Distilling Ideas

Mathematics is not a spectator sport; successful students of mathematics grapple with ideas for themselves. Distilling Ideas presents a carefully designed sequence of exercises and theorem statements that challenge students to create proofs and concepts. As students meet these challenges, they discover strategies of proofs and strategies of thinking beyond mathematics. In other words, Distilling Ideas helps its users to develop the skills, attitudes, and habits of mind of a mathematician, and to enjoy the process of distilling and exploring ideas. Distilling Ideas is an ideal textbook for a first proof-based course. The text engages the range of students' preferences and aesthetics through a corresponding variety of interesting mathematical content from graphs, groups, and epsilon-delta calculus. Each topic is accessible to users without a background in abstract mathematics because the concepts arise from asking questions about everyday experience. All the common proof structures emerge as natural solutions to authentic needs. Distilling Ideas or any subset of its chapters is an ideal resource either for an organized Inquiry Based Learning course or for individual study.

Do you have a great idea for an innovation in your library? From idea to execution, this book provides the information necessary to help you to become an intrapreneurial star at your library. Have you ever presented an idea to your boss and had it so firmly rejected that you never want to suggest anything again? Do you feel locked into a rigid hierarchy where bureaucracy has strangled all innovation? Are you motivated to shake things up in your organization to improve it, but are afraid of drowning in the waves you'll create? This book explains how any individual can be an effective change agent in his/her library, addressing topics such as getting started, handling difficult situations, creating partnerships both within and outside of your organization, cutting through bureaucratic red tape, and maintaining momentum with initiatives. Written by librarians who are both experienced entrepreneurs/intrapreneurs, Intrapreneurship Handbook for Librarians: How to Be a Change Agent in Your Library explains what being a library intrapreneur is all about: being empowered to find innovate ways to increase impact, grow resources, and develop new methods of leveraging the skills and perspectives of librarianship to enable the survival of libraries—all while enjoying your job more. The chapters guide readers through the intrapreneurial process—from writing a plan and selling it to administrators and other stakeholders, to securing funding for the idea and actualizing the plan—and answers tough questions such as "How do I let my clients know what my library can offer?", "How do we compete with the Internet?", and "How do I gain support for our services in a time of budget cuts?" This book will be a priceless resource for all librarians regardless of experience level or type of library as the principles and guidelines described are universal.

Leading authorities on negotiations present the result of years of research, application, testing and experimentation, and practical experience. Principles and applications from numerous disciplines are combined to create a conceptual framework for the hostage negotiator. Ideas and concepts are explained so that the practicing negotiator can apply the principles outlined.

This book reviews bureau-type organizations delivering network goods, documenting how most global institutions greatly improved their effectiveness during the last few decades. In the current globalized world, the design and choice of appropriate institutional rules and procedures can result in effective and democratic global government.

"The authors did an excellent job of engaging students by being empathetic to their anxieties while taking a research design course. The authors also present a convincing case of the relevancies of research in daily life by showing how information was used or misused to affect our personal and professional decisions." —Cherng-Jyh Yen, George Washington University A practice-oriented, non-mathematical approach to understanding, planning, conducting, and interpreting research in education Practical and applied, Designing and Conducting Research in Education is the perfect first step for students who will be consuming research as well as for those who will be actively involved in conducting research. Readers will find up-to-date examinations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research approaches which have emerged as important components in the toolbox of educational research. Real-world situations are presented in each chapter taking the reader through various challenges often encountered in the world of educational research. Key Features: Examines quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research approaches, which have emerged as important components in the toolbox of educational research Explains each step of the research process very practically to help students plan and conduct a research project in education Applies research in real-world situations by taking the reader through various challenges often encountered in field settings Includes a chapter on ethical issues in conducting research Provides a Student study site that offers the opportunity to interact with contemporary research articles in education Instructor Resources on CD provide a Computerized test bank, Sample Syllabi, General Teaching Tips and more Intended audience: This book provides an introduction to research that emphasizes the fundamental concepts of planning and design. The book is designed to be a core text for the very first course on research methods. In some fields the first course is offered at an undergraduate level whereas in others it is a beginning graduate class. "The book is perfect for introductory students. The language is top notch, the examples are helpful, and the graphic features (tables, figures) are uncomplicated and contain important information in an easy-to-understand format. Excellent text!" —John Huss, Northern Kentucky University "Designing and Conducting Research in Education is written in a style that is conducive to learning for the type of graduate students we teach here in the College of Education. I appreciate the 'friendly' tone and concise writing that the authors utilize." —Steven Harris, Tarleton State University "A hands on, truly accessible text on how to design and conduct research" —Joan P. Sebastian, National University

Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution, between alchemy and chemistry was clean and abrupt, Moran literately and engagingly recaps what was actually a slow process. Far from being the superstitious amalgam it is now considered, alchemy was genuine science before and during the scientific revolution. The distinctive alchemical procedure--distillation--became the fundamental method of analytical chemistry, and the alchemical goal of transmuting "base metals" into gold and silver led to the understanding of compounds and elements. What alchemy very gradually but finally lost in giving way to chemistry was its spiritual or religious aspect, the linkages it discerned between purely physical and psychological properties. Drawing saliently from the most influential alchemical and scientific texts of the medieval to modern epoch (especially the turbulent and eventful seventeenth century), Moran fashions a model short history of science volume

Legal research examines subject matter enshrouded in social circumstances in order to conceptualize theories and prepare a future course of action. This dynamic, inter-disciplinary, and labyrinthine character of legal research requires researchers to be fluid, eclectic, and analytical in their approach. Idea and Methods of Legal Research unearths how the thinking process is to be streamlined in research, how a theme is built on the basis of comprehensive and intensive study, and the paths through which notions of objectivity, feminism, ethics, and purposive character of knowledge are to be understood. The book first explains the meaning, evolution, and scope of legal research, and discusses objectivity and ethics in legal research. It engages with the requirements, advantages, and limits of various doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods and tools, and the points to be considered in selecting a suitable method or combination of methods. It highlights analytical, historical, philosophical, comparative, qualitative, and quantitative methods of legal research. The book then goes on to discuss the use of multi-method legal research, policy research, action research, and feminist legal research and finally, reflects on research-based critical legal writing, as opposed to client-related legal writing. This book, thus, is a comprehensive answer to key questions one faces in legal research.