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A Life in Error: From Little Slips to Big Disasters
by James ReasonThis succinct but absorbing book covers the main way stations on James Reason’s 40-year journey in pursuit of the nature and varieties of human error. In it he presents an engrossing and very personal perspective, offering the reader exceptional insights, wisdom and wit as only James Reason can. The journey begins with a bizarre absent-minded action slip committed by Professor Reason in the early 1970s - putting cat food into the teapot - and continues up to the present day, conveying his unique perceptions into a variety of major accidents that have shaped his thinking about unsafe acts and latent conditions. A Life in Error charts the development of his seminal and hugely influential work from its original focus into individual cognitive psychology through the broadening of scope to embrace social, organizational and systemic issues. The voyage recounted is both hugely entertaining and educational, imparting a real sense of how James Reason’s ground-breaking theories changed the way we think about human error, and why he is held in such esteem around the world wherever humans interact with technological systems. This book is essential reading for students, academics and safety professionals of all kinds who are interested in avoiding breakdowns that can cause serious damage to people, assets and the environment.
A Life of Magic Chemistry
by George A. Olah Thomas MathewThe autobiography of a Nobel Prize winner, this book tells us about George Olah's fascinating research into extremely strong superacids and how it yielded the common term "magic acids." Olah guides us through his long and remarkable journey, from Budapest to Cleveland to Los Angeles, with a stopover in Stockholm. This updated autobiography of a Nobel Prize winner George A. Olah: Chronicles the distinguished career of a chemist whose work in a broad range of chemistry areas, and most notably that in methane chemistry, led to technologies that impact the processing and utility of alternative fuels Is based on Olah's work on extremely strong superacids and how they yielded the common term, "magic acids" Details events since the publication of the first edition in 2000 Inspires readers with details on Dr. Olah's successful recent research on methane, intended to help provide a solution to "the oil problem" ical" carbocations - such as the norbornyl cation, which can be depicted as cationic character delocalized over several bonds. In recent years, his research has shifted from hydrocarbonsand their transformation into fuel to the methanol economy. He has joined with Robert Zubrin, Anne Korin, and James Woolsey in promoting a flexible-fuel mandate initiative.
A Little Book about BIG Chemistry: The Story of Man-Made Polymers (SpringerBriefs in Materials)
by Jim MassyThe brief explains in simple terms the essentials of polymer chemistry and how polymers came to be discovered by pioneers in this field. It relates the many uses of polymers, including those not widely recognised by the lay person. The chemistry of polymerisation and the influence of chemical structure and additives on properties are described. Ethical issues are considered, especially in the context of huge tonnages of plastics. Finally short paragraphs on more than 30 common polymers are listed chronologically with chemical structures, properties and applications. It will appeal to those with connections to or within the plastics, rubber and textile industries, science students, members of other science disciplines using polymers, as well as people just curious to know about everyday plastics.
A Little Less Arctic: Top Predators in the World's Largest Northern Inland Sea, Hudson Bay
by Lisa L. Loseto Ferguson Steven H Mark L. MalloryIn Arctic Canada, Hudson Bay is a site of great exploration history, aboriginal culture, and a vast marine wilderness supporting large populations of marine mammals and birds. These include some of the most iconic Arctic animals like beluga, narwhal, bowhead whales, and polar bears. Due to the challenges of conducting field research in this region, some of the mysteries of where these animals move, and how they are able to survive in such seemingly inhospitable, ice-choked habitats are just now being unlocked. For example, are polar bears being replaced by killer whales? This new information could not be more salient, as the Hudson Bay Region is undergoing rapid environmental change due to global warming, as well as increased pressures from industrial development interests. A Little Less Arctic brings together some of the world's leading Arctic scientists to present the current state of knowledge on the physical and biological characteristics of Hudson Bay.
A Liveable Kampung: The Challenges of Urban Expansion in Greater Jakarta and East Nusa Tenggara (Engaging Indonesia)
by Melani Budianta Manneke Budiman Kathrin Oester ZnojThis open access book investigates the challenges and innovations of urbanised kampungs (villages) in Indonesia and how they create a liveable environment during rapid urban expansion. Focusing on urban informal settlements on the fringes of Jakarta, and desa-kota villages in Ende, the collection discusses various aspects of liveability, which includes water, waste and sanitation management, food and nutrition. The volume also examines the way kampungs operate within the fast-paced urbanization occurring around the informal settlements in Indonesia. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach towards different issues relating to liveability, the work engenders a multidimensional perspective integrating social practice with aspects of infrastructure, institution, and regulation. Presenting an original contribution to the study of middle-lower income urban neighborhoods in Indonesian cities especially, and cities in the Global South generally, this book captures key materials for discussing the main challenges and potential in the urban life and development of marginalised neighborhoods. Cutting across the fields of science and technology, engineering, medicine, public health, nutritional studies, humanities, social sciences and cultural studies, this interdisciplinary compilation offers important and unique views on urban life and urban policy. It is of interest to readers in urban studies and policy, development studies, health and well-being, particularly in developing geographies.
A Long Line of Cells: Collected Essays
by Lewis ThomasThis is like a memoir, but in the form of selected essays from throughout the life of one of the most well known doctor, biologist, and essayist in the United States.
A Long Night in Paris: Winner of the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger
by Dov AlfonFrom a former Israeli spy, comes the most realistic and authentic thriller of the year. The Times Number One BestsellerWinner of the CWA International Dagger.A Times, Telegraph and FT pick for Summer Reads 2019"The year's best espionage thriller" Daily Telegraph Best Books of 2019"Breathlessly exciting" Marcel Berlins, The Times."Races along with pace and verve" Adam LeBor, Financial Times"A genuinely thrilling espionage novel" John Williams, Mail on Sunday"A deeply enjoyable espionage thriller" Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph.When an Israeli tech exec disappears from Charles de Gaulle airport with a woman in red, logic dictates youthful indiscretion. But Israel is on a state of high alert nonetheless. Colonel Zeev Abadi, the new head of Unit 8200's Special Section, just happens to have arrived on the same flight.For Commissaire Léger of the Paris Police, all coincidences are suspect. When a second young Israeli from the flight is kidnapped, this time at gunpoint from his hotel room, his suspicions are confirmed - and a diplomatic crisis looms. As the race to identify the victims and the reasons behind their abductions intensifies, a covert Chinese commando team watches from the rooftops, while hour by hour the morgue receives fresh bodies from around Paris.This could be one long night in the City of Lights.Translated from the Hebrew by Daniela Zamir
A Long Night in Paris: Winner of the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger
by Dov AlfonFrom a former Israeli spy, comes the most realistic and authentic thriller of the year. The Times Number One BestsellerWinner of the CWA International Dagger.A Times, Telegraph and FT pick for Summer Reads 2019"The year's best espionage thriller" Daily Telegraph Best Books of 2019"Breathlessly exciting" Marcel Berlins, The Times."Races along with pace and verve" Adam LeBor, Financial Times"A genuinely thrilling espionage novel" John Williams, Mail on Sunday"A deeply enjoyable espionage thriller" Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph.When an Israeli tech exec disappears from Charles de Gaulle airport with a woman in red, logic dictates youthful indiscretion. But Israel is on a state of high alert nonetheless. Colonel Zeev Abadi, the new head of Unit 8200's Special Section, just happens to have arrived on the same flight.For Commissaire Léger of the Paris Police, all coincidences are suspect. When a second young Israeli from the flight is kidnapped, this time at gunpoint from his hotel room, his suspicions are confirmed - and a diplomatic crisis looms. As the race to identify the victims and the reasons behind their abductions intensifies, a covert Chinese commando team watches from the rooftops, while hour by hour the morgue receives fresh bodies from around Paris.This could be one long night in the City of Lights.Translated from the Hebrew by Daniela Zamir
A Long Night in Paris: Winner of the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger
by Dov AlfonFrom a former Israeli intelligence officer, comes the most realistic, thrilling and authentic thriller of the year. Chinese gangsters and Israeli intelligence face off in Paris - Israel's bestselling book of 2017, perfect for fans of Homeland, John Le Carré and Mick Herron"Fast action, clever plotting and a Bond-esque lead character who drives the narrative forward at every turn . . . This is high octane spy action" Manda ScottWhen an Israeli tech entrepreneur disappears from Charles de Gaulle airport with a woman in red, logic dictates youthful indiscretion. But Israel is on a state of high alert nonetheless. Colonel Zeev Abadi, the new head of Unit 8200's autonomous Special Section, who just happens to be in Paris, also just happens to have arrived on the same flight. For Commissaire Léger of the Paris Police coincidences have their reasons, and most are suspect. When a second young Israeli is kidnapped soon after arriving on the same flight, this time at gunpoint from his hotel room, his suspicions are confirmed - and a diplomatic incident looms.Back in Tel Aviv, Lieutenant Oriana Talmor, Abadi's deputy, is his only ally, applying her sharp wits to the race to identify the victims and the reasons behind their abduction. In Paris a covert Chinese commando team listens to the investigation unfurl and watches from the rooftops. While by the hour the morgue receives more bodies from the river and the city's arrondissements.The clock has been set. And this could be a long night in the City of Lights.(P)2019 Quercus Editions Limited
A Longstanding Attraction: The History and Modern Uses of Magnetism
by Alberto P. GuimarãesThis book describes how the phenomenon of magnetic attraction has been a topic of interest for more than a thousand years, and how our modern understanding of magnetism and its connection with electrical effects, has led to all sorts of applications. From the industrial revolution to the modern data age and medicine, magnetism has enabled all manner of technologies which have shaped our lives in uncountable ways. Moreover, the study of magnetism made a decisive contribution to advances in the understanding of the structure of matter in the first decades of the 20th century. Assuming no background in science, this book captures the magic of the magnet and explains how magnetism has had an inexorable influence on the course of humanity.
A Love for Food: Recipes from the Fields and Kitchens of Daylesford Farm
by Carole Bamford'Real, simple, organic and sustainable food is what Daylesford offers - and these are the recipes for putting it on your table'Raymond Blanc'Now more than ever chimes with the way we want to eat'The TimesA fully updated reissue of the pioneering seasonal cookbook by Carole Bamford, the founder of Daylesford. This book shares over 150 seasonal recipes created in Daylesford's kitchens and using produce grown sustainably in the farm's fields. With sections on soups, salads, savoury dishes, meat, fish and bread, A Love for Food is a timeless cookery bible.This beautiful new edition, which uses fully recycled paper, makes a natural companion to Nurture, which tells the Daylesford story.'Seasonal classics' BBC GOOD FOOD'Carole Bamford's elegant, unfussy approach shines through'Tatler'Supremely sophisticated - yet surprisingly straightforward'Stylist
A Lucid Dreamer: The Life of Peter Redgrove
by Peter Redgrove Dr Neil RobertsThe work of the poet Peter Redgrove is one of the great unexplored treasures of late twentieth century literature. His prolific output presents an intriguing variety of personae: magician, scientist, lover, psychologist, joker, madman. It is only now, with the publication of his Collected Poems and this biography, that we can see how and why these personae developed - and discover the full depth and range of this visionary writer.Born into an apparently conventional middle-class family that was in reality deeply disturbed, the poet finally emerged: transforming himself from the neurotic, Oedipal young scientist, through a process of mental breakdown, insulin coma therapy, erotic revelation and the discovery of poetic companionship at Cambridge - and particularly his friendship and rivalry with Ted Hughes.Neil Roberts explores the inner story of this emergence, and Redgrove's later development through marriage, family life, the fellowship of the 'Group', alcoholic excess, infidelity and marital breakdown to his triumphant later partnership with Penelope Shuttle. We also discover, for the first time, some darker secrets: his fascination with Aleister Crowley, his damaged and damaging relationship with his father, and the lifelong sexual fetish which he called the 'Game'. Drawing on the poet's intimate journals and correspondence, and interviews with family, friends and colleagues, A Lucid Dreamer tells the exceptionally inward and revealing story of an astonishing creative life.
A Machine Learning based Pairs Trading Investment Strategy (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Nuno Horta Simão Moraes SarmentoThis book investigates the application of promising machine learning techniques to address two problems: (i) how to find profitable pairs while constraining the search space and (ii) how to avoid long decline periods due to prolonged divergent pairs. It also proposes the integration of an unsupervised learning algorithm, OPTICS, to handle problem (i), and demonstrates that the suggested technique can outperform the common pairs search methods, achieving an average portfolio Sharpe ratio of 3.79, in comparison to 3.58 and 2.59 obtained using standard approaches. For problem (ii), the authors introduce a forecasting-based trading model capable of reducing the periods of portfolio decline by 75%. However, this comes at the expense of decreasing overall profitability. The authors also test the proposed strategy using an ARMA model, an LSTM and an LSTM encoder-decoder.
A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America
by James Tejani"[An] enthralling debut…a beguiling history of Southern California, early industrial development, and U.S. empire." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) A deeply researched narrative of the creation of the Port of Los Angeles, a central event in America’s territorial expansion and rise as a global economic power. The Port of Los Angeles is all around us. Objects we use on a daily basis pass through it: furniture, apparel, electronics, automobiles, and much more. The busiest container port in the Western hemisphere, it claims one-sixth of all US ocean shipping. Yet despite its centrality to our world, the port and the story of its making have been neglected in histories of the United States. In A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth, historian James Tejani corrects that significant omission, charting the port’s rise out of the mud and salt marsh of San Pedro estuary—and showing how the story of the port is the story of modern, globalized America itself. By the mid-nineteenth century, Americans had identified the West Coast as the republic’s destiny, a gateway to the riches of the Pacific. In a narrative spanning decades and stretching to Washington, DC, the Pacific Northwest, Civil War Richmond, Southwest deserts, and even overseas to Europe, Hawaii, and Asia, Tejani demonstrates how San Pedro came to be seen as all-important to the nation’s future. It was not virgin land, but dominated by powerful Mexican estates that would not be dislodged easily. Yet American scientists, including the great surveyor George Davidson, imperialist politicians such as Jefferson Davis and William Gwin, and hopeful land speculators, among them the future Union Army general Edward Ord, would wrest control of the estuary, and set the scene for the violence, inequality, and engineering marvels to come. San Pedro was no place for a harbor, Tejani reveals. The port was carved in defiance of nature, using new engineering techniques and massive mechanical dredgers. Business titans such as Collis Huntington and Edward H. Harriman brought their money and corporate influence to the task. But they were outmatched by government reformers, laying the foundations for the port, for the modern city of Los Angeles, and for our globalized world. Interweaving the natural history of San Pedro into this all-too-human history, Tejani vividly describes how a wild coast was made into the engine of American power. A story of imperial dreams and personal ambition, A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth is necessary reading for anyone who seeks to understand what the United States was, what it is now, and what it will be.
A Magnetic Laser Scanner for Endoscopic Microsurgery (Springer Theses)
by Alperen AcemogluThis book focuses on the design, development, and characterization of a compact magnetic laser scanner for microsurgical applications. In addition, it proposes a laser incision depth controller to be used in soft tissue microsurgeries.The use of laser scanners in soft tissue microsurgery results in high quality ablations with minimal thermal damage to surrounding tissue. However, current scanner technologies for microsurgery are limited to free-beam lasers, which require direct line-of-sight to the surgical site, from outside the patient. Developing compact laser micromanipulation systems is crucial to introducing laser-scanning capabilities in hard-to-reach surgical sites, e.g., vocal cords.In this book, the design and fabrication of a magnetically actuated endoscopic laser scanner have been shown, one that introduces high-speed laser scanning for high quality, non-contact tissue ablations in narrow workspaces. Static and dynamic characterization of the system, its teleoperation through a tablet device, and its control modelling for automated trajectory executions have been shown using a fabricated and assembled prototype. Following this, the book discusses how the laser position and velocity control capabilities of the scanner can be used to design a laser incision depth controller to assist surgeons during operations.
A Malleable Map: Geographies of Restoration in Central Japan, 1600-1912
by Karen WigenDrawing on a wide range of geographical documents from Shinano, Wigen argues that both the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868) and the reformers of the Meiji era (1868-1912) recruited the classical map to serve the cause of administrative reform.
A Man and His Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S.S. United States
by Steven UjifusaTHE STORY OF A GREAT AMERICAN BUILDER At the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America's best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the S.S. United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when "made in America" meant the best. Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family's sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent forty years dreaming of the ship that became the S.S. United States. William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence. He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post-World War II era. Biographer Steven Ujifusa brilliantly describes the way Gibbs worked and how his vision transformed an industry. A Man and His Ship is a tale of ingenuity and enterprise, a truly remarkable journey on land and sea.
A Manager's Guide for Better Decision-Making: Easy to Apply Tools and Techniques (Manufacturing and Production Engineering)
by Abu S.M. MasudAn important activity for an organization’s leaders and managers is making decisions associated with problem-solving. Making decisions is a complex endeavor where choices are made from courses of action where resources are limited and in the presence of constraints. Written as a guide, this book offers a quantitative approach to decision-making. The process of decision-making is presented from a holistic point of view. This book offers a basic understanding of the issues and processes involved in decision-making by presenting the tools associated with problem analysis, tools that enable developing choices, as well as tools used to normalize judgment criteria achievement so that they are comparable across measures using different scales. Several solution methods for decision problems that have one evaluation criterion are explained first. Methods for problems with multiple criteria for evaluating alternate solutions are discussed as well. The multiple criteria methods include those that do not require any explicit preference or trade-off information from the decision-maker and those that do require the decision-maker’s preference or trade-off information. The intended audience of the book includes technical and nontechnical professionals, managers, and supervisors at all levels, and engineering and business educators. The book would also be useful to undergraduate students, beginning graduate students, and recent graduates of professional programs, or in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and humanities.
A Manager's Guide to BS25999
by Tony DrewittThis book is a concise and practical guide to implementing the new benchmark for business continuity management - BS25999. While the number of events that could potentially disrupt the ability of your organization to continue with its business activities continues to grow, the ramifications are increasingly dramatic. Climate change, terrorism and IT system failure are just some of today's more serious threats - and pressure is growing on all organizations to demonstrate effective, meaningful and dependable emergency preparedness. This guide will help you understand and meet the growing need to demonstrate and provide assurance to partners, customers and stakeholders that, should some significant business disruption occur, you have done everything possible to minimize disruption to the continued supply of the products or services by your organization.
A Manager's Guide to ISO22301
by Tony DrewittHave you ever wondered whether your business continuity plan is any good, or whether youve even got a business continuity plan? Anyone can write a simple document, call it a business continuity plan and hope for the best. But, unless you know that it will do what it is supposed to, it may be a wasted investment. This practical guide to the ISO22301 business continuity management system standard shows you how to develop and implement a business continuity management (BCM) and disaster recovery plan; ensuring you get back on your feet with the minimum of fuss, should the unthinkable happen. Providing a comprehensive introduction to the topic, this book includes practical, detailed guidance on developing and implementing a BCM system certifiable to the ISO22301 standard, using detailed and illustrative examples. A BCM policy and other useful document templates are provided in the appendices. As an international standard, ISO22301 is likely to become the benchmark that is used to judge how a business will cope with disaster. Although only some public bodies are required by law to have business continuity plans, an ISO22301 compliant system will give you peace of mind, reassure your customers and business partners and help you to meet your legal obligations. Disaster can strike without warning, so the time to start developing an ISO22301 compliant system is now. This book is the perfect place to start. Tony Drewitt has specialised in operational risk management and business continuity since 2001 and is currently working with several organisations to develop management systems in line with ISO22301 and its predecessor BS25999. He has written several books on business continuity including BS25999: A Pocket Guide, A Managers Guide to BS25999 and Everything You Want to Know About Business Continuity.
A Manual for Agribusiness Value Chain Analysis in Developing Countries
by Dr Benjamin Dent Professor Ray CollinsValue Chain Analysis (VCA) diagnoses the current state of a value chain and makes recommendations to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. Applying VCA in developing countries is very often subject to limited time and funding. This manual shows how VCA principles can be applied under such circumstances. It explains how to undertake an affordable VCA that still generates valid data and so produces recommendations that will have impact. The manual has four parts: Part 1: Our Approach to Value Chain Thinking - sets out the principles and practice of taking a value chain approach. Part 2: Conducting Value Chain Analysis - covers planning a VCA, conducting consumer research, interviewing, analysing, creating recommendations and reporting. Part 3: Case Studies - illustrates successful VCAs with case studies e.g. Ghanaian pineapples and Kenyan indigenous chicken. Part 4: Further Reading and Biographies The practical style and content will make this manual accessible to a wide audience: NGO practitioners; government policymakers and extension officers; private sector managers and consultants; and academics for teaching and researching.
A Manual of the Flowering Plants of California
by Willis Linn JepsonThis title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1925.
A Manufactured Plague: The History of Foot-and-mouth Disease in Britain
by Abigail WoodsFoot and mouth disease (FMD) is currently regarded as one of the world's worst animal plagues. But how did this label become attached to a curable disease that poses little threat to human health? And why, in the epidemic of 2001, did the government's control strategy still rely upon Victorian trade restrictions and mass slaughter? This groundbreaking and well-researched book shows that, for over a century, FMD has brought fear, tragedy and sorrow- damaging businesses and affecting international relations. Yet these effects were neither inevitable nor caused by FMD itself but were, rather, the product of the legislation used to control it, and in this sense FMD is a 'manufactured' plague rather than a natural one. A Manufactured Plague turns the spotlight on this process of manufacture, revealing a rich history beset by controversy, in which party politics, class relations, veterinary ambitions, agricultural practices, the priorities of farming and the meat trade, fears for national security and scientific progress all made FMD what it is today.
A Mathematical Approach to Research Problems of Science and Technology: Theoretical Basis and Developments in Mathematical Modeling (Mathematics for Industry #5)
by Hiroyuki Ochiai Ryuei Nishii Shin-Ichiro Ei Miyuki Koiso Kanzo Okada Shingo Saito Tomoyuki ShiraiThis book deals with one of the most novel advances in mathematical modeling for applied scientific technology, including computer graphics, public-key encryption, data visualization, statistical data analysis, symbolic calculation, encryption, error correcting codes, and risk management. It also shows that mathematics can be used to solve problems from nature, e. g. , slime mold algorithms. One of the unique features of this book is that it shows readers how to use pure and applied mathematics, especially those mathematical theory/techniques developed in the twentieth century, and developing now, to solve applied problems in several fields of industry. Each chapter includes clues on how to use "mathematics" to solve concrete problems faced in industry as well as practical applications. The target audience is not limited to researchers working in applied mathematics and includes those in engineering, material sciences, economics, and life sciences.
A Mathematical Introduction to Compressive Sensing (Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis)
by Holger Rauhut Simon FoucartFilling a significant gap in the literature, A Mathematical Introduction to Compressive Sensing is the first work entirely devoted to the thriving field of compressive sensing. The book clearly and comprehensively presents the essential theory of compressive sensing from a mathematical perspective. Featuring a substantial number of exercises with hints to solutions, as well as MATLAB codes for algorithms and simulations, the work is well suited for graduate courses on the subject. With only moderate mathematical prerequisites, this volume is a reliable resource for graduate students, practioners, and researchers in engineering, computer science, and mathematics looking to acquire a careful understanding of compressive sensing.