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Comparative Environmental Politics

Theory, Practice, and Prospects
Edited by Paul F. Steinberg and Stacy D. VanDeveer

How do different societies respond politically to environmental problems around the globe? Answering this question requires systematic, cross-national comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society relations. The field of comparative environmental politics approaches this task by bringing the theoretical tools of comparative politics to bear on the substantive concerns of environmental policy.

The Localization Reader

Adapting to the Coming Downshift
Edited by Raymond De Young and Thomas Princen

Energy supplies are tightening. Persistent pollutants are accumulating. Food security is declining. There is no going back to the days of reckless consumption, but there is a possibility--already being realized in communities across North America and around the world--of localizing, of living well as we learn to live well within immutable constraints. This book maps the transition to a more localized world.

Thinking as Computation

A First Course
By Hector J. Levesque

This book guides students through an exploration of the idea that thinking might be understood as a form of computation. Students make the connection between thinking and computing by learning to write computer programs for a variety of tasks that require thought, including solving puzzles, understanding natural language, recognizing objects in visual scenes, planning courses of action, and playing strategic games.

Inventing the Medium

Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice
By Janet H. Murray

Digital artifacts from iPads to databases pervade our lives, and the design decisions that shape them affect how we think, act, communicate, and understand the world. But the pace of change has been so rapid that technical innovation is outstripping design. Interactors are often mystified and frustrated by their enticing but confusing new devices; meanwhile, product design teams struggle to articulate shared and enduring design goals.

Meaningful Games

Exploring Language with Game Theory
By Robin Clark

In Meaningful Games, Robin Clark explains in an accessible manner the usefulness of game theory in thinking about a wide range of issues in linguistics. Clark argues that we use grammar strategically to signal our intended meanings: our choices as speaker are conditioned by what choices the hearer will make interpreting what we say. Game theory--according to which the outcome of a decision depends on the choices of others--provides a formal system that allows us to develop theories about the kind of decision making that is crucial to understanding linguistic behavior.

C# Precisely, Second Edition

By Peter Sestoft and Henrik I. Hansen

C# is an object-oriented programming language that is similar to Java in many respects but more comprehensive and different in most details. This book offers a quick and accessible reference for anyone who wants to know C# in more detail than that provided by a standard textbook. It will be particularly useful for C# learners who are familiar with Java. This second edition has been updated and expanded, reflecting the evolution and extension of the C# programming language. It covers C# versions 3.0 and 4.0 and takes a look ahead at some of the innovations of version 5.0.

The Economics of Taxation, Second Edition

By Bernard Salanié

This concise introduction to the economic theories of taxation is intuitive yet rigorous, relating the theories both to existing tax systems and to key empirical studies. The Economics of Taxation offers a thorough discussion of the consequences of taxes on economic decisions and equilibrium outcomes, as well as useful insights into how policy makers should design taxes. It covers such issues of central policy importance as taxation of income from capital, environmental taxation, and tax credits for low-income families.

Software Abstractions, Revised Edition

Logic, Language, and Analysis
By Daniel Jackson

In Software Abstractions Daniel Jackson introduces an approach to software design that draws on traditional formal methods but exploits automated tools to find flaws as early as possible. This approach--which Jackson calls “lightweight formal methods” or “agile modeling”--takes from formal specification the idea of a precise and expressive notation based on a tiny core of simple and robust concepts but replaces conventional analysis based on theorem proving with a fully automated analysis that gives designers immediate feedback.

Optimal Control Theory with Applications in Economics

By Thomas A. Weber

This book bridges optimal control theory and economics, discussing ordinary differential equations, optimal control, game theory, and mechanism design in one volume. Technically rigorous and largely self-contained, it provides an introduction to the use of optimal control theory for deterministic continuous-time systems in economics.

Lectures on Urban Economics

By Jan K. Brueckner

Lectures on Urban Economics offers a rigorous but nontechnical treatment of major topics in urban economics. To make the book accessible to a broad range of readers, the analysis is diagrammatic rather than mathematical. Although nontechnical, the book relies on rigorous economic reasoning. In contrast to the cursory theoretical development often found in other textbooks, Lectures on Urban Economics offers thorough and exhaustive treatments of models relevant to each topic, with the goal of revealing the logic of economic reasoning while also teaching urban economics.