Introducing Einstein

Compact INTRODUCING guide to the father of modern physics. Albert Einstein’s development of the theory of general relativity caused a transformation in in the physics world. He received the 1921 Novel Prize for Physics for his services to theoretical physics and his name has become synonymous with ‘genius’. Joseph Schwartz and Michael McGuiness’ guide is a concise, readable guide to the most influential physicist to have ever lived.

Introducing Empiricism

Our knowledge comes primarily from experience – what our senses tell us. But is experience really what it seems?

The experimental breakthroughs in 17th-century science of Kepler, Galileo and Newton informed the great British empiricist tradition, which accepts a ‘common-sense’ view of the world – and yet concludes that all we can ever know are ‘ideas’.
In Introducing Empiricism: A Graphic Guide, Dave Robinson – with the aid of Bill Mayblin’s brilliant illustrations – outlines the arguments of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, J.S. Mill, Bertrand Russell and the last British empiricist, A.J. Ayer. They also explore criticisms of empiricism in the work of Kant, Wittgenstein, Karl Popper and others, providing a unique overview of this compelling area of philosophy.

Introducing EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)

EFT Founding Master Judy Byrne gives you practical advice on how to use Emotional Freedom Technique to improve your emotional well-being and change your life. In Introducing EFT, through the proven method of ‘tapping’ you will learn how to remove negative feelings, let go of the past, improve willpower and aim for a positive future. CLEAR AWAY NEGATIVE EMOTIONS and find inner peace CURB CRAVINGS and take back control of your life TAP INTO YOUR POTENTIAL and eradicate those nagging doubts

Introducing Economics

A comic-book introduction to economics from David Orrell, the author of Economyths: 11 Ways Economics Gets it Wrong. With illustrations from Borin Van Loon. Part of the internationally-recognised Introducing Graphic Guide series.
Today, it seems, all things are measured by economists. The so-called ‘dismal science’ has never been more popular – or, given its failure to predict or prevent the recent financial crisis, more controversial.
But what are the findings of economics? Is it really a science? And how can it help our lives?
Introducing Economics traces the history of the subject from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Orrell and Van Loon bring to life the contributions of great economists – such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman – and delve into ideas from new areas such as ecological and complexity economics that are revolutionizing the field.

Introducing Eastern Philosophy

Compact INTRODUCING guide to the historical and philosophical basis of Eastern cultures. Eastern philosophy is the most ancient form of thought known to humanity. Introducing Eastern Philosophy focuses on India and China, the two oldest and most influential origins of Eastern thought. It brilliantly explains the complex branches of Indian Buddhism, the traditions of Confucius and the Tao in China, and demonstrates their fundamental differences to Western notions of truth. It makes clear the Eastern view of ultimate reality, the emphasis on selfless ethics and the quest for Enlightenment.

Introducing Descartes

René Descartes is famous as the philosopher who was prepared to doubt everything- even his own physical existence. Most people know that he said ‘I think, therefore I am’, even if they are not always sure what he really meant by it.  

Introducing Descartes explains what Descartes doubted, and why he is usually called the father of modern philosophy. It is a clear and accessible guide to all the puzzling questions he asked about human beings and their place in the world. Dave Robinson and Chris Garratt give a lucid account of Descartes’ contributions to modern science, mathematics, and the philosophy of mind- and also reveal why he liked to do all of his serious thinking in bed.

Introducing Derrida

Brilliant illustrated guide to the best-known and most controversial continental philosopher of the latter 20th century. Jacques Derrida is the most famous philosopher of the late 20th century. Yet Derrida has undermined the rules of philosophy, rejected its methods, broken its procedures and contaminated it with literary styles of writing. Derrida’s philosophy is a puzzling array of oblique, deviant and yet rigorous tactics for destabilizing texts, meanings and identities. ‘Deconstruction’, as these strategies have been called, is reviled and celebrated in equal measure. Introducing Derrida introduces and explains his work, taking us on an intellectual adventure that disturbs some of our most comfortable habits of thought.

Introducing Darwin

Progress in genetics today would not be possible without Darwin’s revolution, but the mysterious man who laid the rational basis for undermining belief in God’s creation was remarkable timid. He spent most of his life in seclusion; a semi-invalid, riddled with doubts, fearing the controversy his theories might unleash. In this brilliantly lucid book – a classic originally published in 1982 – Jonathan Miller unravels Darwin’s life and his contribution to biology, and traces the path from his scientific predecessors to the later modifications that his own evolutionary theories required. Introducing Darwin brings alive the difficult progress from pre-Darwinian thinking to modern genetics and the devastatingly important impact of one man on our fundamental understanding of biology, life and ourselves.

Introducing Cultural Studies

Cultural Studies signals a major academic revolution for the 21st century. But what exactly is it, and how is it applied? It is a discipline that claims not to be a discipline; it is a radical critical approach for understanding racial, national, social and gender identities. “Introducing Cultural Studies” provides an incisive tour through the minefield of this complex subject, charting its origins in Britain and its migration to the USA, Canada, France, Australia and South Asia, examining the ideas of its leading exponents and providing a flavour of its use around the world. Covering the ground from Gramsci to Raymond Williams, postcolonial discourse to the politics of diaspora, feminism to queer theory, technoculture and the media to globalization, it serves as an insightful guide to the essential concepts of this fascinating area of study. It is essential reading for all those concerned with the quickening pulse of old, new and emerging cultures.

Introducing Critical Theory

What might a ‘theory of everything’ look like? Is science an ideology? Who were Adorno, Horkheimer or the Frankfurt School? The decades since the 1960s have seen an explosion in the production of critical theories. Deconstructionists, poststructuralists, postmodernists, second-wave feminists, new historicists, cultural materialists, postcolonialists, black critics and queer theorists, among a host of others, all vie for our attention. Stuart Sim and Borin Van Loon’s incisive graphic guide provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing ideas and provides an essential historical context, situating these theories within tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. They present the essential methods and objectives of each theoretical school in an incisive and accessible manner, and pay special attention to recurrent themes and concerns that have preoccupied a century of critical theoretical activity.