Basic Structures of Reality

First published in 1903, Antoine Meillet's Introduction a l'Étude comparative des langues Indo-Européennes exemplifies the key methodologies and insights of early twentieth-century comparative linguistics. Its primary aim, as Meillet states, was 'très limité': to provide a brief but comprehensive overview of the Indo-European languages and their shared linguistic structures. He accomplished this object and more in his Introduction, outlining a theory of language change that would influence a generation of linguists, including his students Émile Benveniste and André Martinet. Meillet's debt to his own mentor, Ferdinand de Saussure, is evident in his conception of language as simultaneously social and structural, a lived reality and a constantly evolving grammatical system. This second edition (1908) includes Meillet's extensive revisions and a new chapter on the development of Indo-European dialects. It remains a valuable introduction to the phonology, morphology, and grammar of the Ind

The famous scholar of Indo-European syntax Berthold Delbrück (1842–1922) published this study of Sanskrit syntax in 1888. It focuses on the stage of the language that was termed 'Vedic' by the Indian grammarian Panini (c. 400 BCE). Delbrück's intention was to describe that material as clearly and thoroughly as possible in order to facilitate future comparative or in-depth studies. The book begins with chapters devoted to basic sentence structure and word order, before moving on to number, gender, case, declension of nouns, and then adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and verbs with their tenses, moods and conjugations. Prepositions and particles follow, and the book ends with discussion of subordinate clauses and other complex structures. The grammatical points are illustrated by numerous text examples, with references and translations into German, and there are thorough indexes of words and of textual passages cited.

This comprehensive manual thoroughly covers every aspect of French grammar, from the basic to the most advanced level, and illustrates the grammatical structures with useful, practical and interesting

The development of advanced optical structures has enabled tremendous control over the propagation and manipulation of light waves. At the forefront of these advances is the development of micro- and nanostructured optical devices that have dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light. In particular, the engineering of light localization, optical dispersion and plasmonic fields in complex optical media has the potential to boost the scaling of optical technologies below the diffraction limit, opening unprecedented opportunities for basic and applied research. This book bridges three closely related research fields of nanoplasmonics, metamaterials and light localization in complex media. The goal is to share recent progress, identify critical problems and provide promising solutions for the next generation of photonic functionality. Topics include: metamaterials and superlenses; metamaterials; and optical nanoantennas and decay engineering.

Liposomes are cellular structures made up of lipid molecules, which are water insoluable organic molecules and the basis of biological membranes. Important as a cellular model in the study of basic bi

Liposomes are cellular structures made up of lipid molecules, which are water insoluable organic molecules and the basis of biological membranes. Important as a cellular model in the study of basic bi

In the early twentieth century, subjects of the British Empire ceased to rely on a model of centre and periphery in imagining their world and came instead to view it as an interconnected network of cosmopolitan people and places. English language and literature were promoted as essential components of a commercial, cultural, and linguistic network that spanned the globe. John Marx argues that the early twentieth century was a key moment in the emergence of modern globalization, rather than simply a period of British imperial decline. Modernist fiction was actively engaged in this transformation of society on an international scale. The very stylistic abstraction that seemed to remove modernism from social reality, in fact internationalized the English language. Rather than mapping the decline of Empire, modernist novelists such as Conrad and Woolf celebrated the shared culture of the English language as more important than the waning imperial structures of Britain.

The emerging field of computational topology utilizes theory from topology and the power of computing to solve problems in diverse fields. Recent applications include computer graphics, computer-aided design (CAD), and structural biology, all of which involve understanding the intrinsic shape of some real or abstract space. A primary goal of this book is to present basic concepts from topology and Morse theory to enable a non-specialist to grasp and participate in current research in computational topology. The author gives a self-contained presentation of the mathematical concepts from a computer scientist's point of view, combining point set topology, algebraic topology, group theory, differential manifolds, and Morse theory. He also presents some recent advances in the area, including topological persistence and hierarchical Morse complexes. Throughout, the focus is on computational challenges and on presenting algorithms and data structures when appropriate.

In the last 60 years, the use of the notion of category has led to a remarkable unification and simplification of mathematics. Conceptual Mathematics introduces this tool for the learning, development, and use of mathematics, to beginning students and also to practising mathematical scientists. This book provides a skeleton key that makes explicit some concepts and procedures that are common to all branches of pure and applied mathematics. The treatment does not presuppose knowledge of specific fields, but rather develops, from basic definitions, such elementary categories as discrete dynamical systems and directed graphs; the fundamental ideas are then illuminated by examples in these categories. This second edition provides links with more advanced topics of possible study. In the new appendices and annotated bibliography the reader will find concise introductions to adjoint functors and geometrical structures, as well as sketches of relevant historical developments.

"Beginning Game Programming, Third Edition" shows budding game developers how to take their game ideas from concept to reality. Requiring only a basic understanding of the C++ language, this unique gu

Beginning as a Web site in 1999 where the authors posted ninety-five theses about the new reality of the networked marketplace, this book enlarges on those themes through dozens of stories and observa

Thrustbelts are likely to be productive sources of hydrocarbons well into the future. Many new technical tools are enabling new discoveries, or the more efficient recovery of known reserves. The authors provide a comprehensive account of thrust systems, including orogenic thrustbelts, transpressional ranges and accretionary prisms and discuss both thin-skin thrust systems and thick-skin inversion structures. The book includes major sections on the basic concepts, definitions and mechanics of thrust systems, the roles of syn-tectonic stratigraphy and fluid flow in determining structural style, the origins and nature of evolving thermal regimes in thrustbelts, and a thorough analysis of petroleum systems and hydrocarbon plays in thrustbelts. Case studies are presented with discussion of the potential applications of the technique, possible limitations and future developments. A comprehensive database of thrustbelts is available to download. This book will be an invaluable resource for re

This self-contained work is an introductory presentation of basic ideas, structures, and results of differential and integral calculus for functions of several variables.The wide range of topics cove

Carbon nanotubes represent one of the most exciting research areas in modern science. These molecular-scale carbon tubes are the stiffest and strongest fibres known, with remarkable electronic properties, and potential applications in a wide range of fields. Carbon Nanotube Science is a concise, accessible book, presenting the basic knowledge that graduates and researchers need to know. Based on the successful Carbon Nanotubes and Related Structures, this book focuses solely on carbon nanotubes, covering the major advances made in recent years in this rapidly developing field. Chapters focus on electronic properties, chemical and bimolecular functionalisation, nanotube composites and nanotube-based probes and sensors. The book begins with a comprehensive discussion of synthesis, purification and processing methods. With its comprehensive coverage of this active research field, this book will appeal to researchers in a broad range of disciplines, including nanotechnology, engineering, m

Devoted to counterparts of classical structures of mathematical analysis in analysis over local fields of positive characteristic, this book treats positive characteristic phenomena from an analytic viewpoint. Building on the basic objects introduced by L. Carlitz - such as the Carlitz factorials, exponential and logarithm, and the orthonormal system of Carlitz polynomials - the author develops a kind of differential and integral calculi. He also expands on the basics of an analytic theory of (Carlitz's) differential equations, providing a useful foundation for the study of various special functions. The differential calculus is extended to a type of Rota's umbral calculus, and an investigation is made of the corresponding rings of differential operators. A theory of quasi-holonomic modules over these rings, having some common features with holonomic modules in the sense of Bernstein, is also connected to some special functions in the spirit of Zeilberger's theory.

Features◎Concise introduction to the basic structures of English Grammar◎Basic issues in rhetoric such as writing grammatically, writing clearly, and writing coherently/smoothly◎Each unit introduced b

This book provides a precise and thorough description of the meaning and use of spatial expressions, using both a linguistics and an artificial intelligence perspective, and also an enlightening discussion of computer models of comprehension and production in the spatial domain. The author proposes a theoretical framework that explains many previously overlooked or misunderstood irregularities. The use of prepositions reveals underlying schematisations and idealisations of the spatial world, which, for the most part, echo representational structures necessary for human action (movement and manipulation). Because spatial cognition seems to provide a key to understanding much of the cognitive system, including language, the book addresses one of the most basic questions confronting cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and brings fresh and original insights to it.

Explores a range of questions about the basic structure of reality, the nature of prime matter, the principles of change, the relation between form and matter, and the issue of whether things can come

This volume was first published in 1982. Hume Adams and Margaret Murray have produced an atlas that illustrates basic post-mortem techniques in neuropathology. It shows how to remove the brain, the spinal cord, samples of peripheral nerve and muscle, the eye and the contents of the orbit, the arteries in the neck that supply the brain and the structures in the base of the skull. These structures can then be examined in a sequence that will help to elucidate the sequence of events leading to a person's death. How a brain should be dissected is also illustrated, and there is a final chapter on brain neuro-anatomy.

Intermediate Dutch is designed for learners who have achieved a basic proficiency and wish to refine their knowledge of grammatical structures. This Workbook, along with its companion volume Basic Dut

This book is concerned with the bifurcation theory, the study of the changes in the structures of the solution of ordinary differential equations as parameters of the model vary. The theory has developed rapidly over the past two decades. Chapters 1 and 2 of the book introduce two systematic methods of simplifying equations: centre manifold theory and normal form theory, by which the dimension of equations may be reduced and the forms changed so that they are as simple as possible. Chapters 3–5 of the book study in considerable detail the bifurcation of those one- or two-dimensional equations with one, two or several parameters. This book is aimed at mathematicians and graduate students interested in dynamical systems, ordinary differential equations and/or bifurcation theory. The basic knowledge required by this book is advanced calculus, functional analysis and qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations.

African oral literature, like other forms of popular culture, is not merely folksy, domestic entertainment but a domain in which individuals in a variety of social roles are free to comment on power relations in society. It can also be a significant agent of change capable of directing, provoking, preventing, overturning and recasting social reality. This collection examines the way in which oral texts both reflect and affect contemporary social and political life in Africa. It addresses questions of power, gender, the dynamics of language use, the representation of social structures and the relation between culture and the state. The contributors are linguists, anthropologists, folklorists, ethnomusicologists and historians, who present fresh material and ideas to paint a lively picture of current real-life situations. The book is an important contribution to the study of African culture and literature, and to the anthropological study of oral literature in particular.

This tract provides a compact introduction to the theory of proximity spaces and their generalisations, making the subject accessible to readers having a basic knowledge of topological and uniform spaces, such as can be found in standard textbooks. Two chapters are devoted to fundamentals, the main result being the proof of the existence of the Smirnov compactification using clusters. Chapter 3 discusses the interrelationships between proximity spaces and uniform spaces and contains some of the most interesting results in the theory of proximity spaces. The final chapter introduces the reader to several generalised forms of proximity structures and studies one of them in detail. The bibliography contains over 130 references to the scattered research literature on proximity spaces, in addition to general references.

This 2004 book reconfigures the basic problem of Christian thinking - 'How can human discourse refer meaningfully to a transcendent God?' - as a twofold demand for integrity: integrity of reason and integrity of transcendence. Centring around a provocative yet penetratingly faithful re-reading of Kant's empirical realism, and drawing on an impelling confluence of contemporary thinkers (including MacKinnon, Bonhoeffer, Marion, Putnam, Nagel) Paul D. Janz argues that theology's 'referent' must be located within present empirical reality. Rigorously reasoned yet refreshingly accessible throughout, this book provides an important, attentively informed alternative to the growing trends toward obscurantism, radicalization and anti-reason in many recent assessments of theological cognition, while remaining equally alert to the hazards of traditional metaphysics. In the book's culmination, epistemology and Christology converge around problems of noetic authority and orthodoxy with a kind of in

The U.S. government is an ever-more-complex system that few American citizens comprehend in any detail. Even some of its most basic operations, seemingly clear in concept, are in reality intricate an

This volume introduces some of the basic philosophical and conceptual questions underlying the formulation of quantum mechanics, one of the most baffling and far-reaching aspects of modern physics. The book consists of articles by leading thinkers in this field, who have been inspired by the profound work of the late John Bell. Some of the deepest issues concerning the nature of physical reality are debated, including the theory of physical measurements, how to test quantum mechanics, and how classical and quantum physics are related. This book will be of interest to students with a background in quantum physics, who wish to explore in more detail its philosophical aspects, practising scientists who are not content with blindly applying the rules of quantum mechanics, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the philosophy of physics.

Bringing together the key ideas from nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and powerful methodology from quantum field theory, this book captures the essence of nonequilibrium quantum field theory. Beginning with the foundational aspects of the theory, the book presents important concepts and useful techniques, discusses issues of basic interest, and shows how thermal field, linear response, kinetic theories and hydrodynamics emerge. It also illustrates how these concepts and methodology are applied to current research topics including nonequilibrium phase transitions, thermalization in relativistic heavy ion collisions, the nonequilibrium dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensation, and the generation of structures from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. Divided into five parts, with each part addressing a particular stage in the conceptual and technical development of the subject, this self-contained book is a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in particle p

In The Construction of Authority in Ancient Rome and Byzantium, Sarolta Takács examines the role of the Roman emperor, who was the single most important law-giving authority in Roman society. Emperors had to embody the qualities or virtues espoused by Rome's ruling classes. Political rhetoric shaped the ancients' reality and played a part in the upkeep of their political structures. Takács isolates a reccurring cultural pattern, a conscious appropriation of symbols and signs (verbal and visual) belonging to the Roman Empire. She shows that many contemporary concepts of 'empire' have Roman precedents, which are reactivations or reuses of well-established ancient patterns. Showing the dialectical interactivity between the constructed past and present, Takács also focuses on the issue of classical legacy through these virtues, which are not simply repeated or adapted cultural patterns, but are tools for the legitimization of political power, authority, and even domination of one nation ov

In recent years there has been a huge increase in the research and development of nanoscale science and technology. Central to the understanding of the properties of nanoscale structures is the modeling of electronic conduction through these systems. This graduate textbook provides an in-depth description of the transport phenomena relevant to systems of nanoscale dimensions. In this textbook the different theoretical approaches are critically discussed, with emphasis on their basic assumptions and approximations. The book also covers information content in the measurement of currents, the role of initial conditions in establishing a steady state, and the modern use of density-functional theory. Topics are introduced by simple physical arguments, with particular attention to the non-equilibrium statistical nature of electrical conduction, and followed by a detailed formal derivation. This textbook is ideal for graduate students in physics, chemistry, and electrical engineering.

The newly revised Le Francais: Depart-Arrivee, Fourth Edition, is a complete introductory and early intermediate program that teaches the basic structures and vocabulary of French language and culture

This comprehensive guide provides the reader with basic information of the most common types of structures, sites, and objects encountered in industrial archaeology. These include bridges, railroads,

This comprehensive guide provides the reader with basic information of the most common types of structures, sites, and objects encountered in industrial archaeology. These include bridges, railroads,

Understanding Structures brings the art and science of structures into the environment of a computer game. The book imparts a basic understanding of how buildings and bridges resist gravity, wind, an

The interest in molecular organic materials is tremendous, driven by the need to find new materials with desirable properties. This book aims to bring the materials and surface science communities together, integrating physics and chemistry in a non-technical manner, ensuring this fascinating field can be understood by a multi disciplinary audience. Starting with basic physical concepts and synthetic techniques, the book describes how molecules assemble into highly ordered structures as single crystals and thin films, with examples of characterization, morphology and properties. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of surfaces and interfaces. The final chapter gives a personal view on future possibilities in the field. Written for beginners and experienced chemists, physicists and material scientists, this will be a useful introduction to the field of molecular organic materials.

Modern electronic devices and novel materials often derive their extraordinary properties from the intriguing, complex behavior of large numbers of electrons forming what is known as an electron liquid. This book provides an in-depth introduction to the physics of the interacting electron liquid in a broad variety of systems, including metals, semiconductors, artificial nano-structures, atoms and molecules. One, two and three dimensional systems are treated separately and in parallel. Different phases of the electron liquid, from the Landau Fermi liquid to the Wigner crystal, from the Luttinger liquid to the quantum Hall liquid are extensively discussed. Both static and time-dependent density functional theory are presented in detail. Although the emphasis is on the development of the basic physical ideas and on a critical discussion of the most useful approximations, the formal derivation of the results is highly detailed and based on the simplest, most direct methods.

Psychiatry can help free persons from social, physical and psychological oppression, and it can assist persons to lead free self-directed lives. And, because social realities impact on mental well-being, psychiatry has a critical role to play in social struggles that further liberation. These are the basic foundations of liberatory psychiatry. In recent years, dramatic transformations in social and political structures worldwide have increased the problems of domination, alienation, consumerism, class, gender, religion, race and ethnicity. Confronting the psychological impact of these changes, and exploring new ideas to help develop the liberatory potential of psychiatry, this book should be read by mental health practitioners from the widest range of disciplines and those interested in social theory and political science.

This book addresses key topics in social theory such as the basic structures of social life, the character of human activity, and the nature of individuality. Drawing on the work of Wittgenstein, the author develops an account of social existence that argues that social practices are the fundamental phenomenon in social life. This approach offers insight into the social formation of individuals, surpassing and critiquing the existing practice theories of Bourdieu, Giddens, Lyotard and Oakeshott. In bringing Wittgenstein's work to bear on issues of social theory the book shows the relevance of his work to a body of thought to which it has never been applied. The book will be of particular interest to philosophers of the social sciences, a wide range of social theorists in political science and sociology, as well as some literary theorists.

This text on contact topology is a comprehensive introduction to the subject, including recent striking applications in geometric and differential topology: Eliashberg's proof of Cerf's theorem via the classification of tight contact structures on the 3-sphere, and the Kronheimer-Mrowka proof of property P for knots via symplectic fillings of contact 3-manifolds. Starting with the basic differential topology of contact manifolds, all aspects of 3-dimensional contact manifolds are treated in this book. One notable feature is a detailed exposition of Eliashberg's classification of overtwisted contact structures. Later chapters also deal with higher-dimensional contact topology. Here the focus is on contact surgery, but other constructions of contact manifolds are described, such as open books or fibre connected sums. This book serves both as a self-contained introduction to the subject for advanced graduate students and as a reference for researchers.

This book presents the nonlinear theory of continuum mechanics and demonstrates its use in developing nonlinear computer formulations for large displacement dynamic analysis. Basic concepts used in continuum mechanics are presented and used to develop nonlinear general finite element formulations that can be effectively used in large displacement analysis. The book considers two nonlinear finite element dynamic formulations: a general large deformation finite element formulation and a formulation that can efficiently solve small deformation problems that characterize very stiff structures. The book presents material clearly and systematically, assuming the reader has only basic knowledge in matrix and vector algebra and dynamics. The book is designed for use by advanced undergraduates and first-year graduate students. It is also a reference for researchers, practising engineers, and scientists working in computational mechanics, bio-mechanics, computational biology, multibody system dy

The reading House series of graded readers leads children to enjoy classic tales around the word in English. The stories introduce basic structures and common vocabulary regularly recycled for easy ac