Michael Dewar - Böcker

This textbook introduces the perturbation molecular orbital (PMO) th,eory of organic chemistry. Organic chemistry encompasses the largest body of factual information of any of the major divisions of science. The sheer bulk of the subject matter makes many demands on any theory that attempts to systematize it. Time has shown that the PMO method meets these demands admirably. The PMO method can provide practicing chemists with both a pictorial description of bonding and qualitative theoretical results that are well founded in more sophisticated treatments. The only requirements for use of the theory are high school algebra and a pencil and paper. The treatment described in this book is by no means new. Indeed, it was developed as a complete theory of organic chemistry more than twenty years ago. Although it was demonstrably superior to resonance theory and no more complicated to use, it escaped notice for two very simple reasons. First, the original papers describing it were very condensed, perhaps even obscure, and contained few if any examples. Second, for various reasons, no general account appeared in book form until 1969,* and this was still relatively inaccessible, being in the form of a monograph where molecular orbital (MO) theory was treated mainly at a much more sophisticated level. The generality of the PMO method is illustrated by the fact that all the new developments over the last two decades can be accommodated in it.

This textbook introduces the perturbation molecular orbital (PMO) th,eory of organic chemistry. Organic chemistry encompasses the largest body offactual information of any of the major divisions of science. The sheer bulk of the subject matter makes many demands on any theory that attempts to systematize it. Time has shown that the PMO method meets these demands admirably. The PMO method can provide practicing chemists with both a pictorial description of bonding and qualitative theoretical results that are well founded in more sophisticated treatments. The only requirements for use of the theory are high school algebra and a pencil and paper. The treatment described in this book is by no means new. Indeed, it was developed as a complete theory of organic chemistry more than twenty years ago. Although it was demonstrably superior to resonance theory and no more complicated to use, it escaped notice for two very simple reasons. First, the original papers describing it were very condensed, perhaps even obscure, and contained few if any examples. Second, for various reasons, no general account appeared in book form until 1969,* and this was still relatively inaccessible, being in the form of a monograph where molecular orbital (MO) theory was treated mainly at a much more sophisticated level. The generality of the PMO method is illustrated by the fact that all the new developments over the last two decades can be accommodated in it.

Leisured Resistance examines the varied ways in which cultured Roman aristocrats, of very different periods, used their country estates as a political and literary tool. While for some the villas were retreats in which to compose literature and to escape from politics, others adapted this same tradition of cultured otium (or deliberate retirement from everyday politics) to present radical and competing visions of society and literature alike. Examining in-depth sources from both prose and verse from the time of Cicero to the last centuries of the Roman Empire in the west, the title demonstrates how the traditional image of the Roman aristocrat on his country estate was politically and socially very flexible: allowing authors, as times and circumstances changed, to present themselves or their patrons and friends as being in retreat from politics, or alternatively, as providing a focus for political opposition through the deliberate embracing of cultural values and schools of philosophy that offered resistance to prevailing political orthodoxy. The title ends by exploring how this tradition was adapted in the greatly changed world of the barbarian-ruled kingdoms that replaced direct Roman rule in Gaul in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The book also demonstrates the methods on the WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary, the results showing that this approach allows deeper insights into conflict dynamics and allows a strikingly statistically accurate forward prediction of armed opposition group activity in 2010, based solely on data from preceding years.