1.3: Summing vectors given in geometric form The following activity illustrates how the conversion
processes outlined in the preceding sections may come in useful. If
two vectors are given in geometric form, and their sum is sought in
the same form, one approach is to convert each of the vectors into
component form, add their corresponding components, and then convert
the sum back to geometric form. 1.4.6 P is for Provenance The provenance of a piece of information (i.e. who produced it? where did it come from?) may provide another useful clue to its reliability. It represents the 'credentials' of a piece of information that support its status and perceived value. It is therefore very important to be able to identify the author, sponsoring body or source of your information. Why is this important? 4.2.1 Eco-efficiency = money in the bank Business can profit from taking the environment into account (generally called eco-efficiency). Poor environmental performance is seen as a reflection of poor business practice in general. Eco-efficiency promotes the economic benefits of energy and materials savings, at the same time being first to market with new technologies or products. Since business sustainability lobbies promoted eco-efficiency in the early 1990s, the creed has gained rapid acceptance, and with good cause. There 1.4.2 Engaging with multiple perspectives A systems approach begins when first you see the world through the eyes of another. (Churchman, 1968, p. 231) The Ulrich reading is an extract from an article written in honour of another systems philosopher, C. West Churchman. Also drawing on Churchman's influence, Jake Chapman sums up two qualities of systems thinking in terms of ‘gaining a bigger picture (going up a level of abstraction) a 6.2 (a) ‘Cleaning-up’ fossil and nuclear technologies This means mitigating some of the adverse ‘environmental’ consequences of fossil and nuclear fuel use through the introduction of new, ‘clean’ technologies that should substantially reduce pollution emissions and health hazards. These include ‘supply-side’ measures to improve the efficiency with which fossil fuels are converted into electricity in power stations; cleaner and more efficient combustion methods; the increasing use of ‘waste’ heat in combined heat-and-power scheme 3.2 Fossil fuels So what are the principle energy systems used by humanity at present, and how sustainable are they? Until quite recently, human energy requirements were modest and our supplies came either from harnessing natural processes such as the growth of plants, which provided wood for heating and food to energise human or animal muscles, or from the power of water and wind, used to drive simple machinery. But the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw a massive increase in global energy us 2.3 Social valuation: towards ecological citizenship An important practical question is whether the standard tools of economics are adequate for describing and monitoring sustainable development. If we consider either the Brundtland ‘essential needs of the poor’ condition for sustainability, or the idea that we ought to try to secure a certain level of quality of life for future people equivalent to that of some people today, it would appear that economics will not be enough by itself. This is because each of these concepts demands more tha 1.1 Natures and environments The title of this unit is deliberately ambiguous. From one standpoint, the assertive dominant emphasis on nature in ‘nature matters’ is one that rings true amongst many environmentalists. What matters in environmental responsibility is what might widely be referred to as nature. This unit might be expected to be about how to argue the case for prioritising nature above other concerns. However, if instead the assertive emphasis is placed on matters, you may anticipate that th 4.3 Dutch elm disease Not all change is a direct result of human intervention. Sometimes changes can occur over which we have little control. One such example is the case of Dutch elm disease (so-called because most of the early studies of the disease were carried out in Holland, although the disease was first observed in France in 1918). The disease is caused by a fungus, Ceratocystis ulmi, that has the elm, Ulmus procera, as its only habitat and food source. Spores of the fungus are carried by the 4.2 'Biological control' We are also guilty of importing exotic species, some of which, like the rhododendron (imported from Asia to Europe), have run riot in the absence of natural predators or primary consumers, and so have tended to out-compete native plants. Sometimes introductions have been accidental; rats and many disease-causing organisms have spread around the world via relatively modern transportation such as sailing ships. However, deliberate introductions, such as the rhododendron, have been made with wor 3.2 Food webs The Eucalyptus provides food for other species too, so a more realistic way of expressing the complicated interrelationships of plants and animals, is in a food web as shown in Figure 2 for the common oak. 3.1 Habitat The environment in which any organism lives is known as its habitat. It will share its habitat with other organisms, that are themselves part of the habitat. A habitat has distinctive physical and chemical features. Can 1 Legacies and inheritance There is no doubt that each one of us affects the lives of those who surround us. Many of our interactions with others are very obvious to us and could be described in terms of personal, professional and social relationships. But there are other, often unnoticed, interactions: the mother taking her children to school, the man buying his paper, the youth at the bus stop – all people we see regularly and only notice when they are not there. Younger people are often very worried about what oth 6 Poetic inversion
Poetic inversion, or changing the usual word order of speech, is often linked to the need to maintain a rhythm or to find a rhyme. We noticed Pope's poetic inversion in An Essay on Criticism and saw how the rhyme was intimately linked to the rhythm of the verse. The song ‘Dancing in the Street’, first recorded by Martha and the Vandellas in the 1960s, does violence to word order in the interests of rhyme – ‘There'll be dancing in the street/ A chance new folk to meet’ Introduction This unit is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn how to compare and contrast poetry. This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Approaching Literature (A210) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence 1. Join the 200,000 students currently studying with The Open Univ 1.1.1 The Rhind papyrus For a literate civilisation extending over some 4000 years, that of the ancient Egyptians has left disappointingly little evidence of its mathematical attainments. Even though the classical Greeks believed mathematics to have been invented in Egypt – though their accounts are far from unanimous on how this happened – there are now but a handful of papyri and other objects to convey a sense of Egyptian mathematical activity. The largest and best preserved of these is the Rhind papyrus (Ext 2.3 A passionate reaction The painting provoked a furore because both its subject and the manner in which it was painted were felt to be excessive: this delirious orgy, playing on Byronic notions of fieriness and Faustian concoctions of creative and destructive energies, was not what critics and public had come to expect of grand history painting. Its massive size (just under four by five metres) magnified its effect. In fact, the painting had only narrowly been voted into the exhibition by the Salon jury. The followi 4 Key points The important points this unit has covered include: Defining the entrepreneur in terms of economic function and role. Identifying the key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms. Considering the role of entrepreneurial motivation in decision making and business behaviour. Identifying leadership and management styles appropriate to an entrepreneurial firm Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence All materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University. Every effort has bee
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