This comprehensive text addresses all of the subjects that a reader who is new to the field will need to know and will be a welcome reference for practitioners at all levels. It includes a history of the discipline, biological and ecological background, principles of the field, basic scientific information on the structure and growth of trees, the complete range of dendrochronology methods, and a full description of each of the relevant subdisciplines.
The Physical Geography of South America, the eighth volume in the Oxford Regional Environments series, presents an enduring statement on the physical and biogeographic conditions of this remarkable continent and their relationships to human activity. It fills a void in recent environmental literature by assembling a team of specialists from within and beyond South America in order to provide an integrated, cross-disciplinary body of knowledge about this mostly tropical continent, together with its high mountains and temperate southern cone. The authors systematically cover the main components of the South American environment - tectonism, climate, glaciation, natural landscape changes, rivers, vegetation, animals, and soils. The book then presents more specific treatments of regions with special attributes from the tropical forests of the Amazon basin to the Atacama Desert and Patagonian steppe, and from the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific coasts to the high Andes. Additionally, the continents environments are given a human face by evaluating the roles played by people over time, from pre-European and European colonial impacts to the effects of modern agriculture and urbanization, and from interactions with El Niño events to prognoses for the future environments of the continent.
This volume is an accont of early developments in meteorological research that brings to life the struggles of young pioneers—the trials and tribulations of developing new instruments, and the difficulty of sampling the atmosphere under challenging working conditions, to name just two. The book adds to the rich heritage of meteorological literature, documenting all the "firsts" achieved by this important weather observatory. An extensive bibliography of work by Observatroy personnel and source references to the Observatory's climatological data are provided. Heavily illustrated and richly detailed, this book will be of value to weather enthusiasts interested in the development of the science of meteorology, as well as to practicing meteorologists and weather historians wanting to study the growth of their scientific discipline.
Masonry arch bridges are an important part of the British road and rail network. There are for instance, about 40,000 road bridges, about 40% of Britain's total bridge stock. The amount of traffic they are now called on to carry has increased enormously since they were built, as has the weight of some of that traffic. Although these bridges have been in existence for thousands of years, research on their structural behaviour is still being carried out and new analytical techniques are being developed.
"Set on a small college campus in Vermont, Spinning into butter explores the dangers of both racism and political correctness in America today. When one of the few African American students at liberal Belmont College begins receiving hate mail, the campus erupts, first with shock, then with mutual recrimination as faculty and students alike try to prove their own tolerance by condemning one another. At the center of this maelstrom is Sarah Daniels, the dean of students. As the administration sponsors public "race forums" and the students start activist groups, Sarah is forced to explore her own feelings of racism. Her self-examination leads to some surprising discoveries and painful insights, the consequences of which even she can't predict."--cover p. 4.
