"Quantitative atomic-resolution electron microscopy." Contemporary Physics, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2

designing a cladding that has a suitable melting point, is chemically compatible with the fuel and coolant, is manufacturable, mechanically stable and has acceptable neutron absorption. There is good coverage of the changes that the materials undergo in operation. The ideas developed in these first four chapters are then applied to real reactors, with both a history of designs to date and a discussion of future fission reactors and of the rather different problems which arise in fusion reactors. Further chapters are devoted to the problems of nuclear waste, the lessons learned from the accidents at Windscale Pile-1 (1957), Three Mile Island Reactor-2 (1979), Chernobyl Reactor4 (1986) and the Fukushima-Daiichi complex (2011). The book closes with a useful overview of materials characterisation techniques. The format reviewed was the e-book. This includes several animated diagrams, which are well produced but in most cases add little to the single frames from the animations that would be found in the print format. This is the second edition of the work: apart fromminor editorial matters the main changes are the addition of short sections on iron-chromium-aluminium cladding and on alternative fusion technologies, and the chapter on materials characterisation. Some rather awkward phrasing and repetition remains, as do small slips such as an erroneous lower limit on an integral in the description of the Kinchin-Peasemechanism. In the revision the vacancy has disappeared from the diagram of a Schottky defect. It is disappointing that there is no index. This is a good overview of the problems encountered in designing materials for use in nuclear reactors, but owners of the first edition will probably not be able to justify the expense of updating to the new one.

"The large-scale structure of the Universe." Contemporary Physics, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2

most of the work is discussed in the one dimensional that can be extended further. The quantum postulates are discussed for the quantum devices in Chapter 7. The Heisenberg approach or operator approach is implemented for the nanomechanical vibrator and the quantum LC circuitrelated applications in Chapter 8. It properly implements the basics discussed from Chapter 2 to Chapter 6 to understand the problems based on the quantum LC circuit for superconducting quantum computing and quantum spin for the quantum gyroscope. As most of the problems are timedependent; therefore, the time-dependent Schrödinger’s equation is cast off. The Dirac notation and the Hilbert space were employed to provide a new perception in several places. Subsequently, the semi-classical problems such as a driven two-level system that led to the Rabi oscillations and the quantum flip–flop are studied in Chapter 9 by using an optical source or a sine wave generator. To develop the basic concepts of quantum information of quantum gyroscope and spin, Chapter 10 is introduced. The approximation techniques are discussed in Chapter 11 to understand the fermions and the bosons in Chapter 12, quantum entanglement and quantum measurement including the Von Neumann hypothesis are discussed in Chapter 13. It became important to understand the dissipation for the explanation of energy transfer irreversibly from one fully quantised quantum system to another fully quantised quantum system. This idea of a discrete state is discussed in Chapter 14. The analytical method used in this chapter is identical to the Weisskopf–Wigner theory of spontaneous emission. Moreover, the driven RLC circuit in a fully quantum mechanical system can be understood by Heisenberg as well as Schrödinger equation. This chapter prepares the readers for Chapter 15, where, the quantised radiation field is discussed in brief. This includes the advancement of the quantisation concept and its application to spontaneous emission in the Weisskopf–Wigner approximation, as well as the effect of spontaneous emission measurement. Chapter 16 delivers an overview of atomic operators in a two-level system to illustrate the interaction with radiation inHeisenberg terms. This led to a further level discussion on field correlations and fluctuations. Chapter 17 briefs about the quantum electromagnetic, includingHong–Ou–Mandel interferometer, noise, and the vacuum with a cavity. This chapter helps to set the basic understanding of quantum lidar, quantum radar and quantum sensing. This last Chapter 18 discussed the density matrix with advanced-level applications. Finally, the appendices are introduced at the end of the book to familiar with the methods used in the entire book. Appendix A sets the review of vital math; Appendix B discusses power series for important functions; Appendix C provides a brief on properties and representations of the Dirac Delta-function; Appendix D discusses some vector calculus and vector identities; Appendix E gives a brief on the electromagnetic Hamiltonian and the Goeppert Mayer transformation; Appendix F discusses Maxwell’s Equations in Media and Coupling of a Field to a Two-Level and Appendix G gives notes on Wigner–Eckart theorem and irreducible tensors. Overall, the pattern of the book contains itself a complete syllabus to deliver taxonomy level from analyzing to applying. Moreover, the book also promises the basics of the quantum mechanical approach to the quantum system and applications. After going through this book, physicists and readers will significantly improve their knowledge, which may lead to setting the new dimension of quantum nanotechnology.

"Quantum concepts in the social, ecological and biological sciences." Contemporary Physics, 61(3), pp. 218–219

Complexity is an (inter)science in statu nascendi. Therefore, there cannot be a unique definition of it. The edited volume at hand is, in essence, a Dutch work. Indeed, it is a concerted effort to ...

"Physical perspectives on computation, computational perspectives on physics." Contemporary Physics, 60(1), pp. 100–101

"Generating random networks and graphs, by T. Coolen, A. Annibale, and E. Roberts." Contemporary Physics, 59(2), pp. 204–205

The most important chapter of the book is devoted to a thorough and extensive survey of all the approaches to the measurement problem known to the authors, and there are quite a lot of them: the Copenhagen approach, the pilotwave model, the many-worlds hypothesis, and numerous others. These are all presented, discussed and evaluated in a very extensive collection that ismore complete than inmany other works on the subject. The conclusion of this section is that none of the proposed approaches that have been made so far is satisfactory, and we do not currently have a good solution to the measurement problem. I fully concur with this conclusion. There follows a fairly lengthy historical survey of the debate on this topic during the development of quantum physics in the first half of the twentieth century, with notable contributions from Einstein and Bohr in particular. There is a wealth of fascinating material here, although to me this chapter seems out of place and should have been located earlier in the book. Following this, there is some philosophical discussion in which the authors develop what appears to be something of a hobby-horse regarding deductive and inductive approaches to physics and the quantummeasurement problem, culminating in some strong invective against the use of an inductive approach. I was not convinced of the usefulness of this chapter, apart from the many interesting references to other authors’ work, particularly that of Aristotle, whom Steiner and Rendell evidently respect very highly. Amateur philosophising should be undertaken with great caution. It is hard to give a simple summing-up of this rather complex book. The historical discussion is very readable and informative in its own right, and of great value to have. It includes quite a lot of material that I had not encountered before. However, neither this section nor the main discussion of the measurement problem should be considered as an introduction to the subject, since quite a lot of knowledge and expertise is frequently taken for granted. Also, many of the topics are dealt with a bit tersely, and the reader will have to refer to the original sources in order to understand the discussion more completely. These references are conscientiously provided. In short, this is a treatment that is mainly suitable for experts and specialists. The large number of quotations from other sources, together with the very extensive list of original references, constitute an extremely valuable collection of resourcematerial and demonstrate the impressive depth and breadth of scholarship of the authors. The book might even be worth acquiring for this material on its own. This book is idiosyncratic but full of information, and its treatment of the quantum physics is in my opinion comprehensive, sound and reasonable. The philosophical material is more debatable. It is a book, then, that will be helpful to open-minded experts in the field, on the whole, and for those who seek to embark on further research in this area. Peter J. Bussey University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland peter.bussey@glasgow.ac.uk

"Lab-on-fiber technology, edited by A. Cusano, M. Consales, A. Crescitelli, and A. Ricciardi." Contemporary Physics, 59(1), pp. 78–79

"The Cambridge handbook of applied perception research, edited by R. R. Hoffman, P. A. Hancock, M. W. Scerbo, R. Parasuraman, and J. L. Szalma." Contemporary Physics, 58(3), p. 277

Cosmology is the flagship of sciences, from physics and geology to philosophy and theology. The content of cosmology interrelates matter and mathematics, space and time, energy and dynamics, void a...

"Foundations of linear and generalized linear models, by Alan Agresti." Contemporary Physics, 57(4), pp. 610–611

"Quantum models of cognition and decision, by Jerome R. Busemeyer and Peter D. Bruza." Contemporary Physics, 58(1), p. 109

Richard Feynman famously said ‘there’s plenty of room at the bottom’ and surely one of the most fashionable and scientifically interesting subfields of modern nanotechnology is plasmonics. Indeed, clever manipulation of the collective excitation of conduction electrons in certain materials is predicted to lead to some very exotic devices, such as invisibility cloaks and perfect lenses. Here, Alexey Toropov and Tatiana Shubina, from the world renowned Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg, take us on a journey with a semiconductor physicist’s-eyed view of how plasmonic effects can lead to some weird and wonderful phenomena in nanostructures. As science becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, books such as these, which encompass topics from the quantum theory of semiconductors to the electrodynamics of conducting structures to materials science, all in a brisk but didactic way, are tremendously worthwhile. The book is organised into three parts. Firstly, we are met with a helpful warm-up and refresher of the fundamentals underpinning the rest of the book – this includes electronic bandstructure theory, surface plasmons and optics in semiconductors. The middle part focuses on a wealth of intriguing materials, including an up-to-date account of the graphene as a plasmonic material, as well as the more traditional quantum wells, quantum dots and III–V and II–V semiconductors. The final part deals with light-matter in metal–semiconductor structures, before concluding with a fascinating account of the very frontiers of plasmonic applications – truly rich with big ideas. Can plasmonic antennas efficiently concentrate light fields in a sub-wavelength volume? Will plasmonic solar cells aid the renewable energy revolution? Can plasmonic waveguides and quantum cascade lasers finally fill the underutilised terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum? Black and white figures are liberally scattered throughout the book, displaying sketches, cartoons and experimental and theoretical curves which will undoubtedly aid the readers understanding of the fascinating concepts being discussed. Importantly, the authors are also not afraid to produce the underlying equations in their full glory too. After all, whilst a picture is worth a thousand words, an equation is worth a thousand pictures. A pleasant stylistic touch is the use of snappy ‘concluding remarks’ which digest the preceding chapter into a mere handful of sentences. Furthermore, the book is supremely well referenced and is the perfect starting point to delve further into the intricacies of the subjects at hand. Significantly, references to journal papers include the title of the paper, which greatly assists the modern practice of finding papers by internet searches and is most welcome (titles are somewhat inexplicably missing from other recent physics books). In summary, the authors have delivered an essential book for both postgraduates working in the area of plasmonics in nanostructures, as well as more experienced researchers requiring a handy reference book on this zeitgeisty topic.

One of the most important samples of ecclesiastical Byzantine architecture of the Peloponnese is the Holy Apostles Church in Leontari, Arcadia. The Holy Apostles Church could be the template for a suggestion regarding a Church construction in coastal areas of Aegean Sea. The main reason why such a solution could be selected is the high seismicity of the region, combined with the danger of tsunamis, following some of the earthquakes occurring at the area of the Aegean Sea. The design of the structural system of the church, except for the conventional earthquake-resistant provisions, followed special provisions, so that the integrity of the Church after a possible hit by tsunamis is ensured. The structural system consists of foundation, floor and roof slabs without beams, directly mounted on internal columns, as well as on shear walls on the perimeter. An external stairway that leads to the roof of the Church has been provided to rescue people being in the area, since the nearest elevations are at a sufficient distance from the coast.