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This opening article on similarity starts with a brief historical introduction to the subject and then considers the role played by similarity in the sciences at the present time. It is shown that all scientific concepts and classifications have a basis in similarity. It is also pointed out that similarity assessments are always to some extent arbitrary and so the concept can be defined only in relative...
This book, written by an international team of experts, introduces the reader to various aspects of complexity theory and its applications. It illustrates the latest trends in science to go beyond the mechanistic Newtonian view of the world by shifting the focus to self-organization, adaptation, and emergent phenomena. The authors discuss these properties of complex systems in biology, ecology and...
Discovery of the Periodic Table was rendered possible only after four decisive prerequisites had been achieved. These were (i) the abandonment of the metaphysical and occult notions of elements that typified the alchemical era; (ii) the adoption of a modern and workable definition of an element; (iii) the development of analytical chemical techniques for the isolation of the elements and determination...
For some 300 years the modelling of uncertainty in the sciences has been totally dominated by probabilistic methods. Now, following major criticism of the theoretical foundations of probability theory, other approaches to dealing with uncertainty are being explored.
Natural objects such as mountains, clouds, rivers and plants come in so many different shapes and sizes that a characterization of their forms in scientific language presents us with a major challenge. We explore here the progress made to date in getting to grips with the problem.
John Dalton, famed as the founder of modern atomic theory, first quantified our ideas on atoms and molecules. This article explores some of his lesser known contributions to this area, including his pioneering use of ball-and-stick models of molecules. Dalton's insights were so far ahead of his time that he can be justifiably regarded as the world's first stereochemist.
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