front cover of Analytical Methods in Economics
Analytical Methods in Economics
Akira Takayama
University of Michigan Press, 1993

In Analytical Methods in Economics Akira Takayama presents an exposition of the essential mathematical tools of economics and illustrates their applications to selected economic problems. Drawing on his own teaching experiences and research to provide concrete macro- and microeconomic illustrations of the concepts featured, Takayama clarifies the unifying analytical structure of economic theory and elucidates the mathematical tools that underlie it.

Following a thorough review of preliminary mathematical tools, Takayama discusses the nonlinear programming, uncertainty, differential equations, and optimal control theory. Emphasizing "why" rather than "how-to" questions, the author focuses on explanation, considerations of motivation, and economic application.

Analytical Methods is designed to enable economists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in economics to achieve a high level of comfort in the use of analytical techniques.

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front cover of Current Paleoethnobotany
Current Paleoethnobotany
Analytical Methods and Cultural Interpretations of Archaeological Plant Remains
Edited by Christine A. Hastorf and Virginia S. Popper
University of Chicago Press, 1989
Paleoethnobotany offers powerful tools for reconstructing past cultures by examining the interaction of human populations with the plant world. Plant remains from archaeological sites can provide information for a number of disciplines: archaeologists may use such remains to examine how plants were used, how agriculture changed over time, or how plant offerings in burials signaled social status; ecologists and botanists may use them to study morphological changes in plants due to domestication.

Combining case studies and theoretical discussions, Current Paleoethnobotany presents the first full discussion of the major stages and problems of paleoethnobotanical research, from designing and testing equipment, such as flotation machines, to quantification and interpretation. The volume explores a wide range of issues concerning collection techniques, analytical procedures, and interpretive models that will provide accurate information about past human societies from plant remains. The contributors offer data on specific regions as well as more general background information on the basic techniques of paleoethnobotany for the nonspecialist. Throughout, they explicitly examine the assumptions underlying paleoethnobotanical methods and the ways in which those assumptions affect anthropological and ecological research questions.

Based on a symposium presented at the 1985 meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Current Paleoethnobotany moves beyond a technique-oriented view of paleoethnobotany to successfully integrate current thinking about both procedures and research goals. The contributors demonstrate the potential value of the field of paleoethnobotany and open the way for further discussion and improvement.
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