Library

Quality Software Project Management by R.T.Futrell.D.F. Shafer.L.İ. Shafer

QSPM is an eloquent treatment of Software Engineering Project Management (SEPM) in which Futrell, Shafer, & Shafer combined all aspects of SEPM and condensed them into 1600 or so pages. I strongly believe all Software Engineering Professionals must have a copy of this excellent guideline so as to fully understand SEPM, and some of us will regret it if we don't have access to one. Because of the book's extremely usefulness for my software engineering career...

Quantitative Methods: for Business, Management and Finance by Louise Swift,Sally Piff

The new edition of this highly successful and popular textbook is a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to using and interpreting all the quantitative techniques that students will encounter in their later business and financial careers; from fundamental principles through to more advanced applications.Topics are explained in a clear, friendly step-by-step style, accompanied by examples, exercises and activities, making the text ideal for self-tuition or for the student with no experience or confidence in working with numbers. This highly successful learning-by-doing approach, coupled with the book's clear structure, will enable even the most math-phobic student to understand these essential mathematical skills.Comprehensive in both its scope of coverage and the range of abilities it caters for, this remains a core textbook for undergraduate students of business, management and finance, for whom Quantitative Methods modules will be a key component. It will also appeal to those on related MBA and postgraduate courses.New to this Edition:- Business Modelling 'Moving on...

Design: A Very Short Introduction by John Heskett

John Heskett wants to transform the way we think about design by showing how integral it is to our daily lives, from the spoon we use to eat our breakfast cereal, and the car we drive to work in, to the medical equipment used to save lives. Design combines "need" and "desire" in the form of a practical object that can also reflect the user's identity and aspirations through its form and decoration. This concise guide to contemporary design goes beyond style and taste to look at how different cultures and individuals personalize objects. Heskett also reveals how simple objects, such as a toothpick, can have their design modified to suit the specific cultural behavior in different countries. There are also fascinating insights into how major companies such as Nokia, Ford, and Sony approach design. Finally, Heskett gives us an exciting vision of what design can offer us in the future, showing in particular how it can humanize new technology....

Diaspora: A Very Short Introduction by Kevin Kenny image.png

This Very Short Introduction explains where the concept of diaspora came from, how its meaning changed over time, why its usage has expanded so dramatically in recent years, and how it can both clarify and distort the nature of migration. Kevin Kenny highlights the strength of diaspora as a mode of explanation, focusing on three key elements--movement, connectivity, and return--and illustrating his argument with examples drawn from Jewish, Armenian, African, Irish, and Asian diasporas. He shows that diaspora is not simply a synonym for the movement of people. Its explanatory power is greatest when people believe that their departure was forced rather than voluntary. Thus diaspora would not really explain most of the Irish migration to America, but it does shed light on the migration compelled by the Great Famine. Kenny also describes how migrants and their descendants develop diasporic cultures abroad--regardless of the form their migration takes--based on their connections with a homeland, real or imagined, and with people of common origin in other parts of the world. Finally, most conceptions of diaspora feature the dream of a return to a homeland, even when this yearning does not involve an actual physical relocation. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable....

Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking by Srinivasan Keshav

“To design future networks that are worthy of society’s trust, we must put the ‘discipline’ of computer networking on a much stronger foundation. This book rises above the considerable minutiae of today’s networking technologies to emphasize the long-standing mathematical underpinnings of the field.”–Professor Jennifer Rexford, Department of Computer Science, Princeton University“This book is exactly the one I have been waiting for the last couple of years. Recently, I decided most students were already very familiar with the way the net works but were not being taught the fundamentals–the math. This book contains the knowledge for people who will create and understand future communications systems."–Professor Jon Crowcroft, The Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge  The Essential Mathematical Principles Required to Design, Implement, or Evaluate Advanced Computer Networks Students, researchers, and professionals in computer networking require a firm conceptual understanding of its foundations. Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking provides an intuitive yet rigorous introduction to these essential mathematical principles and techniques.Assuming a basic grasp of calculus, this book offers sufficient detail to serve as the only reference many readers will need. Each concept is described in four ways: intuitively; using appropriate mathematical notation; with a numerical example carefully chosen for its relevance to networking; and with a numerical exercise for the reader. The first part of the text presents basic concepts, and the second part introduces four theories in a progression that has been designed to gradually deepen readers’ understanding. Within each part, chapters are as self-contained as possible.The first part covers probability; statistics; linear algebra; optimization; and signals, systems, and transforms. Topics range from Bayesian networks to hypothesis testing, and eigenvalue computation to Fourier transforms.These preliminary chapters establish a basis for the four theories covered in the second part of the book: queueing theory, game theory, control theory, and information theory. The second part also demonstrates how mathematical concepts can be applied to issues such as contention for limited resources, and the optimization of network responsiveness, stability, and throughput. ...

Knowledge Representation and Reasoning by Ronald Brachman

Knowledge representation is at the very core of a radical idea for understanding intelligence. Instead of trying to understand or build brains from the bottom up, its goal is to understand and build intelligent behavior from the top down, putting the focus on what an agent needs to know in order to behave intelligently, how this knowledge can be represented symbolically, and how automated reasoning procedures can make this knowledge available as needed.This landmark text takes the central concepts of knowledge representation developed over the last 50 years and illustrates them in a lucid and compelling way. Each of the various styles of representation is presented in a simple and intuitive form, and the basics of reasoning with that representation are explained in detail. This approach gives readers a solid foundation for understanding the more advanced work found in the research literature. The presentation is clear enough to be accessible to a broad audience, including researchers and practitioners in database management, information retrieval, and object-oriented systems as well as artificial intelligence. This book provides the foundation in knowledge representation....

The Devil: A Very Short Introduction by Darren Oldridge

The Devil has fascinated Christians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many haunting works of art. This Very Short Introduction looks at the Devil in the history of ideas and in the lives of real people. Darren Oldridge shows us that the Devil is an important figure in western history--a richly complex and contradictory one. Oldridge focuses on three main themes: the idea of the Devil being integral to western thought from the early Middle Ages to the beginnings of modernity; the belief that the Devil represents the mirror image of goodness; and the multiplicity and instability of ideas about the Devil. Oldridge concludes by exploring "demonological" ways of thinking in our own time, including allegations of "satanic ritual abuse."...

Environmental Economics: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Smith

In this Very Short Introduction, Stephen Smith shows how the field of environmental economics looks at how economic activity and policy can affect the environment in which we live. The book discusses environmental issues including pollution control, reducing environmental damage, global climate change policies, questions about how we should balance environmental and economic considerations, and what form government policies should take. In recent years, Smith reveals, many economists have argued for greater use of incentives such as pollution charges and emissions trading rather than more traditional direct regulation of polluters. Including many illustrative case studies, this book offers an illuminating introduction to an exciting field of economics. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam....

Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction Thomas Flynn, Jay Snyder

One of the leading philosophical movements of the 20th century, existentialism has had more impact on literature and the arts than any other school of thought. Focusing on the leading figures of existentialism, including Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, and Camus, Thomas Flynn offers a concise account of existentialism, explaining the key themes of individuality, free will, and personal responsibility, which marked the movement as a way of life, not just a way of thinking.Flynn sets the philosophy of existentialism in context, from the early phenomenologists, to its rise in the '40s and '50s, and the connections with national socialism, communism, and feminism. He identifies the original definition of "existentialism," which tends to be obscured by misappropriation, and highlights how the philosophy is still relevant in our world today....

Human-Computer Interaction: An Empirical Research Perspective by I. Scott MacKenzie

Human-Computer Interaction: An Empirical Research Perspective is the definitive guide to empirical research in HCI. The book begins with foundational topics including historical context, the human factor, interaction elements, and the fundamentals of science and research. From there, you'll progress to learning about the methods for conducting an experiment to evaluate a new computer interface or interaction technique. There are detailed discussions and how-to analyses on models of interaction, focusing on descriptive models and predictive models. Writing and publishing a research paper is explored with helpful tips for success. Throughout the book, you'll find hands-on exercises, checklists, and real-world examples. This is your must-have, comprehensive guide to empirical and experimental research in HCI—an essential addition to your HCI library. Master empirical and experimental research with this comprehensive, A-to-Z guide in a concise, hands-on reference Discover the practical and theoretical ins-and-outs of user studies Find exercises, takeaway points, and case studies throughout ...