Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives--where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance--are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules.But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O'Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination--propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process.

    

    That love wins the day. That marriage is the rescue to an otherwise unhappy existence. That children are the natural progression of any relationship. But really, is it? Are we actually being honest with ourselves about the expectations we have set for ourselves? Are we able to distinguish between what we really need from life, from everything that we have been conditioned to want? Because the current rhetoric doesn’t prepare you for the reality.   In 2015 Poorna Bell became a widow after her husband Rob took his own life on a winter’s night, having battled depression and addiction. Her situation was unusual when compared to a lot of people, but she was left figuring out exactly the same things. Will she ever be happy? Will she find love again? Who will rescue her from her sadness?   Two years on and Poorna is rebuilding her life. And it is from this place – as she works towards choosing what she does and doesn’t want from society, that she will explore a different conversation around fulfillment and self-worth.Cutting across the landscapes in India, New Zealand and Britain, Poorna Bell explores the things endemic in our society such as sadness and loneliness, to unpick why we seek other people to fix what’s inside of us.In Search of Silence is the recognition of the echo chamber we find ourselves in, in terms of what constitutes a successful, fulfilling life. This is a heartfelt, deeply personal journey which asks us all to define what 'happiness' truly means.    PRAISE FOR CHASE THE RAINBOW:  ‘A candid, warm, sad, surprisingly funny, raw, brave, bittersweet book.’ – MATT HAIG   ‘ Chase the Rainbow is a game-changing book. Poorna Bell’s moving account of the pressures on modern men could be a life-saver. This is a brave and bold work that will inspire us all to talk openly and honestly about depression once and for all. Everyone should read this book.’ – ARIANNA HUFFINGTON ‘I recently devoured this book in a couple of days. It’s so beautifully written, honest and beyond though-provoking. I urge you to delve into its courageously written pages to learn about Poorna Bell’s story.’ – FEARNE COTTON ‘A story of love and loss and a vital contribution to the mental health debate. A great read.’ – ALASTAIR CAMPBELL

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    In one, a model addicted to the internet gets invited to an elite party by a stranger. In another, a high school student obsessed with death tries to quench an ever-growing thirst. In others, embarrassing sex is explored, survival of the fittest is exercised, and death is redeemed. Throughout these twelve short stories one thing is common: Olson isn’t afraid to leave any rock unturned while exploring the dark side of the human condition.

    "Keegan is at once the most readable and the most original of living military historians . . . A History of Warfare is perhaps the most remarkable study of warfare that has yet been written."--The New York Times Book Review.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Miranda Fox has devoted much of her life to caring for her elderly father. After his tragic death, she starts to make plans for her future, funded by the inheritance she is sure will be coming her way, but it seems her arrogant and domineering half-brother has very different ideas . . . Then a chance encounter with a man who has been given months to live boosts Miranda’s confidence, and as their friendship grows she finally learns to stand up for herself and her dreams. Can Miranda find the happiness that she deserves?

    The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanishes as soon as it is born. From the invention of scripts and alphabets to the long-misunderstood talking drums of Africa, Gleick tells the story of information technologies that changed the very nature of human consciousness. He provides portraits of the key figures contributing to the inexorable development of our modern understanding of information: Charles Babbage, the idiosyncratic inventor of the first great mechanical computer; Ada Byron, the brilliant and doomed daughter of the poet, who became the first true programmer; pivotal figures like Samuel Morse and Alan Turing; and Claude Shannon, the creator of information theory itself. And then the information age arrives. Citizens of this world become experts willy-nilly: aficionados of bits and bytes. And we sometimes feel we are drowning, swept by a deluge of signs and signals, news and images, blogs and tweets. The Information is the story of how we got here and where we are heading.

    That’s a mistake, Tim Harford says in The Data Detective. We shouldn’t be suspicious of statistics—we need to understand what they mean and how they can improve our lives: they are, at heart, human behavior seen through the prism of numbers and are often “the only way of grasping much of what is going on around us.” If we can toss aside our fears and learn to approach them clearly—understanding how our own preconceptions lead us astray—statistics can point to ways we can live better and work smarter.As “perhaps the best popular economics writer in the world” (New Statesman), Tim Harford is an expert at taking complicated ideas and untangling them for millions of readers. In The Data Detective, he uses new research in science and psychology to set out ten strategies for using statistics to erase our biases and replace them with new ideas that use virtues like patience, curiosity, and good sense to better understand ourselves and the world. As a result, The Data Detective is a big-idea book about statistics and human behavior that is fresh, unexpected, and insightful.

    Taking an innovative and secular approach to business Ethics, moral fiber shows us how living our values unlocks a more purposeful life and career. This book helps us to re-discover the inherent core values, such as fairness, respect, compassion, and honesty, and then how to genuinely Act on them daily.This practical guide is filled with tips, tales, and tools to identify and eliminate toxic behaviors and motivators, as well as priceless lessons from top industry leaders and powerful research from academics. TESTIMONIALS“[Shawn] shares with us how compassion, gratitude and wisdom opens our inner door, unlocking a more purposeful life and career.” — HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA“Moral Fiber takes us on a beautiful journey of how capitalism and compassion must co-exist to improve our human condition.” — JOHN MACKEY, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, WHOLE FOODS MARKET“At a time of great uncertainty, Moral Fiber is a welcome tonic and an authentic reminder of how having capitalism with compassion elevates us all.” — JENNIFER REINGOLD, FORMER MANAGEMENT WRITER, FORTUNE MAGAZINE, FAST COMPANY AND BUSINESSWEEK“Moral Fiber drops us head-first into a world of awakening.” — THOMAS DONALDSON, PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ETHICS, WHARTON SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA“In Moral Fiber, Vij creatively shows us how our core values can be a key to personal happiness and professional success.” — HOWARD C. CUTLER, M.D., NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE ART OF HAPPINESS

    Attaining Your Desires is a simple guide to using the Law of Attraction in your everyday life. Chapters include How to Get What You Want, How to Overcome Adverse Condition, Strengthening Your Will, and making Your Subjective Mind Work for You. Long out of print, this landmark book is now once again available in its original, intended form. PS. For maximal benefit, this book should be read together with Dr Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich

    Although the laws of physics create a powerful impression that time is flowing, in fact there are only timeless `nows'. In The End of Time, the British theoretical physicist Julian Barbour describes the coming revolution in our understanding of the world: a quantum theory of the universe that brings together Einstein's general theory of relativity - which denies the existence of a unique time - and quantum mechanics - which demands one. Barbour believes that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the conflict between these two theories: that there is, quite literally, no time at all. The End of Time is the first full-length account of the crisis in our understanding that has enveloped quantum cosmology. Unifying thinking that has never been brought together before in a book for the general reader, Barbour reveals the true architecture of the universe and demonstrates how physics is coming up sharp against the extraordinary possibility that the sense of time passing emerges from a universe that is timeless. The heart of the book is the author's lucid description of how a world of stillness can appear to be teeming with motion: in this timeless world where all possible instants coexist, complex mathematical rules of quantum mechanics bind together a special selection of these instants in a coherent order that consciousness perceives as the flow of time. Finally, in a lucid and eloquent epilogue, the author speculates on the philosophical implications of his theory: Does free will exist? Is time travel possible? How did the universe begin? Where is heaven? Does the denial of time make life meaningless? Written with exceptional clarity and elegance, this profound and original work presents a dazzlingly powerful argument that all will be able to follow, but no-one with an interest in the workings of the universe will be able to ignore.

    Odin All Father crossed the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard. Thor defended Asgard with his mighty hammer. Mischievous Loki was constantly getting into trouble with the other gods, and dragons and giants walked free. This collection of Norse sagas retold by author Padraic Colum gives us a sense of that magical time when the world was filled with powers and wonders we can hardly imagine.