The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to issues in history is among the most exciting developments in both digital and spatial humanities. Describing a wide variety of applications, the essays in this volume highlight the methodological and substantive implications of a spatial approach to history. They illustrate how the use of GIS is changing our understanding of the geographies of the past and has become the basis for new ways to study history. Contributors focus on cu...

Geographical Information and Urban Transport SystemsUrban transport systems need to be analyzed from various perspectives: the offer on one hand, the demand on the other hand, but also their negative externalities (risks of transport systems). These three dimensions are rarely apprehended in an integrated perspective. This book provides a large collection of chapters dealing with these specific dimensions, each written by recognized specialists in their do...

Using engineering performance evaluations to explore design alternatives during the conceptual phase of architectural design helps to understand the relationships between form and performance; and is crucial for developing well-performing final designs. Computer aided conceptual design has the potential to aid the design team in discovering and highlighting these relationships; especially by means of procedural and parametric geometry to support the generation of geometric design, and buil...

A comprehensive introduction to social network analysis that hones in on basic centrality measures, social links, subgroup analysis, data sources, and moreWritten by military, industry, and business professionals, this book introduces readers to social network analysis, the new and emerging topic that has recently become of significant use for industry, management, law enforcement, and military practitioners for identifying both vulnerabilities and opportunities in...

This reader-friendly textbook is the first work of its kind to provide a unified Introduction to Computational Social Science (CSS). Four distinct methodological approaches are examined in detail, namely automated social information extraction, social network analysis, social complexity theory and social simulation modeling. The coverage of these approaches is supported by a discussion of the historical context, as well as by a list of texts for further reading. Features: highligh...

to do to ensure survival, and (2) principles for designing organizational structures in such a way that they can realize the required functions adequately. In the course of their elaboration, we will show that these principles are general – i. e. , that they hold for all organizations. 1. 5 Conceptual Background To describe organizations as social systems conducting experiments and to present principles for designing an infrastructure supporting the “social experiment,” we use concepts fro...

Ontologies are increasingly recognized as essential tools in information science. Although the concepts are well understood theoretically , the practical implementation of ontologies remains challenging. In this book, researchers in computer science, information systems, ontology engineering, urban planning and design, civil and building engineering, and architecture present an interdisciplinary study of ontology engineering and its application in urban development projects. The first part...

This is the first interdisciplinary exploration of the philosophical foundations of the Web, a new area of inquiry that has important implications across a range of domains.Contains twelve essays that bridge the fields of philosophy, cognitive science, and phenomenologyTackles questions such as the impact of Google on intelligence and epistemology, the philosophical status of digital objects, ethics on the Web, semantic and ontological changes caused by the Web, and...

Today, our cities are an embodiment of the complex, historical evolution of knowledge, desires and technology. Our planned and designed activities co-evolve with our aspirations, mediated by the existing technologies and social structures. The city represents the accretion and accumulation of successive layers of collective activity, structuring and being structured by other, increasingly distant cities, reaching now right around the globe.This historical and structural development...

This book presents a theory of consciousness which is unique and sustainable in nature, based on physiological and cognitive-linguistic principles controlled by a number of socio-psycho-economic factors. In order to anchor this theory, which draws upon various disciplines, the author presents a number of different theories, all of which have been abundantly studied by scientists from both a theoretical and experimental standpoint, including models of social organization, ego theories, theo...

The new digital media offers us an unprecedented memory capacity, an ubiquitous communication channel and a growing computing power. How can we exploit this medium to augment our personal and social cognitive processes at the service of human development? Combining a deep knowledge of humanities and social sciences as well as a real familiarity with computer science issues, this book explains the collaborative construction of a global hypercortex coordinated by a computable metalanguage. B...

Social Networks: An Introduction is the first textbook that combines new with still-valuable older methods and theories.Designed to be a core text for graduate (and some undergraduate) courses in a variety of disciplines it is well-suited for everybody who makes a first encounter with the field of social networks, both academics and practitioners.This book includes reviews, study questions and text boxes as well as using innovative pedagogy to explain mathematical ...