This book offers new perspectives and paradigms in science, specifically to point out novel characteristics in natural processes. The issues are discussed by outstanding scientists from among the most advanced fields of science, who bring with them various points of the scientific horizon and widely different new experimental evidence.

This symposium is the first scientific event organized by the “Seminar for Epistemology” under the auspices of the University of Trieste. The aim of the symposium was to collect and open to discussion the contributions of a number of distinguished scientists from cognitive sciences and experimental nature sciences and to bring together specialists of various backgrounds.The very authoritative contributions presented at the Conference represent relevant, even if not exhaustive, specimens of the role of new conceptual tools in science.

The symposium is an attempt to offer perspectives and paradigms in science, which point out novel characters of natural processes. These issues are presented by outstanding scientists selected in the most advanced fields of science, from various points of the scientific horizon and with widely different new experimental evidence.

In this book, after discussing the fundamental problems of current science and other philosophic concepts, beginning with controversies between Heraclitus and Parmenides, Ilya Prigogine launches into a message of great hope: the future has not been determined. Contrary to globalisation and the apparent contemporary mass culture society, individual behaviour is beginning to increasingly become the key factor which governs the evolution of both the world and society as a whole. It is a message that challenges existing widespread views, implicitly or explicitly, through mass communication; moreover the importance of the individual's actions implies a reflection of each person on the responsibilities that each one assumes when taking or acting upon a decision. This responsibility is associated with the freedom of thought as well as a critical analysis of fashions, customs, preconceived ideas, and ideologies, externally imposed: exactly contrary to the ideas of those who wish us to be ?perfect consumers? in a world dominated only by monetary wealth.Challenging this drive towards the elimination of freedom of thought in the individual is now imperative if we are to save man and his planet from catastrophe, which seems to be ever imminent and (unfortunately) irreversible.This last book of Ilya Prigogine provides a small, disputable, but nonetheless valuable contribution towards that end.

Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics: Progress in Methods and Applications is a collection of 33 selected papers from the scientific contributions presented at the 16th International Workshop on Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics (QSCP-XVI), held at Ishikawa Prefecture Museum of Art in Kanazawa, Japan, from September 11th to 17th, 2011. The volume discusses the state of the art, new trends, and the future of methods in molecular quantum mechanics and their applications to a wide range of problems in physics, chemistry, and biology. The breadth and depth of the scientific topics discussed during QSCP-XVI appears in the classification of the contributions in six parts: I. Fundamental Theory II. Molecular Processes III. Molecular Structure IV. Molecular Properties V. Condensed Matter VI. Biosystems. Quantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics: Progress in Methods and Applications is written for advanced graduate students as well as for professionals in theoretical chemical physics and physical chemistry. The book covers current scientific topics in molecular, nano, material, and bio sciences and provides insights into methodological developments and applications of quantum theory in physics, chemistry, and biology that have become feasible at end of 2011.

"This reference is a broad, multi-volume collection of the best recent works published under the umbrella of computer engineering, including perspectives on the fundamental aspects, tools and technologies, methods and design, applications, managerial impact, social/behavioral perspectives, critical issues, and emerging trends in the field"--Provided by publisher.