Impact of science and technology on society Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Book SynopsisHow smart machines are transforming us all — and what we should do about it. The smart-machines revolution is re-shaping our lives and our societies. Here, Nigel Shadbolt, one of Britain’s leading authorities on artificial intelligence, and Roger Hampson dispel terror, confusion, and misconception. They argue that it is human stupidity, not artificial intelligence, that should concern us. Lucid, well-informed, and deeply human, The Digital Ape offers a unique approach to some of the biggest questions about our future.Trade Review‘[W]e should be grateful to Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Roger Hampson for pausing for breath and helping us to think through the true significance of our latest technological developments.’ * Financial Times *‘Numbed by dire warnings of technological Armageddon? Computer scientist Nigel Shadbolt and economist Roger Hampson dispel the miasma with this superb survey of the landscape we “digital apes” have wrought.’ -- Barbara Kiser * Nature *'Nigel Shadbolt is one of the most fascinating and important scientists alive today.' -- Professor Jim Al-Khalili'There has never been a more important time to discuss what it means to be human, in the past, now, and in the future. This is a book for anyone interested in getting behind the headlines and understanding how technology is impacting our world. The writers are two masters in their field who are not only erudite but immensely humane and compassionate.' -- Martha Lane Fox'This is a brilliantly readable, genuinely cutting-edge book that is also often very entertaining. Of all the recent studies of automation and AI, The Digital Ape stands head and shoulders above the rest. Shadbolt and Hampson have written a landmark book.' * Andrew Keen, author of How to Fix the Future and The Internet is Not the Answer *‘Rich in ideas and insights, the book is especially strong on our growing personal relationships with Alexa and other robots … An upbeat — even reassuring — take on what will be an AI-saturated future.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus Reviews *‘All explore the relationship between the human animal and what might be its most momentous creation yet: artificial intelligence … In a series of wide-ranging chapters, the authors argue that human beings are not just distinguished by their ability to use tools but also largely shaped by it.’ * Weekend Australian *‘[An] interdisciplinary approach comes over in The Digital Ape, which has arresting sentences.’ * Computer Weekly *

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Book SynopsisIn the attention economy, online influencers are an emerging class of power brokers. How can you harness their potential? Break the Internet takes a deep dive into the influencer industry, tracing its evolution from blogging and legacy social media such as Tumblr to today’s world in which YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok dominate. Digital strategist Olivia Yallop goes undercover amongst content creators to understand how online personas are built, uncovering what it is really like to live a branded life and trade in a ‘social stock market’. The result is an insider account of a trend that is set to dominate our future — experts estimate that the economy of influence will be valued at $24 billion globally by 2025.Trade Review‘This is a book that looks deeply at the commodification of the self, and the increasingly blurred line between leisure and labour … Behind our small screens is an unimaginable vastness, which Break the Internet manages to shape into something understandable, even to the influencer-ignorant such as me … wryly funny.’ -- Eleanor Margolis * The Guardian *‘It is refreshing to read a book that eschews the usual sneering anti-influencer condescension. Break the Internet is devoid of snobbery, placing the emergence of influencers within a wider economic context … persuasive and well-written.’ -- James Bloodworth * The Times *‘Riveting. A dizzying and nuanced deep dive into the evolution of content creation, with extraordinary breadth of research.’ -- Pandora Sykes‘Olivia Yallop has written the definitive insider account of influencer culture. Break the Internet is erudite, smart, entertaining, and essential.’ -- Will Storr, author of Selfie‘In 2021 publishers are reckoning with a problem: how do you publish a book about internet culture that doesn’t immediately become outdated? ... Scribe may be the first to find an answer with Break the Internet … A pacy story that’s of the moment but goes beyond it, too.’ -- Sarah Manavis * New Statesman *‘Yallop is an authoritative guide, balancing her experience at a digital agency … with the necessary critical distance of someone with only a few hundred Instagram followers. Her analysis benefits from being grounded in rigorous, real-world reporting … a comprehensive account of a phenomenon that seems more likely to explode than to go away.’ -- Elle Hunt * New Scientist *‘Rigorous and authoritative.’ * The Week *‘An immersive study of the last decade’s most divisive profession.’ -- Lauren O’Neill * Vice *‘Lucid, readable, and sometimes alarming.’ -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *‘There was lots in it that I didn’t know ... The analysis I really enjoyed was about how we can’t hold back technology, and everything from printing presses to moving trains has freaked the hell out of people, but how fragile and open to misuse influencer follower count values really are.’ -- Alexandra Heminsley‘The result of Yallop’s immersive investigation is a comprehensive education on influencer culture, its evolution and future … essential reading material for anyone interested in internet culture and a masterclass in engaging non-fiction.’ -- Alice Crossley * Reaction *‘An engaging analysis of online culture, including insights into the dizzying amounts of money influencers make, the decline of traditional media, the philosophy of fame, and the excess and inequality of late capitalism. Consider us influenced.’ * Norton *‘In Olivia Yallop’s new exploration of this cultural phenomenon, she goes far beyond the typically superficial understandings of what an influencer is — and more importantly — how to become one. A fascinating and whip-smart read, Break the Internet is for anyone who wishes to understand influencer culture and its place within the modern context.’ -- Dan Shaw * HappyMag, starred review *‘[Olivia Yallop is] well placed to deliver on the premise of her fascinating debut book, Break the Internet … [She] takes seriously the often-dismissed “creator economy” while maintaining a journalistic scepticism. Her engaging, authoritative account thus considers the broad swathe of internet culture that falls “under the influencer umbrella”.’ -- Gemma Nisbet * The West Australian *‘Along with the advent of social media has come a divergent cohort of individuals who have harnessed its power to attain influence. In Break the Internet … [Olivia Yallop] has connected the dots for many who wish to understand how individual influencers have collectively made a seismic impact in society and commerce. Through extensive research and interviews, Yallop sheds light on what it’s like to have a monetisable internet presence — and more importantly — what it takes to maintain it. She goes to school with the next generation of aspiring influencers to learn what it takes to make it. All this is couched within a historical and cultural context, showing readers the very real-world repercussions of online influence.’ -- Dan Shaw * HappyMag *‘A digital strategist and tech commentator dives into the world of social media influencers … Yallop, who dabbled in influencing before moving to an agency that works in the online space, has plenty of stories involving fantastic numbers, and she writes with clarity and a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek humour … A capable guide takes us on an entertaining, authoritative, and sometimes scary journey.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Break the Internet will find a broad audience from social media marketers and strategists to teens and young adults.’ * Booklist *‘Yallop takes us inside the workings of influencers and the ways in which brands and companies can utilise this ready-and-willing corps to help boost their image, reach, and profits. Well-written, engaging, and accessible. This should appeal to anyone with an interest in modern online culture, life, and business/marketing.’ -- Stefan Fergus

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Book SynopsisFrom the telegraph to the touchscreen, how the development of binary switching transformed everyday life and changed the shape of human agency The Switch traces the sudden rise of a technology that has transformed everyday life for billions of people: the binary switch. By chronicling the rapid growth of binary switching since the mid-nineteenth century, Jason Puskar contends that there is no human activity as common today as pushing a button or flipping a switch—the deceptively simple act of turning something on or off. More than a technical history, The Switch offers a cultural and political analysis of how reducing so much human action to binary alternatives has profoundly reshaped modern society. Analyzing this history, Puskar charts the rapid shift from analog to digital across a range of devices—keyboards, cameras, guns, light switches, computers, game controls, even the “nuclear button”—to understand how nineteenth-century techniques continue to influence today’s pervasive digital technologies. In contexts that include musical performance, finger counting, machine writing, voting methods, and immersive play, Puskar shows how the switch to switching led to radically new forms of action and thought. The innovative analysis in The Switch makes clear that binary inputs have altered human agency by making choice instantaneous, effort minimal, and effects more far-reaching than ever. In the process, it concludes, switching also fosters forms of individualism that, though empowering for many, also preserve a legacy of inequality and even domination. Trade Review "In this deeply ambitious and sophisticated book, Jason Puskar invites us to think more seriously about what happens almost every time we touch one of our devices and turn it on or swipe or click. From the technologies at our fingertips to the vastly larger networks of politics and language that they operate and represent, The Switch provides a fascinating cultural history of how we have made the modern world, and been remade in turn, by the simplest of human actions and the connections they enable."—Mark Goble, author of Beautiful Circuits: Modernism and the Mediated Life "A dazzling, beautifully written history of a pervasive but seemingly unremarkable technology of modern life: the binary switch. Jason Puskar’s delightful and important book will fascinate historians of media and technology; it should be required reading for anyone curious about how fantasies of liberal agency are cultivated in the buttons, keyboards, triggers, and toys that make us human."—Justus Nieland, author of Happiness by Design: Modernism and Media in the Eames Era Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Awake at the Switch Part I. Start 1. Origin Stories 2. Designing the Button 3. Analogs and Analogies Part II. Digital Bodies 4. The Point of Touch 5. Counting on the Body 6. Darth Vader’s Nipples Part III. Keyboard Rationality 7. The Keyboard’s Checkered Past 8. Human Types 9. Chording and Coding 10. The Archaeology of Qwerty Part IV. Objects of Play 11. The Toys of Dionysus 12. Pinball Wizards Part V. Haptic Liberalism 13. The Control Panel of Democracy 14. Switching Philosophies 15. Pistolgraphs 16. First-Person Shooters Epilogue: Self-Destruct Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Origins of Modern Science is the first synthetic account of the history of science from antiquity through the Scientific Revolution in many decades. Providing readers of all backgrounds and students of all disciplines with the tools to study science like a historian, Ofer Gal covers everything from Pythagorean mathematics to Newton''s Principia, through Islamic medicine, medieval architecture, global commerce and magic. Richly illustrated throughout, scientific reasoning and practices are introduced in accessible and engaging ways with an emphasis on the complex relationships between institutions, beliefs and political structures and practices. Readers gain valuable new insights into the role that science plays both in history and in the world today, placing the crucial challenges to science and technology of our time within their historical and cultural context.Trade Review'Ofer Gal is a superb guide to the history of science. Students will appreciate his clarity, well-chosen illustrations and strong thematic exposition. Instructors will delight in his erudition, synthetic power and fresh historical vision. All can read this book with pleasure and profit. It is the gold standard in texts on science from antiquity to Newton.' John W. Servos, Amherst College'Densely packed throughout with provocative analyses and a wealth of powerful concepts, The Origins of Modern Science is a history on a grand scale that is destined to become a standard work. Gal's narrative exemplifies a rare balance between history and historiography, sophistication and accessibility, text and context, while consistently emphasizing the human component at the heart of this millennia-long saga.' Victor Boantza, University of Minnesota'In The Origins of Modern Science: From Antiquity to the Scientific Revolution, Dr. Ofer Gal has presented the history of science through scientific ideas, concurrent practices and principles of knowledge. The book presents a trove of information on science as 'particular, local and historical,' a remarkable source and perspective certain to inspire the interests of readers as well as those of instructors in their history of science classes.' Caterina Agostini, Rutgers University (formerly North Carolina State)'A fascinating book detailing the rise of modern science in a broader perspective as a human intellectual achievement, one that was contingent on the fallible thoughts and actions of real people, rather than the inevitable triumph of disembodied ideas. Beginning with antiquity, the book does not shy away from difficult questions of the relation of religion and magic to early modern science, and produces a rich account of the development of science through the high Middle Ages to the publication of Newton's Principia. Of particular interest is the original integration of the various ways in which knowledge was thought to be made during these periods. This book deserves to be widely read, not only by historians of science but by a much broader audience interested in the generation of knowledge as a human phenomenon.' Andrew Gregory, University College London'In this very wide-ranging and superbly illustrated account, Ofer Gal offers an original and instructive survey of the development of the sciences from classical and medieval periods to early modernity. In well-organized histories of medicine and mechanics, astronomy and experiment, this work cleverly shows in persuasive detail the intricate relations between the sciences and their history. Designed to provide a usable textbook for students with background in history and in the sciences, the work explains clearly the relationship between theoretical knowledge and practical know-how, and between the complex and fascinating emergence of modern sciences and the long development of different techniques and understandings of nature.' Simon Schaffer, University of Cambridge'This book is an excellent overview of the early history of science and covers the ideas and personalities of the time in a highly readable format. Particularly useful are the references, primary sources, and suggestions for further reading. It deserves to be well thumbed by all with an interest in the history of science and medicine.' Arpan K. Banerjee, Hektoen International JournalTable of Contents1. Cathedrals; 2. Greek Thought; 3. The Birth of Astronomy; 4. Medieval Learning; 5. The Seeds of Revolution; 6. Magic; 7. The Moving Earth; 8. Medicine and the Body; 9. The New Science; 10. The Road to the Principia.

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Book SynopsisThis text offers an understanding of the nature of scientific, mathematical and engineering practice, and the production of scientific knowledge. The author presents an approach to the unpredictable nature of change in science, taking into account a number of factors.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant examination into how the internet is profoundly changing the way we think.In this groundbreaking book, Wired' writer Clive Thompson argues that the internet is boosting our brainpower, encouraging new ways of thinking, and making us more not less intelligent as is so often claimed.Our lives have been changed utterly and irrevocably by the rise of the internet and it is only now that we can begin to analyse this extraordinary phenomenon. The author argues that as we rely more and more for machines to help us think, our thinking itself is becoming richer and more complex. We're able to learn more, retain it longer, to write in curious new forms, and even to think entirely new types of thoughts.Outsmart is filled with stories of people who are living through these profound technological changes. In a series of postcards from the near future, we meet characters such as Gordon Bell, an ageing millionaire who is saving a digital copy of everything that happens to him, and Eric HoTrade Review‘Judicious and insightful … Thompson avoids both the hype and the hand-wringing so common among digital age pontificators’ Walter Isaacson, New York Times ‘Almost without noticing it, the internet has become our intellectual exoskeleton. Rather than just observing this evolution, Clive Thompson takes us to the people, places and technologies driving it, bringing deep reporting, storytelling and analysis to one of the most profound shifts in human history’ Chris Anderson ‘[An] enjoyable study of the digital world … both fascinating and thought-provoking … [Thompson] remains admirably sober about the limits of technology’s’ edifying influence on us: technology, he reminds us, is only ever as smart as the person using it’ Sunday Times ‘Thompson is a talented storyteller … The world outside … is, on balance, much weirder than you think’ The Times ‘Thompson has started an important debate in this lively and accessible book’ Scotsman ‘We should be grateful to have such a clear-eyed and lucid interpreter of our changing technological culture as Clive Thompson. Smarter Than You Think is an important, insightful book about who we are, and who we are becoming’Joshua Foer, New York Times bestselling author of Moonwalking with Einstein

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Book SynopsisFrom FSGO x Logic: a revealing examination of digital advertising and the internet's precarious foundation.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Jennifer Gabrys deftly synthesizes fields and lines of inquiry in weaving a signature story of our age, working across intellectual planes and variegated systems and networks. Program Earth is a tantalizing account of digital, citizen-sensing worlds in the making."—Kevin McHugh, Arizona State University"Impressive and original, Program Earth is not just concerned with the collection and dissemination of data, but also—and more crucially—with the transformation of these data and with their effects."—Steven Shaviro, author of The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism"Full of stimulating ideas and provocative reframings of environmental concerns that are sure to spark further research."—American Journal of Sociology "Readers will revel in extensively written case studies as well as the contemplative opportunity to challenge, with renewed conceptual tools, the urgent notion of the environment."—Cultural Geographies"Jennifer Gabrys' book is a timely publication that combines empirical insights with a necessary speculative attitude in an emerging field."—Tecnosciencza"This sociological treatise is a valuable contribution for historians of technology... Program Earth succeeds in raising multiple epistemological and political issues intertwining sensing technologies, infrastructures, democracy, and power."—Technology and Culture Table of ContentsContentsPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction. Environment as Experiment in Sensing TechnologyPart 1. Wild Sensing1. Sensing an Experimental Forest: Processing Environments and Distributing Relations 2. From Moss Cam to Spillcam: Technogeographies of Experience3. Animals as Sensors: Mobile Organisms and the Problem of MilieusPart 2. Pollution Sensing4. Sensing Climate Change and Expressing Environmental Citizenship5. Sensing Oceans and Geo-Speculating with a Garbage Patch6. Sensing Air and Creaturing Data Part 3. Urban Sensing7. Citizen Sensing in the Smart and Sustainable City: From Environments to Environmentality8. Engaging the Idiot in Participatory Digital Urbanism 9. Digital Infrastructures of Withness: Constructing a Speculative CityConclusion. Planetary Computerization, RevisitedNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAfter a decade designing technologies meant to address education, health, and global poverty, award-winning computer scientist Kentaro Toyama came to a difficult conclusion: Even in an age of amazing technology, social progress depends on human changes that gadgets can't deliver.Computers in Bangalore are locked away in dusty cabinets because teachers don't know what to do with them. Mobile phone apps meant to spread hygiene practices in Africa fail to improve health. Executives in Silicon Valley evangelize novel technologies at work even as they send their children to Waldorf schools that ban electronics. And four decades of incredible innovation in America have done nothing to turn the tide of rising poverty and inequality. Why then do we keep hoping that technology will solve our greatest social ills?In this incisive book, Toyama cures us of the manic rhetoric of digital utopians and reinvigorates us with a deeply people-centric view of social change. Contrasting the outlandish claims of tech zealots with stories of people like Patrick Awuah, a Microsoft millionaire who left his engineering job to open Ghana's first liberal arts university, and Tara Sreenivasa, a graduate of a remarkable South Indian school that takes impoverished children into the high-tech offices of Goldman Sachs and Mercedes-Benz, Geek Heresy is a heartwarming reminder that it's human wisdom, not machines, that move our world forward.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2016 PROSE Award in Business, Finance & Management "It is notable...when a techie insider steps outside the tent to chastise his tribe at book length -- and has the gall to both criticize and dedicate the book to his former boss, Bill Gates. Kentaro Toyama, a computer scientist who once ran a lab for Microsoft Research, seems determined to burn his bridge to the technology world with Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology... The book takes a spike-studded tire iron to the efforts by technology entrepreneurs and their enablers to reimagine how we eat, learn, heal, govern and battle poverty."--Anand Giridharadas, New York Times "In this incisive book, Toyama cures us of the manic rhetoric of digital utopians and reinvigorates us with a deeply people-centric view of social change. ...Geek Heresy is a heartwarming reminder that it's human wisdom, not machines, that move our world forward." --National Geographic Online "Everyone working in any facet of education and educational nonprofits needs to read Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change From the Cult of Technology; put down whatever other books you're reading--you are reading, right?--and get a copy of this one." --Seliger & Associates "Toyama lays down eloquently his bone of contention that technology merely amplifies the human condition." --New Indian Express "Toyama's research reminds us that there are very few one-size-fits-all solutions. If technology is going to improve the lives of the world's poorest, it must be grounded in a deep understanding of human behavior and an appreciation for cultural differences." --Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "Read this book! With engaging stories and penetrating insight, Toyama reveals that even the most powerful technologies can't cure our social ills, and he inspires us toward a more deeply human kind of progress."--Ben Mezrich, author of Accidental Billionaires "Controversial yet inspiring...Geek Heresy is a must read for anyone who is passionate about social change...Everyone from field staff and managers to researchers and funders will benefit from his unique perspective; geeks and non-geeks, alike. Finally, we have a book that can help temper our technology addiction with an approach guided by critical thought and practical application."--Global South Development Magazine

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

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Book SynopsisAn eye-opening look at the new computer revolution and the coming transformation of our economy, society, and culture.

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Book SynopsisIn the New York Times bestseller Everything All at Once, Bill Nye shows you how thinking like a nerd is the key to changing yourself and the world around you. Everyone has an inner nerd just waiting to be awakened by the right passion. In Everything All at Once, Bill Nye will help you find yours. With his call to arms, he wants you to examine every detail of the most difficult problems that look unsolvable—that is, until you find the solution. Bill shows you how to develop critical thinking skills and create change, using his “everything all at once” approach that leaves no stone unturned. Whether addressing climate change, the future of our society as a whole, or personal success, or stripping away the mystery of fire walking, there are certain strategies that get results: looking at the world with relentless curiosity, being driven by a desire for a better future, and being willing to take the actions needed to make change happen. He shares how he came to create this approach—starting with his Boy Scout training (it turns out that a practical understanding of science and engineering is immensely helpful in a capsizing canoe) and moving through the lessons he learned as a full-time engineer at Boeing, a stand-up comedian, CEO of The Planetary Society, and, of course, as Bill Nye The Science Guy. This is the story of how Bill Nye became Bill Nye and how he became a champion of change and an advocate of science. It’s how he became The Science Guy. Bill teaches us that we have the power to make real change. Join him in... dare we say it... changing the world.

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Book SynopsisIn Infrahumanisms Megan H. Glick considers how conversations surrounding nonhuman life have impacted a broad range of attitudes toward forms of human difference such as race, sexuality, and health. She examines the history of human and nonhuman subjectivity as told through twentieth-century scientific and cultural discourses that include pediatrics, primatology, eugenics, exobiology, and obesity research. Outlining how the category of the human is continuously redefined in relation to the infrahuman—a liminal position of speciation existing between the human and the nonhuman—Glick reads a number of phenomena, from early twentieth-century efforts to define children and higher order primates as liminally human and the postwar cultural fascination with extraterrestrial life to anxieties over AIDS, SARS, and other cross-species diseases. In these cases the efforts to define a universal humanity create the means with which to reinforce notions of human difference andTrade Review“Infrahumanisms is an ambitious book that shows the applicability of the term ‘infrahuman’ to a wide range of historical contexts and highlights how these relate to constructions of sexual, racial, gender, and bodily difference…. Offering analyses of an impressive range of twentieth-century scientific and cultural phenomena, from the emergence of primatology to extraterrestrial sightings in the postwar era and contemporary xenotransplantation, Infrahumanisms will be of interest to scholars working in the history of sexuality, critical race studies, animal studies, medical humanities, and science studies.” -- Ina Linge * Journal of the History of Sexuality *“It is a rare work that can bring together topics as disparate as childhood, nonhuman primates, aliens, xenotransplantation, and AIDS…. Full of surprising connections and intriguing insights, Infrahumanisms is a rich and stimulating contribution to the literature on eugenics, biomedicalization, and biopolitics in general.” -- Rose Trappes * Metascience *“The scholarly discussions in both human-animal studies and posthuman theory have been insufficiently attentive to race and colonial histories, and Glick’s work is a welcome addition to these conversations, showing gaps in previous ways of thinking about the ideological functions of the animal/human boundary.” -- Sherryl Vint * Catalyst *“Infrahumanisms shows how beliefs about species categories, species relations, and species hierarchies form the ground from which ideas about biological essentialism, humane behavior, and dehumanization often grow…. Glick’s methods and style in Infrahumanisms are bold and refreshing…. Readers will find this book to be generous, opening up lines of inquiry that may be taken up elsewhere.” -- Rebecah Pulsifer * Women's Studies Quarterly *“Glick presents a new focus on the history of dehumanization and devaluation, of cultural and political exclusion based on differential conditions of embodiment including race, gender, sexuality, disability, and disease status…. A dense yet rewarding read. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.” -- J. A. Kegley * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction: Toward a Theory of Infrahumanity 1 Part I. Bioexpansionism, 1900s-1930s 1. Brief Histories of Time: Nature, Culture, and the Making of Modern Childhood 29 2. Ocular Anthropomorphisms:Eugenics and Primatology at the Threshold of the "Almost Human" 56 Part II. Extraterrestriality, 1940s-1970s 3. On Alien Ground: Extraterrestrial Sightings, Atomic Warfare, and the Undoing of the Human Body 85 4. Inner and Outer Spaces: Exobiology, Human Genetics, and the Disembodiment of Corporeal Difference 110 Part III. Interiority, 1980s-2010s 5. Of Sodomy and Cannibalism: Disgust, Dehumanization, and the Rhetorics of Same-Sex and Cross-Species Contagion 139 6. Everything except the Squeal: Porcine Hybridity in the Obesity Epidemic and Xenotransplantation Research 159 Conclusion. The Plurality Is Near: Techniques of Symbiotic Re-speciation 196 Notes 209 Bibliography 247 Index 263

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Book SynopsisIn Fungible Life Aihwa Ong traces the revolutionary scientific developments in Asia by investigating how biomedical centers in Biopolis, Singapore and China mobilize ethnicized "Asian" bodies and health data for genomic research.Trade Review"Anyone interested in cosmopolitan flows of knowledge and risk will find this book of value, as the phenomena that it describes and the methodologies that Ong uses seem to me to be readily transferable. . . . I particularly enjoy the way Ong fits the situated nature of her own authorship, including her Asian background, her family history of cancer and so on, seamlessly into her account. . . . [A] beautiful and engaging piece of writing and an important contribution to a wide spectrum of knowledge." -- Flora Samuel * Times Higher Education *"Embracing a new frontier, Ong’s latest work tackles our fear of the unknown in genomic research, concerns about multiple levels of research ethics, and our curiosity about genomic research’s implications for Chinese and Asian identity, which in turn has implications for human identity as a whole. This book on biomedical research is suitable for graduate students and scholars interested in the production of knowledge, science and technology studies, medical anthropology and sociology, ethnic studies, public health, and broadly Asian Studies." -- Fang Xu * New Books Asia *"This book is an essential contribution to a comparative anthropology of biosentinels through a refined and accessible ethnography of two biotech centers in Singapore and Shenzhen, showing how a future is taking shape in which Asia will play a prominent role." -- Frederic Keck * Medical Anthropology Quarterly *"Ong's book is a deep dive in the complex role of the state, universities, firms, research stars, and knowledge about genetics in shaping the development of Singapore, in particular, as a key space in the development of scientific knowledge. After reading it you can better understand why universities like Duke and Imperial College seek (and need) to have a formal institutional presence in Singapore, and in association with key national partner universities like NUS and NTU. The Ong book, thus, provides insights on the geographical-, historical-, and sectoral -specific developments that these universities are currently navigating." -- Kris Olds * Inside Higher Ed *“Fungible Life is an important addition to the growing literature in area-specific science studies, and an important intervention in the anthropology of science scholarship on racialised science. . . . Well worth the investment for anyone interested in how race, ethnicity and science are made in Asia today.” -- Katherine A. Mason * The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology *“Ong skillfully provides an accessible and lucid account of the intersection of ethnicity, biopolitics and uncertainties in Asia’s bioscientific world. Fungible Life is a valuable addition to fields such as the anthropology of Asia, medical anthropology, and science and technology studies. It is also highly accessible for readers of various levels.” -- Yifeng Cai * Social Anthropology *"The productive uncertainties and ethnic heuristics that Aihwa Ong examines in her study of Singapore’s Biopolis enrich our understanding of ethnicity in postgenomic Asia. These are the major contributions of Fungible Life." -- Wen-Ching Sung * American Ethnologist *Table of ContentsPrologue: Enigmatic Variations ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction: Inventing a City of Life 1 Part I. Risks 1. Where the Wild Genes Are 29 2. An Atlas of Asian Diseases 51 3. Smoldering Fire 73 Part II. Uncertainties 4. The Productive Uncertainty of Bioethics 93 5. Virtue and Expatriate Scientists 113 6. Perturbing Life 136 Part III. Known Unknowns 7. A Single Wave 157 8. "Viruses Don't Carry Passports" 174 9. The "Athlete Gene" in China's Future 197 Epilogue: A DNA Bridge and an Octopus's Garden 223 Notes 239 Bibliography 257 Index 271

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Book SynopsisPresents the investigation that the renowned cultural theorist and mathematician Brian Rotman began in his previous books Signifying Nothing and Ad Infinitum ...the Ghost in Turing's Machine: exploring certain signs and the conceptual innovations and subjectivities that they facilitate or foreclose.Trade Review“Becoming Beside Ourselves is a bold, provocative, and highly original argument about the relation between medial effects and changing manifestations of subjectivity. It traces a sweeping trajectory from what Brian Rotman calls the ‘lettered self,’ associated with alphabetic inscription and the codex printed book, to the subject as distributed assemblage associated with network culture. While others have made parts of this kind of argument before, Rotman’s analysis is unique in placing special emphasis on gesture and revealing its traces in orality and print. In a brilliant synthesis, he mixes evolutionary theory with a Deleuzian view of agent-as-assemblage, arguing that computational media both reveal and perform distributed cognition as a crucial aspect of human being-in-the-world. Essential reading for anyone interested in the interrelations between computational media, contemporary subjectivity, and human evolution.”—Katherine Hayles, University of California, Los Angeles“Brian Rotman’s exciting new text not only adds to his previous work on signifying technology (zero, infinity), it expands his study of abstraction to encompass the construction of subjectivity itself. Becoming Beside Ourselves will open up all kinds of unexplored terrains, from grammatology to psychoanalysis, from the history of technology to the study of culture and religion.”—Fredric Jameson, Duke UniversityTable of ContentsForeword: Machine Bodies, Ghosts, and Para-Selves: Confronting the Singularity with Brian Rotman / Timothy Lenoir ix Preface xxxi Acknowledgments xxxv Aura xxxvii Introduction: Lettered Selves and Beyond 1 Part I 1. The Alphabetic Body 13 2. Gesture and Non-Alphabetic Writing 33 Interlude 3. Technological Mathematics 57 Part II 4. Parallel Selves 81 5. Ghost Effects 107 Notes 139 References 151 Index 163

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