Impact of science and technology on society Books

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Book SynopsisInvestigating the concepts and material realities of energy coursing through the arts: a foundational text.This book investigates energies—in the plural, the energies embedded and embodied in everything under the sun— as they are expressed in the arts. With contributions from scholars and critics from the visual arts, art history, anthropology, music, literature, and the history of science, it offers the first multidisciplinary investigation of the concepts and material realities of energy coursing through the arts. Just as Douglas Kahn's earlier books helped introduce sound as a category for study in the arts, this new volume will be a foundational volume for future explorers in a largely uncharted domain. The modern concept of energy is only two hundred years old—an abstraction grounded in extraction—but this book takes a more expansive view. It opens with a clap: the sonic energies in a ceremony of the indigenous Goolarabooloo people of Austr

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Book SynopsisA Google researcher offers accessible tips, tricks, and interesting stories on maximizing the power of search engines like Google and Wikipedia—proving you don’t have to be a computer whiz to master the art of online searching.We all know how to look up something online by typing words into a search engine. We do this so often that we have made the most famous search engine a verb: we Google it—“Japan population” or “Nobel Peace Prize” or “poison ivy” or whatever we want to know. But knowing how to Google something doesn't make us search experts; there’s much more we can do to access the massive collective knowledge available online.In The Joy of Search, Daniel Russell shows us how to be great online researchers. We don’t have to be computer geeks or a scholar searching out obscure facts; we just need to know some basic methods. Russell demonstrates these methods with step-by-step searches f

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Book SynopsisExperts offer strategies for managing people in technocentric times.In these technocentric times, it is more important than ever to manage people well. Companies—employees and managers—may feel overwhelmed by the never-ending disruptions caused by new technologies. This volume in the Digital Future of Management series shows why we should step back, take stock, and seize just a bit more control over how our world is evolving. In Why Humans Matter More Than Ever, management experts from both industry and academia offer strategies for managing people in our brave new digital world.The contributors explain how new technologies, even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence agents, depend on human collaboration. Companies need to develop rules, principles, and clear ethical guidelines that structure smart object-human interactions. Moreover, in a world filled with technology distractions, we must learn to how to manage our most valuable personal re

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Book SynopsisA clear-eyed look at how AI can complement (rather than eliminate) human jobs, with real-world examples from companies that range from Netflix to Walmart.Descriptions of AI's possible effects on businesses and their employees cycle between utopian hype and alarmist doomsaying. This book from MIT Sloan Management Review avoids both these extremes, providing instead a clear-eyed look at how AI can complement (rather than eliminate) human jobs, with real-world examples from companies that range from Netflix to Walmart. The contributors show that organizations can create business value with AI by cooperating with it rather than relinquishing control to it. The smartest companies know that they don't need AI that mimics humans because they already have access to resources with human capability—actual humans.The book acknowledges the prominent role of such leading technology companies as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google in applying AI to their busine

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Book SynopsisHow digital technology—from Facebook tributes to QR codes on headstones—is changing our relationship to death.Facebook is the biggest cemetery in the world, with countless acres of cyberspace occupied by snapshots, videos, thoughts, and memories of people who have shared their last status updates. Modern society usually hides death from sight, as if it were a character flaw and not an ineluctable fact. But on Facebook and elsewhere on the internet, we can't avoid death; digital ghosts—electronic traces of the dead—appear at our click or touch. On the Internet at least, death has once again become a topic for public discourse. In Online Afterlives, Davide Sisto considers how digital technology is changing our relationship to death.Sisto describes the various modes of digital survival after biological death—including Facebook tributes, chatbots programmed to speak in the voice of a dead person, and QR codes on headstones—and dis

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Book Synopsis* How is science represented by the media?* Who defines what counts as a risk, threat or hazard, and why?* In what ways do media images of science shape public perceptions?* What can cultural and media studies tell us about current scientific controversies?Media, Risk and Science is an exciting exploration into an array of important issues, providing a much needed framework for understanding key debates on how the media represent science and risk. In a highly effective way, Stuart Allan weaves together insights from multiple strands of research across diverse disciplines. Among the themes he examines are: the role of science in science fiction, such as Star Trek; the problem of 'pseudo-science' in The X-Files; and how science is displayed in science museums. Science journalism receives particular attention, with the processes by which science is made 'newsworthy' unravelled for careful scrutiny. The book also includes individual chapters devoted to how the media porTable of ContentsSeries editor's forewordIntroductionmedia, risk and scienceScience fictionsScience in popular cultureScience journalismMedia, risk and the environmentBodies at risknews coverage of AIDSFood scaresmad cows and GM foodsFigures of the humanrobots, androids, cyborgs and clonesGlossaryReferencesIndex.

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Book Synopsis* This is a remarkable study of the impact on online technologies on professional workers. * Gregg introduces the notion of work's intimacy to describe the way technology exacerbates the expectations of professional jobs as they come to invade spaces and times that were once less susceptible to work's presence.Trade Review"Is your working life afflicted by an increasing taskload, the 'coercive dimensions' of teamwork, longer hours, job insecurity and the intrusion of labour into personal life? Then Gregg's brilliant book, based on athropological research in Brisbane but of global significance, will show you that you are not alone. Writing of organisations that continue to demand unidirectional 'loyalty' from their workers, and of a woman whose office contacted her on every single day of her maternity leave, Gregg conveys a coolly controlled anger while coining powerful descriptions such as 'function creep' and 'binge work'. Her interviewees, baffled but trying, elicit our empathy, even those who have internalised the brutalist jargon of the modern office. If I ever use 'progress' or 'action' as a transitive verb, please shoot me." Steven Poole, The Guardian "Author Melissa Gregg has put flesh on the bones of what many suspected. Under the pretence of giving us the freedom to work at our own pace and wherever we choose, mobile phones, laptops and 'tablet' computers have shackled us to our bosses' will in a way that nothing has done since the treadmill." Irish Times "An engaging read that will chime with the experiences of academics and many other professional workers." Times Higher Education "A timely and important book, which raises essential questions about work, lifestyle, emotions and intimacy in the era of online technologies … All interested in this book will not only find important scholarly discussion, but will also be made to rethink their own labour practices, priorities, and 'lives and loves'. This mobilisation of achievement and accomplishment for rethinking our own world, in which discourses of achievement and accomplishment monopolised all spheres of life, and in which the imperative to love one's wok implies a troubling freedom is the effect of this book, which is at least equally important as the scholarly discussions it will trigger." Anthropological Notebooks "An important book that will transform the way we think about both work and intimacy. Rich, moving, and scholarly, Work's Intimacy looks set to become a new classic in the fields of cultural studies, gender studies and the sociology of labour." Rosalind Gill, King's College London "Gregg's remarkable analysis of the dispersed workplace could not be more relevant. It is a precious gift to scholars of modern work, and it will also be invaluable to anyone struggling to meet too many deadlines and balance too many obligations in pursuit of a livelihood today." Andrew Ross, author of Nice Work If You Can Get It "Based on a rich body of empirical research, Work's Intimacy provides us with a troubling, insightful and timely analysis of the partnership between online technologies and the changing mythologies of work - and its impact on our everyday lives. Melissa Gregg has written an important book, carefully unpicking so much of what we have come to take for granted in our experience of the ever-expanding boundaries of the working life." Graeme Turner, The University of QueenslandTable of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionWork's intimacy: Performing professionalism online and on the job PART ONETHE CONNECTIVITY IMPERATIVE: BUSINESS RESPONSES TO NEW MEDIA1. Selling the flexible workplace: The creative economy and new media fetishism2. Working from home: The mobile office and the seduction of convenience3. Part-time precarity: Discount labour and contract careers PART TWOGETTING INTIMATE: ONLINE CULTURE AND THE RISE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING4. To CC: or not to CC: Teamwork in office culture5. Facebook friends: Security blankets and career mobility6. Know your product: Online branding and the evacuation of friendship PART THREELOOKING FOR LOVE IN THE NETWORKED HOUSEHOLD7. Home offices and remote parents: Family dynamics in online households8. Long hours, high bandwidth: Domesticity at a distance9. On call ConclusionLabour politics in an online workplace: The lovers vs. the loveless

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Book Synopsis“Beautiful, elegantly expressed” meditations on the ‘inner climate change’ we experience as we shift between our offline and online lives—for fans of Oliver Sacks and David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water (New York Review of Books). What shapes our sense of place, our sense of time, and our memory? How is technology changing the way we make sense of the world and of ourselves? Our screens offer us connection, especially now in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are certain depths of connection our screens can’t offer—to ourselves, to the natural world, and to each other. In this personal exploration of digital life’s impact on how we see the world, Howard Axelrod marshals science, philosophy, art criticism, pop culture, and his own experience of returning from two years of living in solitude in northern Vermont.The Stars in Our Pockets is a timely reminder

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Book SynopsisPolitical revolutions, economic meltdowns, mass ideological conversions and collective innovation adoptions occur often, but when they do happen, they tend to be the least expected. Based on the paradigm of ''leading from the periphery'', this groundbreaking analysis offers an explanation for such spontaneity and apparent lack of leadership in contentious collective action. Contrary to existing theories, the author argues that network effects in collective action originating from marginal leaders can benefit from a total lack of communication. Such network effects persist in isolated islands of contention instead of overarching action cascades, and are shown to escalate in globally dispersed, but locally concentrated networks of contention. This is a trait that can empower marginal leaders and set forth social dynamics distinct from those originating in the limelight. Leading from the Periphery and Network Collective Action provides evidence from two Middle Eastern uprisings, as well aTrade Review'This important book adds to theories of collective action by describing conditions under which protests and rebellions actually spread following the disruption of centralized leadership and communication. The contagious spread of peripheral networks results in distributed collective action that becomes ever more difficult to contain. This subtle argument is illustrated with data from contemporary uprisings in Egypt and Syria, along with fascinating experiments on risk-taking in disrupted information environments.' Lance Bennett, Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle'… the book is an important, novel, and valuable contribution to the study of social movements, and constitutes a blueprint for how one can conduct research on relevant historical processes interweaving useful insights from extensive data collection, formal modeling, and experiments.' Delia Baldassarri, American Journal of SociologyTable of Contents1. Mobilization from the margins; 2. Decentralization of revolutionary unrest: dispersion hypothesis; 3. Vanguards at the periphery, a network formulation; 4. Civil war and contagion in small worlds; 5. Peripheral influence, experimentations in collective risk taking; 6. Decentralization and power, novel modes of social organization; Appendix.

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Book SynopsisTerrorism, cyberbullying, child pornography, hate speech, cybercrime: along with unprecedented advancements in productivity and engagement, the Internet has ushered in a space for violent, hateful, and antisocial behavior. How do we, as individuals and as a society, protect against dangerous expressions online? Confronting the Internet''s Dark Side is the first book on social responsibility on the Internet. It aims to strike a balance between the free speech principle and the responsibilities of the individual, corporation, state, and the international community. This book brings a global perspective to the analysis of some of the most troubling uses of the Internet. It urges net users, ISPs, and liberal democracies to weigh freedom and security, finding the golden mean between unlimited license and moral responsibility. This judgment is necessary to uphold the very liberal democratic values that gave rise to the Internet and that are threatened by an unbridled use of technology.Trade Review'The dramatic growth of internet technologies are creating a new era in democratic life, a crisis for the established media, and possibilities for participatory politics that challenge liberal institutions. This book documents today's turning point with urgency and profound clarity. Ithiel de Sola Poole's Technologies of Freedom (1983) has become a classic work defining the information society, with media technology its axis. Confronting the Internet's Dark Side is of that quality, a potential classic that defines for us moral responsibility in the new media age.' Clifford Christians, Research Professor of Communications, University of Illinois'Cohen-Almagor recognizes that if social responsibility on the Internet is to be implemented, discussions will need to focus on how and why one can draw limits to what one does on the internet as well as what ISP's and countries can do with the internet. Not everyone will agree with the solutions proposed, but in light of the detailed stories concerning hate sites (towards groups or humanity in general), webcam viewing of actual suicides, the exponential growth of child pornography etc., it is hard to fall back on knee jerk First Amendment responses.' Robert Cavalier, Carnegie Mellon University'In this book, Raphael Cohen-Almagor makes a forceful case for greater social responsibility on the part of Internet service providers and all who surf the Web. Calling on us to think and act like citizens of the online world, he insists that we have a moral obligation to confront those who abuse the technology by using it to disseminate hate propaganda and child pornography, or by engaging in cyber-bullying, or by aiding and abetting terrorism. Fast paced, philosophically sophisticated, and filled with illustrative and sometimes heart-wrenching examples, the book is intended to serve as a wake-up call and will challenge its readers to reconsider their views of free expression in the Internet age.' Stephen L. Newman, York University'[A] groundbreaking book … a must-read for researchers and policy planners as well as laymen interested in social responsibility on the Internet.' Jadgish N. Singh, Jerusalem PostTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Historical framework; 2. Technological framework; 3. Theoretical framework; 4. Agent's responsibility; 5. Readers' responsibility; 6. Responsibility of Internet service providers and web-hosting services, part I: rationale and principles; 7. Responsibility of internet service providers and web-hosting services, part II: applications; 8. State responsibility; 9. International responsibility; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisTechnology and Society: A World History explores the creative power of humanity from the age of stone tools to the digital revolution. It introduces technology as a series of systems that allowed us to solve real-world problems and create a global civilization. The history of technology is also the history of the intellectual and cultural place of our tools and devices. With a broad view of technology, we can see that some of the most powerful technologies such as education and government produce no physical object but have allowed us to coordinate our inventive skills and pass knowledge through the ages. Yet although all human communities depend on technology, there are unexpected consequences from the use of technology which, as Ede shows, form a crucial part of this rich story.Trade Review'Sweeping, scholarly and clear, Andrew Ede's Technology and Society: A World History is the book that many historians of technology have been waiting for: a lively, well-researched text for those who aim to teach a more global story of the built world, and one reaching back to the origins of humanity.' Matthew H. Hersch, Harvard UniversityTable of Contents1. Introduction: thinking about technology; 2. Technology and our ancient ancestors; 3. Origins of civilizations; 4. The Eastern age; 5. The Mediterranean world to the Islamic Renaissance; 6. The European agrarian revolution and the proto-industrial revolution; 7. The Industrial Revolution and the rise of European power; 8. The Atlantic era I; 9. Domestic technology: bringing new technology to the people; 10. The second Industrial Revolution and globalization; 11. The digital age; 12. Conclusion: technological challenges; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisAlgorithms are probably the most sophisticated tools that people have had at their disposal since the beginnings of human history. They have transformed science, industry, society. They upset the concepts of work, property, government, private life, even humanity. Going easily from one extreme to the other, we rejoice that they make life easier for us, but fear that they will enslave us. To get beyond this vision of good vs evil, this book takes a new look at our time, the age of algorithms. Creations of the human spirit, algorithms are what we made them. And they will be what we want them to be: it''s up to us to choose the world we want to live in.Trade Review'... written by two computer scientists offering a most accessible view on both what algorithms are (the book starts with a clearest analogy between algorithms and recipes) and how algorithms are severely changing human life.' Simona Chiodo, Metascience'This short and interesting book provides a non-technical introduction to the age of algorithms. The book is worth reading many times even by those unfamiliar with algorithms or computer science.' S.V. Nagaraj, The SIGACT NewsTable of Contents1. Algorithms intrigue, algorithms disturb; 2. What is an algorithm?; 3. Algorithms, computers, and programs; 4. What algorithms do; 5. What algorithms don't do; 6. Computational thinking; 7. The end of employment; 8. The end of work; 9. The end of property; 10. Governing in the age of algorithms; 11. An algorithm in the community; 12. The responsibility of algorithms; 13. Personal data and privacy; 14. Fairness, transparency, and diversity; 15. Computers and ecology; 16. Computer science education; 17. The augmented human; 18. Can an algorithm be intelligent?; 19. Can an algorithm have feelings? 20. Time to choose.

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Book SynopsisPolitical revolutions, economic meltdowns, mass ideological conversions and collective innovation adoptions occur often, but when they do happen, they tend to be the least expected. Based on the paradigm of ''leading from the periphery'', this groundbreaking analysis offers an explanation for such spontaneity and apparent lack of leadership in contentious collective action. Contrary to existing theories, the author argues that network effects in collective action originating from marginal leaders can benefit from a total lack of communication. Such network effects persist in isolated islands of contention instead of overarching action cascades, and are shown to escalate in globally dispersed, but locally concentrated networks of contention. This is a trait that can empower marginal leaders and set forth social dynamics distinct from those originating in the limelight. Leading from the Periphery and Network Collective Action provides evidence from two Middle Eastern uprisings, as well aTrade Review'This important book adds to theories of collective action by describing conditions under which protests and rebellions actually spread following the disruption of centralized leadership and communication. The contagious spread of peripheral networks results in distributed collective action that becomes ever more difficult to contain. This subtle argument is illustrated with data from contemporary uprisings in Egypt and Syria, along with fascinating experiments on risk-taking in disrupted information environments.' Lance Bennett, Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle'… the book is an important, novel, and valuable contribution to the study of social movements, and constitutes a blueprint for how one can conduct research on relevant historical processes interweaving useful insights from extensive data collection, formal modeling, and experiments.' Delia Baldassarri, American Journal of SociologyTable of Contents1. Mobilization from the margins; 2. Decentralization of revolutionary unrest: dispersion hypothesis; 3. Vanguards at the periphery, a network formulation; 4. Civil war and contagion in small worlds; 5. Peripheral influence, experimentations in collective risk taking; 6. Decentralization and power, novel modes of social organization; Appendix.

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Book SynopsisNatural selection, as introduced by Charles Darwin in the Origin of Species (1859), has always been a topic of great conceptual and empirical interest. This book puts Darwin''s theory of evolution in historical context showing that, in important respects, his central mechanism of natural selection gives the clue to understanding the nature of organisms. Natural selection has important implications, not just for the understanding of life''s history single-celled organism to man but also for our understanding of contemporary social norms, as well as the nature of religious belief. The book is written in clear, non-technical language, appealing not just to philosophers, historians, and biologists, but also to general readers who find thinking about important issues both challenging and exciting.Trade Review'Michael Ruse has written many books on evolutionary theory, but this may well be his best: succinct, clear, and comprehensive. Your interpretation of Darwin's accomplishment may differ from Ruse's - mine does - but he offers the classic view of Darwin as having introduced mechanism into biology. His treatment of natural selection runs from an intense examination of Darwin's development of the concept to its role in population genetics and morality. It's a gem of a book.' Robert J. Richards, Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science, University of Chicago, USA'Michael Ruse at his best! This consummate scholar, educator, and communicator on all things evolutionary has gifted us with a masterwork on Darwin's crowning achievement - the theory of natural selection. We now have the definitive 'sourcebook' on this important topic.' Michael L. Peterson, Professor of Philosophy, Asbury Theological Seminary, USA'For decades, Michael Ruse has been a leader in thinking about natural selection. This book is a quick, thorough survey of the subject. Plus, it offers some important recent twists. A masterful writer, Ruse quickly covers the basics before guiding readers outside traditional boxes so they might consider new possibilities. Understanding Natural Selection is certain to encourage debate and investigation. It also will inspire further interdisciplinary synthesis.' Joe Cain, Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology, University College London, UK'In this brief book written for the general reader, Michael Ruse skillfully weaves together the history and philosophy of science to explore natural selection, the concept at the heart of Darwin's celebrated theory of evolution. The writing is brisk, engaging, thoughtful and at times fun, typical of the kind of work we have come to expect from someone who has a devoted a lifetime of study to understanding Darwin and his theory.' Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis, Professor of the History of Science, University of Florida, USA'Natural selection is one of the most important and contested ideas in modern science, helping us understand much of the functional design and order we observe in living nature. In his inimitable way, Michael Ruse gives the definitive account of natural selection, from its Darwinian origins and metaphorical foundation to the many historical, philosophical and scientific controversies that have swirled about it in the last century and a half. If you want to understand natural selection, you can do no better than a careful reading of this compact, highly informative and lively book. It is truly a tour de force.' Richard A. Richards, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama, USATable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The origin of species; 2. Organism and mechanism: rival root metaphors; 3. 'The non-Darwinian revolution?'; 4. The synthesis; 5. Is natural selection a vera causa?; 6.The positive case; 7.Time for a change?; 8. Natural selection and its discontents; Envoi; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the challenges of academic teaching in an era of technological advances. The challenges of pedagogy and technology are an important topic in the debates of academic scholars on the instructor''s role in an era of technological progress. Have lecturers become obsolete? Will the classroom become a studio setting in which lectures will be broadcast? What is the role of collaboration in creating a multi-campus virtual university where the best lecturers teach and share their knowledge? What are the implications of the new options created through the mediation of lecturers'' teaching materials? What are the implications for teaching practice and the learning experience, and what are the social, ethical, moral, and financial implications and the implications for infrastructure and policy-making? The contributing authors, researchers and educators from diverse disciplines and research institutions offer a fresh perspective on the changing face of teaching in higher education and its responses to contemporary challenges.

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Book SynopsisThere can be no doubt that social media has fundamentally transformed how people relate to each other and navigate the social environment of the contemporary era. While social media makes it easier than ever before for people to connect, it can also lead to negative effects on mental health and well-being, as it facilitates social comparison which, ironically, can leave people feeling more isolated and detached. Chapter One of this book explores how social movement actors utilise Instagram to deliver complex political messages and discusses the importance of understanding the possibilities and dangers of social media's influence on political reality. Chapter Two analyses online social comparison from a social psychological perspective and highlights the differences between its occurrence in face-to-face and social media contexts, as well as the implications for mental health. Chapter Three focuses on the influence of Instagram upon millennials' purchase intention via celebrity endorsement and other Instagram visuals, particularly in connection with the use of colour and the visual attractiveness of celebrities. Lastly, Chapter Four addresses the semiotic aspects of Instagram by comparing a typical semiotic communication model to Instagram's communication model and explaining design aspects of Instagram's model.Table of ContentsPreface; Influencers and Activists: Political Performances in an Increasingly Online World; Social Comparison on Facebook and Its Effect on an Individuals Well-Being; The Influence of Instagram upon Millennials Purchase Intention: Celebrity Endorsement and Image Posts; Social Semiotic Aspect of Instagram Social Networks; Index.

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Book SynopsisOur national leaders have drifted into treating the pandemic as though it were an unavoidable natural catastrophe, repeating a depressing cycle of panic followed by neglect. So a remarkable group of practitioners and scholars from many backgrounds came together determined to discover and learn lessons from this latest world war. Lessons from the Covid War is plain-spoken and clear sighted. It cuts through the enormous jumble of information to make some sense of it all and answer: What just happened to us, and why? And crucially, how, next time, could we do better? Because there will be a next time.The Covid war showed Americans that their wondrous scientific knowledge had run far ahead of their organized ability to apply it in practice. Improvising to fight this war, many Americans displayed ingenuity and dedication. But they struggled with systems that made success difficult and failure easy. This book shows how Americans can come together, learn hard truths, build on what worked, and prepare for global emergencies to come.A joint effort from:Danielle Allen John M. Barry John Bridgeland Michael Callahan Nicholas A. Christakis Doug Criscitello Charity Dean Victor Dzau Gary Edson Ezekiel Emanuel Ruth Faden Baruch Fischhoff Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg Melissa Harvey Richard Hatchett David Heymann Kendall Hoyt Andrew Kilianski James Lawler Alexander J. Lazar James Le Duc Marc Lipsitch Anup Malani Monique K. Mansoura Mark McClellan Carter Mecher Michael Osterholm David A. Relman Robert Rodriguez Carl Schramm Emily Silverman Kristin Urquiza Rajeev Venkayya Philip Zelikow

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Book SynopsisToday, many Americans are concerned about the impact that artificial intelligence and machine learning will have on jobs. This book examines the impact of these factors on the workforce, including issues related to worker displacement, retraining of the current workforce, and developing a skilled technical workforce of the future that can thrive in an economy in which AI increasingly plays a role.Table of ContentsPreface; Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work; Machines, Artificial Intelligence, and the Workforce: Recovering and Readying Our Economy for the Future; Index.

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Book SynopsisAlice Major observes the comedy and the tragedy of this human-dominated moment on Earth. Major’s most persistent question—“Where do we fit in the universe?”—is made more urgent by the ecological calamity of human-driven climate change. Her poetry leads us to question human hierarchies, loyalties, and consciousness, and challenges us to find some humility in our overblown sense of our cosmic significance. Now, welcome to the Anthropocene you battered, tilting globe. Still you gleam, a blue pearl on the necklace of the planets. This home. Clouds, oceans, life forms span it from pole to pole, within a peel of air as thin as lace lapped round an apple. Fair and fragile bounded sphere, yet strangely tough— this world that life could never love enough. And yet its loving-care has been entrusted to a feckless species, more invested in the partial, while the total goes unnoticed. — from “Welcome to the Anthropocene”Trade Review"Because the universe is big and all but incomprehensible, the average Jills and Joes don’t dare ask too many existential questions. It is left to poets to face the truth in those places the rest of us fear to tread. The author of eleven books of poetry and essays, Edmonton’s first poet laureate, and a woman comfortable in the realms of math, science, and cosmology, Alice Major is uniquely qualified to guide humanity through perilous ecological times. Thank you, Alice." * Foreword Magazine *# 1 on Edmonton Fiction Bestsellers list, March 11, 2018# 10 on Edmonton Fiction Bestsellers list, March 18, 2018"Alice Major begins "Welcome to the Anthropocene" by considering all the ways humans have meddled with the environment... The traditional and experimental forms which appear throughout the book reinforce Major's argument...and hint at unseen evolutionary forces at work; rhyming couplets which make up the first poem call to mind the 'base pairs' of DNA, even as they echo Pope's 'An Essay on Man.'... She excels at depicting situations when humans are themselves little more than kind animals, unusually intelligent but never quite intelligent enough, and often confounded by their own place in the ecosphere. -- Patrick O'Reilly * Maisonneuve, Winter 2017 *“Poets work like naturalists or scientists. What they do is based on what has gone before. Alexander Pope wrote Essay on Man, one of the most quoted poems in the English language, in the 18th century… This collection is written in Alberta, in the 21st century. Its title poem, “Welcome to the Anthropocene”, has the same metre and rhyme scheme, and uses Pope’s poem as a platform for a survey of the world the poet sees.… There are a number of other fine poems, of varying lengths, touching a lot of subjects, with influences that seem to range from Gerard Manley Hopkins to a Peterson Field Guide.… The poems are serious, but the reader can expect to have fun reading them.” [Full review at http://canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/2087/1968] -- Murray Citron * The Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 131, no.4 *"There are poems about the workaday world, a poem written in the voice of a mouse, a poem about missing the Muse's house call because the poet—damn hygiene!—was in the shower." -- Bruce Whiteman"Alice Major is that rarest of beings, a poet whose imagination is fired by science and mathematics.... [W]ith her broad range of sympathies and wide-ranging curiosity we have a sense of inclusiveness rare in contemporary poetry (which often prefers to live in a world of its own), and a comprehensive vision not afraid of dealing with public issues.... This is poetry with a brain as well as a heart--it not only makes us feel but also succeeds in making us think." [Full review at http://londongrip.co.uk/2018/08/london-grip-poetry-review-alice-major/] -- Roger Caldwell * London Grip Poetry Review *"Welcome to the Anthropocene is a virtuosic, challenging book of poetry by Alice Major. This collection is by turns a lament, a dirge and a celebration of being on earth in this human-dominated moment.... It is a compelling book of tightly wrought, deeply skilled verse that contains within it the seeds of hope.... Major's ecologically minded poems demonstrate anew why poetry and art play leading roles in helping us to conceive of better times that are yet to come." -- Kit Dobson * Alberta Views *"...Alice Major writes an ambitious work that addresses many of the issues besetting our times...[T]he collection is an intelligent work that presents and argues and wins us over in stunning metaphors and catchy measures reinforced by couplets..." [Full review at https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol17/iss1/24] -- Gillian Harding-Russell * The Goose *"In Welcome to the Anthropocene, Major is not offering a guide to action so much as a guide to broadening the problem beyond the sometimes pat suggestions of political and environmental activists.... What Major adds here is the duality of the Anthropocene: our despair in the face of it and the fact that whether we avoid, protest, reform, or embrace this new world, we are still in it." [Full review at https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/great-chain-alice-majors-welcome-anthropocene/#!] -- Hannah Rogers * LA Review of Books *"[A] confrontational yet compassionate collection of 57 poems that cut through the fluff of everyday life.... It takes courage to criticize this human-dominated planet, and compassion to remain accepting of humanity despite our collective faults. In place of answers to the questions that drive Major's poetry, she offers insight—and the insights she uncovers make Welcome to the Anthropocene deeply engaging, and wholly human." -- Megan Nega * Freefall Magazine *"...(the book’s title [Welcome to the Anthropocene] is a reference to the current geologic age, the one in which human activity is the dominant influence on the Earth’s physical environment). [Alice Major’s] work, art that reckons with science, is part of a long tradition." -- Megan Garber * The Atlantic *"This wide-ranging and beautiful collection combines scientific knowledge of evolution, DNA, and mathematical formulas with a caring attention to the wondrous connections between human and non-human life." Canadian Literature, October 5, 2018 [Full review at http://canlit.ca/article/environmental-metamorphoses] -- Kait Pinder"Each section contains smaller poems on a wide variety of topics––like local ecology, office life, mathematics, community, the domestic sphere, time, cognitive illusions, and more. Though varied in subject, so many of these poems bring us back to the problem of being human; that is, we place ourselves at the centre and see the world around us through a distorted lens." -- Jenny Haysom"Welcome to the Anthropocene is a real achievement.... [These] poems are intelligent, philosophically and ethically searching, formally engaging, and dappled with precise information and detail..." -- Edward A. Dougherty"Welcome to the Anthropocene is a poet’s take on the climate crisis, which blends math and science with poetry to produce a beautiful and wondrous examination of the natural world and humanity’s devastating impact on it. While such an undertaking could easily be defeatist, Major’s collection retains a sense of hope and genuine love for humanity that makes her poetry a refreshing read in an era plagued by eco-anxiety and negative climate news." -- Katherine DeCoste# 8 on Edmonton's Bestselling Books list; Poetry, December 01, 2019"Major is a keen observer of the river and natural environment around her hometown of Edmonton and the way it is changing as a result of climate disruption. She has the dual ability to engage us in this particular locale as well as transport us to a universal place where we can examine the bigger questions of our time..." [Full article at https://artistsandclimatechange.com/2020/02/25/welcome-to-the-anthropocene/] -- Susan Hoffman Fishman * Artists and Climate Change *# 8 on Edmonton Poetry Bestsellers list, February 14, 2021“Welcome to the Anthropocene is airy but tight … Major [is] someone who is unimpressed by the conforming type of self-satisfied nonconformist but who values the truly different, those who take an oblique angle on things.” -- Andrew DuBois * University of Toronto Quarterly, Summer 2020 *# 7 on Edmonton Poetry Bestsellers list, June 19, 2022#5 on the Edmonton Poetry Bestsellers list, April 30, 2023Table of ContentsPrologue -In medias res Welcome to the Anthropocene -Welcome to the Anthropocene -The local globe -Windfall advisory -There goes the neighbourhood -Guardians of Eden -Privacy acts -Bird singularities -Dust to dust -Annual grains -Demeter waits at the arrivals gate -Red sky at … -Climate change debate -Badger -Mouse dreams -Ratatoskr -Waltz, wasp A working world -Office hours -I heard the bells … -Staff Christmas lunch -Free time -Receptionist -Bell curve -The Gambler’s Fallacy -After a morning spent in a visioning session with a well-paid consultant -Among the Magi Long division -Catena -Zero divided by zero -Complex number plane -Discounted annuals -Draft of a poem on ‘inclusion’ Discounted annuals -The hat -The realms of asphodel -Kind to a cat -Child care -Old Anna -The things we drag behind us Laundry hearts -This afternoon before the clocks turn back -In memoriam -Battle River country -Season of metal -Laundry hearts -Within, without -In every tongue -Threshold -Sun thread -Foil -Circadian Arcadias The poet’s handbook of cognitive illusions -Hallucinating the muse -Pronominal -Pathetic fallacy -Pareidolia -The Texas sharpshooter fallacy -Necker cube illusion -Confabulation -The League of Poets Burial Society Epilogue -Cledonism Notes Acknowledgements

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Book Synopsis'Entertaining and insightful' -- Evening Standard'One of the most important books of the year... Compelling' Jamie Bartlett, Literary Review'Timely' -- New StatesmanAs the world becomes better connected and we grow ever more dependent on technology, the risks to our infrastructure are multiplying. Whether it's a hostile state striking the national grid (like Russia did with Ukraine in 2016) or a freak solar storm, our systems have become so interlinked that if one part goes down the rest topple like dominoes.In this groundbreaking book, former government minister Oliver Letwin looks ten years into the future and imagines a UK in which the national grid has collapsed. Reliant on the internet, automated electric cars, voice-over IP, GPS, and the internet of things, law and order would disintegrate. Taking us from high-level government meetings to elderly citizens waiting in vain for their carers, this book is a wake up call for why we should question our unshakeable faith in technology. But it's much more than that: Letwin uses his vast experience in government to outline how businesses and government should respond to catastrophic black swan events that seem distant and implausible - until they occur.Trade ReviewEntertaining and insightful... The picture [Letwin] paints is bleak as he uses chapters that alternate between a fictional depiction of chaotic meltdown in the year 2037 and analysis of the real-life causes to show why such disaster could occur. * Evening Standard *One of the most important books of the year... compelling * Jamie Bartlett, Literary Review *Timely... it provides an insight into the mindsets that prevent politicians and civil servants from properly preparing for catastrophes. * New Statesman *A vivid and engaging account of how the risks inherent in our increasing dependence on technology could someday coalesce into a perfect storm with disastrous consequences. Apocalypse How? reads like a dystopian thriller, but makes it clear that the dangers are very real. * Martin Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Rise of the Robots *A vital guide for anyone in business or government who wants to know how to respond when apparently distant and implausible events strike home. * Prospect *Masterful, disturbing and informed, Letwin takes us to the abyss - to a society paralysed by the total failure of its interconnected power and communications networks. His contingency plans should be mandatory reading. * Professor Richard Susskind OBE, Chair of Advisory Board, Oxford Internet Institute *From severe floods and accelerating climate change to cyber-attacks and space weather, there is a whole series of threats that could bring a modern country to a standstill. Oliver Letwin spent more time than any minister in recent history trying to understand, prevent and combat the unexpected disasters that could engulf a modern government. * David Cameron *Table of Contents0: Prologue 1: Could it happen? 2: The Cabinet Office 3: The social impact of black-swan events 4: Out in the darkness 5: Fragility and resilience 6: A difficult choice 7: Myths and realities 8: For whom the bell tolls 9: The global perspective

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Book SynopsisIs it true that women use technology, but that men fall in love with it? What are the effects of electronic networks, of cyber-relationships on class, race and gender boundaries? Dale Spender reveals that men are writing the road rules for the superhighway and subjecting women to new forms of harassment, virtual violence and data rape. But she also conveys her sheer delight in these new technologies arguing that it is creating unimaginable opportunities in education and authoring.Trade Review"A clarion call for women to get wired." Hari Kunzru, "Wired"Table of ContentsPrint;the claims of literature; readers; authors; education; libraries; women, power and cyberspace.

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Book SynopsisEvery retelling of a myth is a reworking of it. Every hearing or reading of a myth is a recreation of it. It is only when we engage with a myth that it resonates, becomes charged and recharged with meaning. And so it is in Building Babel, a book that re-engages with myth through the cyberworld, where worlds intersect and are transformed.Trade Review"Suniti Namjoshi is an inspired fabulist." --Marina Warner

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Book SynopsisThe booming increase of the senior population has become a social phenomenon and a challenge to our societies, and technological advances have undoubtedly contributed to improve the lives of elderly citizens in numerous aspects. In current debates on technology, however, the "human factor" is often largely ignored. The ageing individual is rather seen as a malfunctioning machine whose deficiencies must be diagnosed or as a set of limitations to be overcome by means of technological devices. This volume aims at focusing on the perspective of human beings deriving from the development and use of technology: this change of perspective - taking the human being and not technology first - may help us to become more sensitive to the ambivalences involved in the interaction between humans and technology, as well as to adapt technologies to the people that created the need for its existence, thus contributing to improve the quality of life of senior citizens.

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Book SynopsisIn this in-depth analysis of artistic and academic lectures and performances, Lucia Rainer features an innovative conceptual and methodological tool that augments Goffman's Frame Analysis with a praxeological perspective. This way, she gives profound insight into how knowledge - as a practice and a concept - is associated with clarity rather than truth. Based on four case studies - including John Cage's unpublished and unabridged audio recording of Lecture on Nothing - the study explores how the concept of lecture performances, which adheres to two frames that never entirely blend, provides a space to (re-)negotiate the artistic-academic relationship.

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Book SynopsisThe same computer games are played by youths all over the world, and worldwide games become matters of concern in relation to children: worries rise about addiction, violence, education, time, and economy. Yet, these concerns vary depending upon where they are situated: in families, legal contexts, industry or science. They also play out differently across countries and cultures. This situated nature of computer game concerns is generally neglected. Not in this book: It gives a detailed mosaic of the complex and multiple everyday realities of computer game concerns in relation to children, as they are variably situated throughout society and across cultures.Trade ReviewBesprochen in CHOICE, 56, 6 (2019)

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Book SynopsisEthnic diversity, race, and racism have been subject to discussion in American Studies departments at German universities for many years. It appears that especially in the past few decades, ethnic minorities and 'new immigrants' have increasingly become objects of scholarly inquiry. Such research questions focus on the U.S. and other traditionally multicultural societies that have emerged out of historical situations shaped by (settler) colonialism, slavery, and/or large-scale immigration. Paradoxically, these studies have overwhelmingly been conducted by white scholars born in Germany and holding German citizenship. Scholars with actual experience of racial discrimination have remained largely unheard. Departing from a critique of practices employed by the German branch of American Studies, the volume offers (self-)reflective approaches by scholars from different fields in the German Humanities. It thereby seeks to provide a solid basis for thorough and candid discussions of the mechanisms behind and the implications of racialized power relations in the German Humanities and German society at large.

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Book SynopsisThis first comprehensive study of Norwegian humanities education employs systems theory to analyze its transformation from a form of teacher training to its modern status as research-oriented generalist education.Using historical documents and statistical analyses, Vidar Grøtta shows that the expansion of the post-war research system in Norway led to an increase in admissions to humanities education in the 1960s and an ensuing research drift in humanities curricula. Interacting with certain political dynamics and the knowledge economy that has emerged since the 1970s, this research drift resulted in a shift in humanists' career patterns and a transformation of the societal functions of the humanities.The most recent developments in Norwegian humanities education, from 2000 to 2018, are outlined and discussed in the afterword to this volume.

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Book SynopsisArtistic research has become an established mode of inquiry and knowledge production in many fields. Johanna Schindler examines the collaborative practices of two artistic research projects in the fields of digital musical instrument design and responsive environments. How are individual research modes organized? Which forms of knowledge are at stake? And what sort of influence do institutional settings, spatial arrangements, and boundary objects have on the emerging research dynamics? Schindler's ethnographic study explores these questions and suggests concrete measurements that can be utilized to adapt the research environments, funding structures, and evaluation criteria of artistic research projects to the specific needs of this emerging field.Trade Review"Schindlers ethnography of artistic research infrastructures offers a welcome critical distance from the commonplace celebrations of the potentials of artistic research, pointing to a promising discussion on the politics of its infrastructures." Manuel Angel-Macia, Journal of Artistic Research, 23.06.2019

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Book SynopsisWhat does plausibility mean in relation to scenario planning and how do users of scenarios assess it? Despite the concept's ubiquity, its epistemological and empirical foundations remain unexplored in previous research. Ricarda Schmidt-Scheele offers an interdisciplinary perspective: she presents approaches from philosophy of sciences, cognitive psychology, narrative theory and linguistics, and tests key hypotheses in an experimental study. A conceptual map lays out indicators for scenario plausibility and explains how assessments vary across scenario methods. This helps researchers and practitioners to better understand the implications of their methodological choices in scenario development.Table of ContentsList of Figures; List of Tables; Summary of the book; Introduction; Scenario planning: characteristics and current issues; Scenario plausibility: emerging debates in research and practice; Conceptual explorations: plausibility across disciplines; Empirical research: Methodology to study scenario plausibility; Experimental study: quantitative research findings; Experimental study: qualitative research findings; Synthesis: A conceptual map of scenario plausibility; Conclusions and outlook; Abbreviations; Acknowledgments; References.

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Book SynopsisAre robots taking away our jobs? Those who ask this question have misunderstood digitalisation - it is not an industrial revolution by other means. Sabine Pfeiffer searches for the actual novelties brought about by digitalisation and digital capitalism. In her analysis, she juxtaposes Marx's concept of productive force with the idea of distributive force. From the platform economy to artificial intelligence, Pfeiffer shows that digital capitalism is less about the efficient production of value, but rather about its fast, risk-free, and permanently secured realisation on the markets. The examination of this dynamic and its consequences also leads to the question of how destructive the distributive forces of digital capitalism might be.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Digital Capitalism Revisited: again?; The First Blind Spot: Value in Digital Capitalism; Transformation and the Productive Forces; The Second Blind Spot: The Realisation of Value in (Digital) Capitalism; The Distributive Forces and (Digital) Capitalism: What is New?; The Distributive Forces and (Digital) Capitalism: Some Clarifications; The Distributive Forces in Digital Capitalism: Some Empirical Illustrations; Digitalisation: Distributive Force or Destructive Force?; Bibliography; List of Figures.

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Book SynopsisDo models of a ground-breaking art of the information age, an "algorithmic revolution", or of a democratization of art production still have any mileage? How do contemporary art practitioners cope with the political situation and with the attempts of the Silicon Valley giants to appropriate algorithmic generation of art-like artefacts? This issue aims to discuss how computer art from the pioneering days is now being reframed as digital, post-digital or algorithmic art under the prevailing conditions of big data, smart AI, an almost all-encompassing surveillance technology and a political state of neo-liberalism.

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Book SynopsisRestrictions on academic freedom, persecution and armed conflict have forced many scholars into exile. So far, the professional trajectories of these scholars and their contributions to knowledge exchange have not been studied comprehensively. The contributors to this volume address the situations and networks of scholars in exile, the challenges they face in their host countries and the opportunities they use. These issues are highly relevant to discussions about the moral economies of higher education institutions and support programs. Although the contributions largely focus on Germany as a host country, they also offer telling examples of forced mobility in the Global South, including both contemporary and historical perspectives.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents results of an international conference which addressed the interaction of aesthetical and technological dimensions within the formation of contemporary society. The contributions discuss the production of time and space, self and nature, individual and society in the image of technology. They focus on the productive tensions and convergences between aesthetic and technological concepts when implemented in everyday life. The volume contains - among others - texts about technologies of visualisation, the aesthetics of warfare and the design of technological lifeworlds.

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Book SynopsisThe joint forces of digital and analogue allow for a myriad of different worlds for us to live in. In German they are called Parallelwelten (= parallel worlds). This book investigates these parallel worlds from different angles: technological, corporate, scientific, cultural, economic and political.

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Book SynopsisWe live in a world that's constantly redesigned. Today's redesign is tomorrow's vintage look. But times of crisis rapidly change the picture. Suddenly, the whole world is in dire need of a proper redesign. From capitalism to communication, from work to supply chains, from cities to office space - it's hard to find an area of our lives that's not due for an overhaul. This is a challenge, but also a huge opportunity: to design a better world.

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Book SynopsisThe joint forces of digital and analogue allow for a myriad of different worlds for us to live in. In German they are called Parallelwelten (= parallel worlds). This book investigates these parallel worlds from different angles: technological, corporate, scientific, cultural, economic and political.

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Book SynopsisThe deep integration of technology in our modern society forces us to rethink the relationship humans have to their surroundings. The rise of complex sociotechnical systems denotes how humans and technology have entered a symbiotic relationship where the co-ordinated and fluent interaction between us and technology is a crucial condition for modern societies to function. The disharmony in the relationship between humans and technology has immediate and serious consequences. Accidents and failed operations in transport, incomprehensible user interfaces, and failure to learn from experience are all examples from everyday life suggesting that the understanding of human-technology relationships is not sufficient. This book investigates how humans relate to technology in our modern society, and how our basic assumption of human thought and behaviour guide our efforts to improve and control technology. The fact is that the skilled use of technology in expert systems and everyday life challenges the traditional conception of humans and technology as two separate elements in the analysis of work. This book shows how this dualism is evident and problematic in a wide range of areas, such as investigation of human error in accidents, case studies of innovative interface solutions, simulator training strategies, analysis of work practices in complex systems, and traffic safety research. This book is written for researchers, students and professionals, to supplement the ongoing effort to understand how technology can be integrated with more confidence in modern society.

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