Vol. 7, No. 1  January-March 2001

Editor's Corner...

Book Review...

ADPC Programs and Activities...


Theme


AUDMP - making cities safer


Bookmarks


WWW Sites

Bookmarks...

Recent Publications

The following are a few publications which may be of interest to our readers. The ADPC Library can offer assistance in locating these publications.

RECONSTRUCTION

Resettlement, Impoverishment and Reconstruction in India: Development for the Deprived Vikas Mahapatra, 1999, 200 pages, $6.00.
This is a critical and analytical study undertaken to assess the magnitude of resettlement, impoverishment and reconstruction work as a result of the river-valley projects undertaken in India. It also analyzes the participatory approach in the rehabilitation-development process.

Matrix Analysis of Structural Dynamics: Applications and Earthquake Engineering. Franklin Y. Cheng, December 2000, ISBN 0-8247-0387-1, University of Missouri Rolla, Civil and Environmental Engineering Series Volume 4, 992 pages (hardcover, illustrated), $225.00. Order online from www.amazon.com.
A self-study guide and textbook, it contains over 110 examples and 165 problem sets with answers, a comprehensive solutions manual, and computer programs that clarify arithmetic concepts: analysis and design of seismic structures, matrix methods of structural analysis, numerical methods in structural engineering, and advanced structural mechanics and design. This book uses state-of-the-art computer technology to formulate displacement methods with matrix algebra, facilitating analysis of structural dynamics and applications to earthquake engineering and UBC and IBC seismic building codes.

Community Reconstruction After an Earthquake. Ino Rossi, October 1993, ISBN 0-2759-4602-9, Praeger Pub Text, (hardcover), $68.50. Order online from www.amazon.com.
The author develops a theory of the roles of social agents and structures (sociopolitical, cultural and economic resources) in disaster studies, using data on community reconstruction after the 1980 earthquake in southern Italy as a preliminary test of the theory. The focus of the study is on the long-term recovery and reconstruction of the 44 communities which were officially classified as the most heavily damaged. Aspects of the post-earthquake industrialization of the region are also considered, since the physical reconstruction of the destroyed communities is inevitably connected with their socioeconomic development. Rossi outlines and tests a new framework, which permits prediction of the different speeds of community reconstruction, and provides a dialectic theory of the interrelationship between structural and action principles of social action.

Crucibles of Hazard: Mega-cities and Disasters in Transition. United Nations University, 1999, ISBN 9-2808-0987-3, 535 pages (paperback), $34.95. Order online from earthprint.com.
This collaborative study of environmental risks in ten of the world's major cities was led by the International Geographical Union's Study Group on the disaster vulnerability of mega-cities. Geographers, planners and other experts examine the hazard experiences of case study cities and analyze their future risks. They conclude that natural disasters in the biggest cities are expanding at a pace which far exceeds the rate of urbanization. This book directs attention to long-term issues of safety and security that must be resolved for urban sustainability.

CLIMATE

Applications of Seasonal Climate Forecasting in Agricultural and Natural Ecosystems: The Australian Experience. Edited by Graeme L. Hammer, Neville Nicholls and Christopher Mitchell, September 2000, ISBN 0-7923-6270-5, Kluwer Academic Publishers (www.wkap.nl), Dordrecht, 482 pages (hardbound), EUR172.50, $200.00, £125.00. Available at a reduced price for course adoption when ordering six copies or more. Please contact Customer Services (services@wkap.nl) for further details.

Economic Value of Weather and Climate Forecasts. Edited by Richard W. Katz and Allan Murphy, ISBN 0-5214-3420-3, Cambridge University Press, 238 pages.
This book examines how weather and climate forecasts can be used to mitigate the impact of the weather on the economy. Interdisciplinary in scope, it explores the meteorological, economic, psychological and statistical aspects of weather prediction. Chapters by area specialists provide a comprehensive view of this timely topic. They encompass forecasts over a wide range of temporal scales, from weather over the next few hours to the climate months or seasons ahead, and address the impact of these forecasts on human behavior. The book seeks to determine the economic benefits of existing weather forecasting systems, and will be an interesting and essential text for economists, statisticians and meteorologists.

Prediction: Science, Decision Making, and the Future of Nature. Edited by Daniel Sarewitz, Roger A. Pielke Jr. and Radford Byerly, Jr., 2000, ISBN 1-5596-3776-5, Island Press, $29.50. Order online from www.islandpress.org.
Prediction offers a wide-ranging look at the scientific, political and social factors involved in using science-based predictions to guide policy. The book includes ten case studies on subjects ranging from asteroid paths to climate change to nuclear waste disposal, and it proposes a practical framework for the use of predictive science.This collaborative study of environmental risks in ten of the world's major cities was led by the International Geographical Union's Study Group on the disaster vulnerability of mega-cities. Geographers, planners and other experts examine the hazard experiences of case study cities and analyze their future risks. They conclude that natural disasters in the biggest cities are expanding

El Nino Southern Oscillation and Climatic Variability. Rob Allan, Janette Lindesay and David Parker, 1996, CSIRO Publishing, Australia.
Based on climatic records from more than a century of scientific observation, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the ENSO phenomenon and its relation to natural fluctuations in the climate system. The book begins with a brief history of the interest in El Nino, and moves on to a synthesis of developments in theories and dynamics that have led to current concepts of ocean-atmosphere processes and interaction driving ENSO. This is followed by a discussion on the implications that such relations have for the stationary and propagational characteristics of ENSO patterns. The second half of the book provides composite images that illustrate the near-global physical and environmental impacts of both phases of ENSO. Additional material is provided on the accompanying CD-ROM.

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