This book contains the edited version of the lectures presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on computer-aided analysis of rigid and flexible mechanical systems, held in Troacuteia, Portugal, from June 27-July 9, 1993. The topics presented include formulations and numerical aspects of rigid and flexible multibody dynamics, object-oriented paradigms, optimal design and synthesis, robotics, kinematics, path planning, control, impact dynamics and aspects of application."

This book brings together, for the first time, information on various wetland classification systems and wetland inventories from around the world, outlining regional, national and local wetland classifications developed in Africa, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India, South America and the USA. Oriented towards the conservation and management of wetlands, these existing national and regional classification systems have been useful in providing an essential base for the development of an international system. The volume also reviews various attempts at drawing up an inventory of wetlands...

The study described in this book arose in the contextof a three-year collective effort to bring about change in science teaching at Mountain Elementary School. 1 This opportunity emerged after I contacted the school with the idea to help teachers implement student-centered science teaching. At the same time, the teachers collectively had come to realize that their science teaching was not as exciting to children as it could be. They had recognized their own teaching as textbook-based with little use of the "hands-on" approaches prescribed by the provincial curriculum. At this point, the...

Modular chemistry involves the assembly of well defined, relatively large functional structures from repetitive units that themselves are molecules of some complexity. The two most visible sources underlying modular chemistry are supramolecular (self assembly) chemistry and polymer chemistry, but the appeal of the field is to crystallographers, solid-state chemists and physicists, small-molecule organic synthetic chemists, inorganic coordination or main group chemists, photochemists and physicists, surface chemists, electrochemists, carbon or semiconductor cluster chemists, biochemists,...

This volume presents an exhaustive treatment of computation and algorithms for finite fields.

Martin Bunzl considers the prospects for a general and comprehensive account of explanation, given the variety of interests that prompt explanations in science. Bunzl argues that any successful account of explanation must deal with two very different contexts - one static and one dynamic. Traditionally, theories of explanation have been built for the former of these two contexts. That is to say, they are designed to show how it is that a finished body of scientific knowledge can be put to explanatory use. Real explanation also occurs in a dynamical context in which questions are asked and...

The invasion and occupation of Kuwait by the Iraqi forces and the resulting Gulf War in 1991 led to unprecedented environmental contamination, the effects of which will be felt for years to come. The air was polluted by emissions from hundreds of burning oil wells, the sea fouled by the largest oil spill in history, and the land scarred by massive bombardment and troop movement. Information regarding this environmental legacy of the Gulf War has hitherto been scattered throughout the popular and scientific press. This is the first book that brings together what is currently known about the...

The development of new materials is recognized as one of the major elements in the overall technological evolution that must go on in order to sustain and even improve the quality of life for citizens of all nations. There are many components to this development, but one is to achieve a better understanding of the properties of materials using the most sophisticated scientific tools that are available. As condensed matter physicists and materials scientists work toward this goal, they find that it is useful to divide their efforts and focus on specific areas, because certain analytical and...

Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is now playing an increasing role in the modern global economy, in security-sensitive industries, for instance. The complexity of the inspection task and either large or limited lot runs now require more operator-assisted or fully automated signal processing. This book deals with both fields of expertise: NDE and signal processing.

Gottlob Frege's brief article Uber Sinn und Bedeutung (On Sense and Reference) has come to be seen, in the century since its publication in 1892, as one of the seminal texts of analytic philosophy. It, along with the rest of Frege's writings on logic and mathematics, came to mark out a whole new domain of inquiry and to set the agenda for it. This volume bears witness to the continuing importance and influence of that agenda. It contains original papers written by leading Frege scholars for the conference held in 1992 in Karlovy Vary to celebrate the centenary of the publication of Frege's...