Most Popular Books by Milan

This book focuses positively on a particular kind of `politics of scarcity'': how human service groups can join forces and work together in coalitions in order to manoeuvre government resources more effectively, generate new non-governmental resources and find substitute funds. The book briefly reviews the experiences of thirteen coalitions and describes how to organize, develop and maintain a coalition. Exercises give readers the opportunity to apply the knowledge presented in each chapter.

This book provides a systematic analysis, modeling and evaluation of the performance of advanced transport systems. It offers an innovative approach by presenting a multidimensional examination of the performance of advanced transport systems and transport modes, useful for both theoretical and practical purposes. Advanced transport systems for the twenty-first century are characterized by the superiority of one or several of their infrastructural, technical/technological, operational, economic, environmental, social and policy performances as compared to their conventional counterparts. The advanced transport systems considered include: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems in urban area(s), electric and fuel cell passenger cars, high speed tilting trains, High Speed Rail (HSR), Trans Rapid Maglev (TRM), Evacuated Tube Transport system (ETT), advanced commercial subsonic and Supersonic Transport Aircraft (STA), conventionally- and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2)-fuelled commercial air transportation, advanced Air Traffic Control (ATC) technologies and procedures for increasing the airport runway capacity, Underground Freight Transport (UFT) systems in urban area(s), Long Intermodal Freight Train(s) (LIFTs), road mega trucks, large advanced container ships and freight/cargo aircraft and advanced freight/goods collection distribution networks. This book is intended for postgraduates, researchers, professionals and policy makers working in the transport industry.

This book focuses on the key naval strategic objectives of obtaining and maintaining sea control. During times of war, sea control, or the ability of combatants to enjoy naval dominance, plays a crucial role in that side’s ability to attain overall victory. This book explains and analyzes in much greater detail sea control in all its complexities, and describes the main methods of obtaining and maintaining it. Building on the views of naval classical thinkers, this book utilizes historical examples to illustrate the main methods of sea control. Each chapter focuses on a particular method, including destroying the enemy forces by a decisive action, destroying enemy forces over time-attrition, containing enemy fleet, choke point control, and capturing important enemy''s positions/basing area, The aim is to provide a comprehensive theory and practice of the struggle for sea control at the operational level. It should therefore provide a guide to practitioners on how to plan and conduct operational warfare at sea. The book will be of much interest to students of naval strategy, defence studies and security studies.

Slovak-English edition of selected poems (64 poems) of Milan Rufus, poet laureate of Slovakia, translated from Slovak to English by Ewald Osers, and Viera and James Sutherland-Smith. This is a first English edition of the best poetry of Slovak poet laureate Milan Rufus, candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature, illustrated with twelve paintings by the Slovak-American artist Koloman Sokol.

A short collection of brilliant early essays that offers a fascinating context for the Milan Kundera''s subsequent career and holds a mirror to much recent European history. It is also remarkably prescient with regard to Russia''s current aggression in Ukraine and its threat to the rest of Europe. Milan Kundera''s early nonfiction work feels especially resonant in our own time. In these pieces, Kundera pleads the case of the "small nations" of Europe who, by culture, are Western with deep roots in Europe, despite Russia imposing its own Communist political regimes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere. Kundera warns that the real tragedy here is not Russia but Europe, whose own identity and culture are directly challenged and threatened in a way that could lead to their destruction. He is sounding the alarm, which chimes loud and clear in our own twenty-first century. The 1983 essay translated by Edmund White ("The Tragedy of Central Europe"), and the 1967 lecture delivered to the Czech Writers'' Union in the middle of the Prague Spring by the young Milan Kundera ("Literature and the Small Nations"), translated for the first time by Linda Asher, are both written in a voice that is at once personal, vehement, and anguished. Here, Kundera appears already as one of our great European writers and truly our contemporary. Each piece is prefaced by a short presentation by French historian Pierre Nora and Czech-born French political scientist Jacques Rupnik.

“Adaptive Digital Filters” presents an important discipline applied to the domain of speech processing. The book first makes the reader acquainted with the basic terms of filtering and adaptive filtering, before introducing the field of advanced modern algorithms, some of which are contributed by the authors themselves. Working in the field of adaptive signal processing requires the use of complex mathematical tools. The book offers a detailed presentation of the mathematical models that is clear and consistent, an approach that allows everyone with a college level of mathematics knowledge to successfully follow the mathematical derivations and descriptions of algorithms. The algorithms are presented in flow charts, which facilitates their practical implementation. The book presents many experimental results and treats the aspects of practical application of adaptive filtering in real systems, making it a valuable resource for both undergraduate and graduate students, and for all others interested in mastering this important field.

In "Solaris Farm," Milan C. Edson masterfully intertwines themes of technology, ecology, and human relationships within an evocative narrative set in a near-future dystopia. The novel employs a lyrical yet accessible prose style, seamlessly merging speculative fiction with philosophical inquiry. Through its vivid descriptions and richly drawn characters, "Solaris Farm" examines the implications of advanced agricultural technology on societal structures and individual identity, reflecting contemporary concerns about sustainability and the human-nature connection. Edson''s context draws from a growing literary movement that challenges the boundaries of traditional genres, engaging readers in a profound exploration of our planet''s future. Milan C. Edson, an esteemed author and environmental advocate, has a background in agronomy and a passion for ecological sustainability. His experiences working on experimental farms and engaging with communities affected by climate change have informed the narrative''s compelling critique of modern agricultural practices. Drawing from his own encounters and insights, Edson''s work offers both an imaginative escape and a needed reflection on the ethical dilemmas facing humanity today. "Solaris Farm" is a must-read for those who delight in speculative fiction that provokes thought and discussion. Engaging and thought-provoking, this novel invites readers to question their own relationship with the environment while providing a compelling story that resonates long after the last page is turned. Whether you are a fan of dystopian literature or simply curious about the intersection of technology and nature, Edson''s work will captivate and inspire.

In socialist economies, profitable firms are taxed to subsidize unprofitable ones, and productive workers subsidize unproductive workers. Yugoslav firms, Vodopivec concludes, produce less because of both types of redistribution.

Il y a aujourd''hui près de 250 bouquinistes parisiens qui proposent pêle-mêle des livres patinés, jaunis, du vieux, du neuf, des classiques, des raretés, des journaux d''époque, des cartes parcheminées, des disques ... Ce livre, qui invite à une flânerie le long de la Seine, conte la vie des bouquinistes à travers un calendrier imaginaire.

This book focuses on speech signal phenomena, presenting a robustification of the usual speech generation models with regard to the presumed types of excitation signals, which is equivalent to the introduction of a class of nonlinear models and the corresponding criterion functions for parameter estimation. Compared to the general class of nonlinear models, such as various neural networks, these models possess good properties of controlled complexity, the option of working in “online” mode, as well as a low information volume for efficient speech encoding and transmission. Providing comprehensive insights, the book is based on the authors’ research, which has already been published, supplemented by additional texts discussing general considerations of speech modeling, linear predictive analysis and robust parameter estimation.

Annotation Applies an alternative, sociological approach to exchange and related economic phenomena.

This comprehensive treatise covers in detail practical methods of analysis as well as advanced mathematical models for structures highly sensitive to creep and shrinkage. Effective computational algorithms for century-long creep effects in structures, moisture diffusion and high temperature effects are presented. The main design codes and recommendations (including RILEM B3 and B4) are critically compared. Statistical uncertainty of century-long predictions is analyzed and its reduction by extrapolation is discussed, with emphasis on updating based on short-time tests and on long-term measurements on existing structures. Testing methods and the statistics of large randomly collected databases are critically appraised and improvements of predictions of multi-decade relaxation of prestressing steel, cyclic creep in bridges, cracking damage, etc., are demonstrated. Important research directions, such as nanomechanical and probabilistic modeling, are identified, and the need for separating the long-lasting autogenous shrinkage of modern concretes from the creep and drying shrinkage data and introducing it into practical prediction models is emphasized. All the results are derived mathematically and justified as much as possible by extensive test data. The theoretical background in linear viscoelasticity with aging is covered in detail. The didactic style makes the book suitable as a textbook. Everything is properly explained, step by step, with a wealth of application examples as well as simple illustrations of the basic phenomena which could alternate as homeworks or exams. The book is of interest to practicing engineers, researchers, educators and graduate students.

Many organizations struggle with the dynamics and the complexity of today''s social ecosystems that connect everyone and everything, everywhere and all the time. Facing challenges at the intersection of business models, technical developments, and human needs, modern enterprises must overcome the siloed thinking and isolated efforts of the past, and instead address their relationships to people holistically. In Intersection, Milan Guenther introduces a Strategic Design approach that aligns the overarching efforts of Branding, Enterprise Architecture, and Experience Design, and sets them on a common course to shape tomorrow''s enterprises.This book gives designers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders a model and a comprehensive vocabulary for tackling such deep-rooted challenges. The Enterprise Design framework cuts through the complexity of Strategic Design work, showing how to navigate key aspects and bridge diverging viewpoints. In 9 case studies, the author looks at the way companies like SAP, BBVA, IKEA, and Jeppesen (a Boeing Company) apply design thinking and practice to shape their enterprises. Moving from strategy to conceptual design and concrete results, Intersection shows what is relevant at which point, and what expertise to involve. - Teaches how to align business strategy with Brand Identity, Customer Experience, and Enterprise Architecture initiatives as part of a consolidated enterprise-wide design practice to achieve stakeholder value - Provides a framework for designing systems, products and services as the building blocks of a consistent and coherent experience for all stakeholders in the wider enterprise, joining strategic considerations with the delivery of tangible outcomes - Explains how to make results such as websites, apps, objects, platforms, or environments part of a larger system that orchestrates enterprise touchpoints with people

Atlas of Human Body: Central Nervous System and Vascularization is a multidisciplinary approach to the technical coverage of anatomical structures and relationships. It contains surface and 3D dissection images, native and colored cross sectional views made in different planes, MRI comparisons, demonstrations of cranial nerve origins, distribution of blood vessels by dissection, and systematic presentation of arterial distribution from the precapillary level, using the methyl metacrylate injection and subsequent tissue digestion method. Included throughout are late prenatal (fetal) and early postnatal images to contribute to a better understanding of structure/relationship specificity of differentiation at various developmental intervals (conduits, organs, somatic, or branchial derivatives). Each chapter features clinical correlations providing a unique perspective of side-by side comparisons of dissection images, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Created after many years of professional and scientific cooperation between the authors and their parent institutions, this important resource will serve researchers, students, and doctors in their professional work.

During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600s, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives on a deserted island for more than twenty-eight years.

In the course of nine sections, this book examines the major situations of our time in the light of the wisdom of the great novelists: Kafka; Stravinsky; Hemingway; Rabelais; and Janacek. Ultimately, this brings about the question of the betrayed testaments of Europe, art and the novel.

From one of the most distinguished writers of modern times comes a libertine fantasy which is also a profound meditation on contemporary life. Ruminating on how the pleasures of slowness have disappeared in today''s fast-paced, future-shocked world, Kundera explores the secret bond between slowness and memory and the connection between our era''s desire to forget and the ways in which we have given ourselves over to the demon of speed.

The short eventful life of a Czechoslovakian Marxist poet who deludes himself about the meaning of duty.

A man and a woman meet by chance while returning to their homeland, which they had abandoned 20 years earlier when they chose to become exiles. Will they manage to pick up the thread of their strange love story, interrupted as soon as it began and then lost in the tides of history?

''This book is a novel in the form of variations. The various parts follow each other like the various stages of a voyage leading into the interior of a theme, the interior of a thought, the interior of a single, unique situation the understanding of which recedes from my sight into the distance. It is a book about laughter and about forgetting, about forgetting and about Prague, about Prague and about the angels.'' The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the most secret of Kundera''s novels. This new translation is the first to be fully authorized by Milan Kundera. ''An urgent, stunning book; it teaches us that when we die, what we lose is not the future but the past. I think of Kundera as the great modern descendant of Gogol and Kafka.'' Carlos Fuentes