The Grammar Of Science

"The author notes that this book is primarily intended as a criticism of the fundamental concepts of modern science. At the same time, the author contends that he is so fully conscious of the ease of criticism and the difficulty of reconstruction, that he has attempted not to stop short at the lighter task. Moreover, the author states that he does not holds the labor of the great scientists or the mission of modern science to be of small account. If the reader finds the opinions of physicists of worldwide reputation, and the current definitions of physical concepts called into question, he must not attribute this to a purely skeptical spirit in the author. He accepts almost without reserve the great results of modern physics; it is the language in which these results are stated that he believes needs reconsideration"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Written for statisticians, computer scientists, geographers, research and applied scientists, and others interested in visualizing data, this book presents a unique foundation for producing almost every quantitative graphic found in scientific journals, newspapers, statistical packages, and data visualization systems. It was designed for a distributed computing environment, with special attention given to conserving computer code and system resources. While the tangible result of this work is a Java production graphics library, the text focuses on the deep structures involved in producing quantitative graphics from data. It investigates the rules that underlie pie charts, bar charts, scatterplots, function plots, maps, mosaics, and radar charts. These rules are abstracted from the work of Bertin, Cleveland, Kosslyn, MacEachren, Pinker, Tufte, Tukey, Tobler, and other theorists of quantitative graphics.

Excerpt from The Grammar of Science During the eight years which have elapsed since this Grammar was first published, the views expounded in it have undoubtedly met with wider acceptance than the author in the least anticipated. There are many signs that a sound idealism is surely replacing, as a basis for natural philosophy, the crude materialism of the older physicists. More than one professor of metaphysics has actually discovered that he can best attack "modern" science by criticising ancient statements as to mechanism from a standpoint remarkably similar to that of the Grammar. Step by step men of science are coming to recognise that mechanism is not at the bottom of phenomena, but is only the conceptual shorthand by aid of which they can briefly describe and resume phenomena. That all science is description and not explanation, that the mystery of change in the inorganic world is just as great and just as omnipresent as in the organic world, are statements which will appear platitudes to the next generation. Formerly men had belief as to the super-sensuous, and thought they had knowledge of the sensuous. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Gábor Lövei’s scientific communication course for students and scientists explores the intricacies involved in publishing primary scientific papers, and has been taught in more than twenty countries. Writing and Publishing Scientific Papers is the distillation of Lövei’s lecture notes and experience gathered over two decades; it is the coursebook many have been waiting for. The book’s three main sections correspond with the three main stages of a paper’s journey from idea to print: planning, writing, and publishing. Within the book’s chapters, complex questions such as ‘How to write the introduction?’ or ‘How to submit a manuscript?’ are broken down into smaller, more manageable problems that are then discussed in a straightforward, conversational manner, providing an easy and enjoyable reading experience. Writing and Publishing Scientific Papers stands out from its field by targeting scientists whose first language is not English. While also touching on matters of style and grammar, the book’s main goal is to advise on first principles of communication. This book is an excellent resource for any student or scientist wishing to learn more about the scientific publishing process and scientific communication. It will be especially useful to those coming from outside the English-speaking world and looking for a comprehensive guide for publishing their work in English.