This book presents an introduction to the wide range of techniques and applications for dynamic mathematical modeling that are useful in studying systemic change over time. The author expertly explains how the key to studying change is to determine a relationship between occurring events and events that transpire in the near future. Mathematical modeling of such cause-and-effect relationships can often lead to accurate predictions of events that occur farther in the future. Sandefur's approach uses many examples from algebra--such as factoring, exponentials and logarithms--and includes many...