On 1 January 1999 eleven EU Member States adopted a new currency - the euro. The introduction of the euro was a remarkable feat in the history of European monetary, financial, economic and political integration. It was an event of worldwide significance. Despite much criticism and predictions...

This book is based on the lecture notes prepared for the advanced course on experimental and numerical methods in earthquake engineering held at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission of the European Communities, Ispra Establishment, in October 1991. The topic of the course was chosen...

By its very nature, action involves risk: zero risk is zero action. Man has always had a sense of action hence risk, and consequently of the "precautions" required to ensure his safety. As with all techniques, development was first pursued in an empirical, even rudimentary fashion - and so it...