By Marvin Minsky (1988)

Marvin Minsky -- one of the fathers of computer science and co-founder of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT -- gives a revolutionary answer to the age-old question: "How does the mind work?" Minsky brilliantly portrays the mind as a "society" of tiny components that are themselves mindless. Mirroring his theory, Minsky

By Douglas R. Hofstadter (1999)

A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll. Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of "maps" or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate...

Science Slightly Over The Edge by Ed Regis

By Ed Regis (1991)

Enter the gray area between overheated imagination and overheated reality, and meet a network of scientists bent on creating artificial life forms, building time machines, hatching plans for dismantling the sun, enclosing the solar system in a cosmic eggshell, and faxing human minds to the far side of the galaxy. With Ed Regis as your guide, walk the fine line between..

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By Malcolm Gladwell (2000)

Discover Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough debut and explore the science behind viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior. The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely...

The Science of a Connected Age

By Duncan J. Watts (2004)

The pioneering young scientist whose work on the structure of small worlds has triggered an avalanche of interest in networks. In this remarkable book, Duncan Watts, one of the principal architects of network theory, sets out to explain the innovative research that he and other scientists are spearheading to create a blueprint of our connected planet. Whether they bind..

By Philippe Val (2017)

« Depuis le 11 septembre 2001, c’est par milliers que les démocraties modernes comptent leurs citoyens assassinés, victimes d’une guerre identitaire. Nous n’en sortirons victorieux qu’à la condition de transmettre la connaissance et l’amour de notre démocratie. Mais comment faire si l’histoire de celle-ci n’est pas enseignée ? Et pire encore, si cette histoire,..

A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World

By Hartmut Rosa (2018)

The pace of modern life is undoubtedly speeding up, yet this acceleration does not seem to have made us any happier or more content. If acceleration is the problem, then the solution, argues Hartmut Rosa in this major new work, lies in “resonance.” The quality of human life cannot be measured simply in terms of resources, options, and moments of happiness; instead,...

How Their Identities Were Forged

By Peter Furtado (2012)

National history is a vital part of national self-definition. Most books on the history of the world try to impose a uniform narrative, written usually from a single writers point of view. Histories of Nations is different: it presents 28 essays written by a leading historian as a self-portrait of his or her native country, defining the characteristics that embody its...