Using a conceptual organizing framework, this work provides a concise introduction to sociology that focuses on core concepts as the central building blocks for understanding sociology. Written in a conversational style, it uses numerous pedagogical features to help students grasp key sociological concepts.

This revised and expanded new edition elucidates the elegance and simplicity of the fundamental theory underlying formal languages and compilation. Retaining the reader-friendly style of the 1st edition, this versatile textbook describes the essential principles and methods used for defining the syntax of artificial languages, and for designing efficient parsing algorithms and syntax-directed translators with semantic attributes. Features: presents a novel conceptual approach to parsing algorithms that applies to extended BNF grammars, together with a parallel parsing algorithm (NEW); supplies supplementary teaching tools at an associated website; systematically discusses ambiguous forms, allowing readers to avoid pitfalls; describes all algorithms in pseudocode; makes extensive usage of theoretical models of automata, transducers and formal grammars; includes concise coverage of algorithms for processing regular expressions and finite automata; introduces static program analysis based on flow equations.

Constructivism is one of the most influential theories in contemporary education and learning theory. It has had great influence in science education. The papers in this collection represent, arguably, the most sustained examination of the theoretical and philosophical foundations of constructivism yet published. Topics covered include: orthodox epistemology and the philosophical traditions of constructivism; the relationship of epistemology to learning theory; the connection between philosophy and pedagogy in constructivist practice; the difference between radical and social constructivism, and an appraisal of their epistemology; the strengths and weaknesses of the Strong Programme in the sociology of science and implications for science education. The book contains an extensive bibliography. Contributors include philosophers of science, philosophers of education, science educators, and cognitive scientists. The book is noteworthy for bringing this diverse range of disciplines together in the examination of a central educational topic.

Tutorials on Mössbauer Spectroscopy Since the discovery of the Mössbauer Effect many excellent books have been published for researchers and for doctoral and master level students. However, there appears to be no textbook available for final year bachelor students, nor for people working in industry who have received only basic courses in classical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, chemistry and materials science. The challenge of this book is to give an introduction to Mössbauer Spectroscopy for this level. The ultimate goal of this book is to give this audience not only a scientific introduction to the technique, but also to demonstrate in an attractive way the power of Mössbauer Spectroscopy in many fields of science, in order to create interest among the readers in joining the community of Mössbauer spectroscopists. This is particularly important at times where in many Mössbauer laboratories succession is at stake. This book will be used as a textbook for the tutorial sessions, organized at the occasion of the 2011 International Conference on the Application of Mössbauer Spectroscopy (ICAME2011) in Tokyo.

The Contexts Reader collects over sixty of the best articles from the award-winning magazine Contexts in one affordable anthology.

This comprehensive textbook provides a clear nontechnical introduction to the philosophy of science. Through asking whether science can provide us with objective knowledge of the world, the book provides a thorough and accessible guide to the key thinkers and debates that define the field. George Couvalis surveys traditional themes around theory and observation, induction, probability, falsification and rationality as well as more recent challenges to objectivity including relativistic, feminist and sociological readings. This provides a helpful framework in which to locate the key intellectual contributions to these debates, ranging from those of Mill and Hume, through Popper and Kuhn to Laudan, Bloor and Garfinkel among others.

This accessible, alternative approach to mainstream Research Methods titles is written for students who will need to interpret social research in their careers and, more than likely, have opportunities to do research. The book’s focus is on equipping students with the tools both to evaluate research done by others and to do their own research. Exercises in the text help students develop skills and strategies for research, including Internet assignments for finding and evaluating sources. The text provides students with a solid grounding in the relevant aspects of the philosophy of science and thoroughly explains the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods.