Science Analysis

In 2009's Liquidated, anthropologist Karen Z. Ho takes the tools of ethnographic research, which are traditionally used to study distant societies, and instead uses them to dissect the culture of high finance on New York's famous Wall Street. Through close observation of the daily lives of the bankers working there, and the beliefs, rituals, and timeframes that define them, Ho uncovers a distinct culture in which she finds the ultimate causes of the financial crises of recent times.

The era after World War II saw America's urban planners treat the lives of city-dwellers with disdain. It spawned a philosophy of urban renewal that valued the efficient movement of cars more than it valued the lives of people, and that wiped out entire neighborhoods dismissed by bureaucrats as slums. Published in 1961, Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities examines the shortsightedness and failure of this philosophy. The book turns away from strict statistical study and abstract planning theory in favor of observations.

Plato imagines a dinner party - a symposium - held in the Athens of the late fifth century BC. He invites seven important historical figures including the philosopher Socrates, the comic playwright Aristophanes, and the notorious military general Alcibiades. As entertainment, each guest gives a speech praising eros (human love or erotic desire). Plato then "collects" these seven speeches into Symposium.

Published in 1990, The Anti-Politics Machine is American anthropologist James Ferguson's first book. It discusses international development projects: how they are conceived, researched, and put into practice. Importantly, it also looks at what these projects actually achieve. Ferguson is critical of the idea of development and argues that the process does not take enough account of the daily realities of the communities it is intended to benefit.

The history of philosophy is beset by unresolved disputes. These disputes are passed down from generation to generation as problems to be solved. If not solved, they engender skepticism. Philosophical disputes, posed as problems, can be resolved or dissolved if we first acknowledge that some things are clear to reason.

In his 1997 work Guns, Germs, and Steel, American geography professor and environmental historian Jared Diamond looks to answer the question of why human history unfolded differently on different continents, and why power and wealth became distributed as they are.

Environmental factors shape our history just as much as - and sometimes more than - human factors. That's the premise of Alfred W. Crosby's 1972 work The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, a key text in environmental history.

Social capital - the relationships between people that allow communities to function well - has long been recognized as the grease that oils the wheels of society. It facilitates trust, creates bonds among neighbors, and even helps boost employment. In his 2000 book, Bowling Alone, American sociologist Robert Putnam argues that Americans have become disconnected from one another and from the institutions of their common life and investigates the consequences of this change.

Politics is one of the first books ever to investigate the concept of political philosophy. Written by the famous Greek thinker Aristotle in the fourth century BCE, it focuses on trying to understand how best to create political communities that support, serve, and improve their citizens. Aristotle investigates a number of different areas before drawing conclusions. These include an examination of existing regimes to see which are best, a look at political theories, and even an exploration of the systems of education.

Philosopher Judith Butler's 1990 work, Gender Trouble, shook the foundations of feminist theory and changed the conversation about gender. While many thinkers already accepted that "gender" was a category constructed by society rather than defined by one's genitalia, Butler went further and argued that gender is performative - it exists only in the acts that express it. Society determines that wearing makeup is "feminine" - but some men wear makeup. Are they "women"?

Philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft's 1792 work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is a key text in the development of what we now know as feminism. Written in the atmosphere created by the French Revolution, which made radical change seem possible, Wollstonecraft's work challenges the idea that society's oppression of women is entirely natural. While her male contemporaries happily argued for the fundamental freedoms of all men, few were interested in extending these revolutionary rights to women.

Our Common Future is a joint work produced in 1987 by a United Nations commission headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Brundtland. Intended to respond to a growing number of environmental concerns faced by the global community, it recognized the need for long-term strategies to manage natural resources. It says we must act collaboratively to protect the environment, while at the same time stimulating economic and social development.

British-born American political activist Thomas Paine wrote Rights of Man in 1791 in response to Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke's attack on the French Revolution. Burke was wary of tearing down old institutions of government. But Paine argued that revolution is acceptable - in fact, necessary - when government ignores the rights of its people. Not surprisingly, Rights of Man proved very popular in the newly liberated United States, selling over 100,000 copies.

What really happened when the world's two greatest superpowers went head to head during the Cold War? We Now Know is a major reappraisal of the struggle for political and ideological supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Skillfully translating complex scientific concepts into accessible, everyday terms, Safavy invites listeners to consider the arguments for and against universal determinism. How does the presence or absence of free will affect our lives and our decisions? If there is no free will, how would that change our approach to crucial moral and sociological issues? Do we have free will? If not, what is occurring when we make a decision and act on it? The answers lie in No-Choice Theory.

Would you like to learn to use Python extracting meaningful insight from data to grow your business but you reckon it will be too complex? As a beginner, you will be probably afraid that programming is difficult. Learning data analysis and data mining can take months, and the possibility to give up before mastering them could be high. The best solution is a complete programming manual with hands-on projects and practical exercises. This guide is structured as a course with seven chapters for seven days and studied special exercises to apply what you learned step-by-step.

Python Data Science: The Ultimate Crash Course for Data Analysis is a step-by-step guide for those who want to start programming by using Python for their projects and to make their researching activities much easier. The guide will introduce you to the basics of this programming language, and you will have the chance to learn how to use and code in Python with matched libraries, easily and effectively.

Philosophical Foundation argues for clarity over and against meaninglessness, which is implicit in various forms of skepticism and fideism. Throughout the book, critical analysis is applied to unexamined assumptions in the areas of metaphysics and ethics in order to address long-standing disputes.

Computer programmers are increasingly in demand in the world. It is estimated that over 50 percent of companies fail to hire Python programmers because there are not enough advanced and prepared programmers. The problem, however, is that the world is full of books and technical courses that are not able to easily explain the Python programming language and teach how to analyze the data properly.

Corporations are the most powerful entities on the planet. Unfortunately, many have had a long record of unprecedented and unbridled environmental degradation, social transgressions, and governance secrecy. Since by law they are beholden to their shareholders, some philanthropic trusts, pension funds, and other institutional investors have used shareholder advocacy to press for changes in corporate policy. But individual investors have largely been silent, thinking themselves powerless.