This introduction to computers presents the fundamental ideas and principles on which modern computers are built. While used as a text for courses in computer appreciation as well as introductions to computer science, the book has found a wide audience among computer users who wish to understand the basis of the machines that form and transform our society. What Computers Do • Teaching Silicon to Compute • Building a Computer •†Theoretical Computers • Real Computers • Programming • Subroutines and Recursion • Real Programming Languages • Applications • Cooperating Computers • Graphics • Artificial Intelligence • Answers • The text is supplemented by a web site that gives access to other problems and projects.
Building the Most Complex Structure on Earth provides readers with a basic biological education an easy and understandable introduction into a new epigenetic theory of development and evolution. This is a novel theory that describes the epigenetic mechanisms of the development and evolution of animals and explains the colossal evolution and diversification of animals from a new post-genetic perspective. Modern biology has demonstrated the existence of a common genetic toolkit in the animal kingdom, but neither the number of genes nor the evolution of new genes is responsible for the development and evolution of animals. The failure to understand how the same genetic toolkit is used to produce millions of widely different animal forms remains a perplexing conundrum in modern biology. The novel theory shows that the development and evolution of the animal kingdom are functions of epigenetic mechanisms, which are the competent users of the genetic toolkit. - Provides a comprehensive view of the epigenetic aspects of reproduction, development, and evolution. - Highly rigorous, but simple enough for readers with only a basic knowledge of biology.
Chris Demchak explores the reasons why military machines surprise their users and how they can change both the complexity and effectiveness of tactical organizations. She uses the Army's experiences with its M1 Abrams tank, as well as other examples, to explain the interaction of complex technology and militaries that seek to control uncertainty. Under some conditions, Demchak demonstrates, complexity in critical machines induces increased complexity in the organizations that use them, and can produce an army different from the one that was intended. Drawing on organization theory and her data, she argues that understanding this interaction will heavily influence whether armed forces reductions, savings, and modernization produce rapid, successful military organizations or lethally unpredictable ones.
"Congratulations on the purchase of this exclusive product, tailor-made just for you. It will provide you with years of continuous existence." So begins The Brain: A User’s Manual, Marco Magrini’s fascinating guide to the inner workings of one of nature’s most miraculous but misunderstood creations: the human brain. This user-friendly manual offers an accessible guide to the machine you use the most, deconstructing the brain into its constituent parts and showing you both how they function and how to maintain them for a longer life. Cutting through the noise of modern pop psychology, The Brain: A User’s Manual is a refreshingly factual approach to self-help. Written with a deft style and wry humour, it offers tips on everything from maximising productivity to retaining memory and boosting your mood.
A summary of author Masakazu Shoji’s previous works, Self-Consciousness: Human Brain as Data Processor, explains self-consciousness by using a simple, mechanical model of the human brain, which reflects its past development of evolution by natural selection. The model was built from the information acquired from the unbiased, introspective observation of Shoji’s own mind and other rational assumptions. In this study, geared for those with a background in the research and science of psychology, Shoji introduces a new approach based on systems and information science; it relies on the synthetic method of study by designing the human brain’s functional model. It deals with the self-conscious directly, without adding in subconsciousness or quantum mystery, as has been done previously. The model was designed realistically using hardware built with genetic instructions, using neurons as the elements of digital and analog operations. Shoji shares that versions of this model reveal how humans acquire and store memories of images of the outside objects, sense the images internally, execute necessary actions directed by the images, feel an emotional state by facing life’s events, and develop intelligence by accumulated experiences. The model also explains mysterious mental experiences, such as seeing dreams, daydreams, phantoms, ghosts, and feeling premonitions.
In the more than 15 years since the second edition of Fundamentals of Machining and Machine Tools was published, the industry has seen many changes. Students must keep up with developments in analytical modeling of machining processes, modern cutting tool materials, and how these changes affect the economics of machining. With coverage reflecting state-of-the-art industry practice, Fundamentals of Machining and Machine Tools, Third Edition emphasizes underlying concepts, analytical methods, and economic considerations, requiring only basic mathematics and physics. This book thoroughly illustrates the causes of various phenomena and their effects on machining practice. The authors include several descriptions of modern analytical methods, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the various modeling approaches. What's New in the Third Edition? Recent advances in super-hard cutting tool materials, tool geometries, and surface coatings Advances in high-speed machining and hard machining New trends in cutting fluid applications, including dry and minimum-quantity lubrication machining New developments in tool geometries for chip breaking and chip control Improvements in cost modeling of machining processes, including application to grinding processes Supplying abundant examples, illustrations, and homework problems, Fundamentals of Machining and Machine Tools, Third Edition is an ideal textbook for senior undergraduate and graduate students studying metal cutting, machining, machine tool technology, machining applications, and manufacturing processes.
"What is the navy for? Of what parts should be composed? What principles should be followed in designing, preparing, and operating it in order to get the maximum return for the money expended? To answer these questions clearly and without technical language is the object of this book"--Preface.
Reflecting changes in machining practice, Fundamentals of Machining and Machine Tools, Third Edition emphasizes the economics of machining processes and design for machining. This edition includes new material on super-hard cutting tool materials, tool geometries, and surface coatings. It describes recent developments in high-speed machining, hard machining, and cutting fluid applications such as dry and minimum-quantity lubrication machining. It also presents analytical methods that outline the limitations of various approaches. This edition features expanded information on tool geometries for chip breaking and control as well as improvements in cost modeling of machining processes.
From one of the greatest Russian writers of the past half century comes a metaphysical mystery novel that defies categorization and confounds expectation. Andrei Bitov's The Symmetry Teacher presents itself as the "echo" of an older British novel Bitov once read and had long forgotten. Unable even to recall the name of that novel's author, Bitov reconstructs its literary vision through the fog of memory, creating a group of stories nestled together like a matryoshka doll. In doing so, Bitov evokes the anxieties of the late and post-Soviet decades, confronting urgent questions of conscience and self-deception through an innovative style that revels in paradox and sleight of hand. Unified by the delightfully maddening search for the identity of a writer toiling in obscurity, The Symmetry Teacher takes us through a curious series of episodes: A man meets the devil on a park bench and the devil shows him photographs of the fall of Troy, Shakespeare's legs, and a terrible event that will take place in his future. A young poet fleeing his past is stranded on a windswept island and tormented by a lover and her shape-shifting evil twin. Three friends, unable to become writers, start a literary society where books and manuscripts are neither read nor returned and new members are accepted only if their work is unwritten. A king who reigns over all possible worlds and uses his power to remove stars from the sky turns out to be the compiler of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Writing with impish daring, Bitov crafts an enchanting fiction from interwoven fables. The result challenges the boundaries between life and literature, author and reader, and memory and imagination, exploring the sacrifices that a writer may make out of ardor for his art. Mingling fantasy and satire with moral concern, Bitov is a deserving heir to the tradition of Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Bulgakov. The Symmetry Teacher showcases the work of a postmodern master at the height of his craft.
