Best of
Science

1944

How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method


George PĆ³lya - 1944
    Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be reasoned out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft--indeed, brilliant--instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem.

Theory of Games and Economic Behavior


John von Neumann - 1944
    What began more than sixty years ago as a modest proposal that a mathematician and an economist write a short paper together blossomed, in 1944, when Princeton University Press published Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. In it, John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern conceived a groundbreaking mathematical theory of economic and social organization, based on a theory of games of strategy. Not only would this revolutionize economics, but the entirely new field of scientific inquiry it yielded--game theory--has since been widely used to analyze a host of real-world phenomena from arms races to optimal policy choices of presidential candidates, from vaccination policy to major league baseball salary negotiations. And it is today established throughout both the social sciences and a wide range of other sciences.This sixtieth anniversary edition includes not only the original text but also an introduction by Harold Kuhn, an afterword by Ariel Rubinstein, and reviews and articles on the book that appeared at the time of its original publication in the New York Times, tthe American Economic Review, and a variety of other publications. Together, these writings provide readers a matchless opportunity to more fully appreciate a work whose influence will yet resound for generations to come.

Life Beyond Death


Abhedananda - 1944
    The present work is free from all prejudices and never subscribes to any of these blindly biased views.It has given an impartial or dispassionate view on spiritualism showing wisely and ably it's merits and demerits,it's bright and dark sides as well.All the problems of soul,pre-existence,immortality,reincarnation and eternality have been clearly solved by the Philosopher Saint Swami Abhedananda in these lectures in a remarkably lucid and characteristic style of his own.The Book,originally printed in the year 1944 has run into eight editions printed in 2005.

Atomic Spectra and Atomic Structure


Gerhard Herzberg - 1944
    The treatment is physical, rather than mathematical, with experiment serving as the starting point for theory. 80 illustrations.

Metals in the Service of Man


Arthur Street - 1944
    The distribution of metals is discussed, with an analysis of the Earth's crust and descriptions of the mining and smelting of metallic ores and of the blending of metals to form alloys. Later chapters look at the properties and uses of all the major and minor metals, the use of metals in nuclear energy, the shaping of metals for tasks as varied as the making of a needle and a high-pressure gas cylinder, the casting of a bronze statue and a large marine propeller, and the latest methods of steel-making. The 10th edition includes a chapter on the competitors of metals such as timber, plastics, and carbon fibres, and new sections on coinage, conservation of materials and energy, the revolutionary impact of the silicon chip, space travel, lasers, superconductors and new projects such as the Channel Tunnel. This book has been updated and expanded to coincide with the book's 15th anniversary.

The Wolves of Mount McKinley


Adolph Murie - 1944
    But man declared war on this cunning and powerful animal when cattle replaced the buffalo on the western plains, reducing the wolf's range to those few areas in the Far North where economic necessity did not call for its extinction.Between 1939 and 1941, Adolph Murie, one of North America's greatest naturalists, made a field study of the relationship between wolves and Dall sheep in Mount McKinley National Park (since renamed Denali National Park) which has come to be respected as a classic work of natural history. In this study Murie not only described the life cycle of Alaskan wolves in greater detail than has ever been done, but he discovered a great deal about the entire ecological network of predator and prey.The issues surrounding the survival of the wolf and its prey are more important today than ever, and Murie helps us understand the careful balance that must be maintained to ensure that these magnificent animals prosper. Originally available only in government publications which are long out-of-print, this account of a much maligned animal is now available in its first popular edition.