Showing titles in History & Culture

In How Progress Ends, Carl Benedikt Frey challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. For most of human history, stagnation was the norm, and even today progress and prosperity in the world's largest, most advanced economies—the United States and China—have fallen short of expectations. To appreciate why we cannot depend on any AI-fueled great leap forward, Frey offers a remarkable and fascinating journey across the globe, spanning the past 1,000 years, to explain why some societies flourish and others fail in the wake of rapid technological change

Merchants of Doubt has been praised—and attacked—around the world, for reasons easy to understand. This book tells, with “brutal clarity” (Huffington Post), the disquieting story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.

Audio Bonus! Includes exclusive conversations with the authors! From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era. In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven...

Longlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year The "rich and gripping" true story of the first time machines came for human jobs—and how the Luddite uprising explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech and AI today (Naomi Klein) The most urgent story in modern tech begins...

Audie Award, History/Biography, 2016. On the night of July 20, 1969, our world changed forever when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Based on in-depth interviews with 23 of the 24 moon voyagers, as well as those who struggled to get the program moving, A Man on the Moon conveys every aspect of the Apollo missions with breathtaking immediacy and stunning detail.

A “meticulously researched” (The New York Times Book Review) examination of energy transitions over time and an exploration of the current challenges presented by global warming, a surging world population, and renewable energy—from Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author...

From a New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist comes The Social Network for the video game industry: a riveting examination of Blizzard Entertainment's rise and shocking downfall—"A fast paced thrill ride, perfect for anyone who has ever played a video game" (Ben...

A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and developments that will change the way we live and work. Artificial Intelligence has been “just around the corner” for decades, continually...

An exposé of the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism,” and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior “Groundbreaking, magisterial, alarming.” – Financial Times The heady optimism of the Internet’s early days has turned dark...

A New York Times Notable Book Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award An Instant New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of the Year by Smithsonian, Scientific American, and Elle Porchlight 2025 Business Book Award Winner “A bestselling page-turner that has made...

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction Winner of the Kirkus Nonfiction Prize Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Stunning…A heart-pounding thriller…Challenger...

"This colorful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective. Through the lives of Geoff Hinton and other major players, Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling." —Walter Isaacson, author of The Code Breaker Recipient of starred reviews in...

Smart Phone Dumb Phone rewires our relationship to technology. By unravelling the brainwashing process behind our addictive behaviour, we are freed from dependence and can reassert control over our time and productivity. Including 20 practical steps to help you along your way, this wonderful guide will release you from the clutches of your smartphone and allow you to live in the moment. It truly is the easyway.

Sunday Times best-selling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, teams up with The Science Museum to celebrate the ideas and inventions of the incurably curious.

In The Optimist, the Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey presents the most detailed account yet of Altman’s rise, his time as legendary entrepreneur Paul Graham’s protégé and successor as head of Y Combinator, the start-up accelerator where Altman became the premier power broker in Silicon Valley; the founding of OpenAI and his recruitment of a small yet superior team.

In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent - really - are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant methods of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought that led to recent achievements.

Unlock the power of artificial intelligence with Writing AI Prompts for Beginners—a comprehensive, hands-on guide that transforms curious learners into confident AI users. Whether you're looking to craft compelling text, generate striking visuals, brainstorm innovative ideas, or accelerate your learning, this book shows you how to do it all with well-crafted prompts. From understanding what a prompt is and why it matters, to mastering creative applications and real-world problem-solving, this guide covers every aspect of prompt engineering.

This comprehensive book by Dr. Amdy Diene examines the complex relationship between digital technology and human well-being in the modern era. Published in 2024, the work provides an evidence-based exploration of how smartphones and social media affect physical, mental, and social health while offering practical strategies for maintaining digital wellness.

In an era where machines compose poetry and algorithms mimic emotion, Machines Coming for Our Souls explores the fragile line between human creativity and artificial intelligence. Alexander Joseph Alfano examines the spiritual and artistic upheaval caused by technology’s intrusion into the sacred act of creation. Through eloquent prose and philosophical insight, the book asks whether authenticity can survive in a world where imagination is automated and originality is replicated.

A searing investigation into the child influencer industry and the perils of childhood internet fame, Like, Follow, Subscribe is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the costs of internet fame, and the ethics of online content. What is it like to grow up with a camera in your face...