The end of a scourge "The prayer that has been mine for twenty years, that I might be permitted in some way or some time to do something to alleviate human suffering, has been answered!" --Major Walter Reed, writing to his wife, New Year's Eve, 1900 As he wrote to his wife of his stunning success in the mission to identify the cause of yellow fever and find a way to eradicate the disease, Walter Reed had answered the prayers of millions. For more than 250 years, the yellow jack had ravaged the Americas, bringing death to millions and striking panic in entire populations. The very mention of its presence in a city or town produced instant chaos as thousands fled in terror, leaving the frail, the weak, and the ill to fend for themselves. Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the compelling story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who struggled to understand and eradicate yellow fever. Risking everything for the cause of science and humanity, Reed and his teammates on the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board invaded the heart of enemy territory in Cuba to pursue the disease--and made one of the twentieth century's greatest medical discoveries. This thrilling adventure tells the timeless tale of their courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the face of adversity.

Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets

History

Pierce, John R.

Writer, James V.

Americas

wiley

An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise (Dover Books on Mathematics)

Reference

Dover Publications

"Uncommonly good...the most satisfying discussion to be found." — Scientific American. Behind the familiar surfaces of the telephone, radio, and television lies a sophisticated and intriguing body of knowledge known as information theory. This is the theory that has permitted the rapid development of all sorts of communication, from color television to the clear transmission of photographs from the vicinity of Jupiter. Even more revolutionary progress is expected in the future. To give a solid introduction to this burgeoning field, J. R. Pierce has revised his well-received 1961 study of information theory for a second edition. Beginning with the origins of the field, Dr. Pierce follows the brilliant formulations of Claude Shannon and describes such aspects of the subject as encoding and binary digits, entropy, language and meaning, efficient encoding, and the noisy channel. He then goes beyond the strict confines of the topic to explore the ways in which information theory relates to physics, cybernetics, psychology, and art. Mathematical formulas are introduced at the appropriate points for the benefit of serious students. A glossary of terms and an appendix on mathematical notation are proved to help the less mathematically sophisticated. J. R. Pierce worked for many years at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he became Director of Research in Communications Principles. His Introduction to Information Theory continues to be the most impressive nontechnical account available and a fascinating introduction to the subject for lay readers.

This text considers waves the great unifying concept of physics. With minimal mathematics, it emphasizes the behavior common to specific phenomena—earthquake waves studied by seismologists; waves and ripples on oceans, lakes, and ponds; waves of sound that travel through the air; mechanical waves in stretched strings and in quartz crystals that can be used to control the frequency of radio transmitters; electromagnetic waves that constitute light, and that are radiated by radio transmitters and received by radio receivers; and the waves of probability employed in quantum mechanics to predict the behavior of electrons, atoms, and complex substances. Starting with a look at the strength and power of sinusoidal waves, author John R. Pierce explores wave media and modes, phase velocity and group velocity, vector and complex representation, energy and momentum, coupled modes and coupling between modes, polarization, diffraction, and radiation. References and an index appear at the end of the book.

Almost All About Waves (Dover Books on Physics)

Science & Math

Physics

Signals: The telephone and beyond

Signals: The Telephone and Beyond

Engineering & Transportation

Engineering

W.H.Freeman and Company

There are many valuable and useful books on electrical communication (References 1-5 are some examples), but they have certain disadvantages for the beginner. The more advanced books present some things in a basic way, but they are very narrow for an introduction to communica tion. The introductory books are broader but still narrow by our stan dards. Further, they often pick things out of thin air rather than derive them. This book is aimed at giving the beginner a basic understanding of a wide range of topics which are essential in communication systems. These include antennas and transmission, thermal noise and its consequences, Fourier transforms, modulation and noise, sampling and pulse code modulation, autocorrelation and power spectrum, optimum filtering, gauss ian noise and errors in digital transmission, data transmission, limits on data rate including information theory and quantum limits, and source encoding. We have not included communications traffic, switching, and multiplexing, nor protocols for digital and computer communications. For these, Reference 6 is excellent. In general, our book does not discuss the circuits used for communication or the physics of radio propagation. We assume that these will be taught in specialized courses, but such courses are not prerequisites for this one. Chapter 1 introduces the transmission formula or antenna equation and antenna directivity. Only a very basic sophomore physics knowledge of electromagnetic theory is assumed. The radar equation is also treated.

Introduction to Communication Science and Systems (Applications of Communications Theory)

Computers & Technology

Posner, Edward C.

Networking & Cloud Computing

Springer

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