Bücher von Hans Kummer

Drahtlose Kommunikation - sei es zur Ton-, Daten- oder Bildübertragung - prägt unser heutiges Leben. Während noch Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts der Rundfunk (und etwas später das Fernsehen) die dominierenden Anwendungen der drahtlosen Kommunikation waren, gibt es heute kaum mehr ein technisches Gerät, das nicht das Mittel der drahtlosen Kommunikation nutzt. Allen voran das beliebte Smartphone.Daneben gibt es sehr viele Anwendungen, die wir nicht sofort und automatisch mit den Begriffen Radio oder Funk verbinden, die aber auf der Nutzung elektromagnetischer Strahlung basieren. So zum Beispiel der Wagenschlüssel, die über Bluetooth verbundenen Kopfhörer, der automatische Rasenmäher, die gehassten Radargeschwindigkeitsmesser, der Laptop, der über Wi-Fi mit dem Internet verbunden ist, die kleinen Navigationsempfänger, usw.Diesen Anwendungen gemeinsam ist die Nutzung physikalischer Gegebenheiten durch die Technik. Ob Radar, Satellitenfernsehen, oder einfach nur das alte Mittelwellenradio, alle bauen auf denselben Grundlagen auf.Das Ziel dieses Buch ist es, diese Grundlagen zu erläutern und damit das Verständnis für die darauf aufbauenden Anwendungen zu fördern. Es soll Studenten den Einstieg ins Fachgebiet erleichtern und Voraussetzungen für den Zugang zu den Standardwerken der Fachliteratur schaffen. Es richtet sich aber auch an Personen, die an der Physik und der Technik interessiert sind und einen tieferen Einblick in die Grundlagen der drahtlosen Kommunikation und deren Anwendung erhalten wollen.

In a tale that begins at a zoo in Zurich and takes us across the deserts of Ethiopia to the Asir Mountains in Saudi Arabia, Hans Kummer recreates the adventure and intellectual thrill of the early days of field research on primates. Just as Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey introduced readers to the fascinating lives of chimpanzees and gorillas, Kummer brings us face to face with the Hamadryas baboon. With their furry white mantles and gleaming red hindquarters, the Hamadryas appear frequently in the art of the ancient Egyptians--who may have interpreted the baboons' early morning grooming rituals as sun-worshiping rites. Back then, Hamadryas were thought to be incarnates of Thoth, the god of wisdom; today they are considered to have one of the most highly structured social systems among primates, very close, in some respects, to that of humans. In the 1960s, Kummer, after conflicts with nomadic warriors, managed to track down these elusive baboons near the Danakil Desert, and then followed them from dawn to dusk on their treks from one feeding place to another. His scientific account of this period reads like a travel memoir as he describes his encounters with the Hamadryas and the people with whom they share the desert. Winding his way through cliffs and stubble, Kummer records the baboons' social life, from the development of pair relationships to the way an entire group decides where to march each day. Much like the human nomads who cope with the harsh demands of the desert environment, the Hamadryas maintain a society that is strict and patriarchal in its details but multilayered and flexible in its largest units. We learn, for example, of the Hamadryas' respect for possession that protects family structure and of the cohesion among family leaders that lessens the threat of battle. At the same time, clear-cut personalities emerge from Kummer's account, drawing us into the life stories and power struggles of individual baboons. Whereas this rich detail holds many implications for natural scientists, the colorful way it comes to life makes for a compelling book bound to entertain and educate all readers.Originally published in 1995.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A social and cultural analysis of community life in metropolitan areas of the USA, Sweden and England. The author focuses on how environment and culture interact to shape human behaviour. Despite their similarities, the three societies vary widely, offering opportunities to compare and contrast.