Search results for ""Author Jean""

The role of optical instruments is very important and affects all areas of human activity, from scientific analysis (such as spectrometry) to recreation and leisure pursuits like photography and television. Optical components are often an essential part of the instrument, but are not always visible. It is therefore useful and important to understand how they work. In this book the reader will find both a review of the most important components currently used, the theoretical foundation for their application, and an example of evolution. To do this, we first supply the basic knowledge in optics necessary for the understanding of the instruments: geometrical optics, photometry, colorimetry, image analysis and processing, as well as a short description of the sources used: lamps, lasers and semiconductor sources. Optical systems such as zoom lens under different illuminations are discussed. As a first example of application, the evolution of microscopy, up to the most recent technological progress, are given.

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Although complexity makes up the very fabric of our daily lives and has been more or less addressed in a wide variety of knowledge fields, the approaches developed in the Natural Sciences and the results obtained over the past century have not yet permeated Management Sciences very much. The main features of the phenomena that the Natural Sciences deal with are: non-linear behavior, self-organization and chaos. They are analyzed with the framing of what is called “systems thinking”, popularized by the mindset pertaining to cybernetics. All pioneers in systems thinking either had direct or indirect connections with Biology, which is the discipline considered complex par excellence by the public. When applying these concepts to Operations Management Systems and modeling organizations by BDI (Beliefs, Desires, Intentions) agents, the lack of predictability in the conduct of change management that is prone to bifurcations (tipping points) in terms of organizational structures and in forecasting future activities, reveals them to be ingrained in the interplay of complexity and chaos.

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Both a sense of urgency and a goodly amount of patience are required for any writer to produce a novel. Moving between these two poles, Jean-Philippe Toussaint here collects a series of short essays on the art of writing, both his own and that of writers he's admired, for example Kafka, Beckett, Dostoyevsky, and Proust. As Toussaint himself has said, "It's only natural for writers... to say a word about how they write and what they owe to great authors."

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At the beginning of 1942, the Tirpitz, the heaviest battleship ever built by a European navy was on the cusp of breaking out into the north Atlantic. The prospect of a huge German battleship patrolling the Atlantic posed a grave threat to the convoys that served as the lifeline for an embattled Britain. After attempted bombing raids failed, a new and far more daring plan was created; to ram a battleship loaded with explosives into St. Nazaire, the only dry dock capable of supporting this unstoppable juggernaut.This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series gives a clear overview of the planning and execution of the raid and its aftermath, accompanied by 125 photographs and images, including colour profiles and maps.

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The old salt farmers have always said that the violet scent of the Fleur de Sel at harvest time on the salt marshes of the Guérande Peninsula has been known to cause hallucinations. Commissaire Dupin also starts to believe this when he’s attacked out of the blue in the salt works. He had actually been looking forward to escaping his endless paperwork and taking a trip to the “white country” between the raging Atlantic Ocean and idyllic rivers. But when he starts snooping around mysterious barrels on behalf of Lilou Breval, a journalist friend, he finds himself unexpectedly under attack. The offender remains a mystery, and a short time later, Breval disappears without a trace. It is thanks to his secretary Nolwenn and the ambition of the prefect that Dupin is assigned to the case. But he won’t be working alone because Sylvaine Rose is the investigator responsible for the department - and she lives up to her name . . . What’s going on in the salt works? Dupin and Rose search feverishly for clues and stumble upon false alibis, massive conflicts of interest, personal feuds - and ancient Breton legends.

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According to the American Psychological Association, today's children and teenagers are anxious about many things. In addition to the stressors common to any generation--family issues, financial instability, pressure to perform in school or sports--these young people also worry about gun violence, social justice, the state of their divided nation, the fate of a warming planet, and much more. To top it off, recent global events and resulting restrictions have added significant stress even as they have stripped away support systems. For parents, teachers, counselors, and youth leaders longing to understand and help the young people in their lives, When Anxiety Roars unpacks the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors that influence anxiety in children and offers specific practical steps to take together to tame that anxiety. Integrating faith with best practices to reduce anxiety, it also teaches coping skills that will help children live more confidently today and into the future.

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Theoretical physics is a cornerstone of modern physics and provides a foundation for all modern quantitative science. It aims to describe all natural phenomena using mathematical theories and models, and in consequence develops our understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe. This books offers an overview of major areas covering the recent developments in modern theoretical physics. Each chapter introduces a new key topic and develops the discussion in a self-contained manner. At the same time the selected topics have common themes running throughout the book, which connect the independent discussions. The main themes are renormalization group, fixed points, universality, and continuum limit, which open and conclude the work. The development of modern theoretical physics has required important concepts and novel mathematical tools, examples discussed in the book include path and field integrals, the notion of effective quantum or statistical field theories, gauge theories, and the mathematical structure at the basis of the interactions in fundamental particle physics, including quantization problems and anomalies, stochastic dynamical equations, and summation of perturbative series.

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