springer berlin heidelberg springer aug 2011 (307 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The world as it is viewed from modern physics and cosmology has many strange and unexpected features. Often these are in stark contrast with our everyday experience or our preconceptions, such as the concept of space and time as finite and changeable. Nevertheless it is this strange world which is the fundamental basis of our existence. Therefore modern science also has a few things to say about the age-old questions: Who are we ¿ Where do we come from ¿ Where are we going The author, an experienced scientist and teacher, presents the knowledge that we have about our worldfor non-experts. He takes us on a journey through cosmology and the quantum world of elementary particles. And he sketches the impact of the insights gained into philosophical assumptions and religious beliefs in these disciplines. In the end he asks the speculative question whether there is something beyond the limits of the natural sciences.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book follows the evolutionary trail all the way from the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago to conscious life today. It is an accessible introductory book written for the interested layperson ¿ anyone interested in the ¿big picture¿ coming from modern science. It covers a wide range of topics including the origin and evolution of our universe, the nature and origin of life, the evolution of life including questions of birth and death, the evolution of cognition, the nature of consciousness, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the future of the universe. The book is written in a narrative style, as these topics are all parts of a single story. It concludes with a discussion on the nature and future of science.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The monograph deals with methods to determine mechanical properties and evaluate the flow curve of ductile materials from the tensile test. It presents classical hypotheses concerning the onset of neck creation as well as the state of the art in determining the mechanical properties from the tensile test, with emphasis on the consequences of the neck formation. It revises derivations of formulae for the stress distribution in the minimal cross-section of the axisymmetrical specimen in the classical approaches proposed by Bridgman, Davidenkov / Spiridonova and Siebel as well as in the less famous formulae derived by Szczepinski and Malinin / Petrosjan. The revision is completed with solutions evaluated by the authors. In the monograph, the simplifying assumptions utilised in the classical approaches were carefully verified by numerical simulations accompanied by theoretical analysis. Errors imposed in the evaluation of the average axial stress acting on the minimal cross-section as a result of every particular simplification are estimated. The accuracy of all formulae to evaluate the flow curve is discussed. The significance of a high accurate determination can be seen in the context of numerical simulation (e.g. finite element computations), where the total error and accuracy is partly based on the accuracy of the material input.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 100 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Imagine that you are the CEO of a software company. You know you compete in an environment that does not permit you to treat innovation as a secondary issue. But how should you manage your software innovation to get the most out of it This book will provide you with the answer.Software innovation is multifaceted and the approaches used by companies can be very different. The team of authors that wrote this book took the assumption that there is no such thing as a universal software engineeringprocess or innovation process. Some things work well for a certain company, others do not. The book is organized around what the authors call eight fundamental practice areasfor innovation with software. Each practice area contains a number of activities that can help companies to master that practice area. It also contains industrial experience reportsthat illustrate the applicability of these practice areas in software companies and is structured in such a way that you can select and read only those practice areas that are relevant to your company.The book is written with an industrial target audience in mind. Its most important goal is to challenge companies by offering them a framework to become more innovation-driven, rather than engineering-driven. Intrigued Here you will find details of what you and your company can do to understand, implement, and sustain continuous innovation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 224 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Founded in 1931 by Otto Neugebauer as the printed documentation service ¿Zentralblatt für Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete¿, Zentralblatt MATH (ZBMATH) celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2011. Today it is the most comprehensive and active reference database in pure and applied mathematics worldwide. Many prominent mathematicians have been involved in this service as reviewers or editors and have, like all mathematicians, left their footprints in ZBMATH, in a long list of entries describing all of their research publications in mathematics. This book provides one review from each of the 80 years of ZBMATH. Names like Courant, Kolmogorov, Hardy, Hirzebruch, Faltings and many others can be found here. In addition to the original reviews, the book offers the authors' profiles indicating their co-authors, their favorite journals and the time span of their publication activities. In addition to this, a generously illustrated essay by Silke Göbel describes the history of ZBMATH.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The two experimental studies reported in this thesis contribute important new knowledge about phase transitions in two-dimensional complex plasmas: in one case a determination of the coupling parameter (ratio of mean potential to mean kinetic energy of the particles in an ensemble), and in the other a detailed characterization of the non-equilibrium recrystallization of a two-dimensional system. The latter results are used to establish the connection between structural order parameters and the kinetic energy, which in turn gives novel insights into the underlying physical processes determining the two-dimensional phase transition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In the e-government research community as well as in many national e-government programs, interoperability is widely seen as a key factor in developing effective and attractive e-services. There is also agreement that interoperability encompasses not only mere technical standards and interfaces, but also includes organizational, legal, and cultural aspects. Several interoperability frameworks have been introduced on national and international levels, and recommendations have been made for the adaptation of enterprise architectures in the public sector.Common to all these approaches is their top-down deductive procedure, which does not connect very well to the real world of e-government projects. In contrast, in this volume, which is based on empirical research, the authors introduce a bottom-up inductive approach to deal with the challenges of interoperability-related governance. Based on so-called ¿good-practice¿ cases of interoperability in e-government, they derive concepts and classifications that help to uncover and assess similarities and differences between the cases. As a result, they present an empirically based conceptual framework that details the options for IT governance of interoperability in government. In addition, their findings also make it possible to critically assess and improve other existing frameworks.With this work, which combines different thematic foci as well as a European and a US background the authors situate empirical results in the broader context of theoretical and political reflection. Thus they provide insights into strategic choices for CIOs in e-government at a national or regional level, experiences and lessons learned for managers and developers in e-government projects, and a huge set of empirical data for administrative and politicalscientists.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 200 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Near-space is defined as the atmospheric region from about 20 kilometer (km) altitude to 100 km altitude above the Earth¿s surface. It has received much attention in recent years and several types of near-space vehicles are currently being studied, developed, or employed. ¿Near-Space Remote Sensing: Potential and Challenges¿ concentrates mainly on the role of near-space vehicles in bridging the gap between satellites and airplanes for microwave remote sensing applications, providing a top-level system description and aiming to encourage further research. Further, this book also describes several potential applications such as passive surveillance, reconnaissance, and high resolution wide swath remote imaging.The book is intended for geographers, transportation engineers and other researchers involved in remote sensing development and applications, in particular for near-space vehicles.Wen-Qin Wang is an assistant professor at the School of Communication and Information Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 128 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The present book is an English translation of Algebre Locale - Multiplicites published by Springer-Verlag as no. 11 of the Lecture Notes series. The original text was based on a set of lectures, given at the College de France in 1957-1958, and written up by Pierre Gabriel. Its aim was to give a short account of Commutative Algebra, with emphasis on the following topics: a) Modules (as opposed to Rings, which were thought to be the only subject of Commutative Algebra, before the emergence of sheaf theory in the 1950s); b) H omological methods, a la Cartan-Eilenberg; c) Intersection multiplicities, viewed as Euler-Poincare characteristics. The English translation, done with great care by Chee Whye Chin, differs from the original in the following aspects: - The terminology has been brought up to date (e.g. 'cohomological dimension' has been replaced by the now customary 'depth'). I have rewritten a few proofs and clarified (or so I hope) a few more. - A section on graded algebras has been added (App. III to Chap. IV). - New references have been given, especially to other books on Commu- tive Algebra: Bourbaki (whose Chap. X has now appeared, after a 40-year wait) , Eisenbud, Matsumura, Roberts, . I hope that these changes will make the text easier to read, without changing its informal 'Lecture Notes' character.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 144 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Reputation is the most complex asset of an organization. Despite the call for consistent management of corporate reputation comprehensive approaches to measure and steer a company' s reputation are still in their infancy. Reputation management aims at creating a balance between stakeholder demands, perceptions and corporate reality in order to foster behavior that helps a company achieve its business goals. It needs to be based on thorough research and requires orchestrated execution through management processes across organizational units, communication disciplines, and countries. This calls for a management system to establish a closed cycle of strategic planning, implementation, performance measurement, and reporting. The book gives answers to the following questions: What is reputation and which conceptualizations do exist What are the state-of-the-art methods and tools to measure corporate reputation What are best practice examples and future trends in the field of corporate reputation management Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 308 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book gives a comprehensive introduction to the modeling of financial derivatives, covering all major asset classes (equities, commodities, interest rates and foreign exchange) and stretching from Black and Scholes' lognormal modeling to current-day research on skew and smile models. The intended reader has a solid mathematical background and is a graduate/final-year undergraduate student specializing in Mathematical Finance, or works at a financial institution such as an investment bank or a hedge fund.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 332 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th Biennial Meeting on Mathematics in Language, MOL 12, held in Nara, Japan, in September 2011.Presented in this volume are 12 carefully selected papers, as well as the paper of the invited speaker Andreas Maletti. The papers cover such diverse topics as formal languages (string and tree transducers, grammar-independent syntactic structures, probabilistic and weighted context-free grammars, formalization of minimalist syntax), parsing and unification, lexical and compositional semantics, statistical language models, and theories of truth.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book introduces readers to and summarizes the current ideas and theories about the basic mechanisms for transport in chaotic flows. Typically no single paradigmatic approach exists as this topic is relevant for fields as diverse as plasma physics, geophysical flows and various branches of engineering. Accordingly, the dispersion of matter in chaotic or turbulent flows is analyzed from different perspectives. Partly based on lecture courses given by the author, this book addresses both graduate students and researchers in search of a high-level but approachable and broad introduction to the topic.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 368 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book contains extended and revised versions of the best papers presented at the 17th IFIP WG 10.5/IEEE International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SoC 2009, held in Florianópolis, Brazil, in October 2009. The 8 papers included in the book together with two keynote talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 27 papers presented at the conference. The papers cover a wide variety of excellence in VLSI technology and advanced research addressing the current trend toward increasing chip integration and technology process advancements bringing about stimulating new challenges both at the physical and system-design levels, as well as in the test of theses systems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 212 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -FOSAD has been one of the foremost educational events established with the goal of disseminating knowledge in the critical area of security in computer systems and networks. Offering a timely spectrum of current research in foundations of security, FOSAD also proposes panels dedicated to topical open problems, and giving presentations about ongoing work in the field, in order to stimulate discussions and novel scientific collaborations. This book presents thoroughly revised versions of nine tutorial lectures given by leading researchers during three International Schools on Foundations of Security Analysis and Design, FOSAD, held in Bertinoro, Italy, in September 2010 and August/September 2011. The topics covered in this book include privacy and data protection; security APIs; cryptographic verification by typing; model-driven security; noninterfer-quantitative information flow analysis; and risk analysis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Quantum mechanics is one of mankind's most remarkable intellectual achievements. Stunningly successful and elegant, it challenges our deepest intuitions about the world. In this book, seventeen physicists and philosophers, all deeply concerned with understanding quantum mechanics, reply to Schlosshauer's penetrating questions about the central issues. They grant us an intimate look at their radically different ways of making sense of the theory's strangeness. What is quantum mechanics about What is it telling us about nature Can quantum information or new experiments help lift the fog And where are we headed next Everyone interested in the contemporary but often longstanding conundrums of quantum theory, whether lay reader or expert, will find much food for thought in these pages. A wealth of personal reflections and anecdotes guarantee an engaging read.Participants: Guido Bacciagaluppi, Caslav Brukner, Jeffrey Bub, Arthur Fine, Christopher Fuchs, GianCarlo Ghirardi, Shelly Goldstein, Daniel Greenberger, Lucien Hardy, Anthony Leggett, Tim Maudlin, David Mermin, Lee Smolin, Antony Valentini, David Wallace, Anton Zeilinger, and Wojciech Zurek.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The availability of spatial databases and widespread use of geographic information systems has stimulated increasing interest in the analysis and modelling of spatial data. Spatial data analysis focuses on detecting patterns, and on exploring and modelling relationships between them in order to understand the processes responsible for their emergence. In this way, the role of space is emphasised , and our understanding of the working and representation of space, spatial patterns, and processes is enhanced. In applied research, the recognition of the spatial dimension often yields different and more meaningful results and helps to avoid erroneous conclusions. This book aims to provide an introduction into spatial data analysis to graduates interested in applied statistical research. The text has been structured from a data-driven rather than a theory-based perspective, and focuses on those models, methods and techniques which are both accessible and of practical use for graduate students. Exploratory techniques as well as more formal model-based approaches are presented, and both area data and origin-destination flow data are considered.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 92 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -¿General Relativity Without Calculus¿ offers a compact but mathematically correct introduction to the general theory of relativity, assuming only a basic knowledge of high school mathematics and physics. Targeted at first year undergraduates (and advanced high school students) who wish to learn Einstein¿s theory beyond popular science accounts, it covers the basics of special relativity, Minkowski space-time, non-Euclidean geometry, Newtonian gravity, the Schwarzschild solution, black holes and cosmology. The quick-paced style is balanced by over 75 exercises (including full solutions), allowing readers to test and consolidate their understanding.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 140 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This textbook introduces students of economics to the fundamental notions and instruments in linear algebra. Linearity is used as a first approximation to many problems that are studied in different branches of science, including economics and other social sciences. Linear algebra is also the most suitable to teach students what proofs are and how to prove a statement. The proofs that are given in the text are relatively easy to understand and also endow the student with different ways of thinking in making proofs. Theorems for which no proofs are given in the book are illustrated via figures and examples. All notions are illustrated appealing to geometric intuition.The book provides a variety of economic examples using linear algebraic tools. Itmainly addresses students in economics who need to build up skills in understanding mathematical reasoning. Students in mathematics and informatics may also be interested in learning about the use of mathematics in economics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Incidence geometry is a central part of modern mathematicsthat has an impressive tradition. The main topics of incidence geometry are projective and affine geometry and, in more recent times, the theory of buildings and polar spaces.Embedded into the modern view of diagram geometry, projective and affine geometry including the fundamental theorems, polar geometry including the Theorem of Buekenhout-Shult and the classification of quadratic sets are presented in this volume. Incidence geometry is developed along the lines of the fascinating work of Jacques Tits and Francis Buekenhout.The book is a clear and comprehensible introduction into a wonderful piece of mathematics. More than 200 figures make even complicated proofs accessible to the reader.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book presents a collection of 36 pieces of scientific work in the areas of complexity theory and foundations of cryptography: 20 research contributions, 13 survey articles, and 3 programmatic and reflective viewpoint statements. These so far formally unpublished pieces were written by Oded Goldreich, some in collaboration with other scientists.The articles included in this book essentially reflect the topical scope of the scientific career of Oded Goldreich now spanning three decades. In particular the topics dealt with include average-case complexity, complexity of approximation, derandomization, expander graphs, hashing functions, locally testable codes, machines that take advice, NP-completeness, one-way functions, probabilistically checkable proofs, proofs of knowledge, property testing, pseudorandomness, randomness extractors, sampling, trapdoor permutations, zero-knowledge, and non-iterative zero-knowledge.All in all, this potpourri of studies in complexity and cryptography constitutes a most valuable contribution to the field of theoretical computer science centered around the personal achievements and views of one of its outstanding representatives.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 576 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In this book, 78 leading attorneys in California and New York describe how they evaluate, negotiate and resolve litigation cases. Selected for their demonstrated skill in predicting trial outcomes and knowing when cases should be settled or taken to trial, these attorneys identify the key factors in case evaluation and share successful strategies in pre-trial discovery, negotiation, mediation, and trials. Integrating law and psychology, the book shows how skilled attorneys mentally frame cases, understand jurors¿ perspectives, develop persuasive themes and arguments and achieve exceptional results for clients.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - This book aims to provide comprehensive coverage of the field of air transportation, giving attention to all major aspects, such as aviation regulation, economics, management and strategy. The book approaches aviation as an interrelated economic system and in so doing presents the 'big picture' of aviation in the market economy. It explains the linkages between domains such as politics, society, technology, economy, ecology, regulation and how these influence each other. Examples of airports and airlines, and case studies in each chapter support the application-oriented approach. Students and researchers in business administration with a focus on the aviation industry, as well as professionals in the industry looking to refresh or broaden their knowledge of the field will benefit from this book.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -One common characteristics of a complex system is its ability to withstand major disturbances and the capacity to rebuild itself. Understanding how such systems demonstrate resilience by absorbing or recovering from major external perturbations requires both quantitative foundations and a multidisciplinary view on the topic.This book demonstrates how new methods can be used to identify the actions favouring the recovery from perturbations. Examples discussed include bacterial biofilms resisting detachment, grassland savannahs recovering from fire, the dynamics of language competition and Internet social networking sites overcoming vandalism.The reader is taken through an introduction to the idea of resilience and viability and shown the mathematical basis of the techniques used to analyse systems. The idea of individual or agent-based modelling of complex systems is introduced and related to analytically tractable approximations of such models. A set of case studies illustrates the use of the techniques in real applications, and the final section describes how one can use new and elaborate software tools for carrying out the necessary calculations.The book is intended for a general scientific audience of readers from the natural and social sciences, yet requires some mathematics to gain a full understanding of the more theoretical chapters.It is an essential point of reference for those interested in the practical application of the concepts of resilience and viabilitySpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Delivering a sustainable transport system is not just a matter of adopting a number of technological innovations to improve performance in terms of people, planet, and profits. A broader structural and societal transition is needed in technology, as well as in institutions, behavioural patterns, and the economy as a whole. In this broader view, neither the free market nor the public sector will be the unique key player in making this transition happen. Elements of such an approach are presented in this book in a number of domains: integrating transport infrastructure and land use planning, thus connecting fields that are rather unconnected in day-to-day policies; experiments with dynamic transport optimization, including reports on pilot projects to test the viability of transitions; towards reliable transport systems, describing a reversal from supply-driven towards demand-driven approaches; and sustainable logistics and traffic management, from ¿local¿ city distribution to global closed supply chain loops.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 336 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The determinants of yield curve dynamics have been thoroughly discussed in finance models. However, little can be said about the macroeconomic factors behind the movements of short- and long-term interest rates as well as the risk compensation demanded by financial investors. By taking on a macro-finance perspective, the book¿s approach explicitly acknowledges the close feedback between monetary policy, the macroeconomy and financial conditions. Both theoretical and empirical models are applied in order to get a profound understanding of the interlinkages between economic activity, the conduct of monetary policy and the underlying macroeconomic factors of bond price movements. Moreover, the book identifies a broad risk-taking channel of monetary transmission which allows a reassessment of the role of financial constraints; it enables policy makers to develop new guidelines for monetary policy and for financial supervision of how to cope with evolving financial imbalances.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The fusion between virtuality and reality has created a new quality of experience establishing metaverses and virtual worlds. Second Life, Twinity, Entropia Universe or Fregger have experienced rapid growth in recent years and show no signs of slowing down. Not only have countless companies discovered these ¿virtureal worlds¿ as marketplaces, but so have fraudsters and other criminals. In this book, European experts from different academic disciplines show how to meet the new challenges arising from virtual worlds. They discuss the reasons for and the impacts of these new forms of criminality as well as the necessity and means of combating them. Moreover, other fundamental issues are examined, such as the addictive potential of virtual-world use, media violence, and conflict resolution problems arising in the context of virtual worlds.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 136 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -What does really matter for daily leadership How would a good and effective manager be characterized Daniel F. Pinnow describes in a very illustrative way the essentials of collaborating with people in the business environment. This standard reference book exists as a 4th edition in German and is also available in Chinese. It provides a comprehensive and easy-to-understand overview over the most important leadership approaches in theory and practice. The credo of the author is: Leadership is an art of creating a world where others would love to join in.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 268 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Combining elements of economic reasoning and political science has proven to be very useful for understanding the broad variation in economic development around the world. In a sense research in this field goes back to the Scottish Enlightenment and Adam Smith¿s original plan in his Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations. Leadership or Chaos by Norman Schofield and Maria Gallego is intended as an advanced, self-contained text in political economy dealing with social choice. The theory and empirical analysis are used to examine democratic institutions and elections in the developed world, and the success or failure of moves to democratization in the less developed world. The book closes with a consideration of current quandaries with regard to political and economic stability and climate change and a discussion of the moral foundations of our society.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 484 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -'Foundations of Large-Scale Multimedia Information Management and Retrieval: Mathematics of Perception' covers knowledge representation and semantic analysis of multimedia data and scalability in signal extraction, data mining, and indexing. The book is divided into two parts: Part I - Knowledge Representation and Semantic Analysis focuses on the key components of mathematics of perception as it applies to data management and retrieval. These include feature selection/reduction, knowledge representation, semantic analysis, distance function formulation for measuring similarity, and multimodal fusion. Part II - Scalability Issues presents indexing and distributed methods for scaling up these components for high-dimensional data and Web-scale datasets. The book presents some real-world applications and remarks on future research and development directions.The book is designed for researchers, graduate students, and practitioners in the fields of Computer Vision, MachineLearning, Large-scale Data Mining, Database, and Multimedia Information Retrieval.Dr. Edward Y. Chang was a professor at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, before he joined Google as a research director in 2006. Dr. Chang received his M.S. degree in Computer Science and Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering, both from Stanford University.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 312 pp. Englisch.