Book reviews

Communication Patterns and Contextual Forms Graziella Tonfoni Intellect, Exeter, 1996 ISBN 1–871516–65‐X

Reflections on Artificial Intelligence The legal, moral and ethical dimensions Blay Whitby Intellect, Exeter, 1996 ISBN 1–871516–68–4. Price £14.95.

Intranets: the surf within James D. Cimino Charles River Media, Rockland, MA, 1997. ISBN 1–886801–40–1. 338pp.

Designing large‐scale web sites: a visual design methodology Darrell Sano Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996. ISBN 0 471 14276 x. 288 pp.     

Book reviews

Monk, A., Diaper, D., and Harrison, M. D. (1992). People and Computers VII. 534 pages, US$69.96: Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. (ISBN 0–521–44591–4)

Duffy, T. M., Palmer, J. E., and Mehlenbacher, B. (1992). Online Help: Design and Evaluation. 260 pages, US$55.00 (cloth) US$26.50 (paper): Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp. (ISBN 0–89391–848–2)     

Book reviews

Foley, James D., van Dam, Andrles, Feiner, Steven K., and Hughes, John. Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice (2nd Ed.), Reading, MA: Addison‐Wesley (1990), pp. 1774. $59.95 (U.S. dollars), ISBN 0–201–12110–7.

Berry, Dianne and Hart, Anna (Eds.). Expert Systems: Human Issues. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (1990), pp. 263. $35.00 (U.S. dollars), ISBN 0–262–02307–5.     

Book review

Emmeche, Claus, translated by Steven Sampson, (1994). The Garden in the Machine: The Emerging Science of Artificial Life, 199 pages: Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (ISBN 0–691–03330–7)     

Statistical model development and estimation of suspended particulate matter concentrations with Landsat 8 OLI images of Dongting Lake,China

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) is a dominant water constituent of case-II waters, and SPM concentration (C_SPM) is a key parameter describing water quality. This study, using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images, aimed to develop the C_SPM retrieval models and further to estimate the C_SPM values of Dongting Lake. One Landsat 8 OLI image and 53 C_SPM measurements were employed to calibrate Landsat 8-based C_SPM retrieval models. The C_SPM values derived from coincident Landsat 8 OLI and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images were compared to validate calibrated Landsat 8-based C_SPM models. After the best stable Landsat 8-based C_SPM retrieval model was further validated using an independent Landsat 8 OLI image and its coincident C_SPM measurements, it was applied to four Landsat 8 OLI images to retrieve the C_SPM values in the South and East Dongting Lake. Model calibration results showed that two exponential models of the red band explained 61% (estimated standard error (SE) = 7.96 mg l^–1) and 67% (SE = 6.79 mg l^–1) of the variation of C_SPM; two exponential models of the red:panchromatic band ratio obtained 81% (SE = 5.48 mg l^–1) and 77% (SE = 4.96 mg l^–1) fitting accuracy; and four exponential and quadratic models of the infrared band explained 72–83% of the variation of C_SPM (SE = 5.18–5.52 mg l^–1). By comparing the MODIS- and Landsat 8-based C_SPM values, an exponential model of the Landsat 8 OLI red band (C_SPM = 1.1034 × exp(23.61 × R)) obtained the best consistent C_SPM estimations with the MODIS-based model (r = 0.98, p < 0.01), and its further validation result using an independent Landsat 8 OLI image showed a significantly strong correlation between the measured and estimated C_SPM values at a significance level of 0.05 (r = 0.91, p < 0.05). The C_SPM spatiotemporal distribution derived from four Landsat 8 images revealed a clear spatial distribution pattern of C_SPM in the South and East Dongting Lake, which was caused by natural and anthropogenic factors together. This study confirmed the potential of Landsat 8 OLI images in retrieving C_SPM and provided a foundation for retrieving the spatial distribution of C_SPM accurately from this new data source in Dongting Lake.     

Indistinguishability operators in measurement theory,Part I: Conversions of indistinguishability operators with respect to scales

For two given ordinal scales in a measurement process, the present paper investigates how an indistinguishability operator evaluated according to one of these ordinal scales can be converted to another indistinguishability operator w.r.t. the other ordinal scale, and establishes the mathematical base of these conversions under the framework of measurement theory [Krantz, D.H., Luce, R.D., Suppes, P., Tversky, A. (1971) Foundations of Measurement, Vol. 1 (Academic Press, San Diego)]. Additionally, this work exposes the rudimentary facts behind the studies in [“Fuzzy Numbers and Equality Relations”, Proc. FUZZ'IEEE 93 (1993) 1298–1301; “Fuzzy Sets and Vague Environments”, Fuzzy Sets and Systems 66 (1994) 207–221; “Fuzzy Control on the Basis of Equality Relations-with an Example from Idle Speed Control”, IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 3 (1995) 336–350; and “T-partitions of the Real Line Generated by Idempotent Shapes”, Fuzzy Sets and Systems 91 (1997) 177–184], and points out the measurement theoretic derivations of the results in these studies.     

Enquiring about mathematicians enquiring about mathematics

Burton, L. (2004). Mathematicians as Enquirers: Learning about Learning Mathematics. Dordrecht: Kluwer. ISBN 1–4020–7859–5     

‘Critical details’ and physics teaching

Viennot, L. (2003). Teaching Physics. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 1–4020–1275–6     

Book reviews

Booth, Paul. An Introduction to Human Computer Interaction. 268 pages, $39.95 (Hardback), $19.95 (Paperback): Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989, ISBN O‐86377–122‐X (Hbk); ISBN O‐86377–123–8 (Pbk)     

Philosophizing about mathematics 1

Paul Ernest. (1998). Social constructivism as a philosophy of mathematics. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0–7914–3587–3     

A Review of “Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier”

Abstract

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN RESOURCE GUIDE TO THE INTERNET &; ONLINE SERVICES. Battle, Stafford L. and Rey O. Harris. McGraw-Hill, 1996. 217p. ISBN: 0–07–005499–1. $19.95.

THE ABCS OF THE INTERNET. Crumlish, Christian. SYBEX, 1996. 362p. ISBN: 0–7821–1887–9. $19.99.

THE UNIX DESK REFERENCE. Dyson, Peter. SYBEX, 1996. 523p. ISBN: 0–7821–1658–2. $29.99.

THE INTERNET ROADMAP. 3rd ed. Falk, Bennett. SYBEX, 1996. 320p. ISBN: 0–7821–1890–9. $16.99.     

Science for the Citizen

Ratcliffe, M., & Grace, M. (2003). Science Education for Citizenship. Maidenhead: Open University Press. ISBN 0–335–21085–6     

Geometry starting with Euclid

Hartshorne, R. (2000). Geometry: Euclid and Beyond. New York: Springer, 2000. ISBN 0–387–98650–2.     

Analysing exemplary science teaching

Alsop, S., Bencze, L., & Pedretti, E. (Eds.). (2005). Analysing Exemplary Science Teaching. Maidenhead: Open University Press. ISBN: 0–335–21311–1     

Reconceptualizing constructivism: Developing a personalized approach to STS science education

Derek Hodson. (1998). Teaching and learning science: Towards a personalized approach. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Pp. 208. ISBN 0–335–20115–6 (paper), £17.99.     

Une approche humaniste : Retombées pour le primaire

G. Fourez, avec la collaboration de M. Larochelle. (2003). Apprivoiser l'épistémologie. Bruxelles : Université De Boeck. ISBN: 2–8041–4322–8     

On solving a special class of weakly nonlinear finite-difference systems

In this paper, we consider the Newton-iterative method for solving weakly nonlinear finite-difference systems of the form F ( u )=A u + G ( u )=0, where the jacobian matrix G′( u ) satisfies an affine invariant Lipschitz condition. We also consider a modification of the method for which we can improve the likelihood of convergence from initial approximations that may be outside the attraction ball of the Newton-iterative method. We analyse the convergence of this damped method in the framework of the line search strategy. Numerical experiments on a diffusion–convection problem show the effectiveness of the method.     

Perspectives on practical work in school science

J. Leach & A. Paulsen (Eds.). (1999). Practical work in science education: Recent research studies. Frederiksberg, Denmark: Roskilde University Press. ISBN 87–7867–079–9.     

Constance Kamii's research and recent math reforms

Constance Kamii. (1990). Multiplication of two‐digit numbers: Two teachers using Piaget's theory. [Videotape.] New York: Teachers College Press. ISBN 0–8077–3086–6, Cdn $86.