Despite scientific evidence that business-as-usual is unsustainable, there is a huge and widespread inertia to ‘greening’ the planet. Warming to Ecocide considers climate change from a thermodynamic perspective and asks whether market-driven organisations have carried us to the point of no return through the flawed economics of endless growth.

When a heating fluid transfers heat to a heated fluid through a wall, if the fluids are in parallel flow or counter flow it is possible to compute exactly both the transferred heat and the temperatures of the fluids via well-known equations. This holds true both for design and verification computation. However, the motion of the fluids is never in parallel flow or counter flow in heat exchangers and in tube banks. Instead, it is rather complex and consists of a combination of various cross flows. Hence, a precise design of the above components requires, on a case-by-case basis, the availability of the value of certain crucial factors or of corrective factors so as to make it possible to use the equations relative to parallel flow or counter flow. This handbook contains the introduction to the problem, its design criteria, and about 70 tables for the exact design and verification computation. It also indicates how to proceed in the case of cross flow.

Conceived as a reference manual for practicing engineers, instrument designers, service technicians and engineering students. The related fields of physics, mechanics and mathematics are frequently incorporated to enhance the understanding of the subject matter. Historical anecdotes as far back as Hellenistic times to modern scientists help illustrate in an entertaining manner ideas ranging from impractical inventions in history to those that have changed our lives.

The content of this book originates from 35 years of teaching “steam generators” to graduate students at the Politecnico of Milan, Milan, Italy, and from 45 years of professional activity in this area – rst in industry and then as founder of a design and consulting company. Beforediscussingthecontentofthetextbook,Iwouldliketopresenttherationale for the title. Boilers are machines consisting of steam-generating tubes only, that is, of internal and external tubes where water is transformed into saturated steam. Steam generators – or, simply, generators – indicate machines equipped with one or more of the following components: superheaters, reheaters, economizers, and air heaters – besides the steam-generating tubes that make up the boiler. Finally, those machines with tubes, where instead of water, a diathermic uid ows inside, are also called boilers, for their construction is similar to that of the latter. The above notwithstanding, the term “boiler” is used even when hot water or superheated water is produced instead of steam. Large systems designed to produce electricity have all components indicated above in addition to the boiler. In medium size systems, some of these components are always present, whereas in small ones a regenerator is frequently and approp- ately included. It is therefore justi ed to use “steam generators” as title, because it best matches the actual makeup of these systems.

Modern energetic materials include explosives, blasting powders, pyrotechnic m- tures and rocket propellants [1, 2]. The study of high-temperature decomposition of condensed phases of propellants and their components (liquid, solid and hybrid) is currently of special importance for the development of space-system engineering [3, 4]. To better understand the burning mechanisms (stationary, nonstationary, - steady) of composite solid propellants and their components, information about the macrokinetics of their high-temperature decomposition is required [5]. To be able to evaluate the ignition parameters and conditions of safe handling of heat-affected explosives, one needs to know the kinetic constants of their high-temperature - composition. The development of new composite solid propellants characterized by high performance characteristics (high burning rates, high thermal stability, stability to intrachamber perturbations, and other aspects) is not possible without quanti- tive data on the high-temperature decomposition of composite solid propellants and their components [6]. The same reasons have resulted in signi?cant theoretical and practical interest in the high-temperature decomposition of components of hybrid propellants. It is known that hybrid propellants have not been used very widely due to the low bu- ing (pyrolysis) rates of the polymer blocks in the combustion chambers of hybrid rocket engines. To increase the burning rates it is necessary to obtain information about their relationships to the corresponding kinetic and thermophysical prop- ties of the fuels.

Thermofluids, while a relatively modern term, is applied to the well-established field of thermal sciences, which is comprised of various intertwined disciplines. Thus mass, momentum, and heat transfer constitute the fundamentals of th- mofluids. This book discusses thermofluids in the context of thermodynamics, single- and two-phase flow, as well as heat transfer associated with single- and two-phase flows. Traditionally, the field of thermal sciences is taught in univer- ties by requiring students to study engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, in that order. In graduate school, these topics are discussed at more advanced levels. In recent years, however, there have been attempts to in- grate these topics through a unified approach. This approach makes sense as thermal design of widely varied systems ranging from hair dryers to semicond- tor chips to jet engines to nuclear power plants is based on the conservation eq- tions of mass, momentum, angular momentum, energy, and the second law of thermodynamics. While integrating these topics has recently gained popularity, it is hardly a new approach. For example, Bird, Stewart, and Lightfoot in Transport Phenomena, Rohsenow and Choi in Heat, Mass, and Momentum Transfer, El- Wakil, in Nuclear Heat Transport, and Todreas and Kazimi in Nuclear Systems have pursued a similar approach. These books, however, have been designed for advanced graduate level courses. More recently, undergraduate books using an - tegral approach are appearing.

How fast and powerful can computers become? Will it be possible someday to create artificial brains that have intellectual capabilities comparable to those of human beings? The answers to these questions depend to a very great extent on a single factor: how small and dense we can make computer circuits. Very recently, scientists have achieved revolutionary advances that may very well radically change the future of computing.

General Applications of BEM to electromagnetic problems are comparatively new although the method is ideally suited to solve these problems, which usually involve unbounded domains. The present volume comprises contributions by eminent researchers working on applications of boundary elements in electromagnetic problems. The volume deals with the solutions of Maxwell's equation for three-dimensional as well as two-dimensional cases. It also discusses combination of BEM with FEM particularly in the case of saturated media. Some chapters specifically deal with the design of electromagnetic devices. The book is essential reading to those engineers and scientists, who are interested in the state of the art for electrical and electromagnetic application of boundary elements. It is also an important reference for those engineers who are working on the design of electromagnetic components many of which can be advantageously carried out using BEM.

Solid-state physics has for many years been one of the largest and most active areas of research in physics, and the physics of metals and semiconductors has in turn been one of the largest and most active areas in solid-state physics. Despite this, it is an area in which new and quite unexpected phenomena - such as the quantum Hall effect - are still being discovered, and in which many things are not yet fully understood. It forms an essential part of any undergraduate physics course. A number of textbooks on solid-state physics have appeared over the years and, because the subject has now grown so large, the books too have usually been large. By aiming at a more limited range of topics, I have tried in this book to cover them within a reasonably small compass. But I have also tried to avoid the phrase 'It can be shown that. . . ', as far as possible, and instead to explain to the reader just why things are the way they are; and sometimes this takes a little longer. I hope that some readers at least will find this approach helpful. 1 The free-electron model 1. 1 THE CLASSICAL DRUDE THEORY The characteristic properties of metals and semiconductors are due to their conduction electrons: the electrons in the outermost atomic shells, which in the solid state are no longer bound to individual atoms, but are free to wander through the solid.

Mechanical engineering, an engineering discipline born of the needs of the industrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound is­ sues of productivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions, among others. The Mechanical Engineering Series features graduate texts and research monographs intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas of mechanical engineering. The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that will cover a broad range of concentrations important to mechanical engineering graduate ed­ ucation and research. We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors, each an expert in one of the areas of concentration.

Because of its versatility in analyzing a broad range of applications, multibody dynamics has grown in the past two decades to be an important tool for designing, prototyping, and simulating complex articulated mechanical systems. This textbook brings together diverse concepts and bridges the gap between dynamics and engineering applications such as microrobotics, virtual reality simulation of interactive mechanical systems, nanomechanics, flexible biosystems, crash simulation, and biomechanics.

This SpringerBrief focuses on the use of egress models to assess the optimal strategy for total evacuation in high-rise buildings. It investigates occupant relocation and evacuation strategies involving the exit stairs, elevators, sky bridges and combinations thereof. Chapters review existing information on this topic and describe case study simulations of a multi-component exit strategy. This review provides the architectural design, regulatory and research communities with a thorough understanding of the current and emerging evacuation procedures and possible future options. A model case study simulates seven possible strategies for the total evacuation of two identical twin towers linked with two sky-bridges at different heights. The authors present the layout of the building and the available egress components including both vertical and horizontal egress components, namely stairs, occupant evacuation elevators (OEEs), service elevators, transfer floors and sky-bridges. The evacuation strategies employ a continuous spatial representation evacuation model (Pathfinder) and are cross-validated by a fine network model (STEPS). Assessment of Total Evacuation Systems for Tall Buildings is intended for practitioners as a tool for analyzing evacuation methods and efficient exit strategies. Researchers working in architecture and fire safety will also find the book valuable.

This book focuses on the current status of our understanding of RNA, a key biological molecule. The various RNAs covered are messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, noncoding RNAs, modified nucleosides, and RNA enzymes. The different chapters detail methods to investigate RNA structure and function, the chemistry of modified RNAs, and the latest advances in our understanding of the vast array of biological processes in which RNA is involved.

This book provides an interdisciplinary series of essays on key social theorists of morality. It explores contributions to social moral theorising made by W. E. B. Du Bois, G. H. Mead, Jane Addams, Alasdair MacIntyre, Carol Gilligan, Seyla Benhabib, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Jonathan Haidt. It thus seeks to integrate alternative voices at the “foundations” of sociological theorising about morality, while entering into dialogues with post-Enlightenment moral philosophy and contemporary moral psychology. In so doing, it engages with perspectives of pragmatism, virtue ethics, care ethics, feminist critiques, and moral foundations theory. The essays discuss key topics in social theories of morality, including moral action, socialisation, habit and reflexiveness, relationships, emotion, self, identity, racism and colonialism, universalism, and innateness. It centres crucial (but often overlooked) questions of moral power, and assesses the relationship between moral theorising and normative argument. The essays are conjoined by a running theme of moral agency—how it is constituted and how it is enacted—which orientates the book’s arguments and critiques.

This book analyses how women navigate their personal worlds during a life stage of intense changes and ruptures, within a complex and rapidly changing sociocultural context of a post-socialist society. The transition to first-time motherhood is considered a unique phase in adult development, bringing about an abundance of profound psychosocial and bodily changes. This book-length study examines these changes from a first-person perspective, with particular attention to dimensions of personal experience and functioning that are usually neglected in psychological (and even sociocultural) scholarship – embodiment and techno-material mediatedness. To account for the complex and contextualised phenomenon, the author outlines a theoretical framework that connects sociocultural psychology with phenomenology and science and technology studies. This pluralistic and interdisciplinary approach promises to move forward the way we think not only about women’s experiences, pregnant and birthing bodies, and medical practices, but also the way we think about subjects, their embodied condition of existence, and their entanglements with socio-material aspects of culture.