Drilling Through Time

The whole story of California1s oilfield and geothermal history is gathered into one volume. Begins in the 1860s, with pioneers mining and refining the asphaltum from tarry seeps. By 1876, the state had its first truly commercial oil well. Soon, many oil fields were being discovered and produced. Companies sought to capture as much oil as possible, as fast as they could. Events grew so chaotic that the petroleum industry itself sought regulation. Thus, on Aug. 9, 1915, the Calif. Dept. of Petroleum and Gas (now, the Div. of Oil and Gas) was formed. This book tells how the petroleum and geothermal industries and the Div. of Oil and Gas have developed together. Dozens of photos.

Could something as simple and seemingly natural as falling into step have marked us for evolutionary success? In Keeping Together in Time one of the most widely read and respected historians in America pursues the possibility that coordinated rhythmic movement--and the shared feelings it evokes--has been a powerful force in holding human groups together.As he has done for historical phenomena as diverse as warfare, plague, and the pursuit of power, William H. McNeill brings a dazzling breadth and depth of knowledge to his study of dance and drill in human history. From the records of distant and ancient peoples to the latest findings of the life sciences, he discovers evidence that rhythmic movement has played a profound role in creating and sustaining human communities. The behavior of chimpanzees, festival village dances, the close-order drill of early modern Europe, the ecstatic dance-trances of shamans and dervishes, the goose-stepping Nazi formations, the morning exercises of factory workers in Japan--all these and many more figure in the bold picture McNeill draws. A sense of community is the key, and shared movement, whether dance or military drill, is its mainspring. McNeill focuses on the visceral and emotional sensations such movement arouses, particularly the euphoric fellow-feeling he calls "muscular bonding." These sensations, he suggests, endow groups with a capacity for cooperation, which in turn improves their chance of survival. A tour de force of imagination and scholarship, Keeping Together in Time reveals the muscular, rhythmic dimension of human solidarity. Its lessons will serve us well as we contemplate the future of the human community and of our various local communities.

Uniquely comprehensive and up to date, this book covers terrestrial as well as extraterrestrial drilling and excavation, combining the technology of drilling with the state of the art in robotics. The authors come from industry and top ranking public and corporate research institutions and provide here real-life examples, problems, solutions and case studies, backed by color photographs throughout. The result is a must-have for oil companies and all scientists involved in planetary research with robotic probes. With a foreword by Harrison "Jack" Schmitt -- the first geologist to drill on the moon.

For the first time in history Americans face the prospect of a unified set of national standards for K-12 education. While this goal sounds reasonable, and Common Core has been presented as a state-led effort, it is anything but. This book analyzes Common Core from the standpoint of its deleterious effects on curriculum--language arts, mathematics, history, and more--as well as its questionable legality, its roots in the aggressive spending of a few wealthy donors, its often-underestimated costs, and the untold damage it will wreak on American higher education. At a time when more and more people are questioning the wisdom of federally-mandated one-size-fits-all solutions, Drilling through the Core offers well-considered arguments for stopping Common Core in its tracks.

This book shares the latest findings on this topic, systematically introduces readers to advances made in robotic harvesting around the globe, and explores the relations between the development of robotic harvesting and the respective social/economic conditions and agricultural business patterns in various countries/regions. Due to the unstructured setting it is used in, and to the significant differences between individual fruit and vegetable targets, robotic harvesting is currently considered to be one of the most challenging robotics technologies. Accordingly, research into this area involves the integration of various aspects, including biomechanics, optimization design, advanced perception and intelligent control. In addition to rapid and damage-free robotic harvesting, which reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the topic, further aspects addressed include gripping collisions with viscoelastic objects, using lasers to cut plant material, plant-fruit response to vacuum sucking and pulling, and performance probability distribution. Highlighting outstanding innovations and reflecting the latest advances in intelligent agricultural equipment in China, the book offers a unique and valuable resource.

Revealing and frank, this highly engaging biography tells the story of an American original, California's Big Daddy, Jesse Unruh (1922-1987), a charismatic man whose power reached far beyond the offices he held. Unruh, who was born into Texas sharecropper poverty, became a larger-than-life figure and a principal architect and builder of modern California—first as an assemblyman, then as assembly speaker, and finally, as state treasurer. He was also a great character: a combination of intelligence, wit, idealism, cynicism, woman-chasing vulgarity, charm, drunken excess, and political skill all wrapped up in one big package. He dominated the California capitol and extended his influence to Washington and Wall Street. He was close to Lyndon Johnson and the Kennedys, but closest to Robert Kennedy, and was in the Ambassador Hotel kitchen when Kennedy was shot. Bill Boyarsky gives a close-up look at this extraordinary political leader, a man who believed that politics was the art of the possible, and his era.

Deep biosphere research is at the scientific frontier of bio- and geo-related sciences, yet it is largely underexplored. In terms of volume, deep subsurface settings represent some of the largest microbial habitats on the planet, and the combined biomass of the deep biosphere encompasses the largest living reservoir of carbon, excluding land plants. However, the paleo-record of the deep biosphere is still largely uncharted and neglected. The aim of this book is to highlight current research on deep life through time and bring together researchers with various perspectives. The book presents a collection of scientific contributions that provide a sample of forefront research in this field. The contributions involve a range of case studies of deep ancient life in continental and oceanic settings, of microbial diversity in sub-seafloor environments, and of the isolation of calcifying bacteria, as well as reviews on clay mineralization of fungal biofilms and on the carbon isotope records of the deep biosphere. Deciphering the fossil record of the deep biosphere is a challenging task but, when successful, will unlock doors to life’s cryptic past.