Innovative Computing Methods and Their Applications to Engineering Problems

This book presents an approach to introductory graduate courses on atomic structure. The author's approach utilizes conceptually powerful semiclassical modeling methods, and demonstrates the degree to which the Maslov-indexed EBK quantization elucidates the quantum mechanical formulation of level energies and lifetimes. It merges this with an update and extension of semiempirical data systematizations developed by Bengt Edlén to describe complex atoms, and adapts them to include the specification of lifetimes. The text emphasizes the historical basis of the nomenclature and methodologies of spectroscopy. However, interaction mechanisms are presented deductively, based on quantum mechanical and field theoretical models, rather than tracing their indirect paths of discovery. Many worked examples provide applications to areas such as astrophysics, hyperfine structure, and coherent anisotropic excitation. The book presents a firm foundation for specialists in atomic physics, as well as a c

This book discusses in detail all the relevant numerical methods for the classical N-body problem. It demonstrates how to develop clear and elegant algorithms for models of gravitational systems, and explains the fundamental mathematical tools needed to describe the dynamics of a large number of mutually attractive particles. Particular attention is given to the techniques needed to model astrophysical phenomena such as close encounters and the dynamics of black hole binaries. The author reviews relevant work in the field and covers applications to the problems of planetary formation and star cluster dynamics, both of Pleiades type and globular clusters. Self-contained and pedagogical, this book is suitable for graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, astronomy and cosmology.

Muons are unstable elementary particles that are found in space, which can also be produced in particle accelerators to an intensity a billion times greater than that occurring naturally. This book describes the various applications of muons across the spectrum of the sciences and engineering. Scientific research using muons relies both on their basic properties as well as the microscopic interaction between them and surrounding particles such as nuclei, electrons, atoms and molecules. Examples of research that can be carried out using muons include muon catalysis for nuclear fusion, the application of muon spin probes to study microscopic magnetic properties of advanced materials, electron labelling to help in the understanding of electron transfer in proteins, and non-destructive element analysis of the human body. Cosmic ray muons can also be used to study the inner structure of volcanoes.

This is an introduction to Lie algebras and their applications in physics. The first three chapters show how Lie algebras arise naturally from symmetries of physical systems and illustrate through examples much of their general structure. Chapters 4 to 13 give a detailed introduction to Lie algebras and their representations, covering the Cartan-Weyl basis, simple and affine Lie algebras, real forms and Lie groups, the Weyl group, automorphisms, loop algebras and highest weight representations. Chapters 14 to 22 cover specific further topics, such as Verma modules, Casimirs, tensor products and Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, invariant tensors, subalgebras and branching rules, Young tableaux, spinors, Clifford algebras and supersymmetry, representations on function spaces, and Hopf algebras and representation rings. A detailed reference list is provided, and many exercises and examples throughout the book illustrate the use of Lie algebras in real physical problems. The text is written at

Constraints are everywhere: most computational problems can be described in terms of restrictions imposed on the set of possible solutions, and constraint programming is a problem-solving technique that works by incorporating those restrictions in a programming environment. It draws on methods from combinatorial optimisation and artificial intelligence, and has been successfully applied in a number of fields from scheduling, computational biology, finance, electrical engineering and operations research through to numerical analysis. This textbook for upper-division students provides a thorough and structured account of the main aspects of constraint programming. The author provides many worked examples that illustrate the usefulness and versatility of this approach to programming, as well as many exercises throughout the book that illustrate techniques, test skills and extend the text. Pointers to current research, extensive historical and bibliographic notes, and a comprehensive list

Socially maintained behavioural traditions in non-human species hold great interest for biologists, anthropologists and psychologists. This book treats traditions in non-human species as biological phenomena that are amenable to the comparative methods of inquiry used in contemporary biology. Chapters in the first section define behavioural traditions, and indicate how they can arise in non-human species, how widespread they may be, how they may be recognized and how we can study them. The second part summarizes cutting-edge research programmes seeking to identify traditions in diverse taxa in contributions from leading researchers in this area. The book ends with a comparison and evaluation of the alternative theoretical formulations and their applications presented in the book, and lays out recommendations for future research building on the most promising evidence and lines of thinking. The Biology of Traditions will be essential reading for students and researchers in the fields of

In many areas of mathematics, science and engineering, from computer graphics to inverse methods to signal processing, it is necessary to estimate parameters, usually multidimensional, by approximation and interpolation. Radial basis functions are a powerful tool which work well in very general circumstances and so are becoming of widespread use as the limitations of other methods, such as least squares, polynomial interpolation or wavelet-based, become apparent. The author's aim is to give a thorough treatment from both the theoretical and practical implementation viewpoints. For example, he emphasises the many positive features of radial basis functions such as the unique solvability of the interpolation problem, the computation of interpolants, their smoothness and convergence and provides a careful classification of the radial basis functions into types that have different convergence. A comprehensive bibliography rounds off what will prove a very valuable work.

Space-time coding is a technique that promises greatly improved performance in wireless networks by using multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver. Space-Time Block Coding for Wireless Communications, first published in 2003, is an introduction to the theory of this technology. The authors develop the topic using a unified framework and cover a variety of topics ranging from information theory to performance analysis and space-time coding methods for both flat and frequency-selective fading multiple-antenna channels. The authors concentrate on key principles rather than specific practical applications, and present the material in a concise and accessible manner. Their treatment reviews the fundamental aspects of multiple-input, multiple-output communication theory, and guides the reader through a number of topics at the forefront of research and development. The book includes homework exercises and is aimed at graduate students and researchers working on wireless communication

This concise text, first published in 2003, is for a one-semester course for upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students in engineering, science, and mathematics, and can also serve as a quick reference for professionals. The major topics in ordinary differential equations, initial value problems, boundary value problems, and delay differential equations, are usually taught in three separate semester-long courses. This single book provides a sound treatment of all three in fewer than 300 pages. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the 'facts of life' for the problem, mainly by means of examples. Numerical methods for the problem are then developed, but only those methods most widely used. The treatment of each method is brief and technical issues are minimized, but all the issues important in practice and for understanding the codes are discussed. The last part of each chapter is a tutorial that shows how to solve problems by means of small, but realistic, examples.

This concise text, first published in 2003, is for a one-semester course for upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students in engineering, science, and mathematics, and can also serve as a quick reference for professionals. The major topics in ordinary differential equations, initial value problems, boundary value problems, and delay differential equations, are usually taught in three separate semester-long courses. This single book provides a sound treatment of all three in fewer than 300 pages. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the 'facts of life' for the problem, mainly by means of examples. Numerical methods for the problem are then developed, but only those methods most widely used. The treatment of each method is brief and technical issues are minimized, but all the issues important in practice and for understanding the codes are discussed. The last part of each chapter is a tutorial that shows how to solve problems by means of small, but realistic, examples.

In this book, first published in 2003, the reader is provided with a tour of the principal results and ideas in the theories of completely positive maps, completely bounded maps, dilation theory, operator spaces and operator algebras, together with some of their main applications. The author assumes only that the reader has a basic background in functional analysis, and the presentation is self-contained and paced appropriately for graduate students new to the subject. Experts will also want this book for their library since the author illustrates the power of methods he has developed with new and simpler proofs of some of the major results in the area, many of which have not appeared earlier in the literature. An indispensable introduction to the theory of operator spaces for all who want to know more.

This 2003 book covers the fundamentals of conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM) as applied to crystalline solids. Emphasis is on the experimental and computational methods used to quantify and analyze CTEM observations. A supplementary website containing interactive modules and free Fortran source code accompanies the text. The book starts with the basics of crystallography and quantum mechanics providing a sound mathematical footing for the rest of the text. The next section deals with the microscope itself, describing the various components in terms of the underlying theory. The second half of the book focuses on the dynamical theory of electron scattering in solids including its applications to perfect and defective crystals, electron diffraction and phase contrast techniques. Based on a lecture course given by the author in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, the book is ideal for graduate students as well as researche

The need to transmit and store massive amounts of data reliably and without error is a vital part of modern communications systems. Error-correcting codes play a fundamental role in minimising data corruption caused by defects such as noise, interference, crosstalk and packet loss. This book provides an accessible introduction to the basic elements of algebraic codes, and discusses their use in a variety of applications. The author describes a range of important coding techniques, including Reed-Solomon codes, BCH codes, trellis codes, and turbocodes. Throughout the book, mathematical theory is illustrated by reference to many practical examples. The book was first published in 2003 and is aimed at graduate students of electrical and computer engineering, and at practising engineers whose work involves communications or signal processing.

This text is a self contained treatment of expander graphs and in particular their explicit construction. Expander graphs are both highly connected but sparse, and besides their interest within combinatorics and graph theory, they also find various applications in computer science and engineering. The reader needs only a background in elementary algebra, analysis and combinatorics; the authors supply the necessary background material from graph theory, number theory, group theory and representation theory. The text can therefore be used as a brief introduction to these subjects as well as an illustration of how such topics are synthesised in modern mathematics.

The globular star clusters of the Milky Way contain hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravitational interactions, and date from the time when the Milky Way was forming. This 2003 text describes the theory astronomers need for studying globular star clusters. The gravitational million-body problem is an idealised model for understanding the dynamics of a cluster with a million stars. After introducing the million-body problem from various view-points, the book systematically develops the tools needed for studying the million-body problems in nature, and introduces the most important theoretical models. Including a comprehensive treatment of few-body interactions, and developing an intuitive but quantitative understanding of the three-body problem, the book introduces numerical methods, relevant software, and current problems. Suitable for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics and astronomy, this text also has important applications in the fields of theoretica

The globular star clusters of the Milky Way contain hundreds of thousands of stars held together by gravitational interactions, and date from the time when the Milky Way was forming. This 2003 text describes the theory astronomers need for studying globular star clusters. The gravitational million-body problem is an idealised model for understanding the dynamics of a cluster with a million stars. After introducing the million-body problem from various view-points, the book systematically develops the tools needed for studying the million-body problems in nature, and introduces the most important theoretical models. Including a comprehensive treatment of few-body interactions, and developing an intuitive but quantitative understanding of the three-body problem, the book introduces numerical methods, relevant software, and current problems. Suitable for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics and astronomy, this text also has important applications in the fields of theoretica

This text is a self contained treatment of expander graphs and in particular their explicit construction. Expander graphs are both highly connected but sparse, and besides their interest within combinatorics and graph theory, they also find various applications in computer science and engineering. The reader needs only a background in elementary algebra, analysis and combinatorics; the authors supply the necessary background material from graph theory, number theory, group theory and representation theory. The text can therefore be used as a brief introduction to these subjects as well as an illustration of how such topics are synthesised in modern mathematics.

William Risk, Timothy Gosnell and Arto Nurmikko have brought together their diverse expertise from industry and academia to write the first fully comprehensive book on the generation and application of blue-green lasers. This volume describes the theory and practical implementation of three techniques for the generation of blue-green light: nonlinear frequency conversion of infrared lasers, upconversion lasers, and wide bandgap semiconductor diode lasers. In addition, it looks at the various applications that have driven the development of compact sources of blue-green light, and reflects on the recent application of these lasers in high-density data storage, color displays, reprographics, and biomedical technology. Compact Blue-Green Lasers is suitable for graduate-level courses or as a reference for academics and professionals in optics, applied physics, and electrical engineering.

William Risk, Timothy Gosnell and Arto Nurmikko have brought together their diverse expertise from industry and academia to write the first fully comprehensive book on the generation and application of blue-green lasers. This volume describes the theory and practical implementation of three techniques for the generation of blue-green light: nonlinear frequency conversion of infrared lasers, upconversion lasers, and wide bandgap semiconductor diode lasers. In addition, it looks at the various applications that have driven the development of compact sources of blue-green light, and reflects on the recent application of these lasers in high-density data storage, color displays, reprographics, and biomedical technology. Compact Blue-Green Lasers is suitable for graduate-level courses or as a reference for academics and professionals in optics, applied physics, and electrical engineering.

This book presents a functional approach to the construction, use and approximation of Green's functions and their associated ordered exponentials. After a brief historical introduction, the author discusses new solutions to problems involving particle production in crossed laser fields and non-constant electric fields. Applications to problems in potential theory and quantum field theory are covered, along with approximations for the treatment of color fluctuations in high-energy QCD scattering, and a model for summing classes of eikonal graphs in high-energy scattering problems. The book also presents a variant of the Fradkin representation which suggests a new non-perturbative approximation scheme, and provides a qualitative measure of the error involved in each such approximation. Covering the basics as well as more advanced applications, this book is suitable for graduate students and researchers in a wide range of fields, including quantum field theory, fluid dynamics and applied

This book is an account of the battles fought by Judas Maccabeus between 166 and 160 B.C. against the forces of the Seleucids during the revolt of the Jews against domination by the Seleucid empire. It reexamines the accepted assessments of Judas Maccabeus' activities and achievements and seeks to reconstruct the course of the military and political events of his time. Part I examines the composition and strength of the armies on both sides, their armaments and operating methods, and discusses the extent of Judas Maccabeus' success. Following an introduction evaluating the Jewish writings from all points of view, Part II gives detailed accounts of the battles, including the terrain and the tactics employed, analysing and commenting on the relevant narratives from the Book of Maccabees. Numerous appendices discuss individual problems vital to the reconstruction of the historical developments.

The adaptation of herbivore behaviour to seasonal and locational variations in vegetation quantity and quality is inadequately modelled by conventional methods. Norman Owen-Smith innovatively links the principles of adaptive behaviour to their consequences for population dynamics and community ecology, through the application of a metaphysiological modelling approach. The main focus is on large mammalian herbivores occupying seasonally variable environments such as those characterised by African savannahs, but applications to temperate zone ungulates are also included. Issues of habitat suitability, species coexistence, and population stability or instability are similarly investigated. The modelling approach accommodates various sources of environmental variability, in space and time, in a simple conceptual way and has the potential to be applied to other consumer-resource systems. This text highlights the crucial importance of adaptive consumer responses to environmental variability

This book presents a model of computing and a measure of computational complexity which are intended to facilitate analysis of computations performed by people, machines, or a mixed system of people and machines. The model is designed to apply directly to models of economic theory, which typically involve continuous variables and smooth functions, without requiring analysis of approximations. The model permits analysis of the feasibility and complexity of the calculations required of economic agents in order for them to arrive at their decisions. The treatment contains applications of the model to game theory and economics, including comparison of the complexities of different solution concepts in certain bargaining games, and the trade-off between communication and computation in an example of an Edgeworth Box economy.

The enormous growth of London during the early modern period brought with it major social problems, yet, as Steve Rappaport demonstrates in this innovative study, Tudor London was essentially a stable society, subject to stress but never seriously threatened by widespread popular unrest or other forms of instability. Professor Rappaport looks once again at the nature, causes, and effects of the principal threats to the capital's stability in the sixteenth century - the threefold increase in population, the economic impact of such demographic expansion, the substantial rise in prices and the inequitable distribution of wealth and power - and concludes that historians have hitherto exaggerated the severity of such problems and over-simplified their effects. Professor Rappaport's researches suggest that the institutional superstructure of the capital was more adaptable, its small social organisations more resilient, and opportunities for social mobility far greater than many historians ha

Basics of Holography is a general introduction to the subject written by a leading worker in the field. It begins with the theory of holographic imaging, the characteristics of the reconstructed image, and the various types of holograms. Practical aspects of holography are then described, including light sources, the characteristics of recording media and recording materials, as well as methods for producing different types of holograms and computer-generated holograms. Finally, important applications of holography are discussed, such as high-resolution imaging, holographic optical elements, information processing, and holographic interferometry. The book includes comprehensive reference sections and appendices summarizing some useful mathematical results. Numerical problems with their solutions are provided at the ends of chapters. This is an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in science and engineering who would like to learn m

Basics of Holography is a general introduction to the subject written by a leading worker in the field. It begins with the theory of holographic imaging, the characteristics of the reconstructed image, and the various types of holograms. Practical aspects of holography are then described, including light sources, the characteristics of recording media and recording materials, as well as methods for producing different types of holograms and computer-generated holograms. Finally, important applications of holography are discussed, such as high-resolution imaging, holographic optical elements, information processing, and holographic interferometry. The book includes comprehensive reference sections and appendices summarizing some useful mathematical results. Numerical problems with their solutions are provided at the ends of chapters. This is an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in science and engineering who would like to learn m

This book focuses on recent work in on-chip interconnects and other aspects of advanced metallization. In particular, the concentration for this year's volume is on the rapid advances in copper and low-K. The volume is divided into nine parts: Part I contains an invited perspective on the state of semiconductor research and development in Japan; Part II focuses on performance aspects of interconnect architectures; Part III includes some of the most significant recent advances in copper/low-K integration; Part IV is an in-depth collection of electrochemical and chemical processes, mainly pertaining to copper; Part V contains state-of-the-art papers on thin-film diffusion barriers, again mainly for copper wiring; Part VI covers reliability engineering and results; Part VII is a collection of alternative and novel processes and systems related to circuit interconnection; Part VIII contains papers on specific low-K dielectrics and their properties, and new methods for their characterizatio

The focus in this text is on mathematical modelling stimulated by contemporary industrial problems involving heat conduction and mass diffusion. These include continuous metal casting, laser drilling, spontaneous combustion of industrial waste, water filtration and crop irrigation. The industrial problems prove to be an excellent setting for the introduction and reinforcement of modelling skills, equation solving techniques, qualitative understanding of partial differential equations and their dynamical properties. Mathematical topics include setting up partial differential equations and boundary conditions, dimensional analysis, scaling, perturbation expansions, boundary value problems, Fourier series, symmetry reductions, Stefan problems and bifurcations. For students of mathematics, engineering, or any other related discipline, this will be a great introduction to modelling the real world.

Provides an innovative hands-on introduction to techniques for specifying the behaviour of software components. It is primarily intended for use as a text book for a course in the 2nd or 3rd year of Computer Science and Computer Engineering programs, but it is also suitable for self-study. Using this book will help the reader improve programming skills and gain a sound foundation and motivation for subsequent courses in advanced algorithms and data structures, software design, formal methods, compilers, programming languages, and theory. The presentation is based on numerous examples and case studies appropriate to the level of programming expertise of the intended readership. The main topics covered are techniques for using programmer-friendly assertional notations to specify, develop, and verify small but non-trivial algorithms and data representations, and the use of state diagrams, grammars, and regular expressions to specify and develop recognizers for formal languages.

Provides an innovative hands-on introduction to techniques for specifying the behaviour of software components. It is primarily intended for use as a text book for a course in the 2nd or 3rd year of Computer Science and Computer Engineering programs, but it is also suitable for self-study. Using this book will help the reader improve programming skills and gain a sound foundation and motivation for subsequent courses in advanced algorithms and data structures, software design, formal methods, compilers, programming languages, and theory. The presentation is based on numerous examples and case studies appropriate to the level of programming expertise of the intended readership. The main topics covered are techniques for using programmer-friendly assertional notations to specify, develop, and verify small but non-trivial algorithms and data representations, and the use of state diagrams, grammars, and regular expressions to specify and develop recognizers for formal languages.

Flow cytometry and laser scanning cytometry are increasingly used in clinical and research settings, following improvements in instrument design and computing power and the increased availability of fluorescent agents. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and clinical applications of these techniques in the assessment of cell phenotype and function. With an emphasis on clinical relevance, the book presents the principles and potential of cytometry in the analysis of phenomena including cell-mediated cytotoxicity, metabolic burst, phagocytosis, cell-cell aggregation, receptor shedding and apoptosis. Guidance is given on data interpretation, quality control procedures, pitfalls and problems. All chapters contain detailed protocols from leading authorities in the field with extensive practical experience.

The projective, Möbius, Laguerre, and Minkowski planes over the real numbers are just a few examples of a host of fundamental classical topological geometries on surfaces. This book summarizes all known major results and open problems related to these classical point-line geometries and their close (nonclassical) relatives. Topics covered include: classical geometries; methods for constructing nonclassical geometries; classifications and characterizations of geometries. This work is related to many other fields including interpolation theory, convexity, the theory of pseudoline arrangements, topology, the theory of Lie groups, and many more. The authors detail these connections, some of which are well-known, but many much less so. Acting both as a reference for experts and as an accessible introduction for graduate students, this book will interest anyone wishing to know more about point-line geometries and the way they interact.

Numerical analysis is the subject of applied mathematics concerned mainly with using computers in evaluating or approximating mathematical models. As such, it is crucial to all applications of mathematics in science and engineering, as well as being an important discipline on its own. Acta Numerica surveys annually the most important developments in numerical analysis and scientific computing. The subjects and authors of the substantive survey articles are chosen by a distinguished international editorial board so as to report the most important developments in the subject in a manner accessible to the wider community of professionals with an interest in scientific computing.

The control of vibrating systems is a significant issue in the design of aircraft, spacecraft, bridges and high-rise buildings. This 2001 book discusses the control of vibrating systems, integrating structural dynamics, vibration analysis, modern control and system identification. Integrating these subjects is an important feature in that engineers will need only one book, rather than several texts or courses, to solve vibration control problems. The book begins with a review of basic mathematics needed to understand subsequent material. Chapters then cover more recent and valuable developments in aerospace control and identification theory, including virtual passive control, observer and state-space identification, and data-based controller synthesis. Many practical issues and applications are addressed, with examples showing how various methods are applied to real systems. Some methods show the close integration of system identification and control theory from the state-space perspec

Statistics do not lie, nor is probability paradoxical. You just have to have the right intuition. In this lively look at both subjects, David Williams convinces mathematics students of the intrinsic interest of statistics and probability, and statistics students that the language of mathematics can bring real insight and clarity to their subject. He helps students build the intuition needed, in a presentation enriched with examples drawn from all manner of applications, e.g., genetics, filtering, the Black–Scholes option-pricing formula, quantum probability and computing, and classical and modern statistical models. Statistics chapters present both the Frequentist and Bayesian approaches, emphasising Confidence Intervals rather than Hypothesis Test, and include Gibbs-sampling techniques for the practical implementation of Bayesian methods. A central chapter gives the theory of Linear Regression and ANOVA, and explains how MCMC methods allow greater flexibility in modelling. C or WinBUG

Statistics do not lie, nor is probability paradoxical. You just have to have the right intuition. In this lively look at both subjects, David Williams convinces mathematics students of the intrinsic interest of statistics and probability, and statistics students that the language of mathematics can bring real insight and clarity to their subject. He helps students build the intuition needed, in a presentation enriched with examples drawn from all manner of applications, e.g., genetics, filtering, the Black–Scholes option-pricing formula, quantum probability and computing, and classical and modern statistical models. Statistics chapters present both the Frequentist and Bayesian approaches, emphasising Confidence Intervals rather than Hypothesis Test, and include Gibbs-sampling techniques for the practical implementation of Bayesian methods. A central chapter gives the theory of Linear Regression and ANOVA, and explains how MCMC methods allow greater flexibility in modelling. C or WinBUG

Radiotelemetry and Animal Populations is a succinct synthesis of emerging technologies and their applications to the empirical and theoretical problems of population assessment. The book is divided

The introduction of numerical methods, particularly finite element (FE) analysis, represents a significant advance in metal forming operations. Numerical methods are used increasingly to optimize product design and deal with problems in metal forging, rolling, and extrusion processes. Metal Forming Analysis, first published in 2001, describes the most important numerical techniques for simulating metal forming operations. The first part of the book describes principles and procedures and includes numerous examples and worked problems. The remaining chapters focus on applications of numerical analysis to specific forming operations. Most of these results are drawn from the authors' research in the areas of metal testing, sheet metal forming, forging, extrusion, and similar operations. Sufficient information is presented so that readers can understand the nonlinear finite element method as applied to forming problems without a prior background in structural finite element analysis. Gradu

The power of an anthropological approach to long-term history lies in its unique ability to combine diverse evidence, from archaeological artifacts to ethnographic texts and comparative word lists. In this innovative book, Kirch and Green explicitly develop the theoretical underpinnings, as well as the particular methods, for such a historical anthropology. Drawing upon and integrating the approaches of archaeology, comparative ethnography, and historical linguistics, they advance a phylogenetic model for cultural diversification, and apply a triangulation method for historical reconstruction. They illustrate their approach through meticulous application to the history of the Polynesian cultures, and for the first time reconstruct in extensive detail the Ancestral Polynesian culture that flourished in the Polynesian homeland - Hawaiki - some 2,500 years ago. Of great significance for Oceanic studies, Kirch and Green's book will be essential reading for any anthropologist, prehistorian,

Materials science has emerged as one of the central pillars of the modern physical sciences and engineering, and is now even beginning to claim a role in the biological sciences. A central tenet in the analysis of materials is the structure-property paradigm, which proposes a direct connection between the geometric structures within a material and its properties. The increasing power of high-speed computation has had a major impact on theoretical materials science and has permitted the systematic examination of this connection between structure and properties. In this graduate textbook, Rob Phillips examines the various methods that have been used in the study of crystals, defects and microstructures and that have made such computations possible. A second key theme is the presentation of recent efforts that have been developed to treat problems involving either multiple spatial or temporal scales simultaneously.