Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... A Guide to the Birds of Panamaby Robert S. Ridgely
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  Joycepa | Sep 28, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
The last decade has seen striking progress in the subject of renormalization in quantum field theory. The old subject of perturbative renormalization has been revived by the use of powerful methods such as multiscale decompositions; precise estimates have been added to the initial theorems on finiteness of renormalized perturbation theory, with new results on its large order asymptotics. Furthermore, constructive field theory has reached one of its major goals, the mathematically rigorous construction of some renormalizable quantum field theories. For these models one can in particular investigate rigorously the phenomenon of asymptotic freedom, which plays a key role in our current understanding of the interaction among elementary particles. However, until this book, there has been no pedagogical synthesis of these new developments. Vincent Rivasseau, who has been actively involved in them, now describes them for a wider audience. There are, in fact, common concepts at the heart of the progress on perturbative and constructive techniques. Exploiting these similarities, the author uses perturbative renormalization, which is the more widely known and conceptually simpler of the two cases, to explain the less familiar but more mathematically meaningful constructive renormalization. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)598.297287Natural sciences and mathematics Zoology Birds Birds: AvesLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.88)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (28)
1
This is my bread-and-butter guide, the first one I turn to when I am trying to identify birds. The coverage is extensive and the color plates are very good, although there are instances when the color does not match what you're seeing in your binoculars. But these divergences are rare.
Arrangement is as usual, by Order. Text pages include, for each bird listed: Description, Similar Species, Status and Distribution, Habitats, and Range. Of these, I would say that the Status and Distribution are not all that useful; the book was published in 1992, and there is much that needs updating. But it's still a start.
There are excellent introductory sections on Climate, Migration and Local Movements, a Checklist for Birds of Southern Middle America, and then a very helpful section (where it has not become out-of-date due to development in Chiriquí and around Panama City) on Finding Birds in Panama; this section gives directions for getting to places where listed birds can be found.
The Index has both scientific and English names, which is extremely useful.
Even though somewhat out-of-date, this is still the guide of choice for initial identification. It's too large and too heavy to be taken on outings, although many might want to put up with the incovenience because of a lack of other, smaller guides. (