Search has been vital to artificial intelligence from the very beginning as a core technique in problem solving. The authors present a thorough overview of heuristic search with a balance of discussion between theoretical analysis and efficient implementation and application to real-world problems. Current developments in search such as...

Image synthesis, or rendering, is a field of transformation: it changes geometry and physics into meaningful images. Because the most popular algorithms frequently change, it is increasingly important for researchers and implementors to have a basic understanding of the principles of image synthesis. Focusing on theory, Andrew...

Thirty years ago mathematical, as opposed to applied numerical, computation was difficult to perform and so relatively little used. Three threads changed that: the emergence of the personal computer; the discovery of fiber-optics and the consequent development of the modern internet; and the building of the Three “M’s”...

Beautiful mathematical ideas abound in multimedia software! Some are not encountered until late in undergraduate or even postgraduate study, whereas they can be appreciated and used much earlier. This book presents a few dozen such pearls, strung together by their ubiquity in many applications. It is based on the course Topics in...

This book is concerned with the study of continuum mechanics applied to biological systems, i.e., continuum biomechanics. This vast and exciting subject allows description of when a bone may fracture due to excessive loading, how blood behaves as both a solid and fluid, down to how cells respond to mechanical forces that lead to changes in...

Planetary Science is an exciting, fast-moving, interdisciplinary field with courses taught in a wide range of departments, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, earth sciences and biology. Planets and Planetary Systems is a well-written, concise introductory textbook on the science of planets within our own and other solar...

Electrotherapy is fast gaining mainstream acceptance, no doubt due to the growing mountain of clinical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness. To meet the growing demand for information, this scientifically rigorous guide gives healthcare professionals and engineers essential technical, biological, and clinical background together with...

Books on regression and the analysis of variance abound-many are introductory, many are theoretical. While most of them do serve a purpose, the fact remains that data analysis cannot be properly learned without actually doing it, and this means using a statistical software package. There are many of these to choose from as well, all with...