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The international take-up and rapid development of environmental assessment (EA) systems has been driven by the introduction of EA legal requirements and by the advancement of methodological aspects published in the EA literature. However, despite the existence of common legal frameworks and methodological guidelines, the way in which EA is practised and conceived within a multidisciplinary context varies. There are a range of interpretations defining the way in which EA should be used and how EA fits within different disciplines; in Europe, this variation is reflected in the formative and educational programmes offered by universities in EU Member States. This paper identifies existing trends in EA education by providing an overview of the ways in which EA is taught in Europe. A comparative analysis of 64 EA-related Master programmes representing nine EU Member States is conducted. Furthermore, the paper aims to set the basis for a discussion on the different social science and physical science understandings of EA revealed by the research findings. We recommend that interlinkages between these two understandings be improved and suggest that this could occur through the introduction of formal EA education, enhanced collaboration between different types of departments, and holistic approaches to teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents challenges associated with understanding complex systems in science education. Complex systems possess hierarchical nature with various interacting levels. The aggregate nature of the complex system is unpredictable from isolated components and occurs by the interaction of multiple components. As the learning of complex systems involves several difficulties, these systems are basis of many areas of learning, having the ability to integrate across various learning disciplines. There is an integration of biology, chemistry, physical science and social science while learning aquatic systems. According to researchers, the ability of students to learn about complex systems as well as other challenging topics depends to a greater extent on the disposal of such processes to plan, sustain and reflect on the complex mechanisms underlying learning about complex systems. Complex systems can also be studied well with the help of computers. Computer-assisted learning environments can help students to learn complex systems efficiently.

A distinction between two types of concepts, N-concepts and S-concepts, is presented. It is claimed that there is a fundamental difference between these two types of concepts and that S-concepts are used only in the social sciences, not in the natural sciences; hence there is a fundamental difference between social and natural science. Also, several different kinds of S-concepts - primary and derived, intra-cranial and extra-cranial, descriptions and evaluations, etc. - are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the Academy of Science's bestowal of Nobel Prize in the area of economic science. The Academy elects a Prize Committee of five members, whose names have been proposed by its Class for the social sciences. On the basis of proposals received in the beginning of the year from all around the world, the Committee works through the spring and summer. It has chosen to do its work in the greatest seclusion. It does not seek consultation with the Class or even with other economists who are members of the Class. The proposal, when passed by the Class then goes to the full Academy for final decision. This whole procedure is hedged about by draconian rules of secrecy. The basic reason for the proposal that the Academy should seek to be relieved of the responsibility to award a Nobel Prize in economic science is the categorical difference between the hard sciences, physics and chemistry and economic science, which is a soft science. In regard to physics and chemistry there is nobody who cares whether a prize winner is radical or reactionary, as this is irrelevant in these sciences. Particularly if the theories of the prize winner have had great political importance and in spite of the similar rules prescribed to be applied in the selection of a prize winner, it becomes a political prize.

The article presents information about the areas covered in the upcoming issues of the "Journal of the American Statistical Association." In the year 2000, the journal will publish a series of short articles under four subject areas, namely, life and medical sciences, social science and business, physical sciences and engineering, and theory and methods. One subject area will be featured in the Review Section of each of the four issues in 2000. Each of these vignette collections will highlight some of the most important statistical advances in the given area, as well as outline potentially fruitful topics of research.