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Books published by publisher Springer

  • The Human Face of Water Security

    David Devlaeminck, Zafar Adeel, Robert Sandford

    eBook (Springer, March 9, 2017)
    This volume collects essays from academics and practitioners from a diversity of areas and perspectives in order to discuss water security at various levels and to illuminate the central idea of water security: its focus on the individual. Beginning with the big picture, this book aims to illustrate the depth of the water security crisis and its interconnections with other aspects of societal development. It particularly draws a connection to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and discusses that challenges faced in meeting the 17 sustainability development goals (SDG) by the year 2030. Moving from international to domestic and community perspectives, this book provides a unique analysis of issues and solutions to the water issues we face today in light of the ever looming global changes brought on by climate change. Over the past few decades the recognition of our common need for water has increased, as policymakers have sought to place more focus on the individual within policy. After the recognition of water and sanitation as a fundamental human right by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, there is increasing recognition of the individual as the building block for the struggle for water security. This reality also intersects with adverse impacts of global climate change, and the book responds to the broader question: will clean and safe water be available where we need it and when we need it in the future?
  • A Passion for Space: Adventures of a Pioneering Female NASA Flight Controller

    Marianne J. J. Dyson

    Paperback (Springer, Sept. 19, 2015)
    Marianne J. Dyson recounts for us a time when women were making the first inroads into space flight control, a previously male-dominated profession. The story begins with the inspiration of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and follows the challenges of pursuing a science career as a woman in the 70s and 80s, when it was far from an easy path. Dyson relates the first five space shuttle flights from the personal perspective of mission planning and operations in Houston at the Johnson Space Center, based almost exclusively on original sources such as journals and NASA weekly activity reports. The book’s historical details about astronaut and flight controller training exemplify both the humorous and serious aspects of space operations up through the Challenger disaster, including the almost unknown fire in Mission Control during STS-5 that nearly caused an emergency entry of the shuttle. From an insider with a unique perspective and credentials to match, this a must-read for anyone interested in the workings of NASA during one of its busiest and defining times, and the challenges faced by women pursuing scientific careers.
  • The Power of Stars: How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization

    Bryan E. Penprase

    Hardcover (Springer, Oct. 15, 2010)
    The "Power of Stars" fills a much needed niche in the literature, by providing a lively, richly illustrated survey of the human response to the sky across the centuries and across all cultures. The book covers all aspects of how civilizations studied and responded the sky. From the opening chapter, which gives a survey of visible phenomena from the sun, moon and planets, the book provides a multicultural perspective on the experience of the sky. The motions of the sun and moon across the sky and on the horizon were noticed by ancient people and the book describes their legends and skywatching practices. In Chapter 2, the book gives an overview of constellations from a wide variety of cultures, including the ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Hawaiian, Native American Chumash and Navajo tribes, the Inuit culture, and also covers the Southern skies, such as the Aboriginal Australians and the Incan cultures. In Chapter 3, Creation Stories from a wide variety of cultures are described, and in Chapter 4 their models of the universe or Cosmologies are described and illustrated. The wide variety of descriptions of the early universe, the the structure of the physical universe from ancient Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Babylonian, Mayan and other cultures are explained and illustrated with original art. In Chapters 5 and 6 the evolution of timekeeping and calendars are described, including the dramatic stories of the Mayan 2012 cycle, the Harrison navigation clocks, and the development of modern atomic clocks and GPS systems. Chapter 7 describes "Celestial Architecture" where temples and buildings (Stonehenge, Newgrange, and also cathedrals) are aligned with the sun and stars. The remaining chapters turn a lens onto our own culture, and describe how our modern cities contain within them cosmological symbolism and alignments, and how ancient traditions and modern technology coexist in the 21st century. The last chapter also gives a history of the development of the Modern Big Bang cosmology, and some of the remaining "unanswered questions" to be studied and explored by future astronomers. The book provides a unique wide angle lens to the many ways that society understands and describes the stars, and in the process explores how that process reveals universal qualities of humankind.
  • The Science of Well-Being: The Collected Works of Ed Diener

    Ed Diener

    eBook (Springer, July 16, 2009)
    Major Theoretical Questions Theories about subjective well-being have grown over the past several decades, but have been re ned only slowly as adequate data have been compiled to test them. We can characterize the theories describing happiness along several dimensions. The rst dimension is whether the theory places the locus of happiness in external conditions such as income and status, as many sociological theories do, or within the attitudes and temperament of the individual, as many psychological theories do. Some have maintained that people adapt to all circumstances over time, so that only individual personality matters for producing happiness, whereas others believe that economicandothersocietalfactorsarethedominantforcesinproducingwell-being. Throughout my writings there is a mix of both the internal and external factors that in uence well-being. A second dimension that characterizes scholarship on well-being is the issue of whether the factors affecting well-being are relative or absolute. That is, are there standards used by people at all times and places in judging their lives and in reacting to events? Or are standards dependent on what other people possess, on expec- tions,andonadaptationlevelsbasedonpastcircumstances?Again,thereisevidence supporting the role of both universal and relative standards. People around the globe are probably in uenced by common factors such as friendship versus loneliness, but even these universal in uences on happiness are probably subject to some degree of comparison depending on what the person is used to and what others have. However, some factors might be much more comparative than other in uences, as Hsee, Yang, Li, and Shen (in press) have described.
  • The Science of Baseball: Modeling Bat-Ball Collisions and the Flight of the Ball

    A. Terry Bahill

    Hardcover (Springer, Dec. 20, 2017)
    This book describes the dynamic collisions between baseballs, softballs, and bats, and the intricate modeling of these interactions, using only Newton’s basic principles and the conservation laws of physics. Veteran baseball science author Terry Bahill explains models for the speed and spin of balls and bats and equations for bat-ball collisions at a level accessible to high school and undergraduate physics students, engineering students, and, most importantly, students of the science of baseball. Unlike other, more technical accounts of these phenomena that exhibit similar rigor, the models presented in this volume use only basic physical principles to describe simple collision configurations. Elucidating the most important factors for understanding bat performance―bat weight, moment of inertia, the coefficient of restitution, and characteristics of humans swinging the bats, Dr. Bahill also explains physical aspects of the ideal bat and the sweet spot.• Explains how to select or design an optimal baseball or softball bat and create models for bat-ball collisions using only fundamental principles of mechanics from high school physics;• Describes the results of the collision between baseball and bat using basic mathematics such as equations for the speed of the ball after the collision, bat speed after the collision, and bat rotation after the collision;•Accessible to high school and undergraduate students as well as non-technical aficionados of the science of baseball. “Dr. Bahill’s book is the perfect tool for teaching how to solve some of baseball’s basic science problems. Using only simple Newtonian principles and the conservation laws, Dr. Bahill explains how to model bat-ball collisions. Also, he derives equations governing the flight of the ball, and proceeds to show what factors affect air density and how this density affects the ball’s flight. And as a unique addition to his fine book, he provides advice for selecting the optimal bat―a surprising bonus!”Dave Baldwin, PhDMajor League pitcher, 1966-1973, lifetime Major League ERA, 3.08 “If I were the General Manger of a baseball team, I would tell my people to write a ten-page paper describing what this book contains that could improve our performance. I think the book provides the foundation for change.”Bruce GissingExecutive VP-Operations (retired) Boeing Commercial Airplanes“[I] had a chance to read your research, and I fully agree with your findings.”Baseball Legend Ted Williams, in a 1984 letter to the author
  • Biodiversity Hotspots: Distribution and Protection of Conservation Priority Areas

    Frank E. Zachos, Jan Christian Habel

    Hardcover (Springer, Sept. 6, 2011)
    Biodiversity and its conservation are among the main global topics in science and politics and perhaps the major challenge for the present and coming generations. This book written by international experts from different disciplines comprises general chapters on diversity and its measurement, human impacts on biodiversity hotspots on a global scale, human diversity itself and various geographic regions exhibiting high levels of diversity. The areas covered range from genetics and taxonomy to evolutionary biology, biogeography and the social sciences. In addition to the classic hotspots in the tropics, the book also highlights various other ecosystems harbouring unique species communities including coral reefs and the Southern Ocean. The approach taken considers, but is not limited to, the original hotspot definition sensu stricto and presents a chapter introducing the 35th hotspot, the forests of East Australia. While, due to a bias in data availability, the majority of contributions on particular taxa deal with vertebrates and plants, some also deal with the less-studied invertebrates. This book will be essential reading for anyone involved with biodiversity, particularly researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology and evolution.
  • The Science of Baseball: Modeling Bat-Ball Collisions and the Flight of the Ball

    A. Terry Bahill

    eBook (Springer, Dec. 19, 2017)
    This book describes the dynamic collisions between baseballs, softballs, and bats, and the intricate modeling of these interactions, using only Newton’s basic principles and the conservation laws of physics. Veteran baseball science author Terry Bahill explains models for the speed and spin of balls and bats and equations for bat-ball collisions at a level accessible to high school and undergraduate physics students, engineering students, and, most importantly, students of the science of baseball. Unlike other, more technical accounts of these phenomena that exhibit similar rigor, the models presented in this volume use only basic physical principles to describe simple collision configurations. Elucidating the most important factors for understanding bat performance—bat weight, moment of inertia, the coefficient of restitution, and characteristics of humans swinging the bats, Dr. Bahill also explains physical aspects of the ideal bat and the sweet spot.• Explains how to select or design an optimal baseball or softball bat and create models for bat-ball collisions using only fundamental principles of mechanics from high school physics;• Describes the results of the collision between baseball and bat using basic mathematics such as equations for the speed of the ball after the collision, bat speed after the collision, and bat rotation after the collision;•Accessible to high school and undergraduate students as well as non-technical aficionados of the science of baseball. “Dr. Bahill’s book is the perfect tool for teaching how to solve some of baseball’s basic science problems. Using only simple Newtonian principles and the conservation laws, Dr. Bahill explains how to model bat-ball collisions. Also, he derives equations governing the flight of the ball, and proceeds to show what factors affect air density and how this density affects the ball’s flight. And as a unique addition to his fine book, he provides advice for selecting the optimal bat—a surprising bonus!”Dave Baldwin, PhDMajor League pitcher, 1966-1973, lifetime Major League ERA, 3.08 “If I were the General Manger of a baseball team, I would tell my people to write a ten-page paper describing what this book contains that could improve our performance. I think the book provides the foundation for change.”Bruce GissingExecutive VP-Operations (retired) Boeing Commercial Airplanes“[I] had a chance to read your research, and I fully agree with your findings.”Baseball Legend Ted Williams, in a 1984 letter to the author
  • Active Protective Coatings: New-Generation Coatings for Metals

    Anthony E. Hughes, Johannes M.C. Mol, Mikhail L. Zheludkevich, Rudolph G. Buchheit

    Hardcover (Springer, March 1, 2016)
    This book covers a broad range of materials science that has been brought to bear on providing solutions to the challenges of developing self-healing and protective coatings for a range of metals. The book has a strong emphasis on characterisation techniques, particularly new techniques that are beginning to be used in the coatings area. It features many contributions written by experts from various industrial sectors which examine the needs of the sectors and the state of the art. The development of self-healing and protective coatings has been an expanding field in recent years and applies a lot of new knowledge gained from other fields as well as other areas of materials science to the development of coatings. It has borrowed from fields such as the food and pharmaceutical industries who have used, polymer techniques, sol-gel science and colloidosome technology for a range encapsulation techniques. It has also borrowed from fields like hydrogen storage such as from the development of hierarchical and other materials based on organic templating as “nanocontainers” for the delivery of inhibitors. In materials science, recent developments in high throughput and other characterisation techniques, such as those available from synchrotrons, are being increasing used for novel characterisation – one only needs to look at the application of these techniques in self healing polymers to gauge wealth of new information that has been gained from these techniques. This work is largely driven by the need to replace environmental pollutants and hazardous chemicals that represent risk to humans such as chromate inhibitors which are still used in some applications.
  • Four Pillars of Radio Astronomy: Mills, Christiansen, Wild, Bracewell

    R.H. Frater, W.M. Goss, H.W. Wendt

    eBook (Springer, Oct. 28, 2017)
    This is the story of Bernie Mills, Chris Christiansen, Paul Wild and Ron Bracewell, members of a team of radio astronomers that would lead Australia, and the world, into this new field of research. Each of the four is remembered for his remarkable work: Mills for the development the cross type instrument that now bears his name; Christiansen for the application of rotational synthesis techniques; Wild for the masterful joining of observations and theory to elicit the nature of the solar atmosphere; Bracewell for his contribution to imaging theory. As well, these Four Pillars are remembered for creating a remarkable environment for scientific discovery and for influencing the careers of future generations. Their pursuit of basic science helped pave the way for technological developments in areas ranging from Wi-Fi to sonar to medical imaging to air navigation, and for underpinning the foundations of modern cosmology and astrophysics.
  • Structures: A Geometric Approach: Graphical Statics and Analysis

    Edmond Saliklis

    Hardcover (Springer, Nov. 8, 2018)
    Graphic methods for structural design essentially translate problems of algebra into geometric representations, allowing solutions to be reached using geometric construction (ie: drawing pictures) instead of tedious and error-prone arithmetic. This was the common method before the invention of calculators and computers, but had been largely abandoned in the last half century in favor of numerical techniques. However, in recent years the convenience and ease of graphic statics has made a comeback in architecture and engineering. Several professors have begun using graphic statics in the classroom.and.studio environment. But until now, there had been no guidebook that rapidly brings students up to speed on the fundamentals of how to create graphical solutions to statics problems.Graphic Statics introduces all of the traditional graphic statics techniques in a parametric drawing format, using the free program GeoGebra. Then, advanced topics such as indeterminate beams and three dimensional curved surfaces are be covered. Along the way, links to wider design ideas are introduced in a succinct summary of the steps needed to create elegant solutions to many staticequilibrium problems.Meant for students in civil and architectural engineering, architecture,and construction, this practical introduction will also be useful to professionals looking to add the power of graphic statics to their work.
  • An Introduction to Copulas

    Roger B. Nelsen

    Hardcover (Springer, Oct. 1, 2007)
    The study of copulas and their role in statistics is a new but vigorously growing field. In this book the student or practitioner of statistics and probability will find discussions of the fundamental properties of copulas and some of their primary applications. The applications include the study of dependence and measures of association, and the construction of families of bivariate distributions. This book is suitable as a text or for self-study.
  • Bone Toxicology

    Susan Y. Smith, Aurore Varela, Rana Samadfam

    Hardcover (Springer, Sept. 30, 2017)
    The content of this book is intended to provide the toxicologist in drug development in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with a broad understanding of bone and its interactions with other organ systems in safety assessments. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes our current understanding of bone biology and its primary regulatory pathways. Additional chapters address regulatory and study design considerations for incorporating bone end points in toxicology studies, with special consideration being given to juvenile toxicology studies. This is intended to address recent regulatory requirements to evaluate skeletal development for drugs in development for pediatric populations. The second part of the book describes the principal techniques and methods used in bone research; understanding how these end-points are derived is fundamental to their appropriate application. These first two parts of the book provide the background and the means to develop the concepts in part three which describes bone and its interaction with other organ systems. The unique series of chapters in part three, contributed to by key leaders in their respective fields and in bone research, provides a comprehensive collective work. Although constantly evolving, the crosstalk and interaction of the skeleton with several organ systems is now recognized and well documented, such as for the reproductive system, muscle and kidney, while our understanding of the interaction with other organ systems, such as the immune system and CNS, is in its infancy. Recent work highlights the key role of the skeleton in the regulation of energy metabolism and the impact this has on research in metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The hope is that this book will enlighten many and encourage more to explore the impact of new compounds on the skeleton in the development of effective and safe drugs.