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Nature: An Economic History
by Geerat J. VermeijFrom humans to hermit crabs to deep water plankton, all living things compete for locally limiting resources. This universal truth unites three bodies of thought--economics, evolution, and history--that have developed largely in mutual isolation. Here, Geerat Vermeij undertakes a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the facts and theories of biology, economics, and geology to show how processes common to all economic systems--competition, cooperation, adaptation, and feedback--govern evolution as surely as they do the human economy, and how historical patterns in both human and nonhuman evolution follow from this principle. Using a wealth of examples of evolutionary innovations, Vermeij argues that evolution and economics are one. Powerful consumers and producers exercise disproportionate controls on the characteristics, activities, and distribution of all life forms. Competition-driven demand by consumers, when coupled with supply-side conditions permitting economic growth, leads to adaptation and escalation among organisms. Although disruptions in production halt or reverse these processes temporarily, they amplify escalation in the long run to produce trends in all economic systems toward greater power, higher production rates, and a wider reach for economic systems and their strongest members. Despite our unprecedented power to shape our surroundings, we humans are subject to all the economic principles and historical trends that emerged at life's origin more than 3 billion years ago. Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and sweeping in scope, Nature: An Economic History shows that the human institutions most likely to preserve opportunity and adaptability are, after all, built like successful living things.
Nature: An Economic History
by Geerat VermeijFrom humans to hermit crabs to deep water plankton, all living things compete for locally limiting resources. This universal truth unites three bodies of thought--economics, evolution, and history--that have developed largely in mutual isolation. Here, Geerat Vermeij undertakes a groundbreaking and provocative exploration of the facts and theories of biology, economics, and geology to show how processes common to all economic systems--competition, cooperation, adaptation, and feedback--govern evolution as surely as they do the human economy, and how historical patterns in both human and nonhuman evolution follow from this principle. Using a wealth of examples of evolutionary innovations, Vermeij argues that evolution and economics are one. Powerful consumers and producers exercise disproportionate controls on the characteristics, activities, and distribution of all life forms. Competition-driven demand by consumers, when coupled with supply-side conditions permitting economic growth, leads to adaptation and escalation among organisms. Although disruptions in production halt or reverse these processes temporarily, they amplify escalation in the long run to produce trends in all economic systems toward greater power, higher production rates, and a wider reach for economic systems and their strongest members. Despite our unprecedented power to shape our surroundings, we humans are subject to all the economic principles and historical trends that emerged at life's origin more than 3 billion years ago. Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and sweeping in scope, Nature: An Economic History shows that the human institutions most likely to preserve opportunity and adaptability are, after all, built like successful living things.
Nature: Discover the World’s Wonderful Habitats
by Manon BucciarelliOryx, chanterelle, regale, saguaro, kelp . . . Unlock the secrets of nature's most intriguing inhabitants in a beautifully illustrated voyage across the globe's diverse ecosystems.This stunning book is a captivating exploration of the unique and enchanting species behind these intriguing names. From the vast expanses of the jungle to the serene waters of the lagoon, from the uncharted depths of the abyss to the familiar beauty of an orchard, and through the bustling life of the city to the majestic tranquility of the mountains—embark on a dreamlike adventure across 16 diverse ecosystems.With over 90 plant and animal species to discover, this book offers a fun and interactive learning experience for curious minds of all ages. Each page encouraging readers to guess, search, and find out not only the names of these wonderful species but also the biotopes they inhabit.Journey through these amazing ecosystems and immerse yourself in the beauty, complexity, and interconnectivity of life on our planet. Witness the wonder of nature's creations and foster a deeper appreciation and understanding of our world's precious diversity.
Nature: Ethnobiology in the Confluence of Actors, Territories and Disciplines (The Latin American Studies Book Series)
by María Lelia Pochettino Aylen Capparelli Pablo C. Stampella Diego AndreoniThis book provides the state of the art of ethnobiology in Argentina and related Latin American countries, highlighting timely trends and topics. It synthesizes studies resulting from the III Jornadas Argentinas de Etnobiología y Sociedad (III JAES—3rd Argentinian Meeting of Ethnobiology and Society), convened in La Plata in 2021. As a relatively new academic development, ethnobiology integrates approaches from different points of view, such as biology, anthropology, geography, history, linguistics, and, in a crucial recent advance, local perspectives. Consequently, this volume contains 33 contributions from 86 authors of different countries, orientations, and disciplines—but all related to interrelationships between people/s and the natural environment. Chapters cover a diverse array of topics, ranging from biocultural relationships and their historical construction through time to conservation of biocultural and agrodiversity, ethnomycology, ethnophycology, and meliponiculture and beyond. The volume’s main goal is to propitiate the preservation of biocultural diversity through the application of ethnobiological wisdom in a global context characterized by the accelerated loss of traditional knowledge. The contributions aim to transcend the nature/culture dichotomy, emphasizing the inextricable relationship between communities and their environment and the importance of acting jointly in the construction of the inhabited landscape and local identity.
Naturerleben und Reflexion: Eine qualitative Untersuchung zur Erforschung von Naturerfahrungen Jugendlicher im schulischen Kontext
by Katharina FrüchtnichtKatharina Früchtnicht untersucht auf Grundlage von Kleingruppendiskussionen mit Jugendlichen die Bedeutung von Natur und Erlebnissen in der Natur, die Jugendliche diesen beimessen. Zudem wird eine auf Reflexion abzielende Versprachlichung von Erlebnissen in der Natur sowie deren Bedeutung für die Erfahrungsprozesse der Jugendlichen analysiert. Für eine theoretische Klärung des Begriffs ‚Naturerfahrung‘ und der Schärfung eines Reflexionsverständnisses bezieht sich die Arbeit auf den Erfahrungsbegriff von John Dewey sowie auf den didaktischen Ansatz der Alltagsphantasien. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen der Analyse plädiert die Arbeit für eine pädagogische Praxis, die den Jugendlichen in ihrem Erleben in der Natur ein hohes Maß an Freiheit und Selbstbestimmtheit ermöglicht und gleichzeitig angeleitete Reflexionsanlässe bietet.
Natures in Translation: Romanticism and Colonial Natural History
by Alan BewellUnderstanding the dynamics of British colonialism and the enormous ecological transformations that took place through the mobilization and globalized management of natures.For many critics, Romanticism is synonymous with nature writing, for representations of the natural world appear during this period with a freshness, concreteness, depth, and intensity that have rarely been equaled. Why did nature matter so much to writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? And how did it play such an important role in their understanding of themselves and the world?In Natures in Translation, Alan Bewell argues that there is no Nature in the singular, only natures that have undergone transformation through time and across space. He examines how writers—as disparate as Erasmus and Charles Darwin, Joseph Banks, Gilbert White, William Bartram, William Wordsworth, John Clare, and Mary Shelley—understood a world in which natures were traveling and resettling the globe like never before. Bewell presents British natural history as a translational activity aimed at globalizing local natures by making them mobile, exchangeable, comparable, and representable. Bewell explores how colonial writers, in the period leading up to the formulation of evolutionary theory, responded to a world in which new natures were coming into being while others disappeared. For some of these writers, colonial natural history held the promise of ushering in a "cosmopolitan" nature in which every species, through trade and exchange, might become a true "citizen of the world." Others struggled with the question of how to live after the natures they depended upon were gone. Ultimately, Natures in Translation demonstrates that—far from being separate from the dominant concerns of British imperial culture—nature was integrally bound up with the business of empire.
Nature’s Biodiversity: The Search, for Beginnings and for Order
by Joseph HellerThis book is about our quest over the centuries, from ancient Greece onwards, for pattern in the rich diversity of life. How did our ancestors think that living creatures first came to be, each fitting so well to its specific environment? Does biodiversity have a purpose? What biodiversity exists, beyond what our eyes can see? Do dragons and unicorns exist? How did the world begin, how did order emerge and were there several Creation events? Reproduction resembles Creation in that order appears out of nothing, form out of matter. Can different reproduction modes increase biodiversity? Why sexual reproduction? Can living creatures, and hence biodiversity, arise from non-living dust? How do embryos develop, from a featureless mass into an orderly, organised living body? Does embryonic development dictate diversity and do species ever go extinct? What is a soul? Do animals have souls? Do souls migrate, between man and animal? Does inheritance of acquired characters create biodiversity? Does diversity form an orderly ladder from plants through animals to Man, or perhaps orderly circles-within-circles? These questions and many others have been central to our culture&’s overall view of nature, from ancient times onwards. This book, presenting the urge to understand overall pattern in the diversity of life throughout history, takes a broad approach. It links theories of classification with those of reproduction, embryology, theology and (eventually) evolution, as they developed from ancient days onwards, over 2400 years. Over 250 illustrations accompany the text, many taken from the ancient, original treatises, many others painted especially for this book, to present specific animals or ideas. This comprehensive view of the study of biodiversity will appeal to zoology lecturers and students, biology teachers and amateur naturalists, as well as to lecturers and learners of history, of theology; and of course, to anybody seeking to broaden horizons.
Nature’s Clocks: How Scientists Measure the Age of Almost Everything
by Doug Macdougall"Radioactivity is like a clock that never needs adjusting," writes Doug Macdougall. "It would be hard to design a more reliable timekeeper." In Nature's Clocks, Macdougall tells how scientists who were seeking to understand the past arrived at the ingenious techniques they now use to determine the age of objects and organisms. By examining radiocarbon (C-14) dating--the best known of these methods--and several other techniques that geologists use to decode the distant past, Macdougall unwraps the last century's advances, explaining how they reveal the age of our fossil ancestors such as "Lucy," the timing of the dinosaurs' extinction, and the precise ages of tiny mineral grains that date from the beginning of the earth's history. In lively and accessible prose, he describes how the science of geochronology has developed and flourished. Relating these advances through the stories of the scientists themselves--James Hutton, William Smith, Arthur Holmes, Ernest Rutherford, Willard Libby, and Clair Patterson--Macdougall shows how they used ingenuity and inspiration to construct one of modern science's most significant accomplishments: a timescale for the earth's evolution and human prehistory.
Naturnaher Wasserbau
by Heinz Patt Peter Jürging Werner KrausDer Autor stellt die wichtigsten Grundlagen für die Planung und Durchführung naturnaher Maßnahmen an Fließgewässern dar. Dabei behandelt er Technik und Ökologie als gleichwertige Partner. Hinweise zur aktuellen rechtlichen Situation, zum Planungsablauf sowie neue Aspekte der Gewässerunterhaltung sind ebenso enthalten wie hydrologische, hydraulische und sedimentologische Grundlagen. Die 4. Auflage berücksichtigt die Neufassungen zahlreicher Gesetze, u. a. des Bundesnaturschutzgesetzes, sowie das seit April 2010 gültige Wasserhaushaltsgesetz.
Naturnaher Wasserbau: Entwicklung und Gestaltung von Fließgewässern
by Heinz PattDer Autor stellt die wichtigsten Grundlagen für die Planung und Durchführung naturnaher Maßnahmen an Fließgewässern dar. Dabei behandelt er Technik und Ökologie als gleichwertige Partner. Hinweise zur aktuellen rechtlichen Situation, zum Planungsablauf sowie neue Aspekte der Gewässerunterhaltung sind ebenso enthalten wie hydrologische, hydraulische und sedimentologische Grundlagen. Die 4. Auflage berücksichtigt die Neufassungen zahlreicher Gesetze, u. a. des Bundesnaturschutzgesetzes, sowie das seit April 2010 gültige Wasserhaushaltsgesetz.
Naturnaher Wasserbau: Entwicklung und Gestaltung von Fließgewässern
by Heinz PattDieses Fachbuch wurde im Hinblick auf die Neufassungen zahlreicher Umweltgesetze aktualisiert. Zu nennen ist insbesondere die Änderung des Wasserhaushaltsgesetz (WHG). Des Weiteren ist der Stand der Arbeiten im Rahmen der Umsetzung der EG-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie fortgeschrieben. Hierbei sind die Erfahrungen mit den Maßnahmenprogrammen dargestellt. Insgesamt wird ein geschlossenes Bild für Planung und Durchführung naturnaher Maßnahmen an unseren Fließgewässern vorgestellt. Umfassende Hinweise zur aktuellen rechtlichen Situation, zum Planungsablauf und auf neue Aspekte bei der Gewässerunterhaltung sind ebenso enthalten wie hydrologische, hydraulische und sedimentologische Grundlagen. Technik und Ökologie sind in diesem Werk über den naturnahen Wasserbau gleichwertige Partner. Es wendet sich in fachübergreifender Blickweise an die in Wasserwirtschafts- und Naturschutzverwaltungen sowie in Planungsbüros tätigen Ingenieure, Landespfleger und Biologen sowie an alle, die für Ausbau und Unterhaltung von Fließgewässern zuständig oder daran interessiert sind.
Naturschutz: Eine kritische Einführung
by Klaus-Dieter HupkeIn Naturschutzgebieten geschieht vieles, das auf den ersten Blick widersprüchlich ist. So werden beim Pflegeeinsatz Blumenwiesen abgemäht, wo doch alle dort wachsenden Pflanzen unter Naturschutz stehen. An anderer Stelle werden im Flachmoor geschützte Schilfbestände abgebrannt oder in einem Dünenschutzgebiet die oberste Bodenschicht mit Planierraupen abgetragen. Wiederum andere Flächen sollen völlig unberührt von menschlichen Eingriffen bleiben. Der Autor Klaus-Dieter Hupke zeigt die verschiedenen Strategien von Naturschutz auf. Er zeigt auch, dass Naturschutz zumeist gerade das nicht ist, was der Begriff im Kern aussagt: „Schutz der Natur“. In Mitteleuropa handelt es sich bei Naturschutzgebieten im Gegenteil überwiegend um die Relikte alter Agrar- und damit Kulturlandschaften. Oftmals stehen auch ästhetische Aspekte eines Landschaftsausschnitts bei der Ausweisung als Naturdenkmal oder Naturschutzgebiet im Vordergrund. Darüber hinaus läuft der Naturschutz Gefahr, zur Ersatzhandlung und zum Alibi für eine in Mitteleuropa wie global immer noch wachsende Zerstörung traditioneller und naturnaher Landschaftssysteme zu werden.Die aktualisierte zweite Auflage bezieht die Folgen des Klimawandels für den Naturschutz nun explizit ein und hat auch an einigen Stellen für die entsprechenden Leser einen stärkeren Bezug auf Österreich sowie auf den zentralalpinen Raum eingearbeitet.
Naturstoffe und Biochemie: Ein Überblick für Chemiker und Biotechnologen (essentials)
by Fabian Ebner Linda Anna Michelle Gehre Claudia TallianDieses essential gibt einen kompakten #65533;berblick #65533;ber die chemischen Grundlagen der Naturstoffe und Biochemie. Es werden ausgew#65533;hlte Stoffklassen mit ihren biologischen und chemischen Funktionen sowie deren Reaktionen und Synthese diskutiert. Die Schwerpunkte liegen hierbei auf den wichtigsten Biomolek#65533;len wie den Kohlenhydraten, den Aminos#65533;uren, den Lipiden, den Terpenen und den Farbstoffen.
Natürliche und künstliche Intelligenz: Ein kritischer Vergleich
by Gerhard Roth Lukas Tuggener Fabian Christoph RothDieses Sachbuch fasst die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der natürlichen und künstlichen Intelligenzsysteme zusammen und analysiert ihre Leistungen in einem kritischen Vergleich. Fachkenntnisse sind keine Voraussetzung. Nach einer Einführung in die Intelligenzforschung folgt die Beschreibung menschlicher und tierischer Intelligenz und deren neurobiologischen Grundlagen. Dieser natürlichen Intelligenz wird im Anschluss die künstliche Intelligenz gegenübergestellt, wobei die wichtigsten Grundprinzipien und die Entwicklung hin zu heutigen KI-Systemen betrachtet werden. Dies beinhaltet auch die wichtige Frage, inwiefern KI-Systeme vom Gehirn und dessen Arbeitsweisen lernen können und ob durch das „Nachbauen“ von Nervenzellenverbünden mit den sogenannten neuromorphen Chips vergleichbare Leistungen erreichbar sind oder sein werden. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf der kritischen Betrachtung und Einordnung der Fähigkeiten von KI-Systemen in Hinblick auf Denken und Handeln als eine selbstständige Entscheidungsinstanz. Letzteres wirft Fragen hinsichtlich moralischer Entscheidungen und des möglichen Kontrollverlusts über solche Systeme auf, die zurzeit nicht abschließend beantwortet werden können
Naval Analytical Capabilities: Improving Capabilities-based Planning
by National Research Council of the National AcademiesThe National Academies Press (NAP)--publisher for the National Academies--publishes more than 200 books a year offering the most authoritative views, definitive information, and groundbreaking recommendations on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health. Our books are unique in that they are authored by the nation's leading experts in every scientific field.
Naval Expeditionary Logistics: Enabling Operational Maneuver From the Sea
by National Research CouncilInformation on Naval Expeditionary Logistics
Naval Forces' Capability For Theater Missile Defense
by Institute of Medicien National Academy of Science National Academy of EnegineeringA report on the Naval Forces' Capability For Theater Missile Defense
Naval Forces' Defense Capabilities Against Chemical and Biological Warfare Threats
by Committee for an Assessment of Naval Forces' Defense Capabilities Against Chemical Biological Warfare ThreatsThis book reviews a draft report from the federal government that assesses the effects of oxygenated gasoline on public health, air quality, fuel economy, engine performance, and water quality. In addition to evaluating the scientific basis of the report, the book identifies research needed to better understand the impacts of oxygenated fuels. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), which is intended to reduce carbon monoxide pollution during winter, is the most commonly used additive in the federal oxygenated fuels program. MTBE has been implicated in complaints by the public of headaches, coughs, and nausea. Other questions have been raised about reduced fuel economy and engine performance and pollution of ground water due to the use of MTBE in gasoline. The book provides conclusions and recommendations about each major topic addressed in the government's report.
Naval Mine Warfare: Operational and Technical Challenges for Naval Forces
by Committee for Mine Warfare AssessmentA report on the Operational and Technical Challenges for Naval Forces
Navier-Stokes Turbulence: Theory and Analysis
by Wolfgang KollmannThe book serves as a core text for graduate courses in advanced fluid mechanics and applied science. It consists of two parts. The first provides an introduction and general theory of fully developed turbulence, where treatment of turbulence is based on the linear functional equation derived by E. Hopf governing the characteristic functional that determines the statistical properties of a turbulent flow. In this section, Professor Kollmann explains how the theory is built on divergence free Schauder bases for the phase space of the turbulent flow and the space of argument vector fields for the characteristic functional. Subsequent chapters are devoted to mapping methods, homogeneous turbulence based upon the hypotheses of Kolmogorov and Onsager, intermittency, structural features of turbulent shear flows and their recognition.
Navier-Stokes Turbulence: Theory and Analysis
by Wolfgang KollmannThis updated/augmented second edition retains it class-tested content and pedagogy as a core text for graduate courses in advanced fluid mechanics and applied science. The new edition adds revised sections, clarification, problems, and chapter extensions including a rewritten section on Schauder bases for turbulent pipe flow, coverage of Cantwell’s mixing length closure for turbulent pipe flow, and a section on the variational Hessian. Consisting of two parts, the first provides an introduction and general theory of fully developed turbulence, where treatment of turbulence is based on the linear functional equation derived by E. Hopf governing the characteristic functional that determines the statistical properties of a turbulent flow. In this section, Professor Kollmann explains how the theory is built on divergence free Schauder bases for the phase space of the turbulent flow and the space of argument vector fields for the characteristic functional. The second segment, presented over subsequent chapters, is devoted to mapping methods, homogeneous turbulence based upon the hypotheses of Kolmogorov and Onsager, intermittency, structural features of turbulent shear flows and their recognition.
Navier-Stokes-Fourier Equations
by Radyadour Kh. ZeytounianThis research monograph deals with a modeling theory of the system of Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations for a Newtonian fluid governing a compressible viscous and heat conducting flows. The main objective is threefold. First , to 'deconstruct' this Navier-Stokes-Fourier system in order to unify the puzzle of the various partial simplified approximate models used in Newtonian Classical Fluid Dynamics and this, first facet, have obviously a challenging approach and a very important pedagogic impact on the university education. The second facet of the main objective is to outline a rational consistent asymptotic/mathematical theory of the of fluid flows modeling on the basis of a typical Navier-Stokes-Fourier initial and boundary value problem. The third facet is devoted to an illustration of our rational asymptotic/mathematical modeling theory for various technological and geophysical stiff problems from: aerodynamics, thermal and thermocapillary convections and also meteofluid dynamics.