Bøger i Springer Study Edition serien

There are few scientists who have explored the universe of cogni tion, and contributed to the understanding of the realm of knowledge, with greater genius, care, and scientific intuition than Jean Piaget and his longtime collaborator Barbel Inhelder.

The biota of the earth is being altered at an unprecedented rate. We are witnessing wholesale exchanges of organisms among geographic areas that were once totally biologically isolated. We are seeing massive changes in landscape use that are creating even more abundant succes- sional patches, reductions in population sizes, and in the worst cases, losses of species. There are many reasons for concern about these trends. One is that we unfortunately do not know in detail the conse- quences of these massive alterations in terms of how the biosphere as a whole operates or even, for that matter, the functioning of localized ecosystems. We do know that the biosphere interacts strongly with the atmospheric composition, contributing to potential climate change. We also know that changes in vegetative cover greatly influence the hydrology and biochemistry ofa site or region. Our knowledge is weak in important details, however. How are the many services that ecosystems provide to humanity altered by modifications of ecosystem composition? Stated in another way, what is the role of individual species in ecosystem function? We are observing the selective as well as wholesale alteration in the composition of ecosystems. Do these alterations matter in respect to how ecosystems operate and provide services? This book represents the initial probing of this central ques- tion. It will be followed by other volumes in this series examining in depth the functional role of biodiversity in various ecosystems of the world.

From the reviews: "The book has a broad and general coverage of both the mathematics and the numerical methods well suited for graduate students." Computer programs are also included for many problems together with a separate chapter dealing with the application of computer programs to heat transfer problems.

In 1963, the first edition of Chemistry of Viruses was published as a contribution to the series on viruses sponsored by Protoplasmatologia.

The content of this book is based, largely, on the core curriculum in geophys ical fluid dynamics which land my colleagues in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at The University of Chicago have taught for the past decade.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Fundamental Algorithms for Computer Graphics" held at Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, March 30 - April 12, 1985

Although it may have been in spired by the curiosity of a few, it has always been the concern of all, because preventing or curing disease has meant survival not only of individuals, but of entire nations, not only of humans, but of fellow living creatures.

The present English edition is not a mere translation of the German original. To include all such developments would have changed the character of the work, and even an incomplete account, which would be unsatisfactory in itself, would have cost too much labor and taken up too much space.

This little book was assembled from the authors' lectures to medical students and was originally published as one volume in the series Human Physiology, edited by O. We have included here only material that we feel is necessary for medical students to know in order to understand kidney function in health and, by later extrapolation, in disease.

Granted, cancer is, literally, a deadly serious matter, and cancer research is primarily a part of medicine with Hippocrates in its back ground.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Neural Computers, held in Neuss, Federal Republic of Germany, September 28 - October 2, 1987

This reference provides information on the cellular and subcellular targets of neurotoxins and their mode of action on the level of ion-channels, receptors and neurotransmitters. It concentrates on the use of bacterial toxins as a tool in neuroscientific research.

A two-week summer short course entitled Current Statistical Methods in Geology supported by the National Science Foundation was held at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in Chicago, Illinois from June 19 to June 30, 1972.

After UNCED (United Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, July 1992), a second edition of Desertification was necessary. This book aims at an understanding of what is commonly called "desertification" - a term which is proposed to be replaced by "land degradation".

With contributions by numerous experts

The Second Law of Thermodynamics has been called the most important law of nature: It is the law that gives a direction to processes that is not inherent in the laws of motion, that says the state of the universe is driven to thermal equilibrium.

Physics practical classes form an important part of many scientific and technical courses in higher education. In addition to the older standard experiments, such practicals now generally include a few computer-controlled experiments developed in association with the research groups active in the particular university or college.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Control Flow and Data Flow: Concepts of Distributed Programming held at Marktoberdorf, Federal Republic of Germany, July 31 - August 12, 1984

Aquatic chemistry is becoming both a rewarding and substantial area of inquiry and is drawing many prominent scientists to its fold. This significant vol ume provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains.

These directions go through a complicated cycle-much more complicated than the cycle of the phases of the moon from new to full and back to new, and more complicated than the cycle of the rising and setting directions of the sun.

One is that we unfortunately do not know in detail the conse quences of these massive alterations in terms of how the biosphere as a whole operates or even, for that matter, the functioning of localized ecosystems. How are the many services that ecosystems provide to humanity altered by modifications of ecosystem composition?

From the reviews: "...This is an extremely useful reference text for the sedimentary geologist to own.

Quantum Optics gives a comprehensive coverage of developments in quantum optics over the past twenty years. These are applied in the later chapters to problems such as squeezed states of light, resonance fluorescence, laser theory, quantum theory of four-wave mixing, quantum non-demolition measurements, Bell's inequalities, and atom optics.

In this book we present a summary account of hazards which nowadays are usually classified as geological: earthquakes, faulting, tsunamis, seiches, vol canoes, avalanches, rock and soil slides, differential settlement and liquefaction of soil, and inundation.

The last decade has seen a considerable renaissance in the realm of classical dynamical systems, and many things that may have appeared mathematically overly sophisticated at the time of the first appearance of this textbook have since become the everyday tools of working physicists. This new edition is intended to take this development into account. I have also tried to make the book more readable and to eradicate errors. Since the first edition already contained plenty of material for a one­ semester course, new material was added only when some of the original could be dropped or simplified. Even so, it was necessary to expand the chap­ ter with the proof of the K-A-M Theorem to make allowances for the cur­ rent trend in physics. This involved not only the use of more refined mathe­ matical tools, but also a reevaluation of the word "fundamental. " What was earlier dismissed as a grubby calculation is now seen as the consequence of a deep principle. Even Kepler's laws, which determine the radii of the planetary orbits, and which used to be passed over in silence as mystical nonsense, seem to point the way to a truth unattainable by superficial observation: The ratios of the radii of Platonic solids to the radii of inscribed Platonic solids are irrational, but satisfy algebraic equations of lower order.