Formal Methods for Components and Objects

The #1 resource for carrying out educational research as part of postgraduate study. High-quality educational research requires careful consideration of every aspect of the process. This all-encompa

The metaphysics of ordinary objects is an increasingly vibrant field of study for philosophers. This volume gathers insights from a number of leading authors, who together tackle the central issues in contemporary debates about the subject. Their essays engage with topics including composition, persistence, perception, categories, images, artifacts, truthmakers, metaontology, and the relationship between the manifest and scientific images. Exploring the nature of everyday things, the contributors situate their arguments and the latest research against the background of the field's development. Moreover, many essays propose new ideas and approaches, looking ahead to the future of the metaphysical study of ordinary objects. Featuring numerous clearly explained examples and with thoughtful links drawn to other, related disciplines such as pragmatism, this wide-ranging volume fills a major gap in the literature and will be important for scholars working in metaphysics.

This introduction to the singularly perturbed methods in the nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations emphasises the existence and local uniqueness of solutions exhibiting concentration property. The authors avoid using sophisticated estimates and explain the main techniques by thoroughly investigating two relatively simple but typical non-compact elliptic problems. Each chapter then progresses to other related problems to help the reader learn more about the general theories developed from singularly perturbed methods. Designed for PhD students and junior mathematicians intending to do their research in the area of elliptic differential equations, the text covers three main topics. The first is the compactness of the minimization sequences, or the Palais-Smale sequences, or a sequence of approximate solutions; the second is the construction of peak or bubbling solutions by using the Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction method; and the third is the local uniqueness of these solutions.

The quantification of morphology through time is a vital tool in elucidating macroevolutionary patterns. Studies of disparity require intense effort but can provide insights beyond those gained using other methodologies. Over the last several decades, studies of disparity have proliferated, often using echinoderms as a model organism. Echinoderms have been used to study the methodology of disparity analyses and potential biases as well as documenting the morphological patterns observed in clades through time. Combining morphological studies with phylogenetic analyses or other disparate data sets allows for the testing of detailed and far-reaching evolutionary hypotheses.

For years illustration has lacked a strong critical history in which to frame it, with academics and media alike assessing it as part of design rather than a discipline in its own right. Illustration