47 results for "Science"

The human use of human beings: cybernetics and society

Wiener, Norbert
"In 1950, mathematician-philosopher Norbert Wiener ended this classic book on the place of machines in society with a warning: "We shall never receive the right answers to our questions unless we ask the right questions.... The hour is very late, and the choice of good and evil knocks at our door." Wiener, the founder of the science of cybernetics--the study of the relationship between computers and the human nervous system--was widely mislabeled as an advocate for the automation of human life. As The Human Use for Human Beings reveals, his vision was much more complex and interesting, and is more relevant in today's world of AI than anyone could have anticipated. In his new introduction, Brian Christian aptly calls Wiener the "progenitor of contemporary AI-safety discourse." Wiener hoped that machines would release people from relentless and repetitive drudgery to achieve more creative pursuits, yet he anticipated the danger of dehumanizing and displacement. His pioneering views on the human-machine relationship as a "communicative process" are only more crucial now, as we carry in our pockets AI devices that we can literally speak to. His prescient warnings illuminate our contemporary relationships with language, art, and even social media. The Human Use of Human Beings examines the implications of cybernetics for education, law, language, science, technology, as Wiener anticipates the enormous impact--in effect, a third industrial revolution--that the computer has had on our lives."-- Provided by publisher
Mariner Classics 2025-08-12 240 pages

Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and symbol

Trachtenberg, Alan
Fourteen of Walker Evans's evocative photographs of Brooklyn Bridge, most of which have never been published, appear in this edition of Alan Trachenberg's Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol. In the new afterword Trachenberg explores the history of Hart Crane's The Bridge, especially the poem's integral relationship with the powerful photography of Evans."[Brooklyn Bridge] is familiar in so many movies, in so many stage sets and, as Mr. Trachtenberg shows in this brilliant . . . book, it is at least as much a symbol as a reality. . . . Mr. Trachtenberg is always exciting and illuminating."—Times Literary Supplement "The book is a skillful and insightful synthesis of materials about Brooklyn Bridge from such diverse fields as history, engineering, literature and art. Essentially it asks the question of why Brooklyn Bridge achieved such great impact on the nineteenth century American imagination and why it has continued to have a significant impact on twentieth century art and literature. In addition to its exploration of the bridge's symbolic significance, which includes perceptive analyses of such particular works as Hart Crane's great poem cycle and the paintings of artists like Joseph Stella, the book also includes a solidly researched account of the conception, planning and construction of the bridge. Trachtenberg's account of the intellectual and cultural sources of the bridge is particularly fascinating in its demonstration of the convergence of many different philosophical and ideological currents of the time around this great engineering enterprise, illustrating as effectively as any discussion I know the complex interplay of ideas and material culture."—John G. Cawelti, University of Chicago"Alan Trachtenberg's Brooklyn Bridge is a fascinating story, the philosophic genesis of the idea in Europe, John Roebling's heroic effort to translate it into masonry and steel, and the meanings that Americans attached to the physical object as an emblem of their aspirations."—Leo Marx, Amherst College, author of The Machine in the Garden
Oxford University Press 1965 192 pages

The human test: how predictability, creativity, and the quantum mind will redefine life in the age of AI

Folman, Ron
"As data harvesting continues its exponential growth and computing power increases beyond what we can even imagine, AI and Big Data will be able to predict what we want for breakfast, what shoes we will buy, which political party we will vote for, and who we will fancy in a bar. Indeed, these deep-learning machines will know us better than we know ourselves. The day awaits when academia and big business will be able to quantify just how predictable each of us are. If indeed we are predictable like machines, to what extent are we alive, and under what definition? In The Human Test, quantum physicist Ron Folman unites findings from cognitive science, quantum physics, philosophy, and technology to offer a prescient look into this startling new era of human existence. If we are indeed found to be predictable, it will change everything we thought we knew about human nature. The Human Test strives for a new paradigm, and this new paradigm is found in human predictability. Existing monitors of general brain activity measure only very rudimentary aspects of the human experience, or what may be called human life; could the advent of a disruptive new technology bring about a much more insightful measure of who we are? While The Human Test describes a new and profound near-future impact of AI, it is rooted in a topic of paramount importance to humans: the enigma of consciousness and how it defines human life-or, what differentiates humans from all other life forms. Ultimately, The Human Test addresses some of the most fundamental questions about our species, starting with the most crucial: do we have free will, or are we merely machines? Fortunately, there is an antidote to predictability: creativity, that wondrous state of being original and inherently not predictable. Ultimately, Folman argues that if we can understand predictability, we can learn how to distance ourselves from it, and transcend to a purer idea of what human life should look like"-- Provided by publisher.
Prometheus 2025-03-25 267 pages

Diamond Design

Marcel From Old Catalog Tolkowsky
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Creative Media Partners, LLC 2022-10-26 112 pages

Animal machines

Harrison, Ruth
This is the long-awaited reprint of the classic work of ground-breaking importance on animal welfare. Ruth Harrison's classic Animal Machines, had a profound impact on public opinion and the quality of life of farmed animals when it was published in 1964. Reprinted in its entirety, it gives an accurate, and sometimes shocking, account of intensive farming in the 1960's, still current in large parts of the world today. Harrison's work greatly increased public awareness of animal welfare and led to legal reforms, shaping our better understanding of farm conditions today. It provides a fascinating insight into the system we continue to live with as the global population increases. It includes new chapters by international experts in animal welfare including Marion Stamp Dawkins, discussing the book's significant legacy and impact today. It is suitable for animal welfare researchers, academics and students, welfare associations and charities, veterinary schools, agricultural colleges, agriculturalists, farmers, food quality professionals, farm inspection professionals and the general public.
CABI 2013-03-05 211 pages

Estimation with applications to tracking and navigation

Bar-Shalom, Yaakov
Expert coverage of the design and implementation of state estimation algorithms for tracking and navigation Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation treats the estimation of various quantities from inherently inaccurate remote observations. It explains state estimator design using a balanced combination of linear systems, probability, and statistics. The authors provide a review of the necessary background mathematical techniques and offer an overview of the basic concepts in estimation. They then provide detailed treatments of all the major issues in estimation with a focus on applying these techniques to real systems. Other features include: * Problems that apply theoretical material to real-world applications * In-depth coverage of the Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) estimator * Companion DynaEst(TM) software for MATLAB(TM) implementation of Kalman filters and IMM estimators * Design guidelines for tracking filters Suitable for graduate engineering students and engineers working in remote sensors and tracking, Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation provides expert coverage of this important area.
Wiley 2001-06-25 558 pages

A life of magic chemistry: autobiographical reflections including post-Nobel Prize years and the methanol economy

Olah, George A.
The autobiography of a Nobel Prize winner, this book tells us about George Olah's fascinating research into extremely strong superacids and how it yielded the common term "magic acids." Olah guides us through his long and remarkable journey, from Budapest to Cleveland to Los Angeles, with a stopover in Stockholm. This updated autobiography of a Nobel Prize winner George A. Olah: Chronicles the distinguished career of a chemist whose work in a broad range of chemistry areas, and most notably that in methane chemistry, led to technologies that impact the processing and utility of alternative fuels Is based on Olah's work on extremely strong superacids and how they yielded the common term, "magic acids" Details events since the publication of the first edition in 2000 Inspires readers with details on Dr. Olah's successful recent research on methanol, intended to help provide a solution to "the oil problem"
John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2015-05-26 320 pages

The Consciousness Explosion A Mindful Human's Guide to the Coming Technological and Experiential Singularity

Ben Goertzel,Gabriel Axel Montes
The pace of engineering and science is speeding up, rapidly leading us toward a "Technological Singularity" - a point in time when superintelligent machines achieve and improve so much so fast, traditional humans can no longer operate at the forefront. However, if all goes well, human beings may still flourish greatly in their own ways in this unprecedented era. If humanity is going to not only survive but prosper as the Singularity unfolds, we will need to understand that the Technological Singularity is an Experiential Singularity as well, and rapidly evolve not only our technology but our level of compassion, ethics and consciousness. The aim of The Consciousness Explosion is to help curious and open-minded readers wrap their brains around these dramatic emerging changes-and empower readers with tools to cope and thrive as they unfold.
Humanity+ Press 2024-05-13 784 pages

CRC handbook of lichenology

Margalith Galun
This easy-to-read handbook provides a comprehensive review of the current knowledge on lichens. The structure of lichens and their dual nature is explained, as well as the physiology of interaction of the symbionts. The way lichens reproduce and their ecology is included, with methods for cultivating them and their isolated symbionts. Extremely useful as a text of lichenology, this handbook will benefit students of lichenology and allied fields, those interested in symbiotic associations and ecology, and teachers of biology, botany, and ecology courses.
CRC Press 1988-09 688 pages

Soft Matter Physics: An Introduction

Kleman, Maurice,Laverntovich, Oleg D.
Introductions to solid state physics have, ever since the initial book by F. Seitz in 1940, concentrated on simple crystals, with few atoms per cell, bonded together by strong ionic, covalent, or metallic bonds. References to weaker bonds, such as van der Waals forces in rare gases, or to geometric or chemical disorder (e.g., alloys or glasses) have been limited. The physical understanding of this ?eld started well before Seitz’s book and led to a number of Nobel prizes after the last war. Applications cover classical metallurgy, el- tronics, geology and building materials, as well as electrical and ionic transport, chemical reactivity, ferroelectricity and magnetism. But in parallel with this general and well publicized trend, and sometimes earlier as far as physical concepts were concerned, an exploration and increasingly systematic study of softer matter has developed through the twentieth century. More often in the hands of physical chemists and crystallographers than those of pure physicists, the ?eld had for a long time a reputation of complexity. If progress in polymers was steady but slow, interest in liquid crystals had lain dormant for forty years, after a bright start lasting through 1925, to be revived in the late 1960s based on their possible use in imaging techniques. The optoelectronic properties of the ?eld in general are even more recent.
Springer 2013-04-25 672 pages

Microwave Spectroscopy

C. H. Townes,A. L. Schawlow
Two Nobel Laureates present a systematic, comprehensive account of the theory, techniques, experimental data, and interpretation involved in the study of microwave spectroscopy—a subject relevant to nuclear physics, molecular structure, chemical kinetics, quantum electrodynamics, and astronomy.The material in this volume is discussed critically, systematically, and in the simplest form. The simplicity of the wording and mathematics makes most of the contents accessible to those with a very elementary knowledge of quantum mechanics and atomic physics. Although the treatment is continuously developed, each of the 18 chapters is self-contained. Nearly 200 tables and figures augment the text. Appendixes supply most of the background for research and interpretation of microwave spectra; they also contain extensive data on nuclear and molecular constants, including essentially all those determined by microwave techniques. "Equally suitable for use as a fundamental reference or advanced textbook." — U.S. Quarterly Book Review .
McGraw Hill 1955 698 pages

Applied Optics: A Guide to Optical Systems Design (Pure & Applied Optics Series)

Levi, Leo
VERY GOOD-BOOK/VERY GOOD-DUST JACKET. Hardcover. Book is NOT SIGNED OR AUTOGRAPHED. Dust jacket has minor shelf, rubbing and light edge wear. Book is In very good, unread, or lightly read condition, text is unmarked, not price clipped, not library copy and, not remainder marked. Dust jacket has minor shelf, rubbing and light edge wear and is not price clipped. Seller is a lifelong book collector and each edition comes directly from his 35,000+ volume collection! Orders are shipped every business day using USPS Media Mail, WITH FREE TRACKING, for all U S. orders. Thank You! DEZ 4108
John Wiley & Sons 1980-03

The American Presidency: an interpretation

Laski, Harold Joseph
The growth in recent years of Soviet political involvement and military presence in the Mediterranean/Middle East region poses a serious challenge to the security of NATO's southern flank. Among other aims, the Soviets hope to reduce Western, especially American, influence in the area; counter and/or neutralize the U.S. strategic posture; and bring to fruition the historic Russian drive for open access through the Turkish Straits. General Gurkan argues that Moscow's strategy is to shift pressure from the relatively stable central region of NATO to the flanks in a multiple pronged southern thrust.
Transaction Books 1980-01-15 67 pages