Complete Earth

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful and Enlightening.......2007-02-24

This book has some beautiful images of every place on earth. I was specifically drawn to the images of the earth taken once a month. The difference in the seasons is dramatic and stunning. It would be a lovely centerpiece and a wonderful learning tool.

Maximum Braincandy for the Dollar!.......2006-12-27

The sheer size of this centerpiece drew me to open and view it. Once inside, I was inspired to take a new look at our "blue marble." The book has great satellite imagery of every piece of landmass in the world. It points out some specific pieces of terrain and discusses its evolution over the ages. Learn a little geology and history while enjoying great 2D and 3D visuals.

Kudos to Palmer and his crew for this work.

Sun Tzu, war strategist, taught the importance of understanding terrain and its effects on friend and foe. This book definitely fits within this realm of understanding.

Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations

Average customer rating:

Awesome!
Get's down to the skinny when it comes to communicating with aliens
can't take it seriously
A decent review of the basics, but more than a little dry
A highly technical book on interstellar communication

Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations
Brian S. McConnell
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Research | Education | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

Methodology & Statistics | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Network Administration | O'Reilly | By Publisher | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0596000375

Amazon.com

As many earthlings already know--including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience--our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that this introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and--once some ET picks up on the other end--what we might say and how we might say it.

This last problem, which occupies the final half of the book, proves to be the most thought-provoking, and McConnell has put together a methodical, nuts-and-bolts walkthrough of both the challenges involved and how binary code might be enlisted to solve them. If you've taken even a single computer-science class in your life, you'll probably skip ahead through explanations of data structures and Boolean arithmetic, but McConnell doesn't want to leave anyone behind in fleshing out his alien-friendly lingua numerica. The book's first half surveys various SETI projects, past and present, and includes generous sections on signal processing, what sort of radio and laser hardware has been mobilized for the search, and how exactly SETI@home works. (So, if nothing else, now you can know how your computer decides if it's talking to aliens while you're off having lunch.) --Paul Hughes

Book Description

"What do we need to know about to discover life in space?" --Frank Drake, 1961 In the early 1960s, Frank Drake, a young astronomer with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia, developed what is now known as the "Drake Equation" in an effort to determine how many intelligent, communicative civilizations our galaxy could harbor. For forty years, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has combed the skies in search of signals from star systems within the galaxy. In Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations, author Brian McConnell goes behind the scenes and examines what goes into the search for intelligent life. SETI is a four-step process. First we have to know where to look; then we must be able to send and receive signals to that star system. Once signals arrive, scientists then need to be able to interpret those signals into something that can be understood. And although we haven't yet received any signals (except for our own Earth-based transmissions), we'll eventually have to figure out a protocol for responding. Beyond Contact introduces you to:

The history of SETI research, including the early searches of Project Ozma, traditional radio astronomy, the search for intelligence in optical wavelengths (known as Optical SETI, or OSETI), and the SETI@home project.
An overview of the Drake Equation and the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which scientists use to estimate the number of planets in our galaxy that could harbor intelligent, communicative life forms.
How signals are sent and received over interstellar distances. The author explains the principles of signal and image processing, and how SETI researchers identify and process analog signals using Fourier transforms to see how the power in a signal is distributed across different frequencies.
How to build a general-purpose symbolic language for sending signals, and even computer programs, with present-day SETI equipment. The ability to transmit computer programs enables us to let another civilization know about our knowledge and technological capabilities.

The author also shows how SETI research--though often thought to be a mere flight of fancy--has spawned technological improvements in astronomy, computers, and wireless communications. Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations sidesteps the "little green men" approach to take a hard, realistic look at the technologies behind the search for intelligent life in our universe.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-07-12

This is the kind of book you need to understand the details of SETI, how does it work, what its limitations would be, and what technology is behind. It is an excellent addition to your personal library if you are a tech-savy and enjoy learning about science and technology.

Get's down to the skinny when it comes to communicating with aliens.......2007-06-20

This is a very all-encompassing book about extraterrestrial communication, and goes to considerable length explaining how it would be done through binary language. It is a very intelligent book about life on other planets, The Drake Equation, etc. People need to know what they're getting into if they buy this book - it really is for those who have a more technical/scientific bent towards the whole SETI process. If you think Speilberg's ET or Sagan's Contact are the bees knees when it comes to intellectual sci-fi, then this book is definitely not for you. I should point out that there is a direct correlation between a person's IQ and how high a score they give this excellent tome.

can't take it seriously.......2002-04-15

Here's a book that superficially looks like a serious technical discussion of SETI, even to the point where many potential readers may be intimidated by the diagrams, equations, jargon, and so on. But in reality, it's very lacking in solid scientific information.

For example: On page 116, one of the factors mentioned as a limit to OSETI (finding laser beacons and such) is extinction--the attenuation of light due to dust in the intersteller medium. This, it is said, limits our ability to see laser beacons to "a few dozens light years" for visible wavelengths. Really?? Then how come you can go and see stars farther away than that with your naked eye? Oh, because they're brighter! Well, how bright does a laser beacon need to be? How much attentuation is there, in per cent, dB or whatever, at, say, 100 light years? How much does a beam spread out over, say, 100 light years? How much variation in the signal is there over time as a result of dust? Not a BIT of quantitative data on this stuff!

Like all other SETI enthusiasts I've seen, they also ignore another issue: As communication techniques get more advanced, they look more and more like random noise. Our millions of chattering cell phones and internet hosts will almost certainly be undetectable to anyone outside the earth environment, let alone the solar system: Those transmissions have no directionality, they are low power precisely because they are efficient and advanced, and their advanced modulation causes them to look like white noise. Consider a 300 bps modem, with its old-fashioned tone signaling; then listen to a 56k modem, which, except when it's hooking up, sounds almost like rushing steam. It's hard to escape the idea that we will only pick up radio from ET if he intentionally beams it at us, a doubtful proposition unless he's within 60 light years, as he has no way to know of OUR radio transmissions.

A final word about copy editing: I've yet to read a book with absolutely no errors, but at least they could get three-letter words like "its" right. There are other serious errors, such as missing words, the ubiquitous "different than," and other less glaring mistakes. If they can't do better than that, perhaps they should just record audio tapes.

All in all, about a third of the way through, I decided that other books must surely be able to better satisfy my curiosity on this subject.

A decent review of the basics, but more than a little dry.......2002-03-13

<.>

I like the idea of this book, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

The first two sections ("Are We Alone?" and "Getting a Dial Tone") do a passably good job of introducing some of the basics of interstellar communication, ably introducing both the fundamentals of radio and optical technologies and the unique challenges of communicating a signal (any signal; the details of the signal to be sent are reserved for Part III) across interstellar distances.

Problems with the first two sections are:

(1) inconsistent readability: the author seems not to have found a consistent tone for the book, and wanders between wide-eyed pie-in-the-sky speculation and bone-dry technical detail;

(2) organizational flaws: the author routinely discusses a concept or entity throughout early chapters without a decent introduction or explanation, only to treat the subject in question at length (with the proper explanatory introduction) later in the text -- the discussion of the SETI@home distributed computing project is particularly guilty of this;

(3) lack of investigative reporting: almost every piece of information in these sections could have come out of a textbook or a web search, and it's clear that the author hasn't bothered to interview the movers and shakers in the SETI community and find out anything much about the "story behind the story," which might have made for some interesting reading;

(4) bad editing: there is a typo every few pages, which is a minor beef but in the age of spell-checkers hardly excusable.

Nonetheless, if you've never read a "Scientific American" article about SETI, the first two sections of the book would be educational. If you have any exposure to SETI prior to picking up the book, chances are that you won't learn very much (except possibly about optical SETI/CETI, which relies on the production and/or detection of laser light aimed at a specific star system, and which is grossly undertreated in the literature).

The third section ("Communicating with Other Worlds") treats the specifics of the author's ideas about what sort of message could be sent by us (or, by extension, might be received by us from others). The author makes an analogy between modular messages encoded in binary code and genes encoded by DNA, and sets up one potential system that might be used to send a complex message from star A to star B. This section is definitely the weakest in the book, for the following reasons.

(1) It treats at punishingly great length only one possible system of a presumably great many for communicating with alien intelligences, glossing over other approaches in favor of a detailed treatment of the author's pet approach. While I don't have a specific complaint with the approach described, I will say that as a working biologist, I found the author's biologically motivated analogies ("igenes," "binary DNA") strained and in some cases laughable. It probably makes the material "sexier" in the computer-science and SETI literature, but as a life scientist I mostly winced a lot.

(2) In part because of this, the author doesn't put his approach in any kind of context -- e.g., how else might we do it?

(3) It's way too long and inappropriately detailed: a great deal of theory of computation stuff that's not at all unique to SETI or the challenge of communicating with a non-human intelligence ends up in this section, and I don't think that benefits the reader more than just saying, "We'll send computer programs using the benefit of knowledge reaped from the maturing fields of cryptography and computer science and our impressive knowledge of the physical universe," and focusing more on reasons why any approach like this has shortcomings and might not work regardless of how clever you are.

All that having been said, this is an OK book. I wouldn't recommend that it be the only thing that you read about SETI, nor would I recommend that you read it cover-to-cover (unless you have troubles with insomnia), but if you're an avid reader of the SETI literature, it certainly can't hurt to pick this one up.

A highly technical book on interstellar communication.......2002-01-15

Readers who want a general introduction to questions related to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence should look elsewhere. This is a highly technical book on the techniques and problems of communication across interstellar distances. People with strong backgrounds in science or engineering may find this material fascinating, but general readers soon will get lost. Overall rating (for techies): four stars.

Advanced Array Systems, Applications and RF Technologies (Signal Processing and its Applications)

Average customer rating:

Advanced Array Systems, Applications and RF Technologies (Signal Processing and its Applications)
Nicholas Fourikis
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Sciences | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0122629426

Book Description

Advanced Array Systems, Applications and RF Technologies adopts a holistic view of arrays used in radar, electronic warfare, communications, remote sensing and radioastronomy. Radio frequency (RF) and intermediate frequency (IF) signal processing is assuming a fundamental importance, owing to its increasing ability to multiply a system's capabilities in a cost-effective manner. This book comprehensively covers the important front-end RF subsystems of active phased arrays, so offering array designers new and exciting opportunities in signal processing.

Key Features
* provides an up to date record of existing systems from different applications
* explores array systems under development
* bridges the gap between textbook coverage of idealized phased arrays and practical knowledge of working phased arrays
* recognises the significance of cost to the realization of phased arrays
* discusses future advances in the field that promise to deliver even more affordable arrays ['intelligent' or self-focussing/-cohering arrays]

Decoding the Message of the Pulsars: Intelligent Communication from the Galaxy

Average customer rating:

Pulsars might be a Message
Intriguing and well-researched!
Ugh!

Decoding the Message of the Pulsars: Intelligent Communication from the Galaxy
Paul A. LaViolette
Manufacturer: Bear & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Controversial Knowledge | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Unexplained Mysteries | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1591430623
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Book Description

A new interpretation of nearly 40 years of interstellar signals and the prophetic message they contain

• Contains extensive analysis of pulsar data, revealing new ideas about the origins and functions of pulsars

• Provides proof of an extraterrestrial communication network

• Includes information about the formation of crop circles and force-field-beaming technology

In 1967, astronomers began receiving and cataloging precisely timed radio pulses from extraterrestrial sources, which they called pulsars. These pulsars emit laserlike radio beams that penetrate through space much like searchlight beams. Paul LaViolette, who has been researching pulsars for over 25 years, shows that while these pulsars have long been assumed to be spinning stars, the true nature of these radio sources has been grossly misunderstood.

In Decoding the Message of the Pulsars, LaViolette shows that pulsars are distributed in the sky in a nonrandom fashion, often marking key galactic locations, and that their signals are of intelligent origin. Using extensive scientific data to corroborate his theory, he presents evidence of unusual geometric alignments among pulsars and intriguing pulse-period relationships. Equally compelling is the message LaViolette contends is being sent by these extraterrestrial beacons: a warning about a past galactic core explosion disaster that could recur in the near future.

Customer Reviews:

Pulsars might be a Message.......2007-06-07

I think LaViolette has a plausible claim when he mentions that Pulsars are the result of extraterrestrial intelligent. Being a fan of SETI and an amateur astronomer, I found the book very good. I also think we don't have the technology today to explain not even 1% of what is going on beyond the moon. I once read someone saying that we can't explain physical phenomenta of very small (quantum level) or very large objects, a galaxy for instance. That might be true. How do we validate that? Someday we'll have it. Thanks for your book Paul.

Intriguing and well-researched!.......2007-05-29

Contrary to the previous review of this book--the writer of which obviously never read the whole book or has ever opened his mind beyond what the mainstream tells him to think--this book is extremely well-researched and presents a very intriguing new hypothesis about intelligent life in our galaxy. Read this book (or any of Paul A. LaViolette's) if you're interested in science but want to know more than just what the intro textbooks tell you, i.e., what has been deemed "worthy" of being part of the mainstream science propaganda mill. Thinking outside the box is what all our great scientists of the past did--they fought the naysayers and are now considered great thinkers. It's a shame that mainstream science isn't allowing more outside-the-box thinkers into the fold. Think of all the great discoveries that are being laughed at as "toilet paper" (to quote the reviewer "GG"). In 100 years, hopefully the story will be different.

Ugh! .......2007-05-15

"In Decoding the Message of the Pulsars, LaViolette shows that pulsars are distributed in the sky in a nonrandom fashion, often marking key galactic locations, and that their signals are of intelligent origin."

What? Pulsars are well understood and they have nothing to do with "intelligent origin". Folks, go out and buy an Astronomy 101 book instead. Better yet, sign up for an intro Astronomy course at your local community college. I bought this out of curiosity and well, I now have extra toilet paper handy if I run out. However, this book does give me an idea... I think I'm going to write about how ghosts cause earthquakes... yeah... that's the ticket!

The Hands-On Guide for Science Communicators: A Step-by-Step Approach to Public Outreach

Average customer rating:

The Hands-On Guide for Science Communicators: A Step-by-Step Approach to Public Outreach
Lars Lindberg Christensen
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Communication | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0387263241

Book Description

Many people know something about communication – it is after all an innate human ability – but a full comprehension of how to do science communication effectively is not acquired easily. This Guide touches upon all aspects of science communication, revealing a tightly interwoven fabric of issues: product types, target groups, written communication, visual communication, validation processes, practices of efficient workflow, distribution, promotion, advertising and much more. New science communicators will find this Guide both helpful and inspirational.

Fundamentals of Quantum Information: Quantum Computation, Communication, Decoherence and All That (Lecture Notes in Physics)

Average customer rating:

Fundamentals of Quantum Information: Quantum Computation, Communication, Decoherence and All That (Lecture Notes in Physics)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mainframes & Minicomputers | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Quantum Theory | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Medicine | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Medicine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3540433678

Book Description

Quantum information science is a rapidly developing field that not only promises a revolution in computer sciences but also touches deeply the very foundations of quantum physics. This book consists of a set of lectures by leading experts in the field that bridges the gap between standard textbook material and the research literature, thus providing the ne- cessary background for postgraduate students and non-specialist researchers wishing to familiarize themselves with the subject thoroughly and at a high level. This volume is ideally suited as a course book for postgraduate students, and lecturers will find in it a large choice of material for bringing their courses up to date.

Something New Under the Sun: Satellites and the Beginning of the Space Age

Average customer rating:

A good look at an oft-forgotten topic
A unique history - I only wish there was more!

Something New Under the Sun: Satellites and the Beginning of the Space Age
Helen Gavaghan
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0387949143

Book Description

In this, the first history of artifical satellites and their uses, Helen Gavaghan shows how the idea of putting an object in orbit around the earth changed from science fiction to indespensible technology in the twinkling of an eye. Thanks to satellites, we can now send data and images anywhere in the world in an instant. The satellite-based navigational system can pinpoint your exact location anywhere in the world; it is so precise that, from outer space, it can detect the sag on an airplane's wing. Focusing on three major areas of development - navigational satellites, communications, and weather observation and forecasting - Gavaghan tells the remarkable inside story of how obscure men and women, often laboring under strict secrecy, made the extraordinary scientific and technological discoveries needed to make these miracles happen. Written by a science journalist with support from the Sloane Foundation, the book describes the birth of the modern scientific era in the twentieth century, with creation of satellite technology. The narrative is part history - beginning with the Russian-U.S. contest with the launch of Sputnik; part politics, as scientists and visionary engineers compete for scarce funding that will bring their dreams to reality; partly the story of the singular and fascinating individuals who were present at the creation of our modern technological era.

Customer Reviews:

A good look at an oft-forgotten topic.......2002-05-31

Applications satellites (weather, communications, etc.)are so common that few people think of where they came from. As a space history writer myself, I applaud Gavaghan for finding the resources and doing the legwork to assemble a popular history of the origins of applications satellites. I have two reservations that prevent me giving a higher rating. The sections on what led up to Sputnik are not as well-founded as the rest of the book - she accepts as given, for instance, the belief that Project Vanguard was destined to be chosen as "less militaristic" than its Army rival, when this is far from established fact. More problematic is the complete lack of footnotes. Gavaghan has assembled a lot of information, some of it fresh, but without knowing where she got it (the chapter endnotes are not very specific), it's hard to consider the book authoritative. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable contribution. Every space enthusiast will want to read it.

A unique history - I only wish there was more!.......1998-08-26

I really enjoyed this book's combination of technical (but not too technical) and personal detail. Not only did the book cover the birth and infancy of satellite technology it gave us a good luck at the personalities behind it. My criticism is that the book doesn't go far enough - it doesn't bring the story up to the present day. I realize that this is a daunting task but it would be useful to provide a context - to examine how far we've come. For example, a comparison of modern satellites and their predecessors would be very telling. The book examines just the initial years - more information on satellite development in the 60's and early '70s would put things in a better perspective. On a minor note, I would have preferred a standard bibliograpy and footnotes rather than the detailed bibliography that we're confronted with. There have been many books written about the early manned space program but not enough written on early unmanned efforts. And among those books, most focus on the interplanetary probes, making this book a welcome addition to the study of man's early forays into space.

Average customer rating:

Principles in Pulsed Magnet Design
Robert Kratz , and Peter Wyder
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Measurement | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Transient Electronics: Pulsed Circuit Technology

ASIN: 3540437010

Book Description

This book deals with the design of pulsed, non-destructive coils for the generation of high magnetic fields. Its purpose is to provide the designer of a pulsed field facility, the curious student, and the scientist with a concise and comprehensive text describing every aspect of coil construction. Special emphasis is placed on first-order calculations, which allow estimations with pencil and paper and are important for an understanding of the basic design principles. These design formulas are then supplemented by numerical calculations and simulations.

Near-Field Optics and Surface Plasmon Polaritons (Topics in Applied Physics)

Average customer rating:

study small scale geometries

Near-Field Optics and Surface Plasmon Polaritons (Topics in Applied Physics)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Optics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Medicine | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Medicine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Nanophotonics

Accessories:

ASIN: 3540415025
Release Date: 2007-05-25

Book Description

This book describes in detail the physics of localized surface plasmon polaritons excited near fine metallic structures and the principles of near-field optics and microscopy related to this localized field. It covers not only near-field optical microscopy but also wider fields such as local spectroscopy, nanoscale optical processing, quantum near-field optics, and atom manipulation.

Customer Reviews:

study small scale geometries.......2007-07-06

Surface plasmons or surface plasmon polaritons [as the preferred term in the text] are used to investigate small scale phenomena at the interfaces between a metal and a non-metal. The diverse topics described by the book continue work done by Kretschmann et al in the 1970s. That latter work involved using the production of surface plasmons to measure the dielectric constant as a function of the frequency of incident light. Where the light created a resonance at the interface, that produced surface plasmons.

Much of the book's ideas can be understood as related. Though the geometries studied are now more varied. Especially noteworthy is the use of metallic tips, at which SPPs are made. The tips function as probes of nearby materials. Where the length scales are small compared to the wavelengths of the exciting light.

Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe

Average customer rating:

Good Basic Intro.
Superficial and trivial
If you're an Earthling, then you MUST read this book!!!
Great read
The SETI Snapshot

Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe
Seth Shostak , and Alex Barnett
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0521822335

Book Description

In Cosmic Company, Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of aliens visiting the Earth, as well as the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos proving we're neither alone, nor the most intelligent life forms. They explain why scientists think life might exist on other worlds, and how we might contact it. Shostak and Barnett, experienced writers of popular astronomy, provide an accessible overveiw of the science and technology behind the search for life in the universe. Seth Shostak is a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute where he is involved in many of the outreach activities of the Institute, including editing the newsletter, overseeing the Web site, giving talks and writing magazine articles about SETI. He also teaches several informal education classes on astronomy and other topics in the Bay Area. Before coming to SETI, Seth did research work on galaxies using radio telescopes at observatories and universities in America and Europe. Alex Barnett is Programme Director at the National Space Centre. She is well-known in the science centre, planetarium and media worlds, particularly for public and educational programmes involving space and astronomy. She presents BBC's Final Frontier a space and astronomy programme.

Customer Reviews:

Good Basic Intro........2007-09-29

COSMIC COMPANY is a good basic introduction which modernizes Sagan's INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE. That work is over thirty years old. In those intervening 30 plus years, the equipment being used in SETI has improved both in performanence capability, signal to noise improvement, increased frequencies or bandwidths, etc.. This can only increase the probability of the reception of an extraterrestrial orginating signal, which is what SETI is all about. This book describes the basic reasoning for such searches, and introduces the new technologies being used. It also re-visits the Drake equation, but with actual numbers for the factor of planets in the Galaxy, a factor simply a guess in the older books.

I highly recommend this book both as an introduction and as an update to Sagan's earlier work.

Superficial and trivial.......2006-06-05

I read this book hoping that the glib one-liners and poor in-jokes would give way to something substantial but they never did. It's written in such a trivial and superficial style that makes one think all the time whilst reading it "where's the beef?" It's full of cliches and what the authors obviously thinks is funny but it really is an unsatisfactory read.

The publishers should have worked on the text more as it is obvious that the author cannot write in other than soundbytes in what I would call a type of division four Saganesque. The author obviously thinks he is an authority on the subject of life in space but only displays a superficial and incomplete grasp of the field.

My advice is to get anything by Sagan instead. It's obvious that Shostak regards himself as a kind of successor to Sagan however I have news for him....

If you're an Earthling, then you MUST read this book!!!.......2005-12-23

+++++

"This book is about a truly exciting adventure: the serious [or scientific] attempt to learn if we are alone in the Cosmos. For thousands of years, humans have explored the world in search of new places and other cultures. Now, finally we are exploring the realm of the stars."

The above is found in the last paragraph of this book's introduction. This book was written by Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in California and Alex Barnett, CEO of the Chabot Space Center also in California. (SETI stands for Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.)

This book is an incredibly easy-to-read, well-laid-out, concise, enjoyable, and sometimes humorous overview of the science & technology behind the search for life in the universe and discusses the real possibility of finding life elsewhere.

The book's index is mainly made up of main headings or topics with sub-topics that elaborate on the main heading. For example, under the main heading "Mars" are four sub-topics: face on, life on, water on, and Martian meteorite.

To give you an idea of the material covered, I will state the fourteen main headings and beside these, I will give their number of sub-topics:

(1) aliens (15)
(2) Drake equation* (4)
(3) intelligence (7)
(4) Jupiter (2)
(5) life (10)
(6) Mars (4)
(7) Moon (2)
(8) planets around other stars (3)
(9) radio telescopes (2)
(10) Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SETI (13)
(11) space travel (2)
(12) Solar System (2)
(13) stars (5)
(14) UFOs (5)

*The Drake equation is an equation for estimating the number of communicative civilizations in our Galaxy. Named after Dr. Frank Drake, co-founder of the SETI Institute.

Of course, there are a few single-topic entries in the index such as Big Bang, crop circles, and dinosaurs.

A feature of this book is that it has "blue boxes," that is topics that are discussed in more depth separate from the main narrative. For these separate discussions, the words are printed on a light blue background. I found these extremely interesting. Two of my favorite blue boxes are entitled "Looking for Earth-size worlds" and "What if we don't get a [alien] signal?"

This book has beautiful, stunning, mainly color images (illustrations and pictures) throughout that enhance the reading.

I recommend two other books besides this one: "Is Anyone Out There?" (1992) by Frank Drake & D. Sobel and "Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe" (2000) by Ward & Brownlee.

Finally, I was surprised that the mission of the SETI Institute was not mentioned. Its mission is to "explore, understand, and explain the origin, nature, and prevalence of life in the universe."

In conclusion, this is a fantastic, easy-to-read overview of the science and technology behind the search for life in the universe!!!

(first published 2003; acknowledgements; introduction; 7 chapters; main narrative 155 pages; further reading; image credits; index)

+++++

Great read.......2005-08-14

I got this title from the SETI website, and was quite pleased (so much so that I bought another one they recommended). This is a great book. I finished it in two days - it is hard to put down. It is fairly light on the science. If you're looking for a detailed description of the science behind life (necessary conditions for a planet, etc.), this is not it. However, it gives a great description of the search for alien signals. The discussion of how human intelligence has maxed out is by itself worth the purchase price. This one is a fun read that won't strain your brain. Buy it!

The SETI Snapshot.......2004-01-03

The search for life in the universe must be a complex subject, involving nearly every scientific discipline: physics, astronomy, mathematics, etc; so, where can the average reader, who has an above average interest in SETI, go to learn the latest? "Cosmic Company" is a great place to start.

A moderate amount of insightful, conversational text complemented by colorful and sharp, sometimes stunning photographs, illustrations and artwork describes this book.

The authors will take you on a 'cook's tour' of the search for cosmic company: habitats where life might exist; what aliens might look like; whether they might read, or simply feed on, the pages of the text; the liklihood of alien contact; communication tools, passive and active; an elegant way to estimate the number of civilizations in our galaxy that have sent signals reaching earth; and a look into the future of SETI including the technology humans will have at their disposal to find evidence of life in the universe.

I liked the book because it clearly explains the intricate world of SETI.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books