Roderick Wong

The subject of special functions is often presented as a collection of disparate results, rarely organized in a coherent way. This book emphasizes general principles that unify and demarcate the subjects of study. The authors' main goals are to provide clear motivation, efficient proofs, and original references for all of the principal results. The book covers standard material, but also much more. It shows how much of the subject can be traced back to two equations - the hypergeometric equation and confluent hypergeometric equation - and it details the ways in which these equations are canonical and special. There is extended coverage of orthogonal polynomials, including connections to approximation theory, continued fractions, and the moment problem, as well as an introduction to new asymptotic methods. There are also chapters on Meijer G-functions and elliptic functions. The final chapter introduces Painlevé transcendents, which have been termed the 'special functions of the twenty-first century'.

The subject of special functions is often presented as a collection of disparate results, which are rarely organised in a coherent way. This book answers the need for a different approach to the subject. The authors' main goals are to emphasise general unifying principles coherently and to provide clear motivation, efficient proofs, and original references for all of the principal results. The book covers standard material, but also much more, including chapters on discrete orthogonal polynomials and elliptic functions. The authors show how a very large part of the subject traces back to two equations - the hypergeometric equation and the confluent hypergeometric equation - and describe the various ways in which these equations are canonical and special. Providing ready access to theory and formulas, this book serves as an ideal graduate-level textbook as well as a convenient reference.

Motivation: A Biobehavioural Approach provides the reader with an understanding of why an individual exhibits certain behaviours, and what the causes of these actions are. Roderick Wong presents an analysis of motivated behaviour such as sexual activity, parental behaviour, food selection, fear or aggression, from a biological perspective, each chapter focussing on individual systems underlying specific motivational states that result in motivated acts. The similarities, differences and integration between these motivational systems are discussed throughout. Using a framework derived from research and theory from animal behaviour and comparative psychology, this book analyses relevant issues in human motivation such as mate choice, nepotism, attachment and independence, sensation-seeking, obesity and parent-offspring conflict. It will be particularly useful for undergraduate students in psychology or behavioural science taking courses in motivation and emotion, comparative psychology, animal behaviour or biological psychology.

Motivation: A Biobehavioural Approach provides the reader with an understanding of why an individual exhibits certain behaviours, and what the causes of these actions are. Roderick Wong presents an analysis of motivated behaviour such as sexual activity, parental behaviour, food selection, fear or aggression, from a biological perspective, each chapter focussing on individual systems underlying specific motivational states that result in motivated acts. The similarities, differences and integration between these motivational systems are discussed throughout. Using a framework derived from research and theory from animal behaviour and comparative psychology, this book analyses relevant issues in human motivation such as mate choice, nepotism, attachment and independence, sensation-seeking, obesity and parent-offspring conflict. It will be particularly useful for undergraduate students in psychology or behavioural science taking courses in motivation and emotion, comparative psychology, animal behaviour or biological psychology.