Böcker utgivna av Springer

In this book, Matej Kohar demonstrates how the new mechanistic account of explanation can be used to support a non-representationalist view of explanations in cognitive neuroscience, and therefore can bring new conceptual tools to the non-representationalist arsenal. Kohar focuses on the explanatory relevance of representational content in constitutive mechanistic explanations typical in cognitive neuroscience. The work significantly contributes to two areas of literature: 1) the debate between representationalism and non-representationalism, and 2) the literature on mechanistic explanation.Kohar begins with an introduction to the mechanistic theory of explanation, focusing on the analysis of mechanistic constitution as the basis of explanatory relevance in constitutive mechanistic explanation. He argues that any viable analysis of representational contents implies that content is not constitutively relevant to cognitive phenomena. The author also addresses objections against his argument and concludes with an examination of the consequences of his account for both traditional cognitive neuroscience and non-representationalist alternatives. This book is of interest to readers in philosophy of mind, cognitive science and neuroscience.

This book introduces a comprehensive and updated analysis of the role of public policies to promote territorial cohesion processes and trends in a given territory. By being the first book taking a reflective and holistic approach on how public policies can lead to more cohesive and balanced territories, it advances theoretical avenues for academics and showcases current academic research to policymakers and practitioners by focusing on how public policies, being implemented in different territorial scales (urban, local, regional, national, and European), can actively contribute to foster territorial cohesion trends in a given territory. This reflective approach provides an opportunity for thinking about what lessons can be learned from past and ongoing experiences and how they can improve future implementation of public policies more effectively and efficiently toward territorial cohesion, since all existing analyses show that at the national level, no European country has achieved territorial cohesion trends over the past decades. As such, this book acts as a valid and useful policy manual that effectively contributes to inverting current territorial exclusion trends at the national level, by highlighting best policy practices and a comprehensive introduction to contemporary thinking about how public policies can play a decisive role in boosting territorial cohesion processes in a given territory.

This book introduces undergraduate students of engineering and science to applied mathematics essential to the study of many problems. Topics are differential equations, power series, Laplace transforms, matrices and determinants, vector analysis, partial differential equations, complex variables, and numerical methods. Approximately, 160 examples and 1000 homework problems aid students in their study. This book presents mathematical topics using derivations rather than theorems and proofs. This textbook is uniquely qualified to apply mathematics to physical applications (spring-mass systems, electrical circuits, conduction, diffusion, etc.), in a manner that is efficient and understandable. This book is written to support a mathematics course after differential equations, to permit several topics to be covered in one semester, and to make the material comprehensible to undergraduates. An Instructor Solutions Manual, and also a Student Solutions Manual that provides solutions to select problems, is available.^

This book examines the interplay between cooperation on technical barriers to trade (TBT) in free trade agreements and the multilateral framework of the World Trade Organization. In recent years, TBT, especially differences in standards, have attracted increased interest and have been addressed as part of the WTO+ negotiated agenda in trade agreements. Because of a number of political and legal constraints, the process of further cooperation at the WTO have been stalled, which made free trade agreements a central pillar in setting the agenda of international trade governance. This leads us to rethinking the interrelation between the WTO and free trade agreements and to questioning the role of both fora in the future of trade. The book examines some TBT provisions in free trade agreements and highlights their positive and problematic aspects when it comes to the WTO-consistency and the ideas of open and inclusive trade. It also suggests that a more optimal way forward would be toincrease parallel work on TBT cooperation at the WTO, a more inclusive forum that could address issues of global significance, such as environmental protection and regulation of digital goods. The book explores the potential for trade agreements to advance the WTO agenda, but notes that the organization would need to adapt its institutional structure and governance in order to do so.Drawing on the example of the EU and US so-called "new generation" trade agreements, the book provides a detailed analysis of the various methods used to navigate TBT cooperation, and offers insight into how these agreements can serve as inspiration for future multilateral disciplines. This book is a valuable resource for trade law academics, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of technical barriers to trade, regional trade agreements, and the WTO.

The proceedings of the 2022 edition of the International Symposium of Robotics Research (ISRR) offer a series of peer-reviewed chapters that report on the most recent research results in robotics, in a variety of domains of robotics including robot design, control, robot vision, robot learning, planning, and integrated robot systems. The proceedings entail also invited contributions that offer provocative new ideas, open-ended themes, and new directions for robotics, written by some of the most renown international researchers in robotics. As one of the pioneering symposia in robotics, ISRR has established some of the most fundamental and lasting contributions in the field since 1983. ISRR promotes the development and dissemination of ground-breaking research and technological innovation in robotics useful to society by providing a lively, intimate, forward-looking forum for discussion and debate about the status and future trends of robotics, with emphasis on its potential role to benefit humans.

This book presents solutions to problems that are total and based on thinking about how and why humans have organized themselves. It discusses how to avoid the now well-documented Holocene Extinction, propelled by climate change, wars, resource depletion, desertification, degrading knowledge quality, famine, and deterioration of societies overall. It explains why we cannot respond effectively with hedonistic, incompetent, corrupt, and anarchistic "liberal democracy" and why neither personality cult regimes can suffice. The book offers a model of an organic social structure embodying a collective consciousness of communitarianism and Platonic-style ethos. Putting an emphasis on the re-establishment of Classical Greek virtue, it offers solutions to resolve identity politics, alienation, and meritocracy. While doing so, the author opposes the "everyone is equal" ideology to govern the section of policymakers, instead circumscribing "rights" in terms ofresponsibilities, prioritizing education and training to carry forth the ethos of valuing truth above materialism, and developing Durkheim's social brain via a new discipline, "sociointelligence". The book goes on to explain how underpinning these elements is a comprehensive elucidation of often misunderstood words like "liberty", "freedom", "authoritarianism", and "democracy". All of these areas are arranged and combined in uniquely describing the organic society the author deems necessary to avoid human extinction. As a result, the book presents a "new organicity", where the emerging transhumanism seeks to transcend hydrocarbon-based life with humanly-constructed life.This book will appeal to students, researchers, and scholars of political science, philosophy, and the social sciences interested in a better understanding of complexity, democratic theory, Holocene Extinction, organic thinking, and meritocratic societies.

This book provides novel perspectives on ethical justifiability of assisted dying in the revised edition of New Directions in the Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. Going significantly beyond traditional debates about the value of human life, the ethical significance of individual autonomy, the compatibility of assisted dying with the ethical obligations of medical professionals, and questions surrounding intention and causation, this book promises to shift the terrain of the ethical debates about assisted dying. The novel themes discussed in the revised edition include the role of markets, disability, gender, artificial intelligence, medical futility, race, and transhumanism. Ideal for advanced courses in bioethics and healthcare ethics, the book illustrates how social and technological developments will shape debates about assisted dying in the years to come.

This book frames a series of protests occurred in Brazil from 2013 to 2016 as exemplary cases of global trends in contentious politics to analyze the tension between two forms of collective action: the militant (militante) and the prefigurative activist (ativista). Building on sociology, political science, and psychology, it explores the relationship between protestors' activities and conceptions of political participation with their subjectivity and agency. The protest cycle triggered by the June 2013 events in Brazil gave strength and popularity to repertoires and strategies of collective action uncommon and innovative. Those praxes defied political parties' conventions, highlighted the limitations of militant unionist tradition, and brought prefigurative activism to the Brazilian left-wing agenda. In this book, Andre Luis Leite de Figueirêdo Sales combines theoretical tools and traditions from South and North America to build an interdisciplinary approach to Political Psychology and answer the question: what psycho-political differences lie behind the disparate forms of political action adopted by militantes (militants) and ativistas (prefigurative activists) in Brazil? Inspired by books of short stories, the chapters discuss different aspects of the distinction between militancy and prefigurative activism. On them, the author deals with problems such as: how are the ongoing changes in Brazilian protest culture connected with the rising popularity of autonomist movements across the globe? What differences does it make rooting protest strategies in principles like resistance or refusal? How does the culture informing militants and prefigurative activists' conduct affect their political goals and horizons? How does militant and prefigurative activist culture relate to militants and prefigurative activists' forms of political consciousness? A Political Psychology Approach to Militancy and Prefigurative Activism: The Case of Brazil will be a valuable tool for social movement researchers from different disciplines interested in understanding how can subjectivity be, at the same time, a determiner of activities performed in collective action, and determined by these same transformative deeds.

This book addresses the importance of language in matters of sustainability and incorporating such concerns in implementing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable language policy must aim to include all groups, including language minorities and marginalized populations, such as refugees and aid recipients, in conditions that allow for their inclusion in making and implementing policy. The book brings together nine studies covering such topics as language and digital resources, sustainable and inclusive multilingual education, national language policy, and language in peacekeeping operations. A final chapter addresses the crucial intersection between sociolinguistics and economics, and the implications of this for development and the SDGs.

This book explains the basic elements that readers need to know about amorphous silicon material and a-Si: H TFTs. It includes the main principles of the transistors operation, modeling and applications. Fundamentals about transport mechanisms in a-Si: H TFTs and the associated electronic properties are introduced and extended to design examples and strategies to build reliable, large-area, performance optimized circuits. The book also reviews the effect of the amorphous silicon nature and how it impacts the transistors properties and their relevant applications. Fundamentals are made as simple as possible to be easily grasped as they cover everything expected to be important for an easy understanding of the introduced concepts. The author's approach is geared toward undergraduate and graduate students, but the content is also appropriate for circuit simulator developers, integrated circuit designers and manufacturers, as well as everyone engaged in work on large area integrated circuit technologies and photovoltaics.

This book entitled "Nitric Oxide: From Research to Therapeutics" includes the most recent information about the role of Nitric Oxide (NO) in physiology, pathophysiology and its translation to therapeutics. The Editors are vastly experienced in the field of NO research. The international panels of contributors to the various chapters of the book are all well-established researchers and health professionals who have worked in different areas of NO physiology and pathophysiology, and have made a considerable impact in the field. The book is a comprehensive collection of the most recent information on NO as a physiological regulator and its diverse potential as a therapeutic target for the treatment for a variety of disease states. This compilation is aimed at professionals and students from both academia and the industry in the areas of basic biomedical and clinical sciences.

This is one of the first books to combine the current megatrend of digitalization and pricing as the most effective lever for increasing and sustaining profits. The book presents the basics of digital pricing as well as modeling methods and implementation examples. This structure helps in tackling the latest developments and challenges due to digitalization. Readers will gain a detailed insight into using innovative revenue and price models to generate a sustainable competitive advantage for their companies. The author uses his cross-industry experience to draw on several examples of innovative digital pricing approaches which can be applied in industrial sectors such as automotive, industrial goods and machinery, as well as service sectors like telecommunications, transportation and tourism.

This book provides an overview of a wide range of relevant applications and reveals how to solve them. Many of the latest applications in finance, technology, education, medicine and other important and relevant fields are data-driven. The volumes of data are enormous. Specific methods need to be developed or adapted to solve a particular problem. It illustrates data science in applications. These applications have in common the discovery of knowledge in data and the use of this knowledge to make real decisions. The set of examples presented serves as a recipe book for their direct application to similar problems or as a guide for the development of new, more sophisticated approaches. The intended readership is data scientists looking for appropriate solutions to their problems. In addition, the examples provided serves as material for lectures at universities.

This publication includes an unabridged and annotated translation of two works by Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-1777) written in the 1760s: Vorläufige Kenntnisse für die, so die Quadratur und Rectification des Circuls suchen and Mémoire sur quelques propriétés remarquables des quantités transcendentes circulaires et logarithmiques. The translations are accompanied by a contextualised study of each of these works and provide an overview of Lambert's contributions, showing both the background and the influence of his work. In addition, by adopting a biographical approach, it allows readers to better get to know the scientist himself. Lambert was a highly relevant scientist and polymath in his time, admired by the likes of Kant, who despite having made a wide variety of contributions to different branches of knowledge, later faded into an undeserved secondary place with respect to other scientists of the eighteenth century. In mathematics, in particular, he is famous for his research on non-Euclidean geometries, although he is likely best known for having been the first who proved the irrationality of pi. In his Mémoire, he conducted one of the first studies on hyperbolic functions, offered a surprisingly rigorous proof of the irrationality of pi, established for the first time the modern distinction between algebraic and transcendental numbers, and based on such distinction, he conjectured the transcendence of pi and therefore the impossibility of squaring the circle.

This book focuses on the management strategies of complex conditions of frail pediatric patients. The clinical condition of frailty is usually seen as the physiological and multidimensional decline of organ systems related to age: paradoxically, a frailty condition can also occur in children as a disability resulting from various congenital or acquired diseases. The fragile patients are more vulnerable to developing severe clinical events and often need surgical interventions. Moreover, those patients have significant morbidity and lower quality of life. The improvement in managing fragile patients has improved their life expectancy, but in most health care systems, the passage from childhood to adulthood is a critical point for the lack of medical figures able to provide the continuity of care. The book aims to provide guidance for dealing with medical and surgical emergencies and to develop short and long-term treatment strategies, and will provide an analysis of the different and the most innovative techniques. This book will be an unvaluable tool for Pediatric surgeons, Anesthesiologists, Critical Care Physicians, Hospital and family Pediatricians, nurses, Physiotherapists and Psychologists.

This collection focuses on the role of higher education institutions concerning datafication as a complex phenomenon. It explores how the universities can develop data literac(ies) shaping tomorrow skills and "formae mentis" to face the most deleterious effects of datafication, but also to engage in creative and constructive ways with data. Notably, the book spots data practices within the two most relevant sides of academics' professional practice, namely, research and teaching. Hence, the collection seeks to reflect on faculty's professional learning about data infrastructures and practices.The book draws on a range of studies covering the higher education response to the several facets of data in society, from data surveillance and the algorithmic control of human behaviour to empowerment through the use of open data. The research reported ranges from literature overviews to multi-case and in-depth case studies illustrating institutional and educational responses to different problems connected to data. The ultimate intention is to provide conceptual bases and practical examples relating to universities' faculty development policies to overcome data practices and discourses' fragmentation and contradictions: in a nutshell, to build "fair data cultures" in higher education.

The once esoteric idea of embedding scientific computing into a probabilistic framework, mostly along the lines of the Bayesian paradigm, has recently enjoyed wide popularity and found its way into numerous applications. This book provides an insider¿s view of how to combine two mature fields, scientific computing and Bayesian inference, into a powerful language leveraging the capabilities of both components for computational efficiency, high resolution power and uncertainty quantification ability. The impact of Bayesian scientific computing has been particularly significant in the area of computational inverse problems where the data are often scarce or of low quality, but some characteristics of the unknown solution may be available a priori. The ability to combine the flexibility of the Bayesian probabilistic framework with efficient numerical methods has contributed to the popularity of Bayesian inversion, with the prior distribution being the counterpart of classical regularization. However, the interplay between Bayesian inference and numerical analysis is much richer than providing an alternative way to regularize inverse problems, as demonstrated by the discussion of time dependent problems, iterative methods, and sparsity promoting priors in this book. The quantification of uncertainty in computed solutions and model predictions is another area where Bayesian scientific computing plays a critical role. This book demonstrates that Bayesian inference and scientific computing have much more in common than what one may expect, and gradually builds a natural interface between these two areas.

This book discusses the importance of socio-spatial patterns in cities that are embedded in the cultural heritage and self-understanding of a society, showing that Indian cities follow different urban concepts. In nine episodes (nine is a sacred figure), it highlights the principal influences and social impacts on cities from ancient times to contemporary city developments. As such, it provides planners and architects with insights that can easily be applied in contemporary cities and towns and help foster Indiäs cultural heritage¿a much-needed, but little-discussed approach.Indian cities are the result of various factors, some imposed, others following local traditions that shaped them. They were founded around social needs, landscape conditions and production routines, as well as the religious influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and animism. However, Western town-planning models are often implemented, blurring the traditional way of life in cities. For sustainable town development, it is of key importance to find solutions that deal with Indian city models.

This volume presents current developments in the fields of banking and finance from an international perspective. Featuring contributions from the 6th International Conference on Banking and Finance Perspectives (ICBFP), this volume serves as a valuable forum for discussing current issues and trends in the banking and financial sectors, especially in light of the global economic challenges triggered by financial institutions. Using the latest theoretical models, new perspectives are brought to topics such as international monetary policy, Islamic finance, microfinance, fintech, and capital flight. Offering an opportunity to explore the challenges of a rapidly changing industry, this volume will be of interest to academics, policy makers, and scholars in the fields of banking, insurance, and finance.

As the current capitalist system has been increasingly struggling to respond to the problems and uncertainties in the global economy, this book aims to identify the main economic, social, and ecological problems and discusses solutions for a more inclusive and sustainable economic system. Written by an international selection of contributors, it takes a wider perspective beyond classical orthodox economics. By doing so, this book covers a wide range of topics, such as global warming and climate change, food and energy scarcity, rising inequality and debt issues, health, ecological, economic, and political crises, degrowth, green new deals, solidarity, economy, artificial intelligence, technological change, smart solutions, and smart cities. Discussing these topics, the book presents answers to the question of whether the current capitalist system is viable and provides suggestions for a fair, inclusive, and modern economic system. Taking a comprehensive approach, thebook will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of heterodox and alternative economics.

This book addresses the problem of multi-agent systems, considering that it can be interpreted as a generalized multi-synchronization problem. From manufacturing tasks, through encryption and communication algorithms, to high-precision experiments, the simultaneous cooperation between multiple systems or agents is essential to successfully carrying out different modern activities, both in academy and industry. For example, the coordination of multiple assembler robots in manufacturing lines. These agents need to synchronize.The first two chapters of the book describe the synchronization of dynamical systems, paying special attention to the synchronization of non-identical systems. Following, the third chapter presents an interesting application of the synchronization phenomenon for state estimation. Subsequently, the authors fully address the multi-agent problem interpreted as multi-synchronization. The final chapters introduce the reader to a more complex problem, the synchronization of systems governed by partial differential equations, both of integer and fractional order.The book aimed at graduates, postgraduate students and researchers closely related to the area of automatic control. Previous knowledge of linear algebra, classical and fractional calculus is requested, as well as some fundamental notions of graph theory.

This edited volume focuses on the interplay between sleep and circadian rhythms with health, aging and longevity. Sleep is absolutely important for human health and survival, as insufficient sleep is associated with a plethora of conditions, including the poor quality of life, onset of several diseases, and premature death. The sleep-wake cycle is an evolutionary conserved neurobiological phenomenon, and is a prominent manifestation of the biological clocks localised in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Understanding bidirectional relationship between sleep and circadian rhythms is of utmost importance and urgency, especially in the context of modern lifestyle where sleep is often out of phase with the internal body clocks, social jetlag, artificial lights and so on. The 25 chapters by leading researchers and experts from 11 countries are arranged into seven sections: understanding sleep and clock interlink in health and longevity; sleep, aging and longevity; clock, aging and longevity; melatonin, sleep and clock; genetic regulation of sleep and clock; therapeutic interventions in sleep disorders and clock misalignment; and experimental models to study sleep and clocks in aging and longevity. This book is useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers, educators, and other biomedical professionals.

This book presents current trends in Mechanics of Time Dependent Materials. It covers a number of cutting-edge themes, such as characterization of linear and nonlinear mechanical behavior of viscoelastic materials and their composites, taking into consideration large deformations, low, moderate and large strain rates, as well as failure and fracture phenomena. The contributions are inspired by advanced applications in modern technologies, such as injection molding and extrusion.

This book is reflecting upon core theories in evolutionary biology - in a historical as well as contemporary context. It exposes the main areas of interest for discussion, but more importantly draws together hypotheses and future research directions. The Modern Synthesis (MS), sometimes referred to as Standard Evolutionary Theory (SET), in evolutionary biology has been well documented and discussed, but was also critically scrutinized over the last decade. Researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds have claimed that there is a need for an extension to that theory, and have called for an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES). The book starts with an introductory chapter that summarizes the main points of the EES claim and indicates where those points receive treatment later in the book. This introduction to the subjects can either serve as an initiation for readers new to the debate, or as a guide for those looking to pursue particular lines of enquiry. The following chapters are organized around historical perspectives, theoretical and philosophical approaches and the use of specific biological models to inspect core ideas. Both empirical and theoretical contributions have been included. The majority of chapters are addressing various aspects of the EES position, and reflecting upon the MS. Some of the chapters take historical perspectives, analyzing various details of the MS and EES claims. Others offer theoretical and philosophical analyses of the debate, or take contemporary findings in biology and discuss those findings and their possible theoretical interpretations. All of the chapters draw upon actual biology to make their points. This book is written by practicing biologists and behavioral biologists, historians and philosophers - many of them working in interdisciplinary fields. It is a valuable resource for historians and philosophers of biology as well as for biologists. Chapters8, 20, 22 and 33 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The commercial operation of atmospheric water harvesting systems is still limited to few countries; this is mainly due to the low energy efficiency of the system and the inability to effectively operate throughout the various seasons of the year. Researchers have attempted to develop strategies to render the operation of atmospheric water harvesters easier and cost effective. This book covers work progress toward such direction, including among others the co-operation of these systems with renewable energy source and the adaptation of the systems to local conditions; the response of the communities around the world to such technology and how its implementation is affected by cultural believe, cost, and technological friendliness. The book is of interest to academic researchers, students, water authorities, professional in relevant industries, government regulatory bodies officers, and environmentalists.

This proceedings volume convenes selected, peer-reviewed papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Mathematics and its Applications in Science and Engineering ¿ ICMASE 2022, which was held on July 4¿7, 2022 by the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Romania.Works in this volume cover new developments in applications of mathematics in science and engineering, with emphasis on mathematical and computational modeling of real-world problems. Topics range from the use of differential equations to model mechanical structures to the employ of number theory in the development of information security and cryptography. Educational issues specific to the acquisition of mathematical competencies by engineering and science students at all university levels are also touched on.Researchers and university students are the natural audiences for this book, which can be equally appealing to practitioners seeking up-to-date techniques in mathematical applications to different contexts and disciplines.

According to UN estimates, approximately nearly half of the world's population now lives in cities and that figure is expected to rise to almost 70% by 2050. Cities now account for around 70% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and this percentage is predicted to rise in the near future as a result of projected increases in global urbanization patterns. It is widely acknowledged that irrational urban planning and design can increase emissions while also exacerbating threats and risks, resulting in a slew of environmental issues such as urban heat islands, air pollution, flooding, amongst other issues, as well as environmental, social, and economic losses. Therefore, these concerns must be addressed promptly in order to cope up with these rising difficulties and make urban environments safer for residents. With the advancement of remote sensing technology and the use of current remote observation systems, urban data science, remote sensing, and artificialintelligence (AI), modeling and quantifying emergent difficulties in urban regions and urban systems have become easy. They aid in the quantitative analysis of urban shape, functions, and human behavior in cities. Harvesting data, developing models, and suggesting new methodologies will be aided by combining urban ecology with new breakthroughs in data science. This book is of great value to a diverse group of academicians, scientists, students, environmentalists, meteorologists, urban planners, remote sensing and GIS experts with a common interest in geospatial sciences within the earth environmental sciences, as well as human and social sciences.

This book provides a comprehensive technical and scientific overview of the surface modification of titanium dental implants. Coverage ranges from basic concepts of surface modification to advanced micro- and nano-engineering strategies employed to achieve augmented bioactivity to meet the needs of compromised patient conditions. A special focus of the book is advanced state-of-the-art electrochemically anodized nanostructures fabricated on implants towards enhanced bioactivity and local therapy.Surface Modification of Titanium Dental Implants will keep you current in the domain of titanium dental implants and will provide an improved understanding of their performance and application. The book will benefit engineers, clinicians, and researchers in biomaterials, biomedical engineering, dental and bone implants, nano-engineering, and technology.

The concepts of the neuroendocrine system and the immune system emerged more or less simultaneously in the second half of the 20th century. Although these systems have a high degree of autonomy, it has also become clear that they interact in many ways and at different levels. This book focuses on the neuroendocrine and immune interactions that are fundamental to normal development and maintenance of health.The first introductory chapters are devoted to the historical and philosophical concepts within the field, as well as evolutionary considerations, offering critical interdisciplinary perspectives on the development of this field of research. Without attempting an exhaustive overview, the book then introduces some of the regulatory pathways that mediate interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems and examines modulating factors such as age and sex. In addition, several chapters address the importance of neuroendocrine-immune interactions in some disease states. Readers can expect to gain a broad perspective of neuroendocrine-immune interactions in development, health, and disease, along with a critical evaluation of current methods used in the field. Given its scope, the book is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in neuroendocrinology, neuroimmunology, and neuroscience, as well as postdoctoral fellows and established researchers seeking a comprehensive overview and historical perspective of the field of neuroendocrine-immune interactions.

​This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics--despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist--and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer's conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematics can be explained by its "existence" in an independent platonic realm, as Gödel believed.The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics.