Kategoria BISAC: Technology & Engineering >> Materials Science - General

These proceedings represent the latest advances in the mechanics of porous materials, known as poromechanics. The porous materials considered are solids containing voids that are impregnated with fluid. The focus is on the mechanical interactions of the inhomogeneous solid with the single- or multi-phase fluid under the loading of mechanical force, fluid pressure, thermal, chemical, and magnetic fields. The response time can be in static, diffusional, and dynamic ranges. The length scale can start from nano, to micro, macro, and up to field scales. Its application covers many branches of...

The unique properties of elastomeric materials offer numerous advantages in many engineering applications. Elastomeric units are used as couplings or mountings between rigid components, for example in shock absorbers, vibration insulators, flexible joints, seals and suspensions, etc. However, the complicated nature of the behaviour of such material makes it difficult to accurately predict the performance of these units using finite element modelling, for example. It is imperative that constitutive models accurately capture relevant aspects of mechanical behaviour. The latest developments...

Whereas the relationship between truth and propositional content has already been intensively investigated, there are only very few studies devoted to the task of illuminating the relationship between truth and illocutionary acts. This book fills that gap.

This innovative collection addresses such themes as:

• the relation between the concept of truth and the success conditions of assertions and kindred speech acts
• the linguistic devices of expressing the truth of a proposition
• the relation between predication and truth.

Recent developments in ethical discourse have brought the issue of the nature and development of character traits to the forefront of philosophical debate once again. This discussion tends to revolve around theories derived from Aristotle's account of character, and overlooks Sartre's existentialist alternative entirely.

This accessible book presents an existentialist alternative to the currently ominant Aristotelian view of character. It will be of interest, therefore, to academics and graduate students concerned with virtue ethics and the theory of character as much as to those...

Due to their unique properties, rubber materials are widely used for engineering applications such as tires, engine mounts, seals, shock absorbers, etc. The design of these highly technical parts frequently necessitates a great control of their response and high guarantees of reliability. These objectives are severe because they cover multiple physical phenomena. In addition, the complexity of these parts requires the use of powerful simulation methods such as the finite element method. In this context, the formulation of relevant constitutive equations and the development of relevant...

Human genetic engineering may soon be possible. The gathering debate about this prospect already threatens to become mired in irresolvable disagreement. After surveying the scientific and technological developments that have brought us to this pass, The Ethics of Genetic Engineering focuses on the ethical and policy debate, noting the deep divide that separates proponents and opponents. The book locates the source of this divide in differing framing assumptions: reductionist pluralist on one side, holist communitarian on the other. The book argues that we must bridge this divide,...

In his magnum opus, the Historical and Critical Dictionary, Pierre Bayle offered a series of brilliant criticisms of the major philosophical and theological systems of the 17^th Century. Although officially skeptical concerning the attempt to provide a definitive account of the truths of metaphysics, there is reason to see Bayle as a reluctant skeptic. In particular, Todd Ryan contends that Bayle harbored deep sympathy for the attempt by Descartes and his most innovative successor, Nicolas Malebranche, to establish a metaphysical system that would provide a foundation...