Dictionaries, Reference & Language Books

Book SynopsisWhen you're cooking, you're a chemist! Every time you follow or modify a recipe, you are experimenting with acids and bases, emulsions and suspensions, gels and foams. In your kitchen you denature proteins, crystallize compounds, react enzymes with substrates, and nurture desired microbial life while suppressing harmful bacteria and fungi. And unlike in a laboratory, you can eat your experiments to verify your hypotheses. In Culinary Reactions, author Simon Quellen Field turns measuring cups, stovetop burners, and mixing bowls into graduated cylinders, Bunsen burners, and beakers. How does altering the ratio of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, and water affect how high bread rises? Why is whipped cream made with nitrous oxide rather than the more common carbon dioxide? And why does Hollandaise sauce call for "clarified" butter? This easy-to-follow primer even includes recipes to demonstrate the concepts being discussed, including: Whipped Creamsicle Topping—a foam; Cherry Dream Cheese—a protein gle; Lemonade with Chameleon Eggs—an acid indicator; and more!

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book is a must-read for any researcher, even those who specialize in quantitative methods. . . .It aims to be a textbook but achieves much more." * EPIC - Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community *"Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research is a wonderful book that should be required reading for all graduate students in Sociology; indeed, it is a useful guide for any social science discipline that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative training." * Social Forces *Table of ContentsCONTENTS Preface Introduction 1 Cognitive Empathy 2 Heterogeneity 3 Palpability 4 Follow-Up 5 Self-Awareness Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix: A Note on Proposals Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisCombining the main findings, methods and analytic techniques of this central approach to language and social interaction, along with real-life examples and step-by-step explanations, Conversation Analysis is the ideal student guide to the field. Introduces the main findings, methods and analytic techniques of conversation analysis (CA) a growing interdisciplinary field exploring language and social interaction Provides an engaging historical overview of the field, along with detailed coverage of the key findings in each area of CA and a guide to current research Examines the way talk is composed, and how conversation structures highlight aspects of human behavior Focuses on the most important domains of organization in conversation, including turn-taking, action sequencing, repair, stories, openings and closings, and the effect of context Includes real-life examples and step-by-step explanations, making it an ideal guide for studentTrade Review“Overall, I was very favorably impressed by Conversation Analysis: An Introduction . . . n its own terms, I particularly liked the straightforward, accessible style that Sidnell uses to discuss complex ideas and materials.” (Journal of Sociolinguistics, 1 February 2013) “To conclude, this introduction is a rich source of authentic examples and will serve interested students and scholars very well.” (Discourse and Communication, 1 November 2012) "The interdisciplinary research method and field of conversation analysis (CA) is remarkably well-suited to helping teachers achieve this objective, because CA provides tools that enable first the perception, and then the scientific description and analysis of regular patterns of human social conduct - patterns that organize, and make meaningful, the world of everyday life." (Language in Society, 2011)Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Transcription Conventions ix 1 Talk 1 2 Methods 20 3 Turn-Taking 36 4 Action and Understanding 59 5 Preference 77 6 Sequence 95 7 Repair 110 8 Turn Construction 139 9 Stories 174 10 Openings and Closings 197 11 Topic 223 12 Context 245 13 Conclusion 258 References 271 Index 281

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Book SynopsisWorking scientists and data crunchers familiar with reading and writing Python code will find the second edition of this comprehensive desk reference ideal for tackling day-to-day issues: manipulating, transforming, and cleaning data; visualizing different types of data; and using data to build statistical or machine learning models.

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Book SynopsisLearn the 1100 most common and useful English words in a format that enhances memorization!For decades students preparing for the SAT, ACT, GRE, and other standardized tests have relied on Barron's 1100 Words You Need to Know as an ideal way to strengthen their word power. These flashcards present the book's trusted methods in a convenient, take-along format.The cards present a 46-week program and are organized by theme. On each card, you will find: The theme designation Phonetic pronunciation Classification (verb, noun, adjective, etc.) Definition A sample sentence

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Book SynopsisHegel''s Phenomenology of Spirit has a long-standing reputation as one of the key books in the history of Western philosophy, but many are unsure just what it is about. Even the words in the title are disputed: What sense of phenomenology is being used? Is Geist to be rendered spirit or mind? What does this have to do with Hegel''s original title, The Science of the Experience of Consciousness? To add to the perplexity, Hegel developed his own technical vocabulary in writing the book, but the jargon he created never caught on and thus there is no common usage for it. As a consequence, both the beginner and the Hegel specialist must make key decisions about to understand many basic terms in the book.This Oxford Guide walks the reader through this canonical text paragraph-by-paragraph using accessible and approachable language, such that both students and instructors--whether they come from philosophy, political theory, literature, or history backgrounds--will benefit.Table of ContentsPrelude 1st chapter: the

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Understanding Religion is a lucid, creatively structured, and nearly jargon-free introduction to theories and methods for studying religious communities and traditions in diverse societies, bold in scope, and presented in a manner that is undergraduate-friendly, yet sophisticated enough for use in a graduate-level course." * Journal of Interreligious Studies *"Explores themes one might expect in a textbook as well as ones welcomely added, emphasizing a 'deeply political' approach that continually draws the reader’s attention back to whose voice gets expressed in scholarship, and whose does not." * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Boxes Acknowledgments and Dedications Introduction PART I. WHAT IS RELIGION AND HOW TO APPROACH IT? 1. Religion: Language, Law, and Legacies Case Study 1A: Falun Gong: Religion or Self-Cultivation Practice? Case Study 1B: Christians and Ancestor Veneration: Religion or Culture? 2. Method: Insider-Outsider Debates, Phenomenology, and Reflexivity Case Study 2A: Living between Religious Worlds: Conversion and Reconversion Case Study 2B: Hindu and Christian? Multiple Religious Identities 3. Life: Lived Religion, Syncretism, and Hybridity Case Study 3A: Mexican American Catholicism and Our Lady of Guadalupe Case Study 3B: Thai Buddhism as Lived Religion and Syncretic Practice PART II. THEORIES, METHODOLOGIES, AND CRITICAL DEBATES 4. History: Historical Methodology and the Invention of Tradition Case Study 4A: The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Faith Case Study 4B: Laozi, the Daodejing, and the Origins of Daoism 5. Power: Social Constructionism, Habitus, and Authority Case Study 5A: Mosques, Minarets, and Power Case Study 5B: Individual (New Age/Alternative) Spirituality as Modernity's Ideology 6. Identity: Social Identity Theory, In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Conflict Case Study 6A: Shiv Sena, Hindu Nationalism, and Identity Politics Case Study 6B: Race, Religion, and the American White Evangelical 7. Colonialism: Postcolonialism, Orientalism, and Decolonization Case Study 7A: Beyond "Inventing" Hinduism Case Study 7B: Magic, Superstition, and Religion in Southeast Asia and Africa 8. Brains: The Cognitive Science of Religion and Beyond Case Study 8A: Religion, Non-Religion, and Atheism Case Study 8B: Ancestors, Jesus, and Prosocial Behavior in Fiji 9. Bodies: Material Religion, Embodiment, and Materiality Case Study 9A: Weeping Gods and Drinking Statues Case Study 9B: Embodied Practice at a Christian Shrine 10. Gender: Feminism, Sexuality, and Religion Case Study 10A: Priests, Paul, and Rewriting Texts Case Study 10B: Buddhist Feminisms and Nuns 11. Comparison: Comparative and Contrastive Methodologies Case Study 11A: Comparing Hinduism and Judaism Case Study 11B: A Comparison of Zen Buddhist and Protestant Christian Sitting Practices 12. Ritual: Ritualization, Myth, and Performance Case Study 12A: The Zen Tea Ceremony and Protestant Eucharist as Performance and Ritual Case Study 12B: Buddhist Ordination Rites PART III. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND SOCIETY 13. Diversity: Religious Borders, Identities, and Discourses Case Study 13A: The Memory of Al-Andalusia Case Study 13B: Dominus Iesus and Catholic Christianity in Asia 14. Dialogue: Interreligious Discourse and Critique Case Study 14A: Christian and Muslim Women Reading Scriptures Case Study 14B: Buddhist-Christian Dialogue: History and Discourse 15. Violence: Fundamentalism, Extremism, and Radicalization Case Study 15A: The Invention of Islamic Terrorism Case Study 15B: Buddhism and Violence 16. Secularism: Secularization, Human Rights, and Religion Case Study 16A: Laïcité and the Burkini Ban Case Study 16B: Singapore's Common Space 17. Geography: Place, the Lived Environment, and Environmentalism Case Study 17A: Trees as Monks? Case Study 17B: Protestant Christian Understandings of the "Holy Land" 18. Politics: Governance, the Colonial Wound, and the Sacred Case Study 18A: Ethnicity and Religion: The Singaporean Malay-Muslim Identity Case Study 18B: Saluting the Flag: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States Glossary Who's Who Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a useful guide for all those wishing to improve their English vocabulary for the Human Resources industry. It is suitable for classroom use, as part of an English for Specific Purposes syllabus, or for self-study.

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Book SynopsisOriginal publication and copyright date: 2009.Trade Review"Every ecology graduate student studying for their comprehensive examination needs this book. For that matter, every practicing ecologist interested in keeping up with aspects of the field, particularly outside of their own subdiscipline, would be well served to have this book on hand."--Jonathan M. Chase, Quarterly Review of Biology "[A] content-rich volume presenting the diversity of ecology, from basic to applied."--Library Journal "The Princeton Guide to Ecology is a comprehensive assemblage of contemporary ecological research studies and issues related to the different disciplines of the ecological sciences... Technical information throughout the book is presented in a simple-to-understand manner; a comprehensive glossary facilitates further understanding of terminology/concepts. This volume will be useful to students as well as professionals in areas related to environmental health and public policy."--Choice "Edited by eminent ecologist Simon Levin, with contributions from leading ecologists, the book explains key topics in more than ninety concise and authoritative articles."--Blackwells Recommends "Because ecology and conservation are such hot topics as of late, this title could be useful to a number of people. The obvious choice is that of university libraries; however, researchers in the field, scientists in related fields, as well as policy makers and journalists could use this title in their work."--Shannon Graff Hysell, American Reference Books Annual "I think that the most valuable contribution that this book makes is to integrate ideas across ecology, to showcase the diversity of ecology and to give that ecology currency."--John Morgan, Austral EcologyTable of ContentsPreface vii Contributors ix Part I: Autecology 1 I.1 Ecological Niche 3 I.2 Physiological Ecology: Animals 14 I.3 Physiological Ecology: Plants 20 I.4 Functional Morphology: Muscles, Elastic Mechanisms, and Animal Performance 27 I.5 Habitat Selection 38 I.6 Dispersal 45 I.7 Foraging Behavior 51 I.8 Social Behavior 59 I.9 Phenotypic Plasticity 65 I.10 Life History 72 I.11 Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems 79 I.12 Geographic Range 87 I.13 Adaptation 93 I.14 Phenotypic Selection 101 I.15 Population Genetics and Ecology 109 I.16 Phylogenetics and Comparative Methods 117 I.17 Microevolution 126 I.18 Ecological Speciation: Natural Selection and the Formation of New Species 134 I.19 Adaptive Radiation 143 Part II: Population Ecology 153 II.1 Age-Structured and Stage-Structured Population Dynamics 155 II.2 Density Dependence and Single- Species Population Dynamics 166 II.3 Biological Chaos and Complex Dynamics 172 II.4 Metapopulations and Spatial Population Processes 177 II.5 Competition and Coexistence in Plant Communities 186 II.6 Competition and Coexistence in Animal Communities 196 II.7 Predator-Prey Interactions 202 II.8 Host-Parasitoid Interactions 213 II.9 Ecological Epidemiology 220 II.10 Interactions between Plants and Herbivores 227 II.11 Mutualism and Symbiosis 233 II.12 Ecology of Microbial Populations 239 II.13 Coevolution 247 Part III: Communities and Ecosystems 253 III.1 Biodiversity: Concepts, Patterns, and Measurement 257 III.2 Competition, Neutrality, and Community Organization 264 III.3 Predation and Community Organization 274 III.4 Facilitation and the Organization of Plant Communities 282 III.5 Indirect Effects in Communities and Ecosystems: The Role of Trophic and Nontrophic Interactions 289 III.6 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Regulation of Communities 296 III.7 The Structure and Stability of Food Webs 305 III.8 Spatial and Metacommunity Dynamics in Biodiversity 312 III.9 Ecosystem Productivity and Carbon Flows: Patterns across Ecosystems 320 III.10 Nutrient Cycling and Biogeochemistry 330 III.11 Terrestrial Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles 340 III.12 Freshwater Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles 347 III.13 The Marine Carbon Cycle 358 III.14 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning 367 III.15 Ecological Stoichiometry 376 III.16 Macroecological Perspectives on Communities and Ecosystems 386 III.17 Alternative Stable States and Regime Shifts in Ecosystems 395 III.18 Responses of Communities and Ecosystems to Global Changes 407 III.19 Evolution of Communities and Ecosystems 414 Part IV: Landscapes and the Biosphere 423 IV.1 Landscape Dynamics 425 IV.2 Landscape Pattern and Biodiversity 431 IV.3 Ecological Dynamics in Fragmented Landscapes 438 IV.4 Biodiversity Patterns in Managed and Natural Landscapes 445 IV.5 Boundary Dynamics in Landscapes 458 IV.6 Spatial Patterns of Species Diversity in Terrestrial Environments 464 IV.7 Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions in Landscapes 474 IV.8 Seascape Patterns and Dynamics of Coral Reefs 482 IV.9 Seascape Microbial Ecology: Habitat Structure, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Function 488 IV.10 Spatial Dynamics of Marine Fisheries 501 Part V: Conservation Biology 511 V.1 Causes and Consequences of Species Extinctions 514 V.2 Population Viability Analysis 521 V.3 Principles of Reserve Design 529 V.4 Building and Implementing Systems of Conservation Areas 538 V.5 Marine Conservation 548 V.6 Conservation and Global Climate Change 557 V.7 Restoration Ecology 566 Part VI: Ecosystem Services 573 VI.1 Ecosystem Services: Issues of Scale and Trade-Offs 579 VI.2 Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning, and Ecosystem Services 584 VI.3 Beyond Biodiversity: Other Aspects of Ecological Organization 591 VI.4 Human-Dominated Systems: Agroecosystems 597 VI.5 Forests 606 VI.6 Grasslands 614 VI.7 Marine Ecosystem Services 619 VI.8 Provisioning Services: A Focus on Fresh Water 625 VI.9 Regulating Services: A Focus on Disease Regulation 634 VI.10 Support Services: A Focus on Genetic Diversity 642 VI.11 The Economics of Ecosystem Services 652 VI.12 Technological Substitution and Augmentation of Ecosystem Services 659 VI.13 Conservation of Ecosystem Services 670 Part VII: Managing the Biosphere 679 VII.1 Biological Control: Theory and Practice 683 VII.2 Fisheries Management 689 VII.3 Wildlife Management 695 VII.4 Managing the Global Water System 701 VII.5 Managing Nutrient Mobilization and Eutrophication 712 VII.6 Managing Infectious Diseases 718 VII.7 Agriculture, Land Use, and the Transformation of Planet Earth 724 VII.8 The Ecology, Economics, and Management of Alien Invasive Species 731 VII.9 Ecological Economics: Principles of Economic Policy Design for Ecosystem Management 740 VII.10 Governance and Institutions 748 VII.11 Assessments: Linking Ecology to Policy 754 Milestones in Ecology 761 Glossary 775 Index 793

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Book SynopsisThe zany, the cute, and the interesting saturate postmodern culture, dominating the look of its art and commodities as well as our ways of speaking about the ambivalent feelings these objects often inspire. In this study Ngai offers an aesthetic theory for the hypercommodified, mass-mediated, performance-driven world of late capitalism.Trade ReviewSianne Ngai has written an important book which harks back to the heyday of the leftist literary theory of the 1980s, and is none the worse for that. Dense and demanding, occasionally meandering, [it is] equally at home with I Love Lucy and conceptual art, Theodor Adorno and Jim Carrey… Laudable and ambitious… In order for art to fulfill its role and for criticism to survive, ‘aesthetic theory’ needs to develop new and powerful concepts which reflect both art’s changing nature and its ubiquity. This challenging and important book takes the first steps in this task. -- Robert Eaglestone * Times Literary Supplement *It’s the type of book that contains ideas that are broadly provocative, even for the ‘merely interested.’ It is one of the most useful guides to the present I’ve read in a while, almost despite itself. It offers a way of thinking about so many forms of present-day self-expression, from the prevalence of first-person writing on the Internet to the ‘Like/Share’-this cheer of social networks. It helps explain a certain style of art (Tao Lin, for example) that advances on muted, subdued, contingent feelings. -- Hua Hsu * Slate *[Ngai’s] wide-ranging, synthetic approach is exactly the kind of criticism our ever-accreting culture deserves, and maybe even the criticism we need. By indexing the kinds of feeling-based judgments we make in our daily lives, Ngai opens up questions about how emotions can act in social contexts more generally, how our private experiences might shape our political and economic discourses. -- Rebecca Ariel Porte * Los Angeles Review of Books *Ngai argues that traditional aesthetic concepts of the beautiful and the sublime are inadequate in our post modern hyper-commodifed culture. She’s really on to something. -- David Collard * Times Literary Supplement *A book of immense interest. -- Benjamin Lytal * Daily Beast *Ngai argues that three aesthetic categories usually considered of minor importance are crucial to understanding contemporary culture. The categories in question, the zany, the cute, and the interesting, ‘are best suited for grasping how aesthetic experience has been transformed by the hypercommodified, information-saturated, performance-driven conditions of late capitalism.’ In defense of this thesis, Ngai deploys a formidable grasp of the aesthetic theories of Schlegel, Nietzsche, Adorno, and Cavell, among many others. Her knowledge of more recent pop culture is equally wide ranging: readers will especially find illuminating her discussion of the zany Lucille Ball. Ngai aims to show how production, circulation, and consumption in contemporary capitalism are mirrored in the cultural world. She argues that the importance of the three marginal categories requires a revision of classical aesthetics. We need not abandon the beautiful and the sublime, but we need to give attention as well to what best enables us to understand today’s culture, thus lessening the gap between aesthetic theory and practice… Highly recommended for an academic audience interested in cultural and aesthetic theory. -- David Gordon * Library Journal *Sianne Ngai gives us once again a radiantly idiosyncratic study of that which we never thought to examine and that which we now understand to be crucial to our daily experience as social beings. Under Ngai’s quick eye and deft hand, the zany, the cute, and the merely interesting reveal their pertinence for the history and historicity of aesthetic development, the intimacy between quotidian materiality and philosophic inquiry, and the collisions among modernity, art, labor, and performing bodies. -- Anne A. Cheng, author of Second SkinSianne Ngai’s new book is a major work of aesthetic theory: challenging a beauty-based aesthetics, closing the gap between aesthetic theory and artistic practice, and offering irreverent categories that work across disciplines and periods to make better sense of our cultural experience. Our Aesthetic Categories takes up the mantle of Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory, and here Ngai becomes the leading cultural critic of our day. -- Jonathan Culler, Cornell UniversityThis wonderfully original book (I hesitate to call it ‘cute, zany, and interesting,’ but that wouldn’t be wrong) invents fresh and incisive new categories for that tired old study called aesthetics. Maybe such categories could even transform the field itself, but they certainly transform the way we look at contemporary literature and culture (which Sianne Ngai knows with startling extensiveness), and maybe they will also end up transforming our outlook on the art of the past as well. Our Aesthetic Categories is in any case one of the most exciting new theoretical books to come along in some time. -- Fredric Jameson, Duke UniversityWith unparalleled originality, ambition, and insight, Sianne Ngai reimagines aesthetic theory for our time. Building on her work in Ugly Feelings, Ngai insists on the significance of minor, ordinary aesthetic experience. Our Aesthetic Categories displaces the centrality of beauty in aesthetics and illuminates the social processes at work in ubiquitous and taken-for-granted acts of judgment. This book will make you feel the present differently. -- Heather Love, University of Pennsylvania

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Book SynopsisBeginning Japanese is a complete Japanese textbook and language learning package for beginning learners.Start speaking, reading and writing Japanese today with the most exciting new introduction to the Japanese language! It follows the story of Kiara, an American exchange student who lives in Japan and loves to study Japanese. With the help of her Japanese friends and the time-traveling Tomo Tanuki (raccoon dog), Kiara learns to speak, read, and write Japanese while she visits famous people and places in Japanese history. Illustrated with manga-style comics—a fun way to learn Japanese and written by experienced high-school Japanese teachers, this Japanese textbook will show you how to pronounce Japanese; read and write hiragana, katakana, and 125 essential kanji; and understand conversational Japanese. Key features of this program: An engaging storyline—including a time travel adventure—unfolds as learners adTrade Review"One of the newer textbooks in the intermediate space, and a little more lively perhaps than the integrated approach." --Japanesestudent.info blog"Last year, I discovered the Beginning and Intermediate Japanese series by Kluemper. I changed textbooks immediately after experimenting with it for a week." --Kyler Jackson, Japanese Teacher, Thomas Jefferson High School"It provides web-based and supplementary audio resources in addition to the textbook, which progressively give students more exposure to language a little beyond their expected level of attainment, and which immerse students in culturally authentic contexts." --Geoff Biesinger, AATJ Journal

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Book SynopsisIn celebration of its 20th anniversary, a revised and updated edition of legendary self-esteem expert and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series Jack Canfield’s classic and inspiring guide, which has helped thousands of people transform themselves for success.Get ready to transform yourself for success. Jack Canfield, cocreator of the phenomenal bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, returns to the principles he’s studied, taught, and lived for more than 40 years in this updated edition of his practical and inspiring guide that will help any aspiring person get from where they are to where they want to be.This new edition includes:Updated chapters in the section “Success in the Digital Age,” including completely up-to-date material on using technology to meet your success goals, building an online persona through social media

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Book SynopsisNiklas Luhmann ranks as one of the most important sociologists and social theorists of the twentieth century. Through his many books he developed a highly original form of systems theory that has been hugely influential in a wide variety of disciplines.Trade Review'These lectures, published here in English for the first time, show Luhmann at the height of his powers. They offer a unique insight into the engine room of arguably the world's most famous systems theorist. It is indeed a brilliant mind that is at work here; very few other social scientists would be able to perform at such a level. Particularly for students and readers who are not familiar with Luhmann's style of thought, this is an ideal introduction to systems theory by the man himself.' Andreas Hess, University College Dublin 'Niklas Luhmann is the closest the social sciences have come, in a long time, to an actual thinker. This book is an indispensable introduction to Luhmann’s unique version of systems theory and required reading to all concerned about theoretical sociology. It offers a rare glimpse into the experimental workings of an extraordinary sociological mind at work.' Stephan Fuchs, University of VirginiaTable of ContentsTranslators Note and Acknowledgements System-Autopoiesis-Form: An Introduction to Luhmann's 'Introduction to Systems Theory' Editor's Preface to the German Edition I. Sociology and Systems Theory 1. The Functionalism of System Maintenance 2. Parsons II. General Systems Theory 1. The Theory of Open Systems 2. System as Difference (Formal Analysis) 3. Operational Closure 4. Self-Organization, Autopoiesis 5. Structural Coupling 6. Observing 7. Re-entry 8. Complexity 9. The Idea of Rationality III. Time IV. Meaning V. Psychic and Social Systems 1. Problems of "Action Theory" 2. Two Modes of Operation of Autopoiesis VI. Communication as a Self-Observing Operation VII. Double Contingency, Structure, Conflict Suggested Further Readings

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Book SynopsisCollins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully adapted versions are shorter with the language targeted at upper-intermediate learners (CEF level B2).Each reader includes:Audio with a reading of the adapted storyHelpful notes on charactersCultural and historical notes relevant to the plotA glossary of the more difficult wordsVictoria Jones is a young English woman who is looking for love. She follows her new love interest to Baghdad, but she has no idea what adventure is waiting for her there.A very important international meeting is planned in Baghdad, but a secret organisation wants to sabotage it. Meanwhile, when a man dies in Victoria's hotel room, he whispers three words to her: Lucifer Basrah Lefarge ' What do these words mean? And what does it have to do with theTrade Review‘As a teacher using the Amazing People ELT Readers in an Extensive Reading Project, I’m as happy as my students are: motivating topics/real people, interesting facts and a great alternative to Graded Reader fiction. Having said that, the same class is also reading books from the Agatha Christie series, and enjoying them very much. Their Reading Diaries are full of questions, speculation about who-dunnit and comments about “unputdownability”. The buzz in the classroom when we’re swopping books is tangible.’Hania Bociek, Zürich, Switzerland

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Book SynopsisYou will never be lost for words in your travels around Japan again! Your ideal pocket-sized travel companion and the accompanying free ebook will ensure that you can say what you need in Japanese with ease and confidence.Reliable, portable and easy-to-use, this phrasebook is an indispensable travel companion as you deal with the situations that crop up every day on holiday; from finding a chic hotel, or hiring a car to explore the countryside, to choosing a local delicacy from the menu, and, of course, shopping for souvenirs.With helpful travel information and cultural tips, plus a 3000-word dictionary, make sure you don't go anywhere without this little book an essential guide to speaking and understanding Japanese when travelling in Japan.Access your free ebook at collins.co.uk/ebooks. You will need to register to access your content, instructions can be found on this link.Trade ReviewAmazon customer reviews of Collins Gem Phrasebooks: “They are easily navigable with colour coding for different sections. My favourite bit, though – which I couldn't do without – is the awesome menu reader! They're really discreet for bringing out at the dinner table, pretty much fitting in your hand, and avoiding the truly obvious tourist look!” “Ideal as a quick reference guide split in to logical topics. The pronunciation support really helps too. I have managed to string a few words together already and have been understood.” “Much smaller than the usual Berlitz guides but equally useful.”

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Book SynopsisFowler's Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage is an invaluable quick-reference work, providing clear, practical and up-to-date guidance on questions of grammar, spelling, style, and word choice. Jeremy Butterfield has judiciously revised the text to reflect the English usage practices and concerns of the 21st century.Trade ReviewThis book is useful and, like Hamilton says of the full version, of general interest and even enjoyable. * Ray Ward, Committee Member and Trustee, Queens English Society, London, UK *a fascinating work of reference * Methodist Recorder *Table of ContentsPreface ; Abbreviations ; Phonetic Transcriptions ; Glossary ; Fowler's Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage

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Book SynopsisGives both prospective and experienced ESL/ELT teachers the theoretical background and practical applications they need to decide which approaches, materials, and resources can and should be used in their classrooms.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsBrief Contents The Territory Describing Language Neurological Bases of Speech and Language Cognitive, Perceptual and Motor Bases of Early Language and Speech The Social and Communicative Bases of Early Language and Speech Language-Learning and Teaching Processes and Young Children First Words and Word Combinations in Toddler Talk Preschool Pragmatic and Semantic Development Preschool Development of Language Form Early School-Age Language Development School-Age Literacy Development Adolescent and Adult Language Appendix A: American English Speech Sounds Appendix B: Major Racial and Ethnic Dialects of American English Appendix C: Development Summary Appendix D: Computing MLU Appendix E: Background Grammar Glossary References Author Index Subject Index

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Book SynopsisIn this concise and accessible book, Scott Thornbury draws on decades of research and his own experience to provide a guide to developing effective lessons. The book begins with a discussion of the factors which influence lesson design, before offering guidance on a wide range of topics including using online resources and AI in lesson planning, designing learner-centred lessons, lesson implementation and testing and evaluation. Scott Thornbury''s 66 Essentials of Lesson Design is an essential reference for teachers of all levels of experience, working in all contexts.

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Book SynopsisReady to Write 1 , Third Edition, is a revision ofGet Ready to Write, the first book in the highly-successful three-book Ready to Write series. The book teaches beginning students the composition skills they need to be successful writers in and out of the classroom.A fresh new design, updated content throughout, and a host of new activities reinforce the approach that has made theReady to Write series a classroom favorite for more than two decades.Features: Updated examples and model paragraphs illustrate organizing elements such as topic sentences, supporting details, and signal words. Step-by-step activities guide students in comparing and contrasting, describing, analyzing data, writing test answers, and summarizing. Varied, contextualized writing tasks help students with real-life tasks. Editing and proofreading exercises encourage students to refine their writing skills. New Grammar Guide section presents important grammar points and practice items to boost accuracy. Ready to Write also includes:Ready to Write 2Ready to Write 3

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Book SynopsisA ''Tall Tale'' is a story that''s hard to believe, and the five tall tales in this book all tell of ghosts. Some have dark secrets buried in the past, others bring messages for the living. Some are laughable, some are sad, and some are just evil. Sometimes there''s a logical explanation for the strangest happenings, but often things cannot be explained by logic alone. Either way, you''re sure to find some frightening reading between the covers of this book.

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Book SynopsisExplores how the impact of code on life has become comparable to that of speech and writing: as language and code have grown entangled, the lines that once separated humans from machines, analog from digital, and old technologies from new ones have become blurred. The book gives us the tools necessary to make sense of these complex relationships.Trade Review"A deeply insightful and significant investigation of how the science and rhetorics of cybernetics have reshaped the boundaries of human identity." - Village Voice "In her important new book, N. Katherine Hayles... traces the evolution over the last half-century of a radical reconception of what it means to be human and, indeed, even of what it means to be alive, a reconception unleashed by the interplay of humans and intelligent machines." - Chicago Tribune"

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Book SynopsisOperating out of a tiny office on Madison Avenue in the early 1960s, a struggling company called Marvel Comics presented a cast of brightly costumed characters distinguished by smart banter and compellingly human flaws. This book reveals the outsized personalities behind the scenes of Marvel Comics.Trade Review"Sean Howe's history of Marvel makes a compulsively readable, riotous and heartbreaking version of my favorite story, that of how a bunch of weirdos changed the world. That it's all true is just frosting on the cake." -- Jonathan Lethem "A warts-and-all, nail-biting mini-epic about the low-paid, unsung 'funnybook men' who were unwittingly creating twenty-first century pop culture. If you thought the fisticuffs were bare and bloody on the four-color page, wait 'til you hear about what went down in the Marvel bullpen." -- Patton Oswalt "Exhaustively researched and artfully assembled, Marvel Comics is a historical exploration, a labor of love, and a living illustration of how the weirdest corners of the counterculture can sometimes become the culture-at-large." -- Chuck Klosterman "Page after page, Sean Howe's Marvel Comics manages to be enchantingly told, emotionally suspenseful and totally revelatory. If I knew more about superpowers, I'd be able to explain how he did it." -- Sloane Crosley "Sean Howe is to Marvel Comics what Procopius was to the Byzantine Empire: a court gossip of breathtaking thoroughness and exactitude, and a sly and nuanced writer. It is imperative that this work not fall into the hands of alien species, or we're done for." -- Luc Sante "A jittery, hilarious, anecdotal, and exhaustive history of the company... If you're a comics fan, this is essential reading. If you're not, then it's merely fascinating. Howe has written a biographical history of modern America's id." -- GQ "Sean Howe's gripping new history lays out five decades of Marvel adventures and insanity, and will make you believe that comic-book creators have even weirder lives than their mutant creations." -- Rolling Stone "Marvel Comics is a meticulous chronicle of the real secret origins of the superhero, a tragic love story about the relationship between a long parade of passionate, talented superhero devotees and the company that didn't love them back." -- The Los Angeles Times "It's about time somebody wrote Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, and it looks like Sean Howe was the right guy for the job. Howe's clear-eyed history... is as full of colorful characters, tragic reversals and unlikely plot twists as any book in the Marvel canon." -- Newsday "Exhaustively researched and extraordinarily compelling... A quasi-Shakespearean portrayal of Marvel as it moves from spirited upstart to ruthless corporate colossus." -- Salon "A superpowered must-read for anyone hooked on comics, as well as a gripping story for someone merely enlightened by a genre that's always had to fight for respect. It's much more about ordinary, flawed humans than super men and women, and therein lies its excellence." -- USA Today "Howe, a widely published critic with a real knack, rare for his field, for reporting, gets farther inside the company than anyone else has...An essential read for anyone who loves comics, but civilians with a taste for gossip will enjoy it too." -- The Daily Beast "A corporate biography of America's most significant comic-book publisher and a definitive portrait of comics in American culture... Howe offers vivid reporting and enticing detail... The result is a book both authoritative and charmingly readable." -- The Wall Street Journal "Fascinating, compelling reading... Exhaustively researched... What ultimately propels you to keep turning the pages of this fat, enjoyable book are the endless anecdotes about how the Marvel Universe was shaped." -- The Miami Herald "A vivid account... Comics have proven an enduring art form, gaining new fans without losing the old ones. Howe's exhaustively researched love letter to Marvel should find grateful readers among both groups." -- The Boston Globe "Hugely entertaining." -- The New Republic

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Book SynopsisShows second-year students that Greek is very regular in the way it forms words -- if you know the rules.

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Book SynopsisThis isthedefinitive guide to doing constructivist grounded theory.From gathering rich data and conducting interviews, to undertaking coding and writing up your study, this down-to-earth book guides you through all the steps you need to do grounded theory research.This revised third edition: Showcases 9 new case studies of grounded theory research in action from scholars across the globe, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. Enables you to see, at a glance, how each chapter will develop your understanding with new learning objectives. Supports you to expand your knowledge with new further reading suggestions in every chapter. Retaining Kathy Charmaz's characteristic warm and accessible style, this book is essential reading for anyone - undergraduate, postgraduate or researcher - looking to understand and do grounded theory research.

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Book SynopsisRobert McKee''s screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience. In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders), providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. No one better understands how all the elements of a screenplay fit together, and no one is better qualified to explain the magic of story construction and the relationship between structure and character than Robert McKee.

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Book SynopsisExplores the fragrant world of magical oils. This book shows how to select and mix 67 essential oils for a myriad of magical, medicinal, and spiritual applications - arranged alphabetically for ease of use. It is filled with 1,200 original recipes for spells, rituals, and remedies.

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Book Synopsis* Authoritative guide to speechwriting * A riveting read - stuffed full of shocking material on how language can be used to manipulate the masses * Written by a top political and business speechwriter

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisFourth edition of the full-colour Cambridge English: Young Learners (YLE) preparation activities for all three levels of the test (Starters, Movers, Flyers) updated to reflect the new revised specifications which will be out in January 2018. Fun for Flyers Student''s Book provides full-colour preparation for Cambridge English: Flyers. Fun activities balanced with exam-style questions practise all the areas of the syllabus in a communicative way and support young learners in the areas they find most difficult. Listening material to accompany the Student''s Book is available online for download or as a separate Audio CD. Grammar and vocabulary activities get students practising online in their own time via an access code in the book.

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