Introduction to Computer science

Plants are so much part of our environment that we often take them for granted, yet beautiful, fascinating and useful plants are everywhere, from isolated moss colonies on stone walls to vast complex communities within tropical rainforests. How did this array of form and habitat come about, and how do we humans interact with the plant kingdom? This unique new textbook provides a refreshing and stimulating consideration of these questions and throws light in a new way on the complexity, ecology, evolution and development of plants and our relationship with them. Illustrated throughout with numerous line diagrams and beautiful colour photographs, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the fascinating lives that plants lead and the way in which our lives are inextricably linked to theirs. It will be particularly useful to students seeking a more ecological and process-oriented approach than is available in other plant science textbooks.

For many everyday transmissions, it is essential to protect digital information from noise or eavesdropping. This undergraduate introduction to error correction and cryptography is unique in devoting several chapters to quantum cryptography and quantum computing, thus providing a context in which ideas from mathematics and physics meet. By covering such topics as Shor's quantum factoring algorithm, this text informs the reader about current thinking in quantum information theory and encourages an appreciation of the connections between mathematics and science.Of particular interest are the potential impacts of quantum physics:(i) a quantum computer, if built, could crack our currently used public-key cryptosystems; and (ii) quantum cryptography promises to provide an alternative to these cryptosystems, basing its security on the laws of nature rather than on computational complexity. No prior knowledge of quantum mechanics is assumed, but students should have a basic knowledge of compl

This fresh collection of more than 20 science projects—from hydrogen fuel cells to computer-controlled radio transmitters—is perfect for the tireless tinkerer. Innovative activities inclu

Historical records show that there was no real concept of probability in Europe before the mid-seventeenth century, although the use of dice and other randomizing objects was commonplace. Ian Hacking presents a philosophical critique of early ideas about probability, induction, and statistical inference and the growth of this new family of ideas in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. Hacking invokes a wide intellectual framework involving the growth of science, economics, and the theology of the period. He argues that the transformations that made it possible for probability concepts to emerge have constrained all subsequent development of probability theory and determine the space within which philosophical debate on the subject is still conducted. First published in 1975, this edition includes an introduction that contextualizes his book in light of developing philosophical trends. Ian Hacking is the winner of the Holberg International Memorial Prize 2009.

This introduction to communications law is designed for students in journalism, communication and political science. Hummer (communication, Carroll College) addresses First Amendment issues that affec

Historical records show that there was no real concept of probability in Europe before the mid-seventeenth century, although the use of dice and other randomizing objects was commonplace. Ian Hacking presents a philosophical critique of early ideas about probability, induction, and statistical inference and the growth of this new family of ideas in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. Hacking invokes a wide intellectual framework involving the growth of science, economics, and the theology of the period. He argues that the transformations that made it possible for probability concepts to emerge have constrained all subsequent development of probability theory and determine the space within which philosophical debate on the subject is still conducted. First published in 1975, this edition includes an introduction that contextualizes his book in light of developing philosophical trends. Ian Hacking is the winner of the Holberg International Memorial Prize 2009.

Space-Time, Relativity, and Cosmology provides a historical introduction to modern relativistic cosmology and traces its historical roots and evolution from antiquity to Einstein. The topics are presented in a non-mathematical manner, with the emphasis on the ideas that underlie each theory rather than their detailed quantitative consequences. A significant part of the book focuses on the Special and General theories of relativity. The tests and experimental evidence supporting the theories are explained together with their predictions and their confirmation. Other topics include a discussion of modern relativistic cosmology, the consequences of Hubble's observations leading to the Big Bang hypothesis, and an overview of the most exciting research topics in relativistic cosmology. This textbook is intended for introductory undergraduate courses on the foundations of modern physics. It is also accessible to advanced high school students, as well as non-science majors who are concerned w

For many everyday transmissions, it is essential to protect digital information from noise or eavesdropping. This undergraduate introduction to error correction and cryptography is unique in devoting several chapters to quantum cryptography and quantum computing, thus providing a context in which ideas from mathematics and physics meet. By covering such topics as Shor's quantum factoring algorithm, this text informs the reader about current thinking in quantum information theory and encourages an appreciation of the connections between mathematics and science.Of particular interest are the potential impacts of quantum physics:(i) a quantum computer, if built, could crack our currently used public-key cryptosystems; and (ii) quantum cryptography promises to provide an alternative to these cryptosystems, basing its security on the laws of nature rather than on computational complexity. No prior knowledge of quantum mechanics is assumed, but students should have a basic knowledge of compl

Recent applications to biomolecular science and DNA computing have created a new audience for automata theory and formal languages. This is the only introductory book to cover such applications. It begins with a clear and readily understood exposition of the fundamentals that assumes only a background in discrete mathematics. The first five chapters give a gentle but rigorous coverage of basic ideas as well as topics not found in other texts at this level, including codes, retracts and semiretracts. Chapter 6 introduces combinatorics on words and uses it to describe a visually inspired approach to languages. The final chapter explains recently-developed language theory coming from developments in bioscience and DNA computing. With over 350 exercises (for which solutions are available), many examples and illustrations, this text will make an ideal contemporary introduction for students; others, new to the field, will welcome it for self-learning.

Recent applications to biomolecular science and DNA computing have created a new audience for automata theory and formal languages. This is the only introductory book to cover such applications. It begins with a clear and readily understood exposition of the fundamentals that assumes only a background in discrete mathematics. The first five chapters give a gentle but rigorous coverage of basic ideas as well as topics not found in other texts at this level, including codes, retracts and semiretracts. Chapter 6 introduces combinatorics on words and uses it to describe a visually inspired approach to languages. The final chapter explains recently-developed language theory coming from developments in bioscience and DNA computing. With over 350 exercises (for which solutions are available), many examples and illustrations, this text will make an ideal contemporary introduction for students; others, new to the field, will welcome it for self-learning.

This introduction to the philosophy of social science provides an original conception of the task and nature of social inquiry. Peter Manicas discusses the role of causality seen in the physical sciences and offers a reassessment of the problem of explanation from a realist perspective. He argues that the fundamental goal of theory in both the natural and social sciences is not, contrary to widespread opinion, prediction and control, or the explanation of events (including behaviour). Instead, theory aims to provide an understanding of the processes which, together, produce the contingent outcomes of experience. Offering a host of concrete illustrations and examples of critical ideas and issues, this accessible book will be of interest to students of the philosophy of social science, and social scientists from a range of disciplines.

Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions became the most widely read book about science in the twentieth century. His terms 'paradigm' and 'scientific revolution' entered everyday speech, but they remain controversial. In the second half of the twentieth century, the new field of cognitive science combined empirical psychology, computer science, and neuroscience. In this book, the theories of concepts developed by cognitive scientists are used to evaluate and extend Kuhn's most influential ideas. Based on case studies of the Copernican revolution, the discovery of nuclear fission, and an elaboration of Kuhn's famous 'ducks and geese' example of concept learning, this volume, first published in 2006, offers accounts of the nature of normal and revolutionary science, the function of anomalies, and the nature of incommensurability.

The Chemistry of Polymers, Third edition, is a well established and highly readable introductory text book on polymer science, ideal for chemists requiring a broad introduction to the subject. Like i

This book is a popular introduction to modern natural science and provides an insight into the advanced and expensive technology that is required in the exploration of the universe too small for the eye to see. This is the domain of the living cell, and even smaller, the basic building blocks of all matter: quarks, atoms and molecules. It is possible with modern technology to obtain images of objects as small as an individual atom. It is even possible to hold one atom in place and study it individually. This book will explain, in non-technical language, how we obtain our knowledge of the micro-universe. With the help of many clear diagrams, it goes on to describe the structure of living cells, of atoms and molecules as they are found in everyday objects, as well as in more exotic and dramatic forms of matter, such as anti matter, stars and black holes.

This book was first published in 2006. Palaeontology has developed from a descriptive science to an analytical science used to interpret relationships between earth and life history. Applied Palaeontology adopts a holistic, integrated approach to palaeontology, highlighting its key role in the study of the evolving earth, life history and environmental processes. After an introduction to fossils and their classification, each of the principal fossil groups are studied in detail, covering their biology, morphology, classification, palaeobiology and biostratigraphy. The latter sections focus on the applications of fossils in the interpretation of earth and life processes and environments. It concludes with case histories of how our knowledge of fossils is applied, in industry and elsewhere. This is a valuable reference for anyone involved in the applications of palaeontology, including earth, life and environmental scientists, and petroleum, minerals, mining and engineering professionals

Originally published in 2006, this authoritative clinical handbook provides a detailed overview of the main disorders encountered by child and adolescent psychiatrists in clinical practice, ranging from eating, sleep and affective disorders to substance abuse, gender identity disorder and sexual abuse. The approach is evidence based and emphasis is on good clinical practice and quality control of patient care. In contrast to other books in the field, the authors' intention is not to cover exhaustively all the relevant science, but rather to present in condensed form any research findings that are significant for clinical practice. For coherence, each chapter is constructed in the same way: introduction, definition and classification, epidemiology, the clinical picture, aetiology, treatment and outcome. The disorders covered are based on the ICD- 10 and DSM-IV classifications, and appendices include documents for assessment of intervention planning and evaluation.

In this interdisciplinary field, which includes cognitive science, educational psychology, computer science, anthropology, sociology and neuroscience, researchers show educators how to design effectiv

Essential Mathematics for Political and Social Research addresses an educational deficiency in the social and behavioral sciences. This 2006 book was the first of its kind to specifically address the comprehensive introduction to the mathematical principles needed by modern social scientists. The material introduces basic mathematical principles necessary to do analytical work in the social sciences, starting from first principles, but without unnecessary complexity. The core purpose is to present fundamental notions in standard notation and standard language with a clear, unified framework throughout. Through examples and exercises, this book is intended to not only motivate specific mathematical principles and practices, but also introduce the way that social science researchers use these tools. The intended emphasis is on conceptual understanding of key principles and their subsequent application.

Essential Mathematics for Political and Social Research addresses an educational deficiency in the social and behavioral sciences. This 2006 book was the first of its kind to specifically address the comprehensive introduction to the mathematical principles needed by modern social scientists. The material introduces basic mathematical principles necessary to do analytical work in the social sciences, starting from first principles, but without unnecessary complexity. The core purpose is to present fundamental notions in standard notation and standard language with a clear, unified framework throughout. Through examples and exercises, this book is intended to not only motivate specific mathematical principles and practices, but also introduce the way that social science researchers use these tools. The intended emphasis is on conceptual understanding of key principles and their subsequent application.

This is the first general study of the earliest writers of Greek prose for students and teachers alike. Looking at history, medicine, science, philosophy and rhetoric, it asks why and how these new genres of writing came about in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE It is thus a study of the cultural and political revolution known as the Greek enlightenment, which has proved so influential and important for modern Western thought and society. Questions discussed include how and why rhetoric played such a role in democracy, how history written in prose changes a view of the past, and how science and philosophy construct new models of understanding what authority is. An exploration is offered of how literary history and social and political history interact. Written in a lively and clear style, the book makes a perfect introduction to the classical world of Athens.

This is a practical introduction to multilevel analysis. It is written for non-mathematicians and it explains when and how to use multilevel analysis. Many worked examples, with computer output, are

This textbook is uniquely written with dual purpose. It covers core material in the foundations of computing for graduate students in computer science and also provides an introduction to some more a

Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering, Third Edition is a highly acclaimed undergraduate textbook that teaches all the mathematics for an undergraduate course in any of the physical sciences. As well as lucid descriptions of all the topics and many worked examples, it contains over 800 exercises. New stand-alone chapters give a systematic account of the 'special functions' of physical science, cover an extended range of practical applications of complex variables, and give an introduction to quantum operators. This solutions manual accompanies the third edition of Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering. It contains complete worked solutions to over 400 exercises in the main textbook, the odd-numbered exercises, that are provided with hints and answers. The even-numbered exercises have no hints, answers or worked solutions and are intended for unaided homework problems; full solutions are available to instructors on a password-protected web site, www.cambridge.org/9

This second volume supplies the critical information that today's computer science students don't often get from college and university courses: How to carefully choose their high-level language stat

Designed for English Language Learners who are entering the health-care field or preparing for college-level science courses, this new text provides an introduction to basic anatomy and physiology. Us

John Barnes's collection of essays covers a variety of topics in sociology and anthropology, including lineage systems, social networks, colonialism, underlying assumptions of social science, and the significance of time in social analysis. Together they identify the author's particular view of social science: he is primarily interested in 'what really happens'. Rather than revamp articles written with a distinctive set of assumptions to bring them into line with current intellectual fashion, Professor Barnes has chosen to let them stand as they are, products of identifiable theoretical stance and modes of exposition. But introductory notes to each chapter set out the context in which the piece was originally written and draw attention to later publications and events that bear on it. An introduction discusses in detail the author's view of social science as the construction of models rather than a search for social laws, while the final chapter presents a model of the modelling proces

Essential Bioinformatics is a concise yet comprehensive textbook of bioinformatics, which provides a broad introduction to the entire field. Written specifically for a life science audience, the basics of bioinformatics are explained, followed by discussions of the state-of-the-art computational tools available to solve biological research problems. All key areas of bioinformatics are covered including biological databases, sequence alignment, genes and promoter prediction, molecular phylogenetics, structural bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics. The book emphasizes how computational methods work and compares the strengths and weaknesses of different methods. This balanced yet easily accessible text will be invaluable to students who do not have sophisticated computational backgrounds. Technical details of computational algorithms are explained with a minimum use of mathematical formulae; graphical illustrations are used in their place to aid understanding. The effective synthesis o

Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) are the state-of-the-art detector in many fields of observational science. Updated to include all of the latest developments in CCDs, this second edition of the Handbook of CCD Astronomy is a concise and accessible reference on all practical aspects of using CCDs. Starting with their electronic workings, it discusses their basic characteristics and then gives methods and examples of how to determine these values. While the book focuses on the use of CCDs in professional observational astronomy, advanced amateur astronomers, and researchers in physics, chemistry, medical imaging, and remote sensing will also find it very valuable. Tables of useful and hard-to-find data, key practical equations, and new exercises round off the book and ensure that it provides an ideal introduction to the practical use of CCDs for graduate students, and a handy reference for more experienced users.

The latest edition of a classic text on concurrency and distributed programming ? from a winner of the ACM/SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education.

Probability is a vital measure in numerous disciplines, from bioinformatics and econometrics to finance/insurance and computer science. Developed from a successful course, Fundamental Probability prov

This book provides an introduction to the use of geometric partial differential equations in image processing and computer vision. This research area brings a number of new concepts into the field, providing a very fundamental and formal approach to image processing. State-of-the-art practical results in a large number of real problems are achieved with the techniques described in this book. Applications covered include image segmentation, shape analysis, image enhancement, and tracking. This book will be a useful resource for researchers and practitioners. It is intended to provide information for people investigating new solutions to image processing problems as well as for people searching for existent advanced solutions.

The FLESH AND BONES OF IMMUNOLOGY presents a concise, accessible account immunology. This title covers all the key concepts med students need with no gaps. It can be used either as an introduction to

This introduction to combinatorics is suitable for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in engineering, science, and mathematics. Covers basic counting, functions, decision trees, and siev

A comprehensive, cross-disciplinary introduction to the design of computer controlled mechanical systems With Sabri Cetinkunt's Mechatronics, you can develop the technical background you need to d

The book combines topics in mathematics (geometry and topology), computer science (algorithms), and engineering (mesh generation). The motivation for these topics is the difficulty, both conceptually and in the technical execution, of combining elements of combinatorial and of numerical algorithms. Mesh generation is a topic where a meaningful combination of these different approaches to problem solving is inevitable. The book develops methods from both areas that are amenable to combination, and explains breakthrough solutions to meshing that fit into this category. This book emphasizes topics that are elementary, attractive, useful, interesting, and lend themselves to teaching, making it an ideal graduate text for courses on mesh generation.

The national bestselling author takes a departure from his epic science fiction to craft this cross between Len Deighton-style espionage and H.P. Lovecraftian horror. Bob Howard is a computer-hacker

This book is a self-contained introduction to the theory of signals and systems, which lies at the basis of many areas of electrical and computer engineering. In the seventy short, glectures, formatte

This colorful introduction to the seasons is perfect for the early science curriculum. Each book contains numerous photographs depicting the recognizable features of autumn, spring, summer, and winte

This colorful introduction to the seasons is perfect for the early science curriculum. Each book contains numerous photographs depicting the recognizable features of autumn, spring, summer, and winte