"In this book, the authors attempt to provide a mechanism by which the necessary information from microscopic investigations can be transferred into a consistent description of dynamical phenomena from a macroscopic continuum perspective." --Applied Mechanics Review"The principal objective of this book is to provide an extension of the Poisson bracket formalism that is also able to embrace dissipative processes. Thus, while Part I is intended to establish the theoretical premisses of such an extension, Part II illustrates the wealth of possible applications of this method, taken from the most diverse areas of complex materials science." --Mathematical Reviews"In this book, the authors attempt to provide a mechanism by which the necessary information from microscopic investigations can be transferred into a consistent description of dynamical phenomena from a macroscopic continuum perspective." --Applied Mechanics Review"The principal objective of this book is to provide an extension of the Poisson bracket formalism that is also able to embrace dissipative processes. Thus, while Part I is intended to establish the theoretical premisses of such an extension, Part II illustrates the wealth of possible applications of this method, taken from the most diverse areas of complex materials science." --Mathematical Reviews