Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with textbook

Courting Ellen West

crush-onastick — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:45:28 -0800

“The Case of Ellen West” was published by the Swiss psychiatrist, Ludwig Binswanger, in 1944–1945 and (as far as I can tell) appeared in English translation in 1958. Anyone know where I can get a copy? Usual search suspects are turning up only the Carl Rogers article, "Ellen West and Loneliness", in the Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry (which I've requested via interlibrary loan) and some other scholarly pubs on Rogers (behind the usual pay walls).

Returning to the classics

Hypnotic Chick — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:34:58 -0800

Photography-filter: Can you help me find an art history textbook that would help me improve my composition skills? I currently own a few photography books, but I'd also like doing homework aside from the photo assignments I take on (ie Strobist assignments). I've reviewed old AskMe questions and there was an interesting suggestion to find an art textbook and trace the paintings. Sounds like interesting/supportive homework to me. This AskMe answer lists one such book, but does anyone have any insight into other good options for this sort of practice? Extra points for cheaper texts. Since I'll be laying the book down and drawing on tracing paper over the pages, older texts should work fine...uh, right?

Canadian flowers, 'weeds', trees, and 'pests'.

RollingGreens — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:43:52 -0800

Are there any respectable horticulture textbooks with specifically Canadian content? I've found/bought several British textbooks but they're clearly tailored to the specific micro-climates of the British Isles. Principles are well and fine but I'd like a text where all I'd have to do to really ground myself in what I'm learning is stick my head in some tall grass outside. Introductory texts are fine since I'm new to both self-directed study and plants but all suggestions are welcome...

Learning General Relativity

DU — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:06:12 -0800

What textbook can I use to learn General Relativity, including the associated math? What I have so far

I'm pretty firm on calculus and basic physics (and of course Euclidean geometry, etc). Less firm or polished, but technically familiar with vector calculus. I recognize words such as "laplacian" from electromagnetics, but really only have a vague understanding of the actual concepts.

What I'm interested in

I'd like to learn GR. And of course to learn GR, I need to learn some of the underlying mathematics such as differential geometry. I'm also interested in learning perhaps 10% more diff geo than is strictly required for GR.

The field

I have access to a largish technical library covering stuff from math to programming to astronomy to thermodynamics to engineering. "Classics" are probably in the catalog, but may be permanently checked out.

The requirements

Requirement 0 is really more of a guideline: I'd like something that teaches both GR and the needed math together. However, if there are N books that otherwise qualify and teach the subjects separately, I'm open to the idea.

1) Not overly formalized. I prefer a conversational, readable textbook.
2) Good problem sets. (I.e. not just one or two per chapter)
3) Answer key.
4) Not a "bible" or an "elegant reformulation". I need to be able to learn from it, not marvel at the comprehensiveness or elegance from a position of already knowing the subject.

An example of a nearly great suggestion is Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity by James Hartle. Why only "nearly" great? No answer key. Unfortunately, as perfect as the book otherwise appears, this renders it useless to me.

Some examples of actually great suggestions, but on different topics. If you know (of) these books, you will know the kind of thing I'm looking for:

Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker
Div, Grad, Curl And All That by Schey.

Where can I find my elementary school music songbook?

mr. remy — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:23:36 -0800

Oooooh once there was a goat / a very clever goat / spoke French and German fluently as you will note / ooooooooooooooo/ fa la la la la / tra la la la la la / spoke French and German fluently as you will note ... I remember this song from my elementary school songbook. As well as fragments, snippets and scraps of song both traditional folk and (possibly) written just for this book. What is the book? Where could I find it? I went to a public elementary in SE Massachusetts between 1984 and 1990. I went to music class twice a week, with Mr. Davis (who, incidentally, fell off his porch and broke both his wrists and was no longer able to play piano for us except with his elbows). The book we sang from was possibly published by Houghton Mifflin or McGraw Hill, and featured color illustrations in the margins of lyrics (and music? maybe?) to popular and not-so-popular songs.

I remember: I Love the Mountains, Molly Malone, Kookaburra, Linstead Market, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and a flag song that went:

There are many flags in many lands,
There are flags of many hue,
But there is no flag however grand,
Like our own red, white and blue.

Say HURRAH! for our flag,
Our country's flag,
It's stripes and bright stars too.
For there is no flag however grand,
Like our own red, white and blue.

What have been the significant advances in biology since 1993?

Joe Beese — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:29:00 -0800

What have been the significant advances in biology since 1993? One of my prized books is the 3rd Edition of Neil A. Campbell's Biology published in 1993. What are the most important things known in the field today that were not known then?

(For extra credit: If Dr. Campbell were still with us to prepare a 2009 edition covering the same ground, what percentage of scientifically new content might it be expected to have?)

ESL Textbook Recommendations

sdis — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:22:37 -0800

ESL Textbook Recommendations, anyone? I'm starting to teach English to some private students and to a few classes. With my private student, I'm going through my teaching resources relatively quickly, and I'm going to need some new resources relatively soon. I'm in the states for a couple of weeks and figure that this is a good opportunity to buy a textbook or two and use it to help build lesson plans.

My lessons have currently been broken up as follows, which has turned out very nicely so far:
A. 10 minutes: Review of previous lesson
B. 20 minutes: Lesson on English in some new context: How to talk about locations of objects, how to do introductions, how to talk about your family, etc. Currently using http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/Teacher/sectiontwo/sectionII.html lessons
C. 10 minutes: Accent elimination work, etc (My private student is Korean)
D. 20 minutes: Grammar lesson: working on some verb tense

I need good source material primarily for topic B. Any ideas or recommendations?

Photo series of paper miniatures of imagined trip to Moon or Mars from late '70s?

chr1sb0y — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:44:42 -0800

Can you help me locate a series of photos of an imagined trip to Mars (or maybe a return to the Moon?) done in papercraft, that was in one of my grade school textbooks around 1979? I have had visions of these photos stuck in my head since around 4th or 5th grade (1979 or 1980), and I would really love to find them again. I am pretty sure that they were in one of my 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade reading textbooks, from around 1978, '79, or '80.

They were a series of photos meant to predict what a trip to Mars might look like in the near future - but it's possible it was about a return to the Moon, and I've gotten confused. The photos were of miniature rockets, landers, rovers, habitats, astronauts, etc., all done with finely detailed miniature paper models - white paper possibly with some black ink details. The photos were done so that they looked like simulations of a rocket ship in transit against a black starry sky, astronauts exploring the surface of the planet with starry sky in the background, plus rough terrain along the horizon, etc. I am pretty sure I remember some stuff being made of graph paper (maybe the craters and terrain?), and some stuff being made of white paper, folded and squished, with a bit of black ink for details.

In my mind, the miniatures are some sort of weird combination of ultra-detailed origami, and paper architectural models (half folded and half glued and crumpled). The style was very much NASA-realistic, almost like an architect's rendering of a possible future mission.

These photos have been stuck in my head for so long, and I know it's a long shot, but maybe someone will remember these as well, or some askmefi-user's uncle will turn out to be the guy who shot them.

Got an (particular) old textbook there?

Squid Voltaire — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:56:46 -0800

I need to know the table of contents for the 2nd edition of Eysenck and Keane's Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook, published in 1990, ISBN# 0863771548 I'm compiling a list of the tables of contents from various Cog Psych textbooks of the past four decades, as a (very) rough way to get a look at how the field has changed. I've managed to find the ToC for Eysenck and Keane's 1st edition textbook, as well as editions 3 through 5--all I need is the second edition to complete the set!

I do realize that this is a ridiculous thing to ask, but you never know. Maybe someone will read this and immediately meMail me the table of contents from E&K's Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook, 2nd Ed., published in 1990. (:

Help me complete the set! I have to catch them all!

Lets list some useful economics textbooks for beginners

dragontail — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:53:49 -0800

Can you recommend any books that cover fundamental economics at a beginner level? I'm reading Natural Sciences at uni here in the UK, but my aim has always been to work in The City/Finance Industry. Note that this is not because of the high pay blah blah - I've been on a small internship and I'm genuinely interested.

Being a scientist, I have little true knowledge of Economics, although I do have a basic knowledge of Business Studies at GCSE. (I also did Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics at A-Level). Thus, I probably need to read up for any chance of employment down the line.

I'm looking for books to aid me in this cause. Any good, introductory "first year univeristy/A-Level standard" Economics textbooks for newbies that you can recommend? Like basic macro level stuff, supply and demand, etc, although you'll probably know better than me, so I'm open to all suggestions.

Real analysis self-study book

pravit — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:50:03 -0800

What's a good real analysis textbook for a self-learner who doesn't have much of a pure math background? I've just finished a degree in electrical engineering; what better way to celebrate than to spend the summer studying real analysis? I'll be starting a master's program in mathematical finance in fall; by all accounts, the program is very fast-paced and a lot of work, so I want to be up to speed on everything before I start.

As an EE, I never really saw a lot of "real math"; I did your standard Calculus I-III sequence, linear algebra, differential equations, etc. but those classes were mostly computation. This semester, I took a more theoretical course in partial differential equations and had a hard time just reading the textbook, let alone doing proofs. I think the math in my masters program will be more applied than theoretical, but they still do recommend students to have "general knowledge of real analysis, measure and integration, ..."

I've got three months until the program starts and not a whole lot to do, so what analysis books would you recommend for someone who doesn't have any pure math background? I'd like something that goes slow and holds your hand in explaining all the proofs; it's hard for me to follow really terse textbooks where the author assumes that what he's doing is obvious. I know people swear by Rudin, but I honestly don't think I have the background for it.

I need a general US History textbook.

hazyspring — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:25:35 -0800

I'm looking for a good college level textbook for US History. I'm going to be studying to take US History I (Early Colonizations to 1877) and II (1865 to Present) CLEP exams over the next few months.

Give me some recommendations for engaging textbooks that you used in your recent entry level US History classes.

Textbook for developing full applications in Java?

Orb2069 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:18:33 -0800

I need a good tutorial text on developing full-blown applications in Java. A professor in my department is teaching this class, and hasn't picked a text yet. He knows the language, but is a very poor teacher. If I want to get anything out of the class, I'm going to need a good, clear text. Does anybody have any suggestions I can pass along to him?

A short story from grade school textbook

timsteil — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:14:11 -0800

Can you identify a short story I read in grade school? It was set in England, and involved a fellow taking a bet he couldnt break out of a prison. He's sort of a Sherlock Holmes/MacGyver type, who uses all sorts of improvised stuff to get out. Only thing I truly remember was he used the tip of his shoelace and some polish i believe, to write a note or something. No author or other clues I can think of.
thanks

Need a good PDE text 4 the hard times...

pravit — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:23:56 -0800

Anyone know a good introductory text to partial differential equations? I'm taking a course in partial differential equations and we're using Fritz John's book, which I'm finding hard to learn from. It's written in a very dense, compact style, and he doesn't slow down to explain anything. It doesn't have very many pictures or graphs either, and it's hard for me to visualize all this stuff.

Can anyone recommend a good introductory text to partial differential equations with lots of hand-holding, graphs, and the like? I've seen a few at my library, but they seem to stress Fourier series, whereas our course (judging by the book) will only be touching on them. I've seen other, "cookbook"-like textbooks that show how to solve various PDEs that crop up in physics and engineering, but our course is more theory-based.

Bonus points if the book is commonly available in university libraries or can be found used.

Basic textbook for understanding GMO?

YouRebelScum — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:38:28 -0800

Is there a concise, up-to-date textbook on biotechnology and the techniques for genetic modification of plant varieties, which will give me enough knowledge to talk to an expert on the subject? I need to know the vocabularly, a general notion of what is possible and how it is done and a general notion of the risks involved are evaluated.

The textbook I was going to use is out of print. Now what?

leahwrenn — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:15:18 -0800

The book I was planning to use for a course this spring just went out of print. What are my options? I was planning on using Roberts & Tesman's _Applied Combinatorics_ for a course I'm teaching this coming Spring (as in, two months from now). It turns out that the book went out of print in August, so the publisher doesn't have any to send to the bookstore.

In addition to (a) using a different book, or (b) asking students to buy it used and hoping that they can all find copies in reasonable condition, are there any other options I can consider? For example, am I allowed to xerox the book for the students, since it's out of print? Is it likely I could get the authors to send me a .pdf of the text?

(Some other publishers, such as Wiley, will print books on demand, but apparently Prentice-Hall/Pearson doesn't do this. I e-mailed the book rep from the publishers assigned to my school, and she basically said to use Amazon. But I'm a little uncomfortable with forcing them to do that (although they're all bright kids, so it probably wouldn't be an issue).)

Help me find a good astronomy textbook!

smitt — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:32:44 -0800

I've recently become more and more interested in Astronomy, and I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of a solid university-level Astronomy textbook, something an undergraduate student studying Astronomy would be expected to read. I enjoy reading astronomy blogs, watching the documentaries, and so on, but I'm looking to take a leap with my personal education on the matter.

I'm looking to go beyond the simple "here's pictures of space" astronomy books you find in local bookstores, and into an in depth study of the field.

I'm hoping some of you great MeFi-ites out there can help me out!

Thanks.

help me understand English grammar.

the luke parker fiasco — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:19:11 -0800

Best book for "learning" English grammar? I am a native English speaker, and my grammar is pretty good, but I never learned much grammar in school and as such don't conceptually understand things like gerunds, dative case, accusative, reflexive, infinitive, etc. I would like to learn now, especially as I'm trying to learn a foreign language, and getting a grammatical explanation for a second language that doesn't make sense in the first makes for an interesting language lesson. Can anyone recommend a good book from which to learn English grammatical concepts and applications?

How much should I charge to write an ESL textbook?

mateuslee — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:31:13 -0800

How much should I charge to author a textbook for a Taiwanese company? A Taiwanese publishing company has asked me to author a short English textbook (the final edit should have around 35,000 words). I have a good amount of experience with ESL (teaching, creating new material, worked on multi-media stuff, etc) and I'm doing my PhD in linguistics now - but I'm no expert. They've asked me tell them how much I'd like to earn. What is a fair price for this? (Either per word or for the entire project.) Should my first offer be a bit higher than what I expect, or is that sleazy somehow? I'd appreciate any advice - Thanks!

Favorite exercises/ materials for Freshman Composition classes?

exlotuseater — Sun, 20 May 2007 09:07:09 -0800

Favorite exercises/ materials for Freshman Composition classes? Help me engage young minds in order to ~~brainwash~~ educate them! I have been hired as a Teaching Assistant for Fall '07, and I'm going to be putting a syllabus together over the summer. I am going to be teaching my own section, as opposed to working in conjunction with another professor. It's set up to be fairly open in terms of structure-- free reign for me.

The text I am going to use primarily is Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across Disciplines, 4th Edition, one of three texts chosen by T.A. consensus (there are two others, but the texts are particular to the "strand" one chooses-- "Life Writing," "Academic Writing," and "Cultural Conversations"; I have chosen the third.)
The content of my class will incorporate aspects of all three, but I can use any resource outside of the text that you can think of-- multimedia, essays, other books, etc.

What were/ are your favorite exercises or readings for Freshman Composition?

Whether you are an educator or just remember something really cool that stood out for you as a student, any ideas you might have are welcome!

Non-crash course in art photography?

cowbellemoo — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:15:20 -0800

What are the best online (or offline) 'textbooks' for learning about the history of fine arts photography? I have experience with critical and artistic movements in literature and film within the last century, so I'm not completely lost on vocabulary or approaches to critical theory. I've tried wiki, google, and mefi, but I have yet to see any comprehensive encycliopedia or timeline of fine arts photography. I'm interested in coverage of major artists and movements with copious examples (ya know...actual photographs with accompanying passages), with enough discussion of current trends and figures to not be lost while attempting to think critically about works being produced now.

Longer and more microscopic the better. Broader treatments of documentary photography, journalism, and 'industries' are welcome. I do not, however, want histories that dwell too much on technical innovations.

I realize that pulling together copyrighted works as such would lend itself better to a textbook, but I'd also love to have a few sites to chew on while at work. Maybe some colleges or museums have underutilized sites that fit what I'm looking for?

Textbook recommendations for a college-level humanities class on copyright?

media_itoku — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:28:30 -0800

I'm teaching a senior college-level class on "the culture of the copy" in the Fall. I want to cover some of the same material as Cory Doctorow's current USC copyright class but it's a humanities/English class and I'd also like to broaden the discussion a little to include history and art/culture/literature. So far I've got the open source/free software basics (Cathedral and the Bazaar, etc) and Marcel Mauss's book on gift economies. So: any thoughts? The class is a senior, undergraduate seminar. It's a new job so I don't know the students yet, but it is an "honors college" in a public university system. Here's the blurb for the class:

"This seminar will cover issues of information ownership, copyright and exchange in digital cultures. We will start with a general overview of what it means to "own" objects and information within an economy of exchange, and move into information economies and their relationship to technological developments. We will learn about the current "copyright wars" and their relationship to developing movements in open source and open content.

In your final assignment, you will be given the opportunity to work on a practical open source or open content project of your choice, with the idea that you will "release" this project into the information ecology by the end of the semester."

open source/out-of-copyright textbooks exist?

jak68 — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 23:11:43 -0800

Do open-source/out-of-copyright language textbooks exist? If yes, how would one go about locating/identifying them? I'm looking for an out-of-copyright french or english language textbook in order to copy and translate its sample-sentences/exercises/lesson-organization in order to "quickly" create a free/open-source/on-line textbook in a couple of other languages. (for example, I'd take the french out-of-copyright one, and basically translate it into, say, sanskrit, thereby "quickly producing" an online sanskrit textbook, in effect.
(yes, i'd take care of the grammer differences etc; the idea is to mine the french or english book for its basic structures and examples).

So - How would one go about identifying/locating such out-of-copyright old textbooks? Where could I start?

Best Probabilty and Statistics textbook?

sk381 — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 19:22:14 -0800

If you were to buy just one text on probability and statistics (and their applications) that covers the subjects in some depth (building from an introductory college level, through advanced undergraduate to a graduate level and perhaps further) and does a good job of making the basic concepts clear with solved examples (employing those drawn from actual research), which one would you choose?