Theoretical Studies of Ecosystems: The Network Perspective

Book Description

This two-volume set explains the technology, performance, and applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS). This set is the only one of its kind to present the history of GPS development, the basic concepts and theory of GPS, and the recent developments and numerous applications of GPS.

Each chapter is authored by an individual or group of individuals who are recognized as leaders in their area of GPS. These various viewpoints promote a thorough understanding of the system and make Global Positioning System: Theory and Applications the standard reference source for the Global Positioning System.

The two volumes are intended to be complementary. Volume I concentrates on fundamentals and Volume II on applications. It is recommended for university engineering students, practicing GPS engineers, applications engineers, and managers who wish to improve their understanding of the system.

Customer Reviews:

Global Positioning System: Theory & Applications.......2000-09-15

This book is very technical so for the beginners in GPS i can not recommed you to read this book. however, for scientific community, this book is "a must'

This is the essential treatment of GPS for engineers........1998-04-02

These volumes comprehensively treat the entire body of knowledge concerning GPS control, satellites, propagation, receivers, and use. There is an extensive discussion of GPS errors: raw, differential, corrected, and the encrypted precise positioning service.

Unlike IEEE volumes that seem to be magazine articles jammed together, these volumes appear to use systematic, top-down architecture of the outline. Each section is a coherent explanation of the topic, without any unevenness in coverage.

The authors are well-known principals in this field. Spilker, for instance, has generated the most significant books in digital communications; modulation and demodulation being his specialty.

Book Description

In demonstrating how Newtonian gravitational theory and Euclidean geometry can be used and developed in Earth’s environment, the text discusses earth’s gravitational field; matrices and orbital geometry; satellite orbit dynamics; geometry of satellite observations; statistical implications; and data analysis. Prerequisites: introductory course in college physics and a first-year course in calculus.

Customer Reviews:

Dover reprint of Theory of Satellite Geodesy by W.M. Kaula.......2005-10-05

I studied with Bill Kaula from 1964-66 at UCLA and used this text extensively at that time and later while doing research in satellite geodesy. Numerical methods are now much more accurate, but if you want insight into satellite orbit mechanics, this is the book to read. The first addition contained many typos and other errors, which have been corrected in the Dover edition. The book provides an outstanding entry into the field of satellite geodesy.

Bruce C. Douglas

A Classic in the Field.......2001-04-12

A reprint of this book is long overdue because I know several people who have a crumpled photocopy of the original addition and many others who have searched for a used copy without success. This book is a must read for anyone with more than a passing interest in astrodynamics and especially gravity field modeling.

The book begins with a concise description of the earth's gravity field in terms of potential theory. After a quick refresher on matrices and orbital elements, Kaula proceeds to describe the motion of an artificial satellite. In particular, he provides a detailed analysis of gravity field perturbations upon the evolution of the orbital elements including secular effects and resonance effects. The final chapters are concerned with modeling observations used to track satellites, using the observations to estimate the true motion of the satellite, and estimating geodetic information from the motion of the satellite.

Book Description

This reference and handbook describes theory, algorithms and applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS/Galileo). It is primarily based on source-code descriptions of the KSGsoft program developed by the author at the GFZ in Potsdam. The theory and algorithms are extended and verified for a new development of a multiple functional GPS/Galileo software. Besides the concepts such as the unified GPS data processing method and the numerical solution of the variation equations, as well as the general ambiguity search criteria reported in the first edition, there are several highlights reported. Such as the equivalent principle and its applications, the theory of independent parameterisation, the diagonalisation algorithm, etc. Mathematically rigorous, the book begins with the basics of coordinate and time systems and satellite orbits, as well as GPS observables, and deals with topics such as physical influences, observation equations and their parameterisation, adjustment and filtering, ambiguity resolution, data processing, and the determination of perturbed orbits.

Satellite surveying: Theory, geodesy, map projections : applications, equipment, operations

Average customer rating:

Satellite surveying: Theory, geodesy, map projections : applications, equipment, operations
Gregory J Hoar
Manufacturer: Magnavox Advanced Products and Systems Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

Ever since Newton created dynamics, there has been controversy about its foundations. Are space and time absolute? Do they form a rigid but invisible framework and container of the universe? Or are space, time, and motion relative? If so, does Newton's 'framework' arise through the influence of the universe at large, as Ernst Mach suggested? Einstein's aim when creating his general theory of relativity was to demonstrate this and thereby implement 'Mach's Principle'. However, it is widely believed that he achieved only partial success. This question of whether motion is absolute or relative has been a central issues in philosophy; the nature of time has perennial interest. Current attempts to create a quantum description of the whole universe keep these issues at the cutting edge of modern research. Written by the world's leading expert on Mach's Principle, The Discovery of Dynamics is a highly original account of the development of notions about space, time, and motion. Widely praised in its hardback version, it is one of the fullest and most readable accounts of the astronomical studies that culminated in Kepler's laws of planetary motion and of the creation of dynamics by Galileo, Descartes, Huygens, and Newton. Originally published as Absolute or Relative Motion?, Vol. 1: The Discovery of Dynamics (Cambridge), The Discovery of Dynamics provides the technical background to Barbour's recently published The End of Time, in which he argues that time disappears from the description of the quantum universe.

Absolute or Relative Motion?: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories

Average customer rating:

Excellent book, but...
Very beautiful and useful

Absolute or Relative Motion?: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories
Julian B. Barbour
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Mechanics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This richly detailed biography captures both the personal life and the scientific career of Isaac Newton, presenting a fully rounded picture of Newton the man, the scientist, the philosopher, the theologian, and the public figure. Professor Westall treats all aspects of Newton’s career, but his account centers on a full description of Newton’s achievements in science. Thus the core of the work describes the development of the calculus, the experimentation that altered the direction of the science of optics, and especially the investigations in celestial dynamics that led to the law of universal gravitation.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book, but..........2001-01-07

Julian B. Barbour did an excellent job. His overview of the history of celestial ans terrestrial mechanics is really a must have. But I noticed he often uses a kind of sketchy reconstruction. For example what he says about Huygens who did not succeed in creating the very notions of a modern dynamics. This is true, but in the case of Huygens there are strong philosophical reasons for that. Huygens did NOT want to use dynamical concepts. So what is pictured here as a failure seems to be more complex. On that point, JB Barbour follows Richard Westfall. Both, in my opinion, are wrong. Anyway : one must have the book. As I said, it's a masterpiece.

Very beautiful and useful.......2000-01-21

Has no competitor in sight in the field. Nowhere else can you, e.g., find out what Huyghens and Descartes did, and also what Galileo and Copernicus really did, and in such clear, concise language. Reads like a good novel! Also im[portant: the author does not at all color his treatment of the history of mechanics by 'cheerleading' for Mach.

Book Description

"        Chekhov is one of the few indispensable writers," said Susan Sontag. "His stories, which deluge us with feeling, make feeling more intelligent; more magnanimous. He is an artist of our moral maturity."
        This volume presents forty-two of Chekhov's later short stories, written between 1888 and 1903, in acclaimed translations by Constance Garnett and chosen by Shelby Foote. Among the most outstanding are "A Dreary Story," a dispassionate tale that reflects Chekhov's doubts about his role as an artist. Thomas Mann deemed it "a truly extraordinary, fascinating story . . . unlike anything else in world literature." "The Darling," a delightful work highly admired by Tolstoy, offers comic proof that life has no meaning without love. And in "The Lady with the Dog," which Vladimir Nabokov called "one of the greatest stories ever written," a chance affair takes possession of a bored young woman and a cynical roué, changing their lives forever. Also included in this collection are the famous trilogy, "The Man in a Case," "Gooseberries," and "About Love," as
well as "Sleepy," "The Horse-Stealers," and "Betrothed."
        "The greatest of Chekhov's stories are, no matter how many times reread, always an experience that strikes deep into the soul and produces an alteration there," wrote William Maxwell. "As for those masterpieces 'The Lady with the Dog,' 'The Horse-Stealers,' 'Sleepy,' 'Gooseberries,' 'About Love'--where else do you see so clearly the difference between light and dark, or how dark darkness can be."
        Shelby Foote has provided an Introduction for this edition.

Customer Reviews:

Finally.......2003-12-04

Coming up with a completely satisfactory compilation of Chekhov is impossible. There's too much material and, after a certain point, almost everything is worth reading. At this point, I have three small compilations that I've found in used bookstores, with around a third of the stories in each volume repeated in another volume. It's annoying.

I found it hard to believe that (until now) a publisher hadn't published one big book, or at least a series of three or four books that would have the essential stories. One can occasionally find the thirteen volumes of Constance Garnett, but the print on those is huge and one barely gets a few stories a collection; it seemed like a ridiculous way to treat a great writer, especially when Chekhov's letters have already gotten such wonderful treatment in the compilation by Karlinsky.

Well, I wish this book was a little thicker, but I'm happy with it. The only things left out are the stories that are almost novellas: The Duel, Ward 6, Peasant, and In the Ravine. The Steppe is in the first volume, I think. So, this collection isn't definitive, even when joined with the first book. If it's possible for publishing companies to put out big bound volumes of all of Jane Austen's novels, and every word that Wilde and Poe ever wrote, it should be possible to fit all the stories-even the longer ones-into a single book. Small print is fine: just give me everything.

But until then, this is nice. I'll settle for reading the stories that aren't in any of my books on the Internet, where there are some lovely Chekhov sites.

I think Eudora Welty said something like, reading Chekhov was like having the angels sing to me. The oblique style of modern realist stories is pretty much directly inspired by Chekhov, but you never see the machinery in his stories, like you do in the work of even the most talented modern writers: never feel the author struggling towards the epiphany, building up a character's personality piece by piece.

And some of his late stories - The Bishop, especially - can't actually be imitated. It isn't clear what makes them beautiful: no plot, no revelations, nothing, just life. One is reduced to stammering about angels singing and that sort of thing. Karlinsky said something about how they tremble on the edge of music, which I suppose is the best anyone's going to do.

The famous trilogy of stories has never been my favorite Chekhov-a little too didactic for my taste-but a passage in "Gooseberries" is worth quoting. I think it reflects at least part of the credo of this great writer, one of the few literary geniuses who also appears to also have been a nice guy:

There is always, for some reason, an element of sadness mingled with my thoughts of human happiness, and, on this occasion, at the sight of a happy man I was overcome by an oppressive feeling that was close upon despair. It was particularly oppressive at night. A bed was made up for me in the room next to my brother's bedroom, and I could hear that he was awake, and that he kept getting up and going to the plate of gooseberries and taking one. I reflected how many satisfied, happy people there really are! 'What a suffocating force it is! You look at life: the insolence and idleness of the strong, the ignorance and brutishness of the weak, incredible poverty all about us, overcrowding, degeneration, drunkenness, hypocrisy, lying. . . . Yet all is calm and stillness in the houses and in the streets; of the fifty thousand living in a town, there is not one who would cry out, who would give vent to his indignation aloud. We see the people going to market for provisions, eating by day, sleeping by night, talking their silly nonsense, getting married, growing old, serenely escorting their dead to the cemetery; but we do not see and we do not hear those who suffer, and what is terrible in life goes on somewhere behind the scenes. . . . Everything is quiet and peaceful, and nothing protests but mute statistics: so many people gone out of their minds, so many gallons of vodka drunk, so many children dead from malnutrition. . . . And this order of things is evidently necessary; evidently the happy man only feels at ease because the unhappy bear their burdens in silence, and without that silence happiness would be impossible. It's a case of general hypnotism. There ought to be behind the door of every happy, contented man some one standing with a hammer continually reminding him with a tap that there are unhappy people; that however happy he may be, life will show him her laws sooner or later, trouble will come for him -- disease, poverty, losses, and no one will see or hear, just as now he neither sees nor hears others. But there is no man with a hammer; the happy man lives at his ease, and trivial daily cares faintly agitate him like the wind in the aspen-tree -- and all goes well.

The master of realistic short fiction.......2002-04-15

In the waning years of the 19th Century, Anton Chekhov wrote stories about the Russian middle class, with themes revolving around men and women who let their lives go astray, particularly with regard to love and marriage. Chronologically and artistically, his fiction is a sort of literary bridge between Tchaikovsky-era romanticism and Stravinsky-era chaos. Unlike Dostoevsky, he did not delve deeply into man's problems in dealing with society; he did not have any overt political or religious agenda; hot-button issues like socialism and anti-semitism are barely given a nod. A physician himself, he often used doctors as characters, marveling at their ability to mend bodies but not souls.

In Chekhov's stories, marriage is hardly a bed of roses, usually resulting in discontentment, depression, and adultery; nowhere is this more perfectly executed than in "The Lady with the Dog," which ends with the two transgressors not contrite over their sins, but resolving to carry on their affair in the face of uncertainty. In "The Party," a young married couple's disharmony culminates in a tragedy that underscores their need to love each other. Chekhov's characters tend to marry for the wrong reasons, like societal pressure, false hopes of marital bliss ("The Helpmate," "Betrothed"), and convenience and mutual benefit ("Anna on the Neck"). His characters usually are people who mean well but do the wrong things: In "At a Country House," a cultural elitist has a habit of scaring off the very men he wants his daughters to marry.

Chekhov also touches on themes of pure, often unrequited, love. "The Beauties" is a plaintive tale of infatuation, of a boy's enthralling first discovery of intangible feminine beauty. His lonely characters, such as in "The Schoolmistress," "A Doctor's Visit," and "The Darling," are often prisoners of their own inhibitions, obsessions, and self-obligations.

Other topics are covered, often exhibiting a world-weary cynicism. In the amusing fable "The Shoemaker and the Devil," the protagonist's conclusion is not the cliched lesson to be thankful for the few things he has in life, but rather that there is nothing in life worth selling his soul to the devil for. "Rothschild's Fiddle" is like a Marc Chagall painting set to prose, portraying the futility and bitterness of life offset by the beauty of art, while "Whitebrow" is a fuzzy parable. Chekhov also displays a talent for drawing comical characters, such as the talkative blowhard in "The Petchenyeg" and the prudish protagonist of "The Man in a Case." A mark of Chekhov's style is that these people often are oblivious to their own idiosyncrasies, a touch that injects as much comedy as tragedy into the stories.

These stories might leave one with the impression that Chekhov was pessimistic about love and marriage, and even life, but in my opinion they emphasize a fundamental truism about fiction -- much as in comedy, where failure is funnier than success, even though "good" love is what makes the world go around, "bad" love is more interesting to write about.

Chekhov: The Great Humanist.......2000-08-17

Style, style, style. While it's all well and good that the reviewers below emphasize the stylistic impact Chekhov's writings have had on practically EVERY modern short story, it is important to note that his stories combine to form one of the greatest humanistic manifestos in all of literature. Throughout his life as a doctor and a writer, Chekhov's deceptively laconic artistic sensibility was constantly focused on human interests and values. Human beings, in all their messy, hurtful, tragic glory, puzzled the good doctor, but he accepted them for what they were. His writing reflects his wide embrace of all that we are. Chekhov was a great lover of mankind, and arguably its finest chronicler. His stories are clear-eyed, unsentimental reports from the front lines of human existence. Given attention, they will surely instruct and broaden any heart. We should be eternally grateful.

Bloodied but unbowed.......2000-07-28

Chekhov is a master, but I almost wish he'd never existed. His prose is so deceptively simple that it will make everyone reading him, be they caterers, kids, or Senate whips, think "I can do that!" Needless to say, they can't.

This doesn't mean anyone will ever stop trying. Chekhov fans the flames of megalomania in what Sartre called the "Sunday writer", dilettantes like Mathieu in The Age of Reason. Almost every short story written now is in either the style of Raymond Carver or Chekhov, and Carver was just the first to graft Chekhov's style onto American subjects. What is that style? It's not as instantly recognizable as Kafka's or Joyce's -- two terminal figures who can't be imitated -- but if you want an example of it, grab any New Yorker that might be lying around the house and flip to the short story. Got one? Okay, now notice how it doesn't end with a swordfight or an orgy. Instead, it will most likely hinge on a simple misunderstanding, such as a man making an offhand comment that causes his wife to lose all respect for him, or else some kind of sudden revelation; like an interior monologue where, after seeing two schoolgirls share a bologna sandwich, a professional woman realizes her entire life is corrupt and shallow. Shocks of recognition, mundane realism, and a muted climax ( this last is especially crucial; the professional woman above wouldn't throw off her worldly chattels and move to India, but would simply go back to her office, maybe even with a little excitement to get to work on a new ad campaign ) -- these are the hallmarks of Chekhovian writing.

The bad news is that we can look forward to an eternity of these pale imitations. Because the times are always changing, Chekhov's journalistic style -- remember he started out as a newspaperman -- ALWAYS APPLIES. It's a nightmare. But that's no reason to keep you, as it kept me for so long, from the original. All of Chekhov's best stories are here, or in the other two volumes of the Modern Library series ( where the nitpicker below can find the other stories whose absence he laments, except "Gusev," which is in this one. )

Not entirely the best selection of the uncannily modern C........1999-11-14

I studied Russian literature for years and would ultimately rank the prose biggies as follows: Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev. I frankly prefer Chekhov, however, to the megalomaniac Tolstoy. Reading Chekhov is truly uncanny. He utterly refutes our common cliche'd notions about "Russianness." His is really the most modern voice of nineteenth century literature, without the "modernism" of our century that has so easily dated. I fell in love with Chekhov partly because his Russian is the simplest and most prosaic of any Russian writer and I was consequently able to read him without mediation. I would have included certain stories in an anthology in lieu of others, namely: "In the Ravine" (V ovragie) "Murder" (Ubiijstvo) "An Attack of Nerves" (Pripadok) "The Peasants" (Muzhiki) "Gusev" (Gusev) ...and many others....

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books