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    • Science & Mathematicsx
    • National Academies Pressx
    • Chemistry
      March 2011

      Prudent Practices in the Laboratory

      Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards, Updated Version

      by The Committee on Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: An Update; National Research Council

      Prudent Practices in the Laboratory--the book that has served for decades as the standard for chemical laboratory safety practice--now features updates and new topics. This revised edition has an expanded chapter on chemical management and delves into new areas, such as nanotechnology, laboratory security, and emergency planning. Developed by experts from academia and industry, with specialties in such areas as chemical sciences, pollution prevention, and laboratory safety, Prudent Practices in the Laboratory provides guidance on planning procedures for the handling, storage, and disposal of chemicals. The book offers prudent practices designed to promote safety and includes practical information on assessing hazards, managing chemicals, disposing of wastes, and more. Prudent Practices in the Laboratory will continue to serve as the leading source of chemical safety guidelines for people working with laboratory chemicals: research chemists, technicians, safety officers, educators, and students.

    • Mathematics
      July 2012

      Fueling Innovation and Discovery

      The Mathematical Sciences in the 21st Century

      by Committee on the Mathematical Sciences in 2025; Board on Mathematical Sciences And Their Applications; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council

      The mathematical sciences are part of everyday life. Modern communication, transportation, science, engineering, technology, medicine, manufacturing, security, and finance all depend on the mathematical sciences. Fueling Innovation and Discovery describes recent advances in the mathematical sciences and advances enabled by mathematical sciences research. It is geared toward general readers who would like to know more about ongoing advances in the mathematical sciences and how these advances are changing our understanding of the world, creating new technologies, and transforming industries. Although the mathematical sciences are pervasive, they are often invoked without an explicit awareness of their presence. Prepared as part of the study on the Mathematical Sciences in 2025, a broad assessment of the current state of the mathematical sciences in the United States, Fueling Innovation and Discovery presents mathematical sciences advances in an engaging way. The report describes the contributions that mathematical sciences research has made to advance our understanding of the universe and the human genome. It also explores how the mathematical sciences are contributing to healthcare and national security, and the importance of mathematical knowledge and training to a range of industries, such as information technology and entertainment. Fueling Innovation and Discovery will be of use to policy makers, researchers, business leaders, students, and others interested in learning more about the deep connections between the mathematical sciences and every other aspect of the modern world. To function well in a technologically advanced society, every educated person should be familiar with multiple aspects of the mathematical sciences.

    • Mathematics
      May 2013

      The Mathematical Sciences in 2025

      by Committee on the Mathematical Sciences in 2025; Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council

      The mathematical sciences are part of nearly all aspects of everyday life--the discipline has underpinned such beneficial modern capabilities as Internet search, medical imaging, computer animation, numerical weather predictions, and all types of digital communications. The Mathematical Sciences in 2025 examines the current state of the mathematical sciences and explores the changes needed for the discipline to be in a strong position and able to maximize its contribution to the nation in 2025. It finds the vitality of the discipline excellent and that it contributes in expanding ways to most areas of science and engineering, as well as to the nation as a whole, and recommends that training for future generations of mathematical scientists should be re-assessed in light of the increasingly cross-disciplinary nature of the mathematical sciences. In addition, because of the valuable interplay between ideas and people from all parts of the mathematical sciences, the report emphasizes that universities and the government need to continue to invest in the full spectrum of the mathematical sciences in order for the whole enterprise to continue to flourish long-term.

    • Mathematics
      September 2013

      Frontiers in Massive Data Analysis

      by Committee on the Analysis of Massive Data; Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics; Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council

      Data mining of massive data sets is transforming the way we think about crisis response, marketing, entertainment, cybersecurity and national intelligence. Collections of documents, images, videos, and networks are being thought of not merely as bit strings to be stored, indexed, and retrieved, but as potential sources of discovery and knowledge, requiring sophisticated analysis techniques that go far beyond classical indexing and keyword counting, aiming to find relational and semantic interpretations of the phenomena underlying the data. Frontiers in Massive Data Analysis examines the frontier of analyzing massive amounts of data, whether in a static database or streaming through a system. Data at that scale--terabytes and petabytes--is increasingly common in science (e.g., particle physics, remote sensing, genomics), Internet commerce, business analytics, national security, communications, and elsewhere. The tools that work to infer knowledge from data at smaller scales do not necessarily work, or work well, at such massive scale. New tools, skills, and approaches are necessary, and this report identifies many of them, plus promising research directions to explore. Frontiers in Massive Data Analysis discusses pitfalls in trying to infer knowledge from massive data, and it characterizes seven major classes of computation that are common in the analysis of massive data. Overall, this report illustrates the cross-disciplinary knowledge--from computer science, statistics, machine learning, and application disciplines--that must be brought to bear to make useful inferences from massive data.

    • Science funding & policy
      June 2014

      Convergence

      Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond

      by Committee on Key Challenge Areas for Convergence and Health; Board on Life Sciences; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Research Council

      Convergence of the life sciences with fields including physical, chemical, mathematical, computational, engineering, and social sciences is a key strategy to tackle complex challenges and achieve new and innovative solutions. However, institutions face a lack of guidance on how to establish effective programs, what challenges they are likely to encounter, and what strategies other organizations have used to address the issues that arise. This advice is needed to harness the excitement generated by the concept of convergence and channel it into the policies, structures, and networks that will enable it to realize its goals. Convergence investigates examples of organizations that have established mechanisms to support convergent research. This report discusses details of current programs, how organizations have chosen to measure success, and what has worked and not worked in varied settings. The report summarizes the lessons learned and provides organizations with strategies to tackle practical needs and implementation challenges in areas such as infrastructure, student education and training, faculty advancement, and inter-institutional partnerships.

    • Genetics (non-medical)
      February 1984

      Genetic Engineering of Plants

      Agricultural Research Opportunities and Policy Concerns

      by National Research Council

      "The book . . . is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems . . . associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal . . . a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply . . . and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."

    • Science funding & policy
      February 1984

      Cutting Edge Technologies

      by National Academy of Engineering

      Experts in computers, biotechnology, structural materials, and transportation provide a concise introduction to the promising technologies in these four exciting fields that affect all of society. Each section begins with a brief overview of the field, followed by more detailed papers describing specific technological advances, their current and projected applications, and the obstacles that must be overcome to ensure future progress.

    • Astronomy, space & time
      January 1982

      Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 1980's, Volume 1

      Report of the Astronomy Survey Committee

      by Astronomy Survey Committee, National Research Council

    • Chemistry
      February 1985

      Opportunities in Chemistry

      by Committee to Survey Opportunities in the Chemical Sciences, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, National Research Council

      Opportunities in Chemistry is based on the contributions of hundreds of American chemists in academia and industry and should be taken as the best available consensus of the chemical community regarding its intellectual frontiers and the economic opportunities that lie beyond them," says Science. This volume addresses the direction in which today's chemical research is heading, including recent developments, technological applications, and the ways advances in chemistry can be used to improve the human condition. In addition, the book examines economic and political implications of chemical research and lists resources for basic research and education in the chemical sciences.

    • Ecological science, the Biosphere
      February 1986

      Acid Deposition

      Long-Term Trends

      by Committee on Monitoring and Assessment of Trends in Acid Deposition, Environmental Studies Board, National Research Council

      How damaging is acid rain? Current opinions differ widely, in part because for every proposed link between acid rain and adverse environmental effects an alternative explanation based on other phenomena can be or has been proposed, and in many cases cannot be readily dismissed. The specific areas addressed in this volume include the emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, precipitation chemistry, atmospheric sulfates and visibility, surface water chemistry, sediment chemistry and abundance of diatom taxa, fish populations, and forest productivity. The book then draws conclusions about the acid deposition-phenomenon relationship, identifying phenomena which are directly acid deposition-caused and suggesting others apparently caused by human activities unrelated to acid deposition.

    • Physics
      February 1986

      An Overview

      Physics Through the 1990's

      by Physics Survey Committee, Board on Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council

      An Overview: Physics Through the 1990's is part of an eight-volume research assessment of the major fields of physics that reviews the developments that have taken place and highlights research opportunities. An Overview summarizes the findings of the panels discussed in the other seven volumes and addresses issues that broadly concern physics.

    • Physics
      February 1986

      Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

      by Panel on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Physics Survey Committee, Board on Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council

      The goals of atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO physics) are to elucidate the fundamental laws of physics, to understand the structure of matter and how matter evolves at the atomic and molecular levels, to understand light in all its manifestations, and to create new techniques and devices. AMO physics provides theoretical and experimental methods and essential data to neighboring areas of science such as chemistry, astrophysics, condensed-matter physics, plasma physics, surface science, biology, and medicine. It contributes to the national security system and to the nation's programs in fusion, directed energy, and materials research. Lasers and advanced technologies such as optical processing and laser isotope separation have been made possible by discoveries in AMO physics, and the research underlies new industries such as fiber-optics communications and laser-assisted manufacturing. These developments are expected to help the nation to maintain its industrial competitiveness and its military strength in the years to come.This report describes the field, characterizes recent advances, and identifies current frontiers of research.

    • Biology, life sciences
      February 1974

      Amphibians

      Guidelines for the Breeding, Care and Management of Laboratory Animals

      by Subcommittee on Amphibian Standards, Committee on Standards, Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Research Council

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