The pendulum is perhaps the simplest experimental devices ever constructed, and yet for all its simplicity it has historically enabled scientists to both investigate and enumerate gravity; the fundamental force that shapes the very universe. The pendulum has also allowed astronomers and geologists to measure the motion, mass and distribution of matter within the Earth, and its stately swing is at the very heartbeat of time. This book explores the many applications of the pendulum, from its employment as a fundamental experimental device, such as in the Cavendish torsion balance for measuring the universal gravitational constant, to its everyday, practical use in geology, astronomy and horology.

The pendulum is a universal topic in primary and secondary schools, but its full potential for learning about physics, the nature of science, and the relationships between science, mathematics, technology, society and culture is seldom realised. Contributions to this 32-chapter anthology deal with the science, history, methodology and pedagogy of pendulum motion. There is ample material for the richer and more cross-disciplinary treatment of the pendulum from elementary school to high school, and through to advanced university classes. Scientists will value the studies on the physics of the pendulum; historians will appreciate the detailed treatment of Galileo, Huygens, Newton and Foucault’s pendulum investigations; psychologists and educators will learn from the papers on Piaget; teachers will welcome the many contributions to pendulum pedagogy. All readers will come away with a new awareness of the importance of the pendulum in the foundation and development of modern science; and for its centrality in so many facets of society and culture.

This open access book coherently gathers well-founded information on the fundamentals of and formalisms for modelling cyber-physical systems (CPS). Highlighting the cross-disciplinary nature of CPS modelling, it also serves as a bridge for anyone entering CPS from related areas of computer science or engineering. Truly complex, engineered systems—known as cyber-physical systems—that integrate physical, software, and network aspects are now on the rise. However, there is no unifying theory nor systematic design methods, techniques or tools for these systems. Individual (mechanical, electrical, network or software) engineering disciplines only offer partial solutions. A technique known as Multi-Paradigm Modelling has recently emerged suggesting to model every part and aspect of a system explicitly, at the most appropriate level(s) of abstraction, using the most appropriate modelling formalism(s), and then weaving the results together to form a representation of the system. If properly applied, it enables, among other global aspects, performance analysis, exhaustive simulation, and verification. This book is the first systematic attempt to bring together these formalisms for anyone starting in the field of CPS who seeks solid modelling foundations and a comprehensive introduction to the distinct existing techniques that are multi-paradigmatic. Though chiefly intended for master and post-graduate level students in computer science and engineering, it can also be used as a reference text for practitioners.

The book comprises a broad panorama of phenomena occurring in four major classes of radiophysical and mechanical systems — linear, nonlinear, parametric, and nonlinear-parametric. An analytical technique for the broad circle of issues under consideration is developed. It is presented in a user-friendly form, allowing its further direct application in research practices.Analytical methods are presented for investigating modulation-parametric and nonlinear systems, oscillating systems with periodic and almost periodic time-dependent parameters, effects of adaptive self-organization in coupled resonance systems and oscillating systems under the action of external forces, nonlinear with respect to the coordinates of excited systems.Of an interdisciplinary nature, this volume can serve as a handbook for developing lecture courses such as Fundamentals of Nonlinear Dynamics and Theory of Nonlinear Oscillations, Theory of Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, Fundamentals of Radiophysics and Electronics, Theory of Signals and Theoretical Radiophysics, Theoretical Mechanics and Electrodynamics.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2-6 October 2001

This book provides both an introduction to the philosophy of scientific modeling and a contribution to the discussion and clarification of two recent philosophical conceptions of models: artifactualism and fictionalism. These can be viewed as different stances concerning the standard representationalist account of scientific models. By better understanding these two alternative views, readers will gain a deeper insight into what a model is as well as how models function in different sciences. Fictionalism has been a traditional epistemological stance related to antirealist construals of laws and theories, such as instrumentalism and inferentialism. By contrast, the more recent fictional view of models holds that scientific models must be conceived of as the same kind of entities as literary characters and places. This approach is essentially an answer to the ontological question concerning the nature of models, which in principle is not incompatible with a representationalist account of the function of models. The artifactual view of models is an approach according to which scientific models are epistemic artifacts, whose main function is not to represent the phenomena but rather to provide epistemic access to them. It can be conceived of as a non-representationalist and pragmatic account of modeling, which does not intend to focus on the ontology of models but rather on the ways they are built and used for different purposes. The different essays address questions such as the artifactual view of idealization, the use of information theory to elucidate the concepts of abstraction and idealization, the deidealization of models, the nature of scientific fictions, the structural account of representation and the ontological status of structures, the role of surrogative reasoning with models, and the use of models for explaining and predicting physical phenomena.