Mesoscale weather systems are responsible for numerous natural disasters, such as damaging winds, blizzards and flash flooding. A fundamental understanding of the underlying dynamics involved in these weather systems is essential in forecasting their occurrence. This 2007 book provides a systematic approach to this subject. The opening chapters introduce the basic equations governing mesoscale weather systems and their approximations. The subsequent chapters cover four major areas of mesoscale dynamics: wave dynamics, moist convection, front dynamics and mesoscale modelling. This is an ideal book on the subject for researchers in meteorology and atmospheric science. With over 100 problems, and password-protected solutions available to instructors at www.cambridge.org/9780521808750, this book could also serve as a textbook for graduate students. Modelling projects, providing hands-on practice for building simple models of stratified fluid flow from a one-dimensional advection equation,
Is the science of moral cognition usefully modelled on aspects of Universal Grammar? Are human beings born with an innate 'moral grammar' that causes them to analyse human action in terms of its moral structure, with just as little awareness as they analyse human speech in terms of its grammatical structure? Questions like these have been at the forefront of moral psychology ever since John Mikhail revived them in his influential work on the linguistic analogy and its implications for jurisprudence and moral theory. In this seminal book, Mikhail offers a careful and sustained analysis of the moral grammar hypothesis, showing how some of John Rawls' original ideas about the linguistic analogy, together with famous thought experiments like the trolley problem, can be used to improve our understanding of moral and legal judgement.
Two centuries after they were published, Kant's ethical writings are as much admired and imitated as they have ever been, yet serious and long-standing accusations of internal incoherence remain unresolved. Onora O'Neill traces the alleged incoherences to attempt to assimilate Kant's ethical writings to modern conceptions of rationality, action and rights. When the temptation to assimilate is resisted, a strikingly different and more cohesive account of reason and morality emerges. Kant offers a `constructivist' vindication of reason and a moral vision in which obligations are prior to rights and in which justice and virtue are linked. O'Neill begins by reconsidering Kant's conceptions of philosophical method, reason, freedom, automony and action. She then moves on to the more familiar terrain of interpretation of the Categorical Imperative, while in the last section she emphasises differences between Kant's ethics and recent 'Kantian' ethics, including the work of John Rawls and othe
In this concise yet comprehensive guide to the mathematics of modern portfolio theory the authors discuss mean-variance analysis, factor models, utility theory, stochastic dominance, very long term investing, the capital asset pricing model, risk measures including VAR, coherence, market efficiency, rationality and the modelling of actuarial liabilities. Each topic is clearly explained with assumptions, mathematics, limitations, problems and solutions presented in turn. Joshi's trademark style of clarity and practicality is here brought to classical financial mathematics. The book is suitable for mathematically trained students in actuarial studies, business and economics as well as mathematics and finance, and it can be used for both self-study and as a course text. The authors' experience as both academics and practitioners brings clarity and relevance to the book, whilst ensuring that the limitations of models are highlighted.
An ideal introduction for those starting out as practitioners of mathematical finance, this book provides a clear understanding of the intuition behind derivatives pricing, how models are implemented, and how they are used and adapted in practice. Strengths and weaknesses of different models, e.g. Black–Scholes, stochastic volatility, jump-diffusion and variance gamma, are examined. Both the theory and the implementation of the industry-standard LIBOR market model are considered in detail. Each pricing problem is approached using multiple techniques including the well-known PDE and martingale approaches. This second edition contains many more worked examples and over 200 exercises with detailed solutions. Extensive appendices provide a guide to jargon, a recap of the elements of probability theory, and a collection of computer projects. The author brings to this book a blend of practical experience and rigorous mathematical background and supplies here the working knowledge needed to b
Covering many techniques widely used in research, this book will help researchers in the physical sciences and engineering solve troublesome - and potentially very time consuming - problems in their work. The book deals with technical difficulties that often arise unexpectedly during the use of various common experimental methods, as well as with human error. It provides preventive measures and solutions for such problems, thereby saving valuable time for researchers. Some of the topics covered are: sudden leaks in vacuum systems, electromagnetic interference in electronic instruments, vibrations in sensitive equipment, and bugs in computer software. The book also discusses mistakes in mathematical calculations, and pitfalls in designing and carrying out experiments. Each chapter contains a summary of its key points, to give a quick overview of important potential problems and their solutions in a given area.
The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment is an authoritative guide to the exciting new interdisciplinary field of environmental literary criticism. The collection traces the development of ecocriticism from its origins in European pastoral literature and offers fifteen rigorous but accessible essays on the present state of environmental literary scholarship. Contributions from leading experts in the field probe a range of issues, including the place of the human within nature, ecofeminism and gender, engagements with European philosophy and the biological sciences, critical animal studies, postcolonialism, posthumanism, and climate change. A chronology of key publications and bibliography provide ample resources for further reading, making The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment an essential guide for students, teachers, and scholars working in this rapidly developing area of study.
Written in the wake of the advent of Relativity by an author who made important contributions to projective and differential geometry, and topology, this early Cambridge Tract in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics aimed to assist students of the time from the fields of differential geometry and mathematical physics. Beginning by introducing formal preliminaries, the text continues, bringing the underlying differential invariant theory that to this day remains relevant in a range of geometrical and physical applications, to the fore.
In this interesting study, Jenny Edkins explores how we remember traumatic events such as wars, famines, genocides and terrorism, and questions the assumed role of commemorations as simply reinforcing state and nationhood. Taking examples from the World Wars, Vietnam, the Holocaust, Kosovo and September 11th, Edkins offers a thorough discussion of practices of memory such as memorials, museums, remembrance ceremonies, the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress and the act of bearing witness. She examines the implications of these commemorations in terms of language, political power, sovereignty and nationalism. She argues that some forms of remembering do not ignore the horror of what happened but rather use memory to promote change and to challenge the political systems that produced the violence of wars and genocides in the first place. This wide-ranging study embraces literature, history, politics and international relations, and makes a significant contribution to the study of memory.
Presenting a global and interdisciplinary approach to plant ecology, this much-awaited new edition of the book Plants and Vegetation integrates classical themes with the latest ideas, models, and data. Keddy draws on extensive teaching experience to bring the field to life, guiding students through essential concepts with numerous real-world examples and full-colour illustrations throughout. The chapters begin by presenting the wider picture of the origin of plants and their impact on the Earth, before exploring the search for global patterns in plants and vegetation. Chapters on resources, stress, competition, herbivory, and mutualism explore causation, and a concluding chapter on conservation addresses the concern that one-third of all plant species are at risk of extinction. The scope of this edition is broadened further by a new chapter on population ecology, along with extensive examples including South African deserts, the Guyana Highlands of South America, Himalayan forests and
This attractive, full-colour coursebook, written by two highly experienced IB teachers, is tailored to the thematic requirements and assessment objectives of the IB's Environmental Systems and Societi
Speaking Clearly aims to help intermediate and advanced learners of English overcome problems of understanding and being understood by other speakers of English. It integrates pronunciation and listen
The Quantum Theory of Fields, first published in 1996, is a self-contained, comprehensive introduction to quantum field theory from Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg. Volume II gives an account of the methods of quantum field theory, and how they have led to an understanding of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions of the elementary particles. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of the problems of elementary particle physics and condensed matter physics to which they have been applied. Many topics are included that are not usually found in books on quantum field theory. The book is peppered with examples and insights from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle physics. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter.
If you accept evolutionary theory, can you also believe in God? Are human beings superior to other animals, or is this just a human prejudice? Does Darwin have implications for heated issues like euthanasia and animal rights? Does evolution tell us the purpose of life, or does it imply that life has no ultimate purpose? Does evolution tell us what is morally right and wrong, or does it imply that ultimately 'nothing' is right or wrong? In this fascinating and intriguing book, Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental philosophical questions raised by evolutionary theory and the exciting new field of evolutionary psychology. Drawing on biology, psychology and philosophy, he argues that Darwinian science supports a view of a godless universe devoid of ultimate purpose or moral structure, but that we can still live a good life and a happy life within the confines of this view.
The basic thesis of the work is that environmental problems are only to be solved by people - people who will be required to make value judgements in conflicts that go beyond narrowly conceived human concerns. Thus people require not only an ethical system, but a way of conceiving the world and themselves such that the intrinsic value of life and nature is obvious, a system based on 'deep ecological principles'. The book encourages readers to identify their own series of such parameters - their own ecosophies. Ecology, Comunity and Lifestyle will appeal to philosophers, specialists working on environmental issues, and the more general reader who is interested in learning some of the foundational ideas of the rapidly expanding field of environmental philosophy.
This graduate-level text gives a self-contained exposition of fundamental topics in equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics. The text follows a balanced approach between the macroscopic (thermodynamic) and microscopic (statistical) points of view. The first half of the book deals with equilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. In addition to standard subjects, the reader will find a detailed account of broken symmetries, critical phenomena and the renormalization group, as well as an introduction to numerical methods. The second half of the book is devoted to nonequilibrium phenomena, first following a macroscopic approach, with hydrodynamics as an important example. Kinetic theory receives a thorough treatment through analysis of the Boltzmann-Lorentz model and the Boltzmann equation. The book concludes with general nonequilibrium methods such as linear response, projection method and the Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations, including numerical simulation
Until recently, dominant theoretical paradigms in the comparative social sciences did not highlight states as organizational structures or as potentially autonomous actors. Indeed, the term 'state' was rarely used. Current work, however, increasingly views the state as an agent which, although influenced by the society that surrounds it, also shapes social and political processes. The contributors to this volume, which includes some of the best recent interdisciplinary scholarship on states in relation to social structures, make use of theoretically engaged comparative and historical investigations to provide improved conceptualizations of states and how they operate. Each of the book's major parts presents a related set of analytical issues about modern states, which are explored in the context of a wide range of times and places, both contemporary and historical, and in developing and advanced-industrial nations. The first part examines state strategies in newly developing countries.
Nature's Economy is a wide-ranging investigation of ecology's past, first published in 1994. It traces the origins of the concept, discusses the thinkers who have shaped it, and shows how it in turn has shaped the modern perception of our place in nature. Our view of the living world is a product of culture, and the development of ecology since the eighteenth century has closely reflected society's changing concerns. Donald Worster focuses on these dramatic shifts in outlook and on the individuals whose work has expressed and influenced society's point of view. The book includes portraits of Linnaeus, Gilbert White, Darwin, Thoreau, and such key twentieth-century ecologists as Rachel Carson, Frederic Clements, Aldo Leopold, James Lovelock, and Eugene Odum.
Christine Korsgaard has become one of the leading interpreters of Kant's moral philosophy. She is identified with a small group of philosophers who are intent on producing a version of Kant's moral philosophy that is at once sensitive to its historical roots while revealing its particular relevance to contemporary problems. She rejects the traditional picture of Kant's ethics as a cold vision of the moral life which emphasises duty at the expense of love and value. Rather, Kant's work is seen as providing a resource for addressing not only the metaphysics of morals, but also for tackling practical questions about personal relations, politics, and everyday human interaction. This collection contains some of the finest current work on Kant's ethics and will command the attention of all those involved in teaching and studying moral theory.
A liberal society seeks not to impose a single way of life, but to leave its citizens as free as possible to choose their own values and ends. It therefore must govern by principles of justice that do not presuppose any particular vision of the good life. But can any such principles be found? And if not, what are the consequences for justice as a moral and political ideal? These are the questions Michael Sandel takes up in this penetrating critique of contemporary liberalism. Sandel locates modern liberalism in the tradition of Kant, and focuses on its most influential recent expression in the work of John Rawls. In the most important challenge yet to Rawls' theory of justice, Sandel traces the limits of liberalism to the conception of the person that underlies it, and argues for a deeper understanding of community than liberalism allows.
