Sociology, 7 Rev ed.

The seventh edition of this indispensable resource continues from strength to strength to provide a vibrant, engaging and authoritative introduction to sociology.

Revised and updated throughout, it provides a commanding overview of recent global developments and new ideas in sociology. Classic debates are also given careful coverage, with even the most complex ideas explained in an engaging way.

Written in a fluent, easy-to-follow style, the book manages to be intellectually rigorous but still very accessible. With a strong focus on interactive pedagogy, it aims to engage and excite readers, helping them to see the value of thinking sociologically.

The seventh edition includes:

substantive new and improved material on the global financial crisis, recent social unrest (from student protests and austerity riots to the Arab Spring), the environment, new media technologies, feminist social theory, intersectionality and shifting global power; further revisions and updating in all the chapters; a strong focus on global sociology, and the sociological imagination; new fully developed end of chapter materials, inviting readers to engage with popular culture as well as original research articles to gather sociological insights; specially chosen, eye-catching photographs, which capture the everyday drama of the social world; all the quality pedagogical features from the previous edition, such as "Classic Studies" and "Global Society" boxes, and "Thinking Critically" reflection points.

A best-selling textbook for nearly 25 years, the seventh edition sets the standard for introductory sociology. Complete with regularly updated extensive supporting resources at www.politybooks.com/giddens, it is the ideal teaching text for first-year university and college courses, and will help to inspire a new generation of sociologists.

Introduction

What is Plasma?

Brief History of Plasma Physics

Fundamental Parameters

Plasma Frequency

Debye Shielding

Plasma Parameter

Collisions

Magnetized Plasmas

Plasma Beta

DeBroglie Wavelength

Exercises

Charged Particle Motion

Introduction

Motion in Uniform Fields

Method of Averaging

Guiding Center Motion

Magnetic Drifts

Invariance of Magnetic Moment

Poincar´e Invariants

Adiabatic Invariants

Magnetic Mirrors

Van Allen Radiation Belts

Equatorial Ring Current

Second Adiabatic Invariant

Third Adiabatic Invariant

Motion in Oscillating Fields

Exercises

Collisions

Introduction

Collision Operator

Two-Body Elastic Collisions

Boltzmann Collision Operator

Collisional Conservation Laws

Boltzmann H-Theorem

Two-Body Coulomb Collisions

Rutherford Scattering Cross-Section

Landau Collision Operator

Coulomb Logarithm

Rosenbluth Potentials

Collision Times

Exercises

Plasma Fluid Theory

Introduction

Moments of Distribution Function

Moments of Collision Operator

Moments of Kinetic Equation

Fluid Equations

Entropy Production

Fluid Closure

Chapman-Enskog Closure

Normalization of Neutral Gas Equations

Braginskii Equations

Normalization of Braginskii Equations

Cold-Plasma Equations

MHD Equations

Drift Equations

Closure in Collisionless Magnetized Plasmas

Langmuir Sheaths

Exercises

Waves in Cold Plasmas

Introduction

Plane Waves in homogeneous Plasmas

Cold-Plasma Dielectric Permittivity

Cold-Plasma Dispersion Relation

Wave Polarization

Cutoff and Resonance

Waves in Unmagnetized Plasmas

Low-Frequency Wave Propagation

Parallel Wave Propagation

Perpendicular Wave Propagation

Exercises

Wave Propagation Through Inhomogeneous Plasmas

Introduction

WKB Solutions

Cutoffs

Resonances

Resonant Layers

Collisional Damping

Pulse Propagation

Ray Tracing

Ionospheric Radio Wave Propagation

Exercises

Magnetohydrodynamic Fluids

Introduction

Magnetic Pressure

Flux Freezing

MHD Waves

Solar Wind

Parker Model of Solar Wind

Interplanetary Magnetic Field

Mass and Angular Momentum Loss

MHD Dynamo Theory

Homopolar Disk Dynamo

Slow and Fast Dynamos

Cowling Anti-Dynamo Theorem

Ponomarenko Dynamo

Magnetic Reconnection

Linear Tearing Mode Theory

Nonlinear Tearing Mode Theory

Fast Magnetic Reconnection

MHD Shocks

Parallel MHD Shocks

Perpendicular MHD Shocks

Oblique MHD Shocks

Exercises

Waves in Warm Plasmas

Introduction

Landau Damping

Physics of Landau Damping

Plasma Dispersion Function

Ion Acoustic Waves

Waves in Magnetized Plasmas

Parallel Wave Propagation

Perpendicular Wave Propagation

Electrostatic Waves

Velocity-Space Instabilities

Counter-Propagating Beam Instability

Current-Driven Ion Acoustic Instability

Harris Instability

Exercises

Bibliography

Index