Science

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Winner * Golden Poppy Award Winner for Nonfiction * California Book Awards Gold Medal Winner * A Great Read from Great Places Selected by the Library of Congress * A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year * American Book Award Winner * 2024 American Energy Society's Energy Writer of the Year * An Architect's Newspaper Best Book of 2023 * 2024 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Medal Winner

Now in paperback: a "deeply researched and reported" (San Francisco Chronicle) exploration of sea level rise in California that "breathes exquisite detail and dialogue" (Science Magazine) into the subject.

"Viscerally urgent, thoroughly reported, and compellingly written—a must-read for our uncertain times." —Ed Yong, author of An Immense World

"When do seawalls make sense? And when is it better to give in to the tides? [...] In California Against the Sea, Xia [...] writes about the difficult realities of trying to incorporate fairness into our tally of costs and benefits." —The New Yorker

Along California's 1,200-mile coastline, the overheated Pacific Ocean is rising and pressing in, imperiling both wildlife and the maritime towns and cities that 27 million people call home. In California Against the Sea, Los Angeles Times coastal reporter Rosanna Xia asks: As climate chaos threatens the places we love so fiercely, will we finally grasp our collective capacity for change?

Xia, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, investigates the impacts of engineered landscapes, the market pressures of development, and the ecological activism and political scrimmages that have carved our contemporary coastline—and foretell even greater changes to our shores. From the beaches of the Mexican border up to the sheer-cliffed North Coast, the voices of Indigenous leaders, community activists, small-town mayors, urban engineers, and tenacious environmental scientists commingle. Together, they chronicle the challenges and urgency of forging a climate-wise future. Xia's investigation takes us to Imperial Beach, Los Angeles, Pacifica, Marin City, San Francisco, and beyond, weighing the rivaling arguments, agreements, compromises, and visions governing the State of California’s commitment to a coast for all. Through graceful reportage, she charts how the decisions we make today will determine where we go tomorrow: headlong into natural disaster, or toward an equitable refashioning of coastal stewardship.

How gallows humor can bolster us to confront global warming

We’ve all seen the headlines: oceans rising, historic heat waves, mass extinctions, climate refugees. It feels overwhelming, like nothing can make a difference in combating this ongoing global catastrophe. How can we mobilize to save the world when we feel this depressed?

Stay Cool enjoins us to laugh our way forward. Human beings have used comedy to cope with difficult realities since the beginning of recorded time—the more dismal the news, the darker the humor. Using this rich tradition of dark comedy to investigate climate change, Aaron Sachs makes the case that gallows humor, a mainstay of African Americans and Jews facing extraordinary oppression, can cultivate endurance, persistence, and solidarity in the face of calamity.

Sachs surveys the macabre tradition of laughing during great suffering, from the Black Plague to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906—and offers some of the earliest examples of superlative dark comedy. He also explores how a new generation of activists and comedians are deploying dark humor to great effect, by poking fun at older people’s apathy about climate catastrophes, lambasting oil corporations’ “eco” rebranding, and even producing an off-Broadway dystopian comedy called “Sea Level Rise.” Sachs offers suggestions for how environmentalists can use dark comedy first to boost their own morale, and then to reframe their activism in more energizing and relatable ways.
Environmentalism is probably the least funny social movement that’s ever existed. Stay Cool seeks to change that. Will comedy save the world? Not by itself, no. But it can put people in a decent enough mood to get them started on a rescue mission.

Instant New York Times Bestseller * Financial Times Best Books of 2024

Climate investor and activist Tom Steyer shows us how we can win the war on climate—and why fighting for a sustainable future can help bring meaning and prosperity to our lives.

The consequences of climate change—rising waters, extreme weather, record temperatures—are transforming our lives, as global warming accelerates more rapidly than scientists predicted even a few years ago. At the same time, the clean energy revolution is forging ahead faster than nearly anyone anticipated. As Tom Steyer sees it, these two trends together create a moment like the one America faced during World War II: on the one hand, an existential threat that demands our collective action; on the other, an opportunity to lead the world, protect the planet, and set the stage for a new generation of shared economic prosperity.

In 2012, Steyer walked away from the highly successful investment fund he founded to devote himself full time to climate issues, and he’s been on the front lines ever since. In this accessible book, aimed at everyone from college students to Wall Street investors, Steyer presents his blueprint for winning the climate fight—sharing his own story of becoming a “climate person,” debunking the arguments made by fossil fuel companies, and showcasing the inspiring, innovative work of other climate leaders in the clean-energy transition. Capitalism, Steyer argues, can be the key to scaling climate progress, and all of us can play a part in stabilizing our planet. As green technology is fast becoming cleaner and cheaper, reshaping our planet’s future—and our own—has never been more crucial or within our reach.

Pennsylvania, a state of diverse geography and geology, is rich in flora. The second edition of The Plants of Pennsylvania identifies the nearly 3,400 species of trees, wildflowers, ferns, grasses, sedges, aquatic plants, and weeds native to or naturalized in the Commonwealth.

Retaining the clearly written identification keys and descriptions that made the first edition such an essential reference, this new edition has been reorganized to reflect recent advances in our understanding of plant relationships. Families and genera are listed in a sequence determined by current studies of plant molecular genetics, thus providing new insights for the study of botany. In addition, species have been added to the book as a result of new discoveries. The botanical illustrations of Anna Anisko continue to complement the descriptions and add an element of beauty to the volume.

Developed in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Flora Project, and compiled by botanists at the Morris Arboretum, the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the second edition of The Plants of Pennsylvania is the authoritative guide to Pennsylvania's plant life. It will be indispensable to taxonomists, conservationists, ecologists, foresters, land planners, teachers, agricultural county agents, students, and amateur naturalists.

2024 Nautilus Book Award Winner * The Marginalian Favorite Books of 2023

An 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.

In fewer than two-hundred pages, David Stove leaves the well-established and widely regarded edifice of the academic philosophy of science in smoldering ruins.

This book provides a modern history of scientific reasoning, from David Hume’s inductive skepticism to Karl Popper’s outright denial of induction, to the increasingly irrational and absurd scientific views that followed. When Popper untethered science from induction, Stove argues, he triggered a postmodernist nightmare of utter nonsense culminating in Paul Feyerabend’s summation that “anything goes” when it comes to defining or describing science. 

With undeniable logic, a deft analysis of the linguistic slight-of-hand that make absurd arguments seem reasonable, and regular displays of wit, Stove gives the reader a front row seat to one of the greatest unforced errors in the history of modern thought. 

Stove’s views are entirely consistent with the origins of scientific inference and logic, as well as modern advances in probability theory, and yet he remains largely unnoticed by most of the academic world. From Stove’s insider-outsider perspective, the train wreck that is academically accepted philosophy of science and “science studies” is a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining subject of study.

Scientific Irrationalism is the perfect place to begin any examination of what science is—and what it is not. 

A FOREIGN AFFAIRS BEST BOOK OF 2024

The gripping history of the devastation and resurrection of the Marshes of Iraq, an environmental treasure of the Middle East, now a protected site

The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq, once the largest wetland system on the planet, have been inhabited for thousands of years by the Ma‘dan, or Marsh Arabs, but they remain remote, isolated, and virtually unknown. In the early 1990s, the Saddam Hussein regime drained the Marshes and set out to destroy not only a critical ecosystem but a unique way of life as well. It stands as one of the greatest environmental and humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century. In the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, local residents destroyed the earthen dams built to divert water from the wetlands and the Marshes were reflooded. Their future, however, is in peril.

The Ghosts of Iraq’s Marshes tells the history of the creation, destruction, and revitalization of the Marshes and their inhabitants against the backdrop of the dramatic events that have convulsed Iraq in the past fifty years. It follows the life of Jassim al-Asadi, an irrigation engineer who was jailed and tortured under Saddam Hussein and who subsequently dedicated his life to the reflooding and restoration of the Marshes. He eventually contributed to the Marshes being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jassim is eminently relatable, and the stories of his life and other marsh dwellers are infused with pathos, tragedy, humor, and passion.

There's a silent epidemic in western civilization, and it is right under our noses. Our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth crooked and crowded, creating not only aesthetic challenges but also difficulties with breathing. Modern orthodontics has persuaded us that braces and oral devices can correct these problems. While teeth can certainly be straightened, what about the underlying causes of this rapid shift in oral evolution and the health risks posed by obstructed airways?

Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich, a pioneering orthodontist and a world-renowned evolutionist, respectively, present the biological, dietary, and cultural changes that have driven us toward this major health challenge. They propose simple adjustments that can alleviate this developing crisis, as well as a major alternative to orthodontics that promises more significant long-term relief. Jaws will change your life. Every parent should read this book.

Presents the 250 texts Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), known as the “father of environmentalism,” wrote in English, unabridged in their original form

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), German geographer and naturalist, is well-known for his explorations of the Americas and of Russia, for his ascension of Mount Chimborazo, and for his contributions to the understanding of man-made climate change. Though he is cited today as the “father of ecology or environmentalism,” many of his works have not been accessible since his death, especially his numerous papers, articles, and essays published in journals, newspapers, and magazines all over the world. Humboldt’s international reception was unparalleled during his time, with publications spanning across five continents in fifteen languages, and his work influenced generations of writers—from Darwin, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman to Carpentier, Reyes, Aira, Galeano, and García Márquez.

Humboldt’s complete corpus consists of 750 individual texts, published in 3,600 versions and translations across more than 1,200 periodicals during his lifetime, with 250 of theses texts appearing in English, mostly published in the United States and the United Kingdom. This two-volume collection presents these English works in their original form. Containing groundbreaking scientific insights into tropical ecosystems, postcolonial societies, and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, Humboldt’s work not only inspired research within the halls of academia but also informed the discourse of thinkers, writers, and natural scientists worldwide. These volumes make a significant portion of the work of one of the most important figures in the history of science accessible and invites readers to engage with these important contributions to science and society.

2024 Outstanding Academic Title, given by Choice Reviews

How the scientific community overlooked, ignored, and denied the catastrophic fallout of decades of nuclear testing in the American West

In December of 1950, President Harry Truman gave authorization for the Atomic Energy Commission to conduct weapons tests and experiments on a section of a Nevada gunnery range. Over the next eleven years, more than a hundred detonations were conducted at the Nevada Test Site, and radioactive debris dispersed across the communities just downwind and through much of the country. In this important work, James C. Rice tells the hidden story of nuclear weapons testing and the negligence of the US government in protecting public health.

Downwind of the Atomic State focuses on the key decisions and events shaping the Commission’s mismanagement of radiological contamination in the region, specifically on how the risks of fallout were defined and redefined, or, importantly, not defined at all, owing to organizational mistakes and the impetus to keep atomic testing going at all costs. Rice shows that although Atomic Energy Commission officials understood open-air detonations injected radioactive debris into the atmosphere, they did not understand, or seem to care, that the radioactivity would irrevocably contaminate these communities.

The history of the atomic Southwest should be a wake-up call to everyone living in a world replete with large, complex organizations managing risky technological systems. The legacy of open-air detonations in Nevada pushes us to ask about the kinds of risks we are unwittingly living under today. What risks are we being exposed to by large organizations under the guise of security and science?

Presents the 250 texts Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), known as the “father of environmentalism,” wrote in English, unabridged in their original form

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), German geographer and naturalist, is well-known for his explorations of the Americas and of Russia, for his ascension of Mount Chimborazo, and for his contributions to the understanding of man-made climate change. Though he is cited today as the “father of ecology or environmentalism,” many of his works have not been accessible since his death, especially his numerous papers, articles, and essays published in journals, newspapers, and magazines all over the world. Humboldt’s international reception was unparalleled during his time, with publications spanning across five continents in fifteen languages, and his work influenced generations of writers—from Darwin, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman to Carpentier, Reyes, Aira, Galeano, and García Márquez.

Humboldt’s complete corpus consists of 750 individual texts, published in 3,600 versions and translations across more than 1,200 periodicals during his lifetime, with 250 of theses texts appearing in English, mostly published in the United States and the United Kingdom. This two-volume collection presents these English works in their original form. Containing groundbreaking scientific insights into tropical ecosystems, postcolonial societies, and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, Humboldt’s work not only inspired research within the halls of academia but also informed the discourse of thinkers, writers, and natural scientists worldwide. These volumes make a significant portion of the work of one of the most important figures in the history of science accessible and invites readers to engage with these important contributions to science and society.

Presents the 250 texts Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), known as the “father of environmentalism,” wrote in English, unabridged in their original form

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), German geographer and naturalist, is well-known for his explorations of the Americas and of Russia, for his ascension of Mount Chimborazo, and for his contributions to the understanding of man-made climate change. Though he is cited today as the “father of ecology or environmentalism,” many of his works have not been accessible since his death, especially his numerous papers, articles, and essays published in journals, newspapers, and magazines all over the world. Humboldt’s international reception was unparalleled during his time, with publications spanning across five continents in fifteen languages, and his work influenced generations of writers—from Darwin, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman to Carpentier, Reyes, Aira, Galeano, and García Márquez.

Humboldt’s complete corpus consists of 750 individual texts, published in 3,600 versions and translations across more than 1,200 periodicals during his lifetime, with 250 of theses texts appearing in English, mostly published in the United States and the United Kingdom. This two-volume collection presents these English works in their original form. Containing groundbreaking scientific insights into tropical ecosystems, postcolonial societies, and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, Humboldt’s work not only inspired research within the halls of academia but also informed the discourse of thinkers, writers, and natural scientists worldwide. These volumes make a significant portion of the work of one of the most important figures in the history of science accessible and invites readers to engage with these important contributions to science and society.

With more than 10,000 known species, recent reptiles (excluding birds) are the most specious tetrapod class. Their diversity is high, and many of them are frequently used as model organisms in phylogeographic and ecological studies. On the other hand, unique aspects of their biology are still being studied and important contributions to their understanding have just been issued. These aspects include the evolution of viviparity and of venom glands, metabolic regulation in poikilotherms, their ecophysiological tolerance and neurobiological and sensorial capacities such as infrared imaging and chemosensitivity. Genetic and developmental phenomena such as parthenogenesis and temperature-dependent sex determination are also special to reptiles. They are generally important for understanding evolutionary processes in vertebrates.
The latest results of worldwide research on dinosaurs and other fossil reptiles, crocodiles and turtles conclude this first volume of Reptilia in the Handbook of Zoology.

Quantum crystallography (QCr) is a novel scientific discipline combining quantum chemistry methods and crystal structure determination. Written by leading experts in the field, this book describes original quantum-mechanical approaches to obtain crystallographic data of enhanced value and explains how they correlate with real diffraction and scattering experiments. In particular, the book covers quantum N-representability, Clinton equations, kernel energy method (KEM), and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) methods and their applications in crystallographic studies. Readers will be interested in the Foreword written by Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath and the Epilogue by noted science philosopher Olimpia Lombardi.

This book presents life phenomena in terms of physics with an element of philosophy. It is written for university graduates and undegraduate students, who are yet to see that there is no clean cut between the different sciences. The physics concepts of nonlinearity, equilibrium, energy, entropy, system, and information are applied to the biological processes of metabolism, organism development and evolution.

The Series provides an overview of the rapid development of new rocket propellant concepts, mainly in the area of environmentally-friendly rocket propellants, while at the same time it documents the history of what had been done with less sustainable, but more energetic materials in the past. The publication summarizes lessons learned, covering mainly liquid rocket propellants, and will help chemists in developing new energetic materials. Encyclopedia of Bipropellant Combinations is the fourth set of the series Encyclopedia of Rocket Propellants. Previously published sets include Encyclopedia of Oxidizers (5 volumes), Encyclopedia of Liquid Fuels (5 volumes), and Encyclopedia of Monopropellants (2 volumes).

Encyclopedia of Bipropellant Combinations contains information on liquid rocket propellants used in bipropellant rocket engines. At one time it was planned to publish the subject of bipropellant combinations in two separate sets, one on hypergolic and one on non-hypergolic bipropellant combinations. Instead the two sub-topics are now combined conveniently in one set, published in three volumes. Encyclopedia of Bipropellant Combinations offers:

Today’s surface challenges are hardly redeemed by traditional coatings. Besides decoration or protection coatings shall bring additional features dependent on the substrate coated. Smart and Functional coatings have become well adopted in the market in recent years and are applied to a surface to improve its performance in terms of functionality, durability, aesthetics, and other properties. These coatings are widely used in a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, construction, electronics, medical devices, and consumer goods. The book describes a wide range of smart coatings such as photocatalytic, self-cleaning, self-healing, anti-microbial, low surface energy, optical, EMI-shielding, anti-corrosion and anti-icing coatings. It also covers nanotechnology which plays a key role in the development of Smart and Functional coatings as advancements in this field of technology allow for precise control over the size, shape, and composition of materials at the nanoscale level. Nanotechnology enables the incorporation of functional components, such as sensors or actuators, into coatings, which provide responsive behavior to external stimuli or impart a specific functionality. Furthermore, the use of nanotechnology in coatings can also lead to more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. For example, by using nanoscale particles, coatings can be made thinner, reducing the amount of material required and minimizing waste. Nanotechnology can also help develop coatings that are more efficient and durable, reducing the need for frequent maintenance or replacement.

As global priorities shift towards sustainable resources, there is a growing interest in alternatives to petroleum-based raw materials for industrial polyurethane (PU) foam production. Polyurethane foams (PUFs), produced from the reaction between a polyol (a polymer with multiple hydroxyl groups) and a diisocyanate, are widely used for their versatility. They range from flexible foams, like those found in mattresses or furniture, to rigid foams used for home insulation. The market for PU foams is anticipated to grow due to rising demand for comfort. Historically, petroleum-based polyols have been favored for their availability and versatility. However, as petroleum supplies dwindle, with oil reserves projected to be exhausted by around 2052, the pressing need for sustainable alternatives is clear to sustain the PU industry. Bio-based substitutes, such as polyols derived from palm, soybean, castor, and sunflower oils, have been extensively researched to replace the petroleum-based polyol feedstock. This book focuses on applying coconut oil-derived polyols in polyurethane foam production, offering a detailed examination of their potential benefits and associated difficulties. The introductory chapter outlines the critical need for greener alternatives and emphasizes the significant role of coconut oil as a substitute for petroleum-based polyols. Subsequent chapters delve into the chemistry and synthesis of coconut oil-derived polyols and polyurethanes, providing insights into their properties and contributions to polyurethane formulations. This book further provides an overview of how coconut oil's high saturation impacts the polyol production process and explores methods to overcome these challenges. It bridges the gap between raw material science and practical applications using coconut oil in polymer studies. It provides valuable information for researchers and industry professionals aiming to innovate with sustainable polymer materials.

Latex products that we use in everyday life have a great impact on health and lifestyle. This book gives a comprehensive overview of how raw materials are prepared for latex manufacture and how they are converted to products by modern latex dipping methods. Tools for how to solve production problems encountered, quality control and how to validate the processes used in the latex industry are thoroughly discussed and described.

Antimony (Sb) is an exciting chemical element ubiquitously present in our daily lives. This book provides a coherent and interdisciplinary picture of our current understanding of this element. Subjects ranging from its mineralogy, mining and environmental chemistry to its potential impact in ecosystems and human health are discussed in this monograph.

This book presents a unique introduction into the field of bioinorganic chemistry through practical laboratory experiments. Topics include many aspects of modern bioinorganic chemistry such as model systems for metalloenzymes, biosensors, metal bioconjugates and metal-based drugs. Each chapter contains a brief introduction, followed by detailed experimental procedures, completed with all necessary background information for the student as well as their instructors.

• A valuable supplement to standard textbooks of inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry
• Essential for all instructors teaching laboratory courses in general and inorganic chemistry

This volume explores cognitive perspectives on how science and narrative shape one another.

Narrative is a principle of cognition, and cognition is fundamental to narrative. This duality enables a deeper mapping of the feedback between story and the natural sciences.

Science, as a culturally-organized and systematic mode of knowing the world, may seem opposed to narrative thinking. Yet they are deeply interwoven.

Scientists tell many kinds of stories, across genres and media. In thought experiments, lab experiments, written arguments, and histories and philosophies of fields, they recount and interpret unfoldings of events at often uncanny scales—from particle collisions to the evolution of life to cosmic expansion.

Science stories go beyond science. Early science is entwined with myth, religion and magic. We still mythologize beneficent or evil geniuses, the promises and perils of technology. Teachers, journalists, politicians and lawyers all tell science stories for their own purposes. Literary artists use scientific ideas and forms, reimagining physical forces, causality and time in storyworlds, themes and figures.

This is the first cognition-focused multi-disciplinary analysis of these narrative-science relations.

Science should tell us what the world is like. However, realist interpretations of physics face many problems, chief among them the pessimistic meta induction. This book seeks to develop a realist position based on process ontology that avoids the traditional problems of realism. Primarily, the core claim is that in order for a scientific model to be minimally empirically adequate, that model must describe real experimental processes and dynamics. Any additional inferences from processes to things, substances or objects are not warranted, and so these inferences are shown to represent the locus of the problems of realism. The book then examines the history of physics to show that the progress of physical research is one of successive eliminations of thing interpretations of models in favor of more explanatory and experimentally verified process interpretations. This culminates in collections of models that cannot coherently allow for thing interpretations, but still successfully describe processes.

This second volume of three on relativistic quantum theories of interacting charged particles discusses quantum theories of systems with variable numbers of particles. Basics of the Fock space and quantum electrodynamics are covered with an emphasis on renormalization. In contrast to the usual treatment of the topic, particles (rather than fields) are chosen as basic ingredients.

Contents
Fock space
Scattering in Fock space
Quantum electrodynamics
Renormalization
Useful integrals
Quantum fields of fermions
Quantum field of photons
QED interaction in terms of particle operators
Relativistic invariance of QFT
Loop integrals in QED
Scattering matrix in (v/c)² approximation
Checks of physical dimensions

In this third volume of three, quantum electrodynamics is formulated in the language of physical „dressed" particles. A theory where charged particles interact via instantaneous action-at-a-distance forces is constructed - without need for renormalization. This theory describes electromagnetic phenomena in terms of directly interacting charges, but in full accord with fundamental principles of relativity and causality.

Contents
Three ways to look at QFT
Dressing
What are advantages of dressed Hamiltonian?
Coulomb potential and beyond
Decays
RQD in higher orders
Classical electrodynamics
Experimental support of RQD
Particles and relativity
Special theory of relativity
Unitary dressing transformation
Integral for decay law
Coulomb scattering integral in fourth order
Relativistic invariance of Coulomb–Darwin–Breit electrodynamics

This book introduces notation, terminology, and basic ideas of relativistic quantum theories. The discussion proceeds systematically from the principle of relativity and postulates of quantum logics to the construction of Poincaré invariant few-particle models of interaction and scattering. It is the first of three volumes formulating a consistent relativistic quantum theory of interacting charged particles.

Contents
Quantum logic
Poincaré group
Quantum mechanics and relativity
Observables
Elementary particles
Interaction
Scattering
Delta function
Groups and vector spaces
Group of rotations
Lie groups and Lie algebras
Hilbert space
Operators
Subspaces and projections
Representations of groups and algebras
Pseudo-orthogonal representation of Lorentz group

Encyclopedia of Monopropellants is the only book ever published that is exclusively devoted to monopropellants. While not using the highest performance rocket propellants, monopropellant rocket propulsion systems are unique in their simplicity and reliability. The energy content of monopropellants is limited by their ability to detonate, requiring thorough safety property testing before declaring a new monopropellant safe for flight use. Spectators and TV watchers never get to see monopropellants in action, but monopropellants always perform their tasks behind the scene of spectacular space vehicle launches.

This book is a revised edition of the first of three volumes in the Handbook of Zoology series which treats the systematics and biology of Coleoptera. With over 380,000 described species, Coleoptera are by far the most species-rich order of insects and the largest group of animals of comparable geological age. Moreover, numerous species are tremendously important economically. The beetle volumes meet the demand of modern biologists seeking to answer questions about Coleoptera phylogeny, evolution, and ecology. This first Coleoptera volume covers the suborders Archostemata, Myxophaga and Adephaga, and the basal series of Polyphaga, with information on world distribution, biology, morphology of all life stages, phylogeny and comments on taxonomy.

Encyclopedia of Oxidizers contains information on both liquid and solid oxidizers. When selecting combinations of bipropellants, hypergolic or nonhypergolic, it is usually the oxidizer that determines the reactivity of the combination once oxidizer and fuel meet in the rocket engine combustion chamber. The choice of oxidizers has less of an impact on the specifi c impulse than the choice of fuels with their widely varying hydrogen content.

Is there a pill for love? What about an "anti-love drug", to help us get over an ex? This book argues that certain psychoactive substances, including MDMA—the active ingredient in Ecstasy—may help ordinary couples work through relationship difficulties and strengthen their connection. Others may help sever an emotional connection during a breakup. These substances already exist, and they have transformative implications for how we think about love. This book builds a case for conducting research into "love drugs" and "anti-love drugs" and explores their ethical implications for individuals and society. Scandalously, Western medicine tends to ignore the interpersonal effects of drug-based interventions. Why are we still in the dark about the effects of these drugs on romantic partnerships? And how can we overhaul scientific research norms to take relationships more fully into account?

Ethicists Brian D. Earp and Julian Savulescu say that the time to think through such questions is now. Biochemical interventions into love and relationships are not some far-off speculation. Our most intimate connections are already being influenced by drugs we ingest for other purposes. Controlled studies are underway to see whether artificial brain chemicals can enhance couples therapy. And conservative religious groups are experimenting with certain medications to quash romantic desires—and even the urge to masturbate—among children and vulnerable sexual minorities. Simply put, the horse has bolted. Where it runs is up to us. Love Drugs arms us with the latest scientific knowledge and a set of ethical tools that we can use to decide if these sorts of medications should be a part of our society. Or whether a chemical romance will be right for us.

This monumental work by the world's preeminent authority on Arctic floras—the first comprehensive, up-to-date botanic manual for this region—is the product of the author's more than forty years of study of circumpolar floras. The book describes and illustrates all flowering plants and vascular cryptograms known to occur in Alaska, the Yukon, the Mackenzie District, and the eastern extremity of Siberia.

Some 1,974 taxa, belonging to 1,559 species, occur in this region; all are described. For 1,735 of these, the book provides detailed description, nomenclature, plant drawing, and range maps. In each case, one map gives distribution in the Alaskan region; a second, on circumpolar projection, gives worldwide range. This volume is the first major flora to assemble such comprehensive range data and to provide such maps.

An analytic key to all species described is provided for each genus, and there is an artificial key to families. An Introduction describes the past and present climatic, geologic, and ecologic character of the regions covered, the history of botanical collection in these regions, and the book's treatment of botanical and taxonomic details; and lists the plants of neighboring regions likely to occur. Glossary, plant authors' list, bibliography, and indexes are provided. The superb drawings were prepared by Dagny Tande-Lid, and eight pages of illustration in color are included.

This book focuses on the "Einstein Tower," an architecturally historic observatory built in Potsdam in 1920 to allow the German astronomer Erwin Finlay Freundlich to attempt to verify experimentally Einstein's general theory of relativity. Freundlich, who was the first German astronomer to show a genuine interest in Einstein's theory, managed to interest his architect friend Erich Mendelsohn in designing this unique building. Freundlich's researches were not a success; he came to doubt the very theory he was attempting to prove. (Adequate technology to test Einstein's theory lay many decades in the future.) By contrast, as an experiment in modernist architecture, the building led to international fame for Mendelsohn.

To develop a full historical picture of this moment in the history of science, the book interweaves several descriptive levels: the biography of Freundlich; the social context in which he interacted with teachers, co-workers, students, his patrons (including Einstein), and scientific opponents; the cognitive aspects of his attempts to verify Einstein's theory; the political milieu within the Berlin scientific research community; and a cross-national comparison of astrophysics.

Other layers of the narrative include the place of the Einstein Tower in architectural history; economics and sociopsychological components of the Tower's financing and construction; the reception of the Tower and the theory; a historical examination of the Tower's research results; and the effect on Freundlich and on the work at the Tower of the National Socialists’ rise to power.

The genealogy and function of epigenesis—the theory that organisms generate themselves under the guidance of a formative drive—provides a unique means of understanding the profound changes in philosophy, philosophy of language, and literature at the turn of the nineteenth century.

The book begins by describing how and why epigenesis came to replace the reigning model of biological origination, preformation—the theory that all organisms were preformed at the creation of the world. Contemporary with these developments, Kant used the figures of epigenesis and self-formation to illustrate his concepts of the origin of the categories, the possible success of practical reason, and the validity of aesthetic and teleological judgments. The author shows how Kant's figurative use of self-generation was turned into an indispensable determination by Fichte and his successors: philosophical knowledge can claim absolute certainty only if it can prove that it generates itself in logically accountable procedures.

This self-generating philosophy—also known as Idealism—was in turn accompanied by a revaluation of the origin of language, notably by Herder and by Humboldt, who attempted to formulate self-generation as the philosophical foundation for a future Science of Language. The book concludes by demonstrating that the biological, philosophical, and linguistic problematic of self-generation is at the heart of Goethe's novel Elective Affinities and Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro.

Leonhart Fuchs's herbal—recognized for more than four centuries as a masterpiece of Renaissance botany and one of the most beautiful books ever printed—now appears for the first time in a facsimile edition, accompanied by a volume of commentary based on three decades of historical and botanical research; the two volumes are published as a handsome boxed set. Only some 150 copies of the herbal are known to survive in rare book collections, and in the antiquarian book market it commands high prices (a copy was sold at Christie's for $17,000 in 1997).

The herbal, a compilation of information on the medicinal properties of plants, had declined in the Middle Ages. This changed in the early sixteenth century with the emergence in Germany of the new form of a printed, illustrated herbal, led by De historia stirpium commentarii insignes by Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566). The plan and organization of the herbal was entirely original with Fuchs, although the work included a vast amount of material derived from his Classical predecessors.

Fuchs's book is of great splendor, without equal among sixteenth-century herbals. It is illustrated with 511 woodcut figures, all original and depicted from life. These figures established a standard of botanical illustration that has lasted to the present day, and more than 100 species were illustrated for the first time (including 12 New World plants such as maize, kidney bean, chili pepper, cactus, and tobacco). During Fuchs' lifetime, the herbal and its various abridgements went through 39 printings in Latin, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch. The original Latin edition of 1542 is here reprinted in a facsimile only slightly smaller than the original, as the second volume of this set.

The exhaustively detailed commentary will become the standard reference work for Renaissance botany. Of invaluable interest to historians of medicine, pharmacology, philology, art, and printing, it will also appeal to collectors of fine and rare books, gardeners, and proponents of alternative medicine. The commentary contains some 150 illustrations, 100 in color, that include contemporary hand-colored figures from printed copies of the herbal and woodcuts hand-colored under Fuchs' supervision for a projected, unpublished elaboration of the original herbal.

Book References to Fuchs's Herbal

"A folio of breathtaking splendor."

—The Illustrated Herbal

"A botanical masterpiece."

—Herbals: Their Origin and Evolution

"Perhaps the most celebrated and beautiful herbal ever published."

—Printing and the Mind of Man

"Fuchs' woodcuts set a standard for botanical illustration that holds up to this day for clarity and directness."

—The Renaissance Print

"One of the greatest of all herbals."

—100 Books Famous in Medicine

When the utility of masks or vaccinations became politicized during the COVID-19 pandemic and lost its mooring in scientific evidence, an already-developing crisis of expertise was exacerbated. Those who believe in consensus science wondered: “How can ‘those people’ not see the truth?”

With a foreword by Harry Collins, this book shows that the crisis is not a "scientific" controversy, but an ideological dispute with "believers" on both sides. If the advocates for consensus science acknowledge the uncertainties involved, rather than insisting on cold, hard facts, it is possible to open a pathway towards interaction and communication, even persuasion, between world views.

As the crisis of expertise continues to be a global issue, this will be an invaluable resource for readers concerned about polarized societies and the distrust of consensus science.

There is a growing crisis in our oceans: mysterious outbreaks of infectious disease are on the rise. Marine epidemics can cause mass die-offs of wildlife from the bottom to the top of food chains, impacting the health of ocean ecosystems as well as lives on land. Portending global environmental disaster, ocean outbreaks are fueled by warming seas, sewage dumping, unregulated aquaculture, and drifting plastic.

Ocean Outbreak follows renowned scientist Drew Harvell and her colleagues into the field as they investigate how four iconic marine animals—corals, abalone, salmon, and starfish—have been devastated by disease. Based on over twenty years of research, this firsthand account of the sometimes gradual, sometimes exploding impact of disease on our ocean’s biodiversity ends with solutions and a call to action. Only through policy changes and the implementation of innovative solutions from nature can we reduce major outbreaks, save some ocean ecosystems, and protect our fragile environment.

Biotribology combines biology, biomechanics and tribology to study the mechanics of living organisms and how they interact with external surfaces. It is the study of how friction affects physiological processes, such as the rubbing of bones in a joint or the wearing down of dental enamel while chewing. This field of study is crucial for understanding and designing biomedical devices and materials. Biotribology aims to understand how biological systems effectively deal with friction, wear, and lubrication. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of these phenomena is not only essential for unraveling the processes of musculoskeletal function, but it also has significant potential for enhancing healthcare technologies, biomaterials, and regenerative medicine. This book provides a thorough and detailed exploration of the complex field of biotribology and interactions that take place at the interface of living materials. It examines the fundamental principles, latest research, and practical applications of biotribology. It explores the basic characteristics of biological surfaces, explaining the intricate structures and mechanical features that control how they interact with each other. Topics include the causes of friction and wear in biological systems, the lubrication techniques used by live creatures, and the study of how specific tissues and organs, such as articular cartilage, dental structures, and soft tissues, interact with each other. In addition, it describes the biotribological difficulties linked to implantable medical devices, the influence of biomaterials and surface alterations in improving biocompatibility and performance, and the developing areas of nanotribology and computational modeling in understanding the complexities of biological interfaces.

Due to their high predictive and informative potential, machine learning and deep learning have emerged as essential tools to advance microbiome research. This book provides insights and research findings related to AI in microbiology and demonstrates how AI can be applied to solve complex problems, accelerate research, and improve our understanding of microorganisms. It covers AI and machine learning techniques in plant growth and plant protection, in clinical, food and environmental microbiology. AI in microbiology is an interdisciplinary field, and this book will help bridge the gap between computer science, data analytics, and microbiology.