Book Description

Advances in Geophysics, Vol. 40 systematically compares many of the currently used statistical approaches to time series analysis and modeling to evaluate each method's robustness and application to geophysical datasets.This volume tackles the age-old problem of how to evaluate the relative roles of deterministic versus stochastic processes (signal vs noise) in their observations. The book introduces the fundamentals in sections titled "1.2 What is a Time Series? " and "1.3 How is a Time Series Quantified?", before diving into Spectral Analysis, Semivariograms, Rescaled-Range Analysis and Wavelet Analysis. The second half of the book applies their self-affine analysis to a number of geophysical time series (historical temperature records, drought hazard assessment, sedimentation in the context of hydrocarbon bearing strata, variability of the Earth's magnetic field).
This volume explores in detail one of the main components of noise, that of long-range persistence or memory.The first chapter is a broad summary of theory and techniques of long-range persistence in time series; the second chapter is the application of long-range persistence to a variety of geophysical time series. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Highly Readable for any scientist
The authors (Bruce Malamud, Don Turcotte, and John Pelletier) should be congratulated on their clear exposition of this important subject. A more readable treatment of 'memory' in time series is not to befound.

Arguably, society supports geophysicists to tease apart thecomplex processes responsible for present and past geophysical phenomena inorder to predict future events --and in the case of natural hazards(floods, climate change, sea level, earthquakes, asteroid impacts, etc.) tohelp mitigate their effects.To this end, geophysicists must firstdiscriminate between the signal and the noise in their observations (data).This volume addresses this age-old requirement. ... Read more

Book Description

In Oxygen, Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. He shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated aging of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas, following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences to molecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our place in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The "O" in Oxygen
In Nick Lane's novel Oxygen, he talks about how important oxygen is, when it was discovered, how it can be hazardous, and how it can cure diseases, such as pneumonia. The element oxygen was discovered in the 1770's. Oxygen is an important element of life, because is we stopped breathing; we would be dead in minutes. Suffocation and drowning is the most human feared way to die. John Scott Haldane used oxygen to cure injuries in World War I. Nick Lane is brilliant when it comes to oxygen. It seems like he can answer almost every question one might have about the interesting subject. He informs the reader about how 4 billion years ago, there was no oxygen on Earth and how it makes up about 21% of the atmosphere. This brilliant novel author explains how oxygen first evolved, how many tiny organisms die when exposed to 0.1% of oxygen because it has no antioxidants and how the first cells evolved in an oxygen-free environment. Many theories and explanation about oxygen are detailed explains how oxygen comes from photosynthesis. I learned so much new and exciting information by reading this tremendous novel. Without the dramatic changes of oxygen, there would be no evolutionary steps. O2 can be extremely hazardous (hydrogen peroxide is hazardous if dissolved iron is present). AN APPLE A DAY COULD KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY... which is a correct statement. It reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes and some cancers because all kinds of antioxidants are found in fruits. Our whole body is an antioxidant machine, from the physical structure of individual cells to the physique of a human being. Mitochondria is for producing energy, hemoglobin is for delivering oxygen and vitamin C is for protecting against free radicals (which are at the roots of ageing and disease).
I enjoyed reading this novel because it was extremely informative and I enjoy reading about how oxygen is has been necessary for 4 billion years. I believe Nick Lane is a brilliant author and is extremely informative. I have learned so much about oxygen and how it's necessary in our day-to-day lives. I recommend this novel to everyone, even if one is just looking for a book to read for fun. Lane makes this novel anything but a quick read, however it's very incredibly worth it because it's so informative on an everyday necessity.

Life's dangerousmidwife
In school, we learned of the ubiquity of hydrogen in the universe.It made up the stars, drifted between the galaxies, and, combined with nitrogen, composed the atmosphere of our solar system's giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn.We learned, too, how it combined with oxygen to make our planet's blessing - water.Oxygen was deemed the life-giver, earning our respect even when we burned things with it in the lab.That "burning" is a key element in Lane's treatise.We're all aware that without oxygen, we cannot live.On the other hand, too much of this vital element attacks our cells and contributes to the ageing process.Consequently, we've turned to "anti-oxidants" in hope of diminishing the negative aspects.Lane issues a strong cautionary note about this practice, using a strong evolutionary base to build his case.

Science has long known that the early Earth had little free oxygen in the atmosphere.The famous Urey-Miller experiments used a "reducing" atmospheric environment to build their compounds.Traditional biology argues that oxygen was emitted by photosynthetic bacteria as a waste product.Existing life thus had to adapt to this poisonous atmosphere.Lane challenges this view, describing mechanisms that made early organisms already oxygen tolerant.He contends that the Last Universal Common Ancestor, a minute organism residing in shallow seas, learned to break water into its component gases, using freed energy.In striking a balance between using oxygen as an energy source and preventing that energy from consuming the cell, life developed finely honed processes.Oxygen is more than just used by life, it is constrained and controlled carefully in organic mechanisms.As life gained in complexity it used oxygen to improve those control processes.We tamper with them at our peril.

The key is in how life deals with "free radicals".These compounds steal electrons, which are the basis for life's functioning.Free radicals have had some bad press in recent years, as Lane reminds us.There is much available advice about dealing with them and a pharmacoepia of "medicines" to be had that claim to reduce them or their impact.Lane argues that the complexity of processes and varying conditions within the body make any claims to deal with them highly suspect.The bottom line is that we don't have nearly enough knowledge about how the body copes with free radicals to have confidence in any of the suggested therapies.

Nearly a quarter of this book focusses on a question confronting us all - ageing.There have been countless attempts to understand the ageing process, most with the ambition to thwart or delay it.Their success rate has been notably abysmal, notes Lane.Approaches range from "oxygen pubs" to heavy doses of vitamin C.The author points out that not only is the concentration of oxygen used by each cell miniscule compared to what's available in the atmosphere, the processing system is many levels removed from the source.The body will use what's needed and scorn the rest.Flooding the body with oxygen or vitamins is more likely to impose "oxygen stress" than deliver any real benefit.

Lane's thorough analysis makes this book anything but a quick read.He follows evolutionary paths, historical accounts of research in all aspects of life, and explains organic processes in minute detail.He presents a complicated and long-term story, but his explanations are rendered with clarity and precision.It is simple to condemn this book for its wealth of information.That's the reaction of one seeking simple answers.It's easier to praise this book for its sweep of both history, precise evolutionary biology and breadth of information on a topic critical to our existence.With an extensive glossary and strong list of reference material, it's a boon to those wishing to understand our world and life's foundations.
[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

More than you can ask for in a book.
The story of Oxygen in the earth environment is detailed, but
goes further in its side explanations of the many various subjects
related to this story.The mystery of photosenthesis was clearly
explained at the molecular lever in such detail as were the other
submentioned processes of this book.I found this man to be a
genius of knowledge, seeming to know something about everything.
I do not know how to write books, but If I did, it would be this way.You will never go wrong remembering the author and buying
what he writes.A 10+ in my experience.

Great book
Fascinating book.The author really knows his stuff and puts together a very persuasive story of how evolution was affected by Oxygen.Although some technical info through me at times, practically every page had some interesting tidbit.I found it hard to put down.

A lot of information about a lot of different topics!
Nick Lane's book, Oxygen The Molecule that made the World, is a surprising volume.It mixes organic and inorganic chemistry with evolutionary studies, paleontology, research medicine, and even a little engineering to explain how the world got to be as it is. The first half of the book is dedicated to what our early atmosphere was like and how it changed as a result of biological activity.It also discusses how the evolving atmosphere, particularly the presence of oxygen, affected the complexity of early life and the sudden flourish of biological diversity after the Precambrian.The last half of the volume deals with the recent research on free radicals and their effect on health and on the phenomena of aging and of immortality.
Doctor Lane's own background is in biochemistry, and his research focus has been on oxygen free radicals and metabolic function in organ transplants. Not surprisingly he went into some detail about the free radical cascade that affects cellular metabolism and DNA integrity.I found this somewhat difficult to understand as I have only a very rudimentary grounding in organic chemistry.Still I have to admit that I know somewhat more about the process than I did before reading this book.
Probably because I know significantly more about geology and paleontology, I enjoyed more fully the author's synthesis and analysis of what we know of the geological and biological development of our atmosphere and our planet. Some of this material was familiar to me from other sources:Certainly that O2 can actually be a "poison" I know from managing patients with ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome) on mechanical ventilators with 100% O2; that the earth went through a series of green house earth/snowball earth phases early in its history I had learned from Ward and Brownlee's book Rare Earth; that life had begun almost as early as it was able and much earlier than had been previously believed, I was aware of from works by Gould, Schopf, and others; and that the mitochondria may once have been free-living, aerobic organisms that formed a symbiotic relationship with anaerobic organisms was known to me from my past exposure to microbiology in a nursing class.
New to me however, was the concept that gigantism may have been a means of limiting the negative effects of a periodic increase in oxygen in the environment, as Dr. Lane suggests in his chapter on The Bolsover Dragonfly.Although I had read an article that suggested that the immense sizes achieved by some of the dinosaur species might have been due to a higher percent of O2 at the time, I had also understood that it was because oxygen was a "good" thing, an opportunity of sorts. Lane points out that the negative effects of oxygen on tissues and DNA through the free radical cascade might have been ameliorated by an increased size.An animal--or one presumes also a plant--that increased its size might have been able to distribute negative effects over a greater body mass.One wonders if the rise of the mammalian mega fauna of the ice ages and their sudden almost catastrophic disappearance might not also have been due to some temporary fluxuation in the oxygen level of their atmosphere.(In which case the early Native Americans could be once and for all exonerated of having liquidated them, since their demise would have been dictated by a return to a baseline oxygen level!)If this were the case, one might also question what type of changes might be expected among our own kind as a result of such an increase and decrease of atmospheric oxygen.
I found the doctor's ideas on the trade off between sexual reproduction and immortality a unique approach to the topic of aging.Some of this information--the studies of animal reproduction rates, predation, and age at death, for instance--was known to me.Dr. Lane's discussion brought it together in a much more complete way.
Certainly the concept of sexual reproduction being one of life's mechanisms of perpetuating the fragile, complex organic molecules (DNA) in an oxidative environment was interesting.I had read Ridley's proposal that sexual reproduction evolved as a means of resisting bacterial infection, but Lane's suggests why it began as early as the DNA swapping behavior among early single eukaryotic cells.That the massive increase in biological diversity was an indirect product of the release of oxygen into the atmosphere, is truly an amazing thought.In the event as Lane makes claim in his subtitle, oxygen was truly "The Molecule that made the World." ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

3 stars for being an interesting read...but...
If you want something to help you buy jewelry more intelligently, or buy loose stones and have them made into your own designs, also here at Amazon try : Gemstones of the World (Schumann) *and* Jewelry & Gems, The Buying Guide (Matlins & Bonanno) -- they supplement each other well. As for this book : Kunz is a historic name well-known to gem and jewelry lovers, and I hoped there might be some helpful info -- or perhaps some fascinating gem exploration/ discovery tales -- here along with the 'lore.' None that I've found so far, though. Well, at least the 'lore' did provide me with some reasonably interesting chatter when folks ask about my jewelry or I notice theirs.

The Curious Lore of Precious Stones;
I bought this book because I enjoy buying gemstones and rocks and just for fun I wanted to know more about the traditional properties that were associated with them. This book written in 1912 and was last reprinted in 1971. Author, George Frederick Kunz, was no doubt the leading expert of his time. The book is full of all kinds of information, from every religion and culture, and was very well researched. He quotes literature from ancient times through what was known up to his time. His writing style is also consistent with his times, so modern readers may find it a little stiff. There are newer lapidaries available...this is a good and entertaining reference.

Keep going back
I keep going back to this to research this stone or that one. Mr. Kunz is a bit on the dry side, but his information is superlative. Many of the pagan books of today don't give enough resources... Mr. Kunz does. I realize he is not a pagan author, but this is a useful resource for pagans interested in stone work. Here is where Scott Cunningham got much of his lore!

A timeless classic devoted to gemstone lore.
Geoge Frederick Kunz's contribution as a gemmologisy at the beginning of the century earned him universal fame and respect, even to the point that one the most popular stones in modern energy work is named after him: Kunzite. Dover has published a reprint of his 1913 monument to the "hidden" side of gems: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. This 400 page volume contains a wealth of material based on medieval lapidary tomes, history, folklore,the Bible, the Eddas, archeological findings, and oral traditions still alive at the time of Kunz's writing. The casual or serious reader cannot help but be impressed by the depth of understanding Kunz deplayed in page after page of riches associated with all aspects of gems and their uses. Thank you, Dover, for allowing us access to this remarkable book.

THE resource for symbolism without embracing the occult
Mr. Kunz is the father of American gemmology & served in acquisitions for Tiffany's. He is also the discoverer of kunzite. This book is the most excellent, all-in-one resource I have found in an extensive search. My main concern was that most resources had just as much content on witchcraft & the actual casting of spells (which I was NOT interested in). The author treats the subject from a reporter's point of view- stating the various cultural beliefs with his own sociological commentary. If you want a one-stop, non-religious/sectarian guide; look no more! (and spend no more extravagant amounts!) ... Read more

Book Description

This book is an introduction to the physical processes of cohesive sediment in the marine environment. It focuses on highly dynamic systems, such as estuaries and coastal seas. Processes on the continental shelf are also discussed and attention is given to the effects of chemistry, biology and gas.
The process descriptions are based on hydrodynamic and soil mechanic principles, which integrate at the soil-water interface. This approach is substantiated through a classification scheme of sediment occurrences in which distinction is made between cohesive and granular material. Emphasis is also placed on the important interactions between turbulent flow and cohesive sediment suspensions, and on the impact of flow-induced forces on the stability of the seabed.

An overview of literature on cohesive sediment dynamics is presented and a number of new developments are highlighted, in particular in relation to floc formation, settling and sedimentation, consolidation, bed failure and liquefaction and erosion of the bed. Moreover, it presents a summary on methods and techniques to measure the various sediment properties necessary to quantify the various parameters in the physical-mathematical model descriptions. A number of examples and case studies have been included. ... Read more

Book Description

Nothing can be more breathtaking than the spectacle of a volcano erupting. Space-age lunar and planetary missions offer us an unprecedented perspective on volcanism. Starting with the Earth, Volcanoes of the Solar System takes the reader on a guided tour of the terrestrial planets and moons and their volcanic features.We see lunar lava fields through the eyes of the Apollo astronauts, and take an imaginary hike up the Martian slopes of Olympus Mons--the tallest volcano in the solar system.Complemented by over 150 photographs, this comprehensive and lucid account of volcanoes describes the most recent data on the unique and varied volcanic features of Venus and updates our knowledge on the prodigiously active volcanoes of Io.A member of the Association of European Volcanologists, Charles Frankel has directed documentary films on geology, astronomy and space exploration and has authored a number of articles on the earth sciences. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A good introductory review of extraterrestrial volcanism
Mention the word "volcano", and most people think only of the Earth. However, as this fine book shows, such is hardly the case. Indeed, the phenomenon of volcanic activity is widespread in our own solar system.

The text is introductory in nature, and the book is unconfounded by spates of hypertechnical language. Anyone with an average scientific backgound will easily understand the great bulk of the matters discussed. Excellent photography, both from telescopes, as well as manned and robotic space vehicles, closely follows the text and contributes to its comprehension.

I believe the author occasionally leaves technical terms unexplained, however. Also, the photography is largely in black and white.

The book begins with chapters on Earth's own volcanism, and then proceeds to other planets and moon, including our moon, Venus, Mars, Io, and Triton. I found the chapters on Venus especially fascinating, given the wide variety of igneous features.

Any reader will come away with a well enhanced understanding of both our solar system and the part that vulcanism plays in its ongoing development. Recommended highly, especially for student of and devotees of planetary astronomy and volcanic processes.

An overview on volcanic forces in our solar system
This book offers an introduction into the dynamic forces forming the surface of the planets. It is easy to read and offers a lot of information. I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in planetary geology.

A study of the geology and geologic forces of volcanoes
This text discusses the geology of volcanoes throughout most of our solar system (it lacks a chapter on Mercury). In it the author begins with an examination of earth's volcanic landforms and then progresses to examine those on other planetary worlds. The level of writing is non-technical, and clearly for the beginner. However, on occasion I noted that the author did not define various terms which make parts of this text a bit more difficult for the novice to follow. Still, the text is quite readable and offers a good overview. This is especially true in the design of the book's chapters: there is an initial one on each of the major planets which is 'more introductory', which is then followed by a second chapter which is 'more advanced'. I will note that the photography is quite nice, and that the book covers some of the more exotic volcanoes (such as those on Io and Triton). This is a good text for those interested in an overview of one of the most facsinating landforms in our solar system ... Read more

Book Description

Part of an ongoing series of manuals covering the range of applications of remotely sensed imagery, Volume 4 addresses the use of this technology in natural resource management and environmental monitoring. Comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date, it covers terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and agriculture ecosystems, as well as future directions in technology and research. ... Read more

Book Description

Glaciers are among the most beautiful natural wonders on Earth, but for most of us the least known and understood. This book describes how glaciers grow and decay, how they move, and how they influence human civilisation. Today covering a tenth of the Earth's surface, glacier ice has shaped the landscape over millions of years by scouring away rocks, transporting and depositing debris far from its source. Glacier meltwater drives turbines and irrigates deserts, yields mineral-rich soils, and has left us a wealth of valuable sand and gravel. However, glaciers also threaten human property and life. Our future is indirectly bound up with the fate of glaciers and their influence on global climate and sea level. A lively running text develops these themes and is supported by over 200 stunning photographs, taking us from the High-Arctic through North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, New Zealand and South America to the Antarctic. ... Read more

Book Description

The wealth of petroleum has made the Middle East one of the most actively explored regions of the world. The volume of geological, geophysical and geochemical data collected by the petroleum industry in recent decades is enormous. The Middle East may be a unique region in the world where the volume of subsurface data and information exceeds that based on surface outcrop.This book reviews the tectonic and geological history of the Middle East and the regional hydrocarbon potential on a country by country basis in the context of current ideas developed through seismic and sequence stratigraphy and incorporating the ideas of global sea level change.Subsurface data have been used as much as possible to amplify the descriptions.The paleogeographic approach provides a means to view the area as a whole. While the country by country approach inevitably leads to some repetition, it enhances the value of the volume as a teaching tool and u ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Geology of the Middle East
Provide me the fundamental of Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Geology of the Middle East up to date. Good for academic reference as well as professional work. ... Read more

Book Description

For more than 100 years, meteorologists have been making forecasts of weather and climatic events. In order to judge the quality of these forecasts and improve forecasting systems, scientists working in this field have developed and applied many different verification and evaluation techniques and scores. Forecast verification is concerned with judging how good are these systems and forecasts.

This book begins with an introduction to the subject of forecast verification and a review of the basic concepts, discussing different types of data that may be forecast before moving on to the main chapters, where each chapter covers a different type of predicted quantity (predictand). This book then looks at some of the relationships between economic value and skill scores, and finally moves on to review the key concepts and summarise aspects of forecast verification that receive the most attention in other disciplines. The book concludes with a discussion on the most important topics in the field that are the subject of current research or that would benefit from future research.

Key features of this book includes:

• An easy to read guide of current techniques with real life case studies

• An up to date and practical introduction to the different techniques and an examination of their strengths and weaknesses

• Practical advice given by some of the world's leading forecasting experts

• Case studies and illustrations of actual verification and its interpretation

• Comprehensive glossary and consistent statistical and mathematical definition of commonly used terms

This book is suitable for postgraduates and researchers in forecasting studies, climatology, meteorology and those in the atmospheric oceanic and environmental science community. It is also a useful supplementary textbook for undergraduates in environmental science, climatology and meteorology. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A very useful book for all forecasters
This is an invaluable resource for anyone
involved in the business of forecasting.
Based on more than 100 years of developments
in atmospheric science, this book summarises
the many possible ways to assess the skill
of forecasts/predictions. The book is well
written with a consistent notation and I found
it a pleasure to read. It will become a reference
for forecasters for years to come. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Earth Science offers a reader-friendly overview of our physical environment for the reader with little or no exposure to science. The emphasis is on readability, with clear explanations and examples, superb illustrations by the renowned Dennis Tasa, and an incredible collection of full color photographs and topographical maps.Topics covered in this highly readable and interesting book are geology, oceanography, astronomy, and meteorology.For readers needing a basic informational book about Earth Science. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great book covering everything
This textbook is one of the best scientific books I have seen.Not only does it cover earth science (like geology), but astronomy and meteorology also.It covers every topic that you possibly want to know about.The authors leave no information out.I had to use this for Science Olympiad, and it helped me so much.The explanations are great, the images beautiful, and the diagrams very helpful.I would suggest this for anyone that has an interest in Earth Science or Meteorology.It is a great book. ... Read more

Book Description

A systematic, unifying approach to the dynamics of the ocean and atmosphere is given in this book, with emphasis on the larger-scale motions (from a few kilometers to global scale). The foundations of the subject (the equations of state and dynamical equations) are covered in some detail, so that students with training in mathematics should find it a self-contained text. Knowledge of fluid mechanics is helpful but not essential. Simple mathematical models are used to demonstrate the fundamental dynamical principles with plentiful illustrations from field and laboratory. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

a classic - and rightly so
This book on ocean and atmosphere dynamics has been a classic ever since its appearance and there are various reasons. It is written in an extremely lucid style, it covers most of the standard material of the field, and gets the balance between mathematical integrity and simplicity exactely right. I found it a pleasure to read it. ... Read more

Book Description

This fully revised and expanded edition of Fundamentals of Soil Ecology continues its holistic approach to soil biology and ecosystem function.Students and ecosystem researchers will gain a greater understanding of the central roles that soils play in ecosystem development and function.The authors emphasize the increasing importance of soils as the organizing center for all terrestrial ecosystems and provide an overview of theory and practice of soil ecology, both from an ecosystem and evolutionary biology point of view.This volume contains updated and greatly expanded coverage of all belowground biota (roots, microbes and fauna) and methods to identify and determine its distribution and abundance.New chapters are provided on soil biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem processes, suggested laboratory and field methods to measure biota and their activities in ecosystems..

* Contains over 60% new material and 150 more pages
* Includes new chapters on soil biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem function
* Outlines suggested laboratory and field methods
* Incorporates new pedagogical features
* Combines theoretical and practical approaches ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A very good and up-to-date book for learning Maple.
This book is a good choice for engineers, scientists or students who need to learn Maple 7 in a short time. The first chapters are written as a hands-on tutorial, beginning with Maple's environment and basic commands and progressing step by step toward programming structures, document preparation and ample discussions of some higher math topics (such as differential equations, 2d and 3d graphics, linear algebra, vector calculus, complex analysis and statistics).
The last chapter contains overviews of many other packages (about group theory, number theory, combinatorics and a lot of other things), including the new packages found in release 7.
There is also a glossary, a bibliography and references to Maple sites in the web.
On the other hand, you should know that the author does not delve into Maple's inner workings. He does not explain in depth what a data structure is in Maple, or how expressions are evaluated. Well, most of us can live without that... but if you are planning to do lots of programming with Maple, or perhaps writing a new package, probably you'll need more information. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume provides an introduction to the texture analysis of deformed materials and explores methods of determining and interpreting the preferred orientation of crystals in deformed polycrystalline aggregates.**The book reviews: 1) the techniques, procedures, and theoretical basis for the accumulation and analysis of orientation data; 2)the processes by which polycrystals deform and the microstructural mechanisms responsible for the development of the preferred orientation; 3) the textures in specific systems and application of principles to the solution of specific problems.**With a combination of metallurgic and geologic applications, Preferred Orientation in Deformed Metals and Rocks:An Introduction to Modern Texture Analysis will be an important source book for students and researchers in materials science, solid state physics, structural geology, and geophysics.**FROM THE PREFACE: Determination and interpretation of the preferred orientation of crystals in deformed polycrystalline aggregates (in this volume also referred to as texture) has been of longstanding concern to both materials scientists and geologists.A similar theoretical background--such as the dislocation theory of crystal plasticity--has been the basis of understanding flow in metals and rocks; and similar determinative techniques--including microscopy and x-ray diffraction--have been used to study textures and microstructures.Whereas many of the fundamental principles have been established early this century by scientists such as Jeffery, Sachs, Sander, Schmid, Schmidt, and Taylor, only in recent years has knowledge reached a level that provides a quantitative framework which has replaced a largely phenomenological approach.This is expressed in the sudden new emphasis on textural studies, as documented by the large number of recent publications.**This volume contains material to serve as an introduction for those who wish to enter this field as well as reviews for those who are already engaged in advanced research....**The book is divided into three parts.The first (Chapters 2*b17) deals with techniques, procedures, and theoretical bases for the accumulation and analysis of orientation data.The second (Chapters 8*b112) introduces processes by which polycrystals deform and the microstructural mechanisms responsible for the development of the preferred orientation.All those chapters emphasize basic principles and apply to metals as well as to minerals.The third part (Chapters 13*b126) illustrates textures in specific systems and the application of the principles set out in the earlier chapters to the solution of specific problems.Readers of these chapters will quickly become aware that metals have been more exhaustively studied than minerals; but they will also realize that, because of their structural symmetry, metals are in general much simpler than rocks and that the intepretation of metal textures is less involved.An extensive list of relevant references provides access to much of the original literature on textures.... ... Read more

Book Description

The ultimate book for the weather enthusiast or anyone interested in the oddities and extremes of nature.

There are few thrills as exciting as weather at its worst. We often hear on the news that the day was the hottest, coldest, wettest, or snowiest on record. Is the climate really becoming more extreme as a result of global warming? The facts are in this book.

Extensively illustrated with color photographs of some of the most extreme weather ever captured on camera, dozens of color maps, and tables of weather records for over three hundred U.S. cities, this book is both an entertainment and an indispensable reference.

Also included are historical examples of some of the more bizarre weather events observed: heat bursts, electrified dust storms, snow rollers, pink snowstorms, luminous tornadoes, falls of fish and toads, ball lightning, super bolts, and other strange meteorological events. Here's the must-have book for Weather Channel and Guinness Book of World Records fans. 80 color and 35 black-and-white photos, 40 maps. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume comprises of papers which were presented at the Paul Roberts' Anniversary meeting at the University of Exeter and reflect his research contributions which are remarkable in their diversity, depth of contents and international importance. The volume is presented in the following sections covering geomagnetism and dynamos; fluid mechanics and MHD; superfluidity; mixed phase regions. There is a commentary of the papers putting the work of Paul Roberts into historical context and this volume provides a valuable source of reference for graduates and researchers working in this area of geoscience. ... Read more

Book Description

Reflecting rapid changes in our knowledge of the earth's chemistry, this revision is more quantitative, gives more attention to environmental issues, and places greater emphasis on the application of geochemistry to geological problems than its predecessor. Using examples from actual field and laboratory studies, the authors give students a feeling for the application of geochemistry for many kinds of earth-science inquiry. ... Read more

Book Description

In this engrossing and accessible book, Doug Macdougall explores the causes and effects of ice ages that have gripped our planet throughout its history, from the earliest known glaciation-nearly three billion years ago-to the present. Following the development of scientific ideas about these dramatic events, Macdougall traces the lives of many of the brilliant and intriguing characters who have contributed to the evolving understanding of how ice ages come about. As it explains how the great Pleistocene Ice Age has shaped the earth's landscape and influenced the course of human evolution, Frozen Earth also provides a fascinating look at how science is done, how the excitement of discovery drives scientists to explore and investigate, and how timing and chance play a part in the acceptance of new scientific ideas.Macdougall describes the awesome power of cataclysmic floods that marked the melting of the glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age. He probes the chilling evidence for "Snowball Earth," an episode far back in the earth's past that may have seen our planet encased in ice from pole to pole. He discusses the accumulating evidence from deep-sea sediment cores, as well as ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic, that suggests fast-changing ice age climates may have directly impacted the evolution of our species and the course of human migration and civilization. Frozen Earth also chronicles how the concept of the ice age has gripped the imagination of scientists for almost two centuries. It offers an absorbing consideration of how current studies of Pleistocene climate may help us understand earth's future climate changes, including the question of when the next glacial interval will occur.Illustrations: 14 line illustrations, 12 b/w photographs ... Read more