Book Description
Sowa integrates logic, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science into this study of knowledge and its various models and implementations. His definitive new book shows how techniques of artificial intelligence, database design, and object-oriented programming help make knowledge explicit in a form that computer systems can use.
Customer Reviews:
A Unique Contribution.......2005-08-15
In this book, John Sowa conveys diverse and effective insights within the field of knowledge representation (KR). The frameworks he employs are deeply grounded philosphically. (Sowa's previous work on conceptual structures reactivated and extended the innovative work of Charles Sanders Peirce integrating logic and graph theory.) The work reviewed here surveys a wide range of KR issues from basic ontology to agency and processes. Chapter 6, Knowledge Soup, is widely recognized for framing and addressing some of the more demanding, and largely unresolved, challenges in the field.
Throughout the book, issues are explored in a coherent, readable way. Of course, KR implies the use of relevant formalisms, and readers with some background in some AI research tradition will be better prepared to absorb the book's insights. However, for students and scholars looking for an integrated overview, Sowa makes a unique contribution.
Good, but suffers from unnecessary complexity........2000-09-07
I thought the first three chapters did an excellent job of covering advances in knowledge representation. However chapter four is marred by an attempt to present what appears to be virtually every syntax used relating to processes. Somewhere in this gulf of complexity I think he has some basic concepts, but they are hard to reach. It's equivalent to reading a book on algorithms in which the author presents the algorithms in C, Cobol, Fortran, Basic, SAS, etc. Why not just present the concepts within the context of a MINIMUM of syntax? Still the book is worth reading and has good appendixes.
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Biodiversity and the Precautionary Principle: Risk and Uncertainty in Conservation and Sustainable Use
Manufacturer: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1844072762 |
Book Description
* The first book to examine the application of the Precautionary Principle -- the most important and controversial approach to biodiversity and natural resource management worldwide
* Comprehensive case studies from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, East and Central Africa, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Argentina, Uruguay and Fiji, including marine environments and forests
* Written by top practitioners in association with the main international conservation organizations
Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The Precautionary Principle underlies all international conservation efforts and entails acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude, or cause of harm.
This book, the first to examine the application of the Precautionary Principle to conservation, analyzes how it has been applied in the
management of biodiversity, including the impact on forests products and aquaculture, as well as wildlife and livelihoods. The book also examines how power, equity, and science intertwine in the Principle. Evidence is drawn from a vast range of countries and the book provides guidelines for applying the Precautionary Principle in all international contexts for the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources.
Book Description
Biodiversity-related laws and institutions will be key mechanisms for attaining the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. As part of the national biodiversity planning process, legal and institutional profiles should be undertaken to ascertain which laws apply to and affect biodiversity and which institutions oversee legislation and portfolios which intersect with biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing of genetic resources. Drawing on lessons learned in Bangladesh, Cuba, and The Gambia, this book provides legal practitioners with background information and a suggested analytical road map for reviewing their country's particular legal and institutional situation.
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Valuing Crop Biodiversity: On-Farm Genetic Resources and Economic Change (Cabi Publishing)
Manufacturer: CABI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0851990835 |
Book Description
In agricultural systems, a diversity of crops and varieties in essential to combat the risks farmers face from pests, diseases and variations in climate. Crop biodiversity also underpins the range of dietary needs and services that consumers demand as economies change. There is growing concern, however, about declining services that consumers demand as ecomomies change. This book contributes to a better understanding of the challenges involved in maintaining local crop biodiversity within a rapidly changing global food system, and to policy debates related to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It provides empricial studies conducted in the field with farmers and crop scientists across a range of agricultural economies and income levels, applying economic tools and methods for valuing and managing crop biodiversity on farms.
Book Description
Conservationists have long been aware that political
boundaries rarely coincide with natural boundaries.
From the establishment of early “peace parks”to the
designation of continental migratory pathways, a
wide range of transborder mechanisms to protect
biodiversity have been established by conservationists
in both the public and private sectors.
Conservation Across Borders presents a broad
overview of the history of transboundary conservation
efforts and an accessible introduction to current issues surrounding
the subject. Through detailed examinations of two initiatives, the
International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA) and the Yellowstone to
Yukon Initiative (Y2Y), the book helps readers understand the benefits
and challenges of landscape-scale protection.
In addition to discussing general concepts and the specific experience
of ISDA and Y2Y, the author considers the emerging concept of “conservation
effectiveness” and offers a comparative analysis of the two
projects. The book ends with a discussion of the complex relationships
among civil society, governments, and international borders.
By considering the history, goals, successes, and failures of two divergent
initiatives, the book offers important insights into the field of
transborder conservation along with valuable lessons for those studying
or working in the field.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource for International Conservation.......2007-06-10
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international conservation. It is thorough, insightful, and inclusive. Great resource for biologists, sociologists, ecologists, economists, and anyone who cares about global conservation.
Lessons that can be learned from modern history.......2006-10-07
Conservation Across Borders: Biodiversity In An Interdependent World by Charles C. Chester (Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School at Tuffs University) broadly chronicles the history of environmental conservation movements that have extended past the borders of nations. In particular, Conservation Across Borders focuses upon the International Sonoran Desert Alliance and the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative as case studies to help the reader understand the unique challenges of coordinating landscape-scale protective efforts. The final chapter makes a bold contribution to the newly evolving field of "conservation effectiveness", and the lessons that can be learned from modern history. Written with scholarly precision yet accessible to lay readers as well as environmental activists, Conservation Across Borders is strongly recommended reading especially for anyone involved in a large-scale environmental movement, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
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Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest
Elliott A. Norse
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Natural History of Puget Sound Country
ASIN: 1559630167 |
Book Description
This book provides a global context for what is happening in the Pacific Northwest, analyzing the remaining ancient forest and the threats to it from atmospheric changes and logging. It shows how human tampering affects an ecosystem, and how the Pacific Northwest could become a model for sustainable forestry worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
Very challenging and inspiring.......2004-11-29
This book zeroes in on possibly the core issue of progress as we know it. In maximizing certain kinds of production, we are systematically "weeding out" other kinds of life. Shiva conducts a whirlwind tour of what this means for agriculture, biodiversity, the economy, politics, and human values. What do we have when only certain types of plants and people are valued? I found this a very challenging and inspiring piece of work.
Change the mono-minds.......2001-02-10
Vandana Shiva's books are essential reading for anybody who wants to explore seriously the impact of biotechnology on the so-called "third world"; on their food production, their environment, and the disappearing biodiversity of their traditional food crops. It is easy to find books that claim biotechnology is the answer to the developing world's woes. It's much more difficult to find considered and well researched investigations from southern experts and scientists on the challenges the "benefits" of biotechnology are bringing to their cultures.
MONOCULTURES OF THE MIND is a collection of essays representing such a "southern" scientist's vital perspective. Shiva makes provocative contributions in the ever expanding debate around what (and who) will feed future generations of humans in the developing world. She argues that a mono-agriculture society - where trees are seen as nothing more than timber and crop yield is the only measure for economic value of cereals - reflects a mental and political system that will lack in vision and complexity in general. However, diverse knowledge systems are necessary to address the challenges ahead of us. For example, in traditional societies, trees have multiple purposes, from food, water reservoir and shelter to nutrients of the soil around them. Timber value is only one (small) part of the whole. Traditional knowledge systems contribute in major ways to the understanding of biodiversity, ecological sustainability and cultural, including agri-cultural, diversity.
Vandana Shiva is a geneticist as well as an environmentalist and her expertise comes to the fore in her analysis of threats to biodiversity and the dramatic loss of species and varieties in modern times. She also reviews various negative impacts posed by biotechnology on fragile southern ecosystems and the dangers to southern economies.
You don't have to agree with all of Vandana Shiva's views, BUT, you should read some of her books for what she has to say and what she represents. MONOCULTURES is a good starting point.
interesting.......2000-04-05
The book was somewhat interesting. It doesnot really reflect what she wanted to say
Book Description
Parks and reserves are on the front line in the campaign to conserve biodiversity on our planet. It is increasingly clear that these protected areas have limited future prospects without the cooperation and support of local people, especially in developing countries. Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) set out to reconcile park management with local needs and aspirations -- by emphasizing social and economic development among local communities -- and have managed to attract the lion's share of the funding for biodiversity. But so far the results have been disappointing. Important unanswered questions remain, and there is little consensus on when or where an ICDP approach to protected area management is appropriate and likely to be effective. Some conservationists argue that the ICDP focus on development dilutes biodiversity conservation goals, whereas others argue that the inward-looking protectionist alternative is doomed to failure.
As the struggle to balance conservation and development continues, the need to evaluate what works and what doesn't becomes increasingly important. This book draws on the lessons from the ICDP experience to inform the next generation of biodiversity conservation programs, including those concerned with the alleviation of poverty as well as those working at landscape scale. The contributors explore the theoretical and practical challenges to better inform conservationists and decision makers of the role that conservation and development approaches can and should play in conserving biodiversity.
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Managing Agrodiversity in the Traditional Way: Lessons from West Africa in Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and Related Natural Resources
Manufacturer: United Nations University Press
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ASIN: 9280810987 |
Book Description
This book shows how, traditionally, farmers cultivate and conserve biodiversity while, at the same time, using the land for food production. It will appeal to policy makers and practitioners, and to university students and teachers, including those of agriculture, social science, biological science and others relating to environmental or natural resources management and sustainable development.
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Integrating Biodiversity Conservation And Sustainable Use: Lessons Learned From Ecological Networks
Graham Bennett
Manufacturer: World Conservation Union
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 283170765X |
Book Description
IUCNfs 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape. This publication illustrates the development of several ecological networks around the world, demonstrating their benefits both for conservation and sustainable development.
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