"A Bradford book."Graphical models use graphs to represent and manipulate joint probability distributions. They have their roots in artificial intelligence, statistics, and neural networks. The clean mathematical formalism of the graphical models framework makes it possible to understand a wide variety of network-based approaches to computation, and in particular to understand many neural netwo…
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, environmentalism has become woven into the fabric of American life. Concern for environmental quality has influenced how we think, work, and recreate; what we buy; and how we govern. But popular consensus on the environment is more complicated than it appears. The real question is no longer whether Americans side with environmentalism, but the depth of their c…
The privatization carried out under the Thatcher and Major governments in Britain has been widely (although not universally) considered a success, and has greatly influenced the privatization of state industries in the transition economies of Eastern Europe. Massimo Florio's systematic analysis is the first comprehensive treatment of the overall welfare impact of this broad national policy of d…
What would constitute a definitively "green" state? In this important new book, Robyn Eckersley explores what it might take to create a green democratic state as an alternative to the classical liberal democratic state, the indiscriminate growth-dependent welfare state, and the neoliberal market-focused state--seeking, she writes, "to navigate between undisciplined political imagination and pes…
The United States in recent years has been abandoning its historical role as a leader in environmental regulation. At the same time, the European Union, spurred by political integration, has enacted many new environmental laws and assumed a leadership role in promoting global environmental sustainability. Green Giants?, one of the most detailed comparisons of the environmental policies of Ameri…
"Many of the papers included in this volume were first presented and discussed in the Spring of 2000 at a conference on lessons from the NAFTA for the FTAA"--Preface.Attention to environmental issues is vital if the full potential economic benefits of international trade are to be realized. Greening the Americas offers a number of analytically rigorous proposals to ensure that economic integrat…
Universities can teach and demonstrate environmental principles and stewardship by taking action to understand and reduce the environmental impacts of their own activities. Greening the Ivory Tower, a motivational and how-to guide for staff, faculty, and students, offers detailed "greening" strategies for those who may have little experience with institutional change or with the latest environm…
Innovative uses of global and local networks of linked computers make new ways of collaborative working, learning, and acting possible. In Group Cognition Gerry Stahl explores the technological and social reconfigurations that are needed to achieve computer-supported collaborative knowledge building--group cognition that transcends the limits of individual cognition. Computers can provide activ…
"A product of the 2050 Project, a collaborative effort of the Brookings Institution, the Santa Fe Institute and the World Resources Institute."How do social structures and group behaviors arise from the interaction of individuals? Growing Artificial Societies approaches this question with cutting-edge computer simulation techniques. Fundamental collective behaviors such as group formation, cult…
Experts from academia, government, and nonprofit organizations offer an environmental justice perspective on Smart Growth, discussing equitable solutions to suburban sprawl and urban decay.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.