Based on a course given at Oxford over many years, this book is a short and concise exposition of the central ideas of general relativity. Although the original audience was made up of mathematics students, the focus is on the chain of reasoning that leads to the relativistic theory from the analysis of distance and time measurements in the presence of gravity, rather than on the underlying mathematical structure. The geometric ideas - which are central to the understanding of the nature of gravity - are introduced in parallel with the development of the theory, the emphasis being on laying bare how one is led to pseudo-Riemannian geometry through a natural process of reconciliation of special relativity with the equivalence principle. At centre stage are the "local inertial coordinates" set up by an observer in free fall, in which special relativity is valid over short times and distances.

The Photographic Atlas of the Moon is a daily photographic guide to observing the features of the Moon through a 40cm telescope and high-resolution, low-speed film. Whole Moon images are provided for each day of the 29-day lunar cycle, with labelled features and descriptive text. Selected lunar features are shown at high magnification to highlight and clearly illustrate certain regions. All lunar features are labelled using current IAU terminology. A comprehensive set of appendices detail the phases of the Moon, give a chronology of its lunar selenography and index all lunar features named in the text.

Modern astrophysics is a mature science that has evolved from its early phase of discovery and classification to a physics-oriented discipline focused on finding answers to fundamental problems ranging from cosmology to the origin and diversity of life-sustainable systems in the Universe. For this very reason, progress of modern astrophysics requires access to the electromagnetic spectrum in the broadest energy range. The Ultraviolet is a fundamental energy domain since it is one of the most powerful tools to study plasmas at temperatures in the 3,000-300,000~K range as well as electronic transitions of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. Moreover, the UV radiation field is a powerful astrochemical and photoionizing agent.

In “Human Missions to Mars” Donald Rapp looks at human missions to Mars from an engineering perspective. He begins by describing the pros and cons of robotic exploration versus human exploration and then examines the ideas for sending humans to Mars from the point of view of both the enthusiast and the skeptic. Chapter 2 describes how space missions are planned and how they may be achieved as a sequence of separate steps. Chapter 3 deals with the complex issues relating to the outward journey to Mars and the return leg. The author deals with propulsion systems and with the analysis of the various trajectories which may be utilized for such a mission. He divides mission into a number of stages: Earth’s surface to low-Earth orbit (LEO); departing from LEO; Mars orbit insertion and landing; ascent from Mars; trans-Earth injection from Mars orbit and Earth orbit insertion and landing. Chapter 4 discusses a wide range of elements critical to a human Mars mission, including life support consumables, radiation effects and shielding, microgravity effects, abort options and mission safety, possible habitats on the Martian surface and aero assisted orbit insertion and entry decent and landing.

Ordinary folks can construct 13 awesome ballistic devices in their garage or basement workshops using inexpensive household or hardware store materials and this step-by-step guide. Clear instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build projects ranging from the simple—a match-powered rocket—to the more complex—a scale-model, table-top catapult—to the offbeat—a tennis ball cannon. With a strong emphasis on safety, the book also gives tips on troubleshooting, explains the physics behind the projects, and profiles scientists and extraordinary experimenters such as Alfred Nobel, Robert Goddard, and Isaac Newton. This book will be indispensable for the legions of backyard toy-rocket launchers and fireworks fanatics who wish every day was the fourth of July.

This text/reference covers essential areas of engineering mathematics involving single, multiple, and complex variations. Taken as a whole, this book provides a succinct, carefully organized guide for mastering engineering mathematics.Unlike typical textbooks, Advanced Engineering Mathematics begins with a thorough exploration of complex variables because they provide powerful techniques for understanding topics, such as Fourier, Laplace and z-transforms, introduced later in the text. The book contains a wealth of examples, both classic problems used to illustrate concepts, and interesting real-life examples from scientific literature.Ideal for a two-semester course on advanced engineering mathematics, Advanced Engineering Mathematics is concise and well-organized, unlike the long, detailed texts used to teach this subject. Since almost every engineer and many scientists need the skills covered in this book for their daily work, Advanced Engineering Mathematics also makes an excellent reference for practicing engineers and scientists.

While building on the skills you already have, Expert SQL Server 2005 Development will help you become an even better developer by focusing on best practices and demonstrating how to design high-performance, maintainable database applications. This book starts by reintroducing the database as a integral part of the software development ecosystem. You'll learn how to think about SQL Server development as you would any other software development. For example, there's no reason you can't architect and test database routines just as you would architect and test application code. And nothing should stop you from implementing the types of exception handling and security rules that are considered so important in other tiers, even if they are usually ignored in the database. You'll learn how to apply development methodologies like these to produce high-quality encryption and SQLCLR solutions. Furthermore, you'll discover how to exploit a variety of tools that SQL Server offers in order to properly use dynamic SQL and to improve concurrency in your applications. Finally, you'll become well versed in implementing spatial and temporal database designs, as well as approaching graph and hierarchy problems.

In the 1960s, it became increasingly clear that more and more information was going to be stored on computers, not on pieces of paper. With these changes in technology and the ways it was used came a need to protect both the systems and the information. For the next ten years, encryption systems of varying strengths were developed, but none proved to be rigorous enough. In 1973, the NBS put out an open call for a new, stronger encryption system that would become the new federal standard. Several years later, IBM responded with a system called Lucifer that came to simply be known as DES (data encryption standard).The strength of an encryption system is best measured by the attacks it is able to withstand, and because DES was the federal standard, many tried to test its limits. (It should also be noted that a number of cryptographers and computer scientists told the NSA that DES was not nearly strong enough and would be easily hacked.) Rogue hackers, usually out to steal as much information as possible, tried to break DES. A number of "white hat" hackers also tested the system and reported on their successes. Still others attacked DES because they believed it had outlived its effectiveness and was becoming increasingly vulnerable. The sum total of these efforts to use all of the possible keys to break DES over time made for a brute force attack. In 1996, the supposedly uncrackable DES was broken. In this captivating and intriguing book, Matt Curtin charts DES’s rise and fall and chronicles the efforts of those who were determined to master it.

Numerical ability is an essential skill for everyone studying the biological sciences but many students are frightened by the 'perceived' difficulty of mathematics, and are nervous about applying mathematical skills in their chosen field of study. Having taught introductory maths and statistics for many years, Alan Cann understands these challenges and just how invaluable an accessible, confidence building textbook could be to the fearful student. Unable to find a book pitched at the right level, that concentrated on why numerical skills are useful to biologists, he wrote his own. The result is Maths form Scratch for Biologists , a highly instructive, informal text that explains step by step how and why you need to tackle maths within the biological sciences.

Multi-core chips from Intel and AMD offer a dramatic boost in speed and responsiveness, and plenty of opportunities for multiprocessing on ordinary desktop computers. But they also present a challenge: More than ever, multithreading is a requirement for good performance. This guide explains how to maximize the benefits of these processors through a portable C++ library that works on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Unix systems. With it, you'll learn how to use Intel Threading Building Blocks (TBB) effectively for parallel programming -- without having to be a threading expert.

Having more than a dozen years in dealing with explosives safety, I must state that this is by far one of the best books I've read in dealing with Explosives, Propellants & Pyrotechnics. This book not only covers the basics, but actually goes into enough detail to keep even the most knowledgable persons interest. This book is a great text book that even has questions and answers for each chapter. This book is a must if you are new to the field of explosives and would be a great addition to anyones collection

This clear, pedagogically rich book develops a strong understanding of the mathematical principles and practices that today's engineers need to know. Equally as effective as either a textbook or reference manual, it approaches mathematical concepts from an engineering perspective, making physical applications more vivid and substantial. Its comprehensive instructional framework supports a conversational, down-to-earth narrative style, offering easy accessibility and frequent opportunities for application and reinforcement.

"Plant engineers and maintenance managers know from experience: All manufacturing equipment will break down, often at the worst possible moment. To survive in today's lean-and-mean manufacturing environment, companies must head off these breakdowns with a preventive-maintenance management program that is both systematic and flexible -- and geared toward minimizing downtime and maximizing equipment life. Fundamentals of Preventive Maintenance provides readers with an easy-to-follow, economically sensible maintenance and workorder management program. This results-driven guidebook outlines a 7-step process for designing and implementing the program, describing what needs to be done -- and why. Designed to transform an often unwieldy program into one that can be effectively managed, it provides hands-on techniques for: * Establishing critical scheduling protocols * Managing the daily workorder schedule * Developing and issuing preventive maintenance workorders * Monitoring the program and making improvements"

I knew the very poor Matlab Neural Network Toolbox User's Guide by the same authors and I was kind of expecting the same, and boy was I wrong!
This book is simply brilliant, a miracle of pedagogy. It is intended for undergrad classes, but it is so clear that graduate students will benefit enormously from reading it before any other material. Plainly put, this book makes you UNDERSTAND this difficult topic, more than any other book that I know of (Zurada, Smith, Hassoun, Haykin, Duda-Hart, Caudill, etc)