No conversation about the dangers of technology and its unavoidable effects on society can begin without a careful reading of this book."A magnificent book . . . He goes through one human activity after another and shows how it has been technicized, rendered efficient, and diminished in the process."-Harper's"One of the most important books of the second half of the twentieth-century. In it, Jacques Ellul convincingly demonstrates that technology, which we continue to conceptualize as the servant of man, will overthrow everything that prevents the internal logic of its development, including humanity itself-unless we take necessary steps to move human society out of the environment that 'technique' is creating to meet its own needs."-The Nation"A description of the way in which technology has become completely autonomous and is in the process of taking over the traditional values of every society without exception, subverting and suppressing these values to produce at last a monolithic world culture in which all non-technological difference and variety are mere appearance."-Los Angeles Free Press

    With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system. Now, 45 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice, both for readers already familiar with his work and for readers discovering it for the first time.The added chapters contain (1) a crisp condensation of all the propositions asserted in the original book, including Brooks' central argument in The Mythical Man-Month: that large programming projects suffer management problems different from small ones due to the division of labor; that the conceptual integrity of the product is therefore critical; and that it is difficult but possible to achieve this unity; (2) Brooks' view of these propositions a generation later; (3) a reprint of his classic 1986 paper "No Silver Bullet"; and (4) today's thoughts on the 1986 assertion, "There will be no silver bullet within ten years."

    The British expected R.101 to spearhead a fleet of imperial airships that would dominate the skies as British naval ships, a century earlier, had ruled the seas. The dream ended when, on its demonstration flight to India, R.101 crashed in France, tragically killing nearly all aboard.Combining meticulous research with superb storytelling, Fatal Flight guides us from the moment the great airship emerged from its giant shed—nearly the largest building in the British Empire—to soar on its first flight, to its last fateful voyage. The full story behind R.101 shows that, although it was a failure, it was nevertheless a supremely imaginative human creation. The technical achievement of creating R.101 reveals the beauty, majesty, and, of course, the sorrow of the human experience.The narrative follows First Officer Noel Atherstone and his crew from the ship’s first test flight in 1929 to its fiery crash on October 5, 1930. It reveals in graphic detail the heroic actions of Atherstone as he battled tremendous obstacles. He fought political pressures to hurry the ship into the air, fended off Britain’s most feted airship pilot, who used his influence to take command of the ship and nearly crashed it, and, a scant two months before departing for India, guided the rebuilding of the ship to correct its faulty design. After this tragic accident, Britain abandoned airships, but R.101 flew again, its scrap melted down and sold to the Zeppelin Company, who used it to create LZ 129, an airship even more mighty than R.101—and better known as the Hindenburg. Set against the backdrop of the British Empire at the height of its power in the early twentieth century,Fatal Flight portrays an extraordinary age in technology, fueled by humankind’s obsession with flight.

    

    Included in this collection are* William McEwan, a virologist, discussing his research into the biology of antiviral immunity* Naomi Eisenberger, a neuroscientist, wondering how social rejection affects us physically* Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist, showing what massive datasets can teach us about society and ourselves* Anthony Aguirre, a physicist, who gives readers a tantalizing glimpse of infinity"Future Science shares with the world a delightful secret that we academics have been keeping--that despite all the hysteria about how electronic media are dumbing down the next generation, a tidal wave of talent has been flooding into science, making their elders feel like the dumb ones. . . . It has a wealth of new and exciting ideas, and will help shake up our notions regarding the age, sex, color, and topic clich�s of the current public perception of science."--Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought

    The first volume in this annual series of the best writing by Americans, meticulously selected by bestselling author James Gleick, one of the foremost chronicles of scientific social history, debuts with a stellar collection of writers and thinkers.  Many of these cutting-edge essays offer glimpses of new realms of discovery and thought, exploring territory that is unfamiliar to most of us, or finding the unexpected in the midst of the familiar.  Nobel Laureate physicist Steven Weinberg challenges the idea of whether the universe has a designer; Pulitzer Prize winner Natalie Angier reassesses caveman (and-woman) couture; bestselling author and Darwinian theorist Stephen Jay Gould makes a claim for the man whose ideas Darwin discredited; Timothy Ferris proposes a realistic alternative to wrap-speed interseller travel; neurologist and bestselling author Oliver Sacks reminisces about his first loves-chemistry and math.  This diverse, stimulating and accessible collection is required reading for anyone who wants to travel to the frontier of knowledge.

    We are still waiting to find out who won. The Indy 500 was created to showcase the controversial new sport of automobile racing, which was sweeping the country. Daring young men were driving automobiles at the astonishing speed of 75 miles per hour, testing themselves and their vehicles. It was indeed a young man’s game: with no seat belts, hard helmets or roll bars, the dangers were enormous. When the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, seven people were killed, some of them spectators. Oil-slicked surfaces, clouds of smoke, exploding tires, and flying grit all made driving extremely hazardous, especially with the open-cockpit, windshield-less vehicles. Most drivers rode with a mechanic, who pumped oil manually while watching for cars attempting to pass. Drivers sometimes threw wrenches or bolts at each other during the race in order to gain an advantage. The night before an event, the racers would take up a collection for the next day’s new widows. Bookmakers offered bets not only on who might win but who might survive. Not all the participants in that first Indy 500 lived to see the checkered flag. Although the 1911 Indy 500 judges declared Ray Harroun, driving a Marmon Wasp, the official winner, there is reason to doubt that result. The timekeeping equipment failed, and the judges had to run for their lives when a driver lost control and his car spun wildly toward their stand. It took officials two days to determine the results, and Speedway authorities ordered the records to be destroyed. But Blood and Smoke is about more than a race, even a race as fabled as the Indianapolis 500. It is the story of America at the dawn of the automobile age, 29.99 a country in love with speed, danger, and spectacle. It is a story, too, about the young men who would risk their lives for money and glory, the sportsmen whose antics would thrill and outrage Americans in those long-ago days when the automobile was still brand new.

    Newton's 3 laws of motion? The 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse? The 5 pillars of Islam? The 6 wives of Henry VIII? The 7 kinds of plane triangles? The 8 Beatitudes? If you're not sure about the answers to the above, this is the book for you. A compendium of 101 culturally significant particulars from the fields of mythology, religion, literature, history, science, mathematics, art, and music, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? is a stimulating fusion of facts and fun that makes for an invaluable reference and an entertaining diversion.Questions are grouped in sections according to the number of items in their answer (all the 3s, all the 4s, all the 5s, etc.), so that the answers are in the form of easily memorized lists. You won't find Luther's 95 theses, or the 264 Popes, for example, but you will find everything from the 3 sons of Adam and Eve all the way up to the 24 letters of the ancient Greek alphabet.This clever format lends itself well to quizzing and guessing, which gives it a deliciously sophisticated parlor-game quality. But for those who wish to delve a little deeper, there are thoughtful essays to go with each answer that include fascinating details and place the list in its larger cultural or historical context. Much more than a book of trivia, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? offers a grand overview of the knowledge needed to appreciate many of the finest things in our cultural and intellectual life.

    Far from the gray-haired, cookie-baking grandmother he imagined her to be, Gwendolyn was a stranger to Ian, but her family, old boyfriend, and the Palo Alto police seem to think they were a couple. And despite his best efforts to prove otherwise, the evidence against Ian is growing. It looks like someone is framing Ian for murder, but who? An executive at a tech firm, Ian is anxious to prove his innocence to his boss and mentor Paul Berk, a Silicon Valley legend. As the investigation heats up so does Ian's interest in Gwendolyn's sister, but can she be trusted?

    Now Lawrence M. Krauss, an internationally known theoretical physicist and educator, has written the quintessential physics book for Trekkers and non-Trekkers alike.Anyone who has ever wondered, "Could this really happen?" will gain useful insights into the "Star Trek" universe (and, incidentally, the real universe) in this charming and accessible volume. Krauss boldly goes where "Star Trek" has gone -- and beyond. He uses the "Star Trek" future as a launching pad to discuss the forefront of modern physics. From Newton to Hawking, from Einstein to Feynman, from Kirk to Janeway, Krauss leads the reader on a voyage to the world of physics as we now know it and as it might one day be.Featuring the Top 10 biggest physics bloopers in "Star Trek," as selected by Nobel Prize-winning physicists and other dedicated Trekkers!"This book is fun, and Mr. Krauss has a nice touch with a tough subject...Readers drawn by frivolity will be treated to substance." "--New York Times Book Review""Today's science fiction is often tomorrow's science fact. The physics that underlies "Star Trek" is surely worth investigating. To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."--Stephen Hawking (in the foreword)A

    It's definitely not the Australian Devil Wears Prada. In her collection of autobiographical essays, fashion magazine editor Justine Cullen takes us on a hilariously candid exploration of her life so far - and all the mistakes she's made along the way.Semi-Gloss is an intimate, sharp and witty look at growing up and growing older from the kind of woman who seems like she has it all together - the glamorous job, the perfect family, the killer wardrobe. But, chipping away at that shiny, sparkly surface, Justine reveals the beautiful mess that lies beneath. A wildly entertaining and sometimes bumpy ride through a life well-lived, by one of Australia's most respected female voices.

    In the process, Weigel and Tarnoff open the conversation about the tech industry at large, a conversation that has previously been dominated by the voices of CEOs. Deeply illuminating, revealing, and at times lurid, Voices from the Valley is a vital and comprehensive view of an industry that governs our lives.FSG Originals � Logic dissects the way technology functions in everyday lives. The titans of Silicon Valley, for all their utopian imaginings, never really had our best interests at heart: recent threats to democracy, truth, privacy, and safety, as a result of tech's reckless pursuit of progress, have shown as much. We present an alternate story, one that delights in capturing technology in all its contradictions and innovation, across borders and socioeconomic divisions, from history through the future, beyond platitudes and PR hype, and past doom and gloom. Our collaboration features four brief but provocative forays into the tech industry's many worlds, and aspires to incite fresh conversations about technology focused on nuanced and accessible explorations of the emerging tools that reorganize and redefine life today.

    True Names by Vernor Vinge, first published in 1981, is such a work.Here is a feast of articles by computer scientists and journalists on the cutting edge of the field, writing about innovations and developments of the Internet, including, among others:Danny Hillis: Founder of thinking machines and the first Disney Fellow.Timothy C. May: former chief scientist at Intel--a major insider in the field of computers and technology.Marvin Minsky: Cofounder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer: Codevelopers of habitat, the first real computer interactive environment.Mark Pesce: Cocreator of VRML and the author of the Playful World: How Technology Transforms Our Imagination.Richard M. Stallman: Research affiliate with MIT; the founder of the Free Software Movement.

    

    For years, Joel Spolsky has done exactly this at www.joelonsoftware.com. Now, for the first time, you can own a collection of the most important essays from his site in one book, with exclusive commentary and new insights from joel.