- Table View
- List View
The Rain Forests of Home: Profile Of A North American Bioregion
by Jerry F. Franklin Patricia Marchak Peter Schoonmaker Edward C. Wolf Bettina Von HagenStretching from the redwoods of California to the vast stands of spruce and hemlock in southeast Alaska, coastal temperate rain forests have been home to one of the highest densities of human settlements on the continent for thousands of years. However, the well-being of this region is increasingly threatened by diminishing natural capital, declining employment in traditional resource-based industries, and outward migration of young people to cities.The Rain Forests of Home brings together a diverse array of thinkers -- conservationists, community organizers, botanists, anthropologists, zoologists, Native Americans, ecologists, and others -- to present a multilayered, multidimensional portrait of the coastal temperate rain forest and its people. Joining natural and social science perspectives, the book provides readers with a valuable understanding of the region's natural and human history, along with a vision of its future and strategies for realizing that vision.Authors describe the physical setting and examine the geographic and evolutionary forces that have shaped the region since the last glacial period, with individual chapters covering oceanography, climate, geologic processes, vegetation, fauna, streams and rivers, and terrestrial/marine interactions. Three chapters cover the history of human habitation, and the book concludes with an exploration of recent economic, political, and cultural trends.Interspersed among the chapters are compelling profiles of community-level initiatives and programs aimed at restoring damaged ecosystems, promoting sustainable use of resources, and fostering community-based economic development. The Rain Forests of Home offers for the first time a unified description of the characteristics, history, culture, economy, and ecology of the coastal temperate rain forest. It is essential reading for anyone who lives in or cares about the region.
The Rain Wizard: The Amazing, Mysterious, True Life of Charles Mallory Hatfield
by Larry Dane BrimnerIn December 1915, San Diego's leaders claimed the town's reservoirs were nearly dry. Knowing the city would not survive and grow unless it had water, they hired Charles Mallory Hatfield, whose skills at making rain were legendary. But when torrents and torrents of rain came, disaster struck. Roads were closed, people drowned, and dams burst. The town elders blamed Hatfield and refused to pay him. Was Hatfield really a rain wizard, or simply a fraud? Renowned author Larry Dane Brimner examines the man and the myth by relying on personal recollections from growing up in California, as well as extensive research. Readers will be captivated by Hatfield--a man once known as the Frankenstein of the air--and his secret rainmaking formulas. Includes author's note, source notes, and bibliography.
The Rainbow Sky
by Tony BuickThere are many more astronomical and meteorological phenomena involving color than most people are aware of, let alone have observed. Visual double stars with contrasting color are obvious targets for amateur astronomers, but there are many more - everything from colors on the Moon, through colors on the planets and in deep-sky objects, to man-made colors in the night sky. A great deal of these colored phenomena can be seen with the unaided eye, and can be visible in - and imaged with - a modest telescope, but all require preparation, anticipation and planning. The result will be some breathtaking sights, along with some amazing images. Just browsing through this book will captivate the reader. Some events are familiar but present severe challenges to photograph. Some can be captured only by using previously unfamiliar techniques. And it is almost certain that some will never have been seen before by readers. All the colored objects and phenomena are accessible by using the right techniques, for which Tony Buick provides easy-to-follow instructions.
The Rainforest Book (Conservation for Kids)
by Charlotte MilnerEmbark on a journey through the magical world of the rainforest and introduce little nature-lovers to an enchanting, yet threatened, tropical worldStep inside the fascinating world of tropical rainforests where you&’ll encounter an enormous variety of flora and fauna! This gorgeously illustrated picture book is a wonderful way to introduce kids to the world of nature and conservation.The rainforests are bursting with life! Sweep aside the liana vines, hop over the giant roots of the kapok tree, and discover magnificent tigers roaming the jungle. In this enchanting children&’s book, you&’ll discover amazing rainforest animals, learn about the diverse range of life-giving plants, and find out why the Amazon rainforest is known as the &“lungs&” of our Earth. This colorful children&’s book captures the spirit of the rainforest through its beautifully detailed illustrations by Charlotte Milner. It has simple, clear text that is accessible to less confident readers but a strong message about deforestation and climate change will captivate older readers too.Let&’s Explore!Venture into the depths of the tropical rainforest and uncover riveting facts about these marvels of nature. Did you know that the air in a rainforest feels wet because trees and plants release water that they don&’t need into the air? And that over half of our planet&’s wildlife live in the rainforest? The world&’s rainforests are packed with amazing creatures! From the nocturnal kinkajou to the stinky rafflesia flower – there is plenty to discover in this plant and animal encyclopedia. Perfect for kids aged 5-9 years, it also includes a fun gardening activity section with instructions on how to grow your own miniature rainforest at home.Complete the Series:Following on from The Bee Book, The Sea Book, and The Bat Book, these engaging plant and animal books highlight the important ecological issues faced by our planet. It&’s perfect for parents who want to encourage children to learn about ecology and remind them that it is up to us to care for our planet.
The Rainforest Survivors: Adventures Among Today's Stone Age Jungle Tribes
by Paul RaffaeleEven in our hyper-connected world, there are tribes scattered across the far reaches of the globe who still live much the same way that their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Having had minimal contact with the outside world, these peoples currently live in harmony and unison with the environment around them. But as technology grows and the human population expands, the way of life of these tribes becomes increasingly threatened with every passing day. In The Rainforest Survivors, veteran overseas reporter Paul Raffaele recounts his time spent with three unique jungle tribes—the peace-loving Congo Pygmies, New Guinea’s tree-dwelling Korowai cannibals, and the Amazon’s ferocious Korubo. Over months spent living in these three communities, Raffaele experienced firsthand wisdom and mysterious rites forged over many millennia. Resonating with high adventure and remarkable characters, The Rainforest Survivors details the daily lives of these relatively unknown peoples and provides key political and environmental context, showing how outside forces are closing in on them and threatening to change forever their ways of life. Enthralling and unforgettable, this compelling book is the important portrait of indigenous peoples living the way they have for centuries.
The Rambler's Handbook: A Seasonal Guide to the Best Walking Routes in Britain
by The Ramblers' AssociationDiscover the best of Britain's rambles, all year round.Britain is brimming with stunning walks, and this go-to guide sets out our 40 favourite routes around the UK. Arranged by season, each walk includes detailed route instructions, a map, and notes about landmarks and wildlife to keep an eye out for.Amble through bluebell-carpeted West Country woodlands in spring, and explore North Yorkshire's limestone slopes ablaze with wildflowers in early summer. Experience the fiery autumnal hues of the Wye Valley forest, or take a winter walk to see the fallow deer in Richmond Park.We've included a beautiful selection of varied walks all over the UK, from short country strolls to challenging hill hikes, gentle woodland wanders to breathtaking cliff-path adventures, there are routes to cater for all levels of fitness and experience.So, pack your bag, grab your boots and join us for a ramble around our beautiful landscape.
The Rambler's Handbook: A Seasonal Guide to the Best Walking Routes in Britain
by The Ramblers' AssociationDiscover the best of Britain's rambles, all year round.Britain is brimming with stunning walks, and this go-to guide sets out our 40 favourite routes around the UK. Arranged by season, each walk includes detailed route instructions, a map, and notes about landmarks and wildlife to keep an eye out for.Amble through bluebell-carpeted West Country woodlands in spring, and explore North Yorkshire's limestone slopes ablaze with wildflowers in early summer. Experience the fiery autumnal hues of the Wye Valley forest, or take a winter walk to see the fallow deer in Richmond Park.We've included a beautiful selection of varied walks all over the UK, from short country strolls to challenging hill hikes, gentle woodland wanders to breathtaking cliff-path adventures, there are routes to cater for all levels of fitness and experience.So, pack your bag, grab your boots and join us for a ramble around our beautiful landscape.
The Randstad: A Polycentric Metropolis (Regions and Cities)
by Vincent Nadin Wil ZonneveldThe Randstad metropolitan region encompassing Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht in the western Netherlands is regarded worldwide as a model of a ‘successful’ polycentric metropolis. It is widely cited as an example of how a region of interconnected small cities can effectively compete globally by providing complementary functions which together match the power of large monocentric cities. The methods of strategic spatial planning, regional design and strategic projects that are said to underpin this polycentric metropolis are used as models for practitioners and students around the world. But is this high reputation deserved? Does the Randstad really function as a polycentric metropolis? The operation of the Randstad as a polycentric networked region is controversial both in terms of the actual strength of relations between its component parts, and the value of promoting polycentricity in policy. What are the costs and benefits of a Randstad metropolis? Does polycentricity improve the performance of the region in economic, social and environmental terms? How has the polycentric metropolis evolved and what part is played by its delta location? Has spatial planning made a difference in the form and operation of the region today? How will this spatial configuration fare in the face of the climate crisis and need to create healthy cities and regions? Is there benefit in pursuing the idea of a polycentric metropolis in government policy and action, and how? These questions are of critical interest within the Netherlands but experience in the Randstad offers valuable insights to many other complex urban regions around the world. This book will provide a critical analysis of the Randstad and lessons for strategic planning in other metropolitan regions.
The Rangelands of Libya
by Gustave Gintzburger Slim SaïdiLibya remains a land of mysteries with a harsh arid climate, a land rich in millenaries of troubled history, a land where the Sahara meet the Mediterranean Sea, a land where the West and the East Mediterranean merge. Libya is also a land where the desert and the sown intermingle in the steppe country where the rainfall is unpredictable, the soils are poor, rocky, saline, rendering rainfed cultivation hazardous, where grazing and rainfed cropping remained for long the only viable agricultural options. Over the past 60 years, oil resources allowed gigantic agricultural development projects, urbanization, road network expansion and well drilling. This changed the ways of life of rural populations, impacting and undoubtedly altering rangelands conditions and systems, as well as native vegetation cover, wildlife and land use. This book reviews the past and current environmental and agricultural condition of the Libyan rangelands with example of how territories and resources are used by tribal communities. It describes, explains and illustrates the landscapes, the vegetation, the wildlife, the rainfed cereal systems and livestock systems, the reasons for the rampant overstocking, the relentless land clearing for hazardous cropping and uncertain irrigation projects, the wild fuelwood collection and charcoal manufacturing, triggering land degradation and desertification. Long-tested rangeland recovery and rehabilitation techniques in Libya are reviewed using appropriate plant material and proven establishment techniques with successes and failures assessed. This book is offered in hopes of a better future for the Libyan people and the whole Mediterranean arid regions from Morocco to Pakistan.
The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America's Coastal Cities
by Mike TidwellIf, like many Americans, you believe the ongoing tragedy of Hurricane Katrina was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke, you need to read this book. In the coming years and decades, the safety of your region, your town, your home may depend on the warnings you'll encounter on these pages. That's because the exact same conditions that created the Katrina catastrophe and destroyed New Orleans are being replicated right now along virtually every inch of U. S. coastline. In The Ravaging Tide, Mike Tidwell, a renowned advocate for the environment and an award-winning journalist, issues a call to arms and confronts us with some unsettling facts. Consider: In the next seventy-five years, much of the Florida peninsula could lie under ocean water. So could much of Lower Manhattan, including all of the hallowed ground zero area. Major hurricanes like Katrina, scientists say, are becoming much more frequent and more powerful. Glacier National Park in Montana will have to change its name, as it is rapidly losing all of its thirty-five remaining glaciers. The snows atop Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, so memorably evoked in the Hemingway story, have already disappeared. The fault, Tidwell argues, lies mostly with the U. S. government and the energy choices it has encouraged Americans to make over the decades. Those policies are now actively bringing rising seas and gigantic hurricanes -- the lethal forces that killed the Big Easy -- crashing into every coastal city in the country and indeed the world. The Bush administration's own reports and studies (some of which it has tried to suppress) explicitly predict more intense storms and up to three feet of sea-level rise by 2100 due to planetary warming. The danger is clear: Whether the land sinks three feet per century (as in New Orleans over the past 100 years) or sea levels rise three feet per century (as in the rest of the world over the next 100 years), the resulting calamity is the same. Although Mike Tidwell sounds the clarion in The Ravaging Tide, this is ultimately an optimistic book, one that offers a clear path to a healthier and safer world for us and our descendants. He writes of trend-setting U. S. states like New York and California that are actively cutting greenhouse gases. And he heeds his own words: In one delightful personal chapter, he takes us on a tour of his suburban Washington, D.C., home and demonstrates how he and many of his neighbors have weaned themselves from the fossil-fuel lifestyle. Even when the government is slow to change, there are steps we as families can take to, yes, change the world.
The Raven Mother (Mothers of Xsan)
by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw Huson★ Starred selection for CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens 2023! Hoarders. Scavengers. Clever foragers. Bringers of new life. Ravens have many roles, both for the land and in Gitxsan story and song. The sixth book in Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)’s Mothers of Xsan series transports young readers to Northwestern British Columbia, where they will learn about the traditions of the Gitxsan, the lives of ravens, and why these acrobatic flyers are so important to their ecosystem. Follow along as Nox Gaak, the raven mother, teaches her chicks what they need to survive with the help of her flock.
The Raven Mother (Mothers of Xsan)
by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw Huson★ Starred selection for CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens 2023! Hoarders. Scavengers. Clever foragers. Bringers of new life. Ravens have many roles, both for the land and in Gitxsan story and song. The sixth book in Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)&’s Mothers of Xsan series transports young readers to Northwestern British Columbia, where they will learn about the traditions of the Gitxsan, the lives of ravens, and why these acrobatic flyers are so important to their ecosystem. Follow along as Nox Gaak, the raven mother, teaches her chicks what they need to survive with the help of her flock.
The Raven Mother (Mothers of Xsan)
by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw Huson★ Starred selection for CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens 2023! Hoarders. Scavengers. Clever foragers. Bringers of new life. Ravens have many roles, both for the land and in Gitxsan story and song. The sixth book in Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)&’s Mothers of Xsan series transports young readers to Northwestern British Columbia, where they will learn about the traditions of the Gitxsan, the lives of ravens, and why these acrobatic flyers are so important to their ecosystem. Follow along as Nox Gaak, the raven mother, teaches her chicks what they need to survive with the help of her flock.
The Real Cost of Cheap Food
by Michael CarolanThis challenging but accessible book critically examines the dominant food regime on its own terms, by seriously asking whether we can afford cheap food and exploring what exactly cheap food affords us. Detailing the numerous ways that food has become reduced to a state, such as a price per ounce, combination of nutrients, yield per acre, or calories, the book argues for a more contextual understanding of food when debating its affordability. The author makes a compelling case for why today's global food system produces just the opposite of what it promises. The food produced under this regime is in fact exceedingly expensive. Thus meat production and consumption are inefficient uses of resources and contribute to climate change; the use of pesticides in industrial-scale agriculture may produce cheap food, but there are hidden costs to environmental protection, human health and biodiversity conservation. Many of these costs will be paid for by future generations – cheap food today may mean expensive food tomorrow. By systematically assessing these costs the book delves into issues related, but not limited, to international development, national security, health care, industrial meat production, organic farming, corporate responsibility, government subsidies, food aid and global commodity markets. The book concludes by suggesting ways forward, going beyond the usual solutions such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture, and community gardens. Exploding the myth of cheap food requires we have at our disposal a host of practices and policies. Some of those proposed and explored include microloans, subsidies for consumers, vertical agriculture, and the democratization of subsidies for producers.
The Real Cost of Cheap Food (Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment)
by Michael CarolanThis thought-provoking but accessible book critically examines the dominant food regime on its own terms, by seriously asking whether we can afford cheap food and by exploring what exactly cheap food affords us. Detailing the numerous ways that our understanding of food has narrowed, such as its price per ounce, combination of nutrients, yield per acre, or calories, the book argues for a more contextual view of food when debating its affordability. The first edition, published in 2011, was widely praised for its innovative approach and readability. In this new edition the author brings all data and citations fully up to date. Increased coverage is given to many topics including climate change, aquaculture, financialization, BRICS countries, food-based social movements, gender and ethnic issues, critical public health and land succession. There is also greater discussion about successful cases of social change throughout all chapters, by including new text boxes that emphasize these more positive messages. The author shows why today's global food system produces just the opposite of what it promises. The food produced under this regime is in fact exceedingly expensive. Many of these costs will be paid for in other ways or by future generations and cheap food today may mean expensive food tomorrow. By systematically assessing these costs the book delves into issues related, but not limited, to international development, national security, healthcare, industrial meat production, organic farming, corporate responsibility, government subsidies, food aid and global commodity markets. It is shown that exploding the myth of cheap food requires we have at our disposal a host of practices and policies.
The Real Cost of Cheap Food (Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment)
by Michael CarolanThis thought-provoking, accessible book critically examines the dominant food regime on its own terms, by seriously asking whether we can afford cheap food and by exploring what exactly cheap food affords us.The author shows why today's global food system produces just the opposite of what it promises. The food produced under this regime is in fact exceedingly expensive. Many of these costs will be paid for in other ways or by future generations and cheap food today may mean expensive food tomorrow. By systematically assessing these costs the book delves into issues related, but not limited to, the food system, the environment, sustainable development, health, and social justice. In this new edition the author brings all data and citations fully up to date. Increased coverage is given to many topics including climate change, vertical agriculture, global pandemics, geopolitical instability, agriculture 4.0, alternative proteins, and food justice. Detailing the numerous ways that our understanding of food has narrowed, such as its price per ounce, combination of nutrients, yield per acre, or calories, the book argues for a more contextual view of food when debating its affordability. Expanding an innovation introduced in the second edition, concrete case studies of collective mobilization can be found throughout all chapters to support a narrative that balances being critical with being hopeful.This book is essential reading for those interested in critical food studies, food and agriculture, and a sustainable and socially just food system.
The Real Cost of Fracking
by Sandra Steingraber Michelle Bamberger Robert OswaldA pharmacologist and a veterinarian pull back the curtain on the human and animal health effects of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" Across the country, fracking--the extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing--is being touted as the nation's answer to energy independence and a fix for a flagging economy. Drilling companies assure us that the process is safe, politicians push through drilling legislation without a serious public-health debate, and those who speak out are marginalized, their silence purchased by gas companies and their warnings about the dangers of fracking stifled. The Real Cost of Fracking pulls back the curtain on how this toxic process endangers the environment and harms people, pets, and livestock. Michelle Bamberger, a veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a pharmacologist, combine their expertise to show how contamination at drilling sites translates into ill health and heartbreak for families and their animals. By giving voice to the people at ground zero of the fracking debate, the authors vividly illustrate the consequences of fracking and issue an urgent warning to all of us: fracking poses a dire threat to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even our food supply. Bamberger and Oswald reveal the harrowing experiences of small farmers who have lost their animals, their livelihoods, and their peace of mind, and of rural families whose property values have plummeted as their towns have been invaded by drillers. At the same time, these stories give us hope, as people band together to help one another and courageously fight to reclaim their communities. The debate over fracking speaks to a core dilemma of contemporary life: we require energy to live with modern conveniences, but what degree of environmental degradation, health risks, and threats to our food supply are we willing to accept to obtain that energy? As these stories demonstrate, the stakes couldn't be higher, and this is an issue that none of us can afford to ignore.From the Hardcover edition.
The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment's Number One Enemy
by Jack M. HollanderDrawing a completely new road map toward a sustainable future, Jack M. Hollander contends that our most critical environmental problem is global poverty. His balanced, authoritative, and lucid book challenges widely held beliefs that economic development and affluence pose a major threat to the world's environment and resources. Pointing to the great strides that have been made toward improving and protecting the environment in the affluent democracies, Hollander makes the case that the essential prerequisite for sustainability is a global transition from poverty to affluence, coupled with a transition to freedom and democracy. The Real Environmental Crisis takes a close look at the major environment and resource issues--population growth; climate change; agriculture and food supply; our fisheries, forests, and fossil fuels; water and air quality; and solar and nuclear power. In each case, Hollander finds compelling evidence that economic development and technological advances can relieve such problems as food shortages, deforestation, air pollution, and land degradation, and provide clean water, adequate energy supplies, and improved public health. The book also tackles issues such as global warming, genetically modified foods, automobile and transportation technologies, and the highly significant Endangered Species Act, which Hollander asserts never would have been legislated in a poor country whose citizens struggle just to survive. Hollander asks us to look beyond the media's doomsday rhetoric about the state of the environment, for much of it is simply not true, and to commit much more of our resources where they will do the most good--to lifting the world's population out of poverty.
The Real Gorbals Story: True Tales from Glasgow's Meanest Streets
by Colin MacFarlaneColin MacFarlane was born in the Gorbals in the 1950s, 20 years after the publication of No Mean City, the classic novel about pre-war life in what was once Glasgow's most deprived district. He lived in the same street as its fictional 'razor king', Johnnie Stark, and subsequently realised that a lot of the old characters represented in the book were still around as late as the 1960s. Men still wore bunnets and played pitch and toss; women still treated the steamie as their social club. The razor gangs were running amok once again, and filth, violence, crime, rats, poverty and drunkenness abounded, just like they did in No Mean City.MacFarlane witnessed the last days of the old Gorbals as a major regeneration programme, begun in 1961, was implemented, and, as a street boy, he had a unique insight into a once great community in rapid decline. In this engrossing book, MacFarlane reveals what it was really like to live in the old Gorbals.
The Realities of Adaptive Groundwater Management: Chino Basin, California (Global Issues in Water Policy #27)
by William BlomquistThis book has three primary objectives. The first objective is to provide scholars with a more realistic view of adaptive management, without arguing against adaptive management. Adaptive management is necessary as well as desirable, but it is not easy, and demonstrating that through the Chino Basin experience is an important goal. The second objective is to provide practitioners with encouraging yet cautionary lessons about the challenges and benefits of an adaptive approach – in similar fashion as the first objective, the goal here is to endorse the adaptive approach but in a clear-eyed manner that clarifies how hard it is and how much it requires. A third objective is to show all audiences that resource governance systems can fail, change, and succeed. There is no such thing as an ideal institutional design that is guaranteed to work; rather, making institutional arrangements work entails learning and adjustment when they begin to show problems as they inevitably will.
The Reality of Time Flow: Local Becoming in Modern Physics (The Frontiers Collection)
by Richard T. ArthurIt is commonly held that there is no place for the 'now’ in physics, and also that the passing of time is something subjective, having to do with the way reality is experienced but not with the way reality is. Indeed, the majority of modern theoretical physicists and philosophers of physics contend that the passing of time is incompatible with modern physical theory, and excluded in a fundamental description of physical reality. This book provides a forceful rebuttal of such claims. In successive chapters the author explains the historical precedents of the modern opposition to time flow, giving careful expositions of matters relevant to becoming in classical physics, the special and general theories of relativity, and quantum theory, without presupposing prior expertise in these subjects. Analysing the arguments of thinkers ranging from Aristotle, Russell, and Bergson to the proponents of quantum gravity, he contends that the passage of time, understood as a local becoming of events out of those in their past at varying rates, is not only compatible with the theories of modern physics, but implicit in them.
The Reason for the Seasons
by Ellie PetersonWe all know there are four seasons in a year. But HOW do we know? Join intrepid young scientist-adventurer Joulia Copernicus on a journey around the world as she explains with humor and wit how we know what causes the seasons.Winter, spring, summer, fall -- we all have a favorite season. But what makes the seasons happen in the first place? Ellie Peterson's clear, concise language and bold, kid-friendly illustrations bring science to life through narrator Joulia Copernicus, a strong and adventurous kid scientist. Kids will laugh while learning at the same time about the science behind the changing of the seasons throughout the year.
The Reasoning of Quantum Mechanics: Operator Theory and the Harmonic Oscillator (Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Science, and Technology)
by Horst BeyerThis book presents and details the process of quantization of a classical mechanical system in a relevant physical system, the harmonic oscillator. In quantum field theory or general relativity, mathematics and physics are inextricably interwoven. As such, the book is mathematically rigorous. The author focuses on the properties of the quantum system that can be observed and measured and interprets the resulting theory. The methods of operator theory are discussed throughout in the formulation of the theory as well as in the calculation of the consequences of the theory. The book addresses the mathematical support of the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics through the spectral theorems for (densely-defined and linear) self-adjoint operators in Hilbert spaces. Considerable focus is placed on the measurement process and questions the challenges of the wave function, the EPR paradox, and Bell’s inequality.
The Reasoning of Quantum Mechanics: Operator Theory and the Harmonic Oscillator (Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Science, and Technology)
by Horst R. BeyerThis Second Edition presents and details the process of quantization of a classical mechanical system in a relevant physical system, the harmonic oscillator. As mathematics and physics are inextricably interwoven in quantum theories, the author takes a mathematically rigorous approach. The book focuses on properties of the quantum system that can be observed and measured, and the author then interprets the resulting theory. The book covers methods of operator theory in the formulation of the theory as well as in the calculation of the consequences of the theory. The author addresses the mathematical foundation of the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics through the spectral theorems for (densely-defined and linear) self-adjoint operators in complex Hilbert spaces. The book also explains the measurement process and questions the challenges of the wave function, the EPR paradox, and Bell’s inequality.
The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture: Air, Comfort and Climate (Building Research and Information)
by C. Alan ShortThe Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture challenges the modern practice of sealing up and mechanically cooling public scaled buildings in whichever climate and environment they are located. This book unravels the extremely complex history of understanding and perception of air, bad air, miasmas, airborne pathogens, beneficial thermal conditions, ideal climates and climate determinism. It uncovers inventive and entirely viable attempts to design large buildings, hospitals, theatres and academic buildings through the 19th and early 20th centuries, which use the configuration of the building itself and a shrewd understanding of the natural physics of airflow and fluid dynamics to make good, comfortable interior spaces. In exhuming these ideas and reinforcing them with contemporary scientific insight, the book proposes a recovery of the lost art and science of making naturally conditioned buildings.