Look at what happens around us. A child that smiles, a nightingale that sings, aily that opens: all move. Every shadow, even an immobile one, is due to moving ight. Every mountain is kept in place by moving electrons. Every star owes its formation and its shine to motion of matter and radiation. Also the darkness of the night sky** is due to motion: it results from the expansion of space. Fina…
The importance of cultural heritage for mankind was once well expressed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) when he said: “If we do not honour our past we lose our future. If we destroy our roots we cannot grow.” This statement refers almost directly to the two pillars of this review: Investigation and preservation of our cultural treasures. The various contrib…
Our intention with this book was to present the reader with the most accurate, significant, and up-to-date background and knowledge in the areas of ethnomedicinal and nutraceutical vegetation for the Lesser Himalayas in a comprehensive text. Wild Edible Vegetables of Lesser Himalayas provides a complete review of over 50 important plants of this region and details each species including photogr…
The physics of condensed matter, in contrast to quantum physics or cosmology, is not traditionally associated with deep philosophical questions. However, as science - largely thanks to more powerful computers - becomes capable of analysing and modelling ever more complex many-body systems, basic questions of philosophical relevance arise. Questions about the emergence of structure, the nature o…
Contrary to popular conceptions that ethical failures in leadership are correlated with economic downturns and other stressful market conditions, this book argues that such transgressions are an intrinsic element of leadership, as it is defined under the current prevailing paradigm. In recent years the crisis of failures in ethical leadership across organizations, particularly corporations, …
Through reading this book, you will obtain information on: (1) the main problems in air separation and natural gas treatment by membrane separation and how to solve them; (2) processes involving membranes and new membrane materials for the more economical utilization of bio-resources; (3) energy selection and membrane development for more expedient and stable harnessing of the natural osmosis p…
This book deals with the very real possibility of earthly immortality and the human and societal implications of such immortality, including whether it is desirable. It looks at what makes immortality appear so attractive and at the possibility that we would be better served with longer lives and the freedom to terminate our lives at the time when life has given us all the joy, inspiration a…
Satellite altimetry is a radar technique for measuring the topography of the Earth’s surface. It was initially designed for measuring the ocean’s topography, with reference to an ellipsoid, and for the determination of the marine geoid. Satellite altimetry has provided extremely valuable information on ocean science (e.g., circulation surface geostrophic currents, eddy structures, wave heig…
Changes in sea surface roughness are usually associated with a change in the sea surface wind field. This interaction has been exploited to measure sea surface wind speed by scatterometry. A number of features on the sea surface associated with changes in roughness can be observed by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) because of the change in Bragg backscatter of the radar signal by damping of the …
The interface of 440,000 km long coastline in the world is subject to global change, with an increasing human pressure (land use, buildings, sand mining, dredging) and increasing population. Improving our knowledge on involved mechanisms and sediment transport processes, monitoring the evolution of sedimentary stocks and anticipating changes in littoral and coastal zones is essential for this p…