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Books in Social sciences

The Social Sciences collection forms a definitive resource for those entering, researching, or teaching in any of the many disciplines making up this interdisciplinary area of study. Written by experts and researchers from both Academic and Commercial domains, titles offer global scope and perspectives.

Key subject areas include: Library and Information Science; Transportation; Urban Studies; Geography, Planning, and Development; Security; Emergency Management.

  • Community Trees and Forests

    Improving Environmental and Human Well-Being
    • 1st Edition
    • May 1, 2026
    • David J. Nowak
    • English
    Improving Environmental and Human Health with Community Trees and Forests provides the latest and most comprehensive information on community forests globally, how these trees improve human health and well-being, the value of community trees, and what local land managers, from the lot to regional scale, could do to improve the benefits provided by community trees. It offers a complete understanding of the benefits and costs associated with trees in cities and how these benefits occur. This book facilitates the creation of sustainable community forests that provide optimal benefits to individuals and society.It takes a systems approach, focusing on the forest population rather than the individual tree, and providing information on the best tree species and designs to produce optimal effects. The book is divided into three major sections: The Basics, Urban Forest Benefits, and Improving the Urban Environment with Trees. It covers how cities affect our local environment, the monetary value of trees, and specific steps that land managers should follow to manage and improve their local tree and forest population. This comprehensive resource is valuable for city forest and park managers, policy makers, regional managers, and non-profit groups.
  • Securing Electric Mobility

    • 1st Edition
    • May 1, 2026
    • Aparna Kumari
    • English
    Electric vehicles (EVs) continue to capture a growing share of the smart car market across the globe. Like most new technologies, e-mobility comes with a learning curve. Securing Electric Mobility provides readers with in-demand knowledge relating to the dynamically evolving intersection between information & communication technology and vehicle engineering.The edited volume offers in-depth understanding of the distinct features of EV cybersecurity. It opens with a description of the fundamental elements of EVs, their interconnectedness, their cyber-physical characteristics and resulting vulnerabilities. It then dissects the digital threat landscape to increase awareness of all possible risks posed by cyberattacks on electric vehicles, and from there it systematically covers data management, regulatory frameworks, existing solutions and emerging cybersecurity protocols and methodologies that are enhanced by blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things integration, machine learning, and real-time monitoring systems. The value of this thorough overview is strengthened further through the inclusion of real-word case studies, which prove the effectiveness of the adopted approaches to safeguard vehicle control systems, owners’ personal data, and the broader cyber-physical network and related equipment.This book proves to be an indispensable, state-of-the-art resource for academia and industry alike as it encourages further transformative, interdisciplinary investigations into the security-assurance complexities that guide EVs’ resilience evolution.
  • Technology in Supply Chain Management and Logistics

    Current Practice and Future Applications
    • 2nd Edition
    • April 1, 2026
    • Anthony M. Pagano + 1 more
    • English
    Technology in Supply Chain Management and Logistics: Current Practice and Future Applications, Second Edition analyzes the implications of these technologies in a variety of supply chain settings, including block chain, Internet of Things (IoT), inventory optimization, and medical supply chain. This book outlines how technologies are being utilized for product planning, materials management and inventory, transportation and distribution, workflow, maintenance, the environment, and in health and safety. Readers will gain a better understanding of the implications of these technologies with respect to value creation, operational effectiveness, investment level, technical migration and general industry acceptance.The book identifies emerging supply chain technologies, and trends in technology acceptance and utilization levels across various industry sectors. It includes contributions from experts in their fields to illustrate how technology can be applied in a variety of areas including manufacturing, equipment distribution, retail, aerospace repair and maintenance, and medical supply chain. Also included are chapters on cutting edge exponential technologies, principals for implementing technological change in supply chain management, and future estimates of technology in supply chain. This second edition updates this constantly changing area.
  • Rethinking Rural

    Data-Driven Approaches for Sustainable Development
    • 1st Edition
    • April 1, 2026
    • Luca Salvati
    • English
    Rethinking Rural: Data-Driven Approaches for Sustainable Development offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary exploration of sustainable rural development through a quantitative lens. Drawing on official statistics, spatial analysis, and refined indicators, this edited volume brings together leading scholars from ecology, economics, and planning to rethink the environmental-econom... nexus shaping rural territories. With a focus on Europe and the Mediterranean, but applicable globally, the book emphasizes continuous, spatially explicit monitoring of socioecological and socioeconomic complexities to inform effective, place-specific policies that enhance sustainability and resilience.Structure... in three parts, the book first presents integrated perspectives on rural system evolution, including climate change impacts, land use, and socioeconomic drivers across diverse contexts such as Mediterranean landscapes and Colombia’s deforestation. The second part details traditional and advanced tools for monitoring rural environments, from territorial indicators to wildfire and habitat assessment. The final section addresses planning and policy challenges, evaluating natural disaster management, resilience strategies, environmental degradation costs, and socio-demographic influences on tourism insurance.
  • Autonomous Driving and Mixed Traffic Dynamics

    Modeling, Simulation, and Control
    • 1st Edition
    • April 1, 2026
    • Michail Makridis + 1 more
    • English
    Autonomous Driving and Mixed Traffic Dynamics: Modeling, Simulation, and Control provides an introduction to autonomous vehicles (AV) in road transport systems, along with discussions on the critical similarities and differences with human drivers. Focusing on key concepts in traffic dynamics and AI-based modeling, the book also offers a comprehensive discussion of the unique dynamics introduced by AVs and their impacts on congestion, safety, energy, and their role in sustainable future intelligent transportation systems. Sections delve into traditional driving behaviors, examining the basics of car-following, driver characteristics, lateral movement, and how well AI models generalize these behaviors.Further sections covers shifts to autonomous driving systems, analyzing their operational principles and providing comparative evidence with human drivers. Assessments on the performance of traditional car-following models against artificial intelligence developments that highlight strengths and weaknesses for each approach are also included. Final sections integrate human drivers and AVs into broader traffic flow theories, presenting findings on how autonomous driving impacts traffic patterns, look at the role of AI and modeling, explore the pros and cons of various methods and data sources, and discuss real-world traffic management applications, combining AI and traditional models for traffic estimation, control, and ensuring fair, disruption-resilient outcomes.
  • Hospital and Healthcare Security

    • 7th Edition
    • March 2, 2026
    • Tony W. York
    • English
    Hospital and Healthcare Security, Seventh Edition reflects the current state of healthcare security, particularly in data security and privacy, patient-generated violence, new technologies, and regulatory changes. The book explains the basics and higher expertise concerns, such as the roles of design, emergency management, and policy. Conveying a wide spectrum of topics in an easy-to-comprehend format, it provides a thorough understanding of how the modern healthcare security program should be structured, resourced, and integrated around the principles of people, processes, and technology. This industry-leading resource includes best practices, security master planning, and how to layer in protection philosophies in policies and procedures. Due to rapid changes in violence in healthcare, regulatory requirements, litigation, accreditation standards, advancements in technology, and new healthcare security issues and topics, the new edition contains approximately 25-30% new and updated data and corresponding examples. It is deemed by healthcare executives, accrediting agencies, and industry associations to set the standard of care for healthcare security systems and programs.
  • Smart Cities of AI Robots and Autonomous Vehicles

    The Vision for 2030
    • 1st Edition
    • March 2, 2026
    • Paras Chawla + 2 more
    • English
    Smart Cities of AI Robots and Autonomous Vehicles: The Vision for 2030 explores the transformative potential and challenges of integrating AI-powered robots and autonomous vehicles in urban landscapes, envisioning a futuristic smart city landscape by 2030. It examines how artificial intelligence (AI) robots and self-driving cars will transform daily life, healthcare, education, industry, agriculture, and transportation.
  • Mobility Patterns, Big Data and Transport Analytics

    Tools and Applications for Modeling
    • 2nd Edition
    • February 27, 2026
    • Constantinos Antoniou + 2 more
    • English
    Mobility Patterns, Big Data and Transport Analytics: Tools and Applications for Modeling, Second Edition provides a guide to the new analytical framework and its relation to big data, focusing on capturing, predicting, visualizing, and controlling mobility patterns—a key aspect of transportation modeling. The book features prominent international experts who provide overviews on new analytical frameworks, applications, and concepts in mobility analysis and transportation systems. Fields covered are evolving rapidly, and this new edition updates existing material and provides new chapters that reflect recent developments in the field (such as the emergence of active, transfer and reinforcement learning).Users will find a detailed, mobility ‘structural’ analysis and a look at the extensive behavioral characteristics of transport, observability requirements, limitations for realistic transportation applications, and transportation systems analysis that are related to complex processes and phenomena. This book bridges the gap between big data, data science, and transportation systems analysis with a study of big data’s impact on mobility and an introduction to the tools necessary to apply new techniques.
  • New Transportation Modes and ‘Old’ Transportation Modes that are in the Process of Renewing Themselves

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 17
    • February 26, 2026
    • English
    New Transportation Modes and ‘Old’ Transportation Modes that are in the Process of Renewing Themselves, Volume 17 highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters written by an international board of authors. Topics in this new release include The environmental impact of high-speed rail, Past, Present and Future States of Research on Autonomous Electric Vehicles, Urban Air mobility, Micromobility, Mobility as a Service, Aviation, Sustainable city logistics, Autonomous vehicles, Light Rail, Bus Rapid Transit, and more.
  • Spatial Analysis for Complex Territorial Systems

    Geo-information Technologies and European Official Statistics
    • 1st Edition
    • February 16, 2026
    • Luca Salvati
    • English
    Spatial Analysis for Complex Territorial Systems: Geo-information Technologies and European Official Statistics offers a multidisciplinary exploration of spatial analysis, geo-information technologies, and official statistics, focusing on their applications in environmental, economic, and planning challenges in Europe and the Mediterranean. Comprising 16 insightful chapters authored by leading scholars from Southern and Eastern Europe, Ireland, and the United States, the book delves into the complexities of socio-ecological monitoring through data integration and refined statistical indicators. Key topics include climate monitoring, land degradation, settlement patterns, and disaster resilience, providing a comprehensive understanding of local contexts and policy implications.The book begins with contributions from a traditional ecological, agronomic, and environmental vision, then continues with a set of studies with stricter socio-demographic and economic focus. It then discusses how other quantitative approaches (e.g., based on big data and primary surveys) may clarify the role of policies and planning, addressing sustainable development goals in the ‘kaleidoscopic’ European landscapes. Conclusions confirm the urgent need of integrating the vast potential of geo-information techniques, together with spatial analysis and official statistics, into more flexible sustainable development strategies that reflect local conditions and spatially explicit background contexts.