Masterworks of man & nature

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C. Wayne Smith

"Over the years, archaeologists have developed a number of techniques for conserving historical artifacts for future generations. Along with these techniques, researchers have developed a series of ethical principles for treating materials in a way that allows them to be not only observed and analyzed for the present, but also re-studied in the future. Conservation techniques used up to now, however, have provided artifacts only a limited lifespan, and in some cases they do not work well with waterlogged materials. Within the past few years, archaeological chemistry and concerns of longevity testing have become central issues in the development of conservation treatment strategies.". "Working with Dow Corning Corporation, Texas A&M's Archaeological Preservation Research Lab (APRL), and the Conservation Research Lab (CRL), Smith and his colleagues in AS&M's Nautical Archaeology Program set out to develop a series of chemistries and techniques that would provide successful and affordable treatment strategies for organic materials. In this ground-breaking description of the processes and materials that were developed, Smith explains these techniques in ways that will allow museums and historical societies to conserve more stable artifacts for traveling exhibits and interactive displays and will allow researchers to conserve new discoveries without sacrificing important information.". "Beyond the advantages offered by polymer replacement (Passivation Polymer) technologies, Smith considers a concept seldom addressed in conservation: artistry. Variance in equipment, relative humidity, laboratory layout, intended results, and level of expertise all affect researchers' ability to obtain consistent and aesthetically correct samples and require a willingness to explore treatment parameters and combinations of polymers.". "Smith prescribes an effective layout for day-to-day conservation of small organic artifacts and then examines some of the mechanical techniques used to process various organic materials from marine and land sites. He concludes with an exploration of new tools and technologies that can help conservators devise more effective conservation strategies, including CT scans and Computer Aided Design images and stereolithography.". "All archaeologists, conservators, and museologists working with perishable artifacts will benefit from the careful explication of these new processes, and those wishing to incorporate some or all of them will find the step-by-step instructions for doing so."--BOOK JACKET.

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Betty Miles

Discusses the ecological problems of land, air, and water pollution in the world today. Includes projects that illustrate these problems and possible solutions to them.

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Melvin Choon Giap Lim, ZhaoWei Zhong

This book showcases the application of carbon nanotubes as nanodelivery systems for copper atoms, using molecular dynamics simulations as a means of investigation. The nanodelivery system of the carbon nanotube presents the possible usage of the carbon structure in many areas in the future. This book is comprehensive and informative, and serves as a guide for any reader who wishes to perform a molecular dynamics simulation of his own and to conduct an analytical study of a molecular system.

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[edited] by Dimiter R. Avresky and David R. Kaeli

The most important uses of computing in the future will be those related to the global "digital convergence" where all computing becomes digital and internetworked. This convergence will be propelled by new and advanced applications in storage, searching, retrieval and exchanging of information in a myriad of forms. All of these will place heavy demands on large parallel and distributed computer systems because these systems have high intrinsic failure rates. The challenge to the computer scientist is to build a system that is inexpensive, accessible and dependable. The chapters in this book provide insight into many of these issues and others that will challenge researchers and applications developers. Fault-Tolerant Parallel and Distributed Systems is a coherent and uniform collection of chapters with contributions by several of the leading experts working on fault-resilient applications. The numerous techniques and methods included will be of special interest to researchers, developers, and graduate students.