Impact of science and technology on society Books

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Book SynopsisThis book gives legal practitioners, academics, and law students a comprehensive look at the main impacts of artificial intelligence use in legal practice. Contributors identify the main challenges surrounding a legally compliant and ethical development of AI and craft a framework for analyzing the costs and benefits of new technology.Table of Contents1. Lawyering in the Digital Age Pietro Ortolani and Larry A. DiMatteo; Part I. Effects of Technology on Legal Practice: 2. Disruptive effects of legal tech Larry A. DiMatteo, Jiang Christine Jiaying and Robert Thomas; 3. The effects of technology on legal practice: from punch card to artificial intelligence? Andrė Janssen and Tom J. Vennmanns; 4. Legal drafting and automation Benjamin Werthmann; 5. Emerging rules on artificial intelligence: Trojan horses of ethics in the realm of law? Florian Möslein and Maximilian Horn; Part II. Legal Tech and ADR: 6. Legal tech in ADR Mateja Durovic and Franciszek Lech; 7. A blockchain-based smart dispute resolution method Alessandro Palombo, Raffaele Battaglini and Luigi Cantisani; 8. Digital dispute resolution: blurring the boundaries of ADR Pietro Ortolani; Part III. Legal Tech in Consumer Relations and Small Claims 9. Legal tech in consumer relations and small-value claims: a survey Francisco de Elizalde; 10. Regulation of legal services and access to justice in the digital age: a war report Jin-Ho Verdonschot and Max Houben; 11. Legal tech and EU consumer law Martin Ebers; 12. The two faces of legal tech in B2C relations Eric Tjong Tjin Tai; Part IV. Legal Tech and Public Law: 13. Blockchain's heterotopia: technological infrastructures and lawyering in the public sector Georgios Dimitropoulos; 14. Fundamental rights and the use of artificial intelligence in court Jean-Marc van Gyseghem; 15. Legal tech in public administration: prospects and challenges Antonios Kouroutakis; Part V. Legal Ethics and Societal Values Confront Technology: 16. Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI Michel Cannarsa; 17. Ethical digital lawyering: technical and philosophical insights Mathieu Guillermin, Arnaud Billion, Carine Copain-Héritier and Emmanuel de Vaujany; 18. Law, disintermediation, and the future of trust Christoph Kletzer; Part VI. Fate of the Legal Professions: 19. Lawyering somewhere between computation and the will to act: a digital age reflection Jeffrey M. Lipshaw; 20. Surviving the digital transformation – a method for lawyers to approach legal tech Paw Fruerlund and Sebastian Peters; 21. Road forward: promise and danger Larry A. DiMatteo and Pietro Ortolani.

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The third edition of Gordon Bonan's comprehensive textbook introduces an interdisciplinary framework to understand the interaction between terrestrial ecosystems and climate change. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying ecology, environmental science, atmospheric science, and geography, it reviews basic meteorological, hydrological, and ecological concepts to examine the physical, chemical, and biological processes by which terrestrial ecosystems affect and are affected by climate. This new edition has been thoroughly updated with new science and references. The scope has been expanded beyond its initial focus on energy, water, and carbon to include reactive gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. The new edition emphasizes the Earth as a system, recognizing interconnections among the planet's physical, chemical, biological, and socioeconomic components, and emphasizing global environmental sustainability. Each chapter contains chapter summaries and review quest

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Book SynopsisJacqueline Peel examines the role of science in international risk regulation in areas from climate change to food safety. It will appeal to international legal practitioners wanting to understand law's part in managing global risks and risk-assessment professionals interested in improving the use of science in international legal processes.Trade Review'… [proposes] developments of the law in ways which have a clear practical import.' Christopher A. Thomas, International and Comparative Law QuarterlyTable of Contents1. Introduction - science and risk regulation in international law; 2. Global risk governance and its legitimacy; 3. Scientific rationality and risk in international law; 4. Competing risk regulatory paradigms: sound science and the precautionary principle; 5. Science and WTO regulation of SPS risk; 6. Case studies of science and risk regulation in international law; 7. Democratising global risk governance; 8. What role for science in international risk regulation?

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Book SynopsisFormer Google advertising strategist, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this ''attention economy'', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams''s thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine Dots Prize, a new Prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary social issues. This title is also available as Open Access.Trade Review'A very insightful and perceptive analysis of one of the crucial issues of our age: how we spend our time in the infosphere. It will be the starting point for anyone who wishes to create a better future.' Luciano Floridi, University of Oxford'In the Arab Spring, technology helped us topple a dictator - and then it tore us apart. The competition for attention poses a fundamental problem for today's society, and no one has gone deeper into this issue than James Williams. If you care about the future of society, pay attention to this book.' Wael Ghonim, internet activist'Passionate, provocative, personal and funny! Drawing on philosophy and video games, ancient literature and current science, Stand out of our Light helps us to see what's currently happening to the human experience and how we can take back control.' David Runciman, University of Cambridge'On the contemporary attention crisis, there is no writer who has thought deeper on it than Williams. His pivotal insight is the recognition that attention is the fuel of our lives, the ingredient essential to any self-chosen goal. Reading this refreshing and rejuvenating book will make you think hard about how life should be lived.' Tim Wu, Columbia University, New York'A landmark book.' The Observer'Mr Williams compares the current design of our technology to 'an entire army of jets and tanks' aimed at capturing and keeping our attention. And the army is winning. We spend the day transfixed by our screens, thumb twitching in the subways and elevators, glancing at traffic lights.' The New York Times'Stand Out of Our Light is a prime example of philosophy at its most illuminating.' Achas Burin, Balliol College Annual Record 2018Table of Contents1. Philosophy for trolls; Part I. Distraction by Design: 2. The faulty GPS; 3. The age of attention; 4. Bring your own boundaries; 5. Empires of the mind; Part II. Clicks against Humanity: 6. The citizen is the product; 7. The spotlight; 8. The starlight; 9. The daylight; Part III. Freedom of Attention: 10. The ground of first struggle; 11. The monster and the bank; 12. Marginal people on marginal time; 13. The brightest heaven of invention.

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Book SynopsisWhereas previous books have explored how literature depicts or discusses scientific concepts, this book argues that literature is a technology. It shows how literature has been shaped by technological revolutions, and reveals the essential work that literature has done in helping to uncover the consequences of new technologies.Table of ContentsList of figures; List of contributors; Timeline; Introduction Adam Hammond; Part I. Origins: 1. Orality and writing I. J. MacRae; 2. Manuscript Bonnie Mak; 3. The hand press, 1450–1800 Paula McDowell; 4. The mechanical press, 1800–1900 Simon Reader; 5. The typewriter Darren Wershler; 6. Literature in the electric age Lise Jaillant; 7. Digital text Maxwell Foxman; Part II. Developments: 8. Prostheses Alice Hall; 9. Clocks Scott Lightsey; 10. Compasses Chris Barrett; 11. Telescopes Peter C. Herman; 12. Steam engines Nicola Kirkby; 13. Wires Aaron Worth; 14. Cameras Beci Carver; 15. Phonographs Jason Camlot; 16. Waves and rays Jennifer A. Janechek; 17. The bomb Ann Larabee; 18. Networks David Ciccoricco; Part III. Applications: 19. Distant reading Natalie M. Houston; 20. Visualization Daniel Carter; 21. Digital editions Susan Brown; Index.

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Book SynopsisWhat is the basis of scientific claims? How much confidence should we put in them? What is defined as science and what is not? This timely synthesis conveys the strengths, weaknesses and reality of science to inform the general reader and help professional scientists articulate what they do and why.Trade Review'We live in a world where the discoveries of well-done science are rapidly improving the lives of millions; but at the same time poorly done inquiry that fails to meet the foundational principles of science, even when carried out with all good intentions, can result in harmful false conclusions resulting in wasting of resources, bad results for individuals and bad public policy for nations. Dr Zimring has produced a marvelously cogent and eminently readable book that explains how to recognize good science and know when to question poor 'scientific' conclusions. Reading this book places scientists and non-scientists on the same playing field when discussing critical issues and making important decisions. I would feel much better going to the polls if every voter understood the lessons that Zimring effortlessly communicates.' Brian R. Smith, Yale University, Connecticut'The message of this extraordinary book is loud and clear: we need a better understanding of science. That it is written by a scientist - and aimed in part at a scientific audience - makes the message all the more credible … and urgent. Science may not be perfect, but it is the best hope we've got. Zimring has written an engaging and accessible book on the importance of digging beneath what we think we know about science.' Lee McIntyre, Boston University and author of The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience'In his recent book, What Science Is and How It Really Works, University of Virginia Professor of Pathology James C. Zimring, aspired to answer those vital questions. He correctly recognizes that the process of science is woefully misunderstood by the general public and even by many scientists. Anchored with a keen grasp of philosophy, logic, and reason, Zimring attempted to resolve a variety of misconstructions.' Ross Pomeroy, RealClearScience (https://www.realclearscience.com)'[Zimmering] asks important questions, such as: What are scientific 'facts'? How does science differ from non-science? And, how is a layperson to judge a claim that asserts it is 'scientific'? The special imprimatur given to the findings of science (the so-called Legend of Science) requires us to be able to evaluate its claims rationally and dispassionately, from the benefits of vaccines to the threats of climate change. The book's three parts are devoted, respectively, to scientific reasoning and logic; flaws that undermine natural human observation; and how scientific processes and methods seek to addresses those flaws. The author's goal is to assist nonscientists in assessing scientific claims while-perhaps more importantly-enabling scientists to defend science (by deconstructing the Legend).' N. Sadanand, Choice'I certainly wish I had read a book like Zimring's when I started my graduate studies; this would have helped me avoid many of the mistakes I made … I recommend Zimring's book for students who contemplate a career in science … Zimring says that science very much needs its fringe thinkers, although it often treats them badly. In conclusion, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, science is the worst way to understand the world except for all the other ways. What Science Is and How It Really Works gives lots of examples of how the scientific method has allowed the big brains of unpromising apes to understand the world better than we had any right to expect.' Stanley A. Rice, The American Journal of PsychologyTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I: 1. The knowledge problem, or what can we really 'know'?; 2. Adding more building blocks of human reasoning to the knowledge problem; 3. Holistic coherence in thinking, or describing a system of how humans reason and think; Part II: 4. How scientific reasoning differs from other reasoning; 5. Natural properties of a rule-governed world, or why scientists study certain types of things and not others; 6. How human observation of the natural world can differ from what the world really is; 7. Detection of patterns and associations, or how human perceptions and reasoning complicate understanding of real-world information; 8. The association of ideas and causes, or how science figures out what causes what; Part III: 9. Remedies that science uses to compensate for how humans tend to make errors; 10. The analysis of a phantom apparition, or has science really been studied yet?; 11. The societal factor, or how social dynamics affect science; 12. A holistic world of scientific entities, or considering the forest and the trees together; 13. Putting it all together to describe 'what science is and how it really works'.

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Book SynopsisStrictly off limits to the public, Plum Island is home to virginal beaches, cliffs, forests, ponds -- and the deadliest germs that have ever roamed the planet. Lab 257 blows the lid off the stunning true nature and checkered history of Plum Island. It shows that the seemingly bucolic island in the shadow of New York City is a ticking biological time bomb that none of us can safely ignore.Based on declassified government documents, in-depth interviews, and access to Plum Island itself, this is an eye-opening, suspenseful account of a federal government germ laboratory gone terribly wrong. For the first time, Lab 257 takes you deep inside this secret world and presents startling revelations on virus outbreaks, biological meltdowns, infected workers, the periodic flushing of contaminated raw sewage into area waters, and the insidious connections between Plum Island, Lyme disease, and the deadly West Nile virus. The book also probes what''s in store for Plum Isl

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR“I often talk about the importance of trust when it comes to work: the trust of your employees and building trust with your customers.Trade Review“Significant and timely, Neeley’s guidance will provide vital information to those struggling to work and lead in the virtual workplace.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A timely, thoughtful and practical guide to moving to effective remote teamwork. . . . This Harvard Business School professor's 20-year research project comes at just the right time, with practical, accessible tips for leading remote work teams.” — Shelf Awareness “I often talk about the importance of trust when it comes to work: earning the trust of your employees and building trust with your customers. This book provides a blueprint for how to build and maintain that trust and connection in a digital environment.” — Eric S. Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom “Neeley draws on her nearly two decades of research to answer the critical questions regarding how we best build productive and enjoyable virtual routines into our post-COVID-19 professional lives. Few of us are going back to the way we worked. Read her book and begin to prepare for the other side of this pandemic now.” — Larry Culp, CEO of General Electric (GE) “I can’t imagine a more timely book or a better person to write it. Neeley has deep knowledge of the science behind team communications and how best to lead from the next desk over or at a distance. Her vivid examples and insightful interpretations make the case for the growing importance of empathy and diversity. And her solutions to the productivity challenges of remoteness make this an essential guide for the future of work.” — Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor and bestselling author of Confidence and Think Outside the Building “Everybody—not just the business community— is wondering how remote work will affect our future and how private and public organizations should adjust. With her timely and highly documented research, Neeley provides answers to questions on leadership from afar, on tools and methods needed to enhance productivity of dispersed teams, and on the psychological fundamentals of trust and emotional engagement. Today we do not know what the endgame of remote working will be, but we should definitely read Neeley’s book to ensure our organizations evolve and rapidly adopt the most virtuous models.” — Vittorio Colao, former CEO of Vodafone Group “Tsedal Neeley gives us a much-needed playbook on how to embrace the challenges and leverage the opportunities of our new global, virtual workplace. Remote Work Revolution is a must-read for anyone aiming to excel in a world that is continuously being redefined.” — Lisa Skeete Tatum, cofounder and CEO of Landit “Through examples and deeply researched insight, Remote Work Revolution details how to build and lead a culture of trust and inclusivity across distributed teams and time zones. It’s about what it takes to truly work together while being apart. Whether she’s writing about digital tools or the importance of social cues and context, Tsedal Neeley has created a guide that will help any organization withstand challenges and realize its full potential over the long-term.” — Eric Ries, CEO of Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way "Suddenly, the business world has changed fundamentally for all of us. With remote work remaining a necessity for many industries going forward, Tsedal’s book is a must-read for any manager navigating the challenges and benefits of a virtual workforce.” — Liz Cheng, general manager of television at GBH and WORLD Channel “Whether it’s part of a long-term strategy or simply thrust upon you due to the pandemic, a remote work program requires a systematic approach to succeed. Remote Work Revolution provides an intelligent framework and practical action guides to help you build a foundation of trust and inclusion that enables teams to be cohesive and productive in a virtual environment. The essential lessons in this book, drawn from years of real-world research, can make the difference between surviving and thriving in this new era.” — David L. Giunta, president and CEO of Natixis Investment Managers, US “Irrespective of whether you’re in sales, manufacturing, or accounting; whether you’re in a small or big organization; whether you work in companies, schools, hospitals, or government; or where in the world you live—every modern manager who wants to succeed should read this book.” — Morten T. Hansen, professor at UC Berkeley, author of Great at Work and Collaboration, and coauthor of Great by Choice "The ability to effectively manage remote workers is equally likely to become a requisite skill set for leaders. You can obtain it through trial and error, or you can get a leg up by reading Remote Work Revolution." — Theodore Kinni, contributing editor of strategy+business "[Tsedal Neeley's] book provides the guidance needed to navigate this new reality. It offers evidence-based answers (not just off-the-cuff advice) to managers trying to lead using digital tools, wondering how to keep everyone connected without in-person interactions, and making sure that work/life balance is not turning into collateral damage." — Forbes "Filled with practical and nuanced advice for effectively leading people at a distance." — strategy+business

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Book SynopsisA revelatory and timely look at how technology boosts our cognitive abilities—making us smarter, more productive, and more creative than everIt’s undeniable—technology is changing the way we think. But is it for the better? Amid a chorus of doomsayers, Clive Thompson delivers a resounding “yes.” In Smarter Than You Think, Thompson shows that every technological innovation—from the written word to the printing press to the telegraph—has provoked the very same anxieties that plague us today. We panic that life will never be the same, that our attentions are eroding, that culture is being trivialized. But, as in the past, we adapt—learning to use the new and retaining what is good of the old. Smarter Than You Think embraces and extols this transformation, presenting an exciting vision of the present and the future.

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Book SynopsisA fascinating look at Artificial Intelligence, from its humble Cold War beginnings to the dazzling future that is just around the corner.When most of us think about Artificial Intelligence, our minds go straight to cyborgs, robots, and sci-fi thrillers where machines take over the world. But the truth is that Artificial Intelligence is already among us. It exists in our smartphones, fitness trackers, and refrigerators that tell us when the milk will expire.  In some ways, the future people dreamed of at the World's Fair in the 1960s is already here. We're teaching our machines how to think like humans, and they're learning at an incredible rate.In Thinking Machines, technology journalist Luke Dormehl takes you through the history of AI and how it makes up the foundations of the machines that think for us today. Furthermore, Dormehl speculates on the incredible--and possibly terrifying--future that's much closer than many would imagine. This remarkable

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Book SynopsisAn argument that—despite dramatic advances in the field—artificial intelligence is nowhere near developing systems that are genuinely intelligent.In this provocative book, Brian Cantwell Smith argues that artificial intelligence is nowhere near developing systems that are genuinely intelligent. Second wave AI, machine learning, even visions of third-wave AI: none will lead to human-level intelligence and judgment, which have been honed over millennia. Recent advances in AI may be of epochal significance, but human intelligence is of a different order than even the most powerful calculative ability enabled by new computational capacities. Smith calls this AI ability “reckoning,” and argues that it does not lead to full human judgment—dispassionate, deliberative thought grounded in ethical commitment and responsible action.Taking judgment as the ultimate goal of intelligence, Smith examines the history of AI from its first-wave origins (

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Book SynopsisAn examination of the implications for society of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems, combining a humanities perspective with technical analysis; includes exercises and discussion questions.AI and Humanity provides an analytical framing and a common language for understanding the effects of technological advances in artificial intelligence on society. Coauthored by a computer scientist and a scholar of literature and cultural studies, it is unique in combining a humanities perspective with technical analysis, using the tools of literary explication to examine the societal impact of AI systems. It explores the historical development of these technologies, moving from the apparently benign Roomba to the considerably more sinister semi-autonomous weapon system Harpy. The book is driven by an exploration of the cultural and etymological roots of a series of keywords relevant to both AI and society. Works examined range from Narrative of the Life of Fr

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Book SynopsisThe definitive book on leadership in the digital era: why digital technologies call for leadership that emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity.Certain ideas about business leadership are held to be timeless, and certain characteristics of leaders—often including a square jaw, a deep voice, and extroversion—are said to be universal. In Leading in the Digital World, Amit Mukherjee argues that since digital technologies are changing everything else, how could they not change leadership ideologies and styles? As more people worldwide participate equally in business, those assumptions of a leader's ideal profile have become irrelevant. Offering a radical rethinking of leadership, Mukherjee shows why digital technologies call for a new kind of leader—one who emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and inclusivity.Drawing on a global survey of 700 mid-tier to senior executives and interviews with C-level executives from around

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Book SynopsisA lively introduction to MIT hacks, from the police car on the Great Dome to the abduction of the Caltech cannon.An MIT hack is an ingenious, benign, and anonymous prank or practical joke, often requiring engineering or scientific expertise and often pulled off under cover of darkness—instances of campus mischief sometimes coinciding with April Fool's Day, final exams, or commencement. (It should not be confused with the sometimes non-benign phenomenon of computer hacking.) Noteworthy MIT hacks over the years include the legendary Harvard-Yale Football Game Hack (when a weather balloon emblazoned “MIT” popped out of the ground near the 50-yard line), the campus police car found perched on the Great Dome, the apparent disappearance of the Institute president's office, and a faux cathedral (complete with stained glass windows, organ, and wedding ceremony) in a lobby. Hacks are by their nature ephemeral, although they live on in the memory of both perpetrators

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Book SynopsisA cultural theory of the interface as a relation that is both ubiquitous and elusive, drawing on disciplines from cultural theory to architecture.In this book, Branden Hookway considers the interface not as technology but as a form of relationship with technology. The interface, Hookway proposes, is at once ubiquitous and hidden from view. It is both the bottleneck through which our relationship to technology must pass and a productive encounter embedded within the use of technology. It is a site of contestation—between human and machine, between the material and the social, between the political and the technological—that both defines and elides differences.A virtuoso in multiple disciplines, Hookway offers a theory of the interface that draws on cultural theory, political theory, philosophy, art, architecture, new media, and the history of science and technology. He argues that the theoretical mechanism of the interface offers a powerful approach to quest

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Book SynopsisA gaming academic offers a “fascinating” exploration of why we play video games—despite the unhappiness we feel when we fail at them (Boston Globe)We may think of video games as being “fun,” but in The Art of Failure, Jesper Juul claims that this is almost entirely mistaken. When we play video games, our facial expressions are rarely those of happiness or bliss. Instead, we frown, grimace, and shout in frustration as we lose, or die, or fail to advance to the next level. Humans may have a fundamental desire to succeed and feel competent, but game players choose to engage in an activity in which they are nearly certain to fail and feel incompetent. So why do we play video games even though they make us unhappy? Juul examines this paradox.In video games, as in tragic works of art, literature, theater, and cinema, it seems that we want to experience unpleasantness even if we also dislike it. Reader or audience re

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Book SynopsisHow to educate the next generation of college students to invent, to create, and to discover—filling needs that even the most sophisticated robot cannot.Driverless cars are hitting the road, powered by artificial intelligence. Robots can climb stairs, open doors, win Jeopardy, analyze stocks, work in factories, find parking spaces, advise oncologists. In the past, automation was considered a threat to low-skilled labor. Now, many high-skilled functions, including interpreting medical images, doing legal research, and analyzing data, are within the skill sets of machines. How can higher education prepare students for their professional lives when professions themselves are disappearing? In Robot-Proof, Northeastern University president Joseph Aoun proposes a way to educate the next generation of college students to invent, to create, and to discover—to fill needs in society that even the most sophisticated artificial intelligence agent cannot.A

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Book SynopsisWhy companies need to move away from a “product first” orientation to pursuing innovation based on customer need.In the past, companies found success with a product-first orientation; they made a thing that did a thing. The Inversion Factor explains why the companies of today and tomorrow will have to abandon the product-first orientation. Rather than asking “How do the products we make meet customer needs?” companies should ask “How can technology help us reimagine and fill a need?” Zipcar, for example, instead of developing another vehicle for moving people from point A to point B, reimagined how people interacted with vehicles. Zipcar inverted the traditional car company mission. The authors explain how the introduction of “smart” objects connected by the Internet of Things signals fundamental changes for business. The IoT, where real and digital coexist, is powering new ways to meet human needs. Companie

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Book SynopsisHow humans and technology evolve together in a creative partnership.In this book, Edward Ashford Lee makes a bold claim: that the creators of digital technology have an unsurpassed medium for creativity. Technology has advanced to the point where progress seems limited not by physical constraints but the human imagination. Writing for both literate technologists and numerate humanists, Lee makes a case for engineering—creating technology—as a deeply intellectual and fundamentally creative process. Explaining why digital technology has been so transformative and so liberating, Lee argues that the real power of technology stems from its partnership with humans. Lee explores the ways that engineers use models and abstraction to build inventive artificial worlds and to give us things that we never dreamed of—for example, the ability to carry in our pockets everything humans have ever published. But he also attempts to counter the runaway enthusiasm of som

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Book SynopsisImagining a future in which humans fundamentally reshape the natural world using nanotechnology, synthetic biology, de-extinction, and climate engineering.We have all heard that there are no longer any places left on Earth untouched by humans. The significance of this goes beyond statistics documenting melting glaciers and shrinking species counts. It signals a new geological epoch. In The Synthetic Age, Christopher Preston argues that what is most startling about this coming epoch is not only how much impact humans have had but, more important, how much deliberate shaping they will start to do. Emerging technologies promise to give us the power to take over some of Nature's most basic operations. It is not just that we are exiting the Holocene and entering the Anthropocene; it is that we are leaving behind the time in which planetary change is just the unintended consequence of unbridled industrialism. A world designed by engineers and technicians means the birth of the plan

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Book SynopsisWhy technology is not an end in itself, and how cities can be “smart enough,” using technology to promote democracy and equity.Smart cities, where technology is used to solve every problem, are hailed as futuristic urban utopias. We are promised that apps, algorithms, and artificial intelligence will relieve congestion, restore democracy, prevent crime, and improve public services. In The Smart Enough City, Ben Green warns against seeing the city only through the lens of technology; taking an exclusively technical view of urban life will lead to cities that appear smart but under the surface are rife with injustice and inequality. He proposes instead that cities strive to be “smart enough”: to embrace technology as a powerful tool when used in conjunction with other forms of social change—but not to value technology as an end in itself.In a technology-centric smart city, self-driving cars have the run of downtown and force out pedes

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? An exhilarating tour of humanity''s next great technological achievement?quantum computing?which may supercharge artificial intelligence, solve some of humanity''s biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease, and eventually illuminate the deepest mysteries of science, by the bestselling author ofThe God Equation. ? ?Expertly describes and rectifies common misconceptions about quantum computing. ?Science[Kaku''s] lucid prose and thought process make abundant sense of this technological turning point.? ?The New York Times Book ReviewThe runaway success of the microchip may finally be reaching its end. As shrinking transistors approach the size of atoms, the phenomenal growth of computational power inevitably collapses. But this change heralds the birth of a revolutionary new type of computer, one that calculates on atoms themselves.Quantum computers promise unprecedented gains in computing power, enabling advancements that could overturn every aspect of our daily lives. While the media has mainly focused on their startling potential to crack any known encryption method, the race is already on to exploit their incredible power to revolutionize industry. Automotive makers, medical researchers, and consulting firms are all betting on quantum computing to design more efficient vehicles, create life-saving new drugs, and streamline businesses. But this is only the beginning. Quantum computing could be used to decode the complex chemical processes needed to produce cheap fertilizers and unleash a second Green Revolution; create a super battery that will enable the Solar Age; or design nuclear fusion reactors to generate clean, safe, renewable energy. It may even unravel the fiendishly difficult protein folding that lies at the heart of as-yet-incurable diseases like Alzheimer?s, ALS, and Parkinson?s. Already, quantum computers are being put to work to help solve the greatest mystery in science?the origin of the universe.There is no single problem humanity faces that might not be addressed by quantum computers. With his signature clarity and enthusiasm, Dr. Michio Kaku, who has spent his entire professional life working on the quantum theory, tells the thrilling story of this exciting scientific frontier and the race to claim humanity?s future.

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • By an award-winning technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal, a behind-the-scenes look at the manipulative tactics Facebook used to grow its business, how it distorted the way we connect online, and the company insiders who found the courage to speak outBroken Code fillets Facebook’s strategic failures to address its part in the spread of disinformation, political fracturing and even genocide. The book is stuffed with eye-popping, sometimes Orwellian statistics and anecdotes that could have come only from the inside. —New York Times Book ReviewOnce the unrivaled titan of social media, Facebook held a singular place in culture and politics. Along with its sister platforms Instagram and WhatsApp, it was a daily destination for billions of users around the world. Inside and outside the company, Facebook extolled its products as bringing pe

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Book SynopsisA sweeping new look at the unheralded transformation that is eroding the foundations of American exceptionalism.Trade Review"Marc Dunkelman gets it. In The Vanishing Neighbor, he shows how the traditional web of relationships that makes up American life is undergoing fundamental change, why it matters, and what we need to do about it." -- President Bill Clinton"Important… provide[s] fresh thoughts about community in the United States that might win assent from left and right alike." -- E.J. Dionne Jr. - Washington Post"A highly ambitious, wide-ranging book that offers important new insights into why the bonds of community have unraveled in America in the past generation." -- Alan Ehrenhalt, author of The Great Inversion"In The Vanishing Neighbor, Marc Dunkelman conducts us insightfully through the work of astute sociologists and other observers of American social life, from the time in the 1950s when they described a conformist and confident society to the confused and more uncertain period of today. He focuses on one significant change: the transformation of the American 'township,' a defining characteristic of American society since Tocqueville first identified it, into something quite different. As Dunkelman ably shows, rapid economic change, the digital revolution, and other factors have fundamentally altered our social life, our political life, and our ability to solve the problems of a rapidly changing society." -- Nathan Glazer, professor emeritus of sociology and education, Harvard University"The Vanishing Neighbor is an urgent, challenging, strongly reasoned argument about the health of American society. Marc Dunkelman speaks directly to the communication gap between our local communities and the governments that serve them. How we bridge that gap—as working people, as political leaders, and as neighbors—will determine the care we provide to our loved ones and the opportunities we leave our children for years to come." -- Neera Tanden, president, Center for American Progress"After a panoramic view of how the United States has changed in so many ways, Marc Dunkelman argues that Americans are left with a sense of isolation from neighbors nearby: we keep 'inner-ring' relationships with family and close friends plus 'outer-ring' with Facebook friends we see infrequently, but we have lost middle-ring relationships with families down the street and a barber around the corner. Institutions, Dunkelman believes, must adapt to these new realities, nourishing a fresh sense of community. This is an insightful call for remembering what Tocqueville found best about America." -- David Gergen, codirector of the Center for Public Leadership and professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School and senior political analyst, CNN"A meditation on the evaporation of American exceptionalism… thought-provoking [and] evenhanded." -- Kirkus Reviews"A rich and accessible diagnosis of contemporary mores and discontents." -- Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis“A house of wonders itself. . . . Wonderland inspires grins and well-what-d'ya-knows” —The New York Times Book Review From the New York Times–bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Extra Life, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused.    Johnson’s storytelling is just as delightful as the inventions he describes, full of surprising stops along the journey from simple concepts to complex modern systems. He introduces us to the

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Book SynopsisWe live in an age of awesome technological potential. From nanotechnology to synthetic organisms, new technologies stand to revolutionize whole domains of human experience. But with awesome potential comes awesome risk: drones can deliver a bomb as readily as they can a new smartphone makers and hackers can 3D-print guns as well as tools and supercomputers can short-circuit Wall Street just as easily as they can manage your portfolio.One thing these technologies can''t do is answer the profound moral issues they raise. Who should be held accountable when they go wrong? What responsibility do we, as creators and users, have for the technologies we build? In A Dangerous Master , ethicist Wendell Wallach tackles such difficult questions with hard-earned authority, imploring both producers and consumers to face the moral ambiguities arising from our rapid technological growth. There is no doubt that scientific research and innovation are a source of promise and productivity, but, as Walla

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLERAmazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that’s been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. Instead of buying the myths these compa­nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they’re almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal­lenge them? In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world’s most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can’t match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career. Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.

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Book SynopsisA section on bioacoustic echolocation, with a focus on the superior sonar systems of bats and whales and a discussion of the advanced technology of next-generation airborne signal processors, opens the imagination to fascinating possibilities for the future.Trade ReviewThis is an impressive, enjoyable and unique book... The style is light and entertaining, without in any way trivializing the subject or appearing patronizing, and Blip, Ping, and Buzz achieves the rather special trick of being valuable both to the non-specialist and to the seasoned practitioner. -- Hugh Griffiths Physics World 2008 This well written book... is highly recommended for just about everyone including, dare I say it, experts. -- Richard J. Peppin International Journal of Acoustics and Vibration 2008 The writing style is clear and sometimes whimsical, making for easy reading... An excellent addition to the ever-popular genre of books about how things work. -- Colin Keay Australian Physics 2008 Denny largely sheds the complexity of mathematical constructs, distilling their most salient features into a more qualitative understanding of radar and sonar systems. Choice 2008 Indeed, Denny's writing is anything but dry and boring. He adeptly explains complex subject matter and does so with relatively simple language and minimal use of symbolic notation. -- Paul A. Faure Bat Research News 2008Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Hearing the Picture1. Early Days2. Remote Sensing Foundations3. Signal Processing Techniques4. Tactics: Skunks and Old Crows5. Mapping: Hearing the Picture6. Specialized Applications and Advanced TechniquesFinal ThoughtsTechnical NotesGlossaryIndex

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Book SynopsisThought-provoking and controversial, Lawless Universe is a complement to, even an antidote for, books that create the misimpression that science can explain everything.Trade ReviewDr. Rosen knocks down the structure of good science and rebuilds it for the reader, brick by brick, beginning with the most basic differences between objectivity and subjectivity. And through topics that might otherwise leave readers feeling adrift-like quantum theory, metaphysics, and the anthropic principle-Dr. Rosen proves a calm, conscientious guide who sticks by the reader's side. GW Magazine/GW Today 2011Table of ContentsPreface1. Objective or Subjective: That Is the QuestionObjective and SubjectiveThe Objective Outer World: RealityOur Subjective Inner Worlds: FantasiesObjective or Subjective?Objective TruthSubjective TruthLogical TruthDealing with the SubjectiveDealing with the Objective2. The Science of Nature and the Nature of SciencePreliminariesScienceNatureReproducibilityPredictabilityLaw3. Theory: Explanation, Not SpeculationTheoryLogical Implication and Objective TruthGenerality and FundamentalityNaturalityCausationSimplicity and UnificationBeautyFalsifiabilityAn Archetypal Example4. Is Science the Whole Story?Science and MetaphysicsTranscendence and Nontranscendence5. Our Unique UniverseThe Lawless UniverseCosmology6. Nature's LawsRealism and IdealismReductionism and HolismObserver and ObservedQuasi-Isolated System and SurroundingsInitial State and Law of EvolutionExtended Mach PrincipleWhence Order?7. Facing the UniverseHuman ScienceAnthropic PrincipleWhence Order? (Again)Space and Time8. The Hunt for RealityMetaphysical PositionsObjective RealityPerceived RealityPartially Hidden RealityTranscendent RealityCodaGlossaryCombined BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe captivating, all-but-forgotten story of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and the search for a planet that never existed For more than fifty years, the world’s top scientists searched for the “missing” planet Vulcan, whose existence was mandated by Isaac Newton’s theories of gravity. Countless hours were spent on the hunt for the elusive orb, and some of the era’s most skilled astronomers even claimed to have found it. There was just one problem: It was never there. In The Hunt for Vulcan, Thomas Levenson follows the visionary scientists who inhabit the story of the phantom planet, starting with Isaac Newton, who in 1687 provided an explanation for all matter in motion throughout the universe, leading to Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who almost two centuries later built on Newton’s theories and discovered Neptune, becoming the most famous scientist in the world. Le Verrier attempted to surpass that triumph by p

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Doubled LivesPart I. Autobiography1. Automatic Life, So Life: Descartes2. Order Catastrophically Unknown: Freud3. The Blushing Machine: DerridaPart II. Translation4. Living Punctuations: Cixous and Celan5. Naming the Mechanical Angel: Benjamin6. Raw War: Schmitt, Jünger, and JoycePart III. Resonance7. Bloodless Coup: Bataille, Nancy, and Barthes8. The Audible Life of the Image: Godard9. Meditations for the Birds: DescartesAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

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