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The Poisoning of Michigan (Second Edition)
by Joyce EggintonThe highly toxic PBB poisoning of Michigan remains the most widespread chemical contamination known in U.S. history. The Poisoning of Michigan is an investigative journalist's account of the contamination of Michigan's dairy cattle with the highly toxic chemical PBB (polybrominated biphenyl) in 1973. A near relation of PCB, this now-banned substance, designed as a fire retardant, was mistaken for a nutritional supplement at a chemical plant. It ended up in cattle feed that was distributed to farms throughout the state. By the time the error was discovered, virtually all nine million residents of Michigan had been ingesting contaminated milk and meat for almost a year. <p><p>A new introduction by the author and an afterword by three distinguished environmental scientists explain how the legacy of Michigan's poisoning lives on—and how equally toxic substitutes for PBB still invade our homes and lives. This new edition of Egginton's environmental classic—first published in 1980 and long out of print—tells how the tragedy affected both the farm community and the wider populace, and how federal and state authorities failed to respond. "We were mired in a swamp of ignorance," one state official admitted.
Poisonous Plants and Phytochemicals in Drug Discovery
by Chukwuebuka Egbuna Andrew G. Mtewa G.M. Narasimha RaoFocusing on phytochemicals and their potential for drug discovery, this book offers a comprehensive resource on poisonous plants and their applications in chemistry and in pharmacology. Provides a comprehensive resource on phytotoxins, covering historical perspectives, modern applications, and their potential in drug discovery - Covers the mechanisms, benefits, risks and management protocols of phytotoxins in a scientific laboratory and the usefulness in drug discovery - Written and edited by leading researchers in phytochemistry, medicinal chemistry, analytical chemistry, toxicology, and more - Presents chapters in a carefully designed, clear order, making it an ideal resource for the academic researcher or the industry professional at any stage in their career Provides a comprehensive resource on phytotoxins, covering historical perspectives, modern applications, and their potential in drug discovery Covers the mechanisms, benefits, risks and management protocols of phytotoxins in a scientific laboratory and the usefulness in drug discovery Presents chapters in a carefully designed, clear order, making it an ideal resource for the academic researcher or the industry professional at any stage in their career
Poisonous Skies: Acid Rain and the Globalization of Pollution
by Rachel Emma RothschildThe climate change reckoning looms. As scientists try to discern what the Earth’s changing weather patterns mean for our future, Rachel Rothschild seeks to understand the current scientific and political debates surrounding the environment through the history of another global environmental threat: acid rain. The identification of acid rain in the 1960s changed scientific and popular understanding of fossil fuel pollution’s potential to cause regional—and even global—environmental harms. It showed scientists that the problem of fossil fuel pollution was one that crossed borders—it could travel across vast stretches of the earth’s atmosphere to impact ecosystems around the world. This unprecedented transnational reach prompted governments, for the first time, to confront the need to cooperate on pollution policies, transforming environmental science and diplomacy. Studies of acid rain and other pollutants brought about a reimagining of how to investigate the natural world as a complete entity, and the responses of policy makers, scientists, and the public set the stage for how societies have approached other prominent environmental dangers on a global scale, most notably climate change. Grounded in archival research spanning eight countries and five languages, as well as interviews with leading scientists from both government and industry, Poisonous Skies is the first book to examine the history of acid rain in an international context. By delving deep into our environmental past, Rothschild hopes to inform its future, showing us how much is at stake for the natural world as well as what we risk—and have already risked—by not acting.
Poisons: An Introduction for Forensic Investigators
by David J. GeorgeA unique book on recognition and investigation of criminal poisoning for investigators of all backgrounds and stages of their careers. Poisons: An Introduction for Forensic Investigators is a concise yet comprehensive overview of toxicants and unanticipated circumstances in which poisoning occurs. This book expands awareness of poisoning possibilities, heightens recognition of the toxic potential of many substances, and provides information to aid in focusing investigations. Poisons discusses life-threatening toxic substances and agents that modify behavior to achieve criminal goals. These include drugs that facilitate sexual assaults and robberies, and those found in medical child abuse and drug-product tampering. More than 230 case studies illustrate both unintentional and intentional poisoning and highlight situations where poisoning may not immediately be apparent. Information is included in pertinent criminal poisoning cases to illustrate the temperament of poisoners, their relationship to victims, their basis for poison selection, and their method of administration. Since Poisons is written by a single author, the discussions, format, educational level, and terminology remain consistent to aid crime scene investigators, homicide detectives, forensic scientists, death investigators, toxicologists, medical examiners, attorneys, and students. The book's more than 650 references are an asset to frame knowledge as well as a resource to return to again and again.
The Poisson-Boltzmann Equation: An Introduction (SpringerBriefs in Physics)
by Ralf BlosseyThis brief book introduces the Poisson-Boltzmann equation in three chapters that build upon one another, offering a systematic entry to advanced students and researchers. Chapter one formulates the equation and develops the linearized version of Debye-Hückel theory as well as exact solutions to the nonlinear equation in simple geometries and generalizations to higher-order equations. Chapter two introduces the statistical physics approach to the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. It allows the treatment of fluctuation effects, treated in the loop expansion, and in a variational approach. First applications are treated in detail: the problem of the surface tension under the addition of salt, a classic problem discussed by Onsager and Samaras in the 1930s, which is developed in modern terms within the loop expansion, and the adsorption of a charged polymer on a like-charged surface within the variational approach. Chapter three finally discusses the extension of Poisson-Boltzmann theory to explicit solvent. This is done in two ways: on the phenomenological level of nonlocal electrostatics and with a statistical physics model that treats the solvent molecules as molecular dipoles. This model is then treated in the mean-field approximation and with the variational method introduced in Chapter two, rounding up the development of the mathematical approaches of Poisson-Boltzmann theory. After studying this book, a graduate student will be able to access the research literature on the Poisson-Boltzmann equation with a solid background.
Poisson Theory of Elastic Plates (Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering)
by Kaza Vijayakumar Girish Kumar RamaiahThis groundbreaking book resolves the main lacuna in Kirchhoff theory of bending of plates in the Poisson-Kirchhoff boundary conditions paradox through the introduction of auxiliary problem governing transverse stresses. The book highlights new primary bending problem which is formulated and analyzed by the application of developed Poisson theory. Analysis with prescribed transverse stresses along faces of the plate, neglected in most reported theories, is presented with an additional term in displacements. The book presents a systematic procedure for the analysis of unsymmetrical laminates. This volume will be a useful reference for students, practicing engineers as well as researchers in applied mechanics.
A Polar Affair: Antarctica's Forgotten Hero And The Secret Love Lives Of Penguins
by Lloyd Spencer DavisA captivating blend of true adventure and natural history by one of today’s leading penguin experts and Antarctic explorers. George Murray Levick was the physician on Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic Antarctic expedition of 1910. Marooned for an Antarctic winter, Levick passed the time by becoming the first man to study penguins up close. His findings were so shocking to Victorian morals that they were quickly suppressed and seemingly lost to history. A century later, Lloyd Spencer Davis rediscovers Levick and his findings during the course of his own scientific adventures in Antarctica. Levick’s long-suppressed manuscript reveals not only an incredible survival story, but one that will change our understanding of an entire species. A Polar Affair reveals the last untold tale from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It is perhaps the greatest of all of those stories—but why was it hidden to begin with? The ever-fascinating and charming penguin holds the key. Moving deftly between both Levick’s and Davis’s explorations, observations, and comparisons in biology over the course of a century, A Polar Affair reveals cutting-edge findings about ornithology, in which the sex lives of penguins are the jumping-off point for major new insights into the underpinnings of evolutionary biology itself.
Polar Auxin Transport
by František Baluška Rujin ChenThe importance of the plant growth regulator auxin for plant growth has long been recognized, even before the discovery of its chemical structures in the early 20th century. Physiological studies in the decades since have demonstrated that auxin is unidirectionally transported in plants, a process dubbed polar auxin transport. It is the polar auxin transport process that generates a local auxin concentration gradient and regulates a broad array of physiological and developmental processes. The discoveries of auxin transport carrier proteins that mediate auxin influx into and efflux out of transport-competent cells and auxin receptor proteins for auxin signaling in the last few decades represent significant milestones in auxin research and open up opportunities to probe the cellular and molecular processes that regulate auxin transport and integrate environmental cues with signaling processes. Remarkably, components of the polar auxin transport machinery are present in both lower plants such as mosses and higher plants including monocots and eudicots, illustrating the key role of polar auxin transport in plant evolution. This book highlights topics ranging from physiological and genetic studies of polar auxin transport in plant development, to growth responses to the environment and plant-microbe interactions, to hormonal cross-talks with various cellular and molecular regulatory processes essential for polar auxin transport.
Polar Bear
by Candace FlemingThis companion book to the authors&’ Sibert award-winning Honeybee explores the life and habitat of a majestic endangered species through dramatic text and sumptuous illustration.April in the Arctic . . .Cold winds send snow clouds scuttling across the sky.Temperatures barely nudge above freezing.But every now and again,The cloud cover parts,The sun shines down,And the frozen world stretches awake. As spring approaches in the Arctic, a mother polar bear and her two cubs tentatively emerge from hibernation to explore the changing landscape. When it is time, she takes her cubs on a forty-mile journey, back to their home on the ice. Along the way, she fends off wolves, hunts for food, and swims miles and miles. This companion book to Honeybee and Giant Squid features the unique talents of Fleming and Rohmann on a perennially popular subject. Eric Rohmann's magnificent oil paintings feature (as in Honeybee) a spectacular gatefold of the polar landscape.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
The Polar Bear Scientists (Scientists In The Field)
by Peter Lourie Susan Ramer"In the world there are probably fewer than 30 people who spend all or most of their effort working with polar bears. A veteran polar bear biologist, and the man in charge of Alaskan polar bear research for the past thirty years, Dr. Steven Amstrup has worked full time on polar bears since he joined the Polar Bear Project in 1980. The Polar Bear Project conducts ongoing research on polar bear populations and habitats in the Southern Beaufort Sea in Barrow, Alaska. Now under the leadership of George Durner, the Project has collected four decades of detailed, valuable data about how polar bears are responding to sea ice changes in the Arctic. This information has helped raised awareness about polar bears and their plight, and the same data may one day help scientists make new decisions for polar bear survival. Amstrup and Durner now spend most of their time 725 miles south of Barrow, Alaska at the University of Alaska, Anchorage campus, conducting research and drawing conclusions based on the discoveries that their team makes. Those scientists include polar bear biologists Kristin Simac and Mike Lockhart, based at times out of the abandoned Navy Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow. Every spring scientists like Kristin and Mike go out for six to eight weeks to capture bears on the Southern Beaufort Sea. By capture one means "tranquilize, take samples and measurements, tag, and release" -- The Polar Bear Scientists begins on the first day of capture season and follows Kristin, Mike, and their helicopter mechanic as they fly through the skies over Barrow, looking for polar bears, and finding more water and less ice than they've seen in the past. The process of capturing polar bears is an exciting and challenging one. The polar bears have to be properly tranquilized in a safe area -- so just because the team spots a polar bear, doesn't mean they automatically try to capture it. Tranquilizing a bear too close to water or thin ice might mean the polar bear could stumble in and drown. It's also a challenge to tranq a mom bear and her babies, but when the opportunity presents itself, the team does its best to get the job done. Once they are on the ground with a captured bear, the research begins. All sorts of information and measurements are taken, blood is drawn, tags are affixed. What does it all mean? Are the polar bears getting smaller and moving further to find food every year? Is there more water and less ice than there was before? What can be done?"--
Polar Bear, Why Is Your World Melting?
by Robert E WellsIn the Arctic, the summer ice is melting, making it hard for polar bears and their cubs to survive. Why is the world getting warmer? The heat of the sun is trapped by the "greenhouse" gases that surround Earth--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor. If there is just the right amount of these trapped gases, the air is warm enough for plants, animals, and people to thrive. But now there is too much greenhouse gas, especially carbon dioxide. Polar bears, and all of us, are in trouble. Robert E. Wells, who lives in Washington State, shows why so much carbon dioxide is going into the air and what we can do to help keep Earth cool.
Polar Bears: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior
by Andrew E. DerocherHonorable Mention, 2012 National Outdoor Book AwardsThe polar bear, king of the Arctic, is one of the world’s most recognizable animals. Images of the majestic beasts roaming across the ice cap, plunging into frigid waters, and playing with furry cubs have come to symbolize the beauty and grandeur of the Arctic. Andrew E. Derocher and Wayne Lynch have spent decades following the bears, and this book offers the most comprehensive and readable review of their biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation.With gripping photographs by Lynch, a preeminent wildlife photographer, and the personal stories of Derocher, this book is as stunning to look at as it is fascinating to read. It weaves together their remarkable experiences with the latest research to tell the amazing story of these Arctic predators, tracing the animals back to their evolutionary roots and looking ahead to the future of polar bears on a warming planet Earth.Through informative and engaging language, Derocher carefully explains the sea ice ecosystem that is essential to the survival of polar bears. He addresses the threat of global warming to the Arctic—home to polar bears for tens of thousands of years—and describes in impressive detail their feeding habits, distribution, den ecology, and reproduction. Lynch’s vivid photographs capture all this and more as they chronicle the wide range of polar bear behavior, from family rituals to ferocious predatory practices. Captivating, accurate, and inspiring, Polar Bears belongs in the hands of all who love the wild.
Polar Bears (Rigby PM Collection Ruby (Levels 27-28), Fountas & Pinnell Select Collections Grade 3 Level Q)
by Beverley RandellPolar Bears by Beverley Randell
Polar Bears' Search for Ice: A Cause and Effect Investigation (Animal's on the Edge)
by Gillia M. OlsonPolar bears are losing their Arctic homes. As the Arctic ice shrinks, so does their habitat. Polar bears have become animals on the edge. Discover how scientists are trying to answer the questions behind polar bears' search for ice.
Polar Dielectrics and Their Applications
by Jack C. Burfoot George W. TaylorThis title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1979.
Polar Environments and Global Change
by Roger G. Barry Eileen A. Hall-McKimThe polar regions are the 'canary in the coal mine' of climate change: they are likely to be hit the hardest and fastest. This comprehensive textbook provides an accessible introduction to the scientific study of polar environments against a backdrop of climate change and the wider global environment. The book assembles diverse information on polar environmental characteristics in terrestrial and oceanic domains, and describes the ongoing changes in climate, the oceans, and components of the cryosphere. Recent significant changes in the polar region caused by global warming are explored: shrinking Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost, accelerating loss of mass from glaciers and ice sheets, and rising ocean temperatures. These rapidly changing conditions are discussed in the context of the paleoclimatic history of the polar regions from the Eocene to the Anthropocene. Future projections for these regions during the twenty-first century are discussed. The text is illustrated with many color figures and tables, and includes further reading lists, review questions for each chapter, and a glossary.
Polar Explorers for Kids: Historic Expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic with 21 Activities (For Kids series)
by Maxine SnowdenHeroism and horror abound in these true stories of 16 great explorers who journeyed to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, two exquisite and unique ice wildernesses. Recounted are the exciting North Pole adventures of Erik the Red in 982 and the elusive searches for the "Northwest Passage" and "Farthest North" of Henry Hudson, Fridtjof Nansen, Fredrick Cook, and Robert Peary. Coverage of the South Pole begins with Captain Cook in 1772; continues through the era of land grabbing and the race to reach the Pole with James Clark Ross, Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott, and Ernest Shackleton; and ends with an examination of the scientists at work there today. Astounding photographs and journal entries, sidebars on the Inuit and polar animals, and engaging activities bring the harrowing expeditions to life. Activities include making a Viking compass, building a model igloo, making a cross staff to measure latitude, creating a barometer, making pemmican, and writing a newspaper like William Parry's "Winter Chronicle." The North and South Poles become exciting routes to learning about science, geography, and history.
Polar Icebreaker Roles and U.S. Future Needs: A Preliminary Assessment
by National Research Council of the National AcademiesThe age and condition of the U.S. Coast Guard's polar icebreakers are jeopardizing national security and scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic, according to an interim report from the National Academies. Because of a shortfall in funding for U.S. polar icebreaking activities, long-term maintenance on these icebreakers has been deferred over the past several years, making the ships inefficient to operate and their technological systems outdated. Congress asked the National Academies to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current and future roles of U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreakers in supporting U.S. operations in the Antarctic and the Arctic, including scenarios for continuing those operations and alternative approaches, the changes in roles and missions of polar icebreakers in the support of all national priorities in the polar regions, and potential changes in the roles of U.S Coast Guard icebreakers in the Arctic that may develop due to environmental change. This brief interim report highlights the most urgent and time-dependent issues, and a final report, expected to be released next summer, will examine the type and number of icebreaking ships that the U.S. requires in the long term and other issues.
Polar Microbiology: The Ecology, Biodiversity and Bioremediation Potential of Microorganisms in Extremely Cold Environments
by Asim K. Bej Jackie Aislabie Ronald M. AtlasPollution has accompanied polar exploration since Captain John Davis' arrival on the Antarctic continent in 1821 and has become an unavoidable consequence of oil spills in our polar regions. Fortunately, many of the organisms indigenous to Polar ecosystems have the ability to degrade pollutants. It is this metabolic capacity that forms the basis fo
POLAR NIGHT Marine Ecology: Life and Light in the Dead of Night (Advances in Polar Ecology #4)
by Geir Johnsen Jørgen Berge Jonathan H. CohenUntil recently, the prevailing view of marine life at high latitudes has been that organisms enter a general resting state during the dark Polar Night and that the system only awakens with the return of the sun. Recent research, however, with coordinated, multidisciplinary field campaigns based on the high Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard, have provided a radical new perspective. Instead of a system in dormancy, a new perspective of a system in full operation and with high levels of activity across all major phyla is emerging. Examples of such activities and processes include: Active marine organisms at sea surface, water column and the sea-floor. At surface we find active foraging in seabirds and fish, in the water column we find a high biodiversity and activity of zooplankton and larvae such as active light induced synchronized diurnal vertical migration, and at seafloor there is a high biodiversity in benthic animals and macroalgae. The Polar Night is a period for reproduction in many benthic and pelagic taxa, mass occurrence of ghost shrimps (Caprellides), high abundance of Ctenophores, physiological evidence of micro- and macroalgal cells that are ready to utilize the first rays of light when they appear, deep water fishes found at water surface in the Polar night, and continuous growth of bivalves throughout the winter. These findings not only begin to shape a new paradigm for marine winter ecology in the high Arctic, but also provide conclusive evidence for a top-down controlled system in which primary production levels are close to zero. In an era of environmental change that is accelerated at high latitudes, we believe that this new insight is likely to strongly impact how the scientific community views the high latitude marine ecosystem. Despite the overwhelming darkness, the main environmental variable affecting marine organisms in the Polar Night is in fact light. The light regime during the Polar Night is unique with respect to light intensity, spectral composition of light and photoperiod.
Polar Oceans from Space
by Josefino ComisoThe book presents a wealth of material about the polar oceans, more specifically the ice-covered areas and peripheral seas. It provides a detailed history of the changing climate of the polar oceans as observed by satellite sensors in the last three decades. The satellite research data show spatial distributions of surface temperature, sea ice, albedo, chlorophyll concentration, clouds, ocean color and sea level pressure. The book discusses remote sensing techniques and algorithms used to transform digital data to geophysical parameters, to process and analyze the data, the limitations of these data and the enormous potential in the use of this data. The main goal of the book is the presentation of results from studies of the time evolution of polar surfaces as observed by satellite sensors and their relevance to the study of cryospheric and ocean processes and climate change. The book contains about 150 satellite images of surface parameters which reveal that from month to month and from one year to another the Earth is changing. Although the historical record of about three decades of continuous satellite observation is relatively short, these measurements have provided useful insights into the current state of the polar environment and have served as a powerful tool for studying the processes that govern the Earth's climate system. The advent of even more sophisticated technology, including international ventures like the Global Earth Observation System of all Systems (GEOSS), will speed the progress. The advances in understanding of the Earth's climate engine, including the crucial role played by the polar oceans, have been tremendous, and people look forward to being able to forecast effectively the state of the planet in the immediate and foreseeable future.
Polar Organometallic Reagents: Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications
by Andrew E. H. Wheatley Masanobu UchiyamaOutlines recent advances in the field of polar organometallic chemistry, particularly in the context of the emergent areas of synergic and cooperative species. Polar Organometallic Reagents provides a critical overview of developments in the field of modern polar organometallic chemistry. With a particular focus on the emergent area of synergic heterometallic reagents, this timely volume describes our attempts to understand recently developed polar organometallics and their application in a range of new directions. Contributions from leading researchers present new synthetic work and discuss recent advances in characterization techniques, synthetic applications, and mechanistic understanding of heterometallic complexes. In-depth chapters provide detailed information on fundamental, structural, and theoretical aspects of polar organometallic chemistry while articulating the need and rationale for the advent of new reagents. Topics include alkali and alkaline earth organometallics, synergy and cooperativity, cationic p-block clusters and other developments in main group catalysis, synthetic trends in alkenyl copper, ate complex and borylmetal chemistry, non-traditional reaction environments, and trends in developing greener processes. Designed to keep readers updated with the latest progress in the field, this much-needed book: Includes an introductory chapter outlining the development of synergic bases and the logic behind their creation Highlights the role of solid-state structural work in elucidating the bonding and reactivity displayed by modern polar organometallics Examines the use of calculations in catalyst design and plotting more sustainable reaction pathways Discusses modern trends in solution techniques that have achieved new insights into the structures of active species Presents striking advances in the ease of handling of polar organometallics and the emergence of main group catalysis Polar Organometallic Reagents is essential reading for researchers in chemical disciplines including synthetic inorganic and coordination chemistry, main group chemistry, organometallic chemistry, organic synthesis and catalysis.
Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar
by V. N. Bringi V. ChandrasekarThis book provides a detailed introduction to the principles of Doppler and polarimetric radar, focusing in particular on their use in the analysis of weather systems. The design features and operation of practical radar systems are highlighted throughout the book in order to illustrate important theoretical foundations. The authors begin by discussing background topics such as electromagnetic scattering, polarization, and wave propagation. They then deal in detail with the engineering aspects of pulsed Doppler polarimetric radar, including the relevant signal theory, spectral estimation techniques, and noise considerations. They close by examining a range of key applications in meteorology and remote sensing. The book will be of great use to graduate students of electrical engineering and atmospheric science as well as to practitioners involved in the applications of polarimetric radar systems.
Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar: Principles and Application (Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing #25)
by Irena Hajnsek Yves-Louis DesnosThis open access book focuses on the practical application of electromagnetic polarimetry principles in Earth remote sensing with an educational purpose. In the last decade, the operations from fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar such as the Japanese ALOS/PalSAR, the Canadian Radarsat-2 and the German TerraSAR-X and their easy data access for scientific use have developed further the research and data applications at L,C and X band. As a consequence, the wider distribution of polarimetric data sets across the remote sensing community boosted activity and development in polarimetric SAR applications, also in view of future missions. Numerous experiments with real data from spaceborne platforms are shown, with the aim of giving an up-to-date and complete treatment of the unique benefits of fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data in five different domains: forest, agriculture, cryosphere, urban and oceans.
Polarimetry of Stars and Planetary Systems
by Ludmilla KolokolovaSummarising the striking advances of the last two decades, this reliable introduction to modern astronomical polarimetry provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art techniques, models and research methods. Focusing on optical and near-infrared wavelengths, each detailed, up-to-date chapter addresses a different facet of recent innovations, including new instrumentation, techniques and theories; new methods based on laboratory studies, enabling the modelling of polarimetric characteristics for a wide variety of astronomical objects; emerging fields of polarimetric exploration, including proto-planetary and debris discs, icy satellites, transneptunian objects, exoplanets, and the search for extraterrestrial life; and unique results produced by space telescopes, and polarimeters aboard exploratory spacecraft. With contributions from an international team of accomplished researchers, this is an ideal resource for astronomers and researchers working in astrophysics, earth sciences, and remote sensing keen to learn more about this valuable diagnostic tool. The book is dedicated to the memory of renowned polarimetrist Tom Gehrels.