science / philosophy & social aspects

"A Stanford psychologist offers a . . . new understanding of empathy, [arguing for it as] a skill, not a fixed trait, and showing, through science and stories, how we can all become more empathetic"--Provided by publisher.

"Explores the concept of race, past and present. She examines the dark roots of race research and how race has again crept gently back into science and medicine. And she investigates the people who use this research for their own political purposes, including white supremacists"--OCLC.

Collects forty-two career-spanning essays, polemics, and paeans by Richard Dawkins with newly annotated essays that investigate issues that include bad science, religion in schools, climate-change, and more.

Reveals the latest research between the science of emotion and the mind, challenging the assumption that feelings are hardwired into the brain.

"Technology journalist Luke Dormehl takes you through the history of AI and how it makes up the foundations of the machines that think for us today"--Provided by publisher.

"From the New York Times-bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From, a look at he world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes along-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused. Johnson's storytelling is just as delightful as the inventions he describes, full of surprising stops along the journey from simple concepts to complex modern systems. He introduces us to the colorful innovators of leisure: the explorers, proprietors, showmen, and artists who changed the trajectory of history with their luxurious wares, exotic meals, taverns, gambling tables, and magic shows. Johnson compellingly argues that observers of technological and social trends should be looking for clues in novel amusements. You'll find the future wherever people are having the most fun"--.

A history of the heart in medicine, covering the first dissection of cadavers, the first heart surgeries which had to be completed in three minutes, and on to transplants and the latest medical efforts to prolong the heart's life.

"Physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing, he reaches a provocative conclusion: science, the main tool we use to find answers, is fundamentally limited. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we are often faced with the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know--Provided by publisher.

An examination of cyberconciousness, describing the world's most sentient robot, Bina48, that is a nascent mindclone of the author's wife and discussing multimedia data that is collected to create a Mindfile which collects a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, and opinions through social networking sites and blogs.