The current study examines the agnostic Buddhism of contemporary scholar and practitioner Stephen Batchelor. The main question under examination is whether the essence of Buddhism is undermined when interpreted through Batchelor's agnostic and "belief-free" lens. In an attempt to answer this question, Batchelor's main philosophical texts---Alone With Others, The Faith to Doubt, and Buddhism Without Beliefs---are analysed, as are three critiques of his work written by Bhikkhu Punnadhammo, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and Sangharakshita. It is concluded that while Batchelor is discarding many of the conventional trappings of Buddhism, he is not placing its integrity at risk.

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Over the last forty or so years interest in the study of wing-tip vortices has increased, primarily due to the introduction of larger passenger aircraft and their subsequent interaction with smaller aircraft. The vortices generated by these larger aircraft present a problem in two main areas; the wake hazard problem, where other aircraft can be subjected to the large tangential velocities of the vortex, and the interaction with ground based features of vortices created during landing and take-off. The first of these is particularly dangerous close to the ground when aircraft are in a high lift configuration at take-off and landing. As the vortices effectively scale with aircraft wing span, significant encounters between large vortices and smaller aircraft have been documented over the years. An example of one such documented wake vortex interaction incident can be found in Ogawa. In this study, the system of vortices are described as classical Batchelor vortices (or linear superpositions thereof) which are then subjected to small perturbations. By discretising the domain and solving for the eigenvalues of the system it is possible to ascertain the stability characteristics of the flow as a function of the system parameters which include the axial wave-number, the spacing of the vortices, their cross-flow decay rate and their axial strength. We first consider the inviscid instability of multiple tip vortices, an approximation which is valid in the limit of large Reynolds numbers. In this limit the stability of the flow is dominated by the axial component of the basic vortex flow. The governing equations of continuity and momentum are reduced to a second order partial differential equation (PDE). This equation is solved numerically to determine which vortex configurations produce the greatest instability growth rate. These results are extended to consider the effect of compressibility on the inviscid instability. Finally we consider the effects of viscosity on the stability of the full Batchelor similarity solution which results in a second order PDE in four dependent variables. The stability equations are solved both globally (for the entire eigenspectra) and locally (for a single eigenvalue in a pre-determined region) using codes that run in both serial and parallel form. The numerical methods are based on pseudospectral discretisation (Chebyshev polynomials for Cartesian and radial directions and Fourier for azimuthal) in the global scheme, the eigenvalues being recovered either with a QZ algorithm or a shift-and-invert Arnoldi algorithm. For the local scheme, fourth order centred finite-diffences are used in conjunction with an iterative eigenvalue recovery method. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1383207 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, 2010

Over the last forty or so years interest in the study of wing-tip vortices has increased, primarily due to the introduction of larger passenger aircraft and their subsequent interaction with smaller aircraft. The vortices generated by these larger aircraft present a problem in two main areas; the wake hazard problem, where other aircraft can be subjected to the large tangential velocities of the vortex, and the interaction with ground based features of vortices created during landing and take-off. The first of these is particularly dangerous close to the ground when aircraft are in a high lift configuration at take-off and landing. As the vortices effectively scale with aircraft wing span, significant encounters between large vortices and smaller aircraft have been documented over the years. An example of one such documented wake vortex interaction incident can be found in Ogawa. In this study, the system of vortices are described as classical Batchelor vortices (or linear superpositions thereof) which are then subjected to small perturbations. By discretising the domain and solving for the eigenvalues of the system it is possible to ascertain the stability characteristics of the flow as a function of the system parameters which include the axial wave-number, the spacing of the vortices, their cross-flow decay rate and their axial strength. We first consider the inviscid instability of multiple tip vortices, an approximation which is valid in the limit of large Reynolds numbers. In this limit the stability of the flow is dominated by the axial component of the basic vortex flow. The governing equations of continuity and momentum are reduced to a second order partial differential equation (PDE). This equation is solved numerically to determine which vortex configurations produce the greatest instability growth rate. These results are extended to consider the effect of compressibility on the inviscid instability. Finally we consider the effects of viscosity on the stability of the full Batchelor similarity solution which results in a second order PDE in four dependent variables. The stability equations are solved both globally (for the entire eigenspectra) and locally (for a single eigenvalue in a pre-determined region) using codes that run in both serial and parallel form. The numerical methods are based on pseudospectral discretisation (Chebyshev polynomials for Cartesian and radial directions and Fourier for azimuthal) in the global scheme, the eigenvalues being recovered either with a QZ algorithm or a shift-and-invert Arnoldi algorithm. For the local scheme, fourth order centred finite-diffences are used in conjunction with an iterative eigenvalue recovery method. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1383207 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, 2010

The present study focussed on the information needs of the academic staff of Batchelor College.* It examined their access to and the provision of adequate and appropriate resources for the implementation of the Diploma and Associate Diploma level courses offered through the College. Batchelor College, an institute of tertiary education, is situated 100 kilometres south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The content and the modes of delivery of Batchelor College courses are specifically designed to be culturally and socially appropriate to Aboriginal people, particularly those from traditionally oriented and 'remote' communities. It can only be within this framework that informed and sensitive research can be conducted. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the information needs of staff delivering higher education courses to 'remote' Aboriginal students of Northern Australia. Six distinct areas of study emerged: 1, to identify the information needs; 2, to analyse the information-seeking behaviour; 3, to assess the level of satisfaction with current information sources; 4, to identify inadequacies in the existing information seeking processes; 5, to identify constraints experienced; and 6, to explore how future information needs may be catered for. A mailed survey instrument was specifically designed and implemented, and it attracted a response rate of eighty-seven percent. The population under investigation was the academic staff of Batchelor College, and the variables of: 1, location; 2, sex; 3, academic school; 4, designation; 5, tenure; 6, length of service; and 7, educational background were studied in relation to the questions asked. Results of the survey were analysed using 'Mystat: Statistical Applications', (1990). Frequency distributions were computed to determine the number of respondents who selected each option. A number of questions that elicited a written response were analysed, as were the many extra comments staff members made throughout the survey. The study found that the academic staff of Batchelor College are most affected by the location variable. It appears that how staff members use, regard and value the information sources used to inform their academic practice is affected by where a staff member is located. That is, the more isolated a staff member was, both geographically and professionally, the more significant were the findings of use of information sources. The study concludes with considerations of future planning strategies that could improve the access to and use of information. The study also identifies areas for further research. * Batchelor College, an institute of tertiary education, is situated 100 kilometres south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (see Appendix 3).

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