The brilliant, controversial, bestselling critique of American culture that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times)—now featuring a new afterword by Andrew Ferguson in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition. In 1987, eminent political philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind, an appraisal of contemporary America that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times) and has not only been vindicated, but has also become more urgent today. In clear, spirited prose, Bloom argues that the social and political crises of contemporary America are part of a larger intellectual crisis: the result of a dangerous narrowing of curiosity and exploration by the university elites. Now, in this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, acclaimed author and journalist Andrew Ferguson contributes a new essay that describes why Bloom’s argument caused such a furor at publication and why our culture so deeply resists its truths today.

Cognitive Development in a Digital Age James Paul Gee begins his classic book with "I want to talk about video games–yes, even violent video games–and say some positive things about them." With this simple but explosive statement, one of America's most well-respected educators looks seriously at the good that can come from playing video games. This revised edition expands beyond mere gaming, introducing readers to fresh perspectives based on games like World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2. It delves deeper into cognitive development, discussing how video games can shape our understanding of the world. An undisputed must-read for those interested in the intersection of education, technology, and pop culture, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy challenges traditional norms, examines the educational potential of video games, and opens up a discussion on the far-reaching impacts of this ubiquitous aspect of modern life.

"Full new edition for 2014. Covers all Statistics objectives from Level 8 Statistical Investigation, Statistical literacy and Probability. Features brief notes, worked examples and Schol questions from 2013 and aothers for use in 2014. Full answers with explanation provided"--Publisher's website.

This is the first textbook dedicated to explaining how artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can be used in and for games. After introductory chapters that explain the background and key techniques in AI and games, the authors explain how to use AI to play games, to generate content for games and to model players. The book will be suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in games, artificial intelligence, design, human-computer interaction, and computational intelligence, and also for self-study by industrial game developers and practitioners. The authors have developed a website (http://www.gameaibook.org) that complements the material covered in the book with up-to-date exercises, lecture slides and reading.

Statistics and Probability for Engineering Applications provides a complete discussion of all the major topics typically covered in a college engineering statistics course. This textbook minimizes the derivations and mathematical theory, focusing instead on the information and techniques most needed and used in engineering applications. It is filled with practical techniques directly applicable on the job. Written by an experienced industry engineer and statistics professor, this book makes learning statistical methods easier for today's student. This book can be read sequentially like a normal textbook, but it is designed to be used as a handbook, pointing the reader to the topics and sections pertinent to a particular type of statistical problem. Each new concept is clearly and briefly described, whenever possible by relating it to previous topics. Then the student is given carefully chosen examples to deepen understanding of the basic ideas and how they are applied in engineering. The examples and case studies are taken from real-world engineering problems and use real data. A number of practice problems are provided for each section, with answers in the back for selected problems. This book will appeal to engineers in the entire engineering spectrum (electronics/electrical, mechanical, chemical, and civil engineering); engineering students and students taking computer science/computer engineering graduate courses; scientists needing to use applied statistical methods; and engineering technicians and technologists. * Filled with practical techniques directly applicable on the job* Contains hundreds of solved problems and case studies, using real data sets* Avoids unnecessary theory