From Teflon to Velcro, from bandwidths to base pairs, the artifacts of engineering and technology reflect the broad scope--and frustrating limitations--of our imagination. Best-selling author James Adams takes readers on an enlightening tour of this exciting world, demystifying such endeavors as design, research, and manufacturing.

The book describes a useful tool for solving linear inverse problems subject to convex constraints. The method of maximum entropy in the mean automatically takes care of the constraints. It consists of a technique for transforming a large dimensional inverse problem into a small dimensional non-linear variational problem.A variety of mathematical aspects of the maximum entropy method are explored as well.

Bruno Latour has written a unique and wonderful tale of a technological dream gone wrong. The story of the birth and death of Aramis—the guided-transportation system intended for Paris—is told in this thought-provoking and fictional account by several different parties: an engineer and his professor; company executives and elected officials; a sociologist; and finally Aramis itself, who delivers a passionate plea on behalf of technological innovations that risk being abandoned by their makers. As the young engineer and professor follow Aramis’s trail—conducting interviews, analyzing documents, assessing the evidence—perspectives keep shifting: the truth is revealed as multilayered, unascertainable, comprising an array of possibilities worthy of Rashomon. This charming and profound book, part novel and part sociological study, is Latour at his thought-provoking best.

The bestselling business classic that Raytheon CEO William Swanson made famous. Every once in awhile, there is a book with a message so timeless, so universal, that it transcends generations. The Unwritten Laws of Business is such a book. Originally published over 60 years ago as The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, it has sold over 100,000 copies, despite the fact that it has never been available before to general readers. Fully revised for business readers today, here are but a few of the gems you’ll find in this little-known business classic: If you take care of your present job well, the future will take care of itself. The individual who says nothing is usually credited with having nothing to say. Whenever you are performing someone else’s function, you are probably neglecting your own. Martyrdom only rarely makes heroes, and in the business world, such heroes and martyrs often find themselves unemployed. Refreshingly free of the latest business fads and jargon, this is a book that is wise and insightful, capturing and distilling the timeless truths and principles that underlie management and business the world over. The little book with the big history. In the summer of 2005, Business 2.0 published a cover story on Raytheon CEO William Swanson’s self-published pamphlet, Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. Lauded by such chief executives as Jack Welch and Warren Buffett, the booklet became a quiet phenomenon. As it turned out, much of Swanson’s book drew from a classic of business literature that has been in print for more than sixty years. Now, in a new edition revised and updated for business readers today, we are reissuing the 1944 classic that inspired a number of Swanson’s “rules”: The Unwritten Laws of Business. Filled with sage advice and written in a spare, engaging style, The Unwritten Laws of Business offers insights on working with others, reporting to a boss, organizing a project, running a meeting, advancing your career, and more. Here’s just a sprinkling of the old-fashioned, yet surprisingly relevant, wisdom you’ll find in these pages: If you have no intention of listening to, considering, and perhaps using, someone’s opinion, don’t ask for it. Count any meeting a failure that does not end up with a definite understanding as to what’s going to be done, who’s going to do it, and when. The common belief that everyone can do anything if they just try hard enough is a formula for inefficiency at best and for complete failure at worst. It is natural enough to “look out for Number One first,” but when you do, your associates will be noticeably disinclined to look out for you. Whether you’re a corporate neophyte or seasoned manager, this charming book reveals everything you need to know about the “unwritten” laws of business. From the Hardcover edition.

This anthology addresses several of the most central ideas in the field of public administration. These ideas are as relevant to public budgeting as they are to performance measurement or human resource management. Collectively and individually the essays explore what Dwight Waldo referred to as the ?political theories? of public administration: issues that are ultimately unresolvable yet crucial to understanding the nature of public administrative practice. How can democracy and efficiency be balanced? Can there be a science of administration? How should we think about administrative accountability? What is the nature of the relationship between citizen and state? Is professionalism an adequate mechanism for ensuring accountability? How efficient can or should bureaucracy be? What is proper leadership by administrators hoping to address political democracy and managerial efficiency? This ASPA Classics Volumes serves to connect the practice of public policy and administration with the normative theory base that has accrued and the models for practice that may be deduced from this theory.

Updated annually to include all the vital details of the latest admissions procedures, Getting into Oxford & Cambridge tells you everything you need to know to get onto the course of your choice. With invaluable information and step-by-step guidance, the book will lead you through every step of the process.

Serves as the focal concept in a search for a truly functional document access system, enabling us to stand back from the present, to look into the shadows of our current designs, marvel at the breadth of human search capabilities, recognize frailties in both humans and systems, and ask new questions as we grapple with navigating our information environment. O'Connor and Copeland offer three different arenas of nontrivial information seeking for our consideration: "Submarine Chasing" explores the thoughts of a highly decorated Cold War submarine hunter. "Bounty Hunting" involves a long and convoluted search for a reported bond skipper. "Engineering Design" presents a content analysis of the few works on epistemological foundations of engineering design activity. These stories, told at great length and in considerable detail, are framed within a foundational model that links the simple act of document seeking to the broader issue of making one's way through life in the physical world. In each case, the authors ramble, mull, and stumble upon ideas without the least prior constraint, developing some threads quite fully and leaving others to tease us, but never ever throwing us to the lions.