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...

“I raised my own freethinking sons not that long ago, and I had little choice but to do it without much practical support. This book is the best, most comprehensive com­pendium of secular parenting strategies and tips I can imagine. It shows how, without the aid of any supernatural overseer, you can raise kids who...

This handy, compact guide teaches you to use Mac OS X UNIX systems as the experts do: from the command line. Try out more than 1,000 commands to find and get software, monitor system health and security, and access network resources. Apply the skills you learn from this book to...

A practical guide for learning functional programming directly through the diagrams used to define functions, this book describes, and provides access to, a system that gives a level of support akin to that provided in word processing. The approach used allows the schematic diagrams used in program design to be directly translated into usable...

Just a few years ago, most pet rabbits were kept outdoors in hutches. That time is past. Today, pet rabbits are considered to be members of...

Winner, 2009 Sally Hacker Prize given by the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). and Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2006

Technology matters, writes David Nye, because it is inseparable from being human. We have used tools for more than 100,000 years, and their central purpose has not always been to...

Programmers are inundated with information about application programming interfaces, or APIs. Yet, while most programmers use APIs and the libraries that implement them in almost every application they write, relatively few create and disseminate new, widely applicable, APIs. Indeed, programmers seem to prefer to “roll their own”...

This...

You probably pick up a pencil every day: but have you ever wondered how it's actually made? From chocolate bars to violins, "See How It's Made" lifts the lid on all kinds of everyday objects, foods and toys, revealing the amazing ways they are designed and manufactured. Venture behind the scenes right into the heart of busy...