This is the only book which deals with the correlatory comparison between hierarchical living systems and inorganic physical ones. The culmination of the book is the proposition of research to discover and understand the natural underlying level of organization which produces the descriptive commonality of life and physics. Traditional science eliminates life from its purview by its rejection of interrelationships as a primary content of systems. The conventional procedure of science is that of reductionism, whereby complex systems are dismantled to characterize lower level components, but virtually no attention is given to how to rebuild those systems—the underlying assumption is that analysis and synthesis are symmetrical. This book fulfills two main coupled functions. Firstly, it details hierarchy as the major formulation of natural complex systems and investigates the fundamental character of natural hierarchy as a widely transferable ‘container’ of structure and/or function – and this in the case of the new development of a representational or model hierarchy. Secondly, it couples this hierarchical description to that of the electronic properties of semiconductors, as a well-modeled canonical example of physical properties. The central thesis is that these two descriptions are comparable, if care is taken to treat logical and epistemological aspects with prudence: a large part of the book is composed of just this aspect of care for grounding consistency. As such great attention is given to correct assessment of argumentative features which are otherwise presumed ‘known’ but which are usually left uncertain. Development of the ideas is always based on a relationship between entity or phenomenon and their associated ecosystems, and this applies equally well to the consequent derivations of consciousness and information.

The book gives up-to-date, multi-aspect exposition of the philosophy and methodology of information, and related areas within the nascent field of the study of information. It presents the most recent achievements, ideas and opinions of leading researchers in this domain, as well as from physicists, biologists and social scientists. Collaboration of researchers from different areas and fields opens new perspectives for the understanding of information essential in the innovative development of science, technology and society.The book is meant for readers conducting research into any aspect of information, information society and information technology. The ideas presented give new insights for those who develop or implement scientific, technological or social applications. They are especially for those who are participating in setting the goals for science in general and sciences of information in particular.

DIE REIHE: LITERATUR- UND NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN entsteht unter Federführung des Erlanger Forschungszentrums für Literatur- und Naturwissenschaften (ELINAS). Experten unterschiedlicher Fachkulturen führen darin ihre Methoden zusammen und fragen sowohl nach den Funktionen der Sprache in der naturwissenschaftlichen Forschung als auch nach den Verfahren der Modellierung naturwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse in der Literatur. Die Reihe versteht sich als ein interdisziplinäres Forum zur Reflexion der kulturellen Bedeutung natur- und literaturwissenschaftlicher Forschung sowie zur Ethik und Rhetorik wissenschaftlicher Argumentation.

‘Could it not be that a tremendously important Event is taking place in the world, taking place right now, of which our own contemporaries have no presentiment? This is indeed so. A highly important Event is taking place that is perceptible, however, only to spiritual vision.’ – Rudolf Steiner, 25 January, 1910 What if matter is not solid, fixed and dead, but a living and creative Event? Could the concrete ‘stuff’ of our existence be in the process of development and becoming? Rudolf Steiner predicted that the new Christ Event would penetrate and transform all earthly and cosmic matter, life, consciousness and evolution. Through this Event, we have the opportunity to participate in the vortex of creative life. No longer detached, external spectators, we become co-creators in the drama of evolution and in the transformation of human consciousness. In this original and challenging work, Dr Ben-Aharon describes how this momentous Event is expressed in the fields of science, history, philosophy and art, and relates some of the fresh and creative concepts that have been discovered and applied in the disciplines of physics, biology, genetics and artificial intelligence. The Event, he concludes, leads us to face the central and world-historical question of our time: Are we as a human race going to use the new creative forces that are available to us positively, or will we allow this potential for good to change into its – destructive – opposite? The choice is ours.

This book is emerged from an insightful essay by the American Nobel chemist Dudley Herschbach, speculating about how the mythological Hercules might have tackled a hypothetical, monumental task, or "thirteenth labor," such as weighing the Earth's atmosphere.

Hands-on textbook for learning how to use Mathematica to solve real-life problems in physics and engineering Mathematica for Physicists and Engineers provides the basic concepts of Mathematica for scientists and engineers, highlights Mathematica's several built-in functions, demonstrates mathematical concepts that can be employed to solve problems in physics and engineering, and addresses problems in basic arithmetic to more advanced topics such as quantum mechanics. The text views mathematics and physics through the eye of computer programming, fulfilling the needs of students at master's levels and researchers from a physics and engineering background and bridging the gap between the elementary books written on Mathematica and the reference books written for advanced users. Mathematica for Physicists and Engineers contains information on: Basics to Mathematica, its nomenclature and programming language, and possibilities for graphic output Vector calculus, solving real, complex and matrix equations and systems of equations, and solving quantum mechanical problems in infinite-dimensional linear vector spaces Differential and integral calculus in one and more dimensions and the powerful but elusive Dirac Delta function Fourier and Laplace transform, two integral transformations that are instrumental in many fields of physics and engineering for the solution of ordinary and partial differential equations Serving as a complete first course in Mathematica to solve problems in science and engineering, Mathematica for Physicists and Engineers is an essential learning resource for students in physics and engineering, master's students in material sciences, theoretical chemists, and lecturers focused on related subjects.

This edited volume brings forth intriguing, novel and innovative research in the field of science education. The chapters in the book deal with a wide variety of topics and research approaches, conducted in various contexts and settings, all adding a strong contribution to knowledge on science teaching and learning. The book is comprised of selected high-quality studies that were presented at the 11th European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Conference, held in Helsinki, Finland from 31 August to 4 September, 2015. The ESERA science education research community consists of professionals with diverse disciplinary backgrounds from natural sciences to social sciences. This diversity provides a rich understanding of cognitive and affective aspects of science teaching and learning in this volume. The studies in this book will invoke discussion and ignite further interest in finding new ways of doing and researching science education for the future and looking fo r international partners for both science education and science education research. The twenty-five chapters showcase current orientations of research in science education and are of interest to science teachers, teacher educators and science education researchers around the world with a commitment to evidence-based and forward-looking science teaching and learning.

This biography provides a stimulating and coherent blend of scientific and personal narratives describing the many achievements of the theoretical physicist Herbert Fröhlich. For more than half a century, Fröhlich was an internationally renowned and much respected figure who exerted a decisive influence, often as a ‘man ahead of his time’, in fields as diverse as meson theory and biology. Although best known for his contributions to the theory of dielectrics and superconductivity, he worked in many other fields, his most important legacy being the pioneering introduction quantum field-theoretical methods into condensed matter physics in 1952, which revolutionised the subsequent development of the subject. Gerard Hyland has written an absorbing and informative account, in which Herbert Fröhlich’s magnetic personality shines through.

Ranging from math to literature to philosophy, Uncountable explains how numbers triumphed as the basis of knowledge—and compromise our sense of humanity. Our knowledge of mathematics has structured much of what we think we know about ourselves as individuals and communities, shaping our psychologies, sociologies, and economies. In pursuit of a more predictable and more controllable cosmos, we have extended mathematical insights and methods to more and more aspects of the world. Today those powers are greater than ever, as computation is applied to virtually every aspect of human activity. Yet, in the process, are we losing sight of the human? When we apply mathematics so broadly, what do we gain and what do we lose, and at what risk to humanity? These are the questions that David and Ricardo L. Nirenberg ask in Uncountable, a provocative account of how numerical relations became the cornerstone of human claims to knowledge, truth, and certainty. There is a limit to these number-based claims, they argue, which they set out to explore. The Nirenbergs, father and son, bring together their backgrounds in math, history, literature, religion, and philosophy, interweaving scientific experiments with readings of poems, setting crises in mathematics alongside world wars, and putting medieval Muslim and Buddhist philosophers in conversation with Einstein, Schrödinger, and other giants of modern physics. The result is a powerful lesson in what counts as knowledge and its deepest implications for how we live our lives.

Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification, Volume 3: Proceedings of the 41st IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2023, the third volume of ten from the Conference brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification, including papers on: Introduction of Uncertainty Quantification Uncertainty Quantification in Dynamics Model Form Uncertainty and Selection incl. Round Robin Challenge Sensor and Information Fusion Virtual Sensing, Certification, and Real-Time Monitoring Surrogate Modeling