Consilience

Consilience
Author: E. O. Wilson
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 485
Release: 2014-11-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0804154066
GET BOOK

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "A dazzling journey across the sciences and humanities in search of deep laws to unite them." —The Wall Street Journal One of our greatest scientists—and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for On Human Nature and The Ants—gives us a work of visionary importance that may be the crowning achievement of his career. In Consilience (a word that originally meant "jumping together"), Edward O. Wilson renews the Enlightenment's search for a unified theory of knowledge in disciplines that range from physics to biology, the social sciences and the humanities. Using the natural sciences as his model, Wilson forges dramatic links between fields. He explores the chemistry of the mind and the genetic bases of culture. He postulates the biological principles underlying works of art from cave-drawings to Lolita. Presenting the latest findings in prose of wonderful clarity and oratorical eloquence, and synthesizing it into a dazzling whole, Consilience is science in the path-clearing traditions of Newton, Einstein, and Richard Feynman.

The Ants

The Ants
Author: Bert Hölldobler
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 784
Release: 1990
Genre: Ants
ISBN: 0674040759
GET BOOK

From the Arctic to South Africa - one finds them everywhere: Ants. Making up nearly 15% of the entire terrestrial animal biomass, ants are impressive not only in quantitative terms, they also fascinate by their highly organized and complex social system. Their caste system, the division of labor, the origin of altruistic behavior and the complex forms of chemical communication makes them the most interesting group of social organisms and the main subject for sociobiologists. Not least is their ecological importance: Ants are the premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominatrices of the insect fauna. TOC:The importance of ants.- Classification and origins.- The colony life cycle.- Altruism and the origin of the worker caste.- Colony odor and kin recognition.- Queen numbers and domination.- Communication.- Caste and division of labor.- Social homeostasis and flexibility.- Foraging and territorial strategies.- The organization of species communities.- Symbioses among ant species.- Symbioses with other animals.- Interaction with plants.- The specialized predators.- The army ants.- The fungus growers.- The harvesters.- The weaver ants.- Collecting and culturing ants.- Glossary.- Bibliography.- Index.

Lords of Finance

Lords of Finance
Author: Liaquat Ahamed
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781594201820
GET BOOK

Argues that the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression occurred as a result of poor decisions on the part of four central bankers who jointly attempted to reconstruct international finance by reinstating the gold standard.

The Diversity of Life

The Diversity of Life
Author: Edward O. Wilson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 468
Release: 1999
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780393319408
GET BOOK

This classic by the distinguished Harvard entomologist tells how life on earth evolved and became diverse, and now, how diversity and life are endangered by us, truly. While Wilson contributed a great deal to environmental ethics by calling for the preservation of whole ecosystems rather than individual species, his environmentalism appears too anthropocentric: "We should judge every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity." And: "Signals abound that the loss of life's diversity endangers not just the body but the spirit." This reprint of the 1992 Belknap Press publication contains a new foreword. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Biodiversity

Biodiversity
Author: National Academy of Sciences/Smithsonian Institution
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 535
Release: 1988-01-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309037395
GET BOOK

This important book for scientists and nonscientists alike calls attention to a most urgent global problem: the rapidly accelerating loss of plant and animal species to increasing human population pressure and the demands of economic development. Based on a major conference sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, Biodiversity creates a systematic framework for analyzing the problem and searching for possible solutions.

Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion

Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion
Author: Dan M. Goebel
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 528
Release: 2008-12-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0470436263
GET BOOK

Throughout most of the twentieth century, electric propulsion was considered the technology of the future. Now, the future has arrived. This important new book explains the fundamentals of electric propulsion for spacecraft and describes in detail the physics and characteristics of the two major electric thrusters in use today, ion and Hall thrusters. The authors provide an introduction to plasma physics in order to allow readers to understand the models and derivations used in determining electric thruster performance. They then go on to present detailed explanations of: Thruster principles Ion thruster plasma generators and accelerator grids Hollow cathodes Hall thrusters Ion and Hall thruster plumes Flight ion and Hall thrusters Based largely on research and development performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and complemented with scores of tables, figures, homework problems, and references, Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion: Ion and Hall Thrusters is an indispensable textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to enter the aerospace industry. It also serves as an equally valuable resource for professional engineers already at work in the field.