Download or read book Ecological Mechanics written by Mark Denny and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-29 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth exploration of how biomechanics and ecology work together Plants and animals interact with each other and their surroundings, and these interactions—with all their complexity and contingency—control where species can survive and reproduce. In this comprehensive and groundbreaking introduction to the emerging field of ecological mechanics, Mark Denny explains how the principles of physics and engineering can be used to understand the intricacies of these remarkable relationships. Denny opens with a brief review of basic physics before introducing the fundamentals of diffusion, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, and heat transfer, taking care to explain each in the context of living organisms. Why are corals of different shapes on different parts of a reef? How can geckos climb sheer walls? Why can birds and fish migrate farther than mammals? How do desert plants stay cool? The answers to these and a host of similar questions illustrate the principles of heat, mass, and momentum transport and set the stage for the book's central topic—the application of these principles in ecology. Denny shows how variations in the environment—in both space and time—affect the performance of plants and animals. He introduces spectral analysis, a mathematical tool for quantifying the patterns in which environments vary, and uses it to analyze such subjects as the spread of invasive species. Synthesizing the book’s materials, the final chapters use ecological mechanics to predict the occurrence and consequences of extreme ecological events, explain the emergence of patterns in the distribution and abundance of organisms, and empower readers to explore further. Ecological Mechanics offers new insights into the physical workings of organisms and their environment.
Download or read book Mechanical Design in Organisms written by Stephen A. Wainwright and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1982-07-21 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with an interface between mechanical engineering and biology. It reviews biological structural materials and systems and their mechanically important features and demonstrates that function at any particular level of biological integration is permitted and controlled by structure at lower levels of integration.
Download or read book Advances in Multi Physics and Multi Scale Couplings in Geo Environmental Mechanics written by Francois Nicot and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2017-11-20 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in Multi-Physics and Multi-Scale Couplings in Geo-Environmental Mechanics reunites some of the most recent work from the French research group MeGe GDR (National Research Group on Multiscale and Multiphysics Couplings in Geo-Environmental Mechanics) on the theme of multi-scale and multi-physics modeling of geomaterials, with a special focus on micromechanical aspects. Its offers readers a glimpse into the current state of scientific knowledge in the field, together with the most up-to-date tools and methods of analysis available. Each chapter represents a study with a different viewpoint, alternating between phenomenological/micro-mechanically enriched and purely micromechanical approaches. Throughout the book, contributing authors will highlight advances in geomaterials modeling, while also pointing out practical implications for engineers. Topics discussed include multi-scale modeling of cohesive-less geomaterials, including multi-physical processes, but also the effects of particle breakage, large deformations on the response of the material at the specimen scale and concrete materials, together with clays as cohesive geomaterials. The book concludes by looking at some engineering problems involving larger scales. Identifies contributions in the field of geomechanics Focuses on multi-scale linkages at small scales Presents numerical simulations by discrete elements and tools of homogenization or change of scale
Download or read book The Ecological Approach To Visual Perception written by James J. Gibson and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about how we see: the environment around us (its surfaces, their layout, and their colors and textures); where we are in the environment; whether or not we are moving and, if we are, where we are going; what things are good for; how to do things (to thread a needle or drive an automobile); or why things look as they do. The basic assumption is that vision depends on the eye which is connected to the brain. The author suggests that natural vision depends on the eyes in the head on a body supported by the ground, the brain being only the central organ of a complete visual system. When no constraints are put on the visual system, people look around, walk up to something interesting and move around it so as to see it from all sides, and go from one vista to another. That is natural vision -- and what this book is about.
Download or read book Ecology and Biomechanics written by Anthony Herrel and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2006-01-13 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in a well-engineered universe. This engineering is present in every system and organism in existence, including in the actions and interactions of plants and animals. In fact, one could say that the function and movement of plants and animals is just as much a part of their makeup as chlorophyll and fiber or bone and blood. Consequently, if
Download or read book Local Applications of the Ecological Approach To Human Machine Systems written by Peter A. Hancock and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-05-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a growing consensus in the human factors/ergonomics community that human factors research has had little impact on significant applied problems. Some have suggested that the problem lies in the fact that much HF/E research has been based on the wrong type of psychology, an information processing view of psychology that is reductionistic and context-free. Ecological psychology offers a viable alternative, presenting a richer view of human behavior that is holistic and contextualized. The papers presented in these two volumes show the conceptual impact that ecological psychology can have on HF/E, as well as presenting a number of specific examples illustrating the ecological approach to human-machine systems. It is the first collection of papers that explicitly draws a connection between these two fields. While work in this area is only just beginning, the evidence available suggests that taking an ecological approach to human factors/ergonomics helps bridge the existing gap between basic research and applied problems.
Download or read book Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology written by Agnes Szokolszky and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-27 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intellectual Journeys in Ecological Psychology: Interviews and Reflections from Pioneers in the Field presents 12 in-depth interviews with prominent scientists associated with Ecological Psychology, rooted in James Gibson’s radical approach to perception. Featuring a mix of interviews conducted around the turn of the millennium with leading figures of Ecological Psychology, the book reveals discussions not previously found in publications and authentic personal perspectives about the early days of Ecological Psychology, a significant paradigm of post-cognitivist psychology. The interviews are supplemented by current reflections that bridge the past to the present. Each interview chapter also contains a brief biography of the interviewee and a list of their top ten most significant publications. An introductory chapter by Harry Heft provides an overview of Gibson’s theory and the post-Gibsonian theoretical landscape. A further chapter by the editors highlights lineages and patterns in the scientific careers and work of the interviewees. An epilogue by William Warren concludes the volume, addressing the current state and directions of Ecological Psychology. In the Appendix photographs taken by Sverker Runeson in the 1960s and 1970s show scenes and actors from scientific event in Ecological Psychology. This book will be beneficial to all researchers and students in the international community of Ecological Psychology. It will also serve as a starting point for those who wish to learn more about the movement and origins of Ecological Psychology.
Download or read book An ecological consideration of Stimulus Response Compatibility written by Wolf-Dietrich Heine and published by Waxmann Verlag. This book was released on with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Global Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Machine Systems written by John M. Flach and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-04-20 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a growing consensus in the human factors/ergonomics community that human factors research has had little impact on significant applied problems. Some have suggested that the problem lies in the fact that much HF/E research has been based on the wrong type of psychology, an information processing view of psychology that is reductionistic and context-free. Ecological psychology offers a viable alternative, presenting a richer view of human behavior that is holistic and contextualized. The papers presented in these two volumes show the conceptual impact that ecological psychology can have on HF/E, as well as presenting a number of specific examples illustrating the ecological approach to human-machine systems. It is the first collection of papers that explicitly draws a connection between these two fields. While work in this area is only just beginning, the evidence available suggests that taking an ecological approach to human factors/ergonomics helps bridge the existing gap between basic research and applied problems.
Download or read book Unsolved Problems in Ecology written by Andrew Dobson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume provides a series of essays on open questions in ecology with the overarching goal being to outline to the most important, most interesting or most fundamental problems in ecology that need to be addressed. The contributions span ecological subfields, from behavioral ecology and population ecology to disease ecology and conservation and range in tone from the technical to more personal meditations on the state of the field. Many of the chapters start or end in moments of genuine curiosity, like one which takes up the question of why the world is green or another which asks what might come of a thought experiment in which we "turn-off" evolution entirely"--
Download or read book Marine Ecosystems and Global Change written by John G. Field and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2010-02-11 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global changes, including climate change and intensive fishing, are having significant impacts on the world's oceans. This book advances knowledge of the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems and their major sub-systems, and how they respond to physical forcing.
Download or read book Handbook of Research on Improving the Natural and Ecological Conditions of the Polesie Zone written by Rokochinskiy, Anatoliy and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2023-05-23 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wetlands of the Polish Polissya zone in previous centuries had a negative impact on the economic development of the region and were an obstacle to social transformation. Even in ancient times, humans were aware of the need for drainage measures, as evidenced by archaeological excavations and traces of preserved reclamation works dating back a thousand years. Unfortunately, little has survived testifying to the scale of hydro melioration until the second half of the 18th century. The Handbook of Research on Improving the Natural and Ecological Conditions of the Polesie Zone considers the results of many years of research and the production experience of leading scientists and specialists of the water management and melioration profile regarding natural, historical, social, economic, constructive, regime-technological, ecological, economic, and other aspects of land reclamation and development of the Polissya zone. Covering key topics such as water treatment, ecology, nature conservation, and environmental science, this premier reference source is ideal for industry professionals, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.
Download or read book Culture the State Landscape and Ecology written by and published by CRC Studio. This book was released on 2003 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Managing Biological and Ecological Systems written by Brian D. Fath and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-07-29 with total page 597 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food–energy–water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this second volume, Managing Biological and Ecological Systems, the reader is introduced to the general concepts and processes of the biosphere and all its systems. This volume explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the biosphere and ecological systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.
Download or read book Fluid Mechanics for Civil and Environmental Engineers written by Ahlam I. Shalaby and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-02-21 with total page 1685 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ideal textbook for civil and environmental, mechanical, and chemical engineers taking the required Introduction to Fluid Mechanics course, Fluid Mechanics for Civil and Environmental Engineers offers clear guidance and builds a firm real-world foundation using practical examples and problem sets. Each chapter begins with a statement of objectives, and includes practical examples to relate the theory to real-world engineering design challenges. The author places special emphasis on topics that are included in the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and make the book more accessible by highlighting keywords and important concepts, including Mathcad algorithms, and providing chapter summaries of important concepts and equations.
Download or read book Ecological Scale written by David Lawrence Peterson and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecological Scale provides invaluable perspectives on the application of the concepts of measurement, analysis, and inference in both theoretical and applied ecology, ultimately providing a broad-based understanding for resource managers and other ecological professionals.
Download or read book Handbook of Cognitive Science written by Paco Calvo and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2008-08-15 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of Cognitive Science provides an overview of recent developments in cognition research, relying upon non-classical approaches. Cognition is explained as the continuous interplay between brain, body, and environment, without relying on classical notions of computations and representation to explain cognition. The handbook serves as a valuable companion for readers interested in foundational aspects of cognitive science, and neuroscience and the philosophy of mind. The handbook begins with an introduction to embodied cognitive science, and then breaks up the chapters into separate sections on conceptual issues, formal approaches, embodiment in perception and action, embodiment from an artificial perspective, embodied meaning, and emotion and consciousness. Contributors to the book represent research overviews from around the globe including the US, UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
