Symbolic dynamics is a mature yet rapidly developing area of dynamical systems. It has established strong connections with many areas, including linear algebra, graph theory, probability, group theory, and the theory of computation, as well as data storage, statistical mechanics, and $C^*$-algebras. This Second Edition maintains the introductory character of the original 1995 edition as a general textbook on symbolic dynamics and its applications to coding. It is written at an elementary level and aimed at students, well-established researchers, and experts in mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science. Topics are carefully developed and motivated with many illustrative examples. There are more than 500 exercises to test the reader's understanding. In addition to a chapter in the First Edition on advanced topics and a comprehensive bibliography, the Second Edition includes a detailed Addendum, with companion bibliography, describing major developments and new research directions since publication of the First Edition.

A follow-up to the author's prescient bestseller about the emergence of a post-industrial society. When Sleepers, Wake! was released in 1982, it immediately became influential worldwide: it was read by Deng Xiaoping and Bill Gates; was published in China, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden; and led to the author being the first Australian minister to address a G-7 summit meeting, in Canada in 1985. Now its author, the polymath and former politician Barry Jones, turns his attention to what has happened since - especially to politics and the climate in the digital age - and to the challenges faced by increasingly fragile democracies and public institutions. Jones sees climate change as the greatest problem of our time, especially because political leaders are incapable of dealing with complex, long-term issues of such magnitude. Meanwhile, technologies such as the smartphone and the ubiquity of social media have destroyed our sense of being members of broad, inclusive groups. The COVID-19 threat, which was immediate and personal, has shown that some leaders could respond courageously, while others denied the evidence. In the post-truth era, politicians invent 'facts' and ignore or deny the obvious, while business and the media are obsessed with marketing and consumption for the short term. What Is to Be Done is a long-awaited work from Jones on the challenges of modernity and what must be done to meet them.

This book is a history of the future. It shows how our contemporary understanding of the Internet is shaped by visions of the future that were put together in the 1950s and 1960s. At the height of the Cold War, the Americans invented the only working model of communism in human history: the Internet. Yet, for all of its libertarian potential, the goal of this hi-tech project was geopolitical dominance: the ownership of time was control over the destiny of humanity. The potentially subversive theory of cybernetics was transformed into the military-friendly project of 'artificial intelligence'. Capitalist growth became the fastest route to the 'information society'. The rest of the world was expected to follow America's path into the networked future. Today, we're still being told that the Internet is creating the information society - and that America today is everywhere else tomorrow. Thankfully, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the DIY ethic of the Internet shows that people can resist these authoritarian prophecies by shaping information technologies in their own interest. Ultimately, if we don't want the future to be what it used to be, we must invent our own, improved and truly revolutionary future.

Infrastructure forms the economic backbone of modern society. It is a key determinant of economic competitiveness, social well-being and environmental sustainability. Yet infrastructure systems (energy, transport, water, waste and ICT) in advanced economies globally face serious challenges. For the first time, a leading team of researchers sets out a systematic approach to making long-term choices about national infrastructure systems. Great Britain is used as a case study to demonstrate how the methodologies and accompanying models can be effectively applied in a national infrastructure assessment. Lessons and insights for other industrialised nations and emerging economies are highlighted, demonstrating practical scenarios for delivering infrastructure services in a wide range of future socio-economic and environmental conditions. The Future of National Infrastructure provides practitioners, policy-makers, and academics with the concepts, models and tools needed to identify and test robust, sustainable, and resilient strategies for the provision of national infrastructure.

Fascinating journey explores key concepts in information theory in terms of Conway's ""Game of Life"" program. Topics include the limits of knowledge, paradox of complexity, Maxwell's demon, Big Bang theory, and much more. 1985 edition.

We are surrounded by information. Even the most routine situations in which we find ourselves conceal a hidden information flow. Every step we take, a host of signals meet us, providing information about what is happening in other parts of reality. The cherry tree in bloom reveals that spring has arrived. The footprint left on wet sand indicates that someone has walked along the beach. A red traffic light signals that we must bring our car to a halt. In The Phenomenon of Information, author Mario Perez-Montoro addresses the problems of providing a theoretical explanation of how a signal carries informational content, how to identify its characteristics, and how to define the mechanisms for describing it. To do this, Perez-Montoro examines several theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of information: the mathematical theory of communication, Dretske's approach, and the relational theory of meaning. A critique of these efforts leads to the author's definition of informational content, named "the extensional approach," which is designed to overcome the conceptual limitations of the previous theories. The author proposes that his definition might serve as a basis on which a satisfactory analysis of the concept of information can be developed.

A deep and penetrating exploration of the key concepts of information and communications sciences by one of its founders, this book covers everything in its subject that you want to know more about including the bedrock topics of signs, symbols, information, and communication, all considered from an historical and foundational perspective that is satisfying to the beginning student and worthwhile for practitioners of long standing. All the major players are given their role, from Shannon and Weaver to Tim Berners-Lee, with Marshall McLuhan an engaging participant. Communication in all its forms be it print or electronic media, mass communication as well as person-to-person messaging, whether by mail, telephone, gesture, or email is thoroughly examined in this book, which can serve as either an introductory text to undergraduates in information science, an interesting read for the layman, or as a refresher for the communications professional.

In this new book on what theory means today, the general editor of the explores how theory has altered the way the humanities do business. Theory got personal, went global, became popular, and in the process has changed everything we thought we knew about intellectual life. One of the most adroit and perceptive observers of the critical scene, Vincent Leitch offers these engaging snapshots to show how theory is at work.

"From Language to Communication" focuses on the structure of texts and on the social and psychological aspects of language. Utilizing current thinking and research, this volume provides an overview of issues in linguistics, sociolinguistics, cognition, pragmatics, discourse, and semantics as they coalesce to create the communicative experience.
As a unique examination of the relationship between language and communication, key features of the second edition include:
* material on the biological bases of language,
* models of the mind and information processing,
* discussions of semantics and the creation of new words,
* conversation analysis with practical applications, and
* a chapter on sociolinguistics, including language and groups, dialects, and personal styles.
Designed as an introduction to language and communication study, this text is appropriate for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in discourse and related courses in language, meaning, and messages. It also makes an excellent companion volume for courses in theory or interpersonal communication.
ADDITIONAL COPY FOR MAILER
More readable and practical than its predecessor, this second edition contains major additions:
* A more general introduction to language and communication, including new material on the biological bases of language as well as a table of species comparisons and brain comparisons.
* New models of the mind and how you process information, including more on the role of short and long term memory. It also includes a section on the features of messages that aid in comprehension--in other words, how people use the messages of another to build meaning and comprehension.
* A new section on semantics, new words and how they come about, and a more interesting treatment of meaning and how it works. The section on new words details the many ways that new words come into being. The examples are interesting and engaging for the student.
* A new focus on pragmatics with a major new section on conversation analysis which includes very practical ways to apply the principles with numerous examples.
* A new chapter on sociolinguistics includes material on language and groups (including gender, African-American English, and social class) dialects, personal styles, and related issues.

Roderick P. Hart?s revised edition of Seducing America is an eye-opening look at how television's format of presenting politics to its viewers has changed the way television-watching citizens act, vote, and feel about politics in this country. While television makes us feel knowledgeable, important, informed, and close to our political representatives, it disguises dissatisfaction with the political system and with ourselves. Hart's rigorous blend of rhetorical and statistical research plus his eloquent and passionate writing make this book a superb supplementary text for political communication and media studies courses that will help engage students in provocative discussions about media and politics.

Since the 1970s, more and more religious stories have made their way to headline news: the Islamic Revolution in Iran, televangelism and its scandals, and the rise of the Evangelical New Right and its role in politics, to name but a few. Media treatment of religion can be seen as a kind of indicator of the broader role and status of religion on the contemporary scene. To better understand the relationship between religion and the news media, both in everyday practice and in the larger context of American public discourse, author Stewart P. Hoover gives a cultural-historical analysis in his book, Religion in the News. The resulting insights provide important clues as to the place of religion in American life, the role of the media in cultural discourse, and the prospects of institutional religion in the media age. This volume is highly recommended to media professionals, journalists, people in the religious community, and for classroom use in religious studies and media studies programs.

The field of communication was founded, in part, because of a need to make people better communicators. That meant teaching them how to communicate more effectively, whether it be in public settings or in private. Most of that teaching has happened within the classroom and many professionals have spent their lives instructing others on various aspects of communication. Inside this second edition, the editors have assembled a fully comprehensive and contemporary discussion of topics and issues concerning the teaching of communication. The chapters contained herein--contributed by key voices throughout the communication discipline--address conceptual as well as practical issues related to communication instruction. The contents of this new edition reflect the dramatic changes that have occurred in communication education since the publication of the first edition in 1990.
This book focuses initially on the goals of communication education, then delves into the preparation of specific communication courses. It includes assistance for instructors in organizing instructional content and discusses the use of instructional strategies and tools, as well as offering ideas on evaluating the processes and products of instruction. The volume also covers unique teaching assignments that may be encountered, from the basic course to continuing education, and addresses 2-year college teaching, directing forensic programs, distance education, and consulting. It concludes with important professional issues faced by both new and experienced communication instructors, including ethics and political issues within classrooms and departments.
This volume is a necessity for anyone starting out a career as a communication instructor. Veteran educators--who know that learning to teach is a continual growth experience--will find useful and invaluable information within the book's pages. Whatever background and level of experience, all communication educators will find this new edition to be an essential resource for their work.

Die Erforschung komplexer Strukturen ist gegenwartig eines der interessantesten wissenschaftlichen Themen. Dieses Buch behandelt Moglichkeiten der Beschreibung und quantitativen Charakterisierung komplexer Strukturen mit Hilfe verschiedener Entropie- und Informationsmasse. Nach einer allgemein verstandlichen Einfuhrung der Grundbegriffe werden die fur eine quantitative Analyse erforderlichen Konzepte ausfuhrlich behandelt und an zahlreichen Beispielen, wie Zeitreihen, Biosequenzen, literarischen Texten und Musikstucken, veranschaulicht."

It reaches millions of people every minute of the day, it costs us virtually nothing and yet we take it entirely for granted. Superseded by television as the primary source of entertainment and information, radio still has a unique place in the mass media spectrum. While the textual properties and reception of film and television have received considerable critical attention, until now radio has only really been considered in terms of its history and its modes of production. 'On Air' adopts a wide-ranging theoretical and critical approach. It provides an in-depth examination of radio's codes (speech, music, noise and silence),and the conventions of using these codes and the dominant modes of reception. The text offers a vocabulary and methodology for analysing radio programmes, drawing on work by both media theorists and professional broadcasters in Britain, Australia, and North America. Written by an academic and a practitioner, 'On Air' provides a critical overview of radio for media students, as well as suggestions for practical activities, a time-line of major events in the history of radio, and a glossary of key terms.

This book provides a concise introduction to the development of communication theory for beginning students. Written in an engaging and approachable style, it offers an historical account of the development of all the major theoretical approaches. Theories of Communication sums up clearly and methodically the range of existing theories and explains the how and why diverse currents and schools of thought emerged. The strength of this book resides in the multiplicity of theories presented, including such widely differing currents as the first exponents of "Mass Communication Research," the Chicago School, the Palo Alto School, structuralism, and the later paradigms of constructivism and ethnomethodology. It further covers linguistic approaches, new theories of reception, and the political economy of cultural globalization.

The Soft Edge is a one-of-a-kind history of the information revolution. In his lucid and direct style, Paul Levinson, historian and philosopher of media and communications, gives us more than just a history of information technologies. The Soft Edge is a book about theories on the evolution of technology, the effects that human choice has on this (r)evolution, and what's in store for us in the future.
Paul Levinson's engaging voice guides us on a tour that explains how communications media have been responsible for major developments in history and for profound changes in our day-to-day lives. Levinson presents the intriguing argument that technology actually becomes more human. We see how information technologies are selected on the basis of how well they meet human needs. Why is email more like speech than print is? Why didn't the arrival of television destroy the radio? These and many more thought provoking questions are answered in The Soft Edge.
Boldly extending and deepening the pathways blazed by McLuhan, Paul Levinson has provided us with a brilliant and exciting study of life with our old media, our new media, and the media still to come.

The original edition of "Public Journalism and Public Life," published in 1995, was the first comprehensive argument in favor of public journalism. Designed to focus the discussion about public journalism both within and outside the profession, the book has accomplished its purpose. In the ensuing years, the debate has continued; dozens of newspapers and thousands of journalists have been experimenting with the philosophy, while others still dispute its legitimacy.
This larger second edition further develops the philosophy, responds to the arguments against it, outlines how specific principles can be applied, and explains the importance of public deliberation and the role of values in public journalism. Divided into three sections, it can be used as a supplement to the first edition or as a starting point for those being newly introduced to the ideas that have been the subject of debate within the profession and among those interested and involved in civic life at all levels. Section 1 summarizes two major arguments -- why journalism and public life are inseparably bound in success or failure and why the way journalism operates in the current environment fosters failure more often than success. Section 2 looks at the evolution of the profession's culture, its impact on the author's extensive career, and how he grew to believe that substantive change is needed in journalism. Section 3 deals with the implications of public journalism philosophy -- how it requires the application of additional values to daily work, its evolution in the early years and where its current focus should be, plus various questions about the future of cyberspace.

DEGREESI a work that provides such a comprehensive reassessment of Information Retrieval (IR) theory, with regards to the user-oriented model. -- Journal of the American Society for Information Science

In this extensive study on the impact of factors that enable or disable communication between people, author C. David Mortensen's helps us to discover that successful communication is a collective and collaborative achievement of the highest order. Miscommunication progresses from a theoretical examination of the complex conditions that cause miscommunication to occur-highlighting implication, distortion, disruption, and confusion-as specific categories-and then moves on to more refined definitions and practical applications of the theory. Mortensen includes succinct and engaging real-life examples that enhance and fortify the author's highly original contribution to our knowledge of interpersonal communication. Miscommunication takes a fascinating look at the way we communicate and makes a distinct contribution to understanding miscommunication and its remedies. Highly recommended for students and practitioners in communication, language and discourse, interpersonal communication, speech, and social psychology.

Translated by LIZ LIBBRECHT Combining political economy with the sociology of innovation, Dynamics of Modern Communication is a comprehensive social history of communication technology from 1790 to the present. Author Patrice Flichy presents a careful critique and historical analysis of the social shaping and impact of the major communication technologies of the past 200 years. From the semaphore and telegraph to contemporary information technologies like the phonograph, photograph, telephone, radio, cinema, and television, this book focuses on the relationship between technological change and the social changes in which they were situated. Particular emphasis is put on four social processes: the birth of the modern state at the end of the 18th century, the development of stock markets, the transformation of private life in the modern nuclear family, and the individualism of the late 20th century. Dynamics of Modern Communication provides a provocative exploration of the interaction of technology and social context in processes such as the move from public forms of communication to more private and individualized forms. Patrice Flichy excellently demonstrates the gap between the original conception of a technology and its end use after molding by political and economic forces. Students and academics in communications, media and technology studies, sociology and social history will appreciate the author's accessible style and the insights this text has to offer.

"Arthur Asa Berger provides a succinct, accurate, and enjoyable introduction to the mass communications field. Although the book covers the same topics as other introductory works. . . his writing and organization make the material seem like a light repast rather than an overbearing meal. . . . Essential for all undergraduate collections in mass communication theory and mass media studies."

--Choice

Arthur Asa Berger combines his broad knowledge of the field with his unique ability to translate difficult theories into comprehensible terms and accessible language. He uses illustrations related to popular genres to make these theories relevant to students'' lives. The concluding chapter provides questions for further work and discussion and is designed to help the student further contemplate the implications and applications of mass communication theory. An up-to-date bibliography and glossary provide a comprehensive resource on mass communication theory.

Arguments from Ignorance explores the situations in which the argument from ignorance (also known as the lack-of-knowledge inference, negative evidence, or default reasoning) functions as a respectable form of reasoning and those in which it is indeed fallacious. Douglas Walton draws on everyday conversations on all kinds of practical matters in which the argumentum ad ignorantiam is used quite appropriately to infer conclusions. He also discusses the inappropriate use of this kind of argument, referring to various major case studies, including the Salem witchcraft trials, the McCarthy hearings, and the Alger Hiss case.

This book makes an original contribution in the areas of argumentation theory and informal logic, contending that, despite its traditional classification as a fallacy, the argument from ignorance is a genuine, very common, and legitimate type of argumentation with an identifiable structure. But the book is also interdisciplinary in scope, explaining many widely interesting and controversial subjects in artificial intelligence, medical education, philosophy of science, and philosophy of law in a clear way that makes it accessible to a broad range of readers.

Published in cooperation with the Speech Communication Association Division on International and Intercultural Communication Comprehensive and far-reaching, Intercultural Communication Theory brings together current theories on this important and ever-growing area: intercultural communication. The text advances some of the work from previous International and Intercultural Communication Annuals and also introduces new theoretical developments. These diverse explanatory approaches offer guidelines for investigating the complex phenomenon of intercultural communication. The theories in this text range in their approach, from systems theory to ethnographic analyses, and focus on a range of intercultural theories, from accommodation theory to cultural intolerance. Part I provides an overview of the role of theory in intercultural communication research. Part II includes theories on intercultural communication competence and adaptation, and Part III focuses on specific contexts for intercultural communication, such as health and small groups. Continuing the series tradition, Intercultural Communication Theory is of great importance to scholars and students in interpersonal, speech, intercultural, and organizational communication as well as ethnic studies.