Debora Hammond's The Science of Synthesis explores the development of general systems theory and the individuals who gathered together around that idea to form the Society for General Systems Research. In examining the life and work of the SGSR's five founding members-Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, James Grier Miller, and Anatol Rapoport-Hammond traces the emergence of systems ideas across a broad range of disciplines in the mid-twentieth century. Both metaphor and framework, the systems concept as articulated by its earliest proponents highlights relationship and interconnectedness among the biological, ecological, social, psychological, and technological dimensions of our increasingly complex lives. Seeking to transcend the reductionism and mechanism of classical science-which they saw as limited by its focus on the discrete, component parts of reality-the general systems community hoped to complement this analytic approach with a more holistic orientation. As one of many systems traditions, the general systems group was specifically interested in fostering collaboration and integration among different disciplinary perspectives, with an emphasis on nurturing more participatory and truly democratic forms of social organization. The Science of Synthesis documents a unique episode in the history of modern thought, one that remains relevant today. This book will be of interest to historians of science, system thinkers, scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, management, organization development and related fields, as well as the general reader interested in the history of ideas that have shaped critical developments in the second half of the twentieth century.

The 1980's and early 1990's were witness to controversial discussions concerning the nature and role of philology in medieval studies. Some scholars defended the values and methods of tradition while others argued for a break with the past and the need to rethink medieval studies in the light of a (post)modern episteme. The essays in this book reflect the vigour of the debate with reference to romance studies, particularly Old French. Taken collectively, they argue not for a choice between two extreme positions, but rather a synthesis that combines the best of both worlds. The contributors are Donald Maddox, Richard F. O'Gorman, William D. Paden, Rupert T. Pickens, Barbara N. Sargent-Baur, Evelyn Birge Vitz, Haijo Westra, and Keith Busby.

The design process of digital circuits is often carried out in individual steps, like logic synthesis, mapping, and routing. Since originally the complete process was too complex, it has been split up in several - more or less independen- phases. In the last 40 years powerful algorithms have been developed to find optimal solutions for each of these steps. However, the interaction of these different algorithms has not been considered for a long time. This leads to quality loss e. g. in cases where highly optimized netlists fit badly onto the target architecture. Since the resulting circuits are often far from being optimal and insufficient regarding the optimization criteria, like area and delay, several iterations of the complete design process have to be carried out to get high quality results. This is a very time consuming and costly process. For this reason, some years ago the idea of one-pass synthesis came up. There were two main approaches how to guarantee that a design got "first time right" : 1. Combining levels that were split before, e. g. to use layout information already during the logic synthesis phase. 2. Restricting the optimization in one level such that it better fits to the next one. So far, several approaches in these two directions have been presented and new techniques are under development. In this book we describe the new paradigm that is used in one-pass synthesis and present examples for the two techniques above.

This collection of papers, presented at the 11th International Conference on Precision Engineering, offers a broader global perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead. The discussion encompasses leading-edge technologies and forecasts future trends. Coverage includes advanced manufacturing systems; ultra-precision- and micro-machining; nanotechnology for fabrication and measurement; rapid prototyping and production technology; new materials and advanced processes; computer-aided production engineering; manufacturing process control; production planning and scheduling, and much more.

The number of transistors in integrated circuits doubles every two years, as stipulated by Moore’s law, and this has been the driving force for the huge development of the microelectronics industry in the past 50 years – currently advanced to the nanometric scale. This e-book is dedicated to electronic noises and parasites, accounting for issues involving substrate coupling and interconnections, in the perspective of the 3D integration: a second track for enhancing integration, also compatible with Moore’s law. This reference explains the modeling of 3D circuits without delving into the latest advances, but highlights crucial problems, for instance electro-thermo-mechanical problems, which could be addressed through 3D modeling. The book also explains electromagnetic interferences , at different modeling levels (device and circuit) oriented towards 3D integration technologies. It also covers substrate noise, such as disturbances of digital blocks, power bounces, phase noise in oscillators, both at the device level, such as carriers or field fluctuations, and circuit levels. The entanglement between interconnect and substrate is also discussed. This e-book serves as a reference for advanced graduates or researchers in the field of micro and nano electronics interested in topics relevant to electromagnetic interference or the ‘noise’ domain, at device or circuit and system levels

Presents a wide-ranging overview of essential topics and recent advances in MCR chemistry Heterocycles are a central component in natural product chemistry, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and material science. New synthetic methodologies integrating the sequencing of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are today being used for the rapid synthesis of diversified heterocycles in just one step. Multicomponent Reactions towards Heterocycles presents an up-to-date summary MCR chemistry with a focus on the conjugation between modern synthetic methodologies and MCRs. Featuring contributions by leaders in the field, this comprehensive resource highlights applications of MCRs in natural products and intermediate synthesis, discusses current trends and future prospects in MCR chemistry, outlines novel multicomponent procedures, and more. The authors provide the practical information required for designing new reaction strategies and mechanisms, covering topics including MCR-based green synthetic methods, cyclization and cycloaddition reactions, heterocycle multicomponent syntheses in a continuous flow, catalytic alkynoyl generation, MCR synthesis of saturated heterocycles, and C–H functionalization and multicomponent reactions. Provides a thorough overview of heterocycles as input in multicomponent reactions Discusses recent advances in the field of MCR chemistry and progress in the synthesis and functionalization of heterocycles Demonstrates the use of MCRs to simplify synthetic design and achieve complexity and diversity in novel bioactive molecules Highlights examples of multicomponent polymerizations, target-oriented synthesis, and applications of MCR in medicinal chemistry Explains the methodology of using on-resin MCRs to produce heterocycle compounds Illustrating the key role of MCRs towards heterocycles in natural product synthesis, drug discovery, organic synthesis, and other applications, Multicomponent Reactions towards Heterocycles is required reading for synthetic chemists in academia and industry alike.