Livestock raisers and healers throughout the world have traditional ways of classifying and preventing or treating common animal diseases. Many of their "ethnoveterinary" practices o
This in-depth study examines a number of levels: indigenous knowledgeand healing systems and how these have incorporated elements from other cultures, the practical uses of local medicinal plants, and
This book is a pioneering, comparative study of the practice of intercropping (growing two or more crops at once in the same field). Innis's meticulous analysis of the scientific base of different tra
The startling message of this book is that the so-called virgin forests of the world owe much to their symbiotic relationship with the indigenous peoples who live in and on the margins of the forests.
A primer on nuclear weapons, from the science of fission and fusion to the pursuit of mutual assured destruction, the SALT treaties, and the Bomb in pop culture.Although the world’s attention has shifted to drone-controlled bombing and cyberwarfare, the threat of nuclear war still exists. There are now fourteen thousand nuclear weapons in the hands of the nine declared nuclear powers. Even though the world survived the Cold War, we need to understand what it means to live with nuclear weapons. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Mark Wolverton offers a primer on nuclear weapons, from the science of fission and fusion to the pursuit of mutual assured destruction, the SALT and START agreements, and the Bomb in pop culture. Wolverton explains the basic scientific facts, offers historical perspective, and provides a nuanced view of the unique political, social, and moral dilemmas posed by nuclear weapons. He describes the birth of the Bomb in 1945 and its use
Traditional business analytics have so far focused mostly on descriptive analyses of historical data using a myriad of sound statistical techniques. This book describes how numerical statistical techn
Handbook of Educational Data Mining (EDM) provides a thorough overview of the current state of knowledge in this area. The first part of the book includes nine surveys and tutorials on the principal d
Since the beginning of the Internet age and the increased use of ubiquitous computing devices, the large volume and continuous flow of distributed data have imposed new constraints on the design of le
Totalitarian Experience and Knowledge Production is a comparative study of the disciplinary construction of sociology in six Central and Eastern European societies that proclaimed themselves ‘socialis
Confucianism and Reflexive Modernity criticizes the paradigm of Asian Value Debate and defends a balance between individual empowerment and flourishing community for human rights in the context of glo
Roulleau-Berger shares his insights from 10 years of exchanges, discussions, comparisons, and debates with Chinese sociologists in Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing about the de-Westernization and intern
A concise introduction to content and the content industry, from the early internet to the Instagram egg.From the time we roll out of bed to check overnight updates to our last posts, likes, and views of the previous day, we're consuming and producing content. But what does the term “content” even mean? When did it become ubiquitous? And at what cost? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Kate Eichhorn offers a concise introduction to content and the content industry, examining the far-reaching effects content has on culture, politics, and labor in a digital age. Eichhorn traces the evolution of our current understanding of content from the early internet to the current social mediaverse. The quintessential example of content, she says, is the Instagram egg―an image that imparted no information or knowledge and circulated simply for the sake of circulation. Eichhorn explores what differentiates user-generated content from content produced by compensated
This timely volume explores pressing questions that relate to democracy and the politics of knowledge, in a dialogue based on developing and applying philosophies that stress the importance of dialogu
This timely volume explores pressing questions that relate to democracy and the politics of knowledge, in a dialogue based on developing and applying philosophies that stress the importance of dialogu
An examination of the contemporary medicalization of death and dying that calls us to acknowledge instead death's existential and emotional realities.Death is a natural, inevitable, and deeply human process, and yet Western medicine tends to view it as a medical failure. In their zeal to prevent death, physicians and hospitals often set patients and their families on a seemingly unstoppable trajectory toward medical interventions that may actually increase suffering at the end of life. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series examines the medicalization of death and dying and proposes a different approach--one that acknowledges death's existential and emotional realities. The authors--one an academic who teaches and studies end-of-life care, and the other a physician trained in hospice and palliative care--offer an account of Western-style death and dying that is informed by both research and personal experience. They examine the medical profession's attitude toward
An accessible guide to cybersecurity for the everyday user, covering cryptography and public key infrastructure, malware, blockchain, and other topics.It seems that everything we touch is connected to the internet, from mobile phones and wearable technology to home appliances and cyber assistants. The more connected our computer systems, the more exposed they are to cyber attacks--attempts to steal data, corrupt software, disrupt operations, and even physically damage hardware and network infrastructures. In this volume of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, cybersecurity expert Duane Wilson offers an accessible guide to cybersecurity issues for everyday users, describing risks associated with internet use, modern methods of defense against cyber attacks, and general principles for safer internet use. Wilson describes the principles that underlie all cybesecurity defense: confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, authorization, and non-repudiation (validating the
Prejudice influences people's thoughts and behaviors in many ways; it can lead people to underestimate others' credibility, to read anger or hysteria into their words, or to expect knowledge and truth
