This is a rather unusual book on the psychology of religion. As usual I try my very best to set down what is empirically true in the light of what is now extensive evidence on this subject. But I also take a sympathetic view of religion—I have faith in both enterprises, psychology and religion, and believe that in the end they can be...

Most nonlinear differential equations arising in natural sciences admit chaotic behaviour and cannot be solved analytically. Integrable systems lie on the other extreme. They possess regular, stable, and well behaved solutions known as solitons and instantons. These solutions play important roles in pure and applied mathematics as well as in...

Due to the current revolution in brain research the search for the “moral brain” became a serious endeavour. Nowadays, neural circuits that are indispensable for moral and social behaviour are discovered and the brains of psychopaths and criminals - the classical anti-heroes of morality - are scanned with curiosity, even...

Understanding elastomer friction is essential for the development of tyres, but also for sealings and other components. Thus it is of great technical importance. There are many aspects to modelling frictional processes in which an elastomer is interacting with a rough surface, ranging from theoretical formulations, leading to reduced and...

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behaviour? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally...

A large number of physical phenomena are modeled by nonlinear partial differential equations, subject to appropriate initial/ boundary conditions; these equations, in general, do not admit exact solution. The present monograph gives constructive mathematical techniques which bring out large time behavior of solutions of these model equations....

Fluid mechanics is often seen as the most difficult core subject encountered by engineering students. The problem stems from the necessity to visualise complex flow patterns and fluid behaviour modelled by high level mathematics. This text overcomes this difficulty by introducing the concepts through everyday examples, before moving on to the...

Automatic feedback control systems play crucial roles in many fields, including manufacturing industries, communications, naval and space systems. At its simplest, a control system represents a feedback loop in which the difference between the ideal (input) and actual (output) signals is used to modify the behaviour of the system. Control...

To many astrophysicists, Stellar P larimetry is a Cinderella subject considered as being so insignificant and, at the same time, being so esoteric as to be ignored and left alone. Others have followed and developed the theme with an enthusiastic passion. There can be no doubt, however, that the study of polarization within Astronomy has a...

This is the first complete account of the physics of the creep and fracture of ice, and their interconnectivity. It investigates the deformation of low-pressure ice, which is fundamental to glaciers, polar ice sheets and the uppermost region of icy moons of the outer Solar System. The book discusses ice structure and its defects, and...