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A top expert explains why a social and economic understanding of complex systems will help society to anticipate and confront our biggest challenges Imagine trying to understand a stained glass window by breaking it into pieces and examining it one shard at a time. While you could probably learn a lot about each piece, you would have no idea about what the entire picture looks like. This is reductionism -- the idea that to understand the world we only need to study its pieces -- and it is how most social scientists approach their work. In A Crude Look at the Whole, social scientist and economist John H. Miller shows why we need to start looking at whole pictures. For one thing, whether we are talking about stock markets, computer networks, or biological organisms, individual parts only make sense when we remember that they are part of larger wholes. And perhaps more importantly, those wholes can take on behaviors that are strikingly different from that of their pieces. Miller, a leading expert in the computational study of complex adaptive systems, reveals astounding global patterns linking the organization of otherwise radically different structures: It might seem crude, but a beehive's temperature control system can help predict market fluctuations and a mammal's heartbeat can help us understand the "heartbeat" of a city and adapt urban planning accordingly. From enduring racial segregation to sudden stock market disasters, once we start drawing links between complex systems, we can start solving what otherwise might be totally intractable problems. Thanks to this revolutionary perspective, we can finally transcend the limits of reductionism and discover crucial new ideas. Scientifically founded and beautifully written, A Crude Look at the Whole is a powerful exploration of the challenges that we face as a society. As it reveals, taking the crude look might be the only way to truly see.
William Shakespeare lived at a remarkable time—a period we now recognize as the first phase of the Scientific Revolution. New ideas were transforming Western thought, the medieval was giving way to the modern, and the work of a few key figures hinted at the brave new world to come: the methodical and rational Galileo, the skeptical Montaigne, and—as Falk convincingly argues—Shakespeare, who observed human nature just as intently as the astronomers who studied the night sky. In The Science of Shakespeare, we meet a colorful cast of Renaissance thinkers, including Thomas Digges, who published the first English account of the "new astronomy" and lived in the same neighborhood as Shakespeare; Thomas Harriot—"England's Galileo"—who aimed a telescope at the night sky months ahead of his Italian counterpart; and Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose observatory-castle stood within sight of Elsinore, chosen by Shakespeare as the setting for Hamlet—and whose family crest happened to include the names "Rosencrans" and "Guildensteren." And then there's Galileo himself: As Falk shows, his telescopic observations may have influenced one of Shakespeare's final works. Dan Falk's The Science of Shakespeare explores the connections between the famous playwright and the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution—and how, together, they changed the world forever.
How are plants and animals related? What is the universe made of? And just what is the big secret behind it all? Scientists have been exploring these mysteries and many others for thousands of years, and this book is packed with flaps that reveal the amazing things they have discovered.
A wonderfully illustrated book full of exactly 1000 things that are found in our seas and oceans. Children will have endless fun spotting their favourite sea creatures and discovering many more.
From brains and blood to senses and skin - children will love exploring the ins-and-outs of the human body with this fantastic interactive book. Young readers' minds will boggle as they learn about how their brains work, what happens when they eat, how their lungs use oxygen and much more. Full of surprises to keep inquiring minds entertained, including flaps beneath flaps and a peek inside a lavatory cubicle.
Take a trip around the world in this fascinating book. Find out what the Earth is made of, who lives in steamy rainforests, how rivers flow into the sea, and much more.
2015 Outstanding Book Award, Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT) A book that explores the problematic connection between education policy and practice while pointing in the direction of a more fruitful relationship, Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice is a provocative culminating statement from one of America’s most insightful education scholars and leaders. Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice takes as its starting point a strikingly blunt question: “With so many major structural changes in U.S. public schools over the past century, why have classroom practices been largely stable, with a modest blending of new and old teaching practices, leaving contemporary classroom lessons familiar to earlier generations of school-goers?” It is a question that ought to be of paramount interest to all who are interested in school reform in the United States. It is also a question that comes naturally to Larry Cuban, whose much-admired books have focused on various aspects of school reform—their promises, wrong turns, partial successes, and troubling failures. In this book, he returns to this territory, but trains his focus on the still baffling fact that policy reforms—no matter how ambitious or determined—have generally had little effect on classroom conduct and practice. Cuban explores this problem from a variety of angles. Several chapters look at how teachers, in responding to major policy initiatives, persistently adopt changes and alter particular routine practices while leaving dominant ways of teaching largely undisturbed. Other chapters contrast recent changes in clinical medical practice with those in classroom teaching, comparing the practical effects of varying medical and education policies. The book’s concluding chapter distills important insights from these various explorations, taking us inside the “black box” of the book’s title: those workings that have repeatedly transformed dramatic policy initiatives into familiar—and largely unchanged—classroom practices.
′This is a fascinating and very useful book....I cannot recommend it highly enough. It will inspire you′ - School Science Review By focusing on active ways to help 5 to 14 year olds improve their thinking and learning skills in science, this book provides teachers with inspiration and ideas for ways to teach creative, enjoyable and interesting science lessons. Linked to up-to-date research in brain-based learning, the author gives practical advice on topics including: o ways to motivate pupils o developing pupils′ skills of detection o the importance of using movement to promote learning o improving pupils′ language skills and understanding of scientific vocabulary o suggestions for different ways learners can record in science o effective strategies for assessing learning in science o ideas to promote creativity o the importance of using ICT to support and promote learning. This book is an inspirational read for teachers, student teachers and teaching assistants, and anyone interested in science and how children learn. Helen Ward is Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, Programme Director for the Modular PGCE at Christ Church and also an independent education consultant and active member of the Association for Science Education (ASE).
