Mechanics of the 21st Century [electronic resource] : Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw, Poland, 15-21 August 2004 / edited by Witold Gutkowski, Tomasz A. Kowalewski.

Interplay between Air and Water -- Stochastic Dynamics of Engineering Systems -- Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications -- Rapid Formation of Strong Gradients and Diffusion in the Transport of Scalar and Vector Fields -- Wave-Vortex Interactions in the Atmosphere, and Climate Prediction -- Near-Critical Point Hydrodynamics and Microgravity -- Flaw Tolerant Nanostructures of Biological Materials -- Transport and Mixing in the Atmosphere -- Variational and Multiscale Methods in Turbulence -- Mechanics of Thin Film Structures -- Nonlinear Dynamics in Ocean Engineering -- A Bridge Between the Micro- and Mesomechanics of Laminates: Fantasy or Reality? -- Turbulence and Large-Eddy Simulations -- Nano Mechanical Analysis of IFM Force Profiles on Self-Assembled Monolayers -- Collisional Granular Flows with and Without Gas Interactions in Microgravity -- Probability Phenomena in Perturbed Dynamical Systems -- Mechanics of Rubberlike Solids -- Elastic Wave Propagation Development for Structural Health Monitoring -- On the Damping of a Piezoelectric Truss -- Strength of Nanostructures -- Micromechanics of Cells -- Elastic Interactions of Biological Cells -- Electrokinetic flow Instabilities in Microfluidic Systems -- Molecular Mechanics of Cytoskeletal Components -- Topics in Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics -- Miniaturization of Explosive Technology and Microdetonics -- Foams in Microgravity.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, ICTAM04, held in Warsaw, in August 2004. Full texts of 27 invited lectures are included. The book captures a snapshot view of the state-of-the-art in the field of contemporary mechanics and will be invaluable to engineers and scientists from a variety of disciplines with interest in the mechanical sciences. The importance of the influence of contemporary mechanics on other branches of sciences becomes evident by browsing through over 60 areas of interest selected as subjects of mini-symposia and pre-nominated sessions. The book gives clear evidence that "...the progress we have achieved together definitely places mechanics on one of the very top locations in the hierarchy of modern research disciplines - with tremendous impact on both our perception of the physical world and the means to implement new technologies so much improving the quality of our life." (M. Kleiber, Opening Speech).