Impact of science and technology on society Books

Book SynopsisThe author draws a correlation between the amazing potential of the internet and the moral message of the spinning wheel. The book presents Gandhi's life and mission in an altogether new and integral light.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This Will Change Everything offers seemingly radical but actually feasible ideas with the potential to change the world. " -- Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Carlsen sees a world of wonder hiding in plain sight…he may just change how you look at the world around you.” — TODAY Show "No neighborhood walk will ever be the same after Spike Carlsen reveals to you the extraordinary origins of your ordinary surroundings. His grand storytelling style will make you wonder why you’ve always taken for granted alleyways, asphalt, and manhole covers, and how your ancestors could ever have lived without them." — Rebecca Martin, technical editor, Mother Earth News and Grit "Writing in the mode of Edward Humes, David Owen, and Mary Roach, Carlsen offers an eye-opening and exuberantly informative walk-around-the-block tour that is made-to-order for this time of necessary at-homeness." — Booklist (starred review) "Carlsen takes 'mundane' objects and illuminates their importance to society, creating a unique book that will have readers looking at everyday objects in different ways." — Library Journal “An entertaining and informative read” — Physics Today “A Walk Around the Block succeeds in making the mundane fascinating, opening our minds (and front doors) to an everyday world easily taken for granted.” — Bookpage (starred review) “This book is going to make you observe your world differently, which will lessen your stuck-at-home boredom.” — Philadelphia Tribune

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Trade Review"Mr. Freeberg's broad research adds up to a vivid social history with parallels for today's technology innovators and for those who wish to increase their number. It underscores the point that the work of Edison and other pioneers of light took place in an unusual setting, a period in which American invention was remarkably active and fertile... The Age of Edison comes at a fitting time, the close of the era of the incandescent light. When the old stocks of incandescents run out, it may be the end of pleasant illumination at a cheap price—that is, until another Thomas Edison finds a way."—The Wall Street Journal“Freeberg takes us on a captivating intellectual adventure that offers long-forgotten stories of the birth pangs of the electrical age that are amusing, surprising and tragic.”—Washington Post"One of the many pleasures of Age of Edison, Ernest Freeberg's engaging history of the spread of electricity throughout the United States, is that he captures the excitement and wonder of those early days, when 'a machine that could create enough cheap and powerful light to hold the night at bay' promised 'liberation from one of the primordial limits imposed by nature on the human will'... Freeberg's thoughtful and thought-provoking book quietly suggests that, to properly distribute and control such a powerful force, commercial initiative and a sense of civic responsibility were equally essential."—Los Angeles Times"A dynamo of a book powered by an infectious enthusiasm for the can-do spirit of Edison and rival geniuses racing to turn night into day. Freeberg writes with verve and uncommon clarity, all the while deeply enriching our understanding of an age raring to embrace modernity."—A. Roger Ekirch, author of At Day's Close: Night in Times Past"Ernest Freeberg's fascinating account of the arrival and impact of electric lighting in America fills an important gap in the history of this subject. This well-written and insightful book should appeal both to scholars and lay readers, all of whom will learn much about the complex history of the adoption of this new technology."—Paul Israel, author of Edison: A Life of Invention; General Editor, The Thomas Edison Papers"Freeberg's deft social history explores a remarkable period in America's cultural and economic development. By understanding the post-Edison world we can see how nightlife really began; how our workdays grew considerably longer; and how the urban gloom was extinguished by the commerce of illumination."—Jon Gertner, author of The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American InnovationOutstanding Academic Title of 2014, Choice

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Book SynopsisCollingwood's theory of philosophical method applied to the problem of the philosophy of nature.Trade Review"Masterly analyses of the great cosmologies of the past and present. Collingwood breathes life into these speculations by relating them to the current science of the day, or the science that was influential upon them."--Philosophy and Phenomenological Research "Merits the attention and gratitude of the philosophical reader."--The Philosophical Review

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Book SynopsisWhy are some nations more technically creative than others and why do some highly innovative societies eventually stagnate? In this provocative study of the value and meaning of technological advance, Joel Mokyr considers how past physical and social conditions have influenced the development and reception of new ideas, and shows how these trends can guide future industrial strategies at a time when more countries than ever before are competing for the rewards of technical ingenuity.Trade ReviewThis is an important book about the determinants of technological creativity and why the West has been successful in promoting and adopting new technology for economic progress. The Lever of Riches is a valuable book that every economist should read. * Gary D. Libecap, University of Arizona, Journal of Comparative Economics 15 (1991) *it brings together a wealth of information on the development of technology and the means of analysing it ... it is so splendidly provocative * Roger Burt, University of Exeter, Economic History Review, Aug '91 *This is an ambitious and intriguing book ... What marks it out is the sophisticated handling of the theory of techonological change, within an evolutionary theoretical paradigm ... this is an important, erudite and engrossing book, and is lifely to be one of the key works in the emerging evolutionary analysis of technological change. It is essential reading for those interested in both economic history and the development of evolutionary economics. * Geoff Hodgson, University of Cambridge *Table of ContentsPart I: Introduction; Part II: Classical antiquity; The Middle Ages; The Renaissance and beyond; The years of miracles: the Industrial Revolution; The later Nineteenth century; Part III: Understanding technological progress; Classical and medieval technology; China and Europe; The industrial revolution: Britain and Europe; Part IV: Evolution and the dynamics of technological change

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Book SynopsisIn this visionary look into the future, Freeman Dyson argues that technological changes fundamentally alter our ethical and social arrangements and that three rapidly advancing new technologies -- solar energy, genetic engineering, and worldwide communication -- together have the potential to create a more equal distribution of the world''s wealth.Dyson begins by rejecting the idea that scientific revolutions are primarily concept driven. He shows rather that new tools are more often the sparks that ignite scientific discovery. Such tool-driven revolutions have profound social consequences: the invention of the telescope turning the medieval view of the world upside down, the widespread use of household appliances in the 1950s replacing servants, to cite just two examples. In looking ahead, Dyson suggests that solar energy, genetics, and the Internet will have similarly transformative effects, with the potential to produce a more just and equitable society. Solar power could bring elecTrade ReviewFreeman Dyson, a legendary figure in the sciences, has given us a thoughtful and thought-provoking glimpse into the 21st century. The Sun, The Genome, and The Internet is a must-read for anyone who wants a sneak preview into the future. Only Dyson could weave together this rich tapestry, blending ethics, ideology, science, and technology into a coherent vision of the future. * Michio Kaku *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; EPILOGUE ; REFERENCES

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Book SynopsisIn How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentieth-century physics. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example; an originator of spectroscopy using microwaves; and a pioneer in the study of gas clouds in galaxies and around stars. Throughout his career he has also been deeply engaged with issues outside of academic research. He worked on applied research projects for Bell Labs; served on the board of directors for General Motors; and devoted extensive effort to advising the government on science, policy, and defense. This memoir traces his multifaceted career from its beginnings on the family farm in South Carolina. Spanning decades of ground-breaking research, the book provides a hands-on description of how working scientists and inventors get their ideas. It also gives a behind-the-scenes look at the scientific community, showing how scientists respond to new ideas and how they approach a variety of issues, from priority and patents to the social and political implications of their work. In addition, Townes touches on the sociology of science, uncovering some of the traditions and values that are invisible to an outsider. A towering and energetic figure, Townes has explored or pioneered most of the roles available to the modern scientist. In addition to fundamental research, he was actively involved in the practical uses of the laser and in the court cases to defend the patent rights. He was a founding member of the Jasons, an influential group of scientists that independently advises the government on defense policy, and he played an active part in scientific decisions and policies from the Truman through the Reagan administration. This lively memoir, packed with first-hand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers.Trade Review[Townes's] ability to blend past achievements with the present brings a freshness of view in which his obvious excitement with some very recent breakthroughs in science and technology shines through very clearly ... I would recommend the reading of this autobiographical account to non-scientists as well as budding or established scientists. * Wilson Sibbett CBE FRS, University of St Andrews - The Royal Society Notes and Records *Filled with personal anecdotes that provide insight into an immensely original thinker and scientist of enormous energy and prolific output....[Includes] a fascinating account of the patent disputes surrounding the maser and laser....[Provides] an inspiring case history of how an outstanding physicist got started and went on to do great science. * Steven Chu, cowinner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics, in Physics Today *An engaging human story, intertwined with a first-hand account of some of the twentieth century's most significant inventions and discoveries. Fine reading for anyone interested in science, scientists, or the roles they play in our fast-changing world. * Arno Penzias, Nobel Laureate in Physics and former Chief Scientist of Bell Labs *It's rare that a scientist writes a book about his or her life that accurately reflects the highs and lows of scientific discovery. Such a book is How the Laser Happened by Nobel Laureate Charles Townes ... Townes did not invent the laser but, as a researcher, he certainly left his mark on twentieth century science. And the book certainly leaves the impression that Townes lived the life of a true scientist. Townes was the co-inventor of the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) with James Gordon, then a post-doctoral student at Columbia University ... But the book is not entirely concerned with the science of maser and laser development. Townes devotes an intriguing chapter to the various battles that were fought over the patents for the maser and the laser ... The book is subtitled, Adventures of a Scientist. Charles Townes' adventures make for a fascinating story of a true scientist. * Laser Focus *Table of Contents1. The Light That Shines Straight ; 2. Physics, Furman, Molecules, and Me ; 3. Bell Labs and Radar, a (Fortunate) Detour from Physics ; 4. Columbia to Franklin Park and Beyond ; 5. Maser Excitement-And a Time for Reflection ; 6. From Maser to Laser ; 7. The Patent Game ; 8. On Moon Dust, and Other Science Advice ; 9. The Rains of Orion

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Book SynopsisThe natural history museum is a place where the line between "high" and "low" culture effectively vanishes - where our awe of nature, our taste for the bizarre and our thirst for knowledge all blend together. But, as this text shows, there is more going on in these institutions than just smart fun.Trade Review"In Stuffed Animals, the natural history museum is a dimly lit stage for scientific dreams. Inside its cabinet of wonder, the mysteries of the natural world are laid bare and the rupture between the scientific and the sublime is momentarily healed."--Voice Literary Supplement"Rich in detail, lucid explanation, telling anecdotes, and fascinating characters.... Asma has rendered a fascinating and credible account of how natural history museums are conceived and presented. It's the kind of book that will not only engage a wide and diverse readership, but it should, best of all, send them flocking to see how we look at nature and ourselves in those fabulous legacies of the curiosity cabinet."--Boston Herald"Asma has already established himself as one of the most creative minds working in cultural history and the history of science. Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads is an incredibly stimulating discussion of the role of natural history museums in culture and society. It should be read by all, both practicing scientists and philosophers, and the broadly curious general reader."--Michael Ruse, author of The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw"Strap yourself into your seat and prepare for a thrilling ride back into history and natural history through Stephen Asma's time machine--two hundred years back into the history of natural history museums, and two million years back into natural history itself. The weird and the wonderful are on display and visually striking, as Asma traces our journey to understand our origins and evolution, and how we have struggled mightily to convey millions of years of time and change to a species whose chronology is set in decades. A gripping tale with great illustrations that are absolutely necessary--for we are the most visual of all the primates, and there is no greater theatre than evolution."--Michael Shermer, author of The Borderlands of Sciencehistoryh Asma's Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads surveys the presence and evolution of natural history museums around the world interviewing curators, scientists and exhibit designers and providing many observations of the history of these museums and how their contents and approaches have evolved. The result is an excellent and intriguing survey of the evolution of natural history collections."--The Bookwatch

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the long term economic growth that has raised the West''s material living standards to levels undreamed of by counterparts in any previous time or place. The authors argue that this growth has been driven by technological revolutions that have periodically transformed the West''s economic, social and political landscape over the last 10,000 years and allowed the West to become, until recently, the world''s only dominant technological force.Unique in the diversity of the analytical techniques used, the book begins with a discussion of the causes and consequences of economic growth and technological change. The authors argue that long term economic growth is largely driven by pervasive technologies now known as General Purpose (GPTs). They establish an alternative to the standard growth models that use an aggregate production function and then introduce the concept of GPTs, complete with a study of how these technologies have transformed the West since the Neolithic AgTable of ContentsForeword: The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and this Book ; Preface: Why Another Book on Growth? ; Acknowledgements ; GROWTH, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND GENERAL PURPOSE TECHNOLOGIES ; 1. Technology as Revolution ; 2. Two Views of Economic Processes ; 3. A Structuralist Evolutionary Decomposition ; 4. Technology and Technological Change ; 5. A Survey of GPTs in Western History: Part I 10,000 BC to 1450 AD ; 6. A Survey Of GPTs in Western History: Part II 1450 to 2010 ; THE TRANSITION TO SUSTAINED GROWTH ; 7. The Emergence of Sustained Extensive Growth in the West ; 8. Why Not Elsewhere? ; 9. Population Dynamics: Extensive and Intensive Growth Related ; 10. The Emergence of Sustained Intensive Growth in the West ; MODELLING SUSTAINED GPT-DRIVEN GROWTH ; 11. GPTs and Related Concepts in the Literature ; 12. Scale Economies in Economic Growth ; 13. Appreciative Theories of GPTs ; 14. Formal Models Of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: The Base Line Model ; 15. Formal Models of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: Extensions and Applications ; POLICY ; 16. Technology Enhancement Policy: Theory and Evidence ; 17. Assessing Technology Enhancement Policies

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the long term economic growth that has raised the West''s material living standards to levels undreamed of by counterparts in any previous time or place. The authors argue that this growth has been driven by technological revolutions that have periodically transformed the West''s economic, social and political landscape over the last 10,000 years and allowed the West to become, until recently, the world''s only dominant technological force. Unique in the diversity of the analytical techniques used, the book begins with a discussion of the causes and consequences of economic growth and technological change. The authors argue that long term economic growth is largely driven by pervasive technologies now known as General Purpose (GPTs). They establish an alternative to the standard growth models that use an aggregate production function and then introduce the concept of GPTs, complete with a study of how these technologies have transformed the West since the Neolithic ATable of ContentsForeword: The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and this Book ; Preface: Why Another Book on Growth? ; Acknowledgements ; GROWTH, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND GENERAL PURPOSE TECHNOLOGIES ; 1. Technology as Revolution ; 2. Two Views of Economic Processes ; 3. A Structuralist Evolutionary Decomposition ; 4. Technology and Technological Change ; 5. * A Survey of GPTs in Western History: Part I 10,000 BC to 1450 AD ; 6. A Survey Of GPTs in Western History: Part II 1450 to 2010 ; THE TRANSITION TO SUSTAINED GROWTH ; 7. The Emergence of Sustained Extensive Growth in the West ; 8. Why Not Elsewhere? ; 9. Population Dynamics: Extensive and Intensive Growth Related ; 10. The Emergence of Sustained Intensive Growth in the West ; MODELLING SUSTAINED GPT-DRIVEN GROWTH ; 11. * GPTs and Related Concepts in the Literature ; 12. Scale Economies in Economic Growth ; 13. : Appreciative Theories of GPTs ; 14. Formal Models Of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: The Base Line Model ; 15. * Formal Models of GPT-Driven Sustained Growth: Extensions and Applications ; POLICY ; 16. Technology Enhancement Policy: Theory and Evidence ; 17. Assessing Technology Enhancement Policies

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Book SynopsisThe kitchen as political symbol and material reality in the cold war years. Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev's famous “kitchen debate” in 1958 involved more than the virtues of American appliances. Both Nixon and Khrushchev recognized the political symbolism of the modern kitchen; the kind of technological innovation represented in this everyday context spoke to the political system that produced it. The kitchen connects the “big” politics of politicians and statesmen to the “small” politics of users and interest groups. Cold War Kitchen looks at the kitchen as material object and symbol, considering the politics and the practices of one of the most famous technological icons of the twentieth century. Defining the kitchen as a complex technological artifact as important as computers, cars, and nuclear missiles, the book examines the ways in which a range of social actors in Europe shaped the kitchen as both ideological construct a

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Book SynopsisThe intellectual and human story of a mathematical proof that transformed our ideas about mathematics.In 1824 a young Norwegian named Niels Henrik Abel proved conclusively that algebraic equations of the fifth order are not solvable in radicals. In this book Peter Pesic shows what an important event this was in the history of thought. He also presents it as a remarkable human story. Abel was twenty-one when he self-published his proof, and he died five years later, poor and depressed, just before the proof started to receive wide acclaim. Abel''s attempts to reach out to the mathematical elite of the day had been spurned, and he was unable to find a position that would allow him to work in peace and marry his fiancé.But Pesic''s story begins long before Abel and continues to the present day, for Abel''s proof changed how we think about mathematics and its relation to the real world. Starting with the Greeks, who invented the idea of mathematical proof, Pesic shows how mathematics found its sources in the real world (the shapes of things, the accounting needs of merchants) and then reached beyond those sources toward something more universal. The Pythagoreans'' attempts to deal with irrational numbers foreshadowed the slow emergence of abstract mathematics. Pesic focuses on the contested development of algebra—which even Newton resisted—and the gradual acceptance of the usefulness and perhaps even beauty of abstractions that seem to invoke realities with dimensions outside human experience. Pesic tells this story as a history of ideas, with mathematical details incorporated in boxes. The book also includes a new annotated translation of Abel''s original proof.

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Book SynopsisWhat if a lifesaving medical device causes loss of life along its supply chain? That''s the question Katherine E. Standefer finds herself asking one night after being suddenly shocked by her implanted cardiac defibrillator.In this gripping, intimate memoir about health, illness, and the invisible reverberating effects of our medical system, Standefer recounts the astonishing true story of the rare diagnosis that upended her rugged life in the mountains of Wyoming and sent her tumbling into a fraught maze of cardiology units, dramatic surgeries, and slow, painful recoveries. As her life increasingly comes to revolve around the internal defibrillator freshly wired into her heart, she becomes consumed with questions about the supply chain that allows such an ostensibly miraculous device to exist. So she sets out to trace its materials back to their roots.From the sterile labs of a medical device manufacturer in southern California to the tantalum and tin mines seized by

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Book SynopsisThe story of the zipper is the triumph of an ingenious novelty over the practical world.Trade Review"How the ingenious zipper, a newfangled, unwanted novelty, became a ubiquitous part of daily life is the story told in this engaging chronicle peopled by a colorful cast of characters." -- Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis"Without the invention of the transistor, I'm quite sure that the PC would not exist as we know it today."—Bill Gates

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Book Synopsis"Lucid, comprehensive, and unafraid...an indispensable contribution to a long-running argument." -Los Angeles TimesTrade Review"Of all the moderns who have written on automation and rising joblessness, Martin Ford is the original. His Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future is due out this May... Self-recommending." --Marginal Revolution "Robots, and their like, are on the rise. Their impact will be an important question in the next decade and beyond. Martin Ford has been thinking in this area before most others, so this book deserves very careful consideration." --Lawrence Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University "It's not easy to accept, but it's true. Education and hard work will no longer guarantee success for huge numbers of people as technology advances. The time for denial is over. Now it's time to consider solutions and there are very few proposals on the table. Rise of the Robots presents one idea, the basic income model, with clarity and force. No one who cares about the future of human dignity can afford to skip this book." --Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget and Who Owns the Future? "Compelling and well-written... In his conception, the answer is a combination of short-term policies and longer-term initiatives, one of which is a radical idea that may gain some purchase among gloomier techno-profits: a guaranteed income for all citizens. If that stirs up controversy, that's the point. The book is both lucid and bold, and certainly a starting point for robust debate about the future of all workers in an age of advancing robotics and looming artificial intelligence systems." --ZDNet "An alarming new book." --Esquire "A thorough look at how far machines have come" --Washington Post, Innovations blog "Ford offers ideas on changes in social policies, including guaranteed income, to keep our economy humming and prepare ourselves for a more automated future." --Booklist "A careful and courageous examination of automation and its possible impact on society." --Kirkus Reviews "In Rise of the Robots, Ford coolly and clearly considers what work is under threat from automation." --New Scientist "Makes clear the need to come to grips with ever more rapidly advancing technology and its effects on how people make a living and how the economy functions." --Pittsburgh Tribune-Review "Whether you agree or not with the policy prescriptions put forward by [Martin Ford's Rise of the Robots and Anne-Marie Slaughter's Unfinished Business] these two well-written books, and quite a few will likely disagree, they are important reads for those wishing to better understand and influence the future." --Bloomberg Business, Mohamed El-Erian "Few captured the mood as well as Martin Ford in The Rise of the Robots, the winner of the FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, which painted a bleak picture of the upheavals that would come as ever-greater numbers of even highly skilled workers were displaced by machines." --Financial Times "[A] breathtaking new book on modern economics." --Forbes.com "Lucid, comprehensive and unafraid to grapple fairly with those who dispute Ford's basic thesis, Rise of the Robots is an indispensable contribution to a long-running argument." --Los Angeles Times "If The Second Machine Age was last year's tech-economy title of choice, this book may be 2015's equivalent." --Financial Times, Summer books 2015, Business, Andrew Hill "[Ford's] a careful and thoughtful writer who relies on ample evidence, clear reasoning, and lucid economic analysis. In other words, it's entirely possible that he's right." --Daily Beast "Rise of the Robots is an excellent book. Fair-minded, balanced, well-researched, and fully thought through." --Inside Higher Ed, Learn blog "Surveying all the fields now being affected by automation, Ford makes a compelling case that this is an historic disruption--a fundamental shift from most tasks being performed by humans to one where most tasks are done by machines." --Fast Company "Well written with interesting stories about both business and technology." --Wired/Dot Physics Winner of the 2015 FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award A New York Times Bestseller Top Business Book of 2015 at Forbes One of NBCNews.com 12 Notable Science and Technology Books of 2015 "For nonfiction, I tip my hat to Martin Ford's Rise of the Robots, which is vacuuming up accolades and is recommended reading for IIF staff. Ford's analysis, in a somewhat crowded field of similar books, offers a sobering assessment of how technology (robotics, machine learning, AI, etc.) is reshaping labor markets, the composition of growth, and the distribution of income and wealth, and calls for enlightened political and policy leadership to address coming, accelerating disruptions and dislocations." --Bloomberg Business, Timothy Adams "We are in an era of technological optimism but sociological pessimism. Martin Ford's Rise of the Robots captures why these shifts are related and what challenges this might pose to our conventional economic and social infrastructures." --Bloomberg Business, Andy Haldane "Ever since the Luddites, pessimists have believed that technology would destroy jobs. So far they have been wrong. Martin Ford shows with great clarity why today's automated technology will be much more destructive of jobs than previous technological innovation. This is a book that everyone concerned with the future of work must read." --Lord Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, co-author of How Much Is Enough?: Money and the Good Life and author of the three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes "Martin Ford has thrust himself into the center of the debate over AI, big data, and the future of the economy with a shrewd look at the forces shaping our lives and work. As an entrepreneur pioneering many of the trends he uncovers, he speaks with special credibility, insight, and verve. Business people, policy makers, and professionals of all sorts should read this book right away--before the 'bots steal their jobs. Ford gives us a roadmap to the future." --Kenneth Cukier, Data Editor for the Economist and co-author of Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think "If the robots are coming for my job (too), then Martin Ford is the person I want on my side, not to fend them off but to construct a better world where we can all--humans and our machines--live more prosperously together. Rise of the Robots goes far beyond the usual fear-mongering punditry to suggest an action plan for a better future." --Cathy N. Davidson, Distinguished Professor and Director, The Futures Initiative, The Graduate Center, CUNY and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn "Mr. Ford lucidly sets out myriad examples of how focused applications of versatile machines (coupled with human helpers where necessary) could displace or de-skill many jobs... His answer to a sharp decline in employment is a guaranteed basic income, a safety net that he suggests would both cushion the effect on the newly unemployable and encourage entrepreneurship among those creative enough to make a new way for themselves. This is a drastic prescription for the ills of modern industrialization--ills whose severity and very existence are hotly contested. Rise of the Robots provides a compelling case that they are real, even if its more dire predictions are harder to accept." --Wall Street Journal "Well-researched and disturbingly persuasive." --Financial Times "[Rise of the Robots is]about as scary as the title suggests. It's not science fiction, but rather a vision (almost) of economic Armageddon." --Frank Bruni, New York Times "As Martin Ford documents in Rise of the Robots, the job-eating maw of technology now threatens even the nimblest and most expensively educated...the human consequences of robotization are already upon us, and skillfully chronicled here." --New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisNanotechnology will eventually impact every area of our world Nanoethics seeks to examine the potential risks and rewards of applications of nanotechnology. This up-to-date anthology gives the reader an introduction to and basic foundation in nanotechnology and nanoethics, and then delves into near-, mid-, and far-term issues. Comprehensive and authoritative, it: Goes beyond the usual environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns to explore such topics as privacy, nanomedicine, human enhancement, global regulation, military, humanitarianism, education, artificial intelligence, space exploration, life extension, and more Features contributions from forty preeminent experts from academia and industry worldwide, reflecting diverse perspectives Includes seminal works that influence nanoethics today Encourages an informed, proactive approach to nanoethics and advocates addressing new and emerging controversies before they impede progressTrade Review"This is a thought-provoking book … Essential reading for scientists entering the realm of nanotechnology." (Nanotechnology Perceptions, July 2008) "It is recommended reading for scientists and engineers working in all areas of present-day nanoscience and nanotechnology." (Angewandte Chemie, May 13, 2008) "...this compact collection is highly welcome." (Angewandte Chemie, 2008-47/21) “…these essays will provide a broad background for those who have yet to discover the many benefits that may result.” (Chemistry and Industry, December 2007) "Das Buch wird Wissenschaftler(inne)n und Ingenieur(inn)en empfohlen, die in allen Bereichen der gegenwartigen Nanowissenschaft und ?technik arbeiten." Angewandte Chemie 2008-120/21Table of ContentsForeword: Ethical Choices in nanotechnology Development (Mihail C. Roco). Preface. Contributors. PART I : Introduction: The Nanotechnology Debate. 1. Nanoscience and Nanoethics: Defining the Disciplines (Patrick Lin and Fritz Allhoff). 2. Why the Future Doesn't Need Us (Bill Joy). 3. On the National Agenda: U.S. congressional Testimony on the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology (Ray Kurzweil). PART II: Background: Nanotechnology in Context (John Weckert). 4. Nanotech's Promise: Overcoming Humanity's More Pressing Challenges (Christine Peterson and Jacob Heller). 5. Debating Nanotechnologies (Richard A. L. Jones). 6. In the Beginning: The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (Neal Lane and Thomas Kalil). PART III: Issues: Preparing for the Next Revolution (John Weckert). 7. The Nanotechnology R(Evolution) (Charles Tahan). 8. Technology Revolutions and the Problem of Prediction (Nick Bostrom). 9. Complexity and Uncertainty: A Prudential Approach to Nanotechnology (Jean-Pierre Dupuy). 10. The Precautionary Principle in nanotechnology (John Weckert and James Moor). PART IV: Issues: Health and Environment (James Moor). 11. Nanotechnology and Risk: What are the Issues? (Anne Ingeborg Myhr and Roy Ambli Dalmo). 12. Personal Choice in the Coming Era of Nanomedicine (Robert A. Freitas, Jr). 13. Are We Playing God With Nanoenhancement (Ted Peters). 14. Anticipating the Ethical and Political Challenges of Human Nanotechnologies (David H. Guston, John Parsi, and Justin Tosi). PART V: Issues: Democracy and Policy (James J. Hughes). 15. Global Technology Regulation and Potentially Apocalyptic Technological Threats (James J. Hughes). 16. Deliberative Democracy and Nanotechnology (Colin Farrelly). 17. Rhetoric of "Stakeholding" (David M. Berube). 18. Rules of Engagement: Democracy and Dialogue in Creating Nanotechnology Futures (Jack Stilgoe and James Wilsdon). PART VI: Issues: Broader Societal Impact (John Weckert). 19. Nanotechnology and Privacy: Instructive Case of RFID (Jeroen van den Hoven). 20. Nanotechnology and the Military (Daniel Moore) 21. Can Nanoscience Be a Catalyst For Educational Reform (Patricia Schank, Joseph Krajcik, and Molly Yunker). 22. Impact of Nanotechnologies on Developing Countries (Joachim Schummer). PART VII: Issues: The Distant Future? (Fritz Allhoff). 23. Challenges and Pitfalls of Exponential Manufacturing (Mike Treder and Chris Phoenix). 24. Nanoethics and the High Frontier (Tihamer Toth-Fejel and Christopher Dodsworth) 25. Ethics for Artificial Intellects (J. Storrs Hall). 26. Nanotechnology and Life Extension (Sebastian Sethe). Index.

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening—and how to get our attention back.“The book the world needs in order to win the war on distraction.”—Adam Grant, author of Think Again “Read this book to save your mind.”—Susan Cain, author of Quiet WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Post, Mashable, MindfulIn the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding that constantly switching from device to device and tab to tab was a dim

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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