The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate ba…
The continued advance of the nation's space program is directly dependent upon the development and use of new technology. Technology is the foundation for every aspect of space missions and ground operations. The improvements in technology that will enable future advances are not only in device and system performance, but also in permitting missions to be carried out more rapidly and at lower c…
This book has been developed and expanded from materials prepared for a course delivered to Masters students in Earth Science at the Australian National University. These students had a broad range of experience and discipline base, and so from the beginning the treatment was rather general. The aim is to build an understanding of the nature of scientific research, and the way in which it …
As we approach the start of a new century, it is apparent that science and technology (S&T) will continue to play a pivotal role in modern life. Skilled workers will be needed at all levels. Many of these workers will be drawn from the pool of students presently passing through school systems around the world; the remainder represent workers already employed who will need to maintain their tech…
In recent years, advances in the techniques for mapping and sequencing the human genome have contributed to progress in both basic biology and medicine. The applications of these techniques have not been restricted to biology and medicine, however, but have also entered forensic science. Today, methods developed in basic molecular biology laboratories can potentially be used in forensic science…
This pocketbook gives an overview of science, technology and innovation (STI) statistics. All the statistical data and indicators are based on sources available at Eurostat. Only the most relevant indicators have been selected so as to give an overall statistical picture of science, technology and innovation in Europe and of how the EU stands in relation to its partners. Eurostat has been colle…
“Only sociology, founded on biology, founded on all the positive sciences, can give us the laws of humanity. Humanity, or human communities, are the organisms already prepared, or still in process of formation, and which are subservient to all the laws of the evolution of organisms. “One of the chief of these laws is the variation of destination among the portions of the organs. Some peopl…
These essays deal for the most part with Science in Arcady. 'Tis my native country: for I am not of those who 'praise the busy town.' On the contrary, in the words of the great poet who has just departed to join Milton and Shelley in a place of high collateral glory, I 'love to rail against it still,' with a naturalist's bitterness. For the town is always dead and lifeless. There are who admire…
For L ATEX use the ‘Not so short introduction to L ATEX’ by Oetiker et al. For further reading and future reference, it is highly recommended that you get ‘Guide to L ATEX’ by Kopka and Daly [15]. The original reference is the book by Lamport [16]. While it is a fine book, it has not kept up with developments around L ATEX, such as contributed graphics and other packages. A book that d…
This book assumes that you understood precalculus when you took it. So you used to know how to do things like factoring polynomials, solving high school geometry problems, using trigonometric identities. However, you probably can’t remember it all cold. Many useful facts can be looked up (e.g. on the internet) as you need them. This chapter reviews concepts and notation that will be used a lo…