A foundational work on historical and social studies of quantification What accounts for the prestige of quantitative methods? The usual answer is that quantification is desirable in social investigation as a result of its successes in science. Trust in Numbers questions whether such success in the study of stars, molecules, or cells should be an attractive model for research on human societies, and examines why the natural sciences are highly quantitative in the first place. Theodore Porter argues that a better understanding of the attractions of quantification in business, government, and social research brings a fresh perspective to its role in psychology, physics, and medicine. Quantitative rigor is not inherent in science but arises from political and social pressures, and objectivity derives its impetus from cultural contexts. In a new preface, the author sheds light on the current infatuation with quantitative methods, particularly at the intersection of science and bureaucracy.

A digitally enhanced version of this atlas was developed by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond and is available online. Click the link above to take a look.

Modern seismology has faced new challenges in the study of earthquakes and their physical characteristics. This volume is dedicated to the use of new approaches and presents a state-of-the-art in historical seismology. Selected historical and recent earthquakes are chosen to document and constrain related seismic parameters using updated methodologies in the macroseismic analysis, field observations of damage distribution and tectonic effects, and modelling of seismic waveforms.

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This book looks at the effect of railways on London, Paris, Brussels, and Berlin, focusing on each city as a case study for one aspect of implantation.