LITMIR.BIZ

Although best known as the sister of Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-47) was a virtuoso pianist and a composer of considerable merit in her own right. Her oeuvre of more than 400 compositions remained largely unknown for more than a century after her untimely death, and her newly rediscovered reputation as a composer rests chiefly with her piano music. This volume is the first American publication of her important early works. Reproduced directly from rare first editions, its contents include Vier Lieder für das Pianoforte, Op. 2, Op. 6, and Op. 8, in addition to two selections from Six Mélodies pour le Piano, Op. 4 and Op. 5. Introduction.

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How do we know that molecules really exist? An important clue came from Brownian movement, a concept developed in 1827 by botanist Robert Brown, who noticed that tiny objects like pollen grains shook and moved erratically when viewed under a microscope. Nearly 80 years later, in 1905, Albert Einstein explained this «Brownian motion» as the result of bombardment by molecules. Einstein offered a quantitative explanation by mathematically estimating the average distance covered by the particles over time as a result of molecular bombardment. Four years later, Jean Baptiste Perrin wrote Brownian Movement and Molecular Reality, a work that explains his painstaking measurements of the displacements of particles of a resin suspended in water — experiments that yielded average displacements in excellent accord with Einstein's theoretical prediction.The studies of Einstein and Perrin provided some of the first concrete evidence for the existence of molecules. Perrin, whose name is familiar to all who employ his methods for calculations in molecular dynamics, received the 1926 Nobel Prize in physics. In this classic paper, he introduced the concept of Avogadro's number, along with other groundbreaking work. Originally published in the French journal Annates de chimie et de physique, it was translated into English by Frederick Soddy to enduring influence and acclaim.

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The 1953 discovery by James Watson and Francis Crick of the molecular structure of DNA ranks among the most dramatic events in the history of science. In this lively, perceptive, and scholarly study, a noted historian of science provides the first in-depth account of this milestone's achievement.Combining scientific and historical approaches, the narrative vividly recaptures the excitement of the conceptualization and evolution of ideas that led to the discovery of the genetic «secret of life.» The story unfolds along several major lines: long-chain macromolecules; nucleic acids; bacterial transformations; the intellectual evolutions of physicists, chemists, and biologists; and the cross-pollination of scientific disciplines that unlocked the structural secrets of DNA. Francis Crick provides an illuminating Foreword for this abundantly illustrated and thought-provoking retelling of a great scientific detective story.

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In this classic of medieval literature, a brilliant and daring thinker relates the spellbinding story of his philosophical and spiritual enlightenment–and the tale of his tragic personal life as well. Peter Abélard paints an absorbing portrait of monastic and scholastic life in twelfth-century Paris, while also recounting the circumstances and consequences of one of history’s most famous love stories–his doomed romance with Heloise.Considered the founder of the University of Paris, Abélard was instrumental in promoting the use of the dialectical method in Western education. He regarded theology as the «handmaiden» of knowledge and believed that through reason, people could attain a greater knowledge of God. «By doubting,» he declared, «we come to inquire, and by inquiry we arrive at truth.» Abélard's tendency to leave questions open for discussion made him a target for frequent charges of heresy, and all his works were eventually included in the church's Index of Forbidden Books. Unfortunately, Abélard’s reputation as a philosopher is often overshadowed by his renown as a lover. In addition to its value as a scholarly treatise, The Story of My Misfortunes offers the rare opportunity to observe a legendary romance from the point of view of one of its participants.

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Accounts of elfin mounds and fairy hills abound here. So do fables of little men and treasures of gold, fairy servants, and spirits of water, forest, and meadow. Nearly 50 charming fairy tales and fantasies — gathered from Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, China, and other faraway places — are retold here. For ages 10 and up.

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Le Bon examines the psychology of revolutions in general, both religious and political, as well as the mental and emotional qualities of the movements' leaders. Most of his examples are drawn from French history, with a particular emphasis on the French Revolution: its origins and rational, plus its affective, mystic, and collective influences.

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"A very impressive and comprehensive story on terrorism . . . enormously valuable."—Brian Crozier, former director of the Institute for the Study of Conflict, LondonA compulsively readable analysis of modern terrorism, this brilliant, vital work by a noted expert on terrorism and guerrilla warfare describes the nature of terrorist organizations and events and analyzes the changing nature and evolution of unconventional political warfare. From the genesis of the Great Terror initiated by Robespierre over 200 years ago, to the Black Panthers, the Symbionese Liberation Army, and the mass terrorism of Stalin, Hitler, and Mao, this absorbing work offers unsurpassed insight into seemingly irrational acts of violence and murder. The author, who was born in Russia and as a youth only narrowly escaped being a victim of terrorism, does a superb job of helping readers to understand the causes and nature of terrorism, and how terrorists use intimidation, violence, and bloodshed to threaten the stability of society.

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This treatment of the branch of fluid mechanics known as hypersonic inviscid flow offers a self-contained, unified view of nonequilibrium effects, body geometries, and similitudes available in hypersonic flow and thin shock layer theory. Seeking to cultivate readers' appreciation of theory, the text avoids empirical approaches and focuses on basic theory and related fundamental concepts.Contents include introductory materials and chapters on small-disturbance theory, Newtonian theory, constant-density solutions, the theory of thin shock layers, numerical methods for blunt-body flows, and other methods for locally supersonic flows.Geared toward the needs of students and researchers in the field of modern gas dynamics and those of hypersonic aerodynamics, this text is appropriate for graduate-level courses in hyspersonic flow theory as well as courses dealing with compressible flow.

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This enlightening survey of mathematical concept formation holds a natural appeal to philosophically minded readers, and no formal training in mathematics is necessary to appreciate its clear exposition of mathematic fundamentals. Rather than a system of theorems with completely developed proofs or examples of applications, readers will encounter a coherent presentation of mathematical ideas that begins with the natural numbers and basic laws of arithmetic and progresses to the problems of the real-number continuum and concepts of the calculus.Contents include examinations of the various types of numbers and a criticism of the extension of numbers; arithmetic, geometry, and the rigorous construction of the theory of integers; the rational numbers, the foundation of the arithmetic of natural numbers, and the rigorous construction of elementary arithmetic. Advanced topics encompass the principle of complete induction; the limit and point of accumulation; operating with sequences and differential quotient; remarkable curves; real numbers and ultrareal numbers; and complex and hypercomplex numbers.In issues of mathematical philosophy, the author explores basic theoretical differences that have been a source of debate among the most prominent scholars and on which contemporary mathematicians remain divided. «With exceptional clarity, but with no evasion of essential ideas, the author outlines the fundamental structure of mathematics.» — Carl B. Boyer, Brooklyn College. 27 figures. Index.

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Driven by an unquenchable thirst, the human spirit seeks an explanation of the world. In this fascinating study, a noted historian of science traces the course of the ceaseless yearning for answers across two and a half millennia and chronicles, in simple form, the development of the idea of a rational and interconnected material world. This account begins with the earliest recordings of true science among the Ionian Greeks and proceeds to detail the development of unitary systems of thought among Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and others. Examinations of the science of imperial Rome ― including Roman mathematics, astronomy, physics, and calendarial science ― give rise to the science of the Middle Ages and the influence of Scholasticism, the rise of humanism, and the reawakened scientific spirit of the early Renaissance. These developments in turn led to the downfall of Aristotelian science in the seventeenth century, the Galilean revolution, Newtonian mathematical physics, and finally, the enthronement of determinism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Profusely illustrated with maps and diagrams, this comprehensive yet concise volume offers an absorbing, readable history of science up to the dawn of the modern era.

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