Impact of science and technology on society Books

Book SynopsisEPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. We tend to hold people responsible for their choices, but not for what they can’t control: their nature, genes or biological makeup. This thought-provoking collection redefines the boundaries of moral responsibility. It shows how epigenetics reveals connections between our genetic make-up and our environment. The essays challenge established notions of human nature and the nature/nurture divide and suggest a shift in focus from individual to collective responsibility. Uncovering the links between our genetic makeup, environment and experiences, this is an important contribution to ongoing debates on ethics, genetics and responsibility.Table of Contents1. Epigenetics, Bioethics and a Developmental Outlook on Life 2. Epigenetics and Forward-Looking Collective Responsibility 3. Luck, Epigenetics and the Worth of Collectives 4. Pictures at an Exhibition: Epigenetics, Harm and the Non-Identity Problem 5. Epigenetics, Parenthood and Responsibility for Children 6. AI and Epigenetic Responsibility 7. Responsibility and the Microbiome

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Book SynopsisWe are often expected to trust technologies, and how they are used, even if we have good reason not to. There is no room to mistrust. Exploring relations between trust and mistrust in the context of data, AI and technology at large, this book defines a process of ‘trustification’ used by governments, corporations, researchers and the media to legitimize exploitation and increase inequalities. Aimed at social scientists, computer scientists and public policy, the book aptly reveals how trust is operationalized and converted into a metric in order to extract legitimacy from populations and support the furthering of technology to manage society.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Trust Issues 2. Trustification: Extracting Legitimacy 3. State: Measuring Authority 4. Corporate: Managing Risk 5. Research: Setting Terms 6. Media: Telling Stories 7. Case Study: COVID-19 Tracing Apps 8. Case Study: Tech for Good 9. Case Study: Trusting Faces 10. Conclusion: False Trade-Offs

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Book SynopsisA disturbing portrait of a modern American family'Imagine Richard Yates becoming fascinated by Donald Antrim before writing Revolutionary Road and you'll have some idea of Love Orange. One of the most satisfying novels you will read this year. This book rules' Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms'I enjoyed every minute of it' Chris Power, author of Mothers'A stunningly accurate portrayal . . . shining with vivid dialogue and observation' Chloe Aridjis, author of Sea Monsters'[A]n exuberant, comic, irresistibly dark examination of contemporary anxieties' Vanity Fair'An exquisite balance of humour and pathos' LunateAn extraordinary debut novel by Natasha Randall, exposing the seam of secrets within an American family, from beneath the plastic surfaces of their new 'smart' home. Love Orange charts the gentle absurdities of their lives, and the devastating consequences of casual choices. While Hank struggles with his lack of professional success, his wife Jenny, feeling stuck and beset by an urge to do good, becomes ensnared in a dangerous correspondence with a prison inmate called John. Letter by letter, John pinches Jenny awake from the "marshmallow numbness" of her life. The children, meanwhile, unwittingly disturb the foundations of their home life with forays into the dark net and strange geological experiments. Jenny's bid for freedom takes a sour turn when she becomes the go-between for John and his wife, and develops an unnatural obsession for the orange glue that seals his letters...Love Orange throws open the blinds of American life, showing a family facing up to the modern age, from the ascendancy of technology, the predicaments of masculinity, the pathologising of children, the epidemic of opioid addiction and the tyranny of the WhatsApp Gods. The first novel by the acclaimed translator is a comic cocktail, an exuberant skewering of contemporary anxieties and prejudices.Trade ReviewImagine Richard Yates becoming fascinated by Donald Antrim before writing Revolutionary Road and you'll have some idea of Love Orange. At turns funny, discomfiting, and darkly harrowing, Randall's debut is real life inscribed upon the page. The classic American family of countless TV dramas and comedies is here fractured against the hard fulcrum of the current age. One of the most satisfying novels you will read this year. This book rules. -- Christian Kiefer, author of PHANTOMS'In Love Orange we see the American nuclear family in meltdown, a phenomenon Natasha Randall describes with wisdom, wit, and a lot of heart. I enjoyed every minute of it' Chris Power, author of MothersAs an acclaimed translator of Russian novels, Natasha Randall has a fine-tuned sense of the absurd, and a wonderfully original way of seeing the world. A stunningly accurate portrayal of American society, shining with vivid dialogue and observation -- Chloe Aridjis, author of Sea Monsters[T]he first novel by this acclaimed translator is an exuberant, comic, irresistibly dark examination of contemporary anxieties * Vanity Fair *An exquisite balance of humour and pathos...The setting and plot ofLove Orange is extremely well crafted * Lunate *Randall throws satirical light on everything from opioid addictions to the domination of modern technology in this exuberant and contemporary novel. * Independent *The translator Natasha Randall's debut novel is a keenly observed account of the travails of an apparently normal American family . . . Hugely ambitious * Observer *Translator Randall makes her fiction debut with this assured and funny story of an American family in crisis trying to hide behind their new "smart" home. * The i *I was . . . hooked by this comedic take on the modern American family * Saga *I loved the rich emotional mayhem of Natasha Randall's Love Orange. * White Review (BOTY) *Love Orange is narrated in a close third-person from multiple points of view, artfully moving between the characters to build an absorbing story. Randall depicts the very contemporary struggles of the Tinkley family with empathy. And her wry humour leavens the serious topics she tackles: the prison system, gender roles, the perils of intrusive technology and the slippery slope of addiction - whether one reaches for drugs or devices for relief from the "marshmallow numbness" of daily life. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisThe globalisation of communication networks has increased the domains of translation and is challenging ever more the translator’s role. This volume is a collection of contributions from two different conferences (Misano, 1997 and Berlin, 1998). (Multi)Media translation, especially screen translation (TV, cinema, video), has made more explicit the complexities of any communication and has led us to take a fresh look at the translator’s strategies and behaviours.Several papers ponder the concepts of media and multimedia, the necessity of interdisciplinarity, the polysemiotic dimension of audiovisual media. Quite a few discuss the current transformations in audiovisual media policy. A great many deal with practices, mainly in subtitling but also in interpreting for TV and surtitling: what are the quality parameters and the conditions to meet audience’s expectations?Finally some show the cultural and linguistic implications of screen translation. Digitalisation is changing production and broadcasting and speeding up convergence between media, telecommunications and information and communication technology.Is (multi)media translation a new field of study or an umbrella framework for scholars from various disciplines? Is it a trick to overcome the absence of prestige in Translation Studies? Or is it just a buzz word which gives rise to confusion? These questions remain open: the 26 contributions are partial answers.Trade ReviewTranslation in the context of multimedia and technology will continue to evolve and take shape. The articles in this book give an excellent overview of this innovative area of study, and open the door to further research. -- Sabine Lauffer, Glendon College, York UniversityTable of Contents1. Multimedia, Multilingua: Multiple Challenges (by Gambier, Yves); 2. Part I: Concepts; 3. Multimedia & Translation: Methodological Considerations (by Cattrysse, Patrick); 4. Some Thoughts on the Study of Multimodal and Multimedia Translation (by Remael, Aline); 5. Simultaneous Interpreting for Television and Other Media: Translation Doubly Constrained (by Viaggio, Sergio); 6. Hypertext and Cyberspace: New Challenges to Translation Studies (by Martinez, Domingo Sanchez-Mesa); 7. Images of Translation (by Goethals, Gregor); 8. Text and Context in Multimedia Translation (by Werner, J. Ritter); 9. About Remakes, Dubbing and Morphing: Some Comments on Visual Transformation Processes and their Relevance for Translation Theory (by Wehn, Karin); 10. Part II: Policies and Practices; 11. Shooting in English? Myth or Necessity? (by Jackel, Anne); 12. The Position of Foreign Languages in the Flemish Media (by Meylaerts, Reine); 13. Disentangling Audiovisual Translation into Catalan from the Spanish Media Mesh (by Zabalbeascoa, Patrick); 14. Interpreter-Mediated TV Live Interviews (by Alexieva, Bistra); 15. Conference Interpreters on the Air: Live Simultaneous Interpreting on Italian Television (by Mack, Gabriele); 16. Translation Quality. An Organizational Viewpoint (by Gummerus, Eivor); 17. Quality Down Under (by Muller, Felicity); 18. Quality Control of Subtitles: Review or Preview? (by James, Heulwen); 19. Subtitling for Channel 4 Television (by Morgan, Hazel R.); 20. Live Interlingual Subtitling (by Boer, Corien M. den); 21. Punctuating Subtitles: Typographical Conventions and their Evolution (by Ceron, Clara); 22. Surtitling Operas. With Examples of Translations from German into French and Dutch (by Dewolf, Linda); 23. Part III: Empirical Research; 24. The Choice to Subtitle Children's TV Programmes in Greece: Conforming to Superior Norms (by Karamitroglou, Fotios); 25. Striving for Quality in Subtitling: the Role of a Good Dialogue List (by Diaz Cintas, Jorge); 26. Features of Oral and Written Communication in Subtitling (by Assis Rosa, Alexandra); 27. The Subtitling of la Haine: A Case Study (by Jackel, Anne); 28. Transfert des references culturelles dans les sous-titres filmiques (by Tomaszkiewicz, Teresa); 29. Anglicisms and TV Subtitles in an Anglified World (by Gottlieb, Henrik); 30. Incidental Foreign-Language Acquisition by Children Watching Subtitled Television Programs (by Van de Poel, Marijke); 31. Epilogue; 32. Four Remarks on Translation Research and Multimedia (by Pym, Anthony); 33. References; 34. Subject Index; 35. List of Films and TV Programmes Cited

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Book SynopsisSocial visionary Joseph Chilton Pearce’s indictment of cultural imprinting as the cause of humankind’s cruel and violent behavior • Refutes the Neo-Darwinist assumption that violence is inherent in humanity • Identifies religion as the sustaining force behind our negative cultural imprinting • Shows how infant-adult interactions unconsciously block the creative spirit We are all too aware of the endless variety of cruel and violent behavior reported to us in the media, reminded daily that in every corner of the world someone is suffering or dying at the hands of another. We have to ask: Is this violence and cruelty endemic to our nature? Are we, at our foundation, really so murderous? In The Death of Religion and the Rebirth of Spirit, Joseph Chilton Pearce, life-long advocate of human potential, sounds an emphatic and convincing no. Pearce explains that beneath our awareness, culture imprints a negative force-field that blocks the natural rise of the spirit toward its innate nature of love and altruism. Further, he identifies religion as the primary cultural force behind this negative imprinting. Drawing from recent neuroscience, neurocardiology, cultural anthropology, and brain development research, Pearce explains that the key to reversing this trend can be found in the interaction between infants and adults. The adult mind-set effectively compromises the infant’s neural and hormonal interactions between the heart and the higher evolutionary structures of the developing brain, thus keeping us centered primarily in our most primitive and defensive neural foundations, generation after generation. Pearce shows us that if we allow the intelligence of the heart to take hold and flourish, we can reverse this unconscious loss of our true nature.

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Book SynopsisThe Language of Genetics: An Introduction is the seventh title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, Dr. Denis R. Alexander offers readers a basic toolkit of information, explanations, and ideas that can help us grasp something of the fascination and the challenge of the language of genetics.Alexander surveys the big picture, covering such topics as the birth of the field; DNA: what it is, how it works, and how it was discovered; our genetic history; the role of genes in diseases, epigenetics, and genetic engineering. The book assumes the reader has little scientific background, least of all in genetics, and approaches these issues in a very accessible way, free of specialized or overly technical jargon. In the last chapter, Dr. Alexander explores some of the big questions raised by genetics: what are its implications for notions of human value and uniqueness? Is evolution consistent with religious belief? If we believe in a God of love, then how come the evolutionary process, utterly dependent upon the language of genetics, is so wasteful and involves so much pain and suffering? How far should we go in manipulating the human genome? Does genetics subvert the idea that life has some ultimate meaning and purpose?Genetics is a rapidly advancing field; it seems new discoveries make headlines every other week. The Language of Genetics is intended to give the general reader the knowledge he or she needs to assess and understand the next big story in genetics.

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Book Synopsis“This kaleidoscopic collection will help you see and comprehend the world anew—which is, in my book, what good art should do.” —Astra Taylor It is a scary and disorienting time for art, as it is a scary and disorienting time in general. Aesthetic experience is both overshadowed by the spectacle of current events and pressed into new connection with them. The self-image of art as a social good is collapsing under the weight of capitalism’s dysfunction. In these incisive essays, art critic Ben Davis makes sense of our extreme present as an emerging "after-culture"—a culture whose forms and functions are being radically reshaped by cataclysmic events. In the face of catastrophe, he holds out hope that reckoning with the new realities of art, technology, activism, and the media, can help us weather the super-storms of the future.Trade Review”Ben Davis understands that you can't truly understand art without an analysis of the economic system that created the artist. He understands that movements create change and that artists only create change if they are involved with that movement in other ways than being the expert observer. Here's to art criticism with an axe to grind.” —Boots Riley “Ben Davis is the only art critic I read. These erudite and entertaining essays take the reader on a mind-bending tour through our fragmented, confounding, and commodified cultural landscape, providing welcome historical and political context to many of the high-profile controversies and existential challenges that define our age. Ever attuned to questions of power and profit, Davis never yields to cynicism or forecloses the possibility of creativity’s role in our collective liberation. This kaleidoscopic collection will help you see and comprehend the world anew—which is, in my book, what good art should do.” —Astra Taylor “Amid the cultural sandstorm of infinite memes and ravenous engagement algorithms, rare sneakers and mythic NFTs, made-for-Instagram immersive installations and the relentless firehose of TikTok clips, Ben Davis asks a simple question "What about Art?" What follows is an indispensable series of provocations on the future of culture, politics, and society that speak to some of the most urgent issues facing societies where culture, capitalism, and identity have become nearly indistinguishable from one another. Following in the footsteps of theorists like John Berger, Stuart Hall, and Lucy Lippard, Ben Davis is an essential guide to the politics of culture in the 21st Century.” —Trevor Paglen

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Book SynopsisA personal and engaging tribute to nature from a world-famous theoretical physicist. Marcelo Gleiser has had a passion for science and fishing since he was a boy growing up on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. As a world-famous theoretical physicist with hundreds of scientific articles and several books of popular science to his credit, he felt it was time to once again connect with nature in less theoretical ways. After seeing a fly-fishing class on the Dartmouth College green, he decided to learn to fly-fish, a hobby, he says, that teaches humility. In The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected, Gleiser travels the world to scientific conferences, fishing wherever he goes. At each stop, he ponders the myriad ways physics informs the act of fishing; how, in its turn, fishing serves as a lens into nature's inner workings; and how science engages with questions of meaning and spirituality, inspiring a sense of mystery and awe of the not yet known. Personal and engaging, The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is a scientist's tribute to nature, an affirmation of humanity's deep connection with and debt to Earth, and an exploration of the meaning of existence, from atom to trout to cosmos. This softcover edition features a new essay by Gleiser on how we need a profound change of worldview if we are to have a vibrant future for our species in this fragile environment. He describes how this book was an incubator for his current thinking.Trade Review“You will not learn how to fly fish from this book. You may decide to try it out. Or you may feel inclined to go on your own spiritual journey and reconnect with nature.” * The Citizen (Vermont) *“The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is an elegantly written, introspective, and thought-provoking meditation on growing up as someone curious about the universe. It’s a wonderful introduction to the human side of science and the scientific side of being human.” -- Sean Carroll, author of The Big PictureTable of ContentsPrologue 1 Cumbria, Lake District, UK 2 Sao Jose Dos Ausentes, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil 3 Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy 4 Laxa River, Myvatnssveit, Iceland Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisThe gripping and definitive in-the-room account of the revolution that has swept the news industry over the last decade and reshaped our world.The last decade has seen the News industry face unprecedented change. The sometimes-century old institutions which were once the bastions of truth have had their dominance eroded by vast innovations in viral technology and, as millennial appetites force the industry to choose between principles of objectivity and impartiality, the survivors must confront the horrifying cost of their success: sexual scandal, fake news, the election of President Trump and the shaking of democracy.Taking us behind the scenes at four media titans - BuzzFeed, VICE, The New York Times and The Washington Post - Abramson reveals the human drama behind this shift: one involving deal-making tycoons, thrusting reporters, hard-bitten editors, egomaniacs, bullshitters, provocateurs and bullies, with some surfing and others drowning in the breaking wave of change. 'A cracking, essential read… Abramson knows where most of the bodies are buried and is prepared to draw the reader a detailed map' GuardianTrade ReviewA cracking, essential read … [Abramson] knows where most of the bodies are buried and is prepared to draw the reader a detailed map * Guardian *A masterwork … a vastly useful immersion in the ways of contemporary journalism * Financial Times *Chock-full of arresting titbits … describes the perfect storm that has engulfed newspapers over the past dozen years * Telegraph *Amazing. Filled with colourful inside stories, this book is essential for anyone who wants to understand today’s media and how it is affecting our society -- WALTER ISAACSONDeeply researched, wonderfully written and filled with fascinating portraits. Jill Abramson tells the truth about the news business as only she can tell it. An important book at a crucial time -- GAY TALESEA fascinating read -- Liz Thomson * The Arts Desk *

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Book Synopsis'Devastating and urgent, this book could not be more timely' Caroline Criado Perez, award-winning and bestselling author of Invisible WomenDanielle Citron takes the conversation about technology and privacy out of the boardrooms and op-eds to reach readers where we are - in our bathrooms and bedrooms; with our families and our lovers; in all the parts of our lives we assume are untouchable - and shows us that privacy, as we think we know it, is largely already gone.The boundary that once protected our intimate lives from outside interests is an artefact of the twentieth century. In the twenty-first, we have embraced a vast array of technology that enables constant access and surveillance of the most private aspects of our lives. From non-consensual pornography, to online extortion, to the sale of our data for profit, we are vulnerable to abuse -- and our laws have failed miserably to keep up.With vivid examples drawn from interviews with victims, activists and lawmakers from around the world, The Fight for Privacy reveals the threat we face and argues urgently and forcefully for a reassessment of privacy as a human right. As a legal scholar and expert, Danielle Citron is the perfect person to show us the way to a happier, better protected future.Trade ReviewIt's so refreshing to read an argument for privacy that centres women - Citron presents a crucial analysis that has been sorely missing from this important debate until now. Devastating and urgent, this book could not be more timely -- Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible WomenThe Fight for Privacy is nothing less than the battle to keep our intimate, private selves free from exploitation. A vitally important book -- Cordelia Fine, author of A Mind Of Its OwnDanielle Keats Citron has given us a crucial book for understanding the crisis of privacy invasion, and the unrelenting damage that comes from intimate, nonconsensual surveillance. This book should be required reading for every policy maker, parent, or person who wants to reimagine privacy protections. If you care about anyone, anywhere, you should read this book -- Safiya Noble, author of Algorithms of OppressionProfessor Citron - the brilliant, ground-breaking law professor and civil rights advocate - continues her important and impactful work in helping governments, society, and the titans of the technology sector to understand that our collective failure to protect our intimate privacy amounts to a massive failing to protect our basic civil rights. Through heart-breaking accounts form victims, a careful and detailed exposition of how a range of technologies are being weaponized against us, and a detailed review of the ethical and legal landscape governing these issues, The Fight for Privacy is a must read by anyone who cares about civil rights -- Hany Farid, UC BerkeleyThis is a terrific, though terrifying, exposé about how often our intimate activities and intimate information about us end up on social media. Professor Danielle Citron makes a compelling case for a 'right to intimate privacy' under the law. This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience and hopefully will inspire needed meaningful change in the law * Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law *When your wristwatch monitors your location and your health status and your window-shopping and purchases generate information sold and combined with other information about you, the accumulation of 'little assents' produce constant surveillance, risks of manipulation, and the elimination of privacy. Danielle Citron's expert and engaging treatment of 'technology-enabled privacy violations' shows why victims, digital platforms, and legislators alike turn to her for advice and for fights to reclaim privacy morally, legally, and practically -- Martha Minow, former Dean, Harvard Law SchoolPrivacy is politics, and if we want it back we must fight for it. In this open-hearted and down-to-earth book Danielle Citron offers reasons for optimism among the ruins of our once cherished privacy. She details the devastating effects of the loss of 'intimate privacy' and argues that new rights and laws for the digital age are both long overdue and within our grasp. Lawmakers and citizens alike, this book is for you -- Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business SchoolDanielle Citron's book makes privacy undeniably and uncomfortably personal, shining a light on the ways technology is used to pry open the most intimate corners of our lives. Hers is a powerful and urgent manifesto for the protection of "intimate privacy" in the United States and beyond -- Susie Alegre, author of Freedom to Think, international human rights lawyerThe Fight for Privacy is a tour de force. Arguing convincingly that our intimate privacy is a moral necessity being eroded in frightening and accelerating ways, Citron offers trenchant clarity and lucid hope for achieving justice in our digital future. A must read -- Kate Manne, author of Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women

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Book SynopsisApproach the future as a conversation, not a declaration. How can you be prepared for what's next when emerging trends constantly threaten to turn your strategic plan on its head? The world of business is experiencing a state of hyperchange influenced by global movements, disruptive technologies, political uprisings and new consumer expectations. If your world is turned upside down, will you know how to pivot and thrive, or will you be roadkill in the 'adapt or die' business race? Futuring is the art of anticipating and testing the trade-offs of different futures by making sense of key trends, signals and emerging patterns. How to Future is the only book that will teach you how to become a strategy wayfinder, allowing you to evaluate, plan and prepare for better futures for you and your business. How to Future is a guidebook to futuring and arms you with tools, strategies and practices that illuminate new strategic pathways. Renowned futurists Scott Smith and Madeline Ashby teach you how to manage the daily flood of information and signals, and discern emergent patterns that have a direct impact on the direction of your business. How to Future isn't about the "one future" you expect. Instead, this book equips you with valuable tools and concepts, builds a future-focused mindset and enables you to envision, stress-test and prototype adaptable, informed and agile strategic visioning. These tools will empower you, your team and your organization to anticipate whatever futures emerge.Trade Review"Just like great science fiction, 'futuring' isn't about trying to predict the future; it's about stimulating creative thinking about a range of possible futures. In How to Future, two of the best strategic foresight professionals in the business share all of their secrets, explaining how you can use the same tools they use to help their clients systematically think about and prepare for what's coming next--whatever it might be. It's a toolbox for taking control of your own future." * Kevin Bankston, AI Policy Director at Facebook and Fellow at Arizona State University's Center for Science and the Imagination *"The Future is no longer uncertain once you have read How to Future. The book does a brilliant job of providing the reader with the confidence and know-how to embrace uncertainty and work purposefully towards the future with ease. Using models of possibility and clear framework tools, anyone can learn to understand, predict, and shape the future, which is particularly refreshing considering the fact that futuring can often feel like an intimidating task." * Julie Doleman, Managing Director, Global Expansion at Experian Consumer Services *"The future is rarely singular, and even more rarely stable. And there are few voices I would rather have in my head, to keep me company into all those futures than Scott Smith and Madeline Ashby. Drawing on more than two decades of expertise and experience, this book is an exemplary way-finding tool, full of helpful instructions and sign-posts that will be unfailing useful no matter where you find yourself. And the book is also an incantation: summon the future, they write, but do it with intentionality, a sense of purpose, and a strong moral compass!" * Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell, Director of the 3A Institute, Australian National University and Senior Fellow, Intel Corporation *"Smith and Ashby have done our increasingly uncertain world a service with How to Future by sharing the crown jewels of the futurists' trade. This book is filled with plain-spoken but extremely sophisticated guidance on how to understand-and prepare for-what's over the horizon." * August Cole, co-author of Burn In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution and Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War *"Reading How to Future in mid-2020, reinforced in my mind how important it is to broaden the scope of who gets to 'future.' There has never been a better time to learn how to imagine new possibilities and incorporate more diversity of experiences and points of view into the process. If you want to engage communities and make new, different, and more resilient futures happen, Smith and Ashby's book provides both a manual and a call for doing so." * Matt Jones, Principal Designer, Google AI *"In a world that needs proper, grown-up futures thinking more than ever, How To Future is simply brilliant - it's the tonic (and the gin!) we've been waiting for. A true manual to futuring, it is both accessible and wise, written by two of the leading thinkers in the field with their characteristic wry pragmatism. With hope and without hype, the book shows us how to better think about, prepare for, and deal with the many strange things the future yet has to offer." * Professor Alf Rehn, Author "Innovation for the Fatigued" *"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The old pros at Changeist have written the definitive guide to thinking around corners, out of quarantine, and through the uncertainty ahead. How to Future contains all the accrued foresight you need to begin practicing futures as a team or organization, and persuasively argues that your "return on vision" will trump straight-line projections every time." * Greg Lindsay, Director of Applied Research, NewCities Foundation *Table of Contents Chapter - 00: Introduction; Chapter - 01: Different futuring for different needs; Chapter - 02: Getting started – scoping; Chapter - 03: Sensing and scanning – finding signals of the future now; Chapter - 04: Sense-making and mapping – turning data and insights into patterns and themes; Chapter - 05: Scenario development – combining patterns and themes to tell strategic stories; Chapter - 06: Storytelling and prototyping – creating ways for others to engage with your future stories; Chapter - 07: Assessing effectiveness – tools for monitoring and measuring fitness of approach; Chapter - 08: What to do next? Building a futuring culture; Chapter - 09: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisDemocratizing Technology provides a much-needed fresh perspective on the regulation of chemicals, and an important contribution to green thinking about technology.Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP. This book is an excellent critique of the current risk-based approach to technology. By exploring the philosophical underpinnings and the practical applications of current policy on science and technology, Chapman exposes the serious flaws in allowing economic considerations to dominate the agenda in this area. Her proposals for reform are expertly constructed and deserve urgent and serious consideration by policy-makers.Dr Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility. In this important book Anne Chapman argues that decisions about technology should answer a republican question: what kind of public world should we create through technology? Democratizing Technology deserves to be read widely. John ONeill, Professor of Political Economy, University of Manchester, UK A welcome addition to the new, more empirical and applied literature in philosophy of technology. This book will be essential reading for a variety of scholars and for the general reader intent on understanding, and criticizing, our chemically made world.Andrew Light, Interim Director, Program on the Environment, University of Washington, US What is technology? How do humans use it to build and modify the world? What are the relationships between technology, science, economics and democratic governance? What, if any, are our ethical and political responsibilities and choices in how we develop, deploy and control technology in democratic states? Democratizing Technology sets out to answer these questions. Focusing on the most widespread and pervasive technology - chemicals - this groundbreaking volume peels apart the critical technology debate to look at the relationship between humans, technology and the biological world. Attention is given to the immensely important new regulations, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals), the EUs largest ever legal framework, discussing the problems that are likely to occur in REACHs reliance on risk assessment methods and suggesting an alternative way forward for the regulation of chemicals. Providing much-needed clarity and insight into the heart of key debates in science and technology, risk analysis and mitigation, and domestic and international law, this volume arrives as a breath of fresh air.Trade Review'Democratizing Technology is an interesting book with contorversial opinions and proposals. [...] The book is a good candidate for the start of many interesting discussions in and out the classroom. Recommended.' R.E. Buntrock, formerly, University of Maine, USA 'Where the book excels is the thoughtful exploration of questions of profound relevance to public health, such as divergence between our understanding, our behaviours and public policies with respect to risk and responsibility. The analysis provides innovative insights for behaviouralists, policy development in both theoretical and practical spheres, ethicists, political analysts, environmental health scholars and all who encounter technology, and wonder about how we personally and collectively respond to technology in our midst.' Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 'An interesting book with controversial opinions and proposals... Recommended' ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface * Acknowledgements * Introduction * What is Technology? * Technology as World-Building * Technology, Science and the Economy * The Regulation of Chemicals * Risk * Assessing Risks from Chemicals * The Ethical and Political Framework of Regulation * Responsibility * Making Decisions about Technology * Index

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Book Synopsis'TIMELY AND IMPORTANT' JIM AL-KHALILIIn Our Own Image by Dr George Zarkadakis explores one of humankind’s oldest love–hate relationships – our ties with Artificial Intelligence or AI. Zarkadakis traces AI’s origins in ancient myth, through literary classics such as Frankenstein, to today’s sci-fi blockbusters, arguing that a fascination with AI is hardwired into the human psyche. He explains AI’s history, technology and potential; its manifestations in intelligent machines; its connections to neurology and consciousness, as well as – perhaps most tellingly – what AI reveals about us as human beings. In Our Own Image argues that we are on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution – poised to enter the age of Artificial Intelligence as science fiction becomes science fact. Ultimately, Zarkadakis observes, the fate of AI has profound implications for the future of science and humanity itself…Trade ReviewZarkadakis is an exciting and original thinker in the field of Artificial Intelligence and has written a book that is timely and important. * Jim Al-Khalili PhD OBE, author of Paradox *A mindful and historical look at the hope, hype and reality of artificial consciousness -- Stuart Hameroff, co-author of Consciousness and the UniverseFascinating [and] rich...interweaves sci-fi visions with explorations of the philosophy, technology and deep history of artificial super-intelligence -- Steve Cave * Financial Times *Ingenious...A delightfully lucid combination of the history, philosophy, and science behind thinking machines. * Kirkus Reviews *fascinating...the most comprehensive history of AI for our digital age [and] highly accessible * Publisher’s Weekly *

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Book SynopsisOver the last fifty years, humanity has developed an extraordinary global utility which is omnipresent, universal, and available to all: the Global Positioning System (GPS). A network of twenty-four satellites and their monitoring stations on Earth, it makes possible almost all modern technology, from the smartphone in your pocket to the Mars rover. Neither the internet nor the cloud would work without it. And it is changing us in profound ways we've yet to come to terms with. While GPS has brought us breathtakingly accurate methods of timekeeping, navigation, and earthquake tracking, our overwhelming reliance on it is having unexpected consequences on our culture, and on ourselves. GPS is reshaping our thinking about privacy and surveillance, and brings with it the growing danger of GPS terrorism. Neuroscientists have even found that using GPS for navigation may be affecting our cognitive maps - possibly rearranging the grey matter in our heads - leading to the increasingly common phenomenon 'Death by GPS', in which drivers blindly follow their devices into deserts, lakes, and impassable mountains. Deeply researched, inventive and with fascinating insights into the way we think about our place in the world, Pinpoint reveals the way that the technologies we design to help us can end up shaping our lives. It is at once a grand history of science and a far-reaching book about contemporary culture.

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Book SynopsisThe fully revised third edition of Katharine Hill's wise and encouraging book on parenting in the digital world. A lifeline for parents and carers, this book offers practical advice on screen time and social media, as well as cyberbullying, grooming and pornography, with new content on gaming and sharenting'

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Book SynopsisWhat makes Time, Ignorance, and Death inevitable? Do they have something in common? A pioneer of reducing that deadly something leads a short tour of where it''s found and displaced. Sayre''s tour visits some unusual places. An immigrant neighborhood builds a microgrid. A remote radio telescope solves how to detect intelligence in the universe. A quantum mystery is resolved by our own incomplete view. All are related.The tour''s destination is a moral compass and hope in tragedy.

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Book SynopsisA vision for the sustainable future of our planet

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Book SynopsisOffline Matters is a handbook for anybody experiencing digital overload in their lives and creative work."For any creative who has had to cater to corporate dimwits in order support their art, here's a terrific guide to bringing your best work into the commercial sphere without selling out or compromising your craft. This is a book about how to break free from the data-driven expectations of your client's spreadsheet, and retrieve the true novelty that makes you valuable in the first place." - Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human"Offline Matters is a much needed take-down of the whole 'cult of creativity' from the inside. This rattle gun attack on the perniciousness of the creative digital work will leave you aghast and amused in equal measure." - Oli Mould, author of Against CreativityWhen did creative work become so boring?How did 'digital-first' come to dominate everything?...and why is nobody talking about it?Part insider exposé, part worker-manual, this book is for any creative seeking help on: Navigating the possibility of offline alternatives Countering overwork culture, exploitation, and dulled-down ideas Recovering what you loved about your creative calling ...away from the confines of our screens. We are dreaming of offline. Not as a romanticised past, a punishment, a quick detox, or a WiFi-free café. Offline is not a lifestyle. It's a space of opportunity.By the end of Offline Matters, you'll have a new perspective on the dry digitality that defines creative work today - and a set of strategies for going beyond it.Trade Review"Offline Matters is a much needed take-down of the whole 'cult of creativity' from the inside. This rattle gun attack on the perniciousness of the creative digital work will leave you aghast and amused in equal measure." - Oli Mould, author of Against Creativity"For any creative who has had to cater to corporate dimwits in order support their art, here's a terrific guide to bringing your best work into the commercial sphere without selling out or compromising your craft. This is a book about how to break free from the data-driven expectations of your client's spreadsheet, and retrieve the true novelty that makes you valuable in the first place." - Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human"This book is extremely timely. The pandemic has obliged everybody to stay online almost all the time. Offline Matters reminds us that life is (also) elsewhere. The neologism 'offline', which did not exist twenty years ago, has philosophical relevance. This book is hoping we can discover it." - Franco 'Bifo' Berardi, philosopher, theorist and activist"Today we are all called upon to be the content providers of our own lives. This can be exhausting and estranging. Fortunately Jess Henderson has arrived to help us get offline, not into the pasts but into the presence of our lives. With compassion and humour Henderson brings us back to ourselves and it turns out we are not predestined to be profiled and branded. Offline Matters is the mutual help book we need right now!" - Stefano Harney, co-author of The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study"Jess has written a kind of outsider/artist/creative/inventor SURVIVAL MANUAL for our over-amped, information-overloaded, hypercommunicative age. Anyone seeking encouragement, inspiration, moral support, and IDEAS would do well to study these pages, preferably in a solitary room with no music playing and no laptop showing 'news' (or a cellphone constantly pinging). Electronics in another room, please!" - V. Vale, founder of RE/Search and Search & Destroy"Offline Matters couldn't come at a more important and critical juncture in our human existence...The insights within this book highlight the current creative plight we've gotten ourselves into and the cracks within many cultural and societal pillars.This book is a great step in helping us reclaim and reconsider our roles within the current structures we've all been players within. Many of us can read along nodding in agreement and the examples surely represent thoughts we've embraced at some point. But this book isn't about reprimanding us so much as help us understand how we can move forward. We've become so subservient to other factors out in the world and this is a stern reminder to take back control of something that can provide an immense amount of personal and community value." - Eugene Kan, co-founder of MAEKAN and Hypebeast"Consider this book a rehabilitation program for a creative thinking populace unknowingly addicted to vain online activity. Through these influential pages, Henderson bestows upon their readers the tools necessary to free one's mind from the constraints of the virtual realm so they may focus instead on something much more important...reality." - James T. Padlow, THE PEN NAME"I have followed Jess' writing since she created Outsider; an anarchic newsletter/witty commentary against the establishment, and its pervasive contentment with the same old marketing bullshit. I waited in anticipation, sometimes for months, to receive news from the trenches...Just like the white space between the lines in a book, it was like reading every unspoken truth, every unheard sigh, every roll of the eyes in our industry. Someone had to say it and thank god it was Jess. We need this book." - Alvaro Sotomayor, Creative Director at WEIDEN+KENNEDY

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Book SynopsisCollaborate with cutting-edge tools like ChatGPT, NotebookLM, Perplexity and Copilot.

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Book SynopsisNational security is paramount for an all inclusive development. Along with a holistic approach in place, there is an urgent need to first recognise the challenges to national security of the country. National Security Challenges: Young Scholars’ Perspective – a tribute to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw from the youth of the country – primarily deals with India`s national security challenges from a hardcore, predominantly traditional security point of view.The main aim of the book is to develop strategic thinking amongst the youth of this country. To provide a suitable platform to the university students, CLAWS has initiated an unprecedented pan-India essay competition – Field Marshal Manekshaw Essay Competition (FMMEC). The book is the outcome of an overwhelming response to the competition over past two years, and 12 select essays have been compiled, edited, and published.Dealing with wide range of subjects from conceptual understandings, threats and challenges emanating from technological advancements, to learning from national, regional and global experiences; the book provides a fresh approach to the subject. It also gives a sneak peek into what the youth of India feels about national security in the form of policy recommendations.To boost the morale of the young authors and university students, the book carries messages from Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, Hon’ble National Security Advisor and Chief of the Army Staff.

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Book SynopsisHow do you describe cyberspace comprehensively?This book examines the relationship between cyberspace and sovereignty as understood by jurists and economists. The author transforms and abstracts cyberspace from the perspective of science and technology into the subject, object, platform, and activity in the field of philosophy. From the three dimensions of 'ontology' (cognition of cyberspace and information), 'epistemology' (sovereignty evolution), and 'methodology' (theoretical refinement), he uses international law, philosophy of science and technology, political philosophy, cyber security, and information entropy to conduct cross-disciplinary research on cyberspace and sovereignty to find a scientific and accurate methodology. Cyberspace sovereignty is the extension of modern state sovereignty. Only by firmly establishing the rule of law of cyberspace sovereignty can we reduce cyber conflicts and cybercrimes, oppose cyber hegemony, and prevent cyber war. The purpose of investigating cyberspace and sovereignty is to plan good laws and good governance. This book argues that cyberspace has sovereignty, sovereignty governs cyberspace, and cyberspace governance depends on comprehensive planning. This is a new theory of political philosophy and sovereignty law.Table of ContentsNoumenon: Thing-in-Itself: Ontology of Cyberspace; Cyberspace Evolution; Cyberspace Security; Cyberspace Sovereignty; Epistemology: The Consideration of Cyberspace Order; The History of Cyberspace Legislation; The Rule of Law in Cyberspace Sovereignty; Methodology: Cyberspace and Order Coordination; Cyberspace and Overall Planning Entropy; The Overall Planning of Cyberspace Justice;

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Book SynopsisThis book is about the nature of information. It touches on many core issues of philosophy of the mind, ontology, and epistemology, and draws in several domain-specific concepts from physics, mathematics, thermodynamics, computer science, and biology. The terms used in this book, such as the mind, a conscious agent, meaning, and knowledge are used with very precise meanings because they can be easily misinterpreted. A proper understanding of these terms can be gained from the referenced literature. But more specifically, this book is about the concept of information as physical phenomenon.The book is a unique exposition of the concept of information as physical phenomenon. It provides the detailed analysis and synthesis of the current conceptualizations of information demonstrating the lack of common definition and their incompleteness. The detailed argument is provided why information may be defined as a physical phenomenon and why this type of information may be seen as fundamental to our understanding of this concept.

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Book SynopsisArtificial intelligence and related technologies are changing both the law and the legal profession. In particular, technological advances in fields ranging from machine learning to more advanced robots, including sensors, virtual realities, algorithms, bots, drones, self-driving cars, and more sophisticated “human-like” robots are creating new and previously unimagined challenges for regulators. These advances also give rise to new opportunities for legal professionals to make efficiency gains in the delivery of legal services. With the exponential growth of such technologies, radical disruption seems likely to accelerate in the near future.This collection brings together a series of contributions by leading scholars in the newly emerging field of artificial intelligence, robotics, and the law. The aim of the book is to enrich legal debates on the social meaning and impact of this type of technology. The distinctive feature of the contributions presented in this edition is that they address the impact of these technological developments in a number of different fields of law and from the perspective of diverse jurisdictions. Moreover, the authors utilize insights from multiple related disciplines, in particular social theory and philosophy, in order to better understand and address the legal challenges created by AI. Therefore, the book will contribute to interdisciplinary debates on disruptive new AI technologies and the law.Trade Review“Scholars interested in legal-philosophical aspects of emerging technologies or researching privacy regulations likely would find relevant material in this book. This book is recommended for academic collections, especially those with a European law and/or robotics focus.” (Sara Bensley, Law Library Journal, Vol. 112 (1), 2020)Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisThe latest advances and discoveries in science have made, and continue to make, a huge impact on our lives. This book is a history of the social impact of science and technology from the beginnings of civilization up to the present. The book explains how the key inventions: agriculture, writing and printing with movable type, initiated an explosive growth of knowledge and human power over the environment. It also shows how the Industrial Revolution changed the relationship between humans and nature, and initiated a massive use of fossil fuels. Problems related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, information technology, exhaustion of non-renewable resources, use of fossil fuels and climate change are examined in the later chapters of the book. Finally, the need for ethical maturity to match our scientific progress is discussed.Table of ContentsPreface; The Beginnings of Civilization; Ancient Greece; The Hellenistic Era; Civilizations of the East; Science in the Renaissance; Galileo; The Age of Reason; The Industrial Revolution; Evolution; Victory Over Disease; Atoms in Chemistry; Electricity and Magnetism; Atomic and Nuclear Physics; Relativity; Nuclear Fission; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Genesplicing; Artificial Intelligence; Caring for the Earth; Looking Towards the Future; Index;

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Book SynopsisThis study examines the role of technological innovation during the rise of social groups in the Middle Ages.Trade Review"Excellent."--Louis P. Towles, Central Wesleyan College "The most stimulating book of the century on the history of technology...a positive delight."--Isis "At once an advance in the study of medieval technology and also the best introduction to the subject for the serious general reader."--The Economist "Still essential reading for students of Medieval studies. A must for those interested in Medieval technology and its impact on the development of western society."--Cecile-Marie Sastre, Flagler CollegeTable of Contents1. Stirrup, Mounted Shock Combat, Feudalism, and Chivalry I. The Classic Theory of the Origins of Feudalism and its Critics II. The Origin and Duffusion of the Stirrup III. Mounted Shock Combat and the Temper of Feudal Life 2. The Agricultural Revolution of the Early Middle Ages I. The Plough and the Manorial System II. The Discovery of Horse-Power III. The Three-Field Rotation and Improved Nutrition IV. The Northward Shift of Europe's Focus 3. The Medieval Exploration of Mechanical Power and Devices I. The Sources of Power II. The Development of Machine Design III. The Concept of a Power Technology Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"There’s a lot not to like about social media, some of which Eschmann explores in a discussion of a Facebook page that invites anonymous postings about race, among other topics, that seems to be a magnet for hate. . . . [Yet] Eschmann’s book reveals that there are opportunities for social media to be beneficial to people experiencing marginalization." * Everyday Sociology *"The book makes a timely and relevant contribution both to the study of the societal impacts of masked racist ideologies widely fostered on social media and ways to resist this worrisome social phenomenon." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"The Deportation Express strikes that rare balance between thoughtful, well-researched scholarship and smooth readability. . . . [it is] a story about each of us, as participants in an ongoing national experiment, and our collective work to shape our discourse, values, and identity as a United States community." * Southern California Quarterly *Table of ContentsContents 1. An Intellectual Puzzle 2. Once We Were Colorblind 3. Mask On: Rules of Racial Engagement 4. Mask Off: Revelations and New Realities 5. Digital Resistance 6. Double-Sided Consciousness 7. Protest, Posters, and QR Codes 8. Racism Is Trending Acknowledgments Appendix Tables Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisNobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose questions some of the most fashionable ideas in physics today, including string theoryWhat can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy possibly have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe? Surely, theoretical physicists are immune to mere trends, dogmatic beliefs, or flights of fancy? In fact, acclaimed physicist and bestselling author Roger Penrose argues that researchers working at the extreme frontiers of physics are just as susceptible to these forces as anyone else. In this provocative book, he argues that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential in physics, may be leading today''s researchers astray in three of the field''s most important areas—string theory, quantum mechanics, and cosmology.Arguing that string theory has veered away from physical reality by positing six extra hidden dimensions, Penrose cautions that the fashionable nature of a theory can cloud our judgment of its plausibility. In the case of quantum mechanics, its stunning success in explaining the atomic universe has led to an uncritical faith that it must also apply to reasonably massive objects, and Penrose responds by suggesting possible changes in quantum theory. Turning to cosmology, he argues that most of the current fantastical ideas about the origins of the universe cannot be true, but that an even wilder reality may lie behind them. Finally, Penrose describes how fashion, faith, and fantasy have ironically also shaped his own work, from twistor theory, a possible alternative to string theory that is beginning to acquire a fashionable status, to 'conformal cyclic cosmology,' an idea so fantastic that it could be called 'conformal crazy cosmology.'The result is an important critique of some of the most significant developments in physics today from one of its most eminent figures.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Chemistry & Physics, Association of American Publishers "Physics has been at an awkward impasse for the past century. Two theories--quantum mechanics and general relativity--are widely believed to be true... But they contradict each other in basic ways--they cannot both be entirely true. InFashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe... Roger Penrose, an elder statesman of physics, considers the problem. As intellectually offbeat as he is eminent... he ventures here some novel ways in which the two theories might be reconciled."--Wall Street Journal "Penrose gets to the heart of modern physics' problem with subjectivity in this insightful and provocative pop-sci title... [A] rewarding discussion of scientific stumbles in the search for truth."--Publishers Weekly "It is always inspiring to read Penrose's uncompromisingly independent perspec-tive on physics."--Richard Dawid, Nature "An extremely original, rich, and thoughtful survey of today's most fashionable attempts to decipher the cosmos on its smallest and largest scales."--Science "I can't recommend [Fashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe] too highly to anyone with a serious interest in fundamental questions about physics."--Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong blog "In standing outside the fray and criticising the central dogmas of fundamental physics, Penrose is playing the role of Einstein, who forced quantum theorists to defend and hone their ideas, and Sir Fred Hoyle, who persistently challenged Big Bang theorists to sharpen their ideas. This is an extremely important role, and long may Penrose fulfill it."--Times Higher Education "[A] beautifully produced, beautifully laid-out and diagrammed book... There is possibly no better or more original expositor than Penrose to draw from. If modern physics theory is of interest to you, you certainly won't want to ignore this book."--Math Frolic "The book is replete with phenomenal visual representations of the physics under discussion, a reminder of Penrose's ability to see and describe physics in a unique way... Ultimately, what is most valuable about the book is the excellent example he offers in how to ask questions."--Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Physics World "Something is rotten in the state of physics... The eminent mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose identifies several possible sources of the rot... He is not one to be intimidated by an overwhelming majority, no matter how illustrious and vocal it is. He sets out his objections politely and with exemplary patience towards the keepers of physics orthodoxy... Time will tell whether any of his judgments are correct. In the meantime, his critics would do well to remember George Bernard Shaw's warning: 'The minority is sometimes right; the majority is always wrong.'"--Graham Farmelo, Guardian "A valuable insight into what one of the most prominent theoretical physicists of recent times makes of reality's relationship to ideas in quantum theory, standard cosmology, and theories that pretend to replace them."--Richard Webb, New Scientist "The strength of this book is how the reader can appreciate science as a human undertaking."--Choice "The most important thing is not exactly what he writes about string theory, cosmology and quantum mechanics in his latest book ... but that a book so wide and deep in its erudition could be written at all. If his successors cannot do the same, science will be all the poorer."--Philip Ball, ProspectTable of ContentsAcknowledgements ix Preface xi Are fashion, faith, or fantasy relevant to fundamental science? xi 1 Fashion 1 1.1 Mathematical elegance as a driving force 1 1.2 Some fashionable physics of the past 10 1.3 Particle-physics background to string theory 17 1.4 The superposition principle in QFT 20 1.5 The power of Feynman diagrams 25 1.6 The original key ideas of string theory 32 1.7 Time in Einstein's general relativity 42 1.8 Weyl's gauge theory of electromagnetism 52 1.9 Functional freedom in Kaluza-Klein and string models 59 1.10 Quantum obstructions to functional freedom? 69 1.11 Classical instability of higher-dimensional string theory 77 1.12 The fashionable status of string theory 82 1.13 M-theory 90 1.14 Supersymmetry 95 1.15 AdS/CFT 104 1.16 Brane-worlds and the landscape 117 2 Faith 121 2.1 The quantum revelation 121 2.2 Max Planck's E = hnu 126 2.3 The wave-particle paradox 133 2.4 Quantum and classical levels: C, U, and R 138 2.5 Wave function of a point-like particle 145 2.6 Wave function of a photon 153 2.7 Quantum linearity 158 2.8 Quantum measurement 164 2.9 The geometry of quantum spin 174 2.10 Quantum entanglement and EPR effects 182 2.11 Quantum functional freedom 188 2.12 Quantum reality 198 2.13 Objective quantum state reduction: a limit to the quantum faith? 204 3 Fantasy 216 3.1 The Big Bang and FLRW cosmologies 216 3.2 Black holes and local irregularities 230 3.3 The second law of thermodynamics 241 3.4 The Big Bang paradox 250 3.5 Horizons, comoving volumes, and conformal diagrams 258 3.6 The phenomenal precision in the Big Bang 270 3.7 Cosmological entropy? 275 3.8 Vacuum energy 285 3.9 Inflationary cosmology 294 3.10 The anthropic principle 310 3.11 Some more fantastical cosmologies 323 4 A New Physics for the Universe? 334 4.1 Twistor theory: an alternative to strings? 334 4.2 Whither quantum foundations? 353 4.3 Conformal crazy cosmology? 371 4.4 A personal coda 391 Appendix A Mathematical Appendix 397 A.1 Iterated exponents 397 A.2 Functional freedom of fields 401 A.3 Vector spaces 407 A.4 Vector bases, coordinates, and duals 413 A.5 Mathematics of manifolds 417 A.6 Manifolds in physics 425 A.7 Bundles 431 A.8 Functional freedom via bundles 439 A.9 Complex numbers 445 A.10 Complex geometry 448 A.11 Harmonic analysis 458 References 469 Index 491

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Book SynopsisAmong the great ironies of quantum mechanics is not only that its conceptual foundations seem strange even to the physicists who use it, but that philosophers have largely ignored it. Here, Bernard d'Espagnat argues that quantum physics--by casting doubts on once hallowed concepts such as space, material objects, and causality-demands serious reconTrade Review"Bernard d'Espagnat eschews the technical philosophical and mathematical jargon ... while nonetheless getting deeply into the consistency and plausibility of significant metaphysical claims. For all collections on the philosophy of science... Highly recommended."--Choice "In this valuable work, Bernard d'Espagnat brings his considerable expertise in contemporary physics to bear on the difficult philosophical issues arising from the current understanding of the subatomic domain."--Thomas Oberdan, Isis "Written in a very readable style, without an overload of mathematical equations, Of Physics and Philosophy unfolds the exotic features of quantum physics to the accompaniment of philosophical commentary. It is without doubt a work of immense scholarship, and will probably hold its own till the mysteries in the field are adequately understood. D'Espagnat's scholarship is helping understand the bizarre implications of quantum theory in investigating everything from free will and the paranormal to the enigma of consciousness."--Sudhirendar Sharma, CaravanTable of ContentsPreface to the English Edition xi Foreword 1 PART 1: PHYSICAL FACTS AND RELATED CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER 1: Broad Overview 13 1-1. A General Picture 13 1-2. Some Useful Definitions 21 CHAPTER 2: Overstepping the Limits of the Framework of Familiar Concepts 32 2-1. Introduction 32 2-2. From Aristotle's Ontology to Descartes' Near Realism and Galilean Ontology 32 2-3. A Small Digression on Ontology 34 2-4. A Gradual Overstepping 37 2-5. Trajectories and Misleading "Pieces of Evidence" 38 2-6. On the Existence or Nonexistence of Hidden Things: Particles and Dirac's Sea 41 2-7. A "Fabricated" Ontology 46 2-8. Indications for What Follows 48 CHAPTER 3: Nonseparability and Bell's Theorem 51 3-1. Correlation at-a-Distance: Bell's Theorem 51 3-2. Locality and the Bell Theorem 58 3-3. Discussion and Philosophical Implications 71 CHAPTER 4: Objectivity and Empirical Reality 89 4-1. Strong Objectivity and Weak Objectivity (Alias Intersubjectivity) 89 4-2. The Measurement Problem and Empirical Reality 101 4-3. "Quantum Rules" and "von Neumann's Chain" 110 CHAPTER 5: Quantum Physics and Realism 113 5-1. Strong Objectivity and Realism 113 5-2. Intersubjective Agreement 127 5-3. Intersubjective Agreement and Empirical Reality 127 5-4. Conceptual Glimpses; Carnap, Quine, Primas; Relative Ontologies 129 CHAPTER 6: Universal Laws and the "Reality" Question 134 6-1. The "Theoretical Framework" Notion 134 6-2. Antiuniversalism and "Realism about Entities" 136 6-3. "Pythagorism" ("Einsteinism") 142 6-4. Remarks Concerning Two "Macrorealisms" 145 6-5. Quantum Mechanics as a Universal Theoretical Framework 146 6-6. Antirealism 148 CHAPTER 7: Antirealism and Physics; the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Problem; Methodological Operationalism 152 7-1. "Value of a Quantum Physical Quantity" in the Antirealist Framework 152 7-2. Operationalism (Alias "Instrumentalism") 156 7-3. On "Meaning" and "Prediction" 166 CHAPTER 8: Measurement and Decoherence, Universality Revisited 168 8-1. Introduction 168 8-2. Decoherence 177 8-3. Decoherence and State Robustness 189 8-4. The Everett-Zurek Semirealist Approach 190 8-5. Universality Revisited 192 CHAPTER 9: Various Realist Attempts 196 9-1. Introduction 196 9-2. On Our Intellectual Craving for Realism 196 9-3. The Broglie-Bohm Approach 199 9-4. The So-Called "Modal" Interpretation 206 9-5. The Heisenberg Representation: It Does Not, by Itself, Yield a Solution 209 9-6. Feynman's Reformulation and the Corresponding "Fabricated Ontology" 211 9-7. A "Realism of Signification" 216 9-8. Nonlinear Realist Quantum Theories 220 9-9. Outlook 222 CHAPTER 10: Schrodinger's Cat, Wigner's Friend, and Veiled Reality 225 10-1. Introduction 225 10-2. Of Pointers and Cats 225 10-3. Wigner's Friend 228 10-4. The Veiled Reality Hypothesis 236 PART 2: A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS CHAPTER 11: Science and Philosophy 249 11-1. The Impossible Split 249 11-2. Epistemology in the Late Twentieth Century 250 11-3. A Critical Glance at Some Claims 255 11-4. Physics and Linguistics 258 11-5. Sociologism 261 11-6. The End of Certainties? 263 CHAPTER 12: Materialisms 265 12-1. Introduction 265 12-2. Dialectical Materialism 265 12-3. The So-Called "Scientific" Materialism 266 12-4. "Neomaterialism" and Physics 272 12-5. The Purely Philosophical Aspects of Neomaterialism 276 12-6. Materialism and Wisdom 281 CHAPTER 13: Suggestions from Kantism 282 13-1. Introduction 282 13-2. A Look at Kantism 282 13-3. Facing the Refusal of the Independent Reality Notion 291 13-4. Kant and Our Contemporaries 306 CHAPTER 14: Causality and Observational Predictability 312 14-1. Introduction 312 14-2. Causes and Laws 312 14-3. Determinism and Causality 315 14-4. Determinism and Chaos 316 14-5. Quantum Indeterminacy 319 14-6. Predictability and Reliability Revisited 326 14-7. The Influence Notion Revisited 330 CHAPTER 15: Explanation and Phenomena 333 15-1. Introduction 333 15-2. The Notion of Explanation 333 15-3. Back to the "Explanatory Power of Predictive Rules" Question 342 15-4. Empirical Reality and Abstractions, Explanation, and Empirical Causality 344 15-5. The Rainbow Analogy 347 15-6. Removing the "Paradox of the Dinosaurs" 351 15-7. The "False Explanation" Question 352 CHAPTER 16: Mind and Things 354 16-1. Empiricism, Positivism, and So On 354 16-2. Phenomenalism 355 16-3. Ambiguities about Innatism 366 16-4. Poincare, Conventionalism, and Structural Realism 368 CHAPTER 17: Pragmatic-Transcendental versus Veiled Reality Approaches 376 17-1. Introduction 376 17-2. Replies to Michel Bitbol's and Herve Zwirn's Objections 376 17-3. The Pragmatic-Transcendental Approach 396 17-4. A Few Notes on Zwirn's Approach 402 CHAPTER 18: Objects and Consciousness 405 18-1. Introduction 405 18-2. Truth: Definitions and Criteria 406 18-3. Objects and "Orders," or "Levels," of Reality 408 18-4. A Few Remarks Concerning Sensations 411 18-5. On the Question of the Plurality of Minds 426 CHAPTER 19: The "Ground of Things" 429 19-1. Introduction 429 19-2. Mystery, Affectivity, and Meaning 429 19-3. Do Things Have a "Ground"? Pro and Con Received Arguments 434 19-4. Some Consequences of the Evolution of Physics 443 19-5. The Veiled Reality Conception Reexamined 449 APPENDIX 1: The Bell Theorem 465 A. Proof 465 B. A Simplified Proof 470 C. A Glance at the Experimental State of Things 473 D. Historical Comments and a Short Bibliography 474 APPENDIX 2: Consistent Histories, Counterfactuality, and Bell's Theorem 477 APPENDIX 3 Correlation-at-a-Distance in the Broglie-Bohm Model 483 References 485 Name Index 493 Subject Index 497

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Shapin and Schaffer work out the implications of these debates [between Hobbes and Boyle] for the history of science with great skill of interpretation and exposition. They use their findings and their analysis to give an explanation of the experimental enterprise in general, which, although it is not philosophical in nature, always takes philosophy most seriously. This is simply one of the most original, enjoyable and important books published in the history of science in recent years."--Owen Hannaway, Technology and Culture "If any proof of the intellectual buoyancy or intrinsic worth of the history and philosophy for science was needed, nothing better could be provided than this study by Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer... Their findings suggest the futility of wrenching science from its ideological context, and not only with respect to the seventeenth century; they also detect parallels with the crisis of confidence affecting contemporary science."--Charles Webster, The Times Literary Supplement Praise for Princeton's previous editions: "Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer have ventured beyond ordinary history of science or history of ideas to produce a novel 'exercise in the sociology of scientific knowledge.' ... a historical study rich in new interpretations and notable for the use of sources of a kind not hitherto fully exploited by scholars."--Clive Holmes, American Historical Review "[T]he most influential text in our field since Thomas Kuhn'sStructure of Scientific Revolutions."--James Secord, Isis "This is simply one of the most original, enjoyable, and important books published in the history of science in recent years."--Owen Hannaway, Technology and Culture "[A]n unparalleled vignette of the birth pangs of a new style of reasoning."--Ian Hacking, British Journal for the History of Science "Before Shapin and Schaffer, other historians of science had studied scientific practice; other historians had studied the religious, political and cultural context of science. No one, before Shapin and Schaffer, had been capable of doing both at once."--Bruno Latour, author ofWe Have Never Been Modern "There is every reason to regard this as one of the most important achievements in science studies in the late twentieth century."--John H. Zammito, author ofA Nice Derangement of Epistemes "One of the most influential books in the modern history of science."--Melinda Baldwin, Physics Today

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Book SynopsisIncreasingly, scientists are gaining control over matter at the nanometer scale. Spearheaded by physical scientists operating at the interfaces of physics and biology, advances in nanoscience and technology are transforming how people think about life and treat human health.Trade Review"Nano Comes to Life draws on author Sonia Contera’s adventures in molecular-scale engineering to herald the coming of age of nanotechnology, and its promise to re-engineer tissue and transform lives." * New Scientist *"[The photographic section] is truly striking with its visual illustration of laying down single atomic designs and smart insulin-releasing patches containing microneedles."---Simon Cocking, Irish Tech News"[A] succinct study . . . Contera frames this near-future transmaterial science, with its focus on human well-being, as an effort allied to social justice even as it probes existential questions of what it means to be human."---Barbara Kiser, Nature"This is a readable although necessarily technical introduction to the way that physics is coming to biology."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"At the end of the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologiae, an ambitious compendium of all orthodox philosophical and theological knowledge about the world. Seven hundred years later, science fiction author Stanislaw Lem writes his Summa Technologiae, an equally ambitious but unorthodox investigation into the perplexities and enigmas of humanity and its relationship to an equally enigmatic world in which it finds itself embedded. In this work Lem shows us science fiction as a method of inquiry, one that renders the future as tenuous as the past, with a wavering, ‘phantomatic’ present always at hand." —Eugene Thacker, author of After Life"Summa is a fantasia that follows certain lines of speculative thought as far as Lem can take them. Lem’s sober materialism may seem dehumanizing, but he brings back to the frontier a question that has plagued civilization since the beginning, and whose shifting, always insufficient answers have always signaled revolutions in culture: what is it to be human?" —Los Angeles Review of Books "With Summa Technologiae, his masterwork of non-fiction which has been translated into English for the first time, Lem has taken Western civilisation for a spin—with spectacular consequences. " —New ScientistTable of ContentsContents Translator’s Introduction. Evolution May Be Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts, but It’s Not All That Great: On Lem’s Summa Technnologiae Joanna ZylinskaSumma Technologie1. Dilemmas2. Two EvolutionsSimilaritiesDifferencesThe First CauseSeveral Naïve Questions3. Civilizations in the UniverseThe Formulation of the ProblemThe Formulation of the MethodThe Statistics of Civilizations in the UniverseA Catastrophic Theory of the UniverseA Metatheory of MiraclesMan’s UniquenessIntelligence: An Cccident or a Necessity?HypothesesVotum SeparatumFuture Prospects 4. IntelectronicsReturn to EarthA Megabyte BombThe Big GameScientific MythsThe Intelligence AmplifierThe Black BoxThe Morality of HomeostatsThe Dangers of ElectrocracyCybernetics and SociologyBelief and InformationExperimental MetaphysicsThe Beliefs of Electric BrainsThe Ghost in the MachineThe Trouble with Information Doubts and Antinomies5. Prolegomena to OmnipotenceBefore ChaosChaos and OrderScylla and Charybdis: On RestraintThe Silence of the DesignerMethodological Madness A New Linnaeus: About SystematicsModels and RealityPlagiarism and Creation On Imitology6. PhantomologyThe Fundamentals of PhantomaticsThe Phantomatic MachinePeripheral and Central PhantomaticsThe Limits of PhantomaticsCerebromaticsTeletaxy and PhantoplicationPersonality and Information7. The Creation of WorldsInformation FarmingLinguistic EngineeringThe Engineering of TranscendenceCosmogonic Engineering8. A Lampoon of EvolutionThe Reconstruction of the SpeciesConstructing LifeConstructing DeathConstructing ConsciousnessError-based ConstructsBionics and BiocyberneticsIn the Eyes of the DesignerReconstructing Man CyborgizationThe Autoevolutionary MachineExtrasensory PhenomenaConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn Unsettled Borders Felicity Amaya Schaeffer examines the ongoing settler colonial war over the US-Mexico border from the perspective of Apache, Tohono O’odham, and Maya who fight to protect their sacred land. Schaeffer traces the scientific and technological development of militarized border surveillance across time and space from Spanish colonial lookout points in Arizona and Mexico to the Indian wars, when the US cavalry hired Native scouts to track Apache fleeing into Mexico, to the occupation of the Tohono O’odham reservation and the recent launch of robotic bee swarms. Labeled “Optics Valley,” Arizona builds on a global history of violent dispossession and containment of Native peoples and migrants by branding itself as a profitable hub for surveillance. Schaeffer reverses the logic of borders by turning to Indigenous sacredsciences: ancestral land-based practices that are critical to reversing the ecological and social violence of surveillance, exTrade Review“[Unsettled Borders] includes an impressively documented bibliography. The text ultimately succeeds in telling a story of violence against Indigenous peoples and their cultures, perpetrated in the name of border security, and documenting the use of surveillance technology, which has permanently altered the landscape. Recommended.” -- G. Christensen * Choice *"Unsettled Borders makes an outstanding contribution to replacing some of the missing pieces while incorporating neocolonialism and interethnic borders into state border studies. Its author, Felicity Amaya Schaeffer, builds a great basis for a problem that is gaining greater visibility, exposing an equal criminalization of migrant people and indigenous communities." -- Tania Porcaro * Journal of Borderlands Studies *"I loved the big picture and provocative ideas that expanded my own understanding of topics I have studied for many years. . . . The book centers Indigenous perspectives to demonstrate not only the contributions Indigenous science has made to (or rather, been appropriated by) the military-industrial/border-security complex, but also the ways that Indigenous scholarship contributes to our understanding of this dynamic from a critical thinking perspective. The primary focus of the book is U.S. borders and Arizona features prominently therein, but the lessons go well beyond this geography as approaches to border security have become globalized." -- Kenneth D. Madsen * Indigenous Religious Traditions *"Unsettled Borders is a rich and skillful analysis of military discourse, settler technoscience, and ethnographic materials primarily devoted to events in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands, but with resonances across other settler colonial spaces (within and beyond the United States)." -- Iván Chaar López * Postcolonial Studies *Table of ContentsPreface. TimeSpaces of Dispossession to the Forging of Indigenous Relations with Land ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction. Tracking Footprints: Settler Surveillance across Unsettled Borders 1 1. “The Eyes of the Army”: Indian Scouts and the Rise of Military Innovation during the Apache Wars 29 2. Occupation on Sacred Land: Colliding Sovereignties on the Tohono O’odham Reservation 55 3. Automated Border Control: Criminalizing the “Hidden Intent” of Migrant/Native Embodiment 81 4. From the Eyes of the Bees: Biorobotic Border Security and the Resurgence of Bee Collectives in the Yucatán 104 Conclusion. Wild versus Sacred: The Ongoing Border War against Indigenous Peoples 139 Notes 153 Bibliography 185 Index 201

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Book SynopsisWith astonishing speed, we have been projected into a new reality where interactions with drones, robotic bodies, and high-level surveillance are increasingly mainstream. In this age of groundbreaking developments in robotic technologies, synthetic biology is merging with artificial intelligence, forming a newly blended reality of machines, bodies, and affect. Technologies of the New Real draws from critical intersections of technology and society including drones, surveillance, DIY bodies, and innovations in robotic technology to explore what these advances can tell us about our present reality, or what authors Arthur and Marilouise Kroker deem the new real of digital culture in the twenty-first century. Technologies of the New Real explores the many technologies of our present reality as they infiltrate the social, political, and economic static of our everyday lives, seemingly eroding traditionally conceived boundaries between humans and machines, anTable of Contents1. Preface: I Stepped into the Future and It Wasn’t There 2. DIY Bodies 3. Power under Surveillance, Capitalism under Suspicion 4. Dreaming with Drones 5. Robots Trekking Across the Uncanny Valley 6. Epilogue: From the Upsurge of the Blended Mind to Gen Z

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the entanglement of art, technology, and culture, The Quantum Revolution illuminates the contemporary scientific imagination as a new way of understanding everyday life.Table of Contents1.The Quantum Revolution Riders of the Information Storm Theses on the Quantum Revolution Art as Quantum Gateway Rebecca Belmore and the Art of Duality Quantum Vision. Energetic Art Particle Poetics Wave Aesthetics 2. Particle Poetics: Street Scenes from the Quantum Revolution A. Art of the Fourth Dimension B. Blasts of Graffiti for Life on the Run C. Cutaways to Street Memories of the Future D. Dark Matter/Dark Energy E. “The Last Human Being” F. Forensic Architecture and the Empire of Crime G. Gateways to Blue Stragglers H. Hybrid Bodies I. Interference Patterns J. Jet Streams of Gravity Waves K. Kinetics of Atrocity L. Lonesome Cowboys to the Stars: Perseverance Has Landed on Mars M. Macrobursts and Sun Dogs in the Gathering Sky of Global Politics N. Nostalgia for Nostalgia: The Eclipse of Right-Wing Populism O. Open-Source Speed Runners P. Primordial Black Holes Q. Quantum Bodies: From Louise Bourgeois and Abject Bodies to Siren lll R. Scorpio Rising S. Streaming SuperStream T. Trouble in the Global Village U. Undone by Screen Addiction V. Vector Zero Vector W. Baby Algorithms at Warp Speed X. X-Raying Scavenger Culture Y. Yesteryear Futurism Z. Zoom Kids 3. Wave Aesthetics: Art of Resurgence Vectors of Extinction in the Quantum Revolution Fold 1: Ecological Death Ecological Death and Fairy Creek Fold 2: Violent Event Horizons The Pacific Wall of Kienholz/Lyotard Counter-Gradient: Autopsy of the Future: Nadia Myre’s Indian Act & The Scar Project Fold 3: From the Slaughterhouse From the Slaughterhouses to the Butchers to the Tate: Deleuze/Bacon Counter-Gradient: Wolf Girl: Kiki Smith and the Butchered Self Fold 4: The Quantum Citizen TRANS/formers: More than Meets the Eye Duchamp/Lyotard Fold 5: The Vortex of Immaterial Bodies Alberto Giacometti and The Quantum Void Fold 6: Art with the Density of a Black Hole The Gates of Hell: Rodin and the Promised Land Counter-Gradient: The World Screen of the Twenty-First Century: “In the future, everything will be fine” Datamoshing Intimacy and Memory for a Time of Lonesome Remix Identity Time Tunnelling Spinning, Dying Neutron Stars from Deep Space AI Goes Psychic Harvesting the Brain 4D Organs Looping in the Fifth Dimensional Plane Hoping for the Best but Mourning for the Rest From Kathy Acker Neon Dreams When Drones Rain Murder from the Sky Cold War Redux/Drive-Thru Insurgency Fold 7: Cold Blue with Skies the Color of Melancholy Quantum Assassin: Jacques Monory 4. Epilogue: I Stepped into The Future and It Was Now Index

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Book SynopsisOffering a deeper understanding of today’s internet media and the management theory behind itPlatforms are everywhere. From social media to chat, streaming, credit cards, and even bookstores, it seems like almost everything can be described as a platform. In The Platform Economy, Marc Steinberg argues that the “platformization” of capitalism has transformed everything, and it is imperative that we have a historically precise, robust understanding of this widespread concept. Taking Japan as the key site for global platformization, Steinberg delves into that nation’s unique technological and managerial trajectory, in the process systematically examining every facet of the elusive word platform. Among the untold stories revealed here is that of the 1999 iPhone precursor, the i-mode: the world’s first widespread mobile internet platform, which became a blueprint for Apple and Google’s later dominance of the mobile market. Steinberg also charts the rise of social gaming giants GREE and Mobage, chat tools KakaoTalk, WeChat, and LINE, and video streaming site Niconico Video, as well as the development of platform theory in Japan, as part of a wider transformation of managerial theory to account for platforms as mediators of cultural life. Analyzing platforms’ immense impact on contemporary media such as video streaming, music, and gaming, The Platform Economy fills in neglected parts of the platform story. In narrating the rise and fall of Japanese platforms, and the enduring legacy of Japanese platform theory, this book sheds light on contemporary tech titans like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Netflix, and their platform-mediated transformation of contemporary life—it is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand what capitalism is today and where it is headed.Trade Review"By relocating the origins of the platform economy to Japan’s consumer technology industries of the 1990s, Marc Steinberg offers a powerful intervention into current debates about platformization. This is a book that challenges us to think differently about the business and culture of digital media."—Ramon Lobato, author of Netflix Nations: The Geography of Digital Distribution"Phenomenal. Marc Steinberg rewrites the history of the platform economy. Moving beyond an exclusive focus on Silicon Valley, he demonstrates that a crucial part of this history can be found in 1990s Japan. Steinberg deftly traces the emergence of platform theory and practices around Docomo’s i-mode, exploring intersections with U.S. and French discourse, and ending with the global markets forged by iOS and Android."—Thomas Poell, coauthor of The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World"The American tech giants monopolize our attention in daily life; they also tend to hog the attention in technology criticism. Marc Steinberg offers a more expansive and nuanced analysis, showing that the ‘platform’ story did not begin in Silicon Valley and is not likely to end there. A rigorous, illuminating book."—Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, author of Personal Stereo"The impressive feat of Steinberg’s book is that it allows both interpretations of platformization to emerge: a fairer crediting of Japanese theories and practices as well as a fuller questioning of global media industry dominance."—Film Quarterly"Readers in many disciplines seeking to better understand how the Android and Apple iOS, Netflix, Amazon, and myriad other everyday commercial experiences have come to be, and how they may change or adapt in ways that Silicon Valley will not necessarily lead, can look to The Platform Economy for global insights and a nuanced analysis of the way words and worlds have been formed, in part, through Japanese iterations of platforms and contents."—The Journal of Popular Culture"The Platform Economy adds a significant dimension to the study of platforms and urges us to think deeply about platformization, as well as the multidirectionality of cultural circulation more broadly."—Critical Inquiry"An important contribution for recapitulating certain concepts in management theory and reconstructing the discursive formation of the term ‘platform.’"—Journal of Japanese Studies Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction1. Contents Discourse: A Platform Prelude2. Platform Typology: From Hardware to Contents3. The Japanese Genesis of Transactional Platform Theory4. Docomo’s i-mode and the Formatting of the Mobile Internet5. Platforms after i-mode: Dwango’s Niconico VideoConclusion: The Platformization of Regional Chat AppsAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAssesses a promising new approach to restoring the health of our bodies and our planet Most of us are familiar with probiotics added to milk or yogurt to improve gastrointestinal health. In fact, the term refers to any intervention in which life is used to manage life—from the microscopic, like consuming fermented food to improve gut health, to macro approaches such as biological pest control and natural flood management. In this ambitious and original work, Jamie Lorimer offers a sweeping overview of diverse probiotic approaches and an insightful critique of their promise and limitations. During our current epoch—the Anthropocene—human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment, leading to the loss of ecological abundance, diversity, and functionality. Lorimer describes cases in which scientists and managers are working with biological processes to improve human, environmental, and even planetary health, pursuing strategies that stand in contrast to the “antibiotic approach”: Big Pharma, extreme hygiene, and industrial agriculture. The Probiotic Planet focuses on two forms of “rewilding” occurring on vastly different scales. The first is the use of keystone species like wolves and beavers as part of landscape restoration. The second is the introduction of hookworms into human hosts to treat autoimmune disorders. In both cases, the goal is to improve environmental health, whether the environment being managed is planetary or human. Lorimer argues that, all too often, such interventions are viewed in isolation, and he calls for a rethinking of artificial barriers between science and policy. He also describes the stark and unequal geographies of the use of probiotic approaches and examines why these patterns exist. The author’s preface provides a thoughtful discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to the probiotic approach. Informed by deep engagement with microbiology, immunology, ecology, and conservation biology as well as food, agriculture, and waste management, The Probiotic Planet offers nothing less than a new paradigm for collaboration between the policy realm and the natural sciences. Trade Review"This brilliant book delivers an incisive reading of probiotic cultural practices today—taking in everything from home fermentation to permaculture to rewilding. Jamie Lorimer expertly shows us that social and scientific projects that aim at re-calibrating microbial, bodily, and ecological worlds are experiments in the politics of symbiosis. In our days of viral peril, The Probiotic Planet is a vital reminder of the multiple futures biology may yet prepare."—Stefan Helmreich, author of Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond"Moving between human intestines and forests patches, The Probiotic Planet maps a diverse and emerging terrain of ecological experimentation, both formal and vernacular. A transdisciplinary analysis that brings detailed attention to scientific practices into dialogue with critical social theory, this book is also a bold and important experiment in its own right."—Heather Anne Swanson, director, Aarhus University Centre for Environmental Humanities "Lorimer unravels the multiplicities of present-day scientific designs for the future."—Los Angeles Review of Books "This book bridges the gap between two widely separated topics: healing the planet by rewilding, and internal sanitation of the body by natural allies."—Anthropos "The book is well referenced... and the text is supported by appropriate and readable tables and charts."—CHOICE Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction: Life in the Anthropocene1. The Probiotic Turn: Rewilding and Biome Restoration2. Thinking like Gaia: The Science of the Probiotic Turn3. Symbiopolitics: Governing through Keystone Species4. Wild Experiments: The Controlled Decontrolling of Ecological Controls5. Geographies of Dysbiosis: The Patchiness of the Probiotic Turn6. Future-Pasts: The Temporalities of the Probiotic Turn7. Probiotic Value: Putting Keystone Species to WorkConclusions: A Spectrum of ProbioticsAcknowledgmentsGlossary NotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisHow afforestation reveals the often-concealed politics between humans and plantsIn Plant Life, Rosetta S. Elkin explores the procedures of afforestation, the large-scale planting of trees in otherwise treeless environments, including grasslands, prairies, and drylands. Elkin reveals that planting a tree can either be one of the ultimate offerings to thriving on this planet, or one of the most extreme perversions of human agency over it. Using three supracontinental case studies—scientific forestry in the American prairies, colonial control in Africa’s Sahelian grasslands, and Chinese efforts to control and administer territory—Elkin explores the political implications of plant life as a tool of environmentalism. By exposing the human tendency to fix or solve environmental matters by exploiting other organisms, this work exposes the relationship between human and plant life, revealing that afforestation is not an ecological act: rather, it is deliberately political and distressingly social. Plant Life ultimately reveals that afforestation cannot offset deforestation, an important distinction that sheds light on current environmental trends that suggest we can plant our way out of climate change. By radicalizing what conservation protects and by framing plants in their total aliveness, Elkin shows that there are many kinds of life—not just our own—to consider when advancing environmental policy. Trade Review "In Plant Life, the misadventures of tree planting campaigns around the world expose a fundamental failure to understand things that are alive. Human cultivation—a blunt apparatus often focused only on an above-ground outcropping—usually manages to kill plants. Rosetta S. Elkin’s lush and stringent narratives travel instead within the roots and ramifying relationships that huge forests and grasslands generate when they are simply allowed to grow—a live rhizosphere in the crust of the earth."—Keller Easterling, Yale University "With climate change comes a recognition that we are part of a global landscape and that we need to think at this scale. However, even as we need to ‘think global, act local,’ what Rosetta S. Elkin shows in her in her deep and multi-faceted reading of afforestation projects is that in doing so we must really ‘think local, act global.’"—Julian Raxworthy, University of Canberra "Tightly argued and rigorously researched, Plant Life draws on history, geography, political ecology, botany, landscape ecology, and climate science to present a powerful critique of afforestation. "—Landscape Architecture Magazine "Delving into philosophical treatises, colonial archives, and botanical manuals that span such themes as soil science, plant morphology, and taxonomy, Elkin convincingly argues that planting is a social—not ecological—act that radically reshapes landscapes based on models of standardization and replicability."—H-Net Reviews Table of ContentsContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroductionArtifact1. The Problem of Parts2. Great Green Wall3. Genus FaidherbiaIndex4. Confronting Treelessness5. Prairie States Forestry Project6. Ulmus pumilaL.Trace7. Contextual Indifference8. Three Norths Shelter System9. Species PopulusEpilogueNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisExamining the appearance of nonhuman animals laboring alongside humans in humanitarian operations Both critical and mainstream scholarly work on humanitarianism have largely been framed from anthropocentric perspectives highlighting humanity as the rationale for providing care to others. In Nonhuman Humanitarians, Benjamin Meiches explores the role of animals laboring alongside humans in humanitarian operations, generating new ethical possibilities of care in humanitarian practice.Nonhuman Humanitarians examines how these animals not only improve specific practices of humanitarian aid but have started to transform the basic tenets of humanitarianism. Analyzing case studies of mine-clearance dogs, milk-producing cows and goats, and disease-identifying rats, Nonhuman Humanitarians ultimately argues that nonhuman animal contributions problematize foundational assumptions about the emotional and rational capacities of humanitarian actors as well as the ethical focus on human suffering that defines humanitarianism.Meiches reveals that by integrating nonhuman animals into humanitarian practice, several humanitarian organizations have effectively demonstrated that care, compassion, and creativity are creaturely rather than human and that responses to suffering and injustice do not—and cannot—stop at the boundaries of the human.Trade Review "In this incisive exploration of the ethical and political implications of nonhuman labor in humanitarian work, Benjamin Meiches raises important questions about how humanitarian practices of care and generosity may be expanded beyond the constraints of anthropocentric reason to serve a global multispecies community facing the simultaneous and intensifying threats of climate change, ecological collapse, mass extinction, and violent conflict."—Elan Abrell, author of Saving Animals: Multispecies Ecologies of Rescue and Care "For those that would dispute the relevance of the more-than-human in the study of international relations, Nonhuman Humanitarians constitutes a significant rejoinder. Benjamin Meiches’s book examines the intersection between humanitarian practice and the small, though growing, literature on the role of our fellow species in conflict situations. It has much to teach about human–nonhuman relations, the practice of humanitarianism, and the ethics of both."—Stephen Hobden, coauthor of The Emancipatory Project of Posthumanism

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Book SynopsisMathematics and Religion: Our Languages of Sign and Symbol is the sixth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, Javier Leach, a mathematician and Jesuit priest, leads a fascinating study of the historical development of mathematical language and its influence on the evolution of metaphysical and theological languages.Leach traces three historical moments of change in this evolution: the introduction of the deductive method in Greece, the use of mathematics as a language of science in modern times, and the formalization of mathematical languages in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As he unfolds this fascinating history, Leach notes the striking differences and interrelations between the two languages of science and religion. Until now there has been little reflection on these similarities and differences, or about how both languages can complement and enrich each other.Table of ContentsPreface viiChapter 1: Mathematics and Natural Sciences 3Chapter 2: Metaphysical Language 16Chapter 3: Origins of Mathematics 35Chapter 4: Euclid and Beyond 44Chapter 5: Dawn of Science 55Chapter 6: Mathematics Formalized 67Chapter 7: Propositional Logic 93Chapter 8: Language and Meaning 106Chapter 9: Science, Language, and Religion 120Appendix 1: Syntax of Propositional Logic 133Appendix 2: Semantics of Propositional Logic 136Appendix 3: Syntax of First-Order Logic 139Appendix 4: Semantics of First-Order Logic 143Appendix 5: Numerical Systems:Their Role in First-Order Logic 147

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing pre-history of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerge alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they of

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