Plutonium: A History of the World's Most Dangerous Element

194 pages | Publisher: Cornell University Press (March 2009) | English | ISBN-10: 0801475171 | PDF
In his new history of this complex and dangerous element, noted physicist Bernstein describes the steps that were taken to transform plutonium from a laboratory novelty into the nuclear weapon that destroyed Nagasaki.

Physicist Bernstein has written books about Einstein, Oppenheimer, and the German nuclear program. Here he tells the complicated story of plutonium, a chemical that appears in minute amounts in nature but which scientists working feverishly during World War II learned to manufacture in quantity. Plutonium's physics and chemistry are exceptionally complex, inspiring Glenn Seaborg, the nuclear chemist who "finally identified" the elusive element in 1941, to observe, "Plutonium is so unusual as to approach the unbelievable." It is also "fiendishly toxic." Bernstein, an intern at Los Alamos in 1957, analyzes plutonium via a mix of science and biography, the former tough going for nonscientists, the latter, in the form of thumbnail portraits of nuclear scientists from Marie Curie to Enrico Fermi and beyond, vivid and affecting. Irony and drama shape Bernstein's accounts of amazing feats of scientific deduction and world-endangering secrets, which give way to a sobering overview of the environmental damage caused by plutonium-producing reactors and the enormous threats embodied in today's global plutonium inventory. Although convoluted, Bernstein's unique history of the diabolical element is invaluable. Donna Seaman.


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Human Attention in Digital Environments

344 pages | Cambridge University Press (March 31, 2011) | English | ISBN-10: 052176565X | PDF
Digital systems, such as phones, computers and PDAs, place continuous demands on our cognitive and perceptual systems. They offer information and interaction opportunities well above our processing abilities, and often interrupt our activity. Appropriate allocation of attention is one of the key factors determining the success of creative activities, learning, collaboration, and many other human pursuits. This book presents research related to human attention in digital environments. Original contributions by leading researchers cover the conceptual framework of research aimed at modelling and supporting human attentional processes, the theoretical and software tools currently available, and various application areas. The authors explore the idea that attention has a key role to play in the design of future technology and discuss how such technology may continue supporting human activity in environments where multiple devices compete for people's limited cognitive resources.

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Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (2010) Power Sources, Models, Sustainability, Infrastructure and the Market

Elsevier | 2010 | 645 pages | PDF
This multi-author, 670-page handbook provides information on alternative vehicular power systems, encompassing advances in the rapidly evolving battery, hybrid and fuel cell technology domains. Vehicles based on these technologies are described in terms of performance, fuel economy, environmental impact, energy sources and costs, and are extensively compared and contrasted to conventional vehicles.For the most advanced concepts in development (fuel cell and long-range electric vehicles), the issue of recharging infrastructure is addressed, as are case studies of alternative vehicles proposed by major automakers.

In the last 10–15 years, people have become acquainted with vehicles powered not only by an internal combustion engine (using gasoline, diesel or gas), but also by an electric motor. These hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) afford a reduction of fuel consumption in city driving and reduce emissions, but this is only the first stretch of a long road that will hopefully end with zero-emission electric vehicles (EVs) allowing long-range driving.

Contents :
Economic and Environmental Comparison of Conventional and Alternative Vehicle Options
Lifetime Cost of Battery, Fuel-Cell, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Relative Fuel Economy Potential of Intelligent, Hybrid and Intelligent-Hybrid Passenger Vehicles
Cost-Effective Vehicle and Fuel Technology Choices in a Carbon-Constrained World: Insights from Global Energy Systems Modeling
Expected Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions by Battery, Fuel Cell, and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Analysis of Design Tradeoffs for Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles
Evaluation of Energy Consumption. Emissions, and Costs of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles
Improving Petroleum Displacement Potential of PHEVs Using Enhanced Charging Scenarios
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, Battery Electric Vehicles, and their Impact on Energy Storage Technologies: An Overview
On the Road Performance Simulation of Battery, Hydrogen, and Hybrid Cars
Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Gasoline Vehicles
DOE's National Fuel Cell Vehicle Learning Demonstration Project — NREL's Data Analysis Results
Battery Requirements for HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs: An Overview
Battery Environmental Analysis
A Roadmapto Understand Battery Performance in Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Operation
Batteries for PHEVs: Comparing Goals and the State of Technology
Battery Size and Capacity Use in Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Safety of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Management of Batteries for Electric Traction Vehicles
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Market Prospects of Electric Passenger Vehicles
Automakers' Powertrain Options for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

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AI Application Programming - ( Programming Series )

Description
The popularity of artificial intelligence continues to grow as more and more uses are found for the technology. AI Application Programming Second Edition is completely updated to supply both the conceptual background and the real-world examples needed to begin using AI in software projects. Each technology is illustrated with a model implementation and application, and complete source code for each example is provided on the companion CD-ROM. Selected applications cover data mining, genetic algorithms, game programming, embedded rules-based engines, and the World Wide Web.

KEY FEATURES:
* Covers cutting-edge AI concepts such as neural networks, natural language processing, intelligent agents, genetic algorithms, rule-based systems, unsupervised learning algorithms, migratory software, and more
* Teaches each AI concept through a practical application, including a financial data miner, a Web spider, a networked data collector, a game program, an embedded battery charger control system, an embedded rules-based engine for log monitoring, and a fault tolerance subsystem
* Groups AI topics by conceptual subfields (machine learning, evolutionary methods, symbolic methods) for better "big picture" understanding and more focused specialization
* Provides a background in the history of AI, the distinct branches of this broad field, and the philosophical underpinnings and issues associated with these technologies
* Includes a CD-ROM (Win/Linux) with complete, fully commented source code in C for every application in the book
* Exercise sets for each chapter are located in Appendix A for use as a Textbook

About the Author
M. Tim Jones has been developing software since 1986. He has published articles on embedded systems, network protocols, and artificial intelligence for Dr. Dobb's Journal, Embedded Systems Programming, and Embedded Linux Journal. In addition, he is the author of GNU/Linux Application Programming and TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols for Embedded Systems. He resides in Longmont, CO, where he works as a Senior Principal Software Engineer.

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Mind machines you can build - Harry Stine

This is a strange and fun little book that challenges one's understanding of the world as we are told it exists. The ideas and devices discussed herein are "impossible " or "frauds" by the standards of some. The trouble is, they work! Maybe not always and for everyone, but they work often enough for some pretty level-headed engineer types like John Campbell and G. Harry Stine to be convinced. Campbell was the famous (some would say infamous) editor of Analog magazine during its heyday, and Stine worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry. I have personally used dowsing rods and they worked for me even though I didn't believe they would work at all. (It was a very strange feeling when they moved, too.)

The book covers such things as pyramids, dowsing rods, energy wheels, and a couple of "strange machines" called the Hieronymus machine (after its inventor) and the Wishing Machine. It even delves into the realm of "symbolic machines," variations of these devices which work even if only the schematic is used. Stine discusses his introduction to these devices, his experiments with them, people's reactions to them, and directions/methods for further research. Although not mentioned in this book, other countries, such as the former USSR, researched such things heavily, and are rumored to have made some very strange and possibly dangerous strides in this field which they call "energetics ."

If you think that there is no scientific basis for any of this, you are not current in cutting-edge physics (which is in turn billions of years behind the Universe itself). The work of Myron Evans in O(3) Electrodynamics , Sach's Unified Field Theory, and Michael Leyton's work in higher dimensional symmetry, among others, give plenty of theoretical basis for these beasties to function...

Those who think such things are frauds should not waste their time here. This book is for people who are rational, open-minded, and believe in the empirical part of scientific method. Try them and decide for yourself, unless you prefer to let others do all your thinking for you. Remember, all great scientific breakthroughs were fought tooth and nail by the "keepers of the status quo" of their time.

This book is for people who want to push the envelope, not hide in it.


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