Albeverio S., Kantz H., Jentsch V. (eds) Extreme events in nature and society

Berlin: Springer, 2006. — 357 p.Significant, and usually unwelcome, surprises, such as floods, financial crisis, epileptic seizures, or material rupture, are the topics of Extreme Events in Nature and Society. The book, authored by foremost experts in these fields, reveals unifying and distinguishing features of extreme events, including problems of understanding and modelling their origin, spatial and temporal extension, and potential impact. The chapters converge towards the difficult problem of anticipation: forecasting the event and proposing measures to moderate or prevent it. Extreme Events in Nature and Society will interest not only specialists, but also the general reader eager to learn how the multifaceted field of extreme events can be viewed as a coherent whole.PreliminariesExtreme Events: Magic, Mysteries, and Challenges
Anticipating Extreme Events
Mathematical Methods and Concepts
Dynamical Interpretation of Extreme Events
Endogenous versus Exogenous Origins of Crises
Epilepsy: Extreme Events in the Human Brain
Extreme Events in the Geological Past
Wind and Precipitation Extremes in the Earth's Atmosphere
Freak Ocean Waves and Refraction of Gaussian Seas
Predicting the Lifetime of Steel
Computer Simulations of Opinions and their Reactions to Extreme Events.