Impact Tectonics (Impact Studies)

Book Description

This volume is the 8th in a series of impact books resulting from the activities of the scientific program "Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes" (IMPACT), by the European Science Foundation. The book resulted from an international meeting at Mora, Sweden, which was held as part of the IMPACT program. The papers cover various structural geologic, geochemical, and geophysical topics on research of asteroid impact structures on Earth and Mars.

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America's biggest meteor strike unmasked.
I Love A Good Mystery
Good science, readable science
Paleontologist Tracks Down Killer Meteorite

Chesapeake Invader
C. Wylie Poag
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691009198

Book Description

"Chesapeake Invader is excitingly written.... Poag shows us how scientific discoveries are made and how there are many twists and turns along the way."--Donald Prothero, Occidental College

Thirty-five million years ago, a meteorite three miles wide and moving sixty times faster than a bullet slammed into the sea bed near what is now Chesapeake Bay. The impact, more powerful than the combined explosion of every nuclear bomb on Earth, blasted out a crater fifty miles wide and one mile deep. Shock waves radiated through the Earth for thousands of miles, shaking the foundations of the Appalachians, as gigantic waves and winds of white-hot debris transformed the eastern seaboard into a lifeless wasteland. Chesapeake Invader is the story of this cataclysm, told by the man who discorered it happened. Wylie Poag, a senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explains when and why the catastrophe occurred, what destruction it caused, how scientists unearthed evidence of the impact, and how the meteorite's effects are felt even today.

Poag begins by reviewing how scientists in the decades after World War II uncovered a series of seemingly inexplicable geological features along the Virginia coast. As he worked to interpret one of these puzzling findings in the 1980s in his own field of paleontology, Poag began to suspect that the underlying explanation was the impact of a giant meteorite. He guides us along the path that he and dozens of colleagues subsequently followed as--in true scientific tradition--they combined seemingly outrageous hypotheses, painstaking research, and equal parts good and bad luck as they worked toward the discovery of what turned out to be the largest impact crater in the U.S. We join Poag in the lab, on deep-sea drilling ships, on the road for clues in Virginia, and in heated debates about his findings. He introduces us in clear, accessible language to the science behind meteorite impacts, to life and death on Earth thirty-five million years ago, and to the ways in which the meteorite shaped the Chesapeake Bay area by, for example, determining the Bay's very location and creating the notoriously briny groundwater underneath Virginia.

This is a compelling work of geological detective work and a paean to the joys and satisfactions of a life in science.

Customer Reviews:

America's biggest meteor strike unmasked........2002-06-03

The book presents an interesting first-person study of how the 53 mile-wide Chesapeake impact structure was identified. The 40-million year-old feature is not apparent from surface observation, and its unmasking forms this classic tale of scientific detective work at is finest. The author is not hesitant in issuing praise to those who knew some atypical feature was present, but who lacked the means or opportunity to categorically identify the structure for what it was. In this respect, the narrative is delightfully free of much of the acrimony that has marked so many of the works about the Chixulub dinosaur killer.

The book's text is highly readable and explains in an unpatronizing manner many of the tools and concepts used in solving this great scientific puzzle. Also, the book's author doesn't allow himself to be bogged down in minutiae, an all-to-easy peril in a work of this nature.

The book is recommended to any teen or adult with a limited background in science, and to any and all persons with an interest in earth science or the scientific method in action. I liked it very much. Enjoy.

I Love A Good Mystery.......2002-02-10

Geology is a fun science and part of the fun is due to the historical nature of much of geology - geology is all about solving ancient mysteries. Chesapeake Invader by C. Wylie Poag excellenty describes the solving of one such geological mystery. Starting in the middle of the 20th-Century, geologists began to find unusual rock formations in coastal Virginia that didn't have a garden variety geologic explanation. The plate tectonics revolution, which provided so many solutions to so many geologic conundrums, didn't unravel these weird East Coast rocks. This mystery had to wait until humans wrapped their minds around one of the last great discoveries of geology, the realization that asteroid and comet impacts are an important force in our Solar System and that the Earth is not immune from the devastation of these impacts. Poag gives the reader a good glimpse of how geologists [and scientists in general] go about solving problems. Folks who enjoy learning about impacts, but are tired of reading about the end of Cretaceous impact, should enjoy Chesapeake Invader as a welcome change of pace. [If you haven't read enough about the end of Cretaceous impact, I would highly recommend The End Of The Dinosaurs by Charles Frankel and Night Comes To The Cretaceous by James Lawrence Powell.] I enjoyed going along for the ride while C. Wylie Poag solved this great geological mystery and I recommend that you also take this ride.

Good science, readable science.......2001-12-31

This book is well-written non-fiction.

Poag tells of a fifty-year geological research project on the East Coast of North America. He tells us how the findings of several natural sciences have combined to demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt, that a large meteor impacted Earth at Chesapeake Bay, some 35 million years ago. In doing so, Poag teaches the reader about undersea sonic surveying, about core drilling to determine the structures surrounding impact craters of various types, about fossils found in seabed (and former seabed) rocks, and about how those fossils permit approximate dating of sedimentary deposits back to life's origin on earth, some 4 billion years ago.

We now know that large meteor impacts have played a major role in the Earth's evolution. Striking only 35 million years back, Poag's "Chesapeake Invader" was a relatively recent such event. In its closing chapter, his book addresses the present NASA search for the NEXT one.

Paleontologist Tracks Down Killer Meteorite.......2000-05-03

For those interested in the effects of giant meteorites on the earth, this book is worth reading. It is not a novel, more like a documentary, but facinating just the same. The author details his efforts to prove the existance of a giant meteor crater under Chesapeake Bay. Along the way, he details the effects of the strike on the flora and fauna of the time. This is a real-life example of the scientific method applied to geology and paleontology tempered with human nature and a little good luck thrown in.

From Charpy to Present Impact Testing (Elsevier International Series on Structural Integrity)

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From Charpy to Present Impact Testing (Elsevier International Series on Structural Integrity)
D. Ed. Francois
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0080439705

Book Description

From Charpy to Present Impact Testing contains 52 peer-reviewed papers selected from those presented at the Charpy Centenary Conference held in Poitiers, France, 2-5 October 2001.

The name of Charpy remains associated with impact testing on notched specimens. At a time when many steam engines exploded, engineers were preoccupied with studying the resistance of steels to impact loading.

The Charpy test has provided invaluable indications on the impact properties of materials. It revealed the brittle ductile transition of ferritic steels.

The Charpy test is able to provide more quantitative results by instrumenting the striker, which allows the evolution of the applied load during the impact to be determined. The Charpy test is of great importance to evaluate the embrittlement of steels by irradiation in nuclear reactors. Progress in computer programming has allowed for a computer model of the test to be developed; a difficult task in view of its dynamic, three dimensional, adiabatic nature. Together with precise observations of the processes of fracture, this opens the possibility of transferring quantitatively the results of Charpy tests to real components. This test has also been extended to materials other than steels, and is also frequently used to test polymeric materials.

Thus the Charpy test is a tool of great importance and is still at the root of a number of investigations; this is the reason why it was felt that the centenary of the Charpy test had to be celebrated. The Société Française de Métallurgie et de Matériaux decided to organise an international conference which was put under the auspices of the European Society for the Integrity of Structures (ESIS).

This Charpy Centenary Conference (CCC 2001) was held in Poitiers, at Futuroscope in October 2001. More than 150 participants from 17 countries took part in the discussions and about one hundred presentations were given. An exhibition of equipment showed, not only present day testing machines, but also one of the first Charpy pendulums, brought all the way from Imperial College in London.

From Charpy to Present Impact Testing puts together a number of significant contributions. They are classified into 6 headings:

Book Description

Hurricane Katrina: Performance of Transportation Systems is a comprehensive evaluation of the gulf coast's bridge, railroad, and roadway performance following Hurricane Katrina. While the failure of the levees in New Orleans attracted most media attention, other infrastructure also suffered significant damage. Throughout the gulf coast, bridges sustained minor to major damage, with several in Mississippi and Louisiana completely collapsing. Similarly, countless railways and roads were impeded by massive piles of debris. This book is thorough and compelling account of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact upon the gulf coast's major transportation systems. Topics in this report include: • Overview of Hurricane Katrina and Damage • Emergency Preparedness • Highway Bridges, Railroad, and Roadway Performance and Repair • Rerouting and Traffic Demands • Impact on New Design • and Conclusions and Lessons Learned. ¬¬¬¬¬¬

Customer Reviews:

commendable performances.......2007-05-28

Compared to the other, more mainstream books that have been written about Hurricane Katrina, this is a dry read. A sober technical analysis of what happened to the roads, railways and bridges in the regions that Katrina hit. For once, little talk about the levees. Instead, it focuses more on how well those other systems held up. And, more to the point, how quickly they were able to be repaired, when repairs were needed.

The text points out that for providing emergency aid and evacuation, and for helping a sustained recovery, these transport ways are crucial. Actually, more so possibly for the recovery. Due to the mass of material that has to be brought into the regions. Equipment for repairs and building materials themselves.

Optimistically, the systems held up pretty well. A few bridges had to be repaired. But most of the systems survived with minimal damage. Often, it was a case of having to clear debris. But once that was done, normal uses could commence. There was nothing on the scale of the levee collapses in New Orleans. Perhaps one cause gleaned from the book is that the government agencies who maintained the roads and bridges, and the railway companies that owned the railways, had done competent work over the years. Unlike the groups that controlled the levees.

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Rare Find!
The Mumford Phenomenon

Redesigning Human Systems
Enid Mumford
Manufacturer: Irm Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1931777888

Book Description

Assisting individuals interested in and responsible for the management of major change within organizations, this book provides the theories and values that should be adhered to in order to achieve change successfully and effectively. The complexities of the change process are explained, and practical guidance for those trying to mold change so that it can offer a route to a better quality of life is provided. This book also examines what has been called the sociotechnical philosophy of taking the needs of people into account when new work systems are being introduced.

Customer Reviews:

Rare Find!.......2003-10-08

Enid Mumford's book is a must read for anyone interested in the potential and impact of socio-technical design. She takes us into a wonderful journey of work system advocates for dignity, participation and good working life for everyone included.

This book shows that beneath all the hype of management, there is a continuing need to establish management as a noble profession in which management can enhance human freedom, democracy and creativity. In this effort, Enid Mumford's voice has been significant over the last four decades. This book is an excellent testimony to this.

This is a rare book on design and research on design. You can learn from real experiences of real people, and see their struggle and anxiety. It shows that good research at the end must address somehow what it means to be a human being, and what constitutes good life for all of us.

The Mumford Phenomenon.......2003-06-23

Enid Mumford is a phenomenon. Throughout her long and active life as an academic and researcher she has championed the importance of the human participant in the design of organizational systems. She has demonstrated again and again that we can design better, more robust and efficient systems by involving all the stakeholders in the design process. This book is both a reprise of her work and at the same time a practical step by step guide on how to set about redesigning organizations. In this book Enid Mumford sets out a masterly step by step practical guide to redesigning systems to make use of new technology. The guide is based on a series of case studies representing her life's work, with each case contributing lessons on redesign. It is essential reading for all those preparing to engage in change using new technology - students as well as mangers.

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Structural Impact
Norman Jones
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521628903

Book Description

Structural Impact addresses the behavior of structures and components subjected to large dynamic loads that produce inelastic deformations. This field particularly interests those concerned with the crashworthiness design of aircraft, buses, cars, trains, ships and marine structures, and the energy-absorbing characteristics of various components for a wide range of safety calculations. The initial five chapters introduce the rigid plastic methods of analysis of the static behavior and the dynamic response of beams, plates and shells. These chapters develop the key features of the subject from an engineering viewpoint, and are followed by several chapters on various phenomena of importance in structural impact. The influence of transverse shear, rotatory inertia, finite-displacements and material strain rate sensitivity are introduced and studied in detail. Dynamic progressive buckling, which develops in several energy absorbing systems, is introduced in the penultimate chapter. Finally, the scaling laws are examined since they are important for relating the response of small-scale experimental tests to the behavior of full-scale prototypes. The author, who has gained extensive experience in the impact field and has published over 120 publications in the past twenty years, presents the material in an appealingly simple, yet rigorous manner. This book is for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in engineering, and design engineers.

Informational City: Economic Restructuring and Urban Development

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Informational City: Economic Restructuring and Urban Development
Manuel Castells
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0631179372

Book Description

The cities and the regions of the world are being transformed under the combined impact of a restructuring of the capitalist system and a technological revolution. This is the thesis of this book, now in paperback. Castells not only brings together an impressive array of evidence to support it but puts forward a new body of theory to explain it. He analyzes the interaction between information technology, economic restructuring and socio-spatial change through the empirical observation of contemporary national, urban and regional processes in the capitalist world, with emphasis on the United States. The author summarizes a very wide range of evidence of urban and regional development, and isolates the causes and consequences of the processes and trends that may be observed.

Planning for Disaster: How Natural and Manmade Disasters Shape the Built Environment

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well written, interesting read

Planning for Disaster: How Natural and Manmade Disasters Shape the Built Environment
William Ramroth
Manufacturer: Kaplan Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1419593730
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Book Description

Disasters, throughout the ages, have shaped the built environment. The way city planners, architects, engineers and politicians plan and design cities, buildings, highways, tunnels and bridges have all been fashioned to some degree by the mischievous hands of disasters. Planning for Disaster will trace the impact of natural and manmade disasters on urban planning, building design and the design of large-scale engineering projects such as bridges, tunnels and levees. The book will reference recent disasters such as the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989), the Oklahoma City Bombing (1995), the 9/11 Terrorist Attack (2001), Hurricane Katrina (2005), as well as catastrophic events from history such as the burning of Rome in AD 64, the London fire of 1666, the New York fire of 1835, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

Planning for Disaster will include approximately 25 illustrations (photographs and figures) in support of the text.

Customer Reviews:

well written, interesting read.......2007-05-11

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It's difficult to grasp the notion that a text can be a page-turner, but that is definitely what Ramroth has created. I was fascinated by the examples given and have a new appreciation of architectural and engineering design.

Construction In Cities: Social, Environmental, Political, And Economic Concerns (Civil Engineering-Advisors)

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Construction In Cities: Social, Environmental, Political, And Economic Concerns (Civil Engineering-Advisors)
Patricia J. Lancaster
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Buildings & Construction | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0849374863

Book Description

Today's construction environment is more complex than any previous era. The possible impediments to a project's successful completion include not only "bricks and mortar" issues like material availability or curtain wall testing, but a broad array of concerns involving the economic, political, social, environmental, archeological, community, and historic preservation aspects of the project. Costly delays are common; regulatory processes can be prohibitive; stakeholders have more say. All of the people involved in an urban construction project must be knowledgeable about, and conversant with these conditions. Bringing together over 500 years of combined professional experience, Construction in Cities: Social, Environmental, Political, and Economic Concerns provides you with a compendium of knowledge with which to solve problems and propel your projects. Beginning with an overview of the regulations governing construction in cities, the book continues with concrete, practical advice for below-ground work such as tunnels, roadways and foundations. It follows with an examination of five actual projects to explore ways to complete elaborate urban buildings. Finally, the book takes you deep into the murky waters of issues that often halt construction projects. Since the unexpected always happens in construction, you need a book on your shelf to reach for when it does - a source that delineates clean and concise recipes for successfully dealing with such diverse conditions as unexpected archeological finds, dying trees, and toxic air. If you play a role in ensuring the delivery of capital projects in an urban environment, Construction in Cities serves as a handy reference of actions and methods for overriding these barriers.

Net Loss: Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community

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Startling cogent analysis
Challenges conventional wisdom
It's good for you and it tastes good too!
Myth about a 'myth'

Net Loss: Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community
Nathan Newman
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

"Nathan Newman has written a fascinating history of the Silicon Valley that chronicles the federal government's leading role in creating, and then privatizing, the Internet. Net Loss not only dispels the myth that the Internet emerged full-blown as a result of entrepreneurial risk in a competitive marketplace, but also explains in depth how forces of globalization have undermined regional economies in California while reshaping social and political life in local communities. This groundbreaking book is a must read for anyone concerned with the power of global corporations and the future of democratic governance."—Scott Bowman, California State University, Los Angeles

"Net Loss is the perfect antidote for the confusion generated by the years of hype and the recent disillusionment surrounding the Internet economy. Nathan Newman offers a cogent and original analysis of what the Internet has really meant to the regional economy of the Silicon Valley as well as to other regions. Anyone in search of fresh ideas carefully grounded in a rich base of research will find this book just what they have been looking for."—Peter Evans, University of California, Berkeley

How has the Internet been changing our lives, and how did these changes come about? Nathan Newman seeks the answers to these questions by studying the emergence of the Internet economy in Silicon Valley and the transformation of power relations it has brought about in our new information age. Net Loss is his effort to understand why technological innovation and growth have been accompanied by increasing economic inequality and a sense of political powerlessness among large sectors of the population.

Newman first tells the story of the federal government's crucial role in the early development of the Internet, with the promotion of open computer standards and collaborative business practices that became the driving force of the Silicon Valley model. He then examines the complex dynamic of the process whereby regional economies have been changing as business alliances built around industries like the Internet replace the broader public investments that fueled regional growth in the past. A radical restructuring of once regionally focused industries like banking, electric utilities, and telephone companies is under way, with changes in federal regulation helping to undermine regional planning and the power of local community actors. The rise of global Internet commerce itself contributes to weakening the tax base of local governments, even as these governments increasingly use networked technology to market themselves and their citizens to global business, usually at the expense of all but their most elite residents. More optimistically, Newman sees an emerging countertrend of global use of the Internet by grassroots organizations, such as those in the antiglobalization movements, that may help to transcend this local powerlessness.

Customer Reviews:

Startling cogent analysis.......2003-09-04

What fun this was to read! It's so refreshing to read something that looks at the actual facts, crunches the data, and tells me the way it is, the way it should be, and how to fix it-- in clear language! Newman's argument is flawless, and I couldn't put it down. Read this to learn how little fish can team up to eat big fish.

Challenges conventional wisdom.......2003-08-30

After having the lights go out in the Northeast, it's worth reading a book that predicted the problems coming from deregulating "networked" industries. More broadly, it challenges the conventional wisdom on the Internet-- from making clear how much the tech boom was based on government regulation and spending as well as why it was the withdrawal of government that helped lead to the Silicon Valley bust in the last 90s.

Highly recommended.

It's good for you and it tastes good too!.......2003-08-24

This author has somehow taken topics that, despite their importance, ordinarily would make my eyes glaze over with boredom and has through pithy writing and an abiliy to interpret complicated matters for the lay person acually managed to make them into a fun book to read. I highly recomend this book especially if it is not the type you would typically read.

Myth about a 'myth'.......2003-04-21

I don't know anyone who believes that anyone other than the government, through DARPA originated the Internet ... so why the book?

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