From the Publisher:

"This is the best general book on Genetic Algorithms written to date. It covers background, history, and motivation; it selects important, informative examples of applications and discusses the use of Genetic Algorithms in scientific models; and it gives a good account of the status of the theory of Genetic Algorithms. Best of all the book presents its material in clear, straightforward, felicitous prose, accessible to anyone with a college-level scientific background. If you want a broad, solid understanding of Genetic Algorithms -- where they came from, what's being done with them, and where they are going -- this is the book.
-- John H. Holland, Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, and Professor of Psychology, The University of Michigan; External Professor, the Santa Fe Institute. 
Genetic algorithms have been used in science and engineering as adaptive algorithms for solving practical problems and as computational models of natural evolutionary systems. This brief, accessible introduction describes some of the most interesting research in the field and also enables readers to implement and experiment with genetic algorithms on their own. It focuses in depth on a small set of important and interesting topics -- particularly in machine learning, scientific modeling, and artificial life -- and reviews a broad span of research, including the work of Mitchell and her colleagues. 
The descriptions of applications and modeling projects stretch beyond the strict boundaries of computer science to include dynamical systems theory, game theory, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and population genetics, underscoring the exciting "general purpose" nature of genetic algorithms as search methods that can be employed across disciplines. 
An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms is accessible to students and researchers in any scientific discipline. It includes many thought and computer exercises that build on and reinforce the reader's understanding of the text. 
The first chapter introduces genetic algorithms and their terminology and describes two provocative applications in detail. The second and third chapters look at the use of genetic algorithms in machine learning (computer programs, data analysis and prediction, neural networks) and in scientific models (interactions among learning, evolution, and culture; sexual selection; ecosystems; evolutionary activity). Several approaches to the theory of genetic algorithms are discussed in depth in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter takes up implementation, and the last chapter poses some currently unanswered questions and surveys prospects for the future of evolutionary computation.

/pdf/an-introduction-to-genetic-algorithms-32faq13a56.pdf

An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms

The solar chemical composition is an important ingredient in our understanding of the formation, structure, and evolution of both the Sun and our Solar System. Furthermore, it is an essential refer ...

The Chemical Composition of the Sun

The relationship between deuterium and oxygen-18 concentrations in natural meteoric waters from many parts of the world has been determined with a mass spectrometer. The isotopic enrichments, relative to ocean water, display a linear correlation over the entire range for waters which have not undergone excessive evaporation.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/133/3465/1702.full.pdf

Isotopic Variations in Meteoric Waters

The use of stable isotopes to solve biogeochemical problems in ecosystem analysis is increasing rapidly because stable isotope data can contribute both source-sink (tracer) and process information: The elements C, N, S, H, and all have more than one isotope, and isotopic compositions of natural materials can be measured with great precision with a mass spectrometer. Isotopic compositions change in predictable ways as elements cycle through the biosphere. These changes have been exploited by geochemists to understand the global elemental cycles. Ecologists have not until quite recently employed these techniques. The reasons for this are, first, that most ecologists do not have the background in chemistry and geochemistry to be fully aware of the possibilities for exploiting the natural variations in stable isotopic compositions, and second, that stable isotope ratio measurements require equipment not normally available to ecologists. This is unfortunate because some of the more intractable problems in ecology can be profitably addressed using stable isotope measurements. Stable isotopes are ideally suited to increase our understanding of element cycles in ecosystems. This review is written for ecologists who would like to learn more about how stable isotope analyses have been and can be used in ecosystem studies. We begin with an explanation of isotope terminology and fractionation, then summarize isotopic distributions in the C, N, and S biogeochemical cycles, and conclude with five case studies that show how stable isotope measurements can provide crucial information for ecosystem analysis. We restrict this review to studies of natural variations in C, N, and S isotopic abundances, cxcluding from consideration ~5N enrichment studies and hydrogen and oxygen isotope studies. Our focus on C, N, and S derives in part from our

Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies

Solar photospheric and meteoritic CI chondrite abundance determinations for all elements are summarized and the best currently available photospheric abundances are selected. The meteoritic and solar abundances of a few elements (e.g., noble gases, beryllium, boron, phosphorous, sulfur) are discussed in detail. The photospheric abundances give mass fractions of hydrogen (X ¼ 0:7491), helium (Y ¼ 0:2377), and heavy elements (Z ¼ 0:0133), leading to Z=X ¼ 0:0177, which is lower than the widely used Z=X ¼ 0:0245 from previous compilations. Recent results from standard solar models considering helium and heavy-element settling imply that photospheric abundances and mass fractions are not equal to protosolar abundances (representative of solar system abundances). Protosolar elemental and isotopic abundances are derived from photospheric abundances by considering settling effects. Derived protosolar mass fractions are X0 ¼ 0:7110, Y0 ¼ 0:2741, and Z0 ¼ 0:0149. The solar system and photospheric abundance tables are used to compute self-consistent sets of condensation temperatures for all elements. Subject headings: astrochemistry — meteors, meteoroids — solar system: formation — Sun: abundances — Sun: photosphere

/pdf/solar-system-abundances-and-condensation-temperatures-of-the-f7u38sk0l8.pdf

Solar System Abundances and Condensation Temperatures of the Elements

The thermodynamic properties of isotopic substances

The relationship between temperature and O^(18) content relative to that for a Cretaceous belemnite of the Pee Dee formation previously reported (Epstein, Buchsbaum, Lowenstam, and Urey, 1951) has been re-determined using modified procedures for removing organic matter from shells, and is found to be
t(°C) = 16.5 - 4.3δ + 0.14δ^2
where δ is the difference in per mil of the O^(18) to O^(16) ratio between the sample and reference gas. The new relationship agrees with that determined by McCrea (1950) for inorganically precipitated calcium carbonate. Carbonate-carbon dioxide exchange experiments were done to determine the direct and indirect effects of organic matter in the shell on the mass spectrometer analyses.

Revised carbonate-water isotopic temperature scale

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/130/3370/245.full.pdf

Organic Compound Synthesis on the Primitive Earth

Abundances of the elements

Since the abundance of the O 18 isotope in calcium carbonate varies with the temperature at which it is deposited from water, the variation in abundance can be used as a thermometer. This paper discusses the following problems: (1) the magnitude of the effect expected, (2) the mass spectrometer of high sensitivity, (3) the preservation of the record during geological time, (4) the constancy of the isotopic composition of the ocean, (5) the impossibility of using skeletons of air breathing animals, and (6) the temperature of marine animals relative to their surroundings. A Jurassic belemnite is used to show that the record has been retained since Jurassic times, and belemnites of the Upper Cretaceous of the United States, England, and Denmark are used to determine the temperature of this time at these localities. The temperatures are about 15°–16°C and indicate nearly uniform temperature over this latitudinal belt. Because of the possible variation in O 18 content of the oceans and the limited number of samples, these temperatures are regarded as preliminary.

Harold C. Urey

Papers

The thermodynamic properties of isotopic substances

Revised carbonate-water isotopic temperature scale

Organic Compound Synthesis on the Primitive Earth

Abundances of the elements

Measurement of paleotemperatures and temperatures of the upper cretaceous of england, denmark, and the southeastern united states