Systems thinking/analysis is widely applied for solving complex problems in engineering and certain other fields. Astrobiology, which inherently involves complex problems, can benefit from such an approach.

Human benefit from the organic chemistry of plants is incalculable in terms of health, food, comfort and security. Indeed, the future well-being of humanity rests in significant measure upon a responsible relationship with the plant kingdom in order to re-establish balance in the Earth’s natural environmental systems.

Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences, provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific disciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the clas­ sical techniques of applied mathematics.

This book develops the mathematical tools essential for students in the life sciences to describe interacting systems and predict their behavior. From predator-prey populations in an ecosystem, to hormone regulation within the body, the natural world abounds in dynamical systems that affect us profoundly. Complex feedback relations and counter-intuitive responses are common in nature; this book develops the quantitative skills needed to explore these interactions.

Differential equations are t...

“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review “A powerful, and in many [ways] insightful, explanation as to why grandiose programs of social reform, not to mention revolution, so often end in tragedy. . . .

An important critique of visionary state planning.”—Robert Heilbroner, Lingua Franca Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times...

The Fontana History of Chemistry, which draws extensively on both the author’s own original research and that of other scholars world wide, is conceived as a work of synthesis. Nothing like it has been attempted in decades. Beginning with the first tentative chemical explorations where primitive technology and techniques were deployed, Dr Brock proceeds via the alchemists’ futile, but frequently profitable, efforts to turn lead into gold to recount the emergence of the modern discipline o...

Since the time of Aristotle, there had been a clear divide between the three kingdoms of animal, vegetable, and mineral. But by the eighteenth century, biological experiments, and the wide range of new creatures coming to Europe from across the world, challenged these neat divisions. Abraham Trembley found that freshwater polyps grew into complete individuals when cut.

This shocking discovery raised deep questions: was it a plant or an animal? And this was not the only conundrum. What of cora...

An Introduction to Drug Synthesis explores the central role played by organic synthesis in the process of drug design and development. Written by an experienced and talented author to complement his existing An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry, the book illustrates how organic synthesis makes important contributions throughout the drug design and discovery process - from the generation of novel drug structures to the improved efficiency of large scale synthesis. Avoiding excessively detail...

Dreamscapes of Modernity offers the first book-length treatment of sociotechnical imaginaries, a concept originated by Sheila Jasanoff and developed in close collaboration with Sang-Hyun Kim to describe how visions of scientific and technological progress carry with them implicit ideas about public purposes, collective futures, and the common good. The book presents a mix of case studies-including nuclear power in Austria, Chinese rice biotechnology, Korean stem cell research, the Indonesian ...