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Impulsive Synchronization of Complex Dynamical Networks: Modeling, Control and Simulations
by Ze Tang Dong Ding Yan Wang Zhicheng Ji Ju H. ParkThis book is mainly focused on the global impulsive synchronization of complex dynamical networks with different types of couplings, such as general state coupling, nonlinear state coupling, time-varying delay coupling, derivative state coupling, proportional delay coupling and distributed delay coupling. Studies on impulsive synchronization of complex dynamical networks have attracted engineers and scientists from various disciplines, such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mathematics, network science, system engineering. Pursuing a holistic approach, the book establishes a fundamental framework for this topic, while emphasizing the importance of network synchronization and the significant influence of impulsive control in the design and optimization of complex networks. The primary audience for the book would be the scholars and graduate students whose research topics including the network science, control theory, applied mathematics, system science and so on.
Impulsive Systems on Hybrid Time Domains (IFSR International Series in Systems Science and Systems Engineering #33)
by Xinzhi Liu Kexue ZhangThis monograph discusses the issues of stability and the control of impulsive systems on hybrid time domains, with systems presented on discrete-time domains, continuous-time domains, and hybrid-time domains (time scales). Research on impulsive systems has recently attracted increased interest around the globe, and significant progress has been made in the theory and application of these systems. This book introduces recent developments in impulsive systems and fundamentals of various types of differential and difference equations. It also covers studies in stability related to time delays and other various control applications on the different impulsive systems. In addition to the analyses presented on dynamical systems that are with or without delays or impulses, this book concludes with possible future directions pertaining to this research.
Impulsive Systems with Delays: Stability and Control
by Xiaodi Li Shiji SongThis book systematically presents the most recent progress in stability and control of impulsive systems with delays. Impulsive systems have recently attracted continued high research interests because they provide a natural framework for mathematical modeling of many real-world processes. It focuses not only on impulsive delayed systems, but also impulsive systems with delayed impulses and impulsive systems with event-triggered mechanism, including their Lyapunov stability, finite-time stability and input-to-state stability synthesis. Special attention is paid to the bilateral effects of the delayed impulses, where comprehensive stability properties are discussed in the framework of time-dependent and state-dependent delays. New original work with event-triggered impulsive control and its applications in multi-agent systems and collective dynamics are also provided. This book will be of use to specialists who are interested in the theory of impulsive differential equations and impulsive control theory, as well as high technology specialists who work in the fields of complex networks and applied mathematics. Also, instructors teaching graduate courses and graduate students will find this book a valuable source of nonlinear system theory.
Impurities in Semiconductors: Solubility, Migration and Interactions
by Victor I. FistulThis text explores the behavior of impurity atoms in semiconductors, integrating experimental data with their theoretical interpretation. It begins by explaining the basic physics of hydrogen-like impurities, atoms with partially filled electron shells, and amphoteric, isovalent, and gas-forming impurities to explain the properties imparted by these impurities. The author also analyzes the macroscopic and microscopic mechanisms of the solubility and migration of impurities and defects in the crystal lattice. Impurities in Semiconductors brings to light work done in the former Soviet Union and highlights several impurities that have potential, but have not yet found widespread application.
Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason
by John KadvanyThe Hungarian migr Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) earned a worldwide reputation through the influential philosophy of science debates involving Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, and Sir Karl Popper. In Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason John Kadvany shows that embedded in Lakatos's English-language work is a remarkable historical philosophy rooted in his Hungarian past. Below the surface of his life as an Anglo-American philosopher of science and mathematics, Lakatos covertly introduced novel transformations of Hegelian and Marxist ideas about historiography, skepticism, criticism, and rationality. Lakatos escaped Hungary following the failed 1956 Revolution. Before then, he had been an influential Communist intellectual and was imprisoned for years by the Stalinist regime. He also wrote a lost doctoral thesis in the philosophy of science and participated in what was criminal behavior in all but a legal sense. Kadvany argues that this intellectual and political past animates Lakatos's English-language philosophy, and that, whether intended or not, Lakatos integrated a penetrating vision of Hegelian ideas with rigorous analysis of mathematical proofs and controversial histories of science. Including new applications of Lakatos's ideas to the histories of mathematical logic and economics and providing lucid exegesis of many of Hegel's basic ideas, Imre Lakatos and the Guises of Reason is an exciting reconstruction of ideas and episodes from the history of philosophy, science, mathematics, and modern political history.
In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems
by Giorgio ParisiFrom the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, an enlightening and personal journey into the practice of groundbreaking science &“[Giorgio Parisi is] an extraordinary scientist.&” —Carlo RovelliWith In a Flight of Starlings, celebrated physicist Giorgio Parisi guides us through his unorthodox yet exhilarating work, starting with investigating the principles of physics by observing the flight of flocks of birds. Studying the movements of these communities, he has realized, proves an illuminating way into understanding complex systems of all kinds—collections of everything from atoms and planets to other animals, such as ourselves.Along the way, he reflects on the lessons he has taken from a life in pursuit of scientific truth: the importance of serendipity to the discovery of new ideas, the surprising kinship between physics and other disciplines, and the value of science to a thriving society. In so doing, he removes the practice of science from the confines of the laboratory and brings it into the real world.Part elegant scientific treatise, part thrilling journey of discovery, In a Flight of Starlings is an invitation to find wonder in the world around us.
In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist's Life in the Field
by Bernd HeinrichWhy would a grown man chase hornets with a thermometer, paint whirligig beetles bright red, or track elephants through the night to fill trash bags with their prodigious droppings? Some might say—to advance science. Bernd Heinrich says—because it’s fun. Heinrich, author of the much acclaimed Bumblebee Economics, has been playing in the wilds of one continent or another all his life. In the process, he has become one of the world’s foremost physiological ecologists. With In a Patch of Fireweed, he will undoubtedly become one of our foremost writers of popular science. Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology, In a Patch of Fireweed is an endlessly fascinating account of a scientist’s life and work. For the author, it is an opportunity to report not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed into the process of discovery. For the reader, it is simply a delight, a rare chance to share the perceptions of an unusual mind fully in tune with the inner workings of nature. Before his years of research in the woodlands and deserts of North America, the New Guinea highlands, and the plains of East Africa, Heinrich had a sense of the wild that few people in this century can know. He tells the whole story, from his refugee childhood hidden in a German forest, eating mice fried in boar fat, to his ongoing research in the woods surrounding his cabin in Maine.
In a Time of Total War: The Federal Judiciary and the National Defense - 1940-1954 (Justice, International Law and Global Security)
by Joshua E. Kastenberg Eric MerriamThis book is a judicial, military and political history of the period 1941 to 1954. As such, it is also a United States legal history of both World War II and the early Cold War. Civil liberties, mass conscription, expanded military jurisdiction, property rights, labor relations, and war crimes arising from the conflict were all issues to come before the federal judiciary during this period and well beyond since the Supreme Court and the lower courts heard appeals from the government’s wartime decisions well into the 1970s. A detailed study of the judiciary during World War II evidences that while the majority of the justices and judges determined appeals partly on the basis of enabling a large, disciplined, and reliable military to either deter or fight a third world war, there was a recognition of the existence of a tension between civil rights and liberties on the one side and military necessity on the other. While the majority of the judiciary tilted toward national security and deference to the military establishment, the judiciary’s recognition of this tension created a foundation for persons to challenge governmental narrowing of civil and individual rights after 1954. Kastenberg and Merriam present a clearer picture as to why the Court and the lower courts determined the issues before them in terms of external influences from both national and world-wide events. This book is also a study of civil-military relations in wartime so whilst legal scholars will find this study captivating, so will military and political historians, as well as political scientists and national security policy makers.
In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms
by Helga NowotnyOne of the most persistent concerns about the future is whether it will be dominated by the predictive algorithms of AI – and, if so, what this will mean for our behaviour, for our institutions and for what it means to be human. AI changes our experience of time and the future and challenges our identities, yet we are blinded by its efficiency and fail to understand how it affects us. At the heart of our trust in AI lies a paradox: we leverage AI to increase our control over the future and uncertainty, while at the same time the performativity of AI, the power it has to make us act in the ways it predicts, reduces our agency over the future. This happens when we forget that that we humans have created the digital technologies to which we attribute agency. These developments also challenge the narrative of progress, which played such a central role in modernity and is based on the hubris of total control. We are now moving into an era where this control is limited as AI monitors our actions, posing the threat of surveillance, but also offering the opportunity to reappropriate control and transform it into care. As we try to adjust to a world in which algorithms, robots and avatars play an ever-increasing role, we need to understand better the limitations of AI and how their predictions affect our agency, while at the same time having the courage to embrace the uncertainty of the future.
In Athena's Camp
by John Arquilla David RonfeldtThe information revolution--which is as much an organizational as a technological revolution--is transforming the nature of conflict across the spectrum: from open warfare, to terrorism, crime, and even radical social activism. The era of massed field armies is passing, because the new information and communications systems are increasing the lethality of quite small units that can call in deadly, precise missile fire almost anywhere, anytime. In social conflicts, the Internet and other media are greatly empowering individuals and small groups to influence the behavior of states. Whether in military or social conflicts, all protagonists will soon be developing new doctrines, strategies, and tactics for swarming their opponents--with weapons or words, as circumstances require. Preparing for conflict in such a world will require shifting to new forms of organization, particularly the versatile, hardy, all-channel network. This shift will prove difficult for states and professional militaries that remain bastions of hierarchy, bound to resist institutional redesign. They will make the shift as they realize that information and knowledge are becoming the key elements of power. This implies, among other things, that Mars, the old brute-force god of war, must give way to Athena, the well-armed goddess of wisdom. Accepting Athena as the patroness of this information age represents a first step not only for preparing for future conflicts, but also for preventing them.
In The Beat Of A Heart: Life, Energy, And The Unity Of Nature
by John WhitfieldFor centuries, scientists have dreamt of discovering an underlying unity to nature. Science now offers powerful explanations for both the dazzling diversity and striking similarities seen in the living world. Life is complicated. It is truly the “entangled bank” that Charles Darwin described. But scientists are now discovering that energy is the unifying force that joins all life on Earth. Visionary biologists have advanced a new theory that explains how the natural world—from the tiniest amoeba to the greatest rain forest—is constructed, providing a fresh perspective on the essential interconnectivity of living systems. This revolutionary theory explains a variety of phenomena—helping us understand why a shrew eats its bodyweight in food each day, why a mammal’s heart beats about 1 billion times in its lifetime, why there are no trees as tall as the Eiffel Tower, and why more species live at the Earth’s equator than at its poles. By looking at how living things use energy, we can answer these and myriad other intriguing questions. In the Beat of a Heart combines biography, history, science and nature writing to capture the exciting advances— and the people who are making them—that are triggering a revolution as potentially important to biology as Newton’s insights were to physics.
In The Blink Of An Eye
by Andrew ParkerAbout 550 million years ago, there was literally an explosion of life forms, as all the major animal groups suddenly and dramatically appeared. Although several books have been written about this surprising event, known as the Cambrian explosion, none has explained why it occurred. Indeed, none was able to. Here, for the first time, Oxford zoologist Andrew Parker reveals his theory of this great flourishing of life. Parker's controversial but increasingly accepted "Light Switch Theory" holds that it was the development of vision in primitive animals that caused the explosion. Drawing on evidence not just from biology, but also from geology, physics, chemistry, history, and art, In the Blink of an Eye is the fascinating account of a young scientist's intellectual journey, and a celebration of the scientific method.
In The Blink Of An Eye
by Andrew ParkerAn Oxford University zoologist presents a broad audience treatment of his intriguing theory of vision as the on-switch for the Cambrian explosion in evolution. Lacks references. First published in hardcover in 2003 by Perseus Publishing. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
In The Blink Of An Eye
by Andrew ParkerAbout 550 million years ago, there was literally an explosion of life forms, as all the major animal groups suddenly and dramatically appeared. Although several books have been written about this surprising event, known as the Cambrian explosion, none has explained why it occurred. Indeed, none was able to. Here, for the first time, Oxford zoologist Andrew Parker reveals his theory of this great flourishing of life. Parker's controversial but increasingly accepted "Light Switch Theory" holds that it was the development of vision in primitive animals that caused the explosion. Drawing on evidence not just from biology, but also from geology, physics, chemistry, history, and art, In the Blink of an Eye is the fascinating account of a young scientist's intellectual journey, and a celebration of the scientific method.
In The Company Of Men: A Woman At The Citadel
by Nancy Mace Mary Jane Ross"Leaning forward until I could feel his breath on the back of my neck he began to rack me in an insidious, threatening manner. 'We all hate you. When are you going to leave? We hate you, do you hear me?'...On and on the voice went, and for the first time since I had come to the school, I was afraid, afraid and disgusted."<P> When Nancy Mace entered The Citadel, the United States government had just recently overturned the ruling that women were not allowed to enter the "Core of Cadets." Having grown up in a military family, Nancy was not unfamiliar with the harsh realities of military life. Her father, a brigadier general, had graduated from The Citadel and her older sister was a military graduate, but it would be Nancy's journey alone. And as many a knob has found out, life inside the dazzling white ramparts of this famous fortress is far from pleasant. Upon entering those grand gates, Nancy Mace soon found out that she wasn't just fighting the tradition of the corps, but the culture and city that surrounded it. Steeped in tradition and lore, the grand bastion known as El Cid is considered one of the South's most infamous and controversial institutions. Built in 1842, it has turned out a unique brand of Southern man -- and now woman. This is the true first-person account of a young woman's battle to be a part of the long gray line.
‘In Considerable Variety’: Introducing The Diversity Of Australia's Insects
by Tim R. NewThe book introduces basic entomology, emphasising perspectives on insect diversity important in conservation assessment and setting priorities for management, as a foundation for managers and others without entomological training or background. It bridges the gap between photographic essays on insect identification and more technical texts, to illustrate and discuss many aspects of taxonomic, ecological and evolutionary diversity in the Australian insect fauna, and its impacts in human life, through outlines of many aspects of insect natural history.
In Defence of a Dynamic View of Reality
by Jerzy GołoszThis collection of papers defends a dynamic view of reality which is founded on the assumption of the objective existence of the flow of time. The vindication makes use of a metaphysical theory of the flow of time developed by the author which is based on the notion of dynamic existence.
In Defence of Psychiatric Diagnoses
by Sam FellowesThis open access book makes a distinctive contribution by providing a novel defence of psychiatric diagnoses. It defends psychiatric diagnoses by portraying them as idealised models understood in a neo-Kantian sense. It reject accounts which see psychiatric diagnoses as biomedical entities or as natural kinds. Drawing upon this neo-Kantian approach to scientific models, the book provides a novel metaphysical account of what psychiatric diagnoses are and novel epistemological guidelines for constructing psychiatric diagnoses. Psychiatric diagnoses are portrayed as models which abstract away from particular aspects of particular people to create generalised models that are applicable to multiple people. In Defence of Psychiatric Diagnoses is essential reading for all scholars and researchers of the philosophy of science especially those focussing on the philosophy of psychiatry.
In Defence of Science: Science, Technology, and Politics in Modern Society
by Jack GroveScience holds a central role in the modern world, yet its complex interrelationships with nature, technology, and politics are often misunderstood or seen from a false perspective. In a series of essays that make extensive use of original work by sociologists, historians, and philosophers of science, J.W. Grove explores the roles and relationships of science in modern technological society. Modern Science can be viewed from four related perspectives. It is an expression of human curiosity – a passion to understand the natural world: what it is made of, how it is put together, and how it works. It is a body of practice – a set of ways of finding out that distinguish it from other realms of inquiry. It is a profession – a body of men and women owing allegiance to the pursuit of knowledge – and for those people, a career. And it is a prescriptive enterprise in that the increase of scientific understanding makes it possible to put nature to use in new kinds of technology. Each of these aspects of science is today the focus of critical scrutiny and, often, outright hostility. With many examples, Grove exposes the threats to science today: its identification with technology, its subordination to the state, the false claims made in its name, and the popular intellectual forces that seek to denigrate it as a source of human understanding and progress.
In Defense of Disciplines: Interdisciplinarity and Specialization in the Research University
by Jerry A. JacobsCalls for closer connections among disciplines can be heard throughout the world of scholarly research, from major universities to the National Institutes of Health. "In Defense of Disciplines" presents a fresh and daring analysis of the argument surrounding interdisciplinarity. Challenging the belief that blurring the boundaries between traditional academic fields promotes more integrated research and effective teaching, Jerry Jacobs contends that the promise of interdisciplinarity is illusory and that critiques of established disciplines are often overstated and misplaced. Drawing on diverse sources of data, Jacobs offers a new theory of liberal arts disciplines such as biology, economics, and history that identifies the organizational sources of their dynamism and breadth. Illustrating his thesis with a wide range of case studies including the diffusion of ideas between fields, the creation of interdisciplinary scholarly journals, and the rise of new fields that spin off from existing ones, Jacobs turns many of the criticisms of disciplines on their heads to mount a powerful defense of the enduring value of liberal arts disciplines. This will become one of the anchors of the case against interdisciplinarity for years to come.
In Defense of Japan: From the Market to the Military in Space Policy
by Saadia M. Pekkanen Paul Kallender-UmezuIn Defense of Japan provides the first complete, up-to-date, English-language account of the history, politics, and policy of Japan's strategic space development. The dual-use nature of space technologies, meaning that they cut across both market and military applications, has had two important consequences for Japan. First, Japan has developed space technologies for the market in its civilian space program that have yet to be commercially competitive. Second, faced with rising geopolitical uncertainties and in the interest of their own economics, the makers of such technologies have been critical players in the shift from the market to the military in Japan's space capabilities and policy. This book shows how the sum total of market-to-military moves across space launch vehicles, satellites and spacecraft, and emerging related technologies, already mark Japan as an advanced military space power.
In Defense of Plants: An Exploration into the Wonder of Plants
by Matt Candeias PhDCultivate Inner Peace Through Positive Affirmations and Spiritual Meditation“52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles is a compact rendition of how to live with love and forgiveness at the center of our lives." ─Allyson Gracie, Retailing Insight#1 Best Seller in SpiritualismFind the path to inner peace through a weekly guide of spiritual meditations and positive affirmations.Use Karen Casey’s 52 positive affirmations and meditations to find inner peace. We all face struggles that can leave us feeling broken and hopeless. But peace and healing are always available to us if we are open to them. Karen Casey is a beloved author who has helped millions onto the road to recovery with her inspirational self-help and meditation writings. In this inspirational book, Karen takes readers on a journey towards peaceful living by sharing how she has found serenity in her own life. Karen teaches readers that the goal is not perfection, but rather progress towards creating a life of love and peace. Cultivate a simpler, slower, more love-filled life. When Karen Casey was struggling with addiction, she found life-changing inspiration in Helen Schucman’s book, A Course in Miracles. In 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles, she shares the ideas she discovered in Helen Schucman's book and the spirituality that we can all bring to our own lives.Find inside:Meditations and affirmations that lead to a simpler, slower lifeInsights into Helen Schucman’s A Course in MiraclesStories of the author’s own struggles and triumphs on her path to healingIf you enjoyed reading other books like Practicing Mindfulness, The Untethered Soul Guided Journal, or A Year of Mindfulness, then you’ll love 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles.
In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Species: Why we love some species but hate most, and why it matters
by Ernest SmallSome animals and plants injure or kill millions of people annually, others cause trillions of dollars in property damage and loss. Such harmful species are understandably hated. However, the vast majority of the planet’s millions of species are disliked simply because of how they look and act. This bias is endangering numerous species that play important roles in maintaining both the natural ecosystems and the human economies of the world. In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Species examines the psychological motivations that lead people to make judgments about the attractiveness of species, noting the overwhelming importance of visual cues. It describes in considerable detail the physical and behavioral traits of species that lead us to love or hate them. Full color illustrations throughout present beautiful, charming animals and plants, species that seem loathsome, behavior of people in relation to such divergent species and their characteristics, and numerous explanatory diagrams of relevant biological and psychological phenomena. The aim of this book is to give readers insights into how we humans arrive at biased judgments and to promote the welfare of valuable, albeit sometimes unlovable animals and plants that consequently suffer from discrimination. Many of the ugliest, most disgusting, and feared species, such as vultures, toads, hyenas, sharks, spiders, and even the vast majority of cockroaches, in reality are some of our most valuable friends. Features Theme of the book – human preferences for and against species – is novel, scarcely examined to date. Multidisciplinary analysis, especially psychology, biological conservation science, and ecology, as well as philosophy, agriculture, urban planning, human health, and law. Text is accessible, user-friendly, concise, and well-organized, making numerous complex topics comprehensible, readable not only by specialists, but also by students and the educated layperson. Includes over 2,000 high-quality, entertaining, and informative color figures.
In Foreign Lands: The Migration of Scientists for Political or Economic Reasons (Trends in the History of Science)
by Maria Teresa Borgato Christine PhiliThis proceedings volume collects the stories of mathematicians and scientists who have spent and developed parts of their careers and life in countries other than those of their origin. The reasons may have been different in different periods but were often driven by political or economic circumstances: The lack of suitable employment opportunities in their home countries, adverse political systems, and wars have led to the emigration of scientists. The volume shows that these movements have played an important role in spreading scientific knowledge and have often changed the scientific landscape, tradition and future of studies and research fields.The book analyses in particular: aspects of Euler’s, Lagrange’s and Boscovich’s scientific biographies, migrations of scientists from France, Spain and Greece to Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and from Russia to France in the twentieth century, exiles from Italy before the Italian Risorgimento, migrations inside Europe and the escape of mathematicians from Nazi-fascist Europe, between the two World Wars, as well as the mobility of experts around the world. It includes selected contributions from the symposium In Foreign Lands: The Migration of Scientists for Political or Economic Reasons held at the Conference of the International Academy of the History of Science in Athens (September 2019).
In Light-Years There's No Hurry: Cosmic Perspectives on Everyday Life
by Marjolijn van HeemstraHow seeing Earth through the eyes of an astronaut brings new wonder and meaning to life on our planet. One stifling summer night, the poet and journalist Marjolijn van Heemstra lay awake, unable to sleep—like so many of us feeling anxious and alienated, deeply exhausted yet restless. Amid the suffocating stream of daily obligations, the clamor of notifications and increasingly dismal headlines, she longed for a way to rise above the frenzy, for a renewed sense of meaning and connection. Then she learned about the overview effect—a permanent shift in consciousness many astronauts experience when beholding Earth from outside the atmosphere—and wondered: could the perspective of outer space offer the internal space she sought? The lyrical account of van Heemstra’s yearlong quest to experience the overview effect on Earth, In Light-Years There’s No Hurry invites us to lift our gaze above eye level and discover our connections with the cosmos, our planet, and each other. We follow as van Heemstra’s cosmic awareness expands and she finds herself feeling simultaneously lighter and more grounded. Compared with the complexity of the universe, daily life on Earth begins to seem more manageable, while understanding the improbability of our collective existence gives her new patience and tenderness for her neighbors. The grand rhythms of light-years and eons become a source of restoration and relief—a comforting, necessary reminder to slow down and zoom out. Contemplating the solace a cosmic perspective offers in our chaotic, divided world, In Light-Years There’s No Hurry is a moving meditation on what it is to be human amid the vastness of the universe.