Impact of science and technology on society Books

Book SynopsisAmerica's most renowned social philosopher John Dewey shines his powerful intellect on the serious public and cultural issues surrounding the place of the individual in a technologically advanced society. In this penetrating study, he addresses the fear that personal creative potential will be trampled by assembly-line monotony, political bureaucracy, and an industrialized culture of uniformity. Armed with his pragmatic approach and his belief in the power of critical intelligence, Dewey argues that individualism has in fact been offered a uniquely higher plane of technological development upon which to grow, mature, and redefine itself.

Read more less

Book SynopsisMichelle Murphy examines the ways in which efforts at population control since World War II have tied reproduction to neoliberal capitalism, showing how data collection practices have been used to quantify the value of a human life in terms of its ability to improve the nation-state's gross domestic product.Trade Review"Though this book be concise, it is fierce. It can be read, and reread, with profit by undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers. Highly recommended." -- T. E. Sullivan * Choice *"The Economization of Life convincingly links experimentality to what has been one of the most popular developmental trends of the past two decades. . . . Michelle Murphy’s bold and sharp book opens many new lines of inquiries." -- Stephen Macekura * Diplomatic History *"This is a valuable book that should be read by anyone who is interested in the mid-twentieth-century population control movement, including its history and socioeconomic context, or anyone who still adheres to the neoliberal view that population growth (or 'overpopulation,' as it is often called) has been and continues to be one of the greatest problems facing human society." -- Garland E. Allen * Isis *"Murphy weaves helpful threads of history, literature, and economics, guides the reader through complicated ideas, and leaves enough notes so research can continue beyond the book’s borders. . . . The Economization of Life is a useful and an instructive tool for policy makers and researchers on population and reproductive health, and for scholars and students in gender, women, and sexuality studies, or anyone who may be concerned with matters of reproductive rights." -- Kira Frank * Wagadu *"It takes a study as rigorous as Murphy’s to expose the double-edged nature of human capital: galvanizing self-improvement of, and popular support for, underprivileged populations, even as it does so according to metrics that have investor interests—rather than general well-being—as their goal." -- Hadas Weiss * Public Books *"The Economization of Life is a book that sticks. Author Michelle Murphy delicately surfaces the history and persistence of racist and eugenicist logics as they comprise global economies and state governance practices, and, in a bold and self-reflexive gesture, describes how these same logics operate in feminist organizations and academic research. Murphy's work forced me to grapple with unresolvable tensions, particularly between long term liberation and short term survival, which were simultaneously troubling and eye-opening. I can see these now in places where they used to be hidden." -- Lourdes Vera * Somatosphere *"The Economization of Life gives us important tools to bring the work of reproductive justice from the world of feminist social justice organizing to the world of feminist scholarship. It shows us that the economy is an effect that materializes its own causes, supported by a structure of belief that holds together otherwise disparate data and calculations. With enough effort, it urges us, we should be able to divest from that enabling belief, and instead follow models for a regenerative politics, committing instead to reproductive justice as an infrastructure of regeneration." -- Kalindi Vora * Somatosphere *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Bottles and Curves 1 Arc 1. Phantasmagrams of Population and Economy 1. Economy as Atmosphere 17 2. Demographic Transitions 35 3. Averted Birth 47 4. Dreaming Technoscience 55 Arc II. Reproducing Infrastructures 5. Infrastructures of Counting and Affect 59 6. Continuous Incitement 73 7. Experimental Exuberance 78 8. Dying, Not Dying, Not Being Born 95 9. Experimental Otherwise 105 Arc III. Investable Life 10. Invest in a Girl 113 11. Exhausting Data 125 12. Unaligned Feeling 133 Coda. Distributed Reproduction 135 Notes 147 Bibliography 179 Index 211

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Virgin Mary and the Neutrino, first published in French in 2006 and here appearing in English for the first time, Isabelle Stengers experiments with the possibility of addressing modern practices not as a block but through their divergence from each other. Drawing on thinkers ranging from John Dewey to Gilles Deleuze, she develops what she calls an ecology of practices into a capacious and heterogeneous perspective that is inclusive of cultural and political forces but not reducible to them. Stengers first advocates for an approach to sciences that would emphasize the way each should be situated by the kind of relationships demanded by what it attempts to address. This approach turns away from the disabling scientific/nonscientific binary-like the opposition between the neutrino and the Virgin Mary. An ecology of practices instead stimulates an appetite for thinking reality not as an arbiter but as what we can relate to through the generation of diverging concerns and obligations.Trade Review“Virgin Mary and the Neutrino is an extraordinary exploration of the events that have shaped the relationship between scientific practices and the public—the devastating effects of which we see today, especially in ecological situations. It is also the best introduction to Isabelle Stengers’s body of work, which is undoubtedly one of the most important and original in contemporary thought.” -- Didier Debaise, author of * Nature as Event: The Lure of the Possible *“Virgin Mary and the Neutrino counts among the contemporary classics written by one of the most creative and boldest philosophers of science. Isabelle Stengers’s proposals have the inevitable quality of inducing thought. This book will initiate anyone, no matter the stage of their career, who wants to become familiar with Stengers’s inspiring brilliance.” -- Marisol de la Cadena, author of * Earth Beings: Ecologies of Practice across Andean Worlds *Table of ContentsTranslator’s Preface vii 1. Scientists in Trouble 1 2. The Force of Experimentation 17 3. Dissolving Amalgams 38 4. The Sciences in Their Milieus 61 5.Troubling the Public Order 86 Intermezzo: The Creation of Concepts 111 6. On the Same Plane? 119 7. We Are Not Alone in the World 144 8. Ecology of Practices 169 9. The Cosmopolitical Test 197 Appendix: The First Experimental Apparatus? 207 Notes 217 Bibliography 235 Index 241

Read more less

Book SynopsisImagine a world where all the news you see is defined by your salary, where you live, and who your friends are. Imagine a world where you never discover new ideas. And where you can''t have secrets.Welcome to 2011.Google and Facebook are already feeding you what they think you want to see. Advertisers are following your every click. Your computer monitor is becoming a one-way mirror, reflecting your interests and reinforcing your prejudices.The internet is no longer a free, independent space. It is commercially controlled and ever more personalised. The Filter Bubble reveals how this hidden web is starting to control our lives - and shows what we can do about it.Trade ReviewAn illuminating flash-forward of what might be -- Colin Fraser * Scotland on Sunday *Highlights an important and easily overlooked aspect of the internet's evolution that affects everyone who uses it * The Economist *Pariser is an excellent debunker of internet clichés... [he] comes as close as anyone has to explaining the misgivings that a lot of internet users feel -- Christopher Caldwell * The Financial Times *A book designed to agitate us into awareness, because this may be the only way we can first discover and then burst the bubble... a polemic and warning -- Brian Appleyard * The Sunday Times *Explains how insidious customization of the web is limiting our access to information, and narrowing rather than expanding our horizons * Observer *Well-written, thoroughly researched and informative . . . the possibilities become truly amazing - or, if you prefer, scary * Scotsman *Astonishing * Andrew Marr *Explosive * Chris Anderson *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this enlightening and entertaining book, author and Skeptical Inquirer editor Kendrick Frazier takes readers on a journey to the contentious boundary zone between science and its antagonists: pseudoscience (pretend science) and anti-science (open hostility to science). Pseudoscience romps in the shadows of science but takes on the guise of science to excite, sell, mislead, and deceive the public. Anti-science denigrates, even denies, findings of science for ideological ends. In this dangerous age of misinformation (and dis-information), we need science’s remarkable truth-seeking tools more than ever to help counter society’s crazier impulses in which opinion, beliefs, and lies trump facts, evidence, and truth.In one sense, Shadows of Science is Frazier’s love letter to science, one of humanity’s greatest inventions, one we should exalt for its unique ability to find provisional truths about nature. In congenial prose he reports on recent discoveries and describes how science works and how its error-correcting mechanisms lead eventually to new knowledge. He tells the stories of some of our champions of science and reason. He describes the little-appreciated values of science, how it embraces uncertainty and humility, and its emphasis on fact-based observation and experiment. Pseudoscience adopts some of science’s language and has a beguiling appeal, but there the similarities end. Frazier has professionally reported on frontier scientific discoveries and observed and exposed the pretensions and dangers of pseudoscience and anti-science his entire career. Here he shares his experiences, his knowledge and insights, and his love and passion for our ability to learn what’s real about the natural world—and to identify and expose fake science, pretend science, and anti-science in all their multifarious forms.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review "Accessibly written, lucidly argued, and capacious in its ambit, there is so much in this book to savor, to be inspired by, and to provoke."—Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, author of Stone: An Ecology of the Inhuman "In addition to the descriptions and analyses of imaginative activism, strange agencies of non-human entities, and the politics of place, Alaimo develops compelling theories of self, action, and being human along the way."—Jack Halberstam, University of Southern California "Despite the gravity of her subject matter, Alaimo’s examples and writing are often playful. This not only echoes the complexity and occasional contradictions of environmental politics but also makes Exposed a very enjoyable read. This book is much more than a theoretical exploration; it calls on us to rethink what it means to be human and act accordingly."—New Books Network "A must read for members of the American Rock Garden Society, as well as those living in similar areas worldwide."—Natural Areas JournalTable of ContentsContents Introduction: Dwelling in the Dissolve Part I: Posthuman Pleasures 1. This Is about Pleasure: An Ethics of Inhabiting 2. Eluding Capture: The Science, Culture, and Pleasure of “Queer” Animals Part II. Insurgent Exposure 3. The Naked Word: Spelling, Stripping, Lusting as Environmental Protest 4. Climate Systems, Carbon-Heavy Masculinity, and Feminist Exposure Part III. Strange Agencies in Anthropocene Seas 5. Oceanic Origins, Plastic Activism, and New Materialism at Sea 6. Your Shell on Acid: Material Immersion, Anthropocene Dissolves Conclusion: Thinking as the Stuff of the World Acknowledgments Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA profound meditation on climate change and the Anthropocene and an urgent search for the fossilsindustrial, chemical, geologicalthat humans are leaving behindA Times Book of the Year A Daily Telegraph Book of the YearWhat will the world look like ten thousand or ten million years from now?In Footprints, David Farrier explores what traces we will leave for the very deep future. From long-lived materials like plastic and nuclear waste, to the 50 million kilometres of roads spanning the planet, in modern times we have created numerous objects and landscapes with the potential to endure through deep time. Our carbon could linger in the atmosphere for 100,000 years, and the remains of our cities will still exist millions of years from now as a layer in the rock. These future fossils have the potential to tell remarkable stories about how we lived in the twenty-first century.Through literature, art, and science, Footprints invites us to think about how we will be remembered in the myths, sTrade Review‘Fascinating’ Margaret Atwood on twitter ‘What do we owe to the world that comes after us? In this superbly researched and imagined book, David Farrier invites us to expand our sense of deep time to include the deep future’ Caspar Henderson, author of A New Map of Wonders ‘Footprints bears witness to the hastening catastrophe of the Anthropocene, illustrating not just the permanence of the traces humans leave behind, but also the impermanence of the human. Profound, urgent, transformative, it is a remarkable book.’ James Bradley, author of Ghost Species ‘Mr Farrier’s prose glitters … As Mr Farrier notes, even if pollution and consumption ceased tomorrow, their effects would take millennia to unwind. Human life is etched into the fossil record for aeons to come. “The challenge is to learn…to examine our present by the eerie light cast by the onrushing future.” His subtle, elegant book rises to that challenge’ Economist ‘It is an oddly hopeful exploration of deep time and a world doing just fine without us.’ New Scientist ‘Farrier races through the past and makes brief stops in the present before soaring into the deep future, all the while exploring our capacity as human beings to leave traces behind us … It echoes many of the concerns of nature writers such as Kathleen Jamie, Katharine Norbury and Robert Macfarlane, but from a different coign of vantage. Farrier is less nature writer an more ‘smart thinker’ … At its best, there are moments when the eye of the poet and the analyst come together in memorable flight’ Literary Review ‘All decent people want to be remembered well. In the ancient world, moral life was often seen as the effort to be a good ancestor. If that’s how you see things, David Farrier’s brilliant, plangent book will leave you gasping with shame. Our grandchildren (if any survive) will look back on us with contempt’ The Oldie, Charles Foster

Read more less

Book SynopsisNobel Laureate Edmund Phelps argues that the high level of innovation in the West was not a result of scientific discoveries plus entrepreneurship. Rather, modern values—particularly the individualism and self-expression prevailing among the people—fueled the dynamism needed for widespread innovation.Trade ReviewThis book should be read by anyone interested in innovation. Ned Phelps, who is renowned for his original thinking and rigor, together with his colleagues, provide profound analytic insights which reveal the sources of dynamism across countries and time. -- Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development, University of Oxford, and coauthor of Age of DiscoveryIn this important book, Edmund Phelps, along with Raicho Bojilov, Hian Teck Hoon, and Gylfi Zoega, push economics back to its roots of understanding human satisfaction and flourishing. Linking satisfaction to innovation, they highlight entrepreneurship as commercializing the technological frontier. The ultimate payoff of this activity is dynamism, the flywheel of continuous innovation and the engine of mass flourishing. From this magisterial framing the authors tackle case studies of innovation globally, going from careful modeling if growth to reassurances about the effects of robots on our lives. This is a must-read book for any serious student of the economy’s—and our own human—potential. -- Glenn Hubbard, Dean Emeritus and Russell L. Carson Professor of Economics and Finance (Graduate School of Business) and Professor of Economics (Arts and Sciences), Columbia UniversityEdmund Phelps and his colleagues have further developed his previous work on the sources of a nation’s economic dynamism by delving deeply into the idea of human flourishing. Their findings on the central role of daily work, the knowledge we acquire from doing it, and the innovations we inevitably bring to it are utterly convincing. The authors’ tracing of economic dynamism to the worth people place on their own craftsmanship (there is no better expression for it) is social science at its most sublime. -- Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge, and author of Time and the Generations: Population Ethics for a Diminishing PlanetOver the years, Edmund Phelps has developed a deep and important theory explaining why productivity growth in the U.S. increased dramatically in the nineteenth century and has declined in recent decades. This book puts the theory to the empirical test. It is essential reading for those who care about the past and future of capitalism. -- Eric Maskin, Harvard University, Nobel Laureate in EconomicsA fresh breath of air to stale debates about how to restore long-term growth in advanced economies…Phelps’s perspective is a necessary complement to the standard intellectual frameworks that tend to guide policy thinking around innovation and productivity growth…His iconoclasm shows by example how economics can benefit from an open-mindedness to broader social thinking. -- Martin Sandbu * Financial Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this riveting account of an area of Appalachia known as the Quiet Zone where cell phones and WiFi are banned, journalist Stephen Kurczy explores the pervasive role of technology in our lives and the innate human need for quiet.“Captures the complex beauty of a disconnected way of life.” —The NationWith a new afterword to the paperback editionDeep in the Appalachian Mountains lies the last truly quiet town in America. Green Bank, West Virginia, is a place at once futuristic and old-fashioned: It’s home to the Green Bank Observatory, where astronomers search the depths of the universe using the latest technology, while schoolchildren go without WiFi or iPads. With a ban on all devices emanating radio frequencies that might interfere with the observatory’s telescopes, Quiet Zone residents live a life free from constant digital connectivity. But a community that on the surface seems idyllic is a place of contradictions, where the provincial meets the seemingly supernatural and quiet can serve as a cover for something darker.Stephen Kurczy embedded in Green Bank, making the residents of this small Appalachian village his neighbors. He shopped at the town’s general store, attended church services, went target shooting with a seven-year-old, square-danced with the locals, sampled the local moonshine. In The Quiet Zone, he introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters. There is a tech buster patrolling the area for illegal radio waves; “electrosensitives” who claim that WiFi is deadly; a sheriff’s department with a string of unsolved murder cases dating back decades; a camp of neo-Nazis plotting their resurgence from a nearby mountain hollow. Amongst them all are the ordinary citizens seeking a simpler way of living. Kurczy asks: Is a less connected life desirable? Is it even possible?The Quiet Zone is a remarkable work of investigative journalism—at once a stirring ode to place, a tautly wound tale of mystery, and a clarion call to reexamine the role technology plays in our lives.Trade Review"An expressionistic new work of nonfiction. Part folk history, part gonzo travelogue, The Quiet Zone colorfully annotates an elaborate contradiction: a last bastion of the disconnected world. ... Kurczy finds high drama and dark secrets in the woods, but he also captures the complex beauty of a disconnected way of life that is dying out at an alarming rate. ... A time capsule of a not-so-distant past, of an approach to life that is rapidly slipping from collective memory." — The Nation “[Readers] needing a reminder of the simple pleasure of reconnecting with real people in real life will enjoy the journey.” — Nir Eyal, New York Times Book Review "Kurczy's deep reporting uncovers... strange things in these hills. ... What makes this book formidable is Kurczy's relentless investigating." — USA Today "What a fascinating book! This corner of America is unique for its electromagnetic silence—but once Stephen Kurczy starts looking he finds that it's unique in other ways too. The Quiet Zone will live on in your memory." — Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Nature "[A] fascinating, deeply reported and slightly eerie look at an unusual corner of America. ... With compassion and a journalist's eye [Kurczy] delivers a compelling portrait." — BookPage (Starred Review) “Captivating. … A multilayered illustration of a unique community where things aren’t always what they seem.” — Kirkus Reviews "A vividly written book that captures an unusual place with a story-teller's touch, perfectly timed to this moment of confronting our complicated relationships to technology." — ELIZABETH CATTE, author of What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia "A quest for our most precious substance—peace and quiet—leaps with exuberant aplomb in to the murk of American kookery—electrosensitives, Nazis, unsolved murders—and reveals that simplicity is far more complicated, far more weird and wonderous, than the self-proclaimed #simplelife." — MARK SUNDEEN, author of The Man Who Quit Money and The Unsettlers "Colorful. ... Kurczy succeeds in unlocking many secrets of this insular community." — Publishers Weekly “Cleareyed and compassionate. … Surprising and deeply enlightening” — Shawangunk Journal "An engaging and sympathetic study of the myriad people who call this unique place home." — Booklist "An enthralling story." — The Parkersburg News and Sentinel (West Virginia) "Readers discover a corner of America relatively untouched by technology's influence. ... The Quiet Zone is more than just a celebration of one of the few quiet places the world might offer those seeking refuge from a tech-driven world: It is a celebration of the unique people and fortitude that shapes an area most outsiders would overlook. ... Gives voice to many memorable people. ... One of the many beauties of Kurczy’s book is the respect and admiration the author gives the people of Pocahontas County." — Southern Review of Books "Gripping." — Daily Mail (UK) "A captivating read. ... A remarkable work of deep reporting." — Engineering & Technology Magazine (UK)

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Bit Rot, Douglas Coupland explores the different ways in which twentieth-century notions of the future are being shredded, and creates a gem of the digital age. Reading the stories and essays in Bit Rot is like bingeing on Netflix . . . you can''t stop with just one.Bit rot' is a term used in digital archiving to describe the way digital files can spontaneously and quickly decompose. As Coupland writes, bit rot also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones'. Bit Rot the book explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland's legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pTrade ReviewCoupland adopts…an Andy Warholish mode, somewhere between mocking, lamenting, celebrating even the most troubling aspects of postmodernity. * Times Literary Supplement *[Coupland’s] new collection has its basis in that rarefied literary form, the art catalogue … [he] is at his best when he muses on new opportunities and challenges presented by technology. * The National *[T]he Vancouver-based tech-seer, critic, author and artist again proves himself to be one of the most entertaining and thoughtful futurologists on the planet. * The Herald *Bit Rot is wry and wise, terrifying and hilarious, and it makes us LOL while still using “LOL” correctly. * i Paper *Every page is full of wit, surprise and delight * Dluxe Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn The Glass Cage, Pulitzer Prize nominee and bestselling author Nicholas Carr shows how the most important decisions of our lives are now being made by machines and the radical effect this is having on our ability to learn and solve problems.In May 2009 an Airbus A330 passenger jet equipped with the latest glass cockpit' controls plummeted 30,000 feet into the Atlantic. The reason for the crash: the autopilot had routinely switched itself off. In fact, automation is everywhere from the thermostat in our homes and the GPS in our phones to the algorithms of High Frequency Trading and self-driving cars. We now use it to diagnose patients, educate children, evaluate criminal evidence and fight wars. But psychological studies show that we perform best when fully involved in a task, while the principle of automation that humans are inefficient is self-fulfilling. The glass cockpit is becoming a glass cage.In this utterly engrossing exposé, bestselling writer NicTrade ReviewNicholas Carr is among the most lucid, thoughtful and necessary thinkers alive. The Glass Cage should be required reading for everyone with a phone -- Jonathan Safran FoerWritten with restrained objectivity, The Glass Cage is nevertheless as scary as any sci-fi thriller could be -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal ExperienceNicholas Carr is the rare thinker who understands that technological progress is both essential and worrying. The Glass Cage is a call for technology that complements our human capabilities, rather than replacing them -- Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes EverybodyA very necessary book, that we ignore at our peril. I read it without putting it down -- Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His EmissaryAn important book ... deep and valuable * The Times *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Pedro Domingos demystifies machine learning and shows how wondrous and exciting the future will be'' Walter Isaacson, author of Steve JobsSociety is changing, one learning algorithm at a time, from search engines to online dating, personalized medicine to predicting the stock market. But learning algorithms are not just about Big Data - these algorithms take raw data and make it useful by creating more algorithms. This is something new under the sun: a technology that builds itself. In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos reveals how machine learning is remaking business, politics, science and war. And he takes us on an awe-inspiring quest to find ''The Master Algorithm'' - a universal learner capable of deriving all knowledge from data.Trade ReviewPedro Domingos demystifies machine learning and shows how wondrous and exciting the future will be -- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and The InnovatorsMachine learning is a fascinating world never before glimpsed by outsiders. Pedro Domingos initiates you to the mysterious languages spoken by its five tribes, and invites you to join in his plan to unite them, creating the most powerful technology our civilization has ever seen -- Sebastian Seung, Professor, Princeton, and author of 'Connectome'Machine learning, known in commercial use as predictive analytics, is changing the world. This riveting, far-reaching, and inspiring book introduces the deep scientific concepts to even non-technical readers, and yet also satisfies experts with a fresh, profound perspective that reveals the most promising research directions. It's a rare gem indeed -- Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World and author of 'Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die'With terms like 'Machine Learning' and 'Big Data' regularly making headlines, there is no shortage of hype-filled business books on the subject. There are also textbooks that are too technical to be accessible. For those in the middle-from executives to college students-this is the ideal book, showing how and why things really work without the heavy math. Unlike other books that proclaim a bright future, this one actually gives you what you need to understand the changes that are coming -- Peter Norvig, Director of Research, Google and coauthor of 'Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach'[The Master Algorithm] does a good job of examining the field's five main techniques...The subject is meaty and the author ... has a knack for introducing concepts at the right moment * Economist *Machine learning is the single most transformative technology that will shape our lives over the next fifteen years. This book is a must-read-a bold and beautifully written new framework for looking into the future -- Geoffrey Moore, author of 'Crossing the Chasm'This is an incredibly important and useful book. Machine learning is already critical to your life and work, and will only become more so. Finally, Pedro Domingos has written about it in a clear and understandable fashion -- Thomas H. Davenport, Distinguished Professor, Babson College and author of 'Competing on Analytics and Big Data @ Work'Starting with the audacious claim that all knowledge can be derived from data by a single 'master algorithm,' Domingos takes the reader on a fast-paced journey through the brave new world of machine learning. Writing breezily but with deep authority, Domingos is the perfect tour guide from whom you will learn everything you need to know about this exciting field, and a surprising amount about science and philosophy as well -- Duncan Watts, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research, and author of 'Six Degrees and Everything Is Obvious *Once You Know the Answer'A delightful book by one of the leading experts in the field. If you wonder how AI will change your life, read this book -- Sebastian Thrun, Research Professor, Stanford, Google Fellow and Inventor of the Self-Driving CarAn exhilarating venture into groundbreaking computer science * Booklist (starred review) *Domingos writes with verve and passion, and the book has a strong narrative * New Scientist *Pedro Domingos is a man with a quest, and a hypothesis, which is likely - one day - to change the world . . . Domingos is a genial and amusing guide . . . This is a highly inclusive book, aimed at a wide range of readers from the merely curious to those who might be interested in pursuing a career in the field . . . Descriptions and discussions are presented with a commendable lack of jargon and the examples are clear and accessible -- John Gilbey * Times Higher Education *Wonderfully erudite, humorous, and easy to read. * KDNuggets *The Master Algorithm does a good job of examining the field's five main techniques...The subject is meaty and the author...has a knack for introducing concepts at the right moment * Economist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE NEW INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE WORLD IS FLATWe all sense it: something big is going on. Life is speeding up, and it is dizzying. Here Thomas L. Friedman reveals the tectonic movements that are reshaping our world, how to adapt to this new age and why, sometimes, we all need to be late.''A master class ... As a guide for perplexed Westerners, this book is very hard to beat ... an honest, cohesive explanation for why the world is the way it is, without miracle cures or scapegoats'' John Micklethwait, The New York Times Book Review''Wonderful ... admirably honest ... injects a badly needed dose of optimism into the modern debate'' Gillian Tett, Financial Times''His main piece of advice for individuals, corporations, and countries is clear: Take a deep breath and adapt. This world isn''t going to wait for you'' Fortune''A humane and empathetic book'' David Henkin, The Washington PostTrade ReviewHis most ambitious book - part personal odyssey, part commonsense manifesto ... An honest, cohesive explanation for why the world is the way it is, without miracle cures or scapegoats. And that is why everybody should hope this book does very well indeed -- John Micklethwait * The New York Times *Engaging ... In some senses Thank You For Being Late is an extension of [Friedman's] previous works, woven in with wonderful personal stories (including admirably honest discussions about the nature of being a columnist). What gives Friedman's book a new twist is his belief that upheaval in 2016 is actually far more dramatic than earlier phases. -- Gillian Tett * Financial Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisYou hear a lot these days about innovation and entrepreneurship and about how good jobs in tech will save our cities. Yet these common tropes hide a stunning reality: local lives and fortunes are tied to global capital. You see this clearly in metropolises such as San Francisco and New York that have emerged as superstar cities. In these cities, startups bloom, jobs of the future multiply, and a meritocracy trained in digital technology, backed by investors who control deep pools of capital, forms a new class: the tech-financial elite. In The Innovation Complex, the eminent urbanist Sharon Zukin shows the way these forces shape the new urban economy through a rich and illuminating account of the rise of the tech sector in New York City. Drawing from original interviews with venture capitalists, tech evangelists, and economic development officials, she shows how the ecosystem forms and reshapes the city from the ground up.Zukin explores the people and plans that have literally rooted digital technology in the city. That in turn has shaped a workforce, molded a mindset, and generated an archipelago of tech spaces, which in combination have produced a now-hegemonic innovation culture and geography. She begins with the subculture of hackathons and meetups, introduces startup founders and venture capitalists, and explores the transformation of the Brooklyn waterfront from industrial wasteland to innovation coastline. She shows how, far beyond Silicon Valley, cities like New York are shaped by an influential triple helix of business, government, and university leaders--an alliance that joins C. Wright Mills''s power elite, real estate developers, and ambitious avatars of academic capitalism. As a result, cities around the world are caught between the demands of the tech economy and communities'' desires for growth--a massive and often--insurmountable challenge for those who hope to reap the rewards of innovation''s success.Trade ReviewZukin's work mainly provides a fascinating insight into a city in transition... Zukin's book can convince us to make cities sustainable, not only physically but also in a social sense. * Wouter J. Verheul, Delft University of Technology, TESG *There are many ways agglomeration serves to create value through innovation. However, Zukin goes beyond the typically described positive effects, in particular efficient knowledge diffusion, to recognize the negative social and economic effects. * S. J. Gabriel, CHOICE *I found the book particularly interesting for those scholars dealing with innovation and entrepreneurship in a rather quantitative manner, since it may help them to better comprehend the interesting stories behind innovative entrepreneurship, which too often risk being hidden by the 'cold' numbers of econometrics. * Luca Grilli, Regional Studies *Sharon Zukin's Innovation Complex proves once again that she is one of the most astuteobservers of American cities. For decades, innovation and the tech industry were thought to be the province of the suburbs. But Zukin shows how and why innovation and startup companies have come back to the city en masse and the economic contradictions that the rise of the urban innovation complex brings. * Richard Florida, author ofThe Rise of the Creative Class *With a keen eye and a sly sense of irony, Sharon Zukin takes us behind the doors of the startups, venture capital firms, business incubators, co-working spaces, and coding camps that have made New Yorka major hub of what she aptly dubs 'The Innovation Complex.' Beneath the technical wizardry and relentless boosterism of this new world, Zukin sees reasons to be skeptical about its promises to deliver a better life for us all. * Joshua B. Freeman, author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World? *In The Innovation Complex, Sharon Zukin masterfully reveals how New York City-of all places-pivoted to tech and established an ecosystem rivaling Silicon Valley.In the process, she helps us understand cities, the startup world, and the economic tensions that come with progress. * Steven Levy, author In the Plex and Facebook: TheInside Story *Sharon Zukin deftly argues in The Innovation Complex that tech capitals do not simply bubble up from a primordial soup of young entrepreneurs' inventions. They are made through ideas, norms, and narratives as well as by policies and investments. Zukin takes us on a tour of the specific places and activities that make up the New York City innovation complex-hackathons, meetups, innovation districts, tech campuses, boot camps, and co-working spaces. What we come to see is the political process of innovation itself and how this process reconfigures cities. The result is a nuanced and critical look at the costs that a tech boom exacts on cities and citizens. * Gina Neff, University of Oxford, author of Venture Labor: Work and the Burden of Risk in Innovative Industries *Table of Contents1. Imagining Innovation 2. Hackathons and the Spirit of the New Capitalism 3. Meetups: Leveraging the Community 4. Accelerators, Startups, and the Circulation of Capital 5. The VC Office and the Concentration of Capital 6. Brooklyn's "Innovation Coastline" 7. Pipelines: Talent, Meritocracy, and Academic Capitalism 8. "The Address of Innovation" 9. Author's Note: On Methods and Journeys

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe live in the suburban era. Well over half of all Americans and two-thirds of Canadians live in suburbs. Tracts of suburban bungalows ring Sydney and Melbourne. Suburban apartments rise on the outskirts of Paris, Prague, Singapore, and Beijing. Nearly everyone has a strong opinion about suburbs. Folks who love dense cities scorn suburbia, while people who like big yards dislike bustling sidewalks and subways. Social scientists argue whether contemporary suburbs are losing their luster or if a supposed back-to-the-city trend is a mirage--a debate that has been exacerbated by uncertainty over the effects of COVID-19.Suburbs: A Very Short Introduction tackles two central questions: What is the history behind a suburbanizing world? What does the suburban trend mean for society, politics, and culture? Two chapters describe the ways that the new technologies of streetcars, trains, automobiles, and internet have allowed the compact cities of Britain and the United States to grow into sprawling metropolitan regions. The following chapters explore the vertical suburbs of Europe and East Asia, improvised or do-it-yourself suburbs in both North America Latin America, and suburbs as places of employment. The book concludes by exploring criticism and praise of suburbs in popular sociology, fiction, film, and the Americanization of twenty-first century suburbs around the globe. The approach is rooted in history and geography, draws on all the social sciences, and highlights the ways in which suburbs are central to the ways that we understand the present and imagine the future.Trade ReviewThe book includes frequent references to popular culture depictions of suburbs of various kinds. * Choice *Table of ContentsList of illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: What is a suburb? 1: The first suburban century 2: Suburbs at flood tide 3: Vertical suburbs 4: Improvised suburbs 5: Suburban work 6: What's wrong with suburbs 7: Two hundred years and counting References Further reading Index

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe live in an incredible period in history. The Computer Revolution may be even more life-changing than the Industrial Revolution. We can do things with computers that could never be done before, and computers can do things for us that could never be done before.But our love of computers should not cloud our thinking about their limitations.We are told that computers are smarter than humans and that data mining can identify previously unknown truths, or make discoveries that will revolutionize our lives. Our lives may well be changed, but not necessarily for the better. Computers are very good at discovering patterns, but are useless in judging whether the unearthed patterns are sensible because computers do not think the way humans think.We fear that super-intelligent machines will decide to protect themselves by enslaving or eliminating humans. But the real danger is not that computers are smarter than us, but that we think computers are smarter than us and, so, trust computers to maTrade ReviewAI is eating the world! Or is it? Read the AI Delusion to find out. Gary Smith provides us with a rich tapestry of stories, studies, and science to elucidate this topic in a fun and accessible fashion. Learning about AI, data, and science has never been more enjoyable! * Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Washington *Gary Smith demolishes the hype, the exaggerations, and the unrealistic expectations that have surrounded artificial intelligence and data mining. Combining vivid narratives with insightful analysis, the book is both highly informative and enormously entertaining. * Ernest Davis, Professor of Computer Science, New York University *You won't need a degree in linear algebra or multivariate calculus to understand The AI Delusion — a no-nonsense look at the limitations of Big Data. * Andrew Sloves, Former Managing Director at JP Morgan *This refreshing, amusing and frank book dispels many myths about the nature of AI when compared with human intelligence, with a stimulating range of examples. * David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer *A remarkable book: deeply thoughtful but highly readable, full of practical examples to illustrate Smith's powerful computational critique of the proliferation of AI, big data, and machine learning in our daily lives. Truly essential reading. * Frank Pasquale, author The Black Box Society *Professor Gary Smith demonstrates why artificial intelligence doesn't live up to the hype. He uses a wide variety of real-world examples to illustrate the risks of taking humans out of the decision-making process. * Karl J. Meyer, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers *Big data is increasingly being used to make big decisions, and that's a good thing, as long as we keep aware of how things can go wrong, as Gary Smith explains in this fun new book. * Andrew Gelman, Director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University *Data professionals and consumers can benefit from Smith's entertaining and accessible demonstration that more computing power and more data do not imply more intelligence. We need to have more confidence in our human intellect. Humans may have common sense and an appreciation of context. Computers uniformly have none. * Eric Engberg, Data Scientist and Software Engineer, Wells Fargo *Prof Smith delivers a strong defense of the scientific method - theory before data - and clearly demonstrates the limitations of 'AI' and 'Big Data'. * Chris Nelson, CFO Universal Studios Hollywood *Smith's book goes a long way towards dispelling the BS about AI. * Roger Schank, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University *Remarkable ... This book so deserves to be widely read. * Jonathan Cowie, Concatenation *Table of Contents1: Intelligent or Obedient? 2: Doing Without Thinking 3: Symbols Without Context 4: Bad Data 5: Patterns in Randomness 6: If You Torture the Data Long Enough 7: The Kitchen Sink 8: Old Wine in New Bottles 9: Take Two Aspirin 10: Beat the Market I 11: Beat the Market II 12: We're Watching You

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany online applications, especially in the financial industries, are running on blockchain technologies in a decentralized manner, without the use of an authoritative entity or a trusted third party. Such systems are only secured by cryptographic protocols and a consensus mechanism. As blockchain-based solutions will continue to revolutionize online applications in a growing digital market in the future, one needs to identify the principal opportunities and potential risks. Hence, it is unavoidable to learn the mathematical and cryptographic procedures behind blockchain technology in order to understand how such systems work and where the weak points are.Cryptographic Primitives in Blockchain Technology provides an introduction to the mathematical and cryptographic concepts behind blockchain technologies and shows how they are applied in blockchain-based systems. This includes an introduction to the general blockchain technology approaches that are used to build the so-called immutablTable of Contents1: Introduction 2: Preliminaries 3: Cryptographic Primitives 4: Information Security in Software Systems 5: Distributed Systems 6: Introduction to Blockchain Technology 7: Bitcoin 8: Introduction to Quantum Computing 9: Bitcoin under brocken crypto primitives 10: Post-Quantum Blockchains 11: Conclusions

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Tangle of Science argues that the scientific method, rigour, and objectivity are insufficient to guarantee reliability. It shows how reliable science is underpinned by a vast network of other scientific products, brings into focus neglected areas of science, and emphasizes how every product works together to support results we can trust.Trade ReviewNancy Cartwright and her colleagues steer us from the norms of scientific method to the variety of products—and of evidence—that make the tangle of science reliable. I was struck by the scope of the enterprise and the broad applicability of its findings: from a discussion of continuum and particulate models of flow, to explanations for why democracies don't fight one another or public health interventions fail. Lively and engaging, this book will be of interest not only to philosophers, but to both consumers and producers of science, and among both the natural and social science tribes. * Stephan Haggard, University of California San Diego *In the late 20th century, academics debunked the myth that science was reliable by virtue of its use of a singular method—"the scientific method" —or because scientists were preternaturally objective and rigorous. But if there is no scientific method, and scientists are fallible humans like the rest of us, then what makes science reliable? In this important book, Nancy Cartwright and her colleagues argue the answer is the ways in which the various practices and products of science—theories, methods, experiments, instruments, classification schemes, habits of data collection, forms of analysis, measuring techniques and more—work together and become mutually constitutive and supportive. Scientific knowledge, they argue, is a product of the interplay of all the ingredients that go into it. A must-read for anyone who cares about how science really works. * Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University *Drawing upon a wealth of examples from past and present science, from the physics of temperature to the archaeology of the Dead Sea scrolls, The Tangle of Science makes a strong case that we should replace truth by reliability as the ultimate goal of scientific inquiry. Clearly written and boldly argued, this is a book for everyone who wants to know why we should trust science—and which science to trust. * Lorraine Daston, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin *The Tangle of Science stands front and center of the wave of exciting new work on the nature of science that puts aside a fixation with narrowly epistemological notions such as confirmation and objectivity to examine without philosophical preconceptions, and in a way that embraces the non-cognitive, technological, and social dimensions of science, how scientists succeed at getting to grips with the world. Its picture of science is refreshing, provocative, and I think largely correct. * Michael Strevens, New York University *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface - What This Book is About Part 1: The Usual Suspects 1: Scientific Method 2: Rigour 3: Objectivity Part 2: The Tangle of Science 4: The Tangle 5: Illustrating the Tangle: Episodes from the History of Science 6: The Tangled Principle of the Democratic Peace 7: Afterword: The Study of Gravitational Waves: A Cautionary Lesson References

Read more less

Book SynopsisPraise for the previous edition''A relaxed, well-written and information-packed expedition discovering the history of eclipses'' - The Sky at NightA complete guide to the most stunning of celestial sights, a total eclipse of the Sun Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024 is the most comprehensive source of information, photographs, and illustrations to help readers understand and safely enjoy all aspects of solar eclipses. It includes information on how best to photograph and video record an eclipse, as well as abundant maps, diagrams, and charts, as well as covering the science, history, mythology, and folklore of eclipses.This new edition focuses especially on the eclipse of April 8, 2024 that passes across Mexico, the United States, and Canada, including detailed maps, precise locations, and weather prospects.Trade ReviewTotal eclipses of the sun are the most spellbinding sights in the heavens, and Littmann and Espenak's Totality is far and away the most complete and authoritative guide to why, where, and how to see them. Filled with useful observing tips and maps, it's a must-read for experiencing the great US solar eclipse of April, 2024, and an enduring reference for eclipse watching in the future. * Larry Marschall, Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Gettysburg College *This is a richly informative guide for viewing the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024. It probably answers every question you might have had about this upcoming event as well as some that you probably have not thought of. For anyone planning to travel to see this eclipse the information on weather and viewing locations will be invaluable. * Joe Rao, Associate and Guest Lecturer, American Museum of Natural History *The authors provide an essential run-up to the great total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 with an interesting history of past solar eclipses together with predictions for where, and how, to best observe the coming event. There are also enough observer anecdotes and testimonies of past eclipses to convince even the most reluctant travelers to make an effort in 2024 to seek out mother natures' rare, but unparalleled, celestial performance. * Donald K. Yeomans, NASA/JPL Senior Research Scientist *A total eclipse of the Sun is a fascinating and moving event of great scientific interest. This book is packed with information and is ideal for anyone hoping to witness the 2024 eclipse, whether an experienced eclipse chaser or a first timer * Professor Philippa Browning, Jodrell Bank Centre of Astrophysics, University of Manchester *This is a book rich with wonders, revelations, and delights—visual as well as intellectual. There is just something so astounding about a total solar eclipse (I've been privileged to witness two), and Littmann and Espenak have captured that. They help us comprehend the how, the when, and the why of those few moments, as we gaze into the eyeball of majesty. Get ready for 2024. * Dr David Quammen, author of Spillover and The Song of the Dodo, among others *The authors serve up a splendid repast of eclipse adventure, history, science, travel, and story that captures the excitement and anticipation of one of nature's grandest spectacles. The evolution of the eclipse experience is reconstructed through the amulets of ancient China and the cuneiform tablets of Babylon, the geometric contrivances of Greek philosophers, and the discoveries of Renaissance, Victorian, and 19th-century scientists, all interspersed with an emotional smorgasbord of personal eclipse stories. Written by two experienced "eclipse chasers," Totality offers suggestions on travel, site selection, photography, and, best of all, how to just watch and absorb the unfolding, too-short, celestial drama. An invaluable composition, to be read before the 2024 eclipse and those that follow. * Jay Anderson, Eclipse climatologist *If there is a more complete modern book describing solar eclipses, I haven't found it. "Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024" describes how, where, and why humans are privileged to see these events. This book offers much more than information on the 2024 total eclipse. Wrapped in history, it tells stories of observers' experiences during eclipses. I am impressed with how thorough these historical biographies and reports are. Successes, failures, surprises, coincidences... It has them all. * Stephen J. Edberg, Astronomer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (retired) *Review from previous edition Plenty of professional expertise in its overall contents. * Owen Gingerich, Times Literary Supplement *The most thorough on the practicalities of viewing an eclipse... It's a great reference book. * Stuart Clark, New Scientist *At £25, this book is an extremely useful, affordable guide to both of these magnificent astronomical phenomena. * Steve Bell, Observatory Magazine *The purpose of this book is to prepare the readers for the two total solar eclipses in the US ... Everything the readers need to be efficient eclipse observers is here. * B. Ishak, Contemporary Physics *Total solar eclipses have terrified and fascinated people for millennia. Littman and Espenak describe the history and science of solar eclipses, with stories about how eclipse enthusiasts were affected by these spectacular events. If you haven't seen a total solar eclipse, this book will prepare you for the experience of a lifetime. * Ralph Chou, Professor Emeritus, School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of Waterloo *Table of Contents1: The Experience of Totality 2: The Great Celestial Cover-Up 3: Ancient Efforts to Understand 4: Eclipses in Mythology 5: The Strange Behavior of Man and Beast: Long Ago 6: The Sun at Work 7: The First Eclipse Chasers 8: The Eclipse that Made Einstein Famous 9: The Eclipse that Made Einstein Famous 10: Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses 11: The Strange Behavior of Man and Beast: Modern Times 12: Eclipse Photography 13: Remembering the All-American Eclipse of 2017 14: Coming Back to America: The Eclipse of 2024 15: The Weather Outlook 16: When Is the Next One? Total Eclipses: 2025-2033 17: Eclipses: Cosmic Perspective, Human Perspective

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow have shifts in power and in assumptions about knowledge affected scientific practice? Who controls the new technologies, and how are moral and professional issues addressed during a time of global change? This work explores such questions of relevance in the current scientific climate.Table of ContentsIntroduction by George E. Marcus 1: Cornucopions of History: A Memoir of Science and the Politics of Private Lives Livia Polanyi 2: Eye(I)ing the Sciences and Their Signifiers (Language, Tropes, Autobiographers): InterViewing for a Cultural Studies of Science and Technology Michael M. J. Fischer 3: Twenty-first-Century PET: Looking for Mind and Morality through the Eye of Technology Joseph Dumit 4: Medicine on the Edge: Conversations with Oncologists Mary-Jo Del Vecchio Good, Irene Kuter, Simon Powell, Herbert C. Hoover, Jr., Maria E. Carson, Rita Linggood. 5: Reflections on Fieldwork in Alameda Paul Rabinow 6: Innocence and Awakening: Cyberdammerung at the Ashibe Research Laboratory Allucquere Rosanne Stone 7: The World of Industry-University-Government: Reimagining R&D as America 197 Gary Lee Downey 8: Trust but Verify: Science and Policy Negotiating Nuclear Testing Treaties - Interviews with Roger Eugene Hill Diana L. L. Hill 9: Becoming a Weapons Scientist Hugh Gusterson 10: Rehabilitating Science, Imagining "Bhopal" Kim Laughlin 11: Of Beets and Radishes: Desovietizing Lithuanian Science Kathryn Milun(aitis) 12: Andrzej Staruszkiewicz, Physicist Leszek Koczanowicz 13: Bachigai (Out of Place) in Ibaraki: Tsukuba Science City, Japan Sharon Traweek 14: Bitter Faiths Kathleen Stewart 15: Confabulating Jurassic Science Mario Biagioli 16: Insurgent Urbanism: Interactive Architecture and a Dialogue with Craig Hodgetts James Holston 17: Kith and Kin in Borderlands Gudrun Klein 18: Imagining In-formation: The Complex Disconnections of Computer Networks527 Christopher Pound Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2011, Tim Cook took on an impossible task - following in the footsteps of one of history''s greatest business visionaries, Steve Jobs. Facing worldwide scrutiny, Cook (who was often described as shy, unassuming and unimaginative) defied all expectations. Under Cook''s leadership Apple has soared: its stock has nearly tripled to become the world''s first trillion-dollar company. From the massive growth of the iPhone to new victories like the Apple Watch, Cook is leading Apple to a new era of success. But he''s also spearheaded a cultural revolution within the company. Since becoming CEO, Cook has introduced a new style of management that emphasizes kindness, collaboration and honesty, and has quietly pushed Apple to support sexual and racial equal rights and invest heavily in renewable energy. Drawing on authorized access with several Apple insiders, Kahney, the world''s leading reporter on Apple, tells the inspiring story of how one man attempted to replace the irreplaceable and succeeded better than anyone thought possible.Leander Kahney has covered Apple for more than a dozen years and has written four popular books about Apple and the culture of its followers, including Inside Steve''s Brain and Jony Ive. The former news editor for Wired.com, he is currently the editor and publisher of CultofMac.com. He lives in San Francisco.Trade ReviewA rich narrative * The Wall Street Journal *A praise-filled yet also critical one-decade performance report on Apple CEO Tim Cook * Kirkus Reviews *

Read more less

Book SynopsisJeanne Marie Laskas has written for GQ, Esquire and the New York Times. She is director of The Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh, and she lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her family. She is the author of six books including Hidden America and The Exact Same Moon.Trade ReviewThis is classic David and Goliath, and Jeanne Marie Laskas - one of my favourite writers on earth - makes it as exciting as a great courtroom drama. A riveting, powerful human tale... and a masterclass on how to tell a story -- Charles Duhigg * New York Times *A gripping medical mystery and a dazzling portrait of the young scientist no one wanted to listen to. Bennet Omalu's struggle to force the NFL to reckon with head injuries should give us all hope - and pause. A fabulous, essential read. -- Rebecca Skloot, author of 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'Bennet Omalu forced football to reckon with head trauma. The NFL doesn't want you to hear his story, but Jeanne Marie Laskas makes it unforgettable. This book is gripping, eye-opening, and full of heart. -- Emily Bazelon, author of 'Sticks and Stones'

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscusses extinction as a force shaping socio-cultural and biological lifeTrade ReviewIn an age of academic interdisciplinarity, it is often worth reading well outside the confines of one's discipline, for one can find valuable and unexpected insights. This volume of essays explores the connections, similarities, and sometimes interactions between biological and cultural extinctions. It emphasizes the nuances of language used to define extinctions and pending extinctions, drawing on each of the main sub-fields of anthropology. Genese Marie Sodikoff, the volume's editor, has drawn together an eclectic group of authors, resulting in a very loose-knit set of ideas, but a set that provocatively makes one think about extinction in novel ways. * Biological Conservation *If extinctions are seen as unfamiliar, faraway events, we often fail to think about them, let alone take conscious action to prevent them. Future studies in extinction discourse will do well to further interrogate the relationship between extinctions in 'local' and 'foreign' contexts, while interrogating the assumptions that undergird these very designations. A valuable step in this direction, The Anthropology of Extinction gives us the tools we need to bring us closer to the discomfiting, disorienting, destabilizing real. * Make Magazine *The Anthropology of Extinction offers compelling explorations of issues of widespread concern. * The Birdbooker Report *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Accumulating Absence—Cultural Productions of the Sixth Extinction \ Genese Marie SodikoffPart 1. The Social Construction of Biotic Extinction 1. A Species Apart: Ideology, Science, and the End of Life \ Janet Chernela 2. From Ecocide to Genetic Rescue: Can Technoscience Save the Wild? \ Tracey Heatherington 3. Totem and Taboo Reconsidered: Endangered Species and Moral Practice in Madagascar \ Genese Marie SodikoffPart 2. Endangered Species and Emergent Identities 4. Tortoise Soup for the Soul: Finding a Space for Human History in Evolution's Laboratory \ Jill Constantino 5. Global Environmentalism and the Emergence of Indigeneity: The Politics of Cultural and Biological Diversity in China \ Michael HathawayPart 3. Red-Listed Languages 6. Last Words, Final Thoughts: Collateral Extinctions in Maliseet Language Death \ Bernard C. Perley 7. Dying Young: Pidgins, Creoles, and Other Contact Languages as Endangered Languages \ Paul B. GarrettPart 4. Prehistories of an Apex Predator 8. Demise of the Bet Hedgers: A Case Study of Human Impacts on Past and Present Lemurs of Madagascar \ Laurie R. Godfrey and Emilienne Rasoazanabary 9. Disappearing Wildmen: Capture, Extirpation, and Extinction as Regular Components of Representations of Putative Hairy Hominoids \ Gregory ForthEpilogue: Prolegomenon for a New Totemism \ Peter M. WhiteleyList of ContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe collision of new technologies, changing business strategies, and innovative storytelling that produced a new golden age of TV.Cable television channels were once the backwater of American television, programming recent and not-so-recent movies and reruns of network shows. Then came La Femme Nikita, OZ, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead. And then, just as “prestige cable” became a category, came House of Cards and Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, and other Internet distributors of television content. What happened? In We Now Disrupt This Broadcast, Amanda Lotz chronicles the collision of new technologies, changing business strategies, and innovative storytelling that produced an era termed “peak TV.”Lotz explains that changes in the business of television expanded the creative possibilities of television. She describes the costly infrastructure rebuilding undertake

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow everyday wetness?from finger smudges, sweat, and spilled drinks to showering and swimming?collides with consumers? media devices designed to stay dry.License to Spill investigates the everyday moments, activities, and spaces where media technologies and liquids collide?from disastrous spilled drinks that corrode laptops and drops in the toilet that drown smartphones?to the greasy finger smudges and sweat droplets that sully screens and glitch smartwatches. Putting historical and present-day case studies in conversation, Rachel Plotnick considers how people?s experiences with media devices inevitably encounter wetness, and yet how consumers?not the companies who make the devices?take the blame when leaks, spillages, and overflows occur. Along with thinking about preventive measures and device caretaking, License to Spill examines how water resistant and waterproofed technologies, through their design and marketing, imagine the brawniest and hardiest of users meant to ?punish? and ?abuse? their ?tough? devices, granting them unfettered permission to get wet. Examining a long history of ?torture testing? and hyperbolic claims of imperviousness, the book demonstrates how protective designs relate to broader cultural ideas about media use as sporty, luxurious, excessive, or messy. This context is especially relevant given that the market for water-resistant bags, cases, coatings, and seals has flourished over the past decade, with new rhetoric about wetness as ?natural? and digital technologies as ever-present. The book pushes us to attend to both the ideals and problems that arise when designing ?resilient? devices, ranging from the ?right to repair? movement and lawsuits over ingress protection (IP) ratings to obsolescence culture and work-from-home activities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“The scope of this book is impressive . . . it provokes us to think deeply about our views on what we consider as reality.”—John H. Kaas, Vanderbilt University“Miguel is proposing an Enlightenment of the 21st century, in which all the old values of human society are reassessed and new values are proposed based on how the human brain is the measure of all things.”—Gordon Shepherd, Yale Medical School, author of Creating Modern Neuroscience: The Revolutionary 1950s“Nicolelis’s neuroscientific descriptions that form the basis of his theories expand and transcend current thinking in neuroscience—a characteristic that has epitomized his scientific career.”—Ron Frostig, University of California Irvine“In a sweeping style befitting his passion for neuroscience, Miguel Nicolelis takes the reader on a journey across his decades of scientific inquiry regarding a most amazing organ and into a future he foresees, challenging contemporary thinking. E pur si muove.”—Marshall G. Hussain Shuler, Johns Hopkins University"Miguel Nicolelis’ marvelous book is a great adventure story about the brain’s central role in creating our conception of the universe and its contents; it is colorful, electrifying and deep. He’s one of our great scientific adventurers and this book leverages his expertise and passion in formulating a theory on the origins of everything."—Asif A. Ghazanfar, Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen historians of the future come to examine western civilization in the twentieth century, one area of intellectual accomplishment will stand out above all others: more than any other era before it, the twentieth century was an age of science. Not only were the practical details of daily life radically transformed by the application of scientific discoveries, but our very sense of who we are, how our minds work, how our world came to be, how it works and our proper role in it, our ultimate origins, and our ultimate fate were all influenced by scientific thinking as never before in human history. In The Age of Science, the former editor and publisher of Scientific American gives us a sweeping overview of the scientific achievements of the twentieth century, with chapters on the fundamental forces of nature, the subatomic world, cosmology, the cell and molecular biology, earth history and the evolution of life, and human evolution. Beautifully written and illustrated, this is a

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"UK astronomer royal Martin Rees faces the future as scientist, citizen and 'worried member of the human species'. His bold, beautifully synthesized primer paces from human-driven challenges such as climate change to dizzying astronomical discoveries within and beyond the Solar System. . . A clarion call for global, rational, long-term thinking."---Barbara Kiser, Nature"A remarkable book not only because of the subject—the prospects of humanity—but because it is so reasonable. . . . Rees largely manages to steer clear of both fear mongering and cheerleading. The question of how we should deal with new technology has no easy answer, and the author doesn’t pretend that it does. Instead, in each case he lays out the important points to consider."---Sabine Hossenfelder, Wall Street Journal"Fortunately for Rees, the symptoms of his anxiety appear to be an exceptionally clear head and a capable grasp of the big picture. His sense of cosmic wonder shines through brilliantly in the book’s later chapters. Explanations of complex subjects like the Large Hadron Collider and the ongoing search for exoplanets benefit from his crisp, precise prose. . . . Rees is a seasoned science communicator, and in so far as his job is to get more and more people interested in the field, the book’s short length and approachable style is a shrewd move that will open a wormhole to the big questions for the curious."---Louie Conway, Vanity Fair"When politics seems impossible, it is sometimes good to take the long view. Astronomer Martin Rees’s On the Future offers a cosmological perspective on the present state of the world. Brexit seems a bit less all-or-nothing when set against the prospect of post-human space travel."---David Runciman, The Guardian"[Hawking and Rees] offer brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity. They evince a profound faith in science’s power to demystify nature and bend it to our ends."---John Horgan, Wall Street Journal"[On the Future] offers forecasts of impending technological developments and words of hope for the human ability to use science to repair a wounded planet and improve lives. . . . This far-ranging but easily understood collection of ideas shares and communicates the enthusiasm of Rees’s ‘techno-optimist’ view of the prospects for humanity." * Publishers Weekly *"Short in extent but wide in range: from redesigning genes, through the likelihood of human-induced climate change, to the possibility of encounters with alien intelligence in the Universe. [On the Future]’s overall theme is that Earth’s growing population will flourish only if science and technology are deployed with ‘wisdom.’"---Andrew Robinson, Science"Rees neatly packages his sprawling subject matter into a guidebook for the responsible use of science to build a healthy and equitable future for humanity."---Daniel Ackerman, Scientific American"Rees is hardly the first to issue a stern warning about what lies ahead if complacency and consumerism rule, but his lucid, well-reasoned explanation of the stakes and inimitable prose lift this manifesto above the rest. An impassioned call to action from one of the world's foremost scientists. A book to be read by anyone on Earth who cares about its future." * Kirkus, starred review *"It is hard not to be fascinated as [Rees] builds his Eeyorish case – which is laid out with the dispassionate air of a superintelligent alien anthropologist observing our species’ eccentricities from afar. . . . [A] lucid and engaging book."---Tom Whipple, The Times"Lord Martin Rees manages weighty, often scary, matters with an eminently accessible lightness of touch in On the Future: Prospects for Humanity. . . . [A] short, crisply written new book."---John Cornwell, Financial Times"This slim volume, written in Rees’s characteristically elegant style, will frighten and inspire – and above all, entertain."---Clive Cookson, Financial Times"If you’re worried about the prospects for the human race, try Martin Rees’s On the Future for a sober, level-headed assessment."---John Naughton, The Observer"The importance of science in society has no greater spokesperson than Lord Martin Rees." * The Economist *"By no means merely a happiness pill, Martin Rees's On the Future: Prospects for Humanity nonetheless encourages the reader to think beyond the new norms of diminished and collapsing expectations. . . . This is less a book than a set of goggles that provides the reader a glimpse of a wider spectrum of possibility than would otherwise be visible."---Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Education"Rees is clear-sighted and pithy. . . . His account of the planets and exoplanets on which we might one day descend feels thrillingly real. . . . Wonderfully optimistic."---James McConnachie, Sunday Times"Rees shows us an optimistic yet realistic way of contemplating the what is to come, as long as we broaden our thinking and realise that we’re all on this crowded planet together."---Sandra Kropa, BBC Sky at Night Magazine"It would be easy for a book about the future to turn gloomy, but this one balances concerns with hopeful prospects." * Foreword Reviews *"[An] eloquent book."---John Thornhill, Financial Times"Rees dispenses his apocalyptic overview of the coming decades like cocktail party wisdom. The author, who moves in elevated circles and has the papal ear, is an affable doom merchant."---Anjana Ahuja, New Statesman"An overview of the great science-based possibilities for mankind, as well as an expert’s gentle warning against what will happen to life on earth if we continue to form our thinking around short-term goals."---Rozalind Dineen, Times Literary Supplement"With the authority that only someone of his calibre could command, Martin Rees presents his vision of the future of mankind." * Nature Astronomy *"This little gem is divided into four beautifully-crafted chapters providing broad perspective, personal anecdotes, some seldom-mined historical background, strong scientific emphasis, and hope."---Bruce L. Dietrich, Planetarian"In [On the Future], Rees turns his focus closer to home, examining the existential threats that face humanity over the next century. From cyberattacks to advances in biotechnology to artificial intelligence to climate change, Rees, Britain's astronomer royal, says we are living at a critical juncture — one that could define how the human species fares."---Denise Chow, NBC News MACH"[On the Future] shrewdly weighs up our chances of survival."---Andy Martin, Belfast Telegraph"A rallying call for the sort of rational thinking that seems to have become unpopular in recent years. . . . A short, but persuasive, book."---Dominic Lenton, Engineering & Technology"A really important book."---David Runciman, Talking Politics podcast"Overall, this is a wise and humane overview of the challenges we all face, with much practical guidance about how best to tackle these in terms of responsible scientific and technological innocation related to deeper human values."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer"Lord Rees is the source on all things future-of-humanity." * Mayday *"[A] condensed masterpiece of analysis and observation."---Jonathan Power, New York Journal of Books"Reading On the Future will equip the reader with the means to challenge their representatives to lift their eyes above the daily grind of politics and set their sights on a brighter future which humanity can enjoy if the correct decisions are made in respect of the development and application of science and technology."---K. Alan Shore, Contemporary Physics"I found reading Rees’s ideas here rewarding. I also learned a lot from this book. . . as such, I am very positive about this book and I think that all ethicists should read it."---Wouter Kalf, Ethical Perspectives

Read more less

Book SynopsisIsambard Kingdom Brunel changed the world as we know it. He was responsible for building the Great Western Railway main line, introducing regular steamship travel across the Atlantic, building the first tunnel under a major river, and constructing docks, harbours and bridges that enabled Britain to expand and grow as the powerhouse of the world. Without his foresight and imagination, it is possible that nineteenth-century Britain might have been very different. There have been many books written about the man himself, but this book concentrates upon the structures, buildings and legacy of Brunel, introducing the reader to this great engineer and embarking upon a tour around Britain that reveals the many locations with a Brunel connection.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLeading theorists explore how the Internet impacts privacy issues, sensitivity to wrongdoing, and cultural and personal identity.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSummarizing this century's major debates over realism and the rationality of scientific knowledge, Joseph Rouse believes that these disputes oversimplify the political and cultural significance of the sciences. He provides an alternative understanding of science that focuses on practices rather than knowledge.Rouse first outlines the shared...Trade ReviewAn ambitious attempt to outline an alternative to the dominant philosophical and social constructivist efforts to make sense of science.... [Rouse] extends his examination of practice, local knowledge, and the politics of science into a full-fledged conception of philosophy of science as cultural studies. * Isis *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMartinez draws from an unparalleled wealth of sources to demonstrate why it is essential to the study and evolution of physics today.Trade ReviewFascinating... Recommended. Choice The author uses clear and easy-to-understand language to describe how kinematics is essential to the modern study of physics. Scitech Book News 2010 A great deal of interesting historical material on kinematic ideas... the story of Einstein's pathway to discovery is a gem... an illuminating pleasure to read. Einstein, the smasher of earlier images of physics, would have been the first to applaud this very human account of himself and this period of his life. Perhaps this text will turn out to be inspirational reading for some future young Einstein! -- Peter J. Bussey Contemporary Physics 2011 The book is really two books in one... Martinez deserves our gratitude for digging up a rich selection of recollections. Physics in Perspective 2011 This often-overlooked branch of mechanics, which describes objects' motion, provided the foundation for special relativity. Science News Martinez draws from an unparalleled wealth of sources. -- Hans-Jurgen Schmidt Zentralblatt Math 2011Table of ContentsPreface1. Big Picture: Rise of a Rejected Science2. Where to Begin? Invisible Causes or Visible Motions3. Ambiguous Truths: The Allegedly Pure Science of Motion4. Debates over Language: Coordinates versus Vectors5. Scientific Definitions: The Concepts of Space and Time6. Discovery and Invention: Conceptual Origins of Einstein's Relativity7. Text and Equations: Elements of Einstein's Kinematics8. Critical History: The Algebra of MotionBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIncludes Whewell's seminal studies of the logic of induction (with his critique of Mill's theory), arguments for his realist view that science discovers necessary truths about nature, and exercises in the epistemology and ontology of science. This book sets forth a coherent statement of a historically important philosophy of science.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExploring the forces that determine the rate and direction of medical progress, this book brings together the worlds of scientific policy, economics, sociology, and innovation to describe the medical research landscape. Covers how issues, including incentive structures and lack of novelty in drug development, influence and impede progress.Trade Review'With engaging examples and a surprising breadth of research, The Trajectory of Discovery, brilliantly illuminates how both the rate and trajectory of medical research rests on the incentives built into the scientific system and the social context in which research takes place. Khurana deftly applies a host of classical and new findings from across scientometrics, sociology of science, and the economics of innovation to the medical area and highlight why we (don't) know what we (don't) know. Through examples, theory, and empirical research, the book argues that discovery rests crucially on the aggregated choices of many scientists, whose actions are shaped by the social logic of scientific system - a logic that is not necessarily optimized for this endeavor. It will be a great read for social scientists interested in the intricacies of medical science, or doctors in search for explanations of why science works the way it does.' Emil Bargmann Madsen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, Aarhus University'The rate and direction of medical progress remain neglected topics for systematic study. Mark P. Khurana's The Trajectory of Discovery shines the spotlight on such issues and makes this what is likely to be the most important book on both biomedicine and science policy this year.' Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University'A compelling route into the contemporary world of science. With plenty of illuminating examples from biomedical research, Khurana gives us an insider's view into how prizes, important discoveries, easily-accessible tools, funding bubbles, temporary emergencies and crises have long-term effect on what scientists study, and contribute to determine whether science will ultimately progress or sluggish. It shows how patients' groups, philanthropic institutions, corporate lobbies and governments can have a say into what gets prioritized and discusses how some of the current obsessions of science, such as having positive findings, publishing first and cumulate citations pose additional frictions. The final portrait is a world where little room, if any, is left to academic freedom.' Chiara Franzoni, Professor of Applied Economics, School of Management, Polytechnic University of MilanTable of ContentsPart I. Incentives, Context and Capital: 1. Citations as currency; 2. Hacking statistics; 3. The allure of prizes; 4. Streetlight effects; 5. Patented and regulated progress; 6. Teams and diversity; Part II. The Financial Determinants of Discovery: 7. The research marketplace; 8. Winners take all; 9. Public service; 10. The medici model; 11. The goldilocks zone; 12. Kindling creativity; Part III. Bending the Arc: 13. Lobbying for change; 14. Scientific elasticity; 15. Death of a star // new kids on the block; 16. Great emergencies; 17. Fraudulent findings; 18. Serendipity; 19. Converging paths; Part IV. Reflecting on the Trajectory: 20. Civic engagement; 21. Uncertainty; 22. Commercialization and power; 23. Morality and progress.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first systematic, comprehensive and critical English-language study of radio in China, this book documents a historical understanding of Chinese radio from the early twentieth century to the present. Covering both public matters and private lives, Radio and Social Transformation in China analyses a range of themes from healthcare, migration and education, to intimacy, family and friendship. Through a concentrated and thorough scrutiny of a variety of new genres and radio practices in post-Mao China, it also investigates the interaction between radio and social change, particularly in the era of economic reform. Building on the core theoretical concept of compressed modernity', each of the radio genres explored is shown to embody China's efforts to achieve modernity, while simultaneously exemplifying radio's capacity to manage the challenges that have arisen from the country's distinctive and perhaps unique process of modernization. WritteTable of Contents1. Transforming Radio in China 2. Radio and a Revolutionary China 3. Radio News and the Articulation of One Voice 4. Late Night Talkback Radio 5. Health Infomercial Radio 6. Drive Radio and the Construction of Urban Middle-class Identities 7. Digital Soundwork in Contemporary China 8. Missed Opportunities and Future Challenges

Read more less

Book SynopsisToday, Internet of Things (IoT) is ubiquitous as it is applied in practice in everything from Industrial Control Systems (ICS) to e-Health, e-commerce, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), smart cities, smart parking, healthcare, supply chain management and many more. Numerous industries, academics, alliances and standardization organizations make an effort on IoT standardization, innovation and development. But there is still a need for a comprehensive framework with integrated standards under one IoT vision. Furthermore, the existing IoT systems are vulnerable to huge range of malicious attacks owing to the massive numbers of deployed IoT systems, inadequate data security standards and the resource-constrained nature. Existing security solutions are insufficient and therefore it is necessary to enable the IoT devices to dynamically counter the threats and save the system.Apart from illustrating the diversified IoT applications, this book also addresses the issue of data safekeepinTable of Contents1. IoT Conceptual Model and Application. 2. Standardization of IoT Ecosystems: Open Challenges, Current Solutions, and Future Directions. 3. A Node Reduction Technique for Trojan Detection and Diagnosis in IoT Hardware Devices. 4. Deep-Learning-Empowered Edge Computing-Based IoT Frameworks. 5. A Geo-Referenced Data Collection Microservice Based on IoT Protocols for Smart HazMat Transportation. 6. Impact of Dimentionality Reduction on Performance of IoT Intrusion Detection System. 7. IoT-Based Resources Management and Monitoring for a Smart City. 8. Internet of Things Applications in Marketing. 9. Internet of Things (IoT) for Sustainable Smart Cities. 10. An Integration of IOT and Machine Learning in Smart City Planning. 11. The Internet of Medical Things for Monitoring Health. 12. Secured Multimedia and IoT in Healthcare Computing Paradigms. 13. Designing Contactless Automated Systems Using IoT, Sensors and Artificial Intelligence to Mitigate COVID-19. 14. Analysis Of the Framework for the Development, Security and Efficacy Of IoT-Based Mobile Health-Care Solutions for Antenatal Care.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs more Africans get online, information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly hailed for their transformative potential. Yet, the fascination for the possibilities of promoting more inclusive forms of development in the information age have obfuscated the reality of the complex negotiations among political and economic actors who are seeking to use technology in their competition for power. Building on over ten years of research in Ethiopia, Iginio Gagliardone investigates the relationship between politics, development, and technological adoption in Africa's second most populous country and its largest recipient of development aid. The emphasis the book places on the 'technopolitics' of ICTs, and on their ability to embody and enact political goals, offers a strong and empirically grounded counter-argument to prevalent approaches to the study of technology and development that can be applied to other cases in Africa and beyond.Trade Review'For anyone interested in the complexities and contradictions of ICT for development in Africa, this book offers a fresh approach to the topic. I recommend this book to researchers engaged in national or comparative research as it offers a strong empirical model for how to conduct this kind of research without losing sight of the larger implications.' Melissa Tully, Information Technologies and International DevelopmentTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Technopolitics, communication technologies and development; 3. Avoiding politics: international and local discourses on ICTs; 4. A quest for hegemony: the use of ICTs in support of the Ethiopian national project; 5. Ethiopia's developmental and sovereign technopolitical regimes; 6. Resisting alternative technopolitical regimes; 7. ICT for development, human rights and the changing geopolitical order; 8. Conclusion; Bibliography.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn an era of corporate surveillance, artificial intelligence, deep fakes, genetic modification, automation, and more, law often seems to take a back seat to rampant technological change. To listen to Silicon Valley barons, there''s nothing any of us can do about it. In this riveting work, Joshua A. T. Fairfield calls their bluff. He provides a fresh look at law, at what it actually is, how it works, and how we can create the kind of laws that help humans thrive in the face of technological change. He shows that law can keep up with technology because law is a kind of technology - a social technology built by humans out of cooperative fictions like firms, nations, and money. However, to secure the benefits of changing technology for all of us, we need a new kind of law, one that reflects our evolving understanding of how humans use language to cooperate.Trade Review'Can democracy keep pace with technology? Yes, says Joshua Fairfield, but only if we swiftly adapt the language of law itself.' Edward Castronova, Indiana University'Professor Fairfield has given us a critically important and engaging book. It is urgent, yet has timeless wisdom. It is erudite, but also highly accessible. It is consequential yet still laced with commendable levity. Runaway Technology is a must-read not just because of its insight into whether the law can keep up with modern technology, but because of its perspective on the law itself as a tool for human flourishing.' Woodrow Hartzog, Northeastern University'Fairfield's Runaway Technology offers a powerful argument for the centrality of law to our efforts to tackle a range of contemporary threats through organization and cooperation. Recent decades have seen a shift in power away from legal institutions and towards private actors and the technologies they control. By rejecting the reductive turn to economics and techno-determinism that drive policymaking today, Fairfield reminds us that law, when properly conceptualized as a dynamic social technology, provides a set of tools for constructing, adapting, interrogating, and justifying the narratives that guide our culture and our future.' Aaron Perzanowski, Case Western Reserve University'… stimulating, intelligent, challenging … I encourage you to read the book …' Christina Spiesel, Metascience'This book will appeal to readers who want a deeper understanding of how language, and the language of law, can be cooperatively used to effect social and legal change.' Sally Sax, Canadian Law Library ReviewTable of ContentsPart I. Keeping Up: Law as Social Technology: 1. Can law keep up?; 2. Rates of change; 3. Technology law; Part II. Running on Words: Law as Cooperative Fiction: 4. Language, the human superpower; 5. What went wrong with science?; 6. Law's fruitful fictions; 7. Shifting how we think; Part III. Law and the Language we Need: 8. Why we fail; 9. Jurisgenesis; 10. TL;DR.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Industry Unbound, Ari Ezra Waldman exposes precisely how the tech industry conducts its ongoing crusade to undermine our privacy. With research based on interviews with scores of tech employees and internal documents outlining corporate strategies, Waldman reveals that companies don''t just lobby against privacy law; they also manipulate how we think about privacy, how their employees approach their work, and how they weaken the law to make data-extractive products the norm. In contrast to those who claim that privacy law is getting stronger, Waldman shows why recent shifts in privacy law are precisely the kinds of changes that corporations want and how even those who think of themselves as privacy advocates often unwittingly facilitate corporate malfeasance. This powerful account should be read by anyone who wants to understand why privacy laws are not working and how corporations trap us into giving up our personal information.Trade Review'How did privacy policies become licenses to spy? And do we have any hope of effective data regulation? In vivid and accessible prose, Industry Unbound offers deep insight into contemporary corporate power to monitor workers, manipulate consumers, and influence governments. With a skilled attorney's understanding of contracts and statutes and a rigorous sociologist's command of empirical methods, Waldman tells a story of 'privacy professionals' who gradually accommodate themselves to surveillance capitalism. This brilliant book is a must-read for understanding the failures of contemporary privacy laws, and how they might evolve toward more robust protections.' Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School, and author of The Black Box Society and The New Laws of Robotics'Ari Waldman peels back the curtain on internal privacy practices at the most powerful tech companies to reveal an alarming trend: Despite robust privacy programs, teams of employees devoted to protecting privacy, and significant laws and regulations requiring many internal measures to safeguard privacy, the reality on the ground is that these things are often failing. Waldman provocatively contends that corporate power turns compliance with even robust privacy laws into an often hollow exercise. As legislatures rush to pass privacy laws, Industry Unbound is a wakeup call that these efforts will not end the nightmare. This eye-opening and unsettling book is also constructive, as it offers productive recommendations for a new direction in privacy law. Lively, alarming, and insightful, Industry Unbound deftly unites theory, practice, and law. It is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of privacy.' Daniel J. Solove, John Marshall Harlan Research Professor of Law, George Washington University, and author of Understanding Privacy'Ari Waldman's powerful new book combines fascinating on-the-ground insights and a sharp critical eye to help us understand why, despite touted improvements in data protection, our privacy remains in jeopardy. Industry Unbound is clear, compelling, and essential reading for the personal data field and anyone who is concerned about privacy.' Woodrow Hartzog, Professor of Law and Computer Science, Northeastern University, and author of Privacy's Blueprint'Painstakingly researched and beautifully written, Industry Unbound chronicles the ways in which tech companies use their power to undermine our privacy. Ari Waldman went under the hood of the information industry for this project, and the result is a fantastic piece of law and sociology scholarship. But Industry Unbound isn't just for students and academics. It's a must read for anyone interested in privacy and political economy, for policymakers looking to write new privacy laws, for regulators trying to rein in Big Tech, and for anyone curious about how law really works on the ground. Everyone should read it.' Danielle Keats Citron, Jefferson Scholars Foundation Schenck Distinguished Professor in Law, University of Virginia School of Law, and recipient of the MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship'Why is there so much privacy law but so little privacy? The answer lies in the way privacy compliance is practiced on the ground. Ari Waldman supplies a lucid, rigorous explanation of how privacy law has become captured from the inside out. Essential reading.' Julie E. Cohen, Mark Claster Mamolen Professor of Law and Technology, Georgetown, and author of Between Truth and Power'No one but law professor and sociologist Ari Waldman could have written Industry Unbound. Drawing from years of qualitative study, Waldman develops a 'social practice of privacy' that lays bare the cultural, political, and discursive forces winnowing our privacy even as regulatory requirements proliferate. Waldman's sober-eyed, sophisticated, and wisely prescriptive work should be required reading for anyone who studies or cares about privacy. We are not doomed to push the privacy rock up the hill, only for it tumble back down. There is a path to resistance, and Industry Unbound is its map.' Ryan Calo, Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor, University of Washington School of Law'Clearly written, insightful, polemical, sophisticated, and based upon extensive fieldwork, Industry Unbound is an instant classic. It is a rare combination of a sophisticated academic study, a penetrating sociological critique, and an accessible explanation of what's actually happening inside the information industry for the general reader. Few books have changed our understanding of privacy like this one; it is a must-read for anyone who studies, works in the field of, or worries about privacy and the power that human information confers.' Neil Richards, Koch Distinguished Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis, and author of Intellectual PrivacyTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Privacy and the Information Industry: 1. A day at the office; 2. Spotting the issues; Part II. A Vicious Cycle: 3. Privacy's discourses; 4. Privacy compliance; 5. Designing data-extractive technologies; Part III. Power and Resistance: 6. Power; 7. Fighting back; 8. Conclusion.

Read more less

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

Read more less