The Body Electric: An Anatomy of the New Bionic Senses

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Marie, a 63-year-old Belgian woman, has been totally blind since the age of 57. But now, thanks to electrodes implanted around her right optic nerve, she can see lights, shapes and colours again. A motorcycle accident in 1993 left Brian Holgersen, a 30-year-old Dane, paralysed from the neck down. But he can now hold a cup, lift a fork and grasp a pen thanks to advanced electronics embedded in his right arm and hand. Marie and Brian are two of a handful of people around the world who have had computer chips implanted in their bodies to extend, enhance or repair their senses. This remarkable convergence of biology and technology is being brought about by melding advanced computers with the human nervous system. This same technology might also one day provide us with bionic senses, such as the ability to see infrared radiation or feel objects at a distance. By linking neurons in the brain directly to silicon chips, scientists are also exploring the possibility of creating virtual eyes, ears and limbs on the Web and allowing people to control appliances by thought alone. Machines are getting silicon senses too. Researchers are endowing computers with the ability to see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Once a computer has its own sensorium, it might at some point learn to think. Drawing on fields as diverse as artificial intelligence and biology, The Body Electric provides an exciting synthesis of the people and technology making this convergence possible, while addressing the psychological, social and philosophical implications of these startling developments. Are you any less 'you' after a bionic implant? If all our senses are electronically enhanced, how will we tell the difference between virtual reality and the actual world? How can privacy be ensured when computers are watching and listening to everything we do and say?

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The Boom of Biotechnology and its implications.......2003-05-31

The Body Electric deals with the science of the merging of biology and technology. In it, James Geary discusses the advances in biotechnology and provides a glance into the future when new technologies may replace organs and repair and enhance the senses. Devices made of silicon will eventually enhance the human brain and body in ways unheard of today. In the chapter titled Sight/Vision Thing, we learn that computers will be able to analyse facial expressions for various purposes. In the chapters Hearing/Sounds Of Science and Smell/Advances In Odour Space the possibility is raised of transporting odours and flavours via the internet and if this will become just another advertising tool. There are also Taste/Fun With Electric Tongues; Touch/The World Is Your Interface, in which haptic interfaces are discussed, and finally, Mind/The Sixth Sense. The convergence of biology and technology is a fascinating field; this book also addresses some of the psychological, sociological and philosophical implications of these future technologies. The discussion on new bionic senses becoming available is very interesting, like the possibility of seeing infrared and ultraviolet light, plus the possibility of hitherto unknown senses becoming available. The whole framework of existence is changing as the human body becomes electric, opening wider the doors of perception. This great book contains 13 illustrations and concludes with an extensive bibliography and a helpful index.

Book Description

Quantum Chemistry of Solids delivers a comprehensive account of the main features and possibilities of LCAO methods for the first principles calculations of electronic structure of periodic systems. The first part describes the basic theory underlying the LCAO methods applied to periodic systems and the use of wave-function-based (Hartree-Fock), density-based (DFT) and hybrid hamiltonians. The translation and site symmetry consideration is included to establish connection between k-space solid-state physics and real-space quantum chemistry methods in the framework of cyclic model of an infinite crystal. The inclusion of electron correlation effects for periodic systems is considered on the basis of localized crystalline orbitals. The possibilities of LCAO methods for chemical bonding analysis in periodic systems are discussed. The second part deals with the applications of LCAO methods for calculations of bulk crystal properties, including magnetic ordering and crystal structure optimization. The discussion of the results of some supercell calculations of point defects in non-metallic solids and of the crystalline surfaces electronic structure illustrates the efficiency of LCAO method for solids.

Organic Photochemistry, First Edition: Principles and Applications

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Organic Photochemistry, First Edition: Principles and Applications
Jacques Kagan
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0123943205

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Organic Photochemistry outlines the principles, techniques and well-known reactions occurring in organic molecules and also illustrates more complex photochemical transformations occurring in organic chemistry.
Many photochemical transformations convert simple molecules into extremely complex products with an ease not approached by the standard synthetic chemistry practiced in the laboratory. In the earlier chapters, the author outlines the principles, techniques and some of the well-known reactions occurring in organic molecules and later illustrates more complex photochemical transformations occuring in organic chemistry. Experimental techniques are included to encourage novices. Topics are emphasized where structural transformations can be formulated chemically. Practical applications are collected together. The book starts at a comfortably simple level with enough examples to provide an introduction to the diversity of photochemical reactions.

* Includes experimental techniques to encourage novices.

* Emphasizes topics where structural transformations can be formulated chemically

* Collects and presents practical applications

* Written in a simple style including enough examples to serve as an introduction to the diversity of photochemical reactions

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FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY
five authors all high school teachers and all from N.Y.C.
Manufacturer: Allyn and Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PALCM0

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FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY

Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFF7ZG

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First Principles of Chemistry
Raymond B. Brownlee
Manufacturer: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NWR3J6

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First Principles of Chemistry
Brownlee Raymond B
Manufacturer: Allyn and Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LBZ904

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First Principles of Chemistry
Raymond B. Brownlee , Robert W. Fuller , and William J. Hancock ...
Manufacturer: Allyn and Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000BK2C7I

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First Principles of Chemistry
RAYMON B. BROWNLEE , ROBERT W. FULLER , WILLIAM J HANCOCK , MICHAEL D. SOHON , and JESSE E. WHITSIT
Manufacturer: ALLY AND BACON
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQAUNE

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First Principles of Chemistry
Moddie D. Taylor
Manufacturer: D. Van Nostrand
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000T3AQHU

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First Principles of Chemistry
Raymond B. Brownlee
Manufacturer: ALLYN AND BACON, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FKDAEI

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From the reviews:"The book...is a thorough and very readable introduction to the arithmetic of function fields of one variable over a finite field, by an author who has made fundamental contributions to the field. It serves as a definitive reference volume, as well as offering graduate students with a solid understanding of algebraic number theory the opportunity to quickly reach the frontiers of knowledge in an important area of mathematics...The arithmetic of function fields is a universe filled with beautiful surprises, in which familiar objects from classical number theory reappear in new guises, and in which entirely new objects play important roles. Goss'clear exposition and lively style make this book an excellent introduction to this fascinating field." MR 97i:11062

Analytic Arithmetic of Algebraic Function Fields (Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics ; 50)

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Analytic Arithmetic of Algebraic Function Fields (Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics ; 50)
John Knopfmacher
Manufacturer: Marcel Dekker Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Arithmetic of Function Fields: Proceedings of the Workshop at the Ohio State University, June 17-26, 1991 (Ohio State University Mathematical Re)

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The Arithmetic of Function Fields: Proceedings of the Workshop at the Ohio State University, June 17-26, 1991 (Ohio State University Mathematical Re)

Manufacturer: Walter de Gruyter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3110131714

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Function Field Arithmetic
Dinesh S. Thakur
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Number Theory in Function Fields

ASIN: 9812388397

Book Description

This book provides an exposition of function field arithmetic with emphasis on recent developments concerning Drinfeld modules, the arithmetic of special values of transcendental functions (such as zeta and gamma functions and their interpolations), diophantine approximation and related interesting open problems. While it covers many topics treated in `Basic Structures of Function Field Arithmetic' by David Goss, it complements that book with the inclusion of recent developments as well as the treatment of new topics such as diophantine approximation, hypergeometric functions, modular forms, transcendence, automata and solitons. There is also new work on multizeta values and log-algebraicity. The author has included numerous worked-out examples. Many open problems, which can serve as good thesis problems, are discussed.

The Rational Function Analogue of a Question of Schur and Exceptionality of Permutation Representations (Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society)

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The Rational Function Analogue of a Question of Schur and Exceptionality of Permutation Representations (Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society)
Robert M. Guralnick , Peter Muller , and J. Saxl
Manufacturer: American Mathematical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Book Description

Paul Bowles had already established himself as an important composer when at age 39 he published The Sheltering Sky and became recognized as one of the most powerful writers of the postwar period. From his base in Tangier he produced globally ranging novels, stories, and travel writings that set exquisite surfaces over violent undercurrents. His elegantly spare novels chart the unpredictable collisions between "civilized" exiles and a Morocco they never grasp, achieving effects of extreme horror and dislocation.

This Library of America Bowles set, the first annotated edition, offers the full range of his achievement: the portrait of an outsider who was one of the essential American writers of the last century. In addition to his novels-The Sheltering Sky (1949), Let It Come Down (1952), The Spider's House (1955), Up Above the World (1966)-and his collected stories-including such classics as "A Distant Episode" and "Pages from Cold Point"-they contain his masterpiece of travel writing, Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue (1963). Throughout, Bowles shows himself a master of gothic terror and a diabolically funny observer of manners as well as a prescient guide to everything from the roots of Islamist politics to the world of Moghrebi music. With a hallucinatory clarity as dry and unforgiving as the desert air, Bowles sends his characters toward encounters with unknown and terrifying forces both outside them and within them.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Value!.......2007-03-03

You can read the other detailed reviews, all earning 5 stars, and see why this item is ranked so highly. Three novels all in one nice, hardbound, 900+ pages volume, at a great price. I already had all three in paperback, and still ordered this book. If you love Paul Bowles as I do, or are just beginning to read his work, this is the book to buy.

Interesting, Interesting, Interesting.......2002-10-26

This is my first exposure to the writings of Paul Bowles. What a surprise! The three novels in this edition were written in the late 1940s to mid 1950s. His characters are not at all dated. His writing is clear, and uncluttered. In contrasted to his writing style, are his characters who complex, murky and often compelling. I read straight through from the Sheltering Sky to Let It Come Down to The Spiders House. He is one of the most interesting 20th century American writers. The Library of America has done a wonderful service to readers by ensuring that Paul Bowles will remain in print.

The Sheltering Sky, the first of three novels in this edition, is short, only 250 pages long. It seems to be considered his defining novel. It is about a married couple, Kit, and Port, and their sojourn into the Sahara Desert. They are dishonest with each other about many things, their shaky marriage, and the danger of the trip they have embarked on, fidelity. They cannot take charge of anything, their lives, their marriage, their trip, and even their privacy. The decisions that they make exude with bad judgement. This is exposed early on, when Porter goes off for a walk alone the city. He encounters a stranger, Smail; Port walks off with this stranger, out of the city into the desert to meet and be entertained by a young girl, who he is told is not a [prostitute] but will want to be paid. The characters do dangerous things. You sense their doom with them. And, like them, the reader is compelled to go on. I do not want to give too many plot details as it might spoil the pleasure of reading what I think is an overlooked 20th century classic.

Let It Come Down, is about a bank clerk seeking adventure in Tangier. Like the Sheltering Sky, there is no happy ending here. You can sense the impending doom of the main character as he makes one bad decision after another. He gets involved with a local prostitute, financial intrigue, and in the end, drugs.

The Spiders House starts with a quote from the Thousand and One Nights To my way of thinking, there is nothing more delightful than to be a stranger. And so I mingle with human beings because they are not of my kind, and precisely in order to be a stranger among them. In the wake of the worldwide effects of militant Islamism, this is a fascinating book to read.

The characters include two Americans. The first, Stenham, sees the French colonial rule in Morocco as destructive. He becomes attracted to Islam. The second is arrogant and contemptuous of the locals, the country, just about everything Moroccan. Each is stranger. Each sees and judges the Moroccan people, their culture, and their religion through western eyes. And so, Bowles introduces Amar, a teenage Moroccan boy, who is a direct descendent of the prophet, Mohammed. The boy is illiterate and poor, but not ignorant. The view of the world that each maintains at the beginning of the novel cannot hold. Set in a time of rebellion, there is plenty of plot to keep the characters moving along.

I highly recommend these three novels. This hard cover edition is published by the Library of America. It is the one that you will want to buy, and keep as part of your permanent library.

Finally!.......2002-10-22

I couldn't be happier that the Library of America has released Paul Bowles' three best novels (he only wrote four) in one volume. Previously they were only available in not-so-easy to find small press editions. Hopefully this edition will make them readily available to a wider audience in volume and time.

The most striking thing about Bowles' work is its pace. It moves at a mesmerizing rate. The language is fairly simple but it plods along with a suspensful tension that never lets up even after a climatic moment. It is the kind of fiction to read next to a fountain in a courtyard.

Bowles' characters are almost always out of place, or are where they shouldn't be, or where they think they should be. They become engulfed by cultures that they don't understand not through stupidity or banality but often through the natural course of clashing cultures. Reading the books can give you a feeling of getting lost, and overcome with a feeling that you don't belong, or that you're delving into worlds you aren't prepared to delve into. This is the terror that underlies nearly all of his writing. They are cautionary tales, and they have become more relevant in the past few years since Bowles' death in 1999 (not highly publicized), and the rising relevance of Islam in and to the West.

Bowles is one of the first western writers of fiction that treats Islam equally to European society. Islam is not merely a backdrop in which his characters find fault or get ground up in (i.e., you never get the sense that Bowles is blaming the cultures themselves for the destruction of his characters, typically they are responsible, but it really isn't anybody's 'fault' per se). This is multicultural literature at its best, because it allows nastiness and goodness on all sides. Bowles is not afraid to show the dark sides of Islamic and European cultures side by side, while allowing positive aspects a place as well. He is also never racist towards either side, though some critics have accussed him of this (wrongly, in my opinion).

Bowles is an eye-opener. All three of these novels will make an impact on you and make you think about things you've never thought of before. Thanks again to the Library of America for releasing this collection. Buy it and read it.

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