Ernest H. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195179293
- eISBN:
- 9780199790470
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179293.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
This final chapter presents key observations over broad spatial and temporal scales. The first three are readily observable, at least in the right geographic areas, but the last two — species and ...
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This final chapter presents key observations over broad spatial and temporal scales. The first three are readily observable, at least in the right geographic areas, but the last two — species and area, and latitudinal gradient — are the two broadest patterns in the distribution of life on earth. Though not immediately observable, they help one understand nature a little better, which is the overall goal of this book.Less
This final chapter presents key observations over broad spatial and temporal scales. The first three are readily observable, at least in the right geographic areas, but the last two — species and area, and latitudinal gradient — are the two broadest patterns in the distribution of life on earth. Though not immediately observable, they help one understand nature a little better, which is the overall goal of this book.
Richard Bardgett
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198525035
- eISBN:
- 9780191728181
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198525035.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis of what is known about soil biodiversity and the factors that regulate its distribution, as well as the functional significance of ...
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This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis of what is known about soil biodiversity and the factors that regulate its distribution, as well as the functional significance of below-ground biodiversity for ecosystem form and function. It describes the vast diversity of biota that live in the soil environment — the most complex habitat on Earth — and discusses the factors that act as determinants of this diversity across different spatial and temporal scales. This book also considers how biotic interactions in soil influence the important soil processes of decomposition and nutrient cycling. It demonstrates how interactions and feedbacks between diverse plant and soil communities act as important drivers of ecosystem form and function. The importance of these relationships for understanding how ecosystems respond to global change phenomena, including climate change, is discussed in depth. Much is still to be learned about the soil biota and their roles in ecosystems, and the author highlights some of the many challenges that face ecologists in the exploration of soil. This book provides an introduction to the biology of soil, and also discusses the most recent developments in this progressive field of ecology. The importance of soil biotic interactions for community and ecosystem ecology is illustrated through the use of numerous examples and case studies.Less
This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis of what is known about soil biodiversity and the factors that regulate its distribution, as well as the functional significance of below-ground biodiversity for ecosystem form and function. It describes the vast diversity of biota that live in the soil environment — the most complex habitat on Earth — and discusses the factors that act as determinants of this diversity across different spatial and temporal scales. This book also considers how biotic interactions in soil influence the important soil processes of decomposition and nutrient cycling. It demonstrates how interactions and feedbacks between diverse plant and soil communities act as important drivers of ecosystem form and function. The importance of these relationships for understanding how ecosystems respond to global change phenomena, including climate change, is discussed in depth. Much is still to be learned about the soil biota and their roles in ecosystems, and the author highlights some of the many challenges that face ecologists in the exploration of soil. This book provides an introduction to the biology of soil, and also discusses the most recent developments in this progressive field of ecology. The importance of soil biotic interactions for community and ecosystem ecology is illustrated through the use of numerous examples and case studies.
Taigen Dan Leighton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320930
- eISBN:
- 9780199785360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320930.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter begins with a discussion of Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), the most prolific writer among the historical Zen masters and considered the founder of the Soto Zen tradition in Japan. Examples of ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), the most prolific writer among the historical Zen masters and considered the founder of the Soto Zen tradition in Japan. Examples of Dōgen's view of space are offered as introductory background for the explorations to follow of how he uses references to the Lotus Sutra story in Chapters 15 and 16 to express his views of space, as well as of time and of the earth itself. Broader awareness of Dōgen's worldview and its implications illuminate the possibilities for contemporary approaches to understanding primary Mahāyāna practices and outlook and shifts in these in East Asia.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), the most prolific writer among the historical Zen masters and considered the founder of the Soto Zen tradition in Japan. Examples of Dōgen's view of space are offered as introductory background for the explorations to follow of how he uses references to the Lotus Sutra story in Chapters 15 and 16 to express his views of space, as well as of time and of the earth itself. Broader awareness of Dōgen's worldview and its implications illuminate the possibilities for contemporary approaches to understanding primary Mahāyāna practices and outlook and shifts in these in East Asia.
Taigen Dan Leighton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320930
- eISBN:
- 9780199785360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320930.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter gives a close reading of a range of references throughout Dōgen's writings on Lotus Sutra Chapters 15 and 16, organized in terms of earth, space, and time. It also looks in to how Dōgen ...
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This chapter gives a close reading of a range of references throughout Dōgen's writings on Lotus Sutra Chapters 15 and 16, organized in terms of earth, space, and time. It also looks in to how Dōgen uses these citations as practice encouragements for his students. These commentaries reveal Dōgen's strong lifetime allegiance to the Lotus Sutra text, and also his approach to awakening as a function of the nature of reality, intimately connected with the dynamic support of the earth, space itself, and a multidimensional view of the movements of time.Less
This chapter gives a close reading of a range of references throughout Dōgen's writings on Lotus Sutra Chapters 15 and 16, organized in terms of earth, space, and time. It also looks in to how Dōgen uses these citations as practice encouragements for his students. These commentaries reveal Dōgen's strong lifetime allegiance to the Lotus Sutra text, and also his approach to awakening as a function of the nature of reality, intimately connected with the dynamic support of the earth, space itself, and a multidimensional view of the movements of time.
Taigen Dan Leighton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320930
- eISBN:
- 9780199785360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320930.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's ...
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This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's worldview beyond the Lotus Sutra as his major Mahāyāna source. Discussions of the spatialization of time help further reveal how Dōgen's view of the spiritual potential of space and earth influenced his more celebrated teachings of being-time and his exhortations to inhabit time fully.Less
This chapter discusses Mahāyāna imagery concerning earth and space, and their confluence and related Buddhist backgrounds on temporality, and how these may have served as a wider context for Dōgen's worldview beyond the Lotus Sutra as his major Mahāyāna source. Discussions of the spatialization of time help further reveal how Dōgen's view of the spiritual potential of space and earth influenced his more celebrated teachings of being-time and his exhortations to inhabit time fully.
Tim O’Riordan, Tim Lenton, and Ian Christie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265536
- eISBN:
- 9780191760327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265536.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Tipping points are metaphors of sudden change, of fear, of falling, of foreboding, and of failure. Tipping points are thresholds of tolerance, of bifurcation, and of transformation which are built ...
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Tipping points are metaphors of sudden change, of fear, of falling, of foreboding, and of failure. Tipping points are thresholds of tolerance, of bifurcation, and of transformation which are built into complex systems of transformation. Sudden change can arise from earth system phase changes (for example in the condition of ice, ocean acidity, drying of the tropical forests and the onset of monsoons). But they can also depict rapid shifts in geopolitics, local and regional conflicts, and in economic performance with implications for the well-being of societies all over the globe. The patterns of suddenness and aftermath of physical and socio-economic systems vary greatly. Tipping points can lead to unintended worsening, to induced vulnerabilities, to chaos and confusion in communication, and to the scope for restorative redirection. The scope for benign transformation is an intrinsic aspect of the tipping point metaphor.Less
Tipping points are metaphors of sudden change, of fear, of falling, of foreboding, and of failure. Tipping points are thresholds of tolerance, of bifurcation, and of transformation which are built into complex systems of transformation. Sudden change can arise from earth system phase changes (for example in the condition of ice, ocean acidity, drying of the tropical forests and the onset of monsoons). But they can also depict rapid shifts in geopolitics, local and regional conflicts, and in economic performance with implications for the well-being of societies all over the globe. The patterns of suddenness and aftermath of physical and socio-economic systems vary greatly. Tipping points can lead to unintended worsening, to induced vulnerabilities, to chaos and confusion in communication, and to the scope for restorative redirection. The scope for benign transformation is an intrinsic aspect of the tipping point metaphor.
George Anastaplo
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813125336
- eISBN:
- 9780813135243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813125336.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines resurrection and death in Everyman, considered as the greatest of English morality plays. It observes that death, ordained by God Himself, is exhibited as an inevitable limit on ...
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This chapter examines resurrection and death in Everyman, considered as the greatest of English morality plays. It observes that death, ordained by God Himself, is exhibited as an inevitable limit on human life. It opines that although one may “know” of this limit from early on in one's life, death can still appear unexpectedly. It theorizes that if a series of reincarnations on Earth is not posited, death is always substantially unexpected in that the human being has never had that experience personally and hence cannot truly know what is coming. Moreover, expectations with respect to death can be complicated because of the variety of prevailing opinions about what happens to the soul after death. It opines that the teaching of Everyman, which is massively Christian in its presuppositions, can make death appear far more ominous than it may naturally seem to be.Less
This chapter examines resurrection and death in Everyman, considered as the greatest of English morality plays. It observes that death, ordained by God Himself, is exhibited as an inevitable limit on human life. It opines that although one may “know” of this limit from early on in one's life, death can still appear unexpectedly. It theorizes that if a series of reincarnations on Earth is not posited, death is always substantially unexpected in that the human being has never had that experience personally and hence cannot truly know what is coming. Moreover, expectations with respect to death can be complicated because of the variety of prevailing opinions about what happens to the soul after death. It opines that the teaching of Everyman, which is massively Christian in its presuppositions, can make death appear far more ominous than it may naturally seem to be.
Stefan Helmreich, Sophia Roosth, and Michele Friedner
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164809
- eISBN:
- 9781400873869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164809.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines how digital media represent seawater, relying upon, but also making invisible, the built infrastructures—commercial, political, military—that have permitted the oceanic world to ...
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This chapter examines how digital media represent seawater, relying upon, but also making invisible, the built infrastructures—commercial, political, military—that have permitted the oceanic world to be described as something like a “global ocean” in the first place. Drawing on the work of Charles Sanders Peirce, it explores how Earth and its ocean, as they have been ported into the digital, have become a confusing mixture of different kinds of signs—the sorts Peirce would have called indexes, icons, and symbols. It considers a kindred image-object, Google Ocean, and how Google Earth politics is connected to it, as well as what sort of representation of the planetary sea is in the making in these digital days. It argues that Google Ocean is a mottled mash of icons, indexes, and symbols of the marine and maritime world as well as a simultaneously dystopian and utopian diagram of the sea.Less
This chapter examines how digital media represent seawater, relying upon, but also making invisible, the built infrastructures—commercial, political, military—that have permitted the oceanic world to be described as something like a “global ocean” in the first place. Drawing on the work of Charles Sanders Peirce, it explores how Earth and its ocean, as they have been ported into the digital, have become a confusing mixture of different kinds of signs—the sorts Peirce would have called indexes, icons, and symbols. It considers a kindred image-object, Google Ocean, and how Google Earth politics is connected to it, as well as what sort of representation of the planetary sea is in the making in these digital days. It argues that Google Ocean is a mottled mash of icons, indexes, and symbols of the marine and maritime world as well as a simultaneously dystopian and utopian diagram of the sea.
Carolyn Merchant
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198295099
- eISBN:
- 9780191599262
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829509X.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
An important aspect of the ‘Earth Summit’ conference held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was the extent to which it shifted environmental discourse beyond mere recognition of the environmental crisis ...
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An important aspect of the ‘Earth Summit’ conference held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was the extent to which it shifted environmental discourse beyond mere recognition of the environmental crisis towards the basic issue of restructuring society to create an enduring relationship with nature and the non‐human world. One of the important products of the Rio conference was the emergence of a new democratic concept encompassing the rights of women, environmental justice, multiculturalism, and North–South conflicts. This chapter explores the linkages between women's rights and a new concept of human partnership with the natural world. The smaller issue of human partnership opens the door to the larger issue of partnership between mankind and nature, and to a new form of environmental ethics.Less
An important aspect of the ‘Earth Summit’ conference held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was the extent to which it shifted environmental discourse beyond mere recognition of the environmental crisis towards the basic issue of restructuring society to create an enduring relationship with nature and the non‐human world. One of the important products of the Rio conference was the emergence of a new democratic concept encompassing the rights of women, environmental justice, multiculturalism, and North–South conflicts. This chapter explores the linkages between women's rights and a new concept of human partnership with the natural world. The smaller issue of human partnership opens the door to the larger issue of partnership between mankind and nature, and to a new form of environmental ethics.
Graham E. Budd
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549429
- eISBN:
- 9780191721601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549429.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics, Developmental Biology
The fossil record of the earliest animals has been enlivened in recent years by a series of spectacular discoveries, including embryos, from the Ediacaran to the Cambrian, but many issues, not least ...
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The fossil record of the earliest animals has been enlivened in recent years by a series of spectacular discoveries, including embryos, from the Ediacaran to the Cambrian, but many issues, not least of dating and interpretation, remain controversial. In particular, aspects of taphonomy of the earliest fossils require careful consideration before pronouncements about their affinities. Nevertheless, a reasonable case can be now made for the extension of the fossil record of at least basal animals (sponges and perhaps cnidarians) to a period of time significantly before the beginning of the Cambrian. The Cambrian explosion itself still seems to represent the arrival of the bilaterians, and many new fossils in recent years have added significant data on the origin of the three major bilaterian clades. Why animals appear so late in the fossil record is still unclear, but the recent trend to embrace rising oxygen levels as being the proximate cause remains unproven and may even involve a degree of circularity.Less
The fossil record of the earliest animals has been enlivened in recent years by a series of spectacular discoveries, including embryos, from the Ediacaran to the Cambrian, but many issues, not least of dating and interpretation, remain controversial. In particular, aspects of taphonomy of the earliest fossils require careful consideration before pronouncements about their affinities. Nevertheless, a reasonable case can be now made for the extension of the fossil record of at least basal animals (sponges and perhaps cnidarians) to a period of time significantly before the beginning of the Cambrian. The Cambrian explosion itself still seems to represent the arrival of the bilaterians, and many new fossils in recent years have added significant data on the origin of the three major bilaterian clades. Why animals appear so late in the fossil record is still unclear, but the recent trend to embrace rising oxygen levels as being the proximate cause remains unproven and may even involve a degree of circularity.
Donald Eugene Canfield
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145020
- eISBN:
- 9781400849888
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145020.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Climate
The air we breathe is 21 percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world. While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet. How did it become this way? ...
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The air we breathe is 21 percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world. While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet. How did it become this way? This book covers this vast history, emphasizing its relationship to the evolution of life and the evolving chemistry of the Earth. The book guides readers through the various lines of scientific evidence, considers some of the wrong turns and dead ends along the way, and highlights the scientists and researchers who have made key discoveries in the field. Showing how Earth's atmosphere developed over time, the book takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of the oxygenation of our planet.Less
The air we breathe is 21 percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world. While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet. How did it become this way? This book covers this vast history, emphasizing its relationship to the evolution of life and the evolving chemistry of the Earth. The book guides readers through the various lines of scientific evidence, considers some of the wrong turns and dead ends along the way, and highlights the scientists and researchers who have made key discoveries in the field. Showing how Earth's atmosphere developed over time, the book takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of the oxygenation of our planet.
Patrick N. Wyse Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231256
- eISBN:
- 9780191710803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231256.003.0010
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter focuses on William Thomson's involvement in debates concerning the age of the Earth in the 19th century. Thomson applied himself to determining the age of the Earth in three ways: the ...
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This chapter focuses on William Thomson's involvement in debates concerning the age of the Earth in the 19th century. Thomson applied himself to determining the age of the Earth in three ways: the first was in relation to the Sun, and he attempted to estimate how long it had been shining and used this as a corollary for the age of the Earth. Secondly, Thomson investigated the effect that friction caused by tides might have had on the shape of the Earth. The third method took the secular cooling rate of the Earth, and it is for this work that Thomson is chiefly remembered in the geochronological field.Less
This chapter focuses on William Thomson's involvement in debates concerning the age of the Earth in the 19th century. Thomson applied himself to determining the age of the Earth in three ways: the first was in relation to the Sun, and he attempted to estimate how long it had been shining and used this as a corollary for the age of the Earth. Secondly, Thomson investigated the effect that friction caused by tides might have had on the shape of the Earth. The third method took the secular cooling rate of the Earth, and it is for this work that Thomson is chiefly remembered in the geochronological field.
Andrew P. Ingersoll
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145044
- eISBN:
- 9781400848232
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145044.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Climate
This clear and concise introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite—from Mercury to Neptune ...
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This clear and concise introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite—from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as Saturn's Titan. The book presents a tour of our solar system's diverse planetary atmospheres, providing a rich foundation on their structure, composition, circulation, climate, and long-term evolution. Although the climates of other worlds are extremely diverse, the chemical and physical processes that shape their dynamics are the same. As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth's climate history and future. Explaining current knowledge, physical and chemical mechanisms, and unanswered questions, the book brings the reader to the cutting edge of this field.Less
This clear and concise introduction to planetary climates explains the global physical and chemical processes that determine climate on any planet or major planetary satellite—from Mercury to Neptune and even large moons such as Saturn's Titan. The book presents a tour of our solar system's diverse planetary atmospheres, providing a rich foundation on their structure, composition, circulation, climate, and long-term evolution. Although the climates of other worlds are extremely diverse, the chemical and physical processes that shape their dynamics are the same. As this book makes clear, the better we can understand how various planetary climates formed and evolved, the better we can understand Earth's climate history and future. Explaining current knowledge, physical and chemical mechanisms, and unanswered questions, the book brings the reader to the cutting edge of this field.
Toby Tyrrell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691121581
- eISBN:
- 9781400847914
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691121581.003.0008
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
This chapter examines the claim of Earth's stability by looking at data pertaining to past variability of the Earth environment. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that life has had a hand on the tiller of ...
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This chapter examines the claim of Earth's stability by looking at data pertaining to past variability of the Earth environment. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that life has had a hand on the tiller of Earth climate, ensuring stable equable climates throughout Earth history. The chapter argues differently. The data do not point to a constant environment, or to a cozy and hospitable one. In addition to the overall trend toward ever-icier climates over the last 100 million years, there is also compelling evidence that the tiller has on other occasions allowed climate to drift into dangerous states threatening to completely extinguish all life on Earth.Less
This chapter examines the claim of Earth's stability by looking at data pertaining to past variability of the Earth environment. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that life has had a hand on the tiller of Earth climate, ensuring stable equable climates throughout Earth history. The chapter argues differently. The data do not point to a constant environment, or to a cozy and hospitable one. In addition to the overall trend toward ever-icier climates over the last 100 million years, there is also compelling evidence that the tiller has on other occasions allowed climate to drift into dangerous states threatening to completely extinguish all life on Earth.
A. A. Ivanov
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198527596
- eISBN:
- 9780191713163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198527596.003.0008
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Pure Mathematics
This chapter studies the graph Δ on the set of elements of type m DG (with stabilizers 211 : M24) in which two vertices are adjacent whenever in D(G) they are incident to a common element of type 2 ...
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This chapter studies the graph Δ on the set of elements of type m DG (with stabilizers 211 : M24) in which two vertices are adjacent whenever in D(G) they are incident to a common element of type 2 (whose stabilizer is the pentad group 23+12 · (L3(2) · Sym5)). The ultimate goal in this chapter is to show that the number of vertices in Δ is as given in the title of the chapter.Less
This chapter studies the graph Δ on the set of elements of type m DG (with stabilizers 211 : M24) in which two vertices are adjacent whenever in D(G) they are incident to a common element of type 2 (whose stabilizer is the pentad group 23+12 · (L3(2) · Sym5)). The ultimate goal in this chapter is to show that the number of vertices in Δ is as given in the title of the chapter.
Wai-Kee Li, Gong-Du Zhou, and Thomas Mak
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199216949
- eISBN:
- 9780191711992
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216949.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Crystallography: Physics
This text is an updated English version of a class-tested textbook originally published in Chinese in 2006. Its contents are based on the lecture notes of several courses taught by the authors at The ...
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This text is an updated English version of a class-tested textbook originally published in Chinese in 2006. Its contents are based on the lecture notes of several courses taught by the authors at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University. These courses include Chemical Bonding, Structure and Properties of Matter, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry, Group Theory, and Chemical Crystallography. This book consists of three parts. Part I reviews the basic theories of chemical bonding, with chapters on elementary quantum theory, atomic structure, bonding in molecules, bonding in solids, and computational chemistry. Part II introduces point groups and space groups, and their applications to the study of discrete molecules and crystals. A large number of worked examples are provided in order to illustrate the usefulness and elegance of the symmetry concept. Part III constitutes about half of the book and it gives a succinct description of the structural chemistry of the elements in the Periodic Table. The main-group elements are covered in seven chapters and three other chapters deal with the rare-earth elements, transition-metal clusters and supramolecular systems. The selected systems, many of them from recent literature, are used to elucidate various aspects of structure and bonding presented in Parts I and II, and to expound the current research trends in structural inorganic chemistryLess
This text is an updated English version of a class-tested textbook originally published in Chinese in 2006. Its contents are based on the lecture notes of several courses taught by the authors at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University. These courses include Chemical Bonding, Structure and Properties of Matter, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, Quantum Chemistry, Group Theory, and Chemical Crystallography. This book consists of three parts. Part I reviews the basic theories of chemical bonding, with chapters on elementary quantum theory, atomic structure, bonding in molecules, bonding in solids, and computational chemistry. Part II introduces point groups and space groups, and their applications to the study of discrete molecules and crystals. A large number of worked examples are provided in order to illustrate the usefulness and elegance of the symmetry concept. Part III constitutes about half of the book and it gives a succinct description of the structural chemistry of the elements in the Periodic Table. The main-group elements are covered in seven chapters and three other chapters deal with the rare-earth elements, transition-metal clusters and supramolecular systems. The selected systems, many of them from recent literature, are used to elucidate various aspects of structure and bonding presented in Parts I and II, and to expound the current research trends in structural inorganic chemistry
Joanna D. Haigh and Peter Cargill
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153834
- eISBN:
- 9781400866540
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153834.003.0009
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Climate
This concluding chapter talks about how the Earth's climate is fundamental to the well-being of humanity, and any factor with the potential to affect that is obviously of concern. Thus, an ...
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This concluding chapter talks about how the Earth's climate is fundamental to the well-being of humanity, and any factor with the potential to affect that is obviously of concern. Thus, an understandable interest in the body that provides the energy for all life on Earth has driven a long history of study of how changes in the Sun might influence the climate. The wealth of physical, chemical, and biological processes involved also makes the topic of intrinsic scientific fascination. Observations of the Sun, alongside theoretical advances and developments in models, are helping to further understanding of its behavior. In particular, significant advances have been made in determining how different activity indicators relate to the physical processes involved in the evolution of the solar magnetic field, sunspots, and radiation over the 11-year cycle.Less
This concluding chapter talks about how the Earth's climate is fundamental to the well-being of humanity, and any factor with the potential to affect that is obviously of concern. Thus, an understandable interest in the body that provides the energy for all life on Earth has driven a long history of study of how changes in the Sun might influence the climate. The wealth of physical, chemical, and biological processes involved also makes the topic of intrinsic scientific fascination. Observations of the Sun, alongside theoretical advances and developments in models, are helping to further understanding of its behavior. In particular, significant advances have been made in determining how different activity indicators relate to the physical processes involved in the evolution of the solar magnetic field, sunspots, and radiation over the 11-year cycle.
Joanna D. Haigh and Peter Cargill
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153834
- eISBN:
- 9781400866540
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153834.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Climate
The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating ...
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The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating across the planet produces global wind patterns and contributes to the formation of clouds, storms, and rainfall. This book provides an unparalleled introduction to this vitally important relationship. The book covers the basic properties of the Earth's climate system, the structure and behavior of the Sun, and the absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. It explains how solar activity varies and how these variations affect the Earth's environment, from long-term paleoclimate effects to century timescales in the context of human-induced climate change, and from signals of the 11-year sunspot cycle to the impacts of solar emissions on space weather in our planet's upper atmosphere.Less
The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating across the planet produces global wind patterns and contributes to the formation of clouds, storms, and rainfall. This book provides an unparalleled introduction to this vitally important relationship. The book covers the basic properties of the Earth's climate system, the structure and behavior of the Sun, and the absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. It explains how solar activity varies and how these variations affect the Earth's environment, from long-term paleoclimate effects to century timescales in the context of human-induced climate change, and from signals of the 11-year sunspot cycle to the impacts of solar emissions on space weather in our planet's upper atmosphere.
David M Wilkinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198568469
- eISBN:
- 9780191717611
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568469.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This book raises and attempts to answer the following thought experiment: ‘For any planet with carbon-based life, which persists over geological time-scales, what is the minimum set of ecological ...
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This book raises and attempts to answer the following thought experiment: ‘For any planet with carbon-based life, which persists over geological time-scales, what is the minimum set of ecological processes that must be present?’. The main intention of this book is to use an astrobiological perspective as a means of thinking about ecology on Earth. Its focus on processes contrasts with the commoner focus in ecology textbooks on entities such as individuals, populations, species, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere. The book suggests that seven ecological processes are fundamental (not including natural selection and competition, which characterize all of life rather than only ecology): energy flow (energy consumption and waste product excretion), multiple guilds (autotrophs, decomposers, and parasites), tradeoffs (specialization versus generalization, leading to biodiversity within guilds), ecological hypercycles (cycles within cycles), merging of organismal and ecological physiology (as life spreads over the planet, biotic and abiotic processes interact so strongly as to be inseparable), photosynthesis (which it suggests likely in most biospheres but not inevitable), and carbon sequestration. These fundamental processes lead to the emergence of nutrient cycling. The integration of Earth System Science with ecology is vitally important if ecological science is to successfully contribute to the massive problems and future challenges associated with global change. The book is heavily influenced by Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.Less
This book raises and attempts to answer the following thought experiment: ‘For any planet with carbon-based life, which persists over geological time-scales, what is the minimum set of ecological processes that must be present?’. The main intention of this book is to use an astrobiological perspective as a means of thinking about ecology on Earth. Its focus on processes contrasts with the commoner focus in ecology textbooks on entities such as individuals, populations, species, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere. The book suggests that seven ecological processes are fundamental (not including natural selection and competition, which characterize all of life rather than only ecology): energy flow (energy consumption and waste product excretion), multiple guilds (autotrophs, decomposers, and parasites), tradeoffs (specialization versus generalization, leading to biodiversity within guilds), ecological hypercycles (cycles within cycles), merging of organismal and ecological physiology (as life spreads over the planet, biotic and abiotic processes interact so strongly as to be inseparable), photosynthesis (which it suggests likely in most biospheres but not inevitable), and carbon sequestration. These fundamental processes lead to the emergence of nutrient cycling. The integration of Earth System Science with ecology is vitally important if ecological science is to successfully contribute to the massive problems and future challenges associated with global change. The book is heavily influenced by Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.
Robert J. Bennett and Alan G. Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262863
- eISBN:
- 9780191734076
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262863.003.0014
- Subject:
- Sociology, Population and Demography
This chapter discusses the main trends and the most prominent focuses of research regarding geography as an applied discipline. It concentrates on the contributions of geographers in Britain and the ...
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This chapter discusses the main trends and the most prominent focuses of research regarding geography as an applied discipline. It concentrates on the contributions of geographers in Britain and the applied developments in human geography. The development of physical geography and earth sciences has been particularly influential on the development of applied geography at various stages. The chapter also examines regional planning and policy, town and country planning, land use planning and other specific fields.Less
This chapter discusses the main trends and the most prominent focuses of research regarding geography as an applied discipline. It concentrates on the contributions of geographers in Britain and the applied developments in human geography. The development of physical geography and earth sciences has been particularly influential on the development of applied geography at various stages. The chapter also examines regional planning and policy, town and country planning, land use planning and other specific fields.
