First published in 1202, Fibonacci's "Liber abaci" was one of the most important books on mathematics in the Middle Ages, introducing Arabic numerals and methods throughout Europe.

Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of active control of various mechanical systems. With increasingly strict requirements for control speed and system performance, the unavoidable time delays in both controllers and actuators have become a serious problem. For instance, all digital controllers, analogue anti­ aliasing and reconstruction filters exhibit a certain time delay during operation, and the hydraulic actuators and human being interaction usually show even more significant time delays. These time delays, albeit very short in most cases, often deteriorate the control performance or even cause the instability of the system, be­ cause the actuators may feed energy at the moment when the system does not need it. Thus, the effect of time delays on the system performance has drawn much at­ tention in the design of robots, active vehicle suspensions, active tendons for tall buildings, as well as the controlled vibro-impact systems. On the other hand, the properly designed delay control may improve the performance of dynamic sys­ tems. For instance, the delayed state feedback has found its applications to the design of dynamic absorbers, the linearization of nonlinear systems, the control of chaotic oscillators, etc. Most controlled mechanical systems with time delays can be modeled as the dynamic systems described by a set of ordinary differential equations with time delays.

Thus, the Symposium addressed the crucial question: are small satellites the saviour of space programmes around the world It did this from the unique perspective of the International Space today? University - the interdisciplinary, international and intercultural perspective. This Symposium brought together a variety of people working on small satellites - engineers, scientists, planners, providers, operators, policy makers and business executives, together with representatives from regulatory bodies, from national and international organizations, and from the finance sector, and also entrepreneurs. Discussion and debate were encouraged, based on the papers presented and those published here.

The book begins with a historical introduction, "Star Formation: The Early History", that presents new material of interest for students and historians of science. This is followed by two long articles on "Pre-Main-Sequence Evolution of Stars and Young Clusters" and "Observations of Young Stellar Objects". These articles on the fascinating problem of star formation from interstellar matter give a thorough overview of present-day theories and observations. The articles contain material so far unpublished in the astronomical literature. The book addresses graduate students and can be used as a textbook for advanced courses in stellar astrophysics.

This book highlights the utilization of biomaterials as emerging suitable and effective flame retardants (FRs) to replace most of the conventional FRs (e.g., halogenated FRs). Biomaterials are considered to be sustainable, biodegradable, and renewable resources. They are abundantly available, which makes them affordable. Information and findings on the characteristics of biomaterials and their use as FRs have been explored. Herein, the tremendous scientific progress made in using biomaterials as flame retardants for a wide range of products is elucidated. The major goal is to draw attention to the opportunities and challenges of switching to biomaterial-based FRs in place of conventional FRs in order to create a sustainable society.