1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781767603321

Autore

Viroli Maurizio

Titolo

The liberty of servants [[electronic resource] ] : Berlusconi's Italy / / Maurizio Viroli ; translated by Antony Shugaar with a new preface by the author

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, : Princeton University Press, 2012

ISBN

1-283-26747-0

9786613267474

1-4008-4027-9

Edizione

[With a New introduction by the author]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (203 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

ShugaarAntony

Disciplina

320.945

Soggetti

Political corruption - Italy

Social ethics - Italy

Political ethics - Italy

Liberty - Italy

Italy Politics and government 21st century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Originally published in Italian under the title: La liberta dei servi.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Foreword -- Preface -- The liberty of servants and the liberty of citizens -- The court system -- The signs of servitude -- The prerequisites of servitude -- The path to freedom.

Sommario/riassunto

Italy is a country of free political institutions, yet it has become a nation of servile courtesans, with Silvio Berlusconi as their prince. This is the controversial argument that Italian political philosopher and noted Machiavelli biographer Maurizio Viroli puts forward in The Liberty of Servants. Drawing upon the classical republican conception of liberty, Viroli shows that a people can be unfree even though they are not oppressed. This condition of unfreedom arises as a consequence of being subject to the arbitrary or enormous power of men like Berlusconi, who presides over Italy with his control of government and the media, immense wealth, and infamous lack of self-restraint. Challenging our most cherished notions about liberty, Viroli argues that even if a power like Berlusconi's has been established in the most legitimate manner and people are not denied their basic rights, the



mere existence of such power makes those subject to it unfree. Most Italians, following the lead of their elites, lack the minimal moral qualities of free people, such as respect for the Constitution, the willingness to obey laws, and the readiness to discharge civic duties. As Viroli demonstrates, they exhibit instead the characteristics of servility, including flattery, blind devotion to powerful men, an inclination to lie, obsession with appearances, imitation, buffoonery, acquiescence, and docility. Accompanying these traits is a marked arrogance that is apparent among not only politicians but also ordinary citizens.

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820642203321

Autore

Rodman L.

Titolo

Topics in quaternion linear algebra / / Leiba Rodman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, New Jersey ; ; Oxfordshire, England : , : Princeton University Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

1-4008-5274-9

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (379 p.)

Collana

Princeton Series in Applied Mathematics

Classificazione

SK 230

Disciplina

512/.5

Soggetti

Algebras, Linear

Quaternions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. The algebra of quaternions -- Chapter Three. Vector spaces and matrices: Basic theory -- Chapter Four. Symmetric matrices and congruence -- Chapter Five. Invariant subspaces and Jordan form -- Chapter Six. Invariant neutral and semidefinite subspaces -- Chapter Seven. Smith form and Kronecker canonical form -- Chapter Eight. Pencils of hermitian matrices -- Chapter Nine. Skewhermitian and mixed pencils -- Chapter Ten. Indefinite inner products: Conjugation -- Chapter Eleven. Matrix pencils with symmetries: Nonstandard involution -- Chapter Twelve. Mixed matrix pencils: Nonstandard involutions -- Chapter Thirteen. Indefinite inner products:



Nonstandard involution -- Chapter Fourteen. Matrix equations -- Chapter Fifteen. Appendix: Real and complex canonical forms -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Quaternions are a number system that has become increasingly useful for representing the rotations of objects in three-dimensional space and has important applications in theoretical and applied mathematics, physics, computer science, and engineering. This is the first book to provide a systematic, accessible, and self-contained exposition of quaternion linear algebra. It features previously unpublished research results with complete proofs and many open problems at various levels, as well as more than 200 exercises to facilitate use by students and instructors. Applications presented in the book include numerical ranges, invariant semidefinite subspaces, differential equations with symmetries, and matrix equations. Designed for researchers and students across a variety of disciplines, the book can be read by anyone with a background in linear algebra, rudimentary complex analysis, and some multivariable calculus. Instructors will find it useful as a complementary text for undergraduate linear algebra courses or as a basis for a graduate course in linear algebra. The open problems can serve as research projects for undergraduates, topics for graduate students, or problems to be tackled by professional research mathematicians. The book is also an invaluable reference tool for researchers in fields where techniques based on quaternion analysis are used.