Bøger af Peter Ryan

Post-Apocalyptic Science FictionIn the early twenty-first century catastrophe strikes, shattering the Earth's timelines and leaving in its wake a bleak, post-apocalyptic future. The world realigns. With past and future fractured, communities desperately cluster together for protection from marauding War Clans and predatory Scythers. Humanity is under attack from the worst enemy it's ever faced: humankind itself. In this climate of terror, a new breed of enforcer is needed-the Keepers.

Two men. One conspiracy. No time to waste.It's post-Brexit London, and the City is awash with illicit funds. With the country's security apparatus reeling from a lack of intelligence and operational capacity, an international terrorist with powerful mob connections seizes an opportunity to hack in and cash out. And now, it's only London's finest discretion consultants that stand between him and the City's utter demise.Bestriding London's subculture scene has led to experiences of a lifetime for discretion consultants Horrace Keyes and 'Fullon' Willy Watson. But when a menacing underworld boss approaches them, looking for dirt on a fast-rising politician, they are thrust into a maelstrom of terrorism, politics, and the murky world of high finance. What was once a wild and carefree existence is now a whirlwind of conspiracy, intrigue, and death.Keyes and Watson need to use their hard-kept secrets to survive, but doing so could kill them. The stakes are high. The clock is ticking. Game on.

As computer technology is used to control critical systems to an increasing degree, it is vital that the methods for developing and understanding these systems are substantially improved. The mathematical and scientific foundations currently used are extremely limited which means that their correctness and reliability cannot be ensured to an acceptable level. Systems engineering needs to become a fully fledged scientific discipline and formal methods, which are characterised by their firm mathematical foundations, are playing a vital role in achieving this transition. This volume is based on the proceedings of the Formal Methods Workshop (FM91), held in Drymen, Scotland, 24-27 September 1991. This was the second workshop sponsored by the Canadian and US governments to address the role of formal methods in the development of digital systems. Traditionally, formal methods have evolved in isolation from more conventional approaches, and one of the aims of this workshop was to emphasise the benefits of integrating the two areas. The workshop concentrated on the themes of quality assurance, design methods and mathematical modelling techniques. Particular emphasis was given to safety and security applications. Among the topics covered in this volume are: what is a formal method?; social research on formal methods; current quality assurance methods and formal methods; a pragmatic approach to validation; integrating methods in practice; composition of descriptions; and topics in large program formal development. Formal Methods in Systems Engineering provides an overview of many of the major approaches to formal methods and the benefits which can result from them. It is relevant to academic and industrial researchers, industrial practitioners and government workers with an interest in certification.

Environmental and Low-Temperature Geochemistry presents conceptual and quantitative principles of geochemistry in order to foster understanding of natural processes at and near the earth's surface, as well as anthropogenic impacts and remediation strategies. It provides the reader with principles that allow prediction of concentration, speciation, mobility and reactivity of elements and compounds in soils, waters, sediments and air, drawing attention to both thermodynamic and kinetic controls. The scope includes atmosphere, terrestrial waters, marine waters, soils, sediments and rocks in the shallow crust; the temporal scale is present to Precambrian, and the spatial scale is nanometers to local, regional and global. This second edition of Environmental and Low-Temperature Geochemistry provides the most up-to-date status of the carbon cycle and global warming, including carbon sources, sinks, fluxes and consequences, as well as emerging evidence for (and effects of) ocean acidification. Understanding environmental problems like this requires knowledge based in fundamental principles of equilibrium, kinetics, basic laws of chemistry and physics, empirical evidence, examples from the geological record, and identification of system fluxes and reservoirs that allow us to conceptualize and understand. This edition aims to do that with clear explanations of fundamental principles of geochemistry as well as information and approaches that provide the student or researcher with knowledge to address pressing questions in environmental and geological sciences. New content in this edition includes: Focus Boxes - one every two or three pages - providing case study examples (e.g. methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, origins and health effects of asbestiform minerals), concise explanations of fundamental concepts (e.g. balancing chemical equations, isotopic fractionation, using the Keq to predict reactivity), and useful information (e.g. units of concentration, titrating to determine alkalinity, measuring redox potential of natural waters); Sections on emerging contaminants for which knowledge is rapidly increasing (e.g. perfluorinated compounds, pharmaceuticals and other domestic and industrial chemicals); Greater attention to interrelationships of inorganic, organic and biotic phases and processes; Descriptions, theoretical frameworks and examples of emerging methodologies in geochemistry research, e.g. clumped C-O isotopes to assess seawater temperature over geological time, metal stable isotopes to assess source and transport processes, X-ray absorption spectroscopy to study oxidation state and valence configuration of atoms and molecules; Additional end-of-chapter problems, including more quantitatively based questions. Two detailed case studies that examine fate and transport of organic contaminants (VOCs, PFCs), with data and interpretations presented separately. These examples consider the chemical and mineralogical composition of rocks, soils and waters in the affected system; microbial influence on the decomposition of organic compounds; the effect of reduction-oxidation on transport of Fe, As and Mn; stable isotopes and synthetic compounds as tracers of flow; geological factors that influence flow; and implications for remediation. The interdisciplinary approach and range of topics - including environmental contamination of air, water and soil as well as the processes that affect both natural and anthropogenic systems - make it well-suited for environmental geochemistry courses at universities as well as liberal arts colleges.

Provides an evidence-based account of assertive outreach from a Strengths perspective.