This text and reference book on Category Theory, a branch of abstract algebra, is aimed not only at students of Mathematics, but also researchers and students of Computer Science, Logic, Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Philosophy, and any of the other fields that now make use of it. Containing clear definitions of the essential concepts, illuminated with numerous accessible examples, and providing full proofs of all important propositions and theorems, this book aims to make the basic ideas, theorems, and methods of Category Theory understandable to this broad readership.

TTC - Theories of Human Development
(24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)
Course No. 197
Taught by Malcolm W. Watson
Brandeis University
Ph.D., University of Denver
Have you ever wondered where the terms "terrible twos’’ and "identity crisis" come from?
Did you know that the notion that children are different from adults, and require special care, is only about 200 years old?
Did you know we can trace most of our modern ideas about children to just two renowned thinkers of the 17th and 18th centuries?
These are just a few of the fascinating aspects of the field of "human development": the science that studies how we learn and develop psychologically, from birth to the end of life. To a large extent, the study of human development is the study of child development, because the most significant changes take place from infancy through adolescence. This very young science not only enables us to understand children and help them develop optimally, but also gives us profound insights into who we are as adults.
In Theories of Human Development, Professor Malcolm W. Watson introduces you to the six theories that have had perhaps the greatest influence on this field. You will meet the people who formulated each theory, become familiar with their philosophical backgrounds and the historical contexts in which they worked, and study the specific processes of human development that each theory describes.
Along the way, you will evaluate the strength and weaknesses of each theory. How do these six great theories complement or contradict one another? What do they tell us, as a whole, about human development?
Six Theories of How We Become Who We Are

The Paths Of History
This is a broad and ambitious study of the entire history of humanity which takes as its point of departure Marx’s theory of social evolution. However, Professor Diakonoff’s theory of world history differs from Marx’s in a number of ways. Firstly he has expanded Marx’s five stages of development to eight. Secondly he denies that social evolution necessarily implies progress and shows how ‘each progress is simultaneously a regress’, and thirdly he demonstrates that the transition from one stage to another is not necessarily marked by social conflict and that sometimes this is achieved peacefully and gracefully. As the book moves through these various stages, the reader is drawn into a remarkable and thought-provoking study of the process of the history of the human race which focuses on the wide range of factors (economic, social, military-technological, and socio-pyschological) which have influenced our development from palaeolithic times to the present day.

• Short, concise analysis of the development of mankind from palaeolithic times to the present day • Examines all aspects of our development (e.g. social, political, economic, socio-psychological, technological, ethical) • Bold in coverage with echoes of Marx, Toynbee and other seminal world-historical authors