Biogeography was stuck in a "natural history phase" dominated by the collection of data, the young Princeton biologists Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson argued in 1967. In this book, the authors developed a general theory to explain the facts of island biogeography. The theory builds on the first principles of population ecology and genetics to explain how distance and area combine to regulate the balance between immigration and extinction in island populations. The authors then test the theory against data. The Theory of Island Biogeography was never intended as the last word on the subject. Instead, MacArthur and Wilson sought to stimulate new forms of theoretical and empirical studies, which will lead in turn to a stronger general theory. Even a third of a century since its publication, the book continues to serve that purpose well. From popular books like David Quammen's Song of the Dodo to arguments in the professional literature, The Theory of Island Biogeography remains at the center of discussions about the geographic distribution of species. In a new preface, Edward O. Wilson reviews the origins and consequences of this classic book.

Designers of high-speed integrated circuits face a bewildering array of choices and too often spend frustrating days tweaking gates to meet speed targets. Logical Effort: Designing Fast CMOS Circuits makes high speed design easier and more methodical, providing a simple and broadly applicable method for estimating the delay resulting from factors such as topology, capacitance, and gate sizes.

The brainchild of circuit and computer graphics pioneers Ivan Sutherland and Bob Sproull, "logical effort" will change the way you approach design challenges. This book begins by equipping you with a sound understanding of the method's essential procedures and concepts-so you can start using it immediately. Later chapters explore the theory and finer points of the method and detail its specialized applications.

* Explains the method and how to apply it in two practically focused chapters.
* Improves circuit design intuition by teaching simple ways to discern the consequences of topology and gate size decisions.
* Offers easy ways to choose the fastest circuit from among an array of potential circuit designs.
* Reduces the time spent on tweaking and simulations-so you can rapidly settle on a good design.
* Offers in-depth coverage of specialized areas of application for logical effort: skewed or unbalanced gates, other circuit families (including pseudo-NMOS and domino), wide structures such as decoders, and irregularly forking circuits.
* Presents a complete derivation of the method-so you see how and why it works.