More physicists today are taking on the role of software developer as part of their research, but software development isnâ??t always easy or obvious, even for physicists. This practical book teaches essential software development skills to help you automate and accomplish nearly any aspect of research in a physics-based field. Written by two PhDs in nuclear engineering, this book includes practical examples drawn from a working knowledge of physics concepts. Youâ??ll learn how to use the Python programming language to perform everything from collecting and analyzing data to building software and publishing your results. In four parts, this book includes: Getting Started: Jump into Python, the command line, data containers, functions, flow control and logic, and classes and objects Getting It Done: Learn about regular expressions, analysis and visualization, NumPy, storing data in files and HDF5, important data structures in physics, computing in parallel, and deploying software Getting It Right: Build pipelines and software, learn to use local and remote version control, and debug and test your code Getting It Out There: Document your code, process and publish your findings, and collaborate efficiently; dive into software licenses, ownership, and copyright procedures

This book is a natural extension of the SCOPE (Scientific Committee of Problems on the Environment) volumes on the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) biogeochemical cycles and their interactions (Likens, 1981; Bolin and Cook, 1983). Substantial progress in the knowledge of these cycles has been made since publication of those volumes. In particular, the nature and extent of biological and inorganic interactions between these cycles have been identified, positive and negative feedbacks recognized and the relationship between the cycles and global environmental change preliminarily elucidated. In March 1991, a NATO Advanced Research Workshop was held for one week in Melreux, Belgium to reexamine the biogeochemical cycles of C, N, P and S on a variety of time and space scales from a holistic point of view. This book is the result of that workshop. The biogeochemical cycles of C, N, P and S are intimately tied to each other through biological productivity and subsequently to problems of global environmental change. These problems may be the most challenging facing humanity in the 21 st century. In the broadest sense, "global change" encompasses both changes to the status of the large, globally connected atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial environments (e. g. tropospheric temperature increase) and change occurring as the result of nearly simultaneous local changes in many regions of the world (e. g. eutrophication).

Current trends in population growth hint that global food production is unlikely to gratify future demands under predicted climate change scenarios unless the rates of crop improvement are accelerated. Crop production faces numerous challenges, due to changing environmental conditions and evolving needs for new plant-derived materials. These challenges come at a time when the plant sciences are witnessing remarkable progress in understanding fundamental processes of plant growth and development. Drought, heat, cold and salinity are among the major abiotic stresses that often cause a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular alterations which adversely affect plant growth, development and productivity, consequently posing a serious challenge for sustainable food production in large parts of the world, particularly in emerging countries. This emphasizes the urgency of finding better ways to translate new advances in plant science into concrete successes in agricultural production. To overcome the pessimistic influence of abiotic stresses and to maintain the food security in the face of these challenges, new, improved and tolerant crop varieties, contemporary breeding techniques, and cavernous understanding of the mechanisms that counteract detrimental climate changes are indubitably needed to sustain the requisite food supply. In this context, Improvement of Crops in the Era of Climatic Changes, Volume 1 provides a state-of-the-art guide to recent developments that aid in the understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses and lead to new horizons vis-à-vis prime strategies for translating current research into applied solutions to create strong yields and overall crop improvement under such unfavourable environments. Written by a diverse group of internationally famed scholars, Improvement of Crops in the Era of Climatic Changes, Volume 1 is a brief yet all-inclusive resource that is immensely advantageous for researchers, students, environmentalists, soil scientists, professionals, and many others in the quest of advancement in this flourishing field of research.

Peter A. Coming Palo Alto, CA November, 2000 This volwne represents a distillation of the plenary sessions at a unique millenniwn year event -a World Congress of the Systems Sciences in conjunction with the 44th annual meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS). The overall theme of the conference was "Understanding Complexity in the New Millenniwn. " Held at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Canada, from July 16-22,2000, the conference included some 350 participants from over 30 countries, many of whom were representatives of the 21 organizations and groups that co-hosted this landmark event. Each of these co-host organizations/groups also presented a segment of the program, including a plenary speech. In addition, the conference featured a nwnber of distinguished "keynote" speeches related to the three daily World Congress themes: (1) The Evolution of Complex Systems, (2) The Dynamics of Complex Systems, and (3) Human Systems in the 21st Century. There were also seven special plenary-level symposia on a range of timely topics, including: "The Art and Science of Forecasting in the Age of Global Wanning"; "Capitalism in the New Millenniwn: The Challenge of Sustainability"; "The Future of the Systems Sciences"; "Global Issues in the New Millenniwn"; "Resources and the Environment in the New Millenniwn"; "The Lessons of Y2K"; and "Can There be a Reconciliation Between Science and Religion?" Included in this special commemorative volume is a cross-section of these presentations.