Great Books

Adapted from Henslin’s best-selling comprehensive text, Core Concepts provides in-depth coverage of ten high-priority topics that are the foundation of many introductory sociology courses.   This unique paperback offers a concise and economical format without sacrificing depth of coverage. Unlike a “brief” or “essentials” text, the ten chapters that make up Core Concepts are not edited down from a longer book. Instead, they provide full coverage of those topics that instructors emphasize the most in a one-semester or one-term introductory sociology course. Like Henslin’s other texts, it features the author's familiar “down-to-earth” approach and personal writing style that highlight the sociology of everyday life. With wit, personal reflection, and illuminating examples, Henslin shares with readers a passion for sociology unmatched by any other introductory text.

A Down-to-Earth Approach   Henslin's popular brief paperback text shares the excitement of sociology, with its acclaimed “down-to-earth” approach and personal writing style that highlight the sociology of everyday life and its relevance to students' lives. James Henslin has a unique ability to engage students without talking down to them or sacrificing content. With wit, personal reflection, and illuminating examples, he shares with readers his passion for sociology.   Students are guided on their sociological journey with: Down-to-Earth Approach Comparative Perspectives Globalization of Capitalism Visual Presentations of Sociology

Henslin's best-selling brief paperback text shares the excitement of sociology–its acclaimed “down-to-earth” approach and personal writing style highlight the sociology of everyday life and its relevance to students' lives. This text is a brief version of the highly regarded hardcover introductory text, Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 7/e. The essential 15 chapters cover all of the topics in the 22-chapter text, and retain the dual emphases on micro and macro (individual and structural) sociology. James Henslin has a unique ability to engage students without talking down to them or sacrificing content. With wit, personal reflection, and illuminating examples, he shares with readers a passion for sociology unmatched by any other introductory text.

This brief and economical reader, edited by Jim Henslin, is specifically designed to be used as a companion to Sociology, A Down-to-Earth Approach: Core Concepts. There are two readings per text chapter, to support the kind of in-depth study of high-priority topics that Core Concepts is designed for.    New to this Edition Diary of a Homeless Man by John R. Coleman Learning Silence: Boys and Girls in School  by Peggy OrensteinInside Organized Racism by Kathleen M. Blee The American Family by Stephanie Coontz  

Suitable for introductory environmental and physical geology courses, Environmental Geology is the only available geology textbook conceived and written from an Earth system science perspective--an approach that helps students comprehend and appreciate the Earth's varied environments and the whole-Earth systems that connect them.  Arranged in four parts, the book moves from general concepts to individual solid and fluid Earth systems to global environmental change.

This theoretically balanced text provides the latest research findings and a consistent structure to help students analyze major social problems facing the United States.  The authors present both sides of an argument with a neutral voice and use a "down-to-earth" writing style.   When students complete this text, not only do they gain a sociological understanding of social problems, but also they are able to explore–and evaluate–their own opinions about specific social problems. They will gain a greater awareness of the social forces that shape their orientations to social problems and their perspectives on social life. The ideas in this book, then, can penetrate students’ thinking and give shape to their views of the world.

This comprehensive textbook offers an integrated approach to geoarchaeology - the direct use of geologic concepts, methods and knowledge to solve archaeological problems and interpret archaeological records. George (Rip) Rapp, Jr. and Christopher Hill frame geologic concepts within an archaeological context, offering specific examples that demonstrate how geologic methods can be used to interpret the human past. A wide-ranging introduction sets the historical and theoretical stage. Subsequent chapters cover sediments and soils; contexts of archaeological record formation; paleoenvironmental reconstructions; geologic raw materials and resources; provenance studies; geologic surveying, mapping and remote sensing; and geologic aspects of construction, destruction, site preservation and conservation. Rapp and Hill apply earth-science approaches in archaeological settings ranging from single occupation to multicomponent habitation. They describe solutions to such problems as artifact identification and description, the integrity of artifact sets, chronological context, paleo-landscape habitat, and human-environment interactions. Their book, complete with glossary, should appeal to undergraduates, graduate students and professionals in archaeology and anthropology, including those with limited earth-science experience.