We are in the center of the most life-changing technological revolution the Earth has ever known. In little more than 65 years, an eye-blink in human history, a single technological invention has launched the proverbial thousand ships, producing the most sweeping and pervasive set of changes ever to wash over humankind; changes that are reshaping the very core of human existence, on a global scale, at a relentlessly accelerating pace. And we are just at the very beginning. Silicon Earth: Introduction to Microelectronics and Nanotechnology introduces readers with little or no technical background to the marvels of microelectronics and nanotechnology, using straightforward language, an intuitive approach, minimal math, and lots of pictures. The general scientific and engineering underpinnings of microelectronics and nanotechnology are described, as well as how this new technological revolution is transforming a broad array of interdisciplinary fields, and civilization as a whole. Special "widget deconstruction" chapters address the inner workings of ubiquitous micro/nano-enabled pieces of technology, such as smartphones, flash drives, and digital cameras. Completely updated and upgraded to full color, the Second Edition: Includes new material on the design of electronic systems, the future of electronics, and the societal impact of micro/nanotechnology Provides new widget deconstructions of cutting-edge tech gadgets like the GPS-enabled smartwatch Adds end-of-chapter study questions and hundreds of new color photos Silicon Earth: Introduction to Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, Second Edition is a pick-up-and-read-cover-to-cover book for those curious about the micro/nanoworld, as well as a classroom-tested, student-and-professor-approved text ideal for an undergraduate-level university course. Lecture slides, homework examples, a deconstruction project, and discussion threads are available via an author-maintained website.

This is an outstanding overview of the history of the Earth from a unique planetary perspective for introductory courses in the earth sciences. The book approaches Earth history as an evolution, encompassing the origin of the cosmos through the inner working of living cells. Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet tells how the Earth has come to its present state, why it differs from its neighboring planets, what life's place is in Earth's history, and how humanity affects the processes that make our planet livable. Today's human influences are contemplated in the context of natural changes on Earth. This book brings a fresh perspective to the study of the Earth for students who wish to learn how our planet evolved to its present form.

'Understanding Earth' takes students step-by-step to an understanding of, and possible solutions for, a specific conceptual problem in geology, offering guiding questions and exercises.

Provides information about the chemical element silicon, explaining what it is, its characteristics, where it is found, how it was discovered, and how it is used.

Carbon in Earth's fluid envelopes - the atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, plays a fundamental role in our planet's climate system and a central role in biology, the environment, and the economy of earth system. The source and original quantity of carbon in our planet is uncertain, as are the identities and relative importance of early chemical processes associated with planetary differentiation. Numerous lines of evidence point to the early and continuing exchange of substantial carbon between Earth's surface and its interior, including diamonds, carbon-rich mantle-derived magmas, carbonate rocks in subduction zones and springs carrying deeply sourced carbon-bearing gases. Thus, there is little doubt that a substantial amount of carbon resides in our planet's interior. Yet, while we know it must be present, carbon's forms, transformations and movements at conditions relevant to the interiors of Earth and other planets remain uncertain and untapped. Volume highlights include: - Reviews key, general topics, such as carbonate minerals, the deep carbon cycle, and carbon in magmas or fluids - Describes new results at the frontiers of the field with presenting results on carbon in minerals, melts, and fluids at extreme conditions of planetary interiors - Brings together emerging insights into carbon's forms, transformations and movements through study of the dynamics, structure, stability and reactivity of carbon-based natural materials - Reviews emerging new insights into the properties of allied substances that carry carbon, into the rates of chemical and physical transformations, and into the complex interactions between moving fluids, magmas, and rocks to the interiors of Earth and other planets - Spans the various chemical redox states of carbon, from reduced hydrocarbons to zero-valent diamond and graphite to oxidized CO2 and carbonates - Captures and synthesizes the exciting results of recent, focused efforts in an emerging scientific discipline - Reports advances over the last decade that have led to a major leap forward in our understanding of carbon science - Compiles the range of methods that can be tapped tap from the deep carbon community, which includes experimentalists, first principles theorists, thermodynamic modelers and geodynamicists - Represents a reference point for future deep carbon science research Carbon in Planetary Interiors will be a valuable resource for researchers and students who study the Earth's interior. The topics of this volume are interdisciplinary, and therefore will be useful to professionals from a wide variety of fields in the Earth Sciences, such as mineral physics, petrology, geochemistry, experimentalists, first principles theorists, thermodynamics, material science, chemistry, geophysics and geodynamics.