Download or read book Models Of Nature written by Douglas R. Weiner and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2000-08-15 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a new afterword by the authorA study of the early and turbulent years of the Soviet conservation movement. Focusing on the period from the October Revolution to the mid-1930s (from Lenin's rule to the rise of Stalin), Douglas R. Weiner studies the divergence between the growing ecological movement in the country and the state's social and economic policies. The book offers a view of both sides of this dispute: scientific conservation movements on the one hand and an industrializing nation's attitude toward science, scientists, nature, and massive development on the other. Weiner explains the development of pioneering conservation institutions, state practices, and ecological theory in the Soviet Union during the 1920s , and why those developments were sidelined or quashed by Stalin. The book provides a telling example of the social construction of science, showing how the perceived political implications of rival ecological theories influenced Soviet scientists, and chronicles the nature protection movement's conflicts with both the vigilantes of the Cultural Revolution and Stalin's first Five-Year Plan, which blatantly ignored potential environmental consequences in its quest to industrialize on a large scale.The new afterword reflects upon the study's impact and discusses advances in the field since the book was first published. Now in paperback, this classic text is well suited for course use in Russian history, environmental studies, and history of science.
Download or read book Cultural Models of Nature written by Giovanni Bennardo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the Cultural Models of Nature found in a range of food-producing communities located in climate-change affected areas.
Download or read book The Mathematics of Life written by Ian Stewart and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biologists have long dismissed mathematics as being unable to meaningfully contribute to our understanding of living beings. Within the past ten years, however, mathematicians have proven that they hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of our world -- and ourselves. In The Mathematics of Life, Ian Stewart provides a fascinating overview of the vital but little-recognized role mathematics has played in pulling back the curtain on the hidden complexities of the natural world -- and how its contribution will be even more vital in the years ahead. In his characteristically clear and entertaining fashion, Stewart explains how mathematicians and biologists have come to work together on some of the most difficult scientific problems that the human race has ever tackled, including the nature and origin of life itself.
Download or read book Cultural Models of Nature written by Giovanni Bennardo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the ethnographic experience of the contributors, this volume explores the Cultural Models of Nature found in a range of food-producing communities located in climate-change affected areas. These Cultural Models represent specific organizations of the etic categories underlying the concept of Nature (i.e. plants, animals, the physical environment, the weather, humans, and the supernatural). The adoption of a common methodology across the research projects allows the drawing of meaningful cross-cultural comparisons between these communities. The research will be of interest to scholars and policymakers actively involved in research and solution-providing in the climate change arena.
Download or read book The Social Life of Climate Change Models written by Kirsten Hastrup and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on a combination of perspectives from diverse fields, this volume offers an anthropological study of climate change and the ways in which people attempt to predict its local implications, showing how the processes of knowledge making among lay people and experts are not only comparable but also deeply entangled. Through analysis of predictive practices in a diversity of regions affected by climate change – including coastal India, the Cook Islands, Tibet, and the High Arctic, and various domains of scientific expertise and policy making such as ice core drilling, flood risk modelling, and coastal adaptation – the book shows how all attempts at modelling nature’s course are deeply social, and how current research in "climate" contributes to a rethinking of nature as a multiplicity of modalities that impact social life.
Download or read book The Nature of Explanation written by K. J. W. Craik and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1967-10 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his only complete work of any length, Kenneth Craik considers thought as a term for the conscious working of a highly complex machine.
Download or read book How Nature Works written by Per Bak and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Self-organized criticality, the spontaneous development of systems to a critical state, is the first general theory of complex systems with a firm mathematical basis. This theory describes how many seemingly desperate aspects of the world, from stock market crashes to mass extinctions, avalanches to solar flares, all share a set of simple, easily described properties. "...a'must read'...Bak writes with such ease and lucidity, and his ideas are so intriguing...essential reading for those interested in complex systems...it will reward a sufficiently skeptical reader." -NATURE "...presents the theory (self-organized criticality) in a form easily absorbed by the non-mathematically inclined reader." -BOSTON BOOK REVIEW "I picture Bak as a kind of scientific musketeer; flamboyant, touchy, full of swagger and ready to join every fray... His book is written with panache. The style is brisk, the content stimulating. I recommend it as a bracing experience." -NEW SCIENTIST
Download or read book Evolutionary Dynamics written by Martin A. Nowak and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006-09-29 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time of unprecedented expansion in the life sciences, evolution is the one theory that transcends all of biology. Any observation of a living system must ultimately be interpreted in the context of its evolution. Evolutionary change is the consequence of mutation and natural selection, which are two concepts that can be described by mathematical equations. Evolutionary Dynamics is concerned with these equations of life. In this book, Martin A. Nowak draws on the languages of biology and mathematics to outline the mathematical principles according to which life evolves. His work introduces readers to the powerful yet simple laws that govern the evolution of living systems, no matter how complicated they might seem. Evolution has become a mathematical theory, Nowak suggests, and any idea of an evolutionary process or mechanism should be studied in the context of the mathematical equations of evolutionary dynamics. His book presents a range of analytical tools that can be used to this end: fitness landscapes, mutation matrices, genomic sequence space, random drift, quasispecies, replicators, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, games in finite and infinite populations, evolutionary graph theory, games on grids, evolutionary kaleidoscopes, fractals, and spatial chaos. Nowak then shows how evolutionary dynamics applies to critical real-world problems, including the progression of viral diseases such as AIDS, the virulence of infectious agents, the unpredictable mutations that lead to cancer, the evolution of altruism, and even the evolution of human language. His book makes a clear and compelling case for understanding every living system—and everything that arises as a consequence of living systems—in terms of evolutionary dynamics.
Download or read book Social Emotions in Nature and Artifact written by Jonathan Gratch and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen the rise of a remarkable partnership between the social and computational sciences on the phenomena of emotions. This book reports on the state-of-the-art in both social science theory and computational methods, and illustrates how these two fields, together, can both facilitate practical computer/robotic applications and illuminate human social processes.
Download or read book Handbook of Nature Inspired and Innovative Computing written by Albert Y. Zomaya and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-01-10 with total page 758 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As computing devices proliferate, demand increases for an understanding of emerging computing paradigms and models based on natural phenomena. Neural networks, evolution-based models, quantum computing, and DNA-based computing and simulations are all a necessary part of modern computing analysis and systems development. Vast literature exists on these new paradigms and their implications for a wide array of applications. This comprehensive handbook, the first of its kind to address the connection between nature-inspired and traditional computational paradigms, is a repository of case studies dealing with different problems in computing and solutions to these problems based on nature-inspired paradigms. The "Handbook of Nature-Inspired and Innovative Computing: Integrating Classical Models with Emerging Technologies" is an essential compilation of models, methods, and algorithms for researchers, professionals, and advanced-level students working in all areas of computer science, IT, biocomputing, and network engineering.
Download or read book Pavlov s Dogs and Schr dinger s Cat written by Rom Harré and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-02-26 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the sheep, dog, and cockerel that were sent aloft in Montgolfier's balloon, to Galvani's frog's legs, Dolly the Sheep, the finches of the Galapagos, and even imaginary cats and simulated life forms, Pavlov's Dogs and Schrödinger's Cat explores the fascinating history of the role of living things in science. The ways in which animals and plants have been used in science has always been a matter for considerable public debate, and this book provides an important and fascinating new perspective, setting aside moral reflection to simply examine the history of how and why living creatures have been used for the purposes of scientific discovery. Many extraordinary stories are uncovered throughout five centuries of science - tales of the people involved, curious incidents and episodes, and the occasional scientific fraud too, as clear reflections on the history and philosophy of science are combined with remarkable accounts from the living laboratory.
Download or read book Embryos in Wax written by Nick Hopwood and published by Twayne Publishers. This book was released on 2002 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Highlights the role of three-dimensional wax models cast by Adolf and Friedrich Ziegler. Discusses how the models were made and used.
Download or read book Clinical Prediction Models written by Ewout W. Steyerberg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-22 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of this volume provides insight and practical illustrations on how modern statistical concepts and regression methods can be applied in medical prediction problems, including diagnostic and prognostic outcomes. Many advances have been made in statistical approaches towards outcome prediction, but a sensible strategy is needed for model development, validation, and updating, such that prediction models can better support medical practice. There is an increasing need for personalized evidence-based medicine that uses an individualized approach to medical decision-making. In this Big Data era, there is expanded access to large volumes of routinely collected data and an increased number of applications for prediction models, such as targeted early detection of disease and individualized approaches to diagnostic testing and treatment. Clinical Prediction Models presents a practical checklist that needs to be considered for development of a valid prediction model. Steps include preliminary considerations such as dealing with missing values; coding of predictors; selection of main effects and interactions for a multivariable model; estimation of model parameters with shrinkage methods and incorporation of external data; evaluation of performance and usefulness; internal validation; and presentation formatting. The text also addresses common issues that make prediction models suboptimal, such as small sample sizes, exaggerated claims, and poor generalizability. The text is primarily intended for clinical epidemiologists and biostatisticians. Including many case studies and publicly available R code and data sets, the book is also appropriate as a textbook for a graduate course on predictive modeling in diagnosis and prognosis. While practical in nature, the book also provides a philosophical perspective on data analysis in medicine that goes beyond predictive modeling. Updates to this new and expanded edition include: • A discussion of Big Data and its implications for the design of prediction models • Machine learning issues • More simulations with missing ‘y’ values • Extended discussion on between-cohort heterogeneity • Description of ShinyApp • Updated LASSO illustration • New case studies
Download or read book Knowing Nature written by Mara J. Goldman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-04-15 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In addition, they examine how various environmental knowledge claims are generated, packaged, promoted, and accepted (or rejected) by the different actors involved in specific cases of environmental management, conservation, and development.
Download or read book Exploring Human Nature written by Jana Lemke and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work presents a reflexive mixed methods study of young adults' experiences of solo time in the wilderness and the impact on these individuals' attitudes and values in the face of global change.
Download or read book A Framework for K 12 Science Education written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.
Download or read book Modeling Nature written by Sharon E. Kingsland and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1995-10-16 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first history of population ecology traces two generations of science and scientists from the opening of the twentieth century through 1970. Kingsland chronicles the careers of key figures and the field's theoretical, empirical, and institutional development, with special attention to tensions between the descriptive studies of field biologists and later mathematical models. This second edition includes a new afterword that brings the book up to date, with special attention to the rise of "the new natural history" and debates about ecology's future as a large-scale scientific enterprise.
