Computer Technology and Computer Programming

Feibelman (senior scientist, Sandia National Laboratories) updates his 1993 work with two additional chapters and occasional revisions to reflect changes brought about by electronic communication. He

A bestselling author, neuroscientist, and computer engineer unveils a theory of intelligence that will revolutionize our understanding of the brain and the future of AI. For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world-not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought. A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the understanding of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word.

While we now use our iPhones and blackberries to send email and surf the Web, soon we could be using them to check our vital signs. The technology already exists for us to continuously monitor our hea

Describes life aboard an ocean research vessel as scientists investigate the ability of ocean currents to transport heat around the world and in turn develop the tools and technology to make more accu

As timely now as it was when it was first published in 1997, Darwin Among the Machines tells the story of humankind’s long journey into the digital age. Historian of technology George Dyson traces the

When something works well, you can feel it; there is a sense of rightness to it. We call that rightness beauty, and it ought to be the single most important component of design.This recognition is at

What are the jobs of the future? How many will there be? And who will have them? We might imagineand hopethat today’s industrial revolution will unfold like the last: even as some jobs are eliminated,

Investigates views on race and ethnicity, culture, and related policy issues, and challenges myths about the economics of race, race and mental ability, slavery, and multiculturalism in contemporary A

From one of America's top physicians, a "riveting," "fascinating," and "timely" (Nature) history of risk in medicine Every medical decision--whether to have chemotherapy, an X-ray, or surgery--is a risk, no matter which way you choose. In You Bet Your Life, physician Paul A. Offit argues that, from the first blood transfusions four hundred years ago to the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine, risk has been essential to the discovery of new treatments. More importantly, understanding the risks is crucial to whether, as a society or as individuals, we accept them. Told in Offit's vigorous and rigorous style, You Bet Your Life is an entertaining history of medicine. But it also lays bare the tortured relationships between intellectual breakthroughs, political realities, and human foibles. As we have learned from the COVID pandemic--the debates over lockdowns, masks, and vaccines--it's all too easy to get everything wrong. Updated with a new introduction, You Bet Your Life is an essential rea

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 CE) was the sixteenth emperor of Rome-and the most powerful man in the world. Yet he was also an intensely private person, with a rich interior life and one of the wisest minds of his generation. He collected his thoughts in notebooks that have come to be called his Meditations. Never intended for publication, the work has proved an inexhaustible source of wisdom and one of the most important Stoic texts of all time. This annotated edition offers the definitive translation of this classic and much beloved text, from world-renowned classics expert Robin Waterfield. Illuminating one of the greatest works of popular philosophy for new readers, it enriches the understanding of even the most devoted Stoic.

When Abraham Lincoln helped create the Republican Party on the eve of the Civil War, his goal was to promote economic opportunity for all Americans, not just the slaveholding Southern planters who steered national politics. Yet, despite the egalitarian dream at the heart of its founding, the Republican Party quickly became mired in a fundamental identity crisis. Would it be the party of democratic ideals? Or would it be the party of moneyed interests? In the century and a half since, Republicans have vacillated between these two poles, with dire economic, political, and moral repercussions for the entire nation. In To Make Men Free, celebrated historian Heather Cox Richardson traces the shifting ideology of the Grand Old Party from the antebellum era to the Great Recession, revealing the insidious cycle of boom and bust that has characterized the Party since its inception. While in office, progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower revived Lincoln's vision of ec

The New York Times-bestselling "skeptical environmentalist" argues that panic over climate change is causing more harm than good Hurricanes batter our coasts. Wildfires rage across the American West. Glaciers collapse in the Artic. Politicians, activists, and the media espouse a common message: climate change is destroying the planet, and we must take drastic action immediately to stop it. Children panic about their future, and adults wonder if it is even ethical to bring new life into the world. Enough, argues bestselling author Bjorn Lomborg. Climate change is real, but it's not the apocalyptic threat that we've been told it is. Projections of Earth's imminent demise are based on bad science and even worse economics. In panic, world leaders have committed to wildly expensive but largely ineffective policies that hamper growth and crowd out more pressing investments in human capital, from immunization to education. False Alarm will convince you that everything you think about climate

A searing and "magisterial" (Cornel West) history of American racial exploitation and resistance, told through the turbulent past of the city of St. Louis.From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the

In this "bracingly iconoclastic” book (New York Times Book Review), a renowned economics scholar breaks down the fight to end global poverty and the rights that poor individuals have had taken away fo

A "marvelous" (Sports Illustrated) portrait of the three men whose lives were forever changed by WWI-era Boston and the Spanish flu: baseball star Babe Ruth, symphony conductor Karl Muck, and Harvard

From an award-winning scholar comes this definitive, single-volume history that illuminates the tensions and transformations of the Russian Revolution.In The Russian Revolution, acclaimed historian Se

In The First Cell, Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treats cancer, how we can do better, and why we must. A lyrical journey from hope to despair and back ag

Atticus Finch's radical character shift between To Kill a Mockingbird and his appearance in the sequel surprised many, but this in-depth analysis of Harper Lee's life will help readers gain a better u

Western medicine treats sick patients like broken machines -- figure out what is physically wrong, fix it, and send the patient on their way. But humans are not machines. When we are ill, we experienc

Sperm Wars turns the conventional thinking about the biology of sex on its head. Evolutionary biologist Robin Baker argues that human sexuality follows certain laws, and all of those laws are governed

Girls today are motivated and hardworking. In school, they regularly outperform boys. But beneath the confident and strong exteriors of many girls lies a brittle sense of self. Girls are much more lik

How both logical and emotional reasoning can help us live better in our post-truth worldIn a world where fake news stories change election outcomes, has rationality become futile? In The Art of Logic

A stirring defense of liberalism against the dogmatisms of our time from an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author. Not since the early twentieth century has liberalism, and liberals, bee

As Dying of Whiteness shows, the right-wing policies that resulted from this white backlash put these voters' very health at risk-and in the end, threaten everyone's well-being. Physician and sociolog

A Chernobyl survivor and award-winning historian "mercilessly chronicles the absurdities of the Soviet system" in this "vividly empathetic" account of the worst nuclear accident in history (The Wall S

The groundbreaking history of how climate change transformed Europe and the world, from a renowned archaeologist -- updated with a new preface on the latest climate researchThe Little Ice Age tells th

Fully revised, updated, and expanded, this modern classic will teach you to use the art of storytelling to persuade, motivate, and inspire in life and businessAnyone seeking to influence others must f

The surprising science of the creepers, crawlers, wrigglers, and runners that call our homes, homeHowever domesticated our houses appear, they are wild beyond imagination. Look down in the basement, u

A thoroughly revised edition of the classic on creativity, essential for individuals and teams who want to think outside the box.Some people are naturally creative and others aren't, right? Wrong. In this classic book on creativity, James Adams takes a unique approach to generating ideas and solving problems that has captivated, inspired, and guided thousands of people from all walks of life to new heights of creativity-whether you are a writer with writers block, or a businesswoman struggling to come up with a new organizational structure.More than three decades after its original publication, Conceptual Blockbusting has never been more relevant, powerful, or fresh. Integrating insights from the worlds of psychology, engineering, management, art, and philosophy, Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our fertile minds. Employing unconventional exercises and othe

As seen on PBS's American Spring LIVE, the award-winning author of The Triumph of Seeds and Feathers presents a natural and cultural history of bees: the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go ro

Bestselling writer and psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom puts himself on the couch in a lapidary memoirIrvin D. Yalom has made a career of investigating the lives of others. In this profound memoir, he t

In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landscape--from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matt

Mary Roach meets Bill Bryson in this uproarious tour of the basest instincts and biggest mysteries of the animal world Whether we're seeing a viral video of romping baby pandas or a picture of pengui

The story of the unlikely friendship between the two physicists who fundamentally recast the notion of time and historyIn 1939, Richard Feynman, a brilliant graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's

"Dog lovers and neuroscientists should both read this important book." --Dr. Temple GrandinWhat is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist and bestselling author Gregory

In the tradition of How to Live and How Proust Can Change Your Life, a philosopher asks how ancient Stoicism can help us flourish todayWhenever we worry about what to eat, how to love, or simply how t

"Richard Florida offers a brilliant assessment of the varied and evolving challenges facing our cities today.... The New Urban Crisis is essential reading for urban leaders and all city-dwellers." --R

"[Cheng] does a great service by showing us non-mathematician schlubs how real mathematical creativity works." --Wall Street JournalHow big is the universe? How many numbers are there? And is infinity

"I don't think there is anyone in the academy these days capable of more patient and attentive reading of the constitutional text than Akhil Amar."--Jeremy Waldron, New York Review of BooksWhen the stories that lead our daily news involve momentous constitutional questions, present-minded journalists and busy citizens cannot always see the stakes clearly. In The Constitution Today, Akhil Reed Amar, America's preeminent constitutional scholar, considers the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the last two decades--from gun control to gay marriage, affirmative action to criminal procedure, presidential dynasties to congressional dysfunction, Bill Clinton's impeachment to Obamacare. He shows how the Constitution's text, history, and structure are a crucial repository of collective wisdom, providing specific rules and grand themes relevant to every organ of the American body politic.Leading readers through the constitutional questions at stake in each episode while outlining his

More than fifty years ago, John Coltrane drew the twelve musical notes in a circle and connected them by straight lines, forming a five-pointed star. Inspired by Einstein, Coltrane put physics and geo