Why would I write a book on sleep? After all, everyone sleeps, it looks easy, and nothing much seems to happen while you’re doing it. That’s what I used to think before I started studying sleep. I first came across the intricacies and mysteries of sleep as an undergraduate studying psychobiology at UCLA in the 1970s. I was amazed at how...
Drawing on a wealth of new evidence from all sides, Triumph Forsaken overturns most of the historical orthodoxy on the Vietnam War. Through the analysis of international perceptions and power, it shows that South Vietnam was a vital interest of the United States. The book provides many new insights into the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963 and...
What is a realistic image? This is an age-old question in art, and a contemporary
question in computer graphics. This book provides a modern answer involving the
computer and a new definition of realism.
The classic definition of realism has been veridical realism. Does the picture pass
the comparison test? That is, would an...
Fully illustrated, easy to use, and completely up-to-date, Birds of the West Indies is the only field guide that covers all of the bird species known to occur in the region--including migrants and infrequently occurring forms. Each species is represented by a full description that includes identification field marks, status and range,...
In Mastering Bird Photography: The Art, Craft, and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior, acclaimed bird photographer and author Marie Read shares techniques and stories behind her compelling images, offering fresh insights into making successful bird photographs, whether you’re out in the field or in the comfort...
Spring in Action 2E is an expanded, completely updated second edition of the best selling Spring in Action. Written by Craig Walls, one of Manning's best writers, this book covers the exciting new features of Spring 2.0, which was released in October 2006.
Spring is a lightweight container framework that represents an...
Why are tennis balls fuzzy? How come birds don't tip over when they sleep on telephone wires? What makes yawning contagious? Why, oh why, do roosters have to crow so early in the morning?
Pop-culture guru David Feldman demystifies these topics and so much more in When Do Fish...
I know what you’re thinking: “Office? That sounds a bit dull.” But don’t let the name put you off reading this book. Although Microsoft Office can be used to manage your household accounts and write letters to the bank, it also enables you to enjoy fun projects like creating party invitations, making posters, planning...
This book gathers contributions by 16 international authors on the phenomenon “bats,” shedding some light on their morphology, the feeding behaviors (insects, fruits, blood) of different groups, their potential and confirmed transmissions of agents of diseases, their endo- and ectoparasites, as well as countless myths surrounding...
Game apps on iPhone and now iPad remain one of the most popular type of apps in the Apple iTunes App Store. Does Angry Birds ring a bell? What you were once able to do just for the iPhone (and iPod touch) is now possible for the popular iPad, using the new iOS 5 SDK.
The need for this project was born of frustration while working towards my
PhD. I was investigating optimization algorithms and was implementing
a large number of them for a software platform called the Optimization
Algorithm Toolkit (OAT)1. Each algorithm required considerable effort
to locate the relevant source material (from...
Technology today is growing rapidly, with all sorts of cool gadgets, applications, and games made thanks to the rise of computer programming. The Raspberry Pi is a crafty device that has promoted the teaching of basic computer science in schools, catching the attention of both young and old. Although learning to program offers a unique set of...