The quest to pinpoint the age of the Earth is nearly as old as humanity itself. For most of history, people trusted mythology or religion to provide the answer, even though nature abounds with clues to the past of the Earth and the stars. In A Natural History of Time, geophysicist Pascal Richet tells the fascinating story of how scientists and philosophers examined those clues and from them built a chronological scale that has made it possible to reconstruct the history of nature itself. Richet begins his story with mythological traditions, which were heavily influenced by the seasons and almost uniformly viewed time cyclically. The linear history promulgated by Judaism, with its story of creation, was an exception, and it was that tradition that drove early Christian attempts to date the Earth. For instance, in 169 CE, the bishop of Antioch, for instance declared that the world had been in existence for “5,698 years and the odd months and days.” Until the mid-eighteenth century, such natural timescales derived from biblical chronologies prevailed, but, Richet demonstrates, with the Scientific Revolution geological and astronomical evidence for much longer timescales began to accumulate. Fossils and the developing science of geology provided compelling evidence for periods of millions and millions of years—a scale that even scientists had difficulty grasping. By the end of the twentieth century, new tools such as radiometric dating had demonstrated that the solar system is four and a half billion years old, and the universe itself about twice that, though controversial questions remain. The quest for time is a story of ingenuity and determination, and like a geologist, Pascal Richet carefully peels back the strata of that history, giving us a chance to marvel at each layer and truly appreciate how far our knowledge—and our planet—have come.
Given that thermodynamics books are not a rarity on the market, why would an additional one be useful? The answer is simple: at any level, thermodynamics is usually taught as a somewhat abstruse discipline where many students get lost in a maze of difficult concepts. However, thermodynamics is not as intricate a subject as most people feel. This book fills a niche between elementary textbooks and mathematically oriented treatises, and provides readers with a distinct approach to the subject. As indicated by the title, this book explains thermodynamic phenomena and concepts in physical terms before proceeding to focus on the requisite mathematical aspects. It focuses on the effects of pressure, temperature and chemical composition on thermodynamic properties and places emphasis on rapidly evolving fields such as amorphous materials, metastable phases, numerical simulations of microsystems and high-pressure thermodynamics. Topics like redox reactions are dealt with in less depth, due to the fact that there is already much literature available. Without requiring a background in quantum mechanics, this book also illustrates the main practical applications of statistical thermodynamics and gives a microscopic interpretation of temperature, pressure and entropy. This book is perfect for undergraduate and graduate students who already have a basic knowledge of thermodynamics and who wish to truly understand the subject and put it in a broader physical perspective. The book is aimed not at theoretical physicists, but rather at practitioners with a variety of backgrounds from physics to biochemistry for whom thermodynamics is a tool which would be better used if better understood.
Silicate Glasses and Melts, Second Edition describes the structure-property-composition relationships for silicate glasses and melts from a geological and industrial perspective. Updated sections include (i) characterization of silicate melt and COHN fluid structure (with and without dissolved silicate components) with pressure, temperature, and redox conditions and responses of structural variables to chemical composition, (ii) determination of solubility and solution mechanisms of COHN volatiles in silicate melts and minerals and of solubility and solution mechanisms of silicate components in COHN fluids, and (iii) effects of very high pressure on structure and properties of melts and glasses. This new book is an essential resource for researchers in a number of fields, including geology, geophysics, geoscience, volcanology, material science, glass science, petrology and mineralogy. Brings together multidisciplinary research scattered across the scientific literature into one reference, with a focus on silicate melts and their application to natural systems Emphasizes linking melt properties to melt structure Includes a discussion of the pros and cons of the use of glass as a proxy for melt structure and properties Written by highly regarded experts in the field who, among other honors, were the 2006 recipients of the prestigious G.W. Morey award of the American Ceramic Society
Silicate Glasses and Melts, Second Edition describes the structure-property-composition relationships for silicate glasses and melts from a geological and industrial perspective. Updated sections include (i) characterization of silicate melt and COHN fluid structure (with and without dissolved silicate components) with pressure, temperature, and redox conditions and responses of structural variables to chemical composition, (ii) determination of solubility and solution mechanisms of COHN volatiles in silicate melts and minerals and of solubility and solution mechanisms of silicate components in COHN fluids, and (iii) effects of very high pressure on structure and properties of melts and glasses. This new book is an essential resource for researchers in a number of fields, including geology, geophysics, geoscience, volcanology, material science, glass science, petrology and mineralogy. Brings together multidisciplinary research scattered across the scientific literature into one reference, with a focus on silicate melts and their application to natural systems Emphasizes linking melt properties to melt structure Includes a discussion of the pros and cons of the use of glass as a proxy for melt structure and properties Written by highly regarded experts in the field who, among other honors, were the 2006 recipients of the prestigious G.W. Morey award of the American Ceramic Society
Given that thermodynamics books are not a rarity on the market, why would an additional one be useful? The answer is simple: at any level, thermodynamics is usually taught as a somewhat abstruse discipline where many students get lost in a maze of difficult concepts. However, thermodynamics is not as intricate a subject as most people feel. This book fills a niche between elementary textbooks and mathematically oriented treatises, and provides readers with a distinct approach to the subject. As indicated by the title, this book explains thermodynamic phenomena and concepts in physical terms before proceeding to focus on the requisite mathematical aspects. It focuses on the effects of pressure, temperature and chemical composition on thermodynamic properties and places emphasis on rapidly evolving fields such as amorphous materials, metastable phases, numerical simulations of microsystems and high-pressure thermodynamics. Topics like redox reactions are dealt with in less depth, due to the fact that there is already much literature available. Without requiring a background in quantum mechanics, this book also illustrates the main practical applications of statistical thermodynamics and gives a microscopic interpretation of temperature, pressure and entropy. This book is perfect for undergraduate and graduate students who already have a basic knowledge of thermodynamics and who wish to truly understand the subject and put it in a broader physical perspective. The book is aimed not at theoretical physicists, but rather at practitioners with a variety of backgrounds from physics to biochemistry for whom thermodynamics is a tool which would be better used if better understood.
The quest to pinpoint the age of the Earth is nearly as old as humanity itself. For most of history, people trusted mythology or religion to provide the answer, even though nature abounds with clues to the past of the Earth and the stars. In A Natural History of Time, geophysicist Pascal Richet tells the fascinating story of how scientists and philosophers examined those clues and from them built a chronological scale that has made it possible to reconstruct the history of nature itself. Richet begins his story with mythological traditions, which were heavily influenced by the seasons and almost uniformly viewed time cyclically. The linear history promulgated by Judaism, with its story of creation, was an exception, and it was that tradition that drove early Christian attempts to date the Earth. For instance, in 169 CE, the bishop of Antioch, for instance declared that the world had been in existence for “5,698 years and the odd months and days.” Until the mid-eighteenth century, such natural timescales derived from biblical chronologies prevailed, but, Richet demonstrates, with the Scientific Revolution geological and astronomical evidence for much longer timescales began to accumulate. Fossils and the developing science of geology provided compelling evidence for periods of millions and millions of years—a scale that even scientists had difficulty grasping. By the end of the twentieth century, new tools such as radiometric dating had demonstrated that the solar system is four and a half billion years old, and the universe itself about twice that, though controversial questions remain. The quest for time is a story of ingenuity and determination, and like a geologist, Pascal Richet carefully peels back the strata of that history, giving us a chance to marvel at each layer and truly appreciate how far our knowledge—and our planet—have come.
This comprehensive handbook and ready reference details all the main achievements in the field of perovskite-based and related mixed-oxide materials. The authors discuss, in an unbiased manner, the potentials as well as the challenges related to their use, thus offering new perspectives for research and development on both an academic and industrial level. The first volume begins by summarizing the different synthesis routes from molten salts at high temperatures to colloidal crystal template methods, before going on to focus on the physical properties of the resulting materials and their related applications in the fields of electronics, energy harvesting, and storage as well as electromechanics and superconductivity. The second volume is dedicated to the catalytic applications of perovskites and related mixed oxides, including, but not limited to total oxidation of hydrocarbons, dry reforming of methane and denitrogenation. The concluding section deals with the development of chemical reactors and novel perovskite-based applications, such as fuel cells and high-performance ceramic membranes. Throughout, the contributions clearly point out the intimate links between structure, properties and applications of these materials, making this an invaluable tool for materials scientists and for catalytic and physical chemists.
Originally published in France in 2012, Pascal Mégeau's definitive biography of legendary film director Jean Renoir is a landmark work-the winner of a Prix Goncourt, France's top literary achievement. Now available in the English language for the first time, Jean Renoir: A Biography, is the definitive study of one of the most fascinating and creative artistic figures of the twentieth century. The French filmmaker made more than forty films from the silent era to the late '60s and today he is revered by filmmakers and seen by many as one of the greatest of all time. Renoir made acclaimed movies in France, America, India, and Italy and became a writer during the last part of his life. An estimated 75 percent of the book details previously unknown information about the filmmaker, including Renoir's close affiliation with Communism in the '30s (when he was the Party's official director) and his work with the fascist regimes during World War II; his previously uncredited Hollywood film, The Amazing Mrs. Holiday; and new information on the making of his most famous films. Drawing from unpublished or little known sources, this biography is a completely fresh approach to the maker of Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, redefining the very function of the movie director and simultaneously recounting the history of a century.
The slow-down in economic growth and the rise in unemployment in the 1970s revived some of the uncertainties experienced by industrialized economies during the inter-war period. After more than a decade of stagnation, the period of sustained growth in the thirty years following the Second World War now seems increasingly to have been an exceptional phase in an overall development process still dominated by wide fluctuations in economic growth rates. Slow Growth and the Service Economy examines what it means to live in a period of economic recession and analyses social patterns in response to the slowing down of financial and economic growth.
Le IXe colloque de la Société européenne pour la biotechnologie marine s'est tenu du 12 au 14 mai 2002 à Nantes, il a permis de réunir en un même lieu les acteurs du monde de la recherche et ceux de l'industrie afin d'exposer et de débattre des avancées dans les principaux domaines de la biotechnologie marine. La majorité des interventions a porté sur les molécules bioactives issues d'organismes et de végétaux marins en donnant des informations sur leur nature (protéine, peptide, enzyme, lipide, polysaccharide...) et sur leurs utilisations potentielles dans des domaines aussi divers que la nutrition humaine et animale (aquaculture, microbiologie) et la santé humaine (pharmacie). Une session a même été totalement consacrée aux polysaccharides marins issus d'algues et de bactéries, des exemples précis sur leur potentiel en santé humaine ont été donnés. Il ressort de ce congrès que la biodiversité des ressources marines offre de nombreux débouchés dans l'industrie et contribue à l'essor de la biotechnologie marine.
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