Introduction to the Book

McLean, Adam. The Crowning of Nature. Hermetic J, no. 7 (Spring 1980) 12-17. Commentary and illustrations. Introduction to the book... 

In their introduction to the book Transforming Leadership (1986), John Adams and Sabina Spencer have argued that a manager has to be adept in each style. Both reactivity and proactivity are needed for effective managing ... 

Phospholipids, when dispersed in water, form spherical vesicular structures, an observation first made by Alex Bangham and Robert Home in 1952. An interesting and humorous account of the early work on liposomes has been published by Bangham as an introduction to the book by Ostro (1983) which is recommended reading for the interested student. 

Chapter 1 gives an introduction to the book some historical background, the purpose of the book, and some basic information on chemical information systems. 

Chapters by Heinz Harnisch and Arthur Toy provide rare insight into the field—from describing the circuitous paths scientists travel in developing industrial products to how basic phosphorus chemistry can be harnessed for the good of humankind. These uncommon reports were an interesting feature of the symposium and provide an introduction to the book. More detailed information on applied phosphorus chemistry is found in chapters 7,17,19, and 20. 

These notions have been introduced in order to describe random scale-invariant systems, whose importance had been recognized earlier. The manner in which this problem arose, appears clearly in the following text, taken from the introduction to the book The Atoms by Jean Perrin (1913). 

This chapter gives a general introduction to the book and describes briefly the context for which the editors established its contents and explains why certain topics were excluded from it. It covers the main raw materials based on vegetable resources, namely (i) wood and its main components cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, tannins, rosins and terpenes, as well as species-speciflc constituents, like natural rubber and suberin and (ii) annual plants as sources of starch, vegetable oils, hemicelluloses, mono and disaccharides and algae. Then, the main animal biomass constituents are briefly described, with particular emphasis on chitin, chitosan, proteins and cellulose whiskers from molluscs. Finally, bacterial polymers such as poly(hydroxyalkanoates) and bacterial cellulose are evoked. For each relevant renewable source, this survey alerts the reader to the corresponding chapter in the book. 

Abstract Concurrent Engineering (CE) was conceived as an important concept in the 80s of the previous century. It has been studied and practiced extensively since then in many forms and under various names. Although the term CE is not in frequent use any more these days, the concept has grown, both conceptually and in importance. Actually, the concept has become a precondition for current ways of working in complex, dynamic, projects, supply chains and networks. In this book, the concept of CE is explored both in research and in practice. Both history and the current situation are treated including the many still existing theoretical and practical challenges. This chapter provides an introduction to the book. 

The introduction to the book was written by Academician V. A. Kargin the individual chapters were written by the following Chapter 1 by Professor M. B. Neiman Chapter II by Candidate of Chemical Sciences A. L. Buchachenko Chapter in by V. V. Mikhailov and I. P. Maslova Chapter IV by Candidate of Chemical Sciences A. F. Lukovnikov and E. N. Matveeva Chapter Vby Candidate of Chemical Sciences B. M. Kovarskaya and Professor M. B. Neiman Chapter VI by Professor A. A, Berlin, Candidate of Chemical Sciences D. M. Yanovskii, and Candidate of Chemical Sciences Z. V. Popova Chapter VII by Candidate of Chemical Sciences I. I. Levantovskaya Chapter VIH by Candidate of Chemical Sciences B. M. Kovarskaya Chapter IX by Academician Professor K. A, Andrianov Chapter Xby Professor A. S. Kuz minskii and Chapter XI by Professor G. L. Slonimskii. 

One of the most interesting areas of application is in biological systems. In the introduction to the book it was pointed out that natural polymers are one of nature s oldest materials. New polymers are in use to help nature in biological systems, particularly in medicine. The applications in medicine are a good starting point for discussion since they include both mechanical and chemical applications and show the makeup of the field we could call bioplastics. 

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