Nature's Matrix

Nature's Matrix PDF Author: Ivette Perfecto
Publisher: Earthscan
ISBN: 1849770131
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Landscapes are frequently seen as fragments of natural habitat surrounded by a 'sea' of agriculture. But recent ecological theory shows that the nature of these fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as is the nature of the matrix of agriculture that surrounds them. Local extinctions from conservation fragments are inevitable and must be balanced by migrations if massive extinction is to be avoided. High migration rates only occur in what the authors refer to as 'high quality' matrices, which are created by alternative agroecological techniques, as opposed to the industrial monocultural model of agriculture. The authors argue that the only way to promote such high quality matrices is to work with rural social movements. Their ideas are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organizations that emphasize targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty.Nature's Matrix proposes a radically new approach to the conservation of biodiversity based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus political realities, particularly in the world's tropical regions.

Nature's Matrix

Nature's Matrix PDF Author: Ivette Perfecto
Publisher: Earthscan
ISBN: 1849770131
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book

Book Description
Landscapes are frequently seen as fragments of natural habitat surrounded by a 'sea' of agriculture. But recent ecological theory shows that the nature of these fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as is the nature of the matrix of agriculture that surrounds them. Local extinctions from conservation fragments are inevitable and must be balanced by migrations if massive extinction is to be avoided. High migration rates only occur in what the authors refer to as 'high quality' matrices, which are created by alternative agroecological techniques, as opposed to the industrial monocultural model of agriculture. The authors argue that the only way to promote such high quality matrices is to work with rural social movements. Their ideas are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organizations that emphasize targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty.Nature's Matrix proposes a radically new approach to the conservation of biodiversity based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus political realities, particularly in the world's tropical regions.

Nature's Matrix

Nature's Matrix PDF Author: Ivette Perfecto
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113657414X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Landscapes are frequently seen as fragments of natural habitat surrounded by a 'sea' of agriculture. But recent ecological theory shows that the nature of these fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as is the nature of the matrix of agriculture that surrounds them. Local extinctions from conservation fragments are inevitable and must be balanced by migrations if massive extinction is to be avoided. High migration rates only occur in what the authors refer to as 'high quality' matrices, which are created by alternative agroecological techniques, as opposed to the industrial monocultural model of agriculture. The authors argue that the only way to promote such high quality matrices is to work with rural social movements. Their ideas are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organizations that emphasize targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty. Nature's Matrix proposes a radically new approach to the conservation of biodiversity based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus political realities, particularly in the world's tropical regions.

Nature's Matrix

Nature's Matrix PDF Author: Ivette Perfecto
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1844077829
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The subject of "Natures Matrix" is conservation of biodiversity, but it differs from other books by proposing a radically new approach based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus certain political realities.

Nature's Matrix

Nature's Matrix PDF Author: Ivette Perfecto
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429650280
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
When first published in 2009, Nature’s Matrix set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This new edition pushes the frontier of the biodiversity/agriculture debate further, making an even stronger case for the need to transform agriculture and support small- and medium-scale agroecology and food sovereignty. In the first edition, the authors set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This is based on the concept of a landscape as a matrix of diverse, small-scale agricultural ecosystems, providing opportunities to enhance conservation under the stewardship of local farmers. This contrasts with the alternative view of industrial-scale farms and large protected areas which exclude local people. However, since then the debate around conservation and agriculture has developed significantly and this is reflected in this updated second edition. The text is thoroughly revised, including: a reorganization of chapters with new and timely topics introduced, updates to the discussion of agroecology and food sovereignty, bringing it in line with the current debates, greater coverage of the role of agroecology, in particular agroforestry, as an important component of climate change adaptation and mitigation, highlighting recent studies on the role of intensive agriculture in climate change and loss of biodiversity, and more attention given to the discussion of land sparing versus land sharing. By integrating the ecological aspects of agriculture and conservation biology, with a political and social analysis as well as historical perspective, the book continues to set a progressive agenda and appeals to a wide range of students and professionals.

Nature Matrix

Nature Matrix PDF Author: Robert Michael Pyle
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1640092765
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Nature Matrix is a gathering of some of Robert Michael Pyle’s most significant, original, and timely expressions of a life immersed in the natural world, in all its splendor, power, and peril Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays contains sixteen pieces that encompass the philosophy, ethic, and aesthetic of Robert Michael Pyle. The essays range from Pyle’s experience as a young national park ranger in the Sierra Nevada to the streets of Manhattan; from the suburban jungle to the tangles of the written word; and from the phenomenon of Bigfoot to that of the Big Year—a personal exercise in extreme birding and butterflying. They include deep profiles of John Jacob Astor I and Vladimir Nabokov, as well as excursions into wild places with teachers, children, and writers. The nature of real wilderness in modern times comes under Pyle’s lens, as does reconsideration of his trademark concept, “the extinction of experience”—maybe the greatest threat of alienation from the living world that we face today. Nature Matrix shows a way back toward possible integration with the world, as it plumbs the range and depth of experience in one lucky life lived in close connection to the physical earth and its denizens. This collection brings together the thoughts and hopes of one of our most widely read and respected natural philosophers as he seeks to summarize a life devoted to conservation.

The Nature of Code

The Nature of Code PDF Author: Daniel Shiffman
Publisher: No Starch Press
ISBN: 1718503717
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
All aboard The Coding Train! This beginner-friendly creative coding tutorial is designed to grow your skills in a fun, hands-on way as you build simulations of real-world phenomena with “The Coding Train” YouTube star Daniel Shiffman. How can we use code to capture the unpredictable properties of nature? How can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical world help us create interesting digital environments? Written by “The Coding Train” YouTube star Daniel Shiffman, The Nature of Code is a beginner-friendly creative coding tutorial that explores a range of programming strategies for developing computer simulations of natural systems—from elementary concepts in math and physics to sophisticated machine-learning algorithms. Using the same enthusiastic style on display in Shiffman’s popular YT channel, this book makes learning to program fun, empowering you to generate fascinating graphical output while refining your problem-solving and algorithmic-thinking skills. You’ll progress from building a basic physics engine that simulates the effects of forces like gravity and wind resistance, to creating evolving systems of intelligent autonomous agents that can learn from their mistakes and adapt to their environment. The Nature of Code introduces important topics such as: Randomness Forces and vectors Trigonometry Cellular automata and fractals Genetic algorithms Neural networks Learn from an expert how to transform your beginner-level skills into writing well-organized, thoughtful programs that set the stage for further experiments in generative design. NOTE: All examples are written with p5.js, a JavaScript library for creative coding, and are available on the book's website.

Beyond the Matrix

Beyond the Matrix PDF Author: Stephen Faller
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
He parallels the conceptions of Andy and Larry Wachowski - The Matrix creators - with those of such visionaries as Socrates, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Freud, Orwell, Huxley, and Spielberg, exploring the Matrix as an expression of the fears, the quests, and the dreams that humankind has struggled to define and conquer."--Jacket.

Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications

Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications PDF Author: Steven D. Eppinger
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262300656
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
An introduction to a powerful and flexible network modeling tool for developing and understanding complex systems, with many examples from a range of industries. Design structure matrix (DSM) is a straightforward and flexible modeling technique that can be used for designing, developing, and managing complex systems. DSM offers network modeling tools that represent the elements of a system and their interactions, thereby highlighting the system's architecture (or designed structure). Its advantages include compact format, visual nature, intuitive representation, powerful analytical capacity, and flexibility. Used primarily so far in the area of engineering management, DSM is increasingly being applied to complex issues in health care management, financial systems, public policy, natural sciences, and social systems. This book offers a clear and concise explanation of DSM methods for practitioners and researchers.

Philosophers Explore The Matrix

Philosophers Explore The Matrix PDF Author: Christopher Grau
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780195181067
Category : Matrix (Motion picture).
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
The Matrix trilogy is unique among recent popular films in that it is constructed around important philosophical questions--classic questions which have fascinated philosophers and other thinkers for thousands of years. Editor Christopher Grau here presents a collection of new, intriguing essays about some of the powerful and ancient questions broached by The Matrix and its sequels, written by some of the most prominent and reputable philosophers working today. They provide intelligent, accessible, and thought-provoking examinations of the philosophical issues that support the films. Philosophers Explore The Matrix includes an introduction that surveys the use of philosophical ideas in the film. Topics that the contributors tackle include: how a collaborative dream could differ from hallucination, the difference between the Matrix and the "real" world; why living in the Matrix would be considered "bad"; the similarities between the Matrix and Plato's Cave; the moral status of artificially created beings, whether one can behave immorally in illusory circumstances, and the true nature of free will and responsibility. This volume also includes an appendix of classic philosophical writing on these issues by Plato, Berkeley, Descartes, Putnam, and Nozick. Philosophers Explore The Matrix will fascinate any fan of the films who wants to delve deeper into their themes, as well as any student of philosophy who desires an accessible entry into this challenging and profoundly vital world of ideas.

The Self-Sustaining Garden

The Self-Sustaining Garden PDF Author: Peter Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781869536428
Category : Gardens
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
A fresh approach to planting and garden design that uses plant communities to reduce much of the hard work needed to control your garden. "Peter Thompson has one of the most inventive brains in the garden scene today..." - RHS Gardener's handbook