Advance Books

This is book shows the physics of excimer lasers in great detail. Comprehensive coverage. Really great!

Dr. Frechette has accomplished in the space of 129 pages what most professionals would fail to do in multiple bound volumes. This unique tour-de-force is a veritable wellspring of priceless expertise that is unparalleled. The text is filled with clear, concise explanations sprinkled with relevant figures and examples of case histories illustrating the principles contained within this tome. In summary, this reference is unsurpassed in its ability to educate the reader in the field of failure analysis of brittle materials. This work is to be included in any professional's list of ten references volumes to be saved in the event of a fire.

Traditionally mental health issues are dealt with using psychotherapy type interventions. We have recently found psychotherapies that are "more" effective, but these methods are still proving to be ineffective for many reasons. Malcolm McFarlane proposes a systems approach with promising results. Anyone who has studied personality knows that personality develops and changes throughout the entire life span and this process requires the involvement of the individual's social system. Perhaps this is the reason traditional methods that exclude the social system are not providing effective. Perhaps it's time to try something else. Malcolm McFarlane has made some interesting progress in his practice working with family systems.

This book explores the evidence of structural and functional differences between the male and female brain. The author examines in great detail the evidence from both recent and historic research supporting these differences, and provides many case studies. It is well illustrated, and provides a comprehensive list of references, as well as suggested reading. A background in neurophysiology would be beneficial to the reader, but not required, as the second chapter provides a good introduction to many of the terms and concepts used throughout the book. (I do not have any background in biological science myself but was able to comprehend it using only the material supplied.) The author also provides recommendations for overcoming the biases of the scientific community, both in the research and treatment of many diseases and disorders.
This book is not for the light reader, but should be comprehensible by most, and is well worth the effort.

Good book! And Dr. McMenamin is great. I love forensic linguistics and I took the class with him and we used this book.

In this book Lawrence Boland critically explores the agenda of the neoclassical research program, especially some of the unstated assumptions of the "hidden agenda" which are seldom subjected to scrutiny. This approach is "imminent criticism", working within the assumptions of the system to explore their consistency and the capacity of the system to succeed on its own terms. "External" or "transcendent" criticism takes issue with the assumptions, working outside the system. These could be respectively called the "worm" and "sparrow" approach. This is written without prejudice against worms for which, like Charles Darwin, I have a high regard.

There is so little discussion of methodology among economists that some detective work is required to locate the methodological ideas that are at work. Boland was determined to identify the actual practice in the profession, as distinct from the incantations that are offered in the early part of textbooks.

He suggests that the hidden agenda of the field consists of two related but autonomous problems; first, the Problem of Induction; second, the Explanatory Problem of Individualism. These are explored in chapters 1 and 2. Their influence on research programs in neoclassical economics is pursued in chapters 3 to 6. Their influence on the practice of methodology in the field is presented in chapters 7 to 9. Alternative approaches are examined in chapters 10 to 12.

As to the Problem of Induction, this has mostly been shifted to the Problem of Conventionalism: "the problem of finding generally accepted criteria upon which to base any contingent, deductive proof of any claim to empirical 'knowledge'". In practice, the generally accepted criteria have produced a form of normal science where the puzzles are concerned either with econometric models or mathematical models. In the first instance, the requirements of science are met by using data, with some talk about falsification, confirmation and the like. In the second instance the criteria run along the lines of simplicity, economy, elegance and other considerations of mathematics.

Moving on to the other leg of the agenda, the Explanatory Problem of Individualism, otherwise known as Methodological Individualism (MI), this is the view that only individuals can be the decision-makers in any explanation of social events. Boland explains that the usual form that MI takes in the neoclassical research program is psychologism, "the prescription that psychological states are the only exogenous [unexplained] variables permitted beyond natural givens (weather, contents of the universe, etc)".

The bottom line of the argument here is that psychologism is retained because it is a part of the Conventionalist program to deal with the problem of induction. Boland turns to Popper as a corrective to inductivism. His views came to economists in the unhelpful form of "falsificationism" and various forms of his ideas are attributed to both Friedman and Samuelson, who are probably the most influential "methodologists" in the profession. However any celebrations about the Popperian triumph would be premature, because Conventionalism and Instrumentalism reign supreme in economics and Popper rejected both.

Boland usefully notes some soft spots in Popper's work, especially the over-emphasis on the demarcation problem and some work on degrees of corroboration, described as a source of intellectual fog. He then turns to explore what it would mean for an inclusion of Popper's methodology in the hidden agenda of neoclassical economics. The problem of induction would be eliminated and with it the excessive concern with choosing between competing theories. Instead there would be more exploration of alternative solutions to theoretical problems.

Proceeding to the second item on the hidden agenda, methodological individualism, Boland's move here is from psychologism to consider the theories (and especially the plans and the strategies) that are held by decision-makers. For example it makes a difference whether an economic actor is using a maximising strategy, a minimum risk strategy or a satisficing strategy.

"We wish to show here that by dropping Inductivism and Conventionalism and instead relying on Popper's views of knowledge and learning, the way is open to the development of real-time explanations in neoclassical theory".

He suggests four agenda items for a "Popper-Hayek" program of individualistic explanation of dynamic processes. 1, Anti-justificationism. 2, Anti-psychologism. 3, Rational decision-making, according to the "logic of the situation". 4, Situational dynamics - behavior can change as a result of learning as well as from changes in the situation.

He notes that Hayek's point about the importance of learning has been taken but has been blunted by persisting elements of inductivism, as though we just need more information of a different kind (concerning the psychology of actors) rather than a different explanatory model.

This book is packed with arguments that require close attention and defy adequate summary. If these arguments are robust then the book is a "white dwarf" that will exert enduring influence when it is more widely read and understood. This process will be assisted by a wider familiarity with Popper's thoughts on metaphysical research programs which coincidentally emerged in the same year as the first edition of this book (1982, in "Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics").

The book is at present being revised for a new edition and it will be interesting to see how it is changed and improved after 20 years of work in the field, including some interesting experiences at the hands of journal editors and conference organizers. No comment on Boland's work would be complete without a tribute to his friend and teacher, Joske Agassi, who introduced him to the "Socratic Popper".

This is a very nice collection of papers: tutorials, and well written research presented to a wide audience. They cover stochastic aspects, geometry, analysis, iterated function systems, algorithms, to mention just a few. And they are written by authorities in the field. Fractals make headlines from time to time[--are they everywhere?], and and they make lovely color pictures; but they are also part of a substantial mathematical theory, one with an exciting mathematical history. This very important book presents the subject in a way that it can be taught to students. Or it can be used for selfstudy! In view of the many applications to geometric analysis, to PDE, and to statistics, it is likely that fractal geometry will soon be a standard math course taught in many (more) math departments. A recent example of this: By now it is widely recognized that the selfsimilarity aspects of the wavelet algorithms are key to their sucess. The authors have produced an attractive book on fractals. There are others, for example one by Falconer from 1985[The geometry of fractal sets] with a slightly more potential theoretic bent.

It tells you everything you need to know of this variation. Very easy to follow and understand

An astonishingly rich and documented critics of Freud's theory and sources, this book reviews the evolution of the early psychoanalysis and attempts to describe where and how Freud went wrong. Starting from Charcot's neurology and psychiatry, developed during the second half of XIX century, the medical theories about neurosis are examined in relation to their impact on Freud's early formulations. I had not realized, before reading this book how deep was Charcot's influence on young Freud and to what extent Freud tried to develop the theories of his master in order to increase their explanatory power. Unfortunately, the far Freud went on in his theory, and the more it became comprehensive, the less it was "scientific" and could be directly compared with empyrical evidence. In his fifties Freud had developed a powerful therapeutic instrument, whose scientific foundations were however unproven and most probably impossible to test; any further theoretical improvement went farther and farther away from contemporary medical science. Macmillan reconstructs the history of a marvelous failure and explains why the status of modern psychoanalysis is so uncertain. This book is exceedingly critical against the so called "ermeneutic" interpretation of psychoanalysis, that suggests psychoanalysis to be similar to the art of interpreting books and stories, but it is nevertheless a must for anyone interested in psychology.

Exactly what I was looking for! Very well written, great detail and very informative! Highly recommend!