comprobarla. Acabada la lectura de Caos, no se ve el mundo con los mismos ojos.

Notes on Complexity

Science & Nature

2024 Nautilus Book Award Winner * The Marginalian Favorite Books of 2023An electrifying introduction to complexity theory, the science of how complex systems behave, that explains the interconnectedness of all things and that Deepak Chopra says, “will change the way you understand yourself and the universe.”Nothing in the universe is more complex than life. Throughout the skies, in oceans, and across lands, life is endlessly on the move. In its myriad forms—from cells to human beings, social structures, and ecosystems—life is open-ended, evolving, unpredictable, yet adaptive and self-sustaining. Complexity theory addresses the mysteries that animate science, philosophy, and metaphysics: how this teeming array of existence, from the infinitesimal to the infinite, is in fact a seamless living whole and what our place, as conscious beings, is within it.The implications of complexity theory are profound, providing insight into everything from the permeable boundaries of our bodies to the nature of consciousness. Notes on Complexity is an invitation to trade our limited, individualistic view for the expansive perspective of a universe that is dynamic, cohesive, and alive—a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Physician, scientist, and philosopher Neil Theise takes us to the exhilarating frontiers of human knowledge and in the process restores wonder and meaning to our experience of the everyday.

Je suis un initié

Science & Nature

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

Réchauffement spirituel

Science & Nature

Comment aborder la question du réchauffement climatique avec une philosophie actuelle ?Face au réchauffement climatique, quand la vie et le monde souffrent conjointement, c’est le tout qu’il faut considérer, ni proprement physique, ni proprement psychique, mais appelant une discipline nouvelle qui relève des deux à la fois. L’ordre de quelque chose (la matière) et l’ordre du rien (l’esprit), à moins de détruire la vie, sont à tenir ensemble. À quoi ce livre s’applique.Entre physique et psychologie, quand l’unité s’envisage...EXTRAIT Au siècle dernier, alors que la psychanalyse battait son plein et se divisait en chapelles, il y eut un homme pour soutenir qu’à l’égal de la physique, la psychologie pouvait être une discipline de la science et en témoigner par son œuvre. Dans le même temps, un autre, physicien celui-là, reçut le prix Nobel de chimie pour avoir unifié la thermodynamique des processus irréversibles. Le premier se nommait Paul Diel, le second Ilya Prigogine. Un troisième, anonyme mais ouvert au progrès qu’apportait chacun d’eux, se demanda si une union possible de ces disciplines n’éclairerait pas ce que l’on entend par une vie humaine : j’étais celui-là.Je me trouvais entre deux livres, chacun relevant de la science, dans deux disciplines différentes, l’un parlant de physique, l’autre de psychologie. Physicien dans le premier, je suivais la réalité physique ; psychologue dans le second, la réalité psychique. Ces réalités étaient différentes, mais les lois qui les régissaient restaient les mêmes, selon une situation établie en science que l’on appelle homologie (littéralement : « mêmes lois »). Deux ordres se trouvaient en présence, celui de « quelque chose », avec les phénomènes, et celui du « rien », avec les lois, le premier se rapportant aux sens, le second à ce qu’on appellerait l’esprit. Diel ainsi avait raison : la psychologie telle qu’il l’entendait, respectant les mêmes lois que la physique, était à son égale une discipline de la science, chacune nécessaire, avec d’autres sans doute, pour saisir et concevoir une vie humaine. On était en 1992 et je signais un article intitulé : « La physique, la psychologie et l’unité de la vie ». Un constat, pas plus, mais qui soutenait l’intuition de Diel en ouvrant sur la science, celle-ci comprise alors comme un moyen d’expliciter la vie – la science et non la philosophie comme on s’y serait attendu – ; au lieu de l’ordre incertain des choses, l’ordre du rien des lois qui ne peut s’effacer. Dieu est de l’ordre du rien, c’est sa toute-puissance. La vie est de l’ordre du rien, elle ne peut pas mourir.À PROPOS DE L'AUTEUR Jacques Baron, ingénieur civil des Pont set Chaussées, docteur ès sciences physiques, diplômé d’études approfondies de philosophie, a été directeur scientifique et technique dans l’industrie. Sa première intuition, à l’origine d’un travail immense dont ce livre synthèse constitue le point d’orgue, date de 1976.

The Long View

Science & Nature

A wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of the importance of long-term thinking.Humans are unique in our ability to understand time, able to comprehend the past and future like no other species. Yet modern-day technology and capitalism have supercharged our short-termist tendencies and trapped us in the present, at the mercy of reactive politics, quarterly business targets and 24-hour news cycles.It wasn't always so. In medieval times, craftsmen worked on cathedrals that would be unfinished in their lifetime. Indigenous leaders fostered intergenerational reciprocity. And in the early twentieth century, writers dreamed of worlds thousands of years hence. Now, as we face long-term challenges on an unprecedented scale, how do we recapture that far-sighted vision?Richard Fisher takes us from the boardrooms of Japan - home to some of the world's oldest businesses - to European laboratories where scientists work as custodians on centuries-long experiments. He examines the psychological biases that discourage the long view, and talks to the growing number of people from the worlds of philosophy, technology, science and the arts who are exploring smart ways to overcome them. How can we learn to widen our perception of time and honour our obligations to the lives of those not yet born?

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