VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS : THE BASICS BOX PB BOX SET – OXFORD

These books are perfect to pop in your pocket now packaged to make the ideal gift! Five of the best-selling introductory books from the highly acclaimed Very Short Introductions series packaged in a stylish case to make the ideal gift or way-in to five of the most important subjects. This boxed set gives a great introduction to five key subjects: politics, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, and history. Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Edward Craig (ISBN-10: 0-19-285421-6/ISBN-13 978-0-19-285421-6) – [ The Very Short Introduction to Philosophy ] shows that philosophy really can be fascinating, broad-minded and full of surprise. As a means of stimulating interest in the subject it has few rivals. – Julian Baggini, The Philosopher s Magazine . Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers (ISBN-10: 0-19-285361-9/ISBN-13 978-0-19-285361-5) – a marvellously lucid guide to the beauty and mystery of numbers – Gilbert Adair. This book explains, carefully but not technically, the differences between advanced, research-level mathematics, and the sort of mathematics we learn at school. The most fundamental differences are philosophical, and readers of this book will emerge with a clearer understanding of paradoxical-sounding concepts such as infinity, curved space, and imaginary numbers. History: A Very Short Introduction by John Arnold (ISBN-10: 0-19-285352-X/ISBN-13 978-0-19-285352-3) – the book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past. Concepts such as causation, interpretation, and periodization, are introduced by means of concrete examples of how historians work, to give a sense of the excitement of discovering not only the past, but also ourselves. Politics: A Very Short Introduction by Kenneth Minogue (ISBN-10: 0-19-285388-0/ISBN-13: 978-0-19-285388-2) – in this provocative but balanced essay, Ke