The Architecture of Collapse

The Architecture of Collapse

Author: Mauro F. Guillén

Publisher: Clarendon Lectures in Manageme

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0199683603

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Using a variety of economic, financial and political indicators, this book demonstrates that the global system has become an 'architecture of collapse'. It analyses the global financial crisis of 2008, the bilateral relationship between the US and China, and the European sovereign debt crisis to illustrate the causes and consequences of global instability.


Book Synopsis The Architecture of Collapse by : Mauro F. Guillén

Download or read book The Architecture of Collapse written by Mauro F. Guillén and published by Clarendon Lectures in Manageme. This book was released on 2015 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a variety of economic, financial and political indicators, this book demonstrates that the global system has become an 'architecture of collapse'. It analyses the global financial crisis of 2008, the bilateral relationship between the US and China, and the European sovereign debt crisis to illustrate the causes and consequences of global instability.


Collapse

Collapse

Author: Phillip Wearne

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13:

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What happens when the very ground beneath your feet gives way? In Collapse, Philip Wearne tells the stories behind the worst structural engineering disasters of the last fifty years, and the forensic engineers who investigated their causes. Using expert testimonies from scientific investigators, Wearne studies eleven high-profile cases of catastrophic structural collapse, from The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City and the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut, to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Sometimes, if these disasters have a single cause, it is a small flaw that spawns a chain reaction -- for instance, the miniscule flaw in the metal of one eyebar of the Point Pleasant Bridge on the Ohio River. Usually, though, and more alarmingly, the causes are human. Mistakes, misunderstandings, incompetence, greed, and corruption: every facet of human failing is represented in these structural collapses. This makes the investigation of these failures -- by agencies like the Failure Analysis Associates, who can have close to two thousand investigations ongoing at any one time -- dirty and dangerous business. Wearne's case study takes us deep inside the ever-growing industry of forensic engineering, revealing a group of professionals dedicated to determining the cause of a collapse at any cost, while learning and applying valuable lessons from each failure. Provocative and well-written, Collapse is essential for deepening our understanding of -- and readiness for -- catastrophe.


Book Synopsis Collapse by : Phillip Wearne

Download or read book Collapse written by Phillip Wearne and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when the very ground beneath your feet gives way? In Collapse, Philip Wearne tells the stories behind the worst structural engineering disasters of the last fifty years, and the forensic engineers who investigated their causes. Using expert testimonies from scientific investigators, Wearne studies eleven high-profile cases of catastrophic structural collapse, from The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City and the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut, to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Sometimes, if these disasters have a single cause, it is a small flaw that spawns a chain reaction -- for instance, the miniscule flaw in the metal of one eyebar of the Point Pleasant Bridge on the Ohio River. Usually, though, and more alarmingly, the causes are human. Mistakes, misunderstandings, incompetence, greed, and corruption: every facet of human failing is represented in these structural collapses. This makes the investigation of these failures -- by agencies like the Failure Analysis Associates, who can have close to two thousand investigations ongoing at any one time -- dirty and dangerous business. Wearne's case study takes us deep inside the ever-growing industry of forensic engineering, revealing a group of professionals dedicated to determining the cause of a collapse at any cost, while learning and applying valuable lessons from each failure. Provocative and well-written, Collapse is essential for deepening our understanding of -- and readiness for -- catastrophe.


Why Buildings Fall Down

Why Buildings Fall Down

Author: Matthys Levy

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2002-03-05

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780393311525

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About the reasons for structural collapse, including earthquakes, metal fatigue, and terrorism.


Book Synopsis Why Buildings Fall Down by : Matthys Levy

Download or read book Why Buildings Fall Down written by Matthys Levy and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2002-03-05 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About the reasons for structural collapse, including earthquakes, metal fatigue, and terrorism.


Before the Collapse

Before the Collapse

Author: Ugo Bardi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-10-17

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 3030290387

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Nobody has to tell you that when things go bad, they go bad quickly and seemingly in bunches. Complicated structures like buildings or bridges are slow and laborious to build but, with a design flaw or enough explosive energy, take only seconds to collapse. This fate can befall a company, the stock market, or your house or town after a natural disaster, and the metaphor extends to economies, governments, and even whole societies. As we proceed blindly and incrementally in one direction or another, collapse often takes us by surprise. We step over what you will come to know as a “Seneca cliff”, which is named after the ancient Roman philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who was the first to observe the ubiquitous truth that growth is slow but ruin is rapid. Modern science, like ancient philosophy, tell us that collapse is not a bug; it is a feature of the universe. Understanding this reality will help you to see and navigate the Seneca cliffs of life, or what Malcolm Gladwell called “tipping points.” Efforts to stave off collapse often mean that the cliff will be even steeper when you step over it. But the good news is that what looks to you like a collapse may be nothing more than the passage to a new condition that is better than the old. This book gives deeper meaning to familiar adages such as “it’s a house of cards”, “let nature take its course”, “reach a tipping point”, or the popular Silicon Valley expression, “fail fast, fail often.” As the old Roman philosopher noted, “nothing that exists today is not the result of a past collapse”, and this is the basis of what we call “The Seneca Strategy.” This engaging and insightful book will help you to use the Seneca Strategy to face failure and collapse at all scales, to understand why change may be inevitable, and to navigate the swirl of events that frequently threaten your balance and happiness. You will learn: How ancient philosophy and modern science agree that failure and collapse are normal features of the universe Principles that help us manage, rather than be managed by, the biggest challenges of our lives and times Why technological progress may not prevent economic or societal collapse Why the best strategy to oppose failure is not to resist at all costs How you can “rebound” after collapse, to do better than before, and to avoid the same mistakes.


Book Synopsis Before the Collapse by : Ugo Bardi

Download or read book Before the Collapse written by Ugo Bardi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-17 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody has to tell you that when things go bad, they go bad quickly and seemingly in bunches. Complicated structures like buildings or bridges are slow and laborious to build but, with a design flaw or enough explosive energy, take only seconds to collapse. This fate can befall a company, the stock market, or your house or town after a natural disaster, and the metaphor extends to economies, governments, and even whole societies. As we proceed blindly and incrementally in one direction or another, collapse often takes us by surprise. We step over what you will come to know as a “Seneca cliff”, which is named after the ancient Roman philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who was the first to observe the ubiquitous truth that growth is slow but ruin is rapid. Modern science, like ancient philosophy, tell us that collapse is not a bug; it is a feature of the universe. Understanding this reality will help you to see and navigate the Seneca cliffs of life, or what Malcolm Gladwell called “tipping points.” Efforts to stave off collapse often mean that the cliff will be even steeper when you step over it. But the good news is that what looks to you like a collapse may be nothing more than the passage to a new condition that is better than the old. This book gives deeper meaning to familiar adages such as “it’s a house of cards”, “let nature take its course”, “reach a tipping point”, or the popular Silicon Valley expression, “fail fast, fail often.” As the old Roman philosopher noted, “nothing that exists today is not the result of a past collapse”, and this is the basis of what we call “The Seneca Strategy.” This engaging and insightful book will help you to use the Seneca Strategy to face failure and collapse at all scales, to understand why change may be inevitable, and to navigate the swirl of events that frequently threaten your balance and happiness. You will learn: How ancient philosophy and modern science agree that failure and collapse are normal features of the universe Principles that help us manage, rather than be managed by, the biggest challenges of our lives and times Why technological progress may not prevent economic or societal collapse Why the best strategy to oppose failure is not to resist at all costs How you can “rebound” after collapse, to do better than before, and to avoid the same mistakes.


Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse

Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse

Author: Alex Irvine

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2016-03-08

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781452148274

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New York Collapse is an in-world fictionalized companion to one of the biggest video game releases of 2016: Tom Clancy's The Division from Ubisoft. Within this discarded survivalist field guide, written before the collapse, lies a mystery—a handwritten account of a woman struggling to discover why New York City fell. The keys to unlocking the survivor's full story are hidden within seven removable artifacts, ranging from a full-city map to a used transit card. Retrace her steps through a destroyed urban landscape and decipher her clues to reveal the key secrets at the heart of this highly anticipated game.


Book Synopsis Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse by : Alex Irvine

Download or read book Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse written by Alex Irvine and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Collapse is an in-world fictionalized companion to one of the biggest video game releases of 2016: Tom Clancy's The Division from Ubisoft. Within this discarded survivalist field guide, written before the collapse, lies a mystery—a handwritten account of a woman struggling to discover why New York City fell. The keys to unlocking the survivor's full story are hidden within seven removable artifacts, ranging from a full-city map to a used transit card. Retrace her steps through a destroyed urban landscape and decipher her clues to reveal the key secrets at the heart of this highly anticipated game.


Collapsing Gracefully: Making a Built Environment that is Fit for the Future

Collapsing Gracefully: Making a Built Environment that is Fit for the Future

Author: Emilio Garcia

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-07-24

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 3030777839

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This innovative book investigates the concept of collapse in terms of our built environment, exploring the future transition of modern cities towards scenarios very different from the current promises of progress and development. This is not a book about the end of the world and hopeless apocalyptic scenarios. It is about understanding change in how and where we live. Collapse is inevitable, but in the built environment collapse could imply a manageable situation, an opportunity for change or a devastating reality. Collapsing gracefully means that there might be better ways to coexist with collapse if we learn more about it and commit to rebuild our civilisations in ways that avoid its worst effects. This book uses a wide range of practical examples to study critical changes in the built environment, to contextualise and visualise what collapse looks like, to see if it is possible to buffer its effects in places already collapsing and to propose ways to develop greater resilience. The book challenges all agents and institutions in modern cities, their designers and planners as well as their residents and users to think differently about built environment so as to ease our coexistence with collapse and not contribute to its causes. .


Book Synopsis Collapsing Gracefully: Making a Built Environment that is Fit for the Future by : Emilio Garcia

Download or read book Collapsing Gracefully: Making a Built Environment that is Fit for the Future written by Emilio Garcia and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-07-24 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative book investigates the concept of collapse in terms of our built environment, exploring the future transition of modern cities towards scenarios very different from the current promises of progress and development. This is not a book about the end of the world and hopeless apocalyptic scenarios. It is about understanding change in how and where we live. Collapse is inevitable, but in the built environment collapse could imply a manageable situation, an opportunity for change or a devastating reality. Collapsing gracefully means that there might be better ways to coexist with collapse if we learn more about it and commit to rebuild our civilisations in ways that avoid its worst effects. This book uses a wide range of practical examples to study critical changes in the built environment, to contextualise and visualise what collapse looks like, to see if it is possible to buffer its effects in places already collapsing and to propose ways to develop greater resilience. The book challenges all agents and institutions in modern cities, their designers and planners as well as their residents and users to think differently about built environment so as to ease our coexistence with collapse and not contribute to its causes. .


Surviving Collapse

Surviving Collapse

Author: Christina Ergas

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-08-16

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0197544096

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As major environmental crises loom, Christina Ergas makes the argument in Surviving Collapse that one possible way forward is a radical sustainable development that turns the focus from monetary gain to social and ecological regeneration and transformation. Employing qualitative and cross-national comparative methods, Ergas examines two alternative, community-scale, socioecological models of development: the first is a grassroots urban ecovillage in the Pacific Northwest, United States, while the second is a government-subsidized, but cooperatively run, urban farm in Havana, Cuba. While neither are panaceas, they prioritize social and ecological efficiency and subsume economic rationality towards those ends. Featuring cases that not only allow us to synthesize their strengths but evaluate their weaknesses, Surviving Collapse reveals a multitude of varied paths toward reaching radical urban sustainability and empowers us all to imagine, and possibly build, more resilient futures.


Book Synopsis Surviving Collapse by : Christina Ergas

Download or read book Surviving Collapse written by Christina Ergas and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-16 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As major environmental crises loom, Christina Ergas makes the argument in Surviving Collapse that one possible way forward is a radical sustainable development that turns the focus from monetary gain to social and ecological regeneration and transformation. Employing qualitative and cross-national comparative methods, Ergas examines two alternative, community-scale, socioecological models of development: the first is a grassroots urban ecovillage in the Pacific Northwest, United States, while the second is a government-subsidized, but cooperatively run, urban farm in Havana, Cuba. While neither are panaceas, they prioritize social and ecological efficiency and subsume economic rationality towards those ends. Featuring cases that not only allow us to synthesize their strengths but evaluate their weaknesses, Surviving Collapse reveals a multitude of varied paths toward reaching radical urban sustainability and empowers us all to imagine, and possibly build, more resilient futures.


The Collapse of Complex Societies

The Collapse of Complex Societies

Author: Joseph Tainter

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780521386739

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Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory.


Book Synopsis The Collapse of Complex Societies by : Joseph Tainter

Download or read book The Collapse of Complex Societies written by Joseph Tainter and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory.


The Collapse of Western Civilization

The Collapse of Western Civilization

Author: Naomi Oreskes

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-07-01

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 0231537956

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The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought and—finally—the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093, when the disintegration of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet led to mass migration and a complete reshuffling of the global order. Writing from the Second People's Republic of China on the 300th anniversary of the Great Collapse, a senior scholar presents a gripping and deeply disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment—the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies—failed to act, and so brought about the collapse of Western civilization. In this haunting, provocative work of science-based fiction, Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway imagine a world devastated by climate change. Dramatizing the science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, the book reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon combustion complex" that have turned the practice of science into political fodder. Based on sound scholarship and yet unafraid to speak boldly, this book provides a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate change literature.


Book Synopsis The Collapse of Western Civilization by : Naomi Oreskes

Download or read book The Collapse of Western Civilization written by Naomi Oreskes and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought and—finally—the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093, when the disintegration of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet led to mass migration and a complete reshuffling of the global order. Writing from the Second People's Republic of China on the 300th anniversary of the Great Collapse, a senior scholar presents a gripping and deeply disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment—the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies—failed to act, and so brought about the collapse of Western civilization. In this haunting, provocative work of science-based fiction, Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway imagine a world devastated by climate change. Dramatizing the science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, the book reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon combustion complex" that have turned the practice of science into political fodder. Based on sound scholarship and yet unafraid to speak boldly, this book provides a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate change literature.


The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming

The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming

Author: David G. Victor

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-10-12

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1400824060

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Even as the evidence of global warming mounts, the international response to this serious threat is coming unraveled. The United States has formally withdrawn from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol; other key nations are facing difficulty in meeting their Kyoto commitments; and developing countries face no limit on their emissions of the gases that cause global warming. In this clear and cogent book-reissued in paperback with an afterword that comments on recent events--David Victor explains why the Kyoto Protocol was never likely to become an effective legal instrument. He explores how its collapse offers opportunities to establish a more realistic alternative. Global warming continues to dominate environmental news as legislatures worldwide grapple with the process of ratification of the December 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The collapse of the November 2000 conference at the Hague showed clearly how difficult it will be to bring the Kyoto treaty into force. Yet most politicians, policymakers, and analysts hailed it as a vital first step in slowing greenhouse warming. David Victor was not among them. Kyoto's fatal flaw, Victor argues, is that it can work only if emissions trading works. The Protocol requires industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to specific targets. Crucially, the Protocol also provides for so-called "emissions trading," whereby nations could offset the need for rapid cuts in their own emissions by buying emissions credits from other countries. But starting this trading system would require creating emission permits worth two trillion dollars--the largest single invention of assets by voluntary international treaty in world history. Even if it were politically possible to distribute such astronomical sums, the Protocol does not provide for adequate monitoring and enforcement of these new property rights. Nor does it offer an achievable plan for allocating new permits, which would be essential if the system were expanded to include developing countries. The collapse of the Kyoto Protocol--which Victor views as inevitable--will provide the political space to rethink strategy. Better alternatives would focus on policies that control emissions, such as emission taxes. Though economically sensible, however, a pure tax approach is impossible to monitor in practice. Thus, the author proposes a hybrid in which governments set targets for both emission quantities and tax levels. This offers the important advantages of both emission trading and taxes without the debilitating drawbacks of each. Individuals at all levels of environmental science, economics, public policy, and politics-from students to professionals--and anyone else hoping to participate in the debate over how to slow global warming will want to read this book.


Book Synopsis The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming by : David G. Victor

Download or read book The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming written by David G. Victor and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-12 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as the evidence of global warming mounts, the international response to this serious threat is coming unraveled. The United States has formally withdrawn from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol; other key nations are facing difficulty in meeting their Kyoto commitments; and developing countries face no limit on their emissions of the gases that cause global warming. In this clear and cogent book-reissued in paperback with an afterword that comments on recent events--David Victor explains why the Kyoto Protocol was never likely to become an effective legal instrument. He explores how its collapse offers opportunities to establish a more realistic alternative. Global warming continues to dominate environmental news as legislatures worldwide grapple with the process of ratification of the December 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The collapse of the November 2000 conference at the Hague showed clearly how difficult it will be to bring the Kyoto treaty into force. Yet most politicians, policymakers, and analysts hailed it as a vital first step in slowing greenhouse warming. David Victor was not among them. Kyoto's fatal flaw, Victor argues, is that it can work only if emissions trading works. The Protocol requires industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to specific targets. Crucially, the Protocol also provides for so-called "emissions trading," whereby nations could offset the need for rapid cuts in their own emissions by buying emissions credits from other countries. But starting this trading system would require creating emission permits worth two trillion dollars--the largest single invention of assets by voluntary international treaty in world history. Even if it were politically possible to distribute such astronomical sums, the Protocol does not provide for adequate monitoring and enforcement of these new property rights. Nor does it offer an achievable plan for allocating new permits, which would be essential if the system were expanded to include developing countries. The collapse of the Kyoto Protocol--which Victor views as inevitable--will provide the political space to rethink strategy. Better alternatives would focus on policies that control emissions, such as emission taxes. Though economically sensible, however, a pure tax approach is impossible to monitor in practice. Thus, the author proposes a hybrid in which governments set targets for both emission quantities and tax levels. This offers the important advantages of both emission trading and taxes without the debilitating drawbacks of each. Individuals at all levels of environmental science, economics, public policy, and politics-from students to professionals--and anyone else hoping to participate in the debate over how to slow global warming will want to read this book.