The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct
The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct

Author: Bert Hölldobler

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2010-11-15

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0393340872

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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants comes this dynamic and visually spectacular portrait of Earth's ultimate superorganism. The Leafcutter Ants is the most detailed and authoritative description of any ant species ever produced. With a text suitable for both a lay and a scientific audience, the book provides an unforgettable tour of Earth's most evolved animal societies. Each colony of leafcutters contains as many as five million workers, all the daughters of a single queen that can live over a decade. A gigantic nest can stretch thirty feet across, rise five feet or more above the ground, and consist of hundreds of chambers that reach twenty-five feet below the ground surface. Indeed, the leafcutters have parlayed their instinctive civilization into a virtual domination of forest, grassland, and cropland—from Louisiana to Patagonia. Inspired by a section of the authors' acclaimed The Superorganism, this brilliantly illustrated work provides the ultimate explanation of what a social order with a half-billion years of animal evolution has achieved.

Scientific Writing for Impact Factor Journals
Scientific Writing for Impact Factor Journals

Author: Eric Lichtfouse

Publisher: Nova Science Pub Incorporated

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages: 87

ISBN-13: 9781626189430

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Publish or Perish. This old adage illustrates the importance of scientific communication; essential to research, it also represents a strategic sector for each country's competitiveness. An often-neglected topic, scientific communication is of vital importance, with new information technologies accelerating and profoundly changing how knowledge is disseminated. The necessity of optimally disseminating experts' findings has also become crucial to researchers, institutes and universities alike, which has prompted the recent advent of Impact Factors for the evaluation and financing of research, the goal being for scientific knowledge to be equally distributed to a very broad audience, especially to the media, entrepreneurs and sociopolitical players. This handbook presents the "golden rules" for publishing scientific articles. In order to do away with major recurring errors, the author explains how to easily structure an article and offers support for the typical mistakes made by native French speakers publishing in English, tips on how to make the style more academic of more general to fit your intended readership and, in the book's closing section, suggests new publishing techniques of the Internet age such as the micro-article, which allows researchers to focus their findings into a single innovative point. The major principles presented can be applied to a broad range of documents such as theses, industry reports, publicity texts, letters of intent, CVs/resumes, blogs and press releases, as all of these documents involve presenting information on advances, discoveries, innovations, or changes to our previous knowledge.

Herbivory of Leaf-Cutting Ants
Herbivory of Leaf-Cutting Ants

Author: Rainer Wirth

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-04-18

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 3662052598

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Plant-animal interactions have become a focus of ecological research, with the processes of herbivory being of special interest. This volume examines the interactions of leaf-cutting ants with the rainforest vegetation on Barro Colorado Islands in Central America. It is the synthesis of field research on multiple scales extending over a period of several years. This work can serve as a model study summarizing and extending knowledge about herbivorous insect-plant relationships, and the resulting consequences on structural and functional features of tropical ecosystems. The text is an invaluable reference for researchers and land managers working in the fields of plant-animal interactions, herbivory, community ecology and biodiversity.

With Broadax and Firebrand
With Broadax and Firebrand

Author: Warren Dean

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1997-04-10

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 0520208862

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"An unprecedented historical account of the destruction of Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a required reading for those committed to its preservation, written with genuine love and knowledge."—José Roberto Borges, Brazil Program Director, Rainforest Action Network "After reading this volume, no one could fail to realize the uniqueness and importance of these coastal forests, which have played such a fascinating role in the history of Brazil."—Ghillean T. Prance, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Introduction to Industrial Minerals
Introduction to Industrial Minerals

Author: D.A.C. Manning

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 9401112428

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Introduction to Industrial Minerals introduces the reader to the subject of the new mineral raw materials that our society demands. It emphasizes the way in which, in order to satisfy the consumer, the requirements of industry control mineral exploitation, and the way fundamental mineral properties are exploited for particular applications. It describes aggregates, industrial clays and raw materials for the chemical industry. The need for high temperature processing is addressed with a chapter on interpretation and use of mineralogical phase diagrams and time-temperature-transformation diagrams. These are then applied in separate chapters on the manufacture of glass, cement, brick clays and refractories. Evaluation of geological reserves is described in the context of computer modelling of deposit quality, and the final chapter considers the use of a site after extraction, emphasizing the requirements for waste disposal.

Carbonate Sedimentology
Carbonate Sedimentology

Author: Maurice E. Tucker

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-07-17

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 1444314165

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Carbonate rocks (limestones and dolomites) constitute a major partof the geological column and contain not only 60% of the world'sknown hydrocarbons but also host extensive mineral deposits. Thisbook represents the first major review of carbonate sedimentologysince the mid 1970's. It is aimed at the advanced undergraduate -postgraduate level and will also be of major interest to geologistsworking in the oil industry. Carbonate Sedimentology is designed to take the readerfrom the basic aspects of limestone recognition and classificationthrough to an appreciation of the most recent developments such aslarge scale facies modelling and isotope geochemistry. Novelaspects of the book include a detailed review of carbonatemineralogy, non-marine carbonate depositional environments and anin-depth look at carbonate deposition and diagenesis throughgeologic time. In addition, the reviews of individual depositionalsystems stress a process-based approach rather than one centered onsimple comparative sedimentology. The unique quality of this bookis that it contains integrated reviews of carbonate sedimentologyand diagenesis, within one volume.

Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Carbonate

Author: F. Wolfgang Tegethoff

Publisher: Birkhäuser

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 3034882459

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I. G OLOGY OF CALCIUM CARBO ATE 1 by Jacques Geyssant 1. Features and characteristics of calcium carbonate 2 1. 1 Calcium carbonate - a special compound 2 1. 2 The crystal forms of calcium carbonate - mineralogy 9 2. The limestones - development and classification 15 2. 1 Sedimentation 16 2. 2 Diagenesis - from sediment to rock 23 2. 3 Classification of the limestones 24 2. 4 Metamorphism - from limestone to marble 26 2. 5 Carbonatites - extraordinary limestones 29 3. Limestone deposits 31 3. 1 Recognition of limestones 31 3. 2 Distribution on the Earth's surface 33 3. 3 Limestone deposits in the geological ages 36 3. 4 CaC0 cycle 42 3 3. 5 Industrially exploitable CaC0 deposits 3 44 53 II. TH C LT RAt HI TORY F LIME TONE by Johannes Rohleder 1. The history of chalk 55 2. Marble and limestone 69 2. 1 Quarrying stones 70 2. 2 Transport, organisation and trade 80 2. 3 The uses 97 137 III. CALCI M CARBOl\ATE - A MODER RESOURCE 1. The beginnings: Calcium carbonate in glazing putty and rubber 138 by Johannes Rohleder 1. 1 A chalk industry is born 139 1. 2 Rubber and glazing putty 142 1. 3 From chalk to calcium carbonate 156 2. Calcium carbonate - pigment and filler 160 by Eberhard Huwald 2. 1 Properties and effects of a filler 164 2. 2 Chalk, limestone, marble, pec - common features and differences 165 2. 2.

Groundwater Treatment Technology
Groundwater Treatment Technology

Author: Evan K. Nyer

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 1992-05-15

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780471284147

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Groundwater treatment is unique. Removing the sources of contamination, as we did when we cleaned a river or lake, is only the first step. A groundwater remediation must include cleaning of the body of water itself, the aquifer. The revised and updated edition of Groundwater Treatment Technology provides a complete review of the technologies developed over the past 10 years for groundwater treatment. It also explains the design techniques that are required to apply those technologies successfully in a groundwater cleanup. Featured areas of coverage include: Specific design methods for the various technologies that are merely described in other publications Physical/chemical and treatability properties of 30 organic compounds that are most often encountered in groundwater situations Detailed strategies for remediation New biological treatment methods Specific data on treatment methods as applied in the field Practical suggestions on applications of technologies for groundwater treatment Drawing on his experience as a designer of over 100 groundwater treatment systems, Evan K. Nyer starts by showing how to develop the data necessary to define what type of treatment is necessary. He then explains how groundwater treatment is unique. Nyer follows with expert accounts of specific treatment technologies. Physical/chemical organic methods such as air stripping, carbon adsorption, and pure compound removal are explored in detail. In addition, new techniques including UV Oxidation and other emerging technologies are explained and directly related to groundwater design situations. An entire chapter is devoted to biological methods, one of the most promising areas for organic groundwater treatment. There is also comprehensive coverage of inorganic methods, that addresses everything from precipitation to solids/liquid separation and advanced ion removal methods. This definitive sourcebook also contains helpful cost factor analyses, plus representative case histories showing how the techniques of groundwater treatment have been applied in the field. Wide-ranging, authoritative, and completely updated, the Second Edition of Groundwater Treatment Technology is essential reading for wastewater engineers, industrial managers, hydrologists, soil experts, government officials, and environmental lawyers who want to keep abreast of the latest developments in this important field.