Fireworks are synonymous with celebration in the twenty-first century. But pyrotechnics—in the form of rockets, crackers, wheels, and bombs—have exploded in sparks and noise to delight audiences in Europe ever since the Renaissance. Here, Simon Werrett shows that, far from being only a means of entertainment, fireworks helped foster advances in natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, and many other branches of the sciences. Fireworks brings to vibrant life the many artful practices of pyrotechnicians, as well as the elegant compositions of the architects, poets, painters, and musicians they inspired. At the same time, it uncovers the dynamic relationships that developed between the many artists and scientists who produced pyrotechnics. In so doing, the book demonstrates the critical role that pyrotechnics played in the development of physics, astronomy, chemistry and physiology, meteorology, and electrical science. Richly illustrated and drawing on a wide range of new sources, Fireworks takes readers back to a world where pyrotechnics were both divine and magical and reveals for the first time their vital contribution to the modernization of European ideas.

This book is devoted to the state-of-the-art in all aspects of fireworks algorithm (FWA), with particular emphasis on the efficient improved versions of FWA. It describes the most substantial theoretical analysis including basic principle and implementation of FWA and modeling and theoretical analysis of FWA. It covers exhaustively the key recent significant research into the improvements of FWA so far. In addition, the book describes a few advanced topics in the research of FWA, including multi-objective optimization (MOO), discrete FWA (DFWA) for combinatorial optimization, and GPU-based FWA for parallel implementation. In sequels, several successful applications of FWA on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), text clustering, pattern recognition, and seismic inversion problem, and swarm robotics, are illustrated in details, which might shed new light on more real-world applications in future. Addressing a multidisciplinary topic, it will appeal to researchers and professionals in the areas of metahuristics, swarm intelligence, evolutionary computation, complex optimization solving, etc.

Festivities such as those exalting the court of Louis XIV, the celebration of James II's London coronation, and the commemoration of the peace celebrations of 1749 at The Hague culminated in dazzling pyrotechnical displays. These were in turn reproduced as prints, paintings, and narrative descriptions. This unique book examines the propagandistic and rhetorical functions these printed records came to serve as vehicles of aesthetic, cultural, and emotional significance.

""This book provides vital research on theory analysis, improvements, and applications of fireworks algorithm. While highlighting topics such as convergence rate, parameter applications, and global optimization analysis, this publication explores up-to-date progress on the specific techniques of this algorithm"--Provided by publisher"--