Best of
Technology

1992

Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World


Kevin Kelly - 1992
    Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things.

Modern Operating Systems


Andrew S. Tanenbaum - 1992
    What makes an operating system modern? According to author Andrew Tanenbaum, it is the awareness of high-demand computer applications--primarily in the areas of multimedia, parallel and distributed computing, and security. The development of faster and more advanced hardware has driven progress in software, including enhancements to the operating system. It is one thing to run an old operating system on current hardware, and another to effectively leverage current hardware to best serve modern software applications. If you don't believe it, install Windows 3.0 on a modern PC and try surfing the Internet or burning a CD. Readers familiar with Tanenbaum's previous text, Operating Systems, know the author is a great proponent of simple design and hands-on experimentation. His earlier book came bundled with the source code for an operating system called Minux, a simple variant of Unix and the platform used by Linus Torvalds to develop Linux. Although this book does not come with any source code, he illustrates many of his points with code fragments (C, usually with Unix system calls). The first half of Modern Operating Systems focuses on traditional operating systems concepts: processes, deadlocks, memory management, I/O, and file systems. There is nothing groundbreaking in these early chapters, but all topics are well covered, each including sections on current research and a set of student problems. It is enlightening to read Tanenbaum's explanations of the design decisions made by past operating systems gurus, including his view that additional research on the problem of deadlocks is impractical except for "keeping otherwise unemployed graph theorists off the streets." It is the second half of the book that differentiates itself from older operating systems texts. Here, each chapter describes an element of what constitutes a modern operating system--awareness of multimedia applications, multiple processors, computer networks, and a high level of security. The chapter on multimedia functionality focuses on such features as handling massive files and providing video-on-demand. Included in the discussion on multiprocessor platforms are clustered computers and distributed computing. Finally, the importance of security is discussed--a lively enumeration of the scores of ways operating systems can be vulnerable to attack, from password security to computer viruses and Internet worms. Included at the end of the book are case studies of two popular operating systems: Unix/Linux and Windows 2000. There is a bias toward the Unix/Linux approach, not surprising given the author's experience and academic bent, but this bias does not detract from Tanenbaum's analysis. Both operating systems are dissected, describing how each implements processes, file systems, memory management, and other operating system fundamentals. Tanenbaum's mantra is simple, accessible operating system design. Given that modern operating systems have extensive features, he is forced to reconcile physical size with simplicity. Toward this end, he makes frequent references to the Frederick Brooks classic The Mythical Man-Month for wisdom on managing large, complex software development projects. He finds both Windows 2000 and Unix/Linux guilty of being too complicated--with a particular skewering of Windows 2000 and its "mammoth Win32 API." A primary culprit is the attempt to make operating systems more "user-friendly," which Tanenbaum views as an excuse for bloated code. The solution is to have smart people, the smallest possible team, and well-defined interactions between various operating systems components. Future operating system design will benefit if the advice in this book is taken to heart. --Pete Ostenson

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire


James Wallace - 1992
    Part entrepreneur, part enfant terrible, Gates has become the most powerful -- and feared -- player in the computer industry, and arguably the richest man in America. In Hard Drive, investigative reporters Wallace and Erickson follow Gates from his days as an unkempt thirteen-year-old computer hacker to his present-day status as a ruthless billionaire CEO. More than simply a "revenge of the nerds" story though, this is a balanced analysis of a business triumph, and a stunningly driven personality. The authors have spoken to everyone who knows anything about Bill Gates and Microsoft -- from childhood friends to employees and business rivals who reveal the heights, and limits, of his wizardry. From Gates's singular accomplishments to his equally extraordinary brattiness, arrogance, and hostility (the atmosphere is so intense at Microsoft that stressed-out programmers have been known to ease the tension of their eighty-hour workweeks by exploding homemade bombs), this is a uniquely revealing glimpse of the person who has emerged as the undisputed king of a notoriously brutal industry.

Assembly Language: Step-By-Step


Jeff Duntemann - 1992
    It then builds systematically to cover all the steps involved in writing, testing, and debugging assembly programs. It also provides valuable how-to information on using procedures and macros. The only guide to assembly programming covering both DOS and Linux, the book presents working example programs for both operating system, and introduces Conditional Assembly -- a technique for assembling for both DOS and Linux systems from a single source file.

Accidental Empires


Robert X. Cringely - 1992
    Accidental Empires is the trenchant, vastly readable history of that industry, focusing as much on the astoundingly odd personalities at its core—Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mitch Kapor, etc. and the hacker culture they spawned as it does on the remarkable technology they created. Cringely reveals the manias and foibles of these men (they are always men) with deadpan hilarity and cogently demonstrates how their neuroses have shaped the computer business. But Cringely gives us much more than high-tech voyeurism and insider gossip. From the birth of the transistor to the mid-life crisis of the computer industry, he spins a sweeping, uniquely American saga of creativity and ego that is at once uproarious, shocking and inspiring.

At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program


Milton O. Thompson - 1992
    Thompson tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, the book profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for the program. Thompson has translated a highly technical subject into readable accounts of each pilot's participation, including many heroic and humorous anecdotes and highlighting the pilots' careers after the program ended in 1968.

The Very Efficient Carpenter: Basic Framing for Residential Construction (For Pros, By Pros Series)


Larry Haun - 1992
    A complete course in basic framing, including information on tools, plans, codes, permits, lumber and materials.

Automotive Technology: A Systems Approach


Jack Erjavec - 1992
    This enhanced presentation of the theory, diagnosis, and service of automobiles and light trucks takes into account all the latest trends, including variable valve timing, lift and variable compression ratios, fuels and alternative energy sources, as well as the latest engine designs and technologies. The "must have" information contained in this book will help readers understand and efficiently diagnose and service yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's automotive systems and vehicles.

The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century


Marshall McLuhan - 1992
    When McLuhan's groundbreaking Understanding Media was published in 1964, the media as we know it today did not exist. But McLuhan's argument, that the technological extensions of human consciousness were racing ahead of our ability to understand their consequences, has never been morecompelling. And if the medium is the message, as McLuhan maintained, then the message is becoming almost impossible to decipher. In The Global Village, McLuhan and co-author Bruce R. Powers propose a detailed conceptual framework in terms of which the technological advances of the past two decades may be understood. At the heart of their theory is the argument that today's users of technology are caught between two verydifferent ways of perceiving the world. On the one hand there is what they refer to as Visual Space--the linear, quantitative mode of perception that is characteristic of the Western world; on the other hand there is Acoustic Space--the holistic, qualitative reasoning of the East. The medium ofprint, the authors argue, fosters and preserves the perception of Visual Space; but, like television, the technologies of the data base, the communications satellite, and the global media network are pushing their users towards the more dynamic, many-centered orientation of Acoustic Space. The authors warn, however, that this movement towards Acoustic Space may not go smoothly. Indeed, McLuhan and Powers argue that with the advent of the global village--the result of worldwide communications--these two worldviews are slamming into each other at the speed of light, asserting thatthe key to peace is to understand both these systems simultaneously. Employing McLuhan's concept of the Tetrad--a device for predicting the changes wrought by new technologies--the authors analyze this collision of viewpoints. Taking no sides, they seek to do today what McLuhan did so successfully twenty-five years ago--to look around the corner of the comingworld, and to help us all be prepared for what we will find there.

Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry--and Made Himself the Richest Man in America


Stephen Manes - 1992
    Chairman and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is the most powerful person in the computer industry and the youngest self-made billionaire in history. His company's DOS and Windows programs are such universal standards that more than nine out of ten personal computers depend on Microsoft software. Under the "Microsoft Everywhere" rallying cry, Gates intends to expand his company's worldwide dominance to office equipment, communications, and home entertainment. Vivid and definitive, Gates details the behind the scenes history of the personal computer industry and its movers and shakers, from Apple to IBM, from Steve Jobs to Ross Perot. Uncovering the inside stories of the bitter battle for control of the expanding personal computing market, Gates is a bracing, comprehensive portrait of the industry, the company, and the man-- and what they mean for a future where software is everything.

Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge


Rudy Rucker - 1992
    An introduction to the coming revolution in art, technology, media, chemistry, science, and music discusses amino chemistry, manotechnology, high-tech paganism, teledildonics, and more.

Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation


K. Eric Drexler - 1992
    How can we understandmachines that are so small? Nanosystems covers it all: powerand strength, friction and wear, thermal noise and quantumuncertainty. This is the book for starting the next century ofengineering. - Marvin MinskyMIT Science magazine calls Eric Drexler Mr. Nanotechnology.For years, Drexler has stirred controversy by declaring thatmolecular nanotechnology will bring a sweeping technologicalrevolution - delivering tremendous advances in miniaturization, materials, computers, and manufacturing of all kinds. Now, he'swritten a detailed, top-to-bottom analysis of molecular machinery -how to design it, how to analyze it, and how to build it.Nanosystems is the first scientifically detailed description ofdevelopments that will revolutionize most of the industrialprocesses and products currently in use.This groundbreaking work draws on physics and chemistry toestablish basic concepts and analytical tools. The book thendescribes nanomechanical components, devices, and systems, including parallel computers able to execute 1020 instructions persecond and desktop molecular manufacturing systems able to makesuch products. Via chemical and biochemical techniques, proximalprobe instruments, and software for computer-aided moleculardesign, the book charts a path from present laboratory capabilitiesto advanced molecular manufacturing. Bringing together physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and computer science, Nanosystems provides an indispensable introduction to theemerging field of molecular nanotechnology.

Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines


Apple Inc. - 1992
    The Apple Technical Library provides Macintosh developers with the official treatment of all the major new technologies that Apple releases. Timely, accurate, and clear, this collection of books is the essential resource for anyone developing software for the Macintosh. You'll find definitive coverage of the newest and most important technologies, such as QuickDraw 3D and Apple Guide. You'll also find the classic cornerstones of Macintosh development, like Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines, MacsBug Reference and Debugging Guide, and Planning and Managing AppleTalk Networks. Care has been taken to provide the information using the most appropriate medium. From the multimedia presentations of Electronic Guide to Macintosh Human Interface Design to the electronic reference included with Advanced Color Imaging on the Mac OS, the material is presented in the way that allows you to access it most effectively. 0201622165B04062001

Artificial Life: A Report from the Frontier Where Computers Meet Biology


Steven Levy - 1992
    Some of these species can move and eat, see, reproduce, and die. Some behave like birds or ants. One such life form may turn out to be our best weapon in the war against AIDS.What these species have in common is that they exist inside computers, their DNA is digital, and they have come into being not through God's agency but through the efforts of a generation of scientists who seek to create life in silico.But even as it introduces us to these brilliant heretics and unravels the intricacies of their work. Artificial Life examines its subject's dizzying philosophical implications: Is a self-replicating computer program any less alive than a flu virus? Are carbon-and-water-based entities merely part of the continuum of living things? And is it possible that one day "a-life" will look back at human beings and dismiss us as an evolutionary way station -- or, worse still, a dead end?

On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site


Michele Stenehjem Gerber - 1992
    Located in southeastern Washington State, the Hanford Site produced the plutonium used in the atomic bombs that ended World War II. This book was made possible by the declassification in the 1980s of tens of thousands of government documents relating to the construction, operation, and maintenance of the site. The third edition contains a new introduction by John M. Findlay and a new epilogue by the author.

Practical Recording Techniques: The Step-By-Step Approach to Professional Audio Recording


Bruce Bartlett - 1992
    Filled with tips and shortcuts, this book offers advice on equipping a home studio (both low-budget and advanced), with suggestions for set-up, acoustics, choosing monitor speakers, and preventing hum. This best-selling guide also tells how to judge recordings and improve them to produce maximum results. Two extensive glossaries clearly explain audio jargon and sound-quality descriptions.NEW material includes: * Extensive coverage of digital recording technology and techniques, including computer DAWs and optimizing them for best performance* Extra coverage of the basics, such as speed of sound, inverse square law, sound-wave interference, reflection and diffusion * Comprehensive look at all types of microphones, including live-vocal, digital and headworn mics * A detailed instrument frequency range chart Also new to this edition is an accompanying audio CD (Mac and PC compatible), which will enable you to actually hear the effects and techniques described in the book.

How the World Was One


Arthur C. Clarke - 1992
    From submarine cables to fiber optics to neutrino and tachyon (faster than light) communications, he traces the global changes these innovations left or will leave in their wake.

Piping Handbook


Mohinder L. Nayyar - 1992
    That's why even the most experienced engineers turn to Piping Handbook, edited by Mohinder L. Nayyar, with contribution from top experts in the field. The Handbook's 43 chapters--14 of them new to this edition--and 9 new appendices provide, in one place, everything you need to work with any type of piping, in any type of piping system:design layout selection of materials fabrication and components operation installation maintenanceThis world-class reference is packed with a comprehensive array of analytical tools, and illustrated with fully-worked-out examples and case histories. Thoroughly updated, this seventh edition features revised and new information on design practices, materials, practical applications and industry codes and standards--plus every calculation you need to do the job.

Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories


Charles C. Kenney - 1992
    By the 1970s, however, it had become a sprawling empire with revenues of $2.5 billion. But hard times were ahead for this computer giant. . . . 16 pages of photographs.

The Dirac Equation


Bernd Thaller - 1992
    Its applications are so widespread that a description of all aspects cannot be done with sufficient depth within a single volume. In this book the emphasis is on the role of the Dirac equation in the relativistic quantum mechanics of spin-1/2 particles. We cover the range from the description of a single free particle to the external field problem in quantum electrodynamics. Relativistic quantum mechanics is the historical origin of the Dirac equation and has become a fixed part of the education of theoretical physicists. There are some famous textbooks covering this area. Since the appearance of these standard texts many books (both physical and mathematical) on the non relativistic Schrodinger equation have been published, but only very few on the Dirac equation. I wrote this book because I felt that a modern, comprehensive presentation of Dirac's electron theory satisfying some basic requirements of mathematical rigor was still missing."

Vital Circuits: On Pumps, Pipes, and the Workings of Circulatory Systems


Steven Vogel - 1992
    It is physically remarkable, bringing food to (and removing waste from) a hundred trillion cells, coursing through 60,000 miles of arteries and veins (equivalent to over twice around the earth at the equator). And it is also intriguing. For instance, blood leaving the heart flows rapidly through the arteries, then slows down dramatically in the capillaries (to a speed of one mile every fifty days), but in the veins, on its way back to the heart, it speed up again. How? In Vital Circuits, Steven Vogel answers hundreds of such questions, in a fascinating, often witty, and highly original guide to the heart, vessels and blood. Vogel takes us through the realm of biology and into the neighboring fields of physics, fluid mechanics, and chemistry. We relive the discoveries of such scientists as William Harvey and Otto Loewi, and we consider the circulatory systems of such fellow earth-dwellers as octopuses, hummingbirds, sea gulls, alligators, snails, snakes, and giraffes. Vogel is a master at using everyday points of reference to illustrate potentially daunting concepts. Heating systems, kitchen basters, cocktail parties, balloons--all are pressed into service. And we learn not only such practical information as why it's a bad idea to hold your breath when you strain and why you might want to wear support hose on a long airplane flight, but also the answers to such seemingly unrelated issues as why duck breasts (but not chicken breasts) have dark meat and why dust accumulates on the blades of a fan. But the real fascination of Vital Circuits lies neither in its practical advice nor in its trivia. Rather, it is in the detailed picture we construct, piece by piece, of our extraordinary circulatory system. What's more, the author communicates not just information, but the excitement of discovering information. In doing so, he reveals himself to be an eloquent advocate for the cause of science as the most interesting of the humanities. Anyone curious about the workings of the body, whether afflicted with heart trouble or addicted to science watching, will find this book a goldmine of information and delight.

Interconnections: Bridges and Routers


Radia Perlman - 1992
    People rely on them to do real work, such as handling bank transactions or making airline reservations. Routers and bridges are needed to form networks of reasonable size. To manage a network it is necessary to understand these devices.

A Guide to LATEX: Document Preparation for Beginners and Advanced Users


Helmut Kopka - 1992
    With this book you will: master the basics of LATEX and explore more advanced topics, including user-defined extensions; get up to speed with the latest LATEX extensions for adaptations to other languages; and benefit from detailed appendices, including the Command Summary and Summary tables.

The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog


Ed Krol - 1992
    The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog, 2nd Edition is a comprehensive introduction to the international network of computer systems called the Internet, a resource of almost unimaginable wealth.As a complete introduction to the Internet, this book covers the basic utilities you use to access the network: mail, telnet, ftp, and news readers. But it also does much more. The Guide pays close attention to several important information servers (Archie, Wais, Gopher) that are, essentially, databases of databases: they help you find what you want among the millions of files and thousands of archives available. There's also coverage of the World Wide Web. We've also included our own database of databases: a resource index that covers a broad selection of several hundred important resources, ranging from the King James Bible to archives for USENET news.So if you use the Internet for work or for pleasure -- or if you'd like to, but don't know how -- you need this book. If you've been around the Net for a few years, you'll still be able to discover resources you didn't know existed. Also includes a pull-out quick-reference card.Now more comprehensive than ever, here's what you will find in the second edition:An expanded, easy-to-use resource catalog. New and experienced users alike can refer to the catalog to discover what's available on the Net. Descriptions of three resources that serve as the Internet's "card catalog": InterNIC, GNN, and Almanac (what they are, what they're for). An explanation of multimedia mail (MIME): what it means, how to deal with it. An introduction to pine, a popular mail program that supports MIME. More on ftp-mail servers, and different kinds of mailing list managers, including Majordomo and Almanac. An introduction to xarchie, a popular X-based Archie client with an FTP client built-in, along with other improvements to the Archie service. What's new in the "white pages," or the Internet's telephone book. In particular, the book covers Netfind. An introduction to tin, another popular newsreader. New features of Gopher, including Veronica and Jughead. New coverage of the swais line-oriented WAIS client. An expanded list of internet access providers.

Inside Windows NT


Helen Custer - 1992
    The initial developer support for Windows NT has been phenomenal--developers have demonstrated more than 50 Windows NT applications only months after receiving the pre-release version of the software. This authoritative text--by a member of the Windows NT development group--is a a richly detailed technical overview of the design goals and architecture of Windows NT. (Operating Systems)Design: David N. Cutler

How To Write Macintosh Software: The Debugging Reference For Macintosh


Scott Knaster - 1992
    It presents comprehensive coverage of key topics every Macintosh programmer must master, including memory management and debugging techniques.

The Electrification of Russia, 1880-1926


Jonathan Coopersmith - 1992
    Jonathan Coopersmith has mined the archives for both the tsarist and the Soviet periods to examine a crucial element in the modernization of Russia. Coopersmith shows how the Communist Party forged an alliance with engineers to harness the socially transformative power of this science-based enterprise. A centralized plan of electrification triumphed, to the benefit of the Communist Party and the detriment of local governments and the electrical engineers. Coopersmith's narrative of how this came to be elucidates the deep-seated and chronic conflict between the utopianism of Soviet ideology and the reality of Soviet politics and economics.

Local and Metropolitan Area Networks


William Stallings - 1992
    Includes the full treatment of competing approaches of LAN and MAN technologies Details high-speed LANs: Gigabit Ethernet, 100-Mbps token ring, Fibre Channel, and ATM LANs Covers complete treatment of standards: IEEE 802 and ANSI standards, specifications from the ATM forum and the Fibre Channel Association, plus TCP/IP Presents structured cabling systems and cabling types Companion Web site at provides links to important sites, course support for instructors, as well as a link to the Computer Science Student Support Site maintained by the author

Queen of the Midnight Skies: The Story of America's Air Force Night Fighters


Garry R. Pape - 1992
    This book is the product of over twenty years of study and research. Its sources include the National Archives, Northrop Aircraft archived, the U.S. Air Force Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and interviews with P-61 test pilots, designers and engineers. \nGarry Pape\s previous works include books on the P-61 and the P-38 night-fighter versions. He is currently employed by Northrop, after years with Hughes and Lockheed, and lives in California. Brig. Gen. Ronald Harrison is an F-16 Wing Commander in the Air Force Reserves, and lives in Georgia as an attorney.

Mechanical Intelligence: Collected Works of A.M. Turing


Alan Turing - 1992
    Alan Mathison Turing (1912-1954) was a brilliant man who made major contributions in several areas of science. Today his name is mentioned frequently in philosophical discussions about the nature of Artificial Intelligence. Actually, he was a pioneer researcher in computer architecture and software engineering; his work in pure mathematics and mathematical logic extended considerably further and his last work, on morphogenesis in plants, is also acknowledged as being of the greatest originality and of permanent importance. He was one of the leading figures in Twentieth-century science, a fact which would have been known to the general public sooner but for the British Official Secrets Act, which prevented discussion of his wartime work. What is maybe surprising about these papers is that although they were written decades ago, they address major issues which concern researchers today.

DNS and Bind


Paul Albitz - 1992
    DNS is the system that translates hostnames into Internet addresses. Until BIND was developed, name translation was based on a "host table"--if you were on the Internet, you got a table that listed all the systems connected to the Net and their addresses. As the Internet grew, host tables became unworkable. DNS is a distributed database that solves the same problem effectively, allowing the Net to grow without constraints. Rather than having a central table that gets distributed to every system on the Net, it allows local administrators to assign their own hostnames and addresses, and install these names in a local database. This database is automatically distributed to other systems as names are needed.In addition to covering the basic motivation behind DNS, and how to set up the BIND software, this book covers many more advanced topics: how to become a "parent" (i.e., "delegate" the ability to assign names to someone else); how to use DNS to set up mail forwarding correctly; debugging and trouble-shooting; and programming. Assumes a basic knowledge of system administration and network management.Contents include:Background. How DNS works. Where to start. Setting up BIND. DNS and electronic mail. Maintaining BIND. Configuring hosts. Planning a domain. Parenting. Nslookup. Reading BIND debugging output. Troubleshooting DNS and BIND. Programming with the resolver library routines.

Mazes for the Mind: Computers and the Unexpected


Clifford A. Pickford - 1992
    "Pickover's dazzling array of tortuous mind-benders and arcane minutiae delights and surprises. It's easy to get trapped in his enticing labyrinth of seductive mind games".--Science News.

Quantum Electrodynamics


Joachim Reinhardt - 1992
    It is a thorough introductory text providing all necessary mathematical tools together with many examples and worked problems. In their presentation of the subject the authors adopt a heuristic approach based on the propagator formalism. The latter is introduced in the first two chapters in both its nonrelativistic and relativistic versions. Subsequently, a large number of scattering and radiation processes involving electrons, positrons, and photons are introduced and their theoretical treatment is presented in great detail. Higher order processes and renormalization are also included. The book concludes with a discussion of two-particle states and the interaction of spinless bosons.

Cybersexualities: A Reader in Feminist Theory, Cyborgs and Cyberspace


Jenny Wolmark - 1992
    This is the first anthology of the key essays on these potent metaphors. Divided into three sections (Technology, Embodiment and Cyberspace; Cybersubjects: Cyborgs and Cyberpunks; Cyborg Futures), the book addresses different aspects of the human-technology interface. The extensive introduction surveys the ways cyborg and cyberspace metaphors have been used in relation to current critical theory and indicates the context for the specific essays. This is an invaluable guide for students studying any aspects of contemporary theory and culture.* Brings together in a unique collection the work of key authors in feminist and cyber theory* Demonstrates the wide range of contemporary critical work* Challenges constructions of gender, race and class* An extensive introduction surveys the ways cyborg and cyberspace metaphors have been used in relation to current critical theory* Brief section introductions indicate the context for the specific essays

Prophets in the Dark: How Xerox Reinvented Itself and Beat Back the Japanese


David T. Kearns - 1992
    Now he tells how his "prophets in the dark" slashed costs, doubled production, and cut the product development cycle by a full year to get Xerox back on top. Photos.

Science with a Vengeance: How the Military Created the Us Space Sciences After World War II


David H. DeVorkin - 1992
    The science performed with these missiles was largely determined by the missile itself, such as learning more about the medium through which a ballistic missile travels. Groups rapidly formed within the military and military-funded university laboratories to build instruments to investigate the Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere, the nature of cosmic radiation, and the ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun. Few, if any, members of these research groups had prior experience or demonstrated interests in atmospheric, cosmic-ray, or solar physics. Although scientific agendas were at first centered on what could be done with missiles and how to make ballistic missile systems work, reports on techniques and results were widely publicized as the research groups and their patrons sought scientific legitimacy and learned how to make their science an integral part of the national security state. The process by which these groups gained scientific and institutional authority was far from straightforward and offers useful insight both for the historian and for the scientist concerned with how specialties born within the military services became part of post-war American science.

Finite Element Analysis of Composite Laminates


O.O. Ochoa - 1992
    To take advantage of the full potential of composite materials, structural analysts and designers must have accurate mathematical models and design methods at their disposal. The objective of this monograph is to present the laminated plate theories and their finite element models to study the deformation, strength and failure of composite structures. Emphasis is placed on engineering aspects, such as the analytical descriptions, effective analysis tools, modeling of physical features, and evaluation of approaches used to formulate and predict the response of composite structures. The first chapter presents an overview of the text. Chapter 2 is devoted to the introduction of the definitions and terminology used in composite materials and structures. Anisotropic constitutive relations and Iaminate plate theories are also reviewed. Finite element models of laminated composite plates are presented in Chapter 3. Numerical evaluation of element coefficient matrices, post-computation of strains and stresses, and sample examples of laminated plates in bending and vibration are discussed. Chapter 4 introduces damage and failure criteria in composite laminates. Finally, Chapter 5 is dedicated to case studies involving various aspects and types of composite structures. Joints, cutouts, woven composites, environmental effects, postbuckling response and failure of composite laminates are discussed by considering specific examples.