-Titulo Original : The Enigma Of Reason-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: “Brilliant…Timely and necessary.” ―Financial Times “Especially timely as we struggle to make sense of how it is that individuals and communities persist in holding beliefs that have been thoroughly discredited.” ―Darren Frey, Science If reason is what makes us human, why do we behave so irrationally? And if it is so useful, why didn’t it evolve in other animals? This groundbreaking account of the evolution of reason by two renowned cognitive scientists seeks to solve this double enigma. Reason, they argue, helps us justify our beliefs, convince others, and evaluate arguments. It makes it easier to cooperate and communicate and to live together in groups. Provocative, entertaining, and undeniably relevant, The Enigma of Reason will make many reasonable people rethink their beliefs. “Reasonable-seeming people are often totally irrational. Rarely has this insight seemed more relevant…Still, an essential puzzle remains: How did we come to be this way?…Cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber [argue that] reason developed not to enable us to solve abstract, logical problems…[but] to resolve the problems posed by living in collaborative groups.” ―Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker “Turns reason’s weaknesses into strengths, arguing that its supposed flaws are actually design features that work remarkably well.” ―Financial Times “The best thing I have read about human reasoning. It is extremely well written, interesting, and very enjoyable to read.” ―Gilbert Harman, Princeton Universit...

-Titulo Original : Automating The News: How Algorithms Are Rewriting The Media-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: From hidden connections in big data to bots spreading fake news, journalism is increasingly computer-generated. An expert in computer science and media explains the present and future of a world in which news is created by algorithm.Amid the push for self-driving cars and the roboticization of industrial economies, automation has proven one of the biggest news stories of our time. Yet the wide-scale automation of the news itself has largely escaped attention. In this lively expose of that rapidly shifting terrain, Nicholas Diakopoulos focuses on the people who tell the stories increasingly with the help of computer algorithms that are fundamentally changing the creation, dissemination, and reception of the news.Diakopoulos reveals how machine learning and data mining have transformed investigative journalism. Newsbots converse with social media audiences, distributing stories and receiving feedback. Online media has become a platform for A/B testing of content, helping journalists to better understand what moves audiences. Algorithms can even draft certain kinds of stories. These techniques enable media organizations to take advantage of experiments and economies of scale, enhancing the sustainability of the fourth estate. But they also place pressure on editorial decision-making, because they allow journalists to produce more stories, sometimes better ones, but rarely both.Automating the News responds to hype and fears surrounding journalistic algorithms by exploring the human influence embedded in automation. Though the effects of automation are deep, Diakopoulos shows that journalists are at little risk of being displaced. With algorithms at their fingertips, they may work differently and tell different stories than they otherwise would, but their values remain the driving force behind the news. The human-algorithm hybrid thus emerges as the latest embodiment of an age-old tension between commercial imperatives and journalistic principles. Review “Moves us forward and spells out with absolute clarity just why algorithms are rewriting the media, and where the wins and the potential losses are.” Sharon Wheeler , Times Higher Education “It deserves praise for shedding light on such an important subject…At a time of general anxiety about the future of media, Diakopoulos’ can-do attitude is a refreshing antidote.” Andrew Lynch , Business Post “Diakopoulos provides deep discussion of the theory and practice of journalism automation, grounded in significant research and interviews with leading practitioners. The result is a trailblazing book full of information that has not appeared anywhere else.” Jonathan Stray, Columbia Journalism School “Algorithms are changing the ways stories are discovered, told, and distributed for good and for ill. Automating the News expertly explains how the combination of computation and journalism is evolving, with insights of great interest to reporters, researchers, and readers.” James T. Hamilton, Stanford University “This book provides a comprehensive, evidence-based, and cautiously optimistic analysis of how automation is changing journalism and how journalism in turn needs to change to make better use of automation. Diakopoulos documents how technology is increasingly supplementing not replacing human work in newsrooms, discusses the potential and very real limitation of new tools, and identifies ways in which reporting can evolve to better hold algorithms and those behind them accountable. An important and actionable analysis.” Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Reuters Institute, University of Oxford About the Author Nicholas Diakopoulos is an expert on computational and data journalism whose work has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and CBC Radio and in The Atlantic, Slate, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Boston Globe. He is Director of the Computational Journalism Lab (CJL) and an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication a...

-Titulo Original : The End Of Forgetting: Growing Up With Social Media-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: Thanks to and , our childhoods have been captured and preserved online, never to go away. But what happens when we can’t leave our most embarrassing moments behind?Until recently, the awkward moments of growing up could be forgotten. But today we may be on the verge of losing the ability to leave our pasts behind. In The End of Forgetting, Kate Eichhorn explores what happens when images of our younger selves persist, often remaining just a click away.For today’s teenagers, many of whom spend hours each day posting on social media platforms, efforts to move beyond moments they regret face new and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Unlike a high school yearbook or a shoebox full of old photos, the information that accumulates on social media is here to stay. What was once fleeting is now documented and tagged, always ready to surface and interrupt our future lives. Moreover, new innovations such as automated facial recognition also mean that the reappearance of our past is increasingly out of our control.Historically, growing up has been about moving on achieving a safe distance from painful events that typically mark childhood and adolescence. But what happens when one remains tethered to the past? From the earliest days of the internet, critics have been concerned that it would endanger the innocence of childhood. The greater danger, Eichhorn warns, may ultimately be what happens when young adults find they are unable to distance themselves from their pasts. Rather than a childhood cut short by a premature loss of innocence, the real crisis of the digital age may be the specter of a childhood that can never be forgotten. Review “Well-written, well-researched, and insightful. The End of Forgetting will contribute to our growing discussion on the role and place of social media in everyday life, and the impact that new media practices have on our understanding of identity, childhood, and the process of becoming an adult.” Mark Nunes, author of Cyberspaces of Everyday Life “An elegantly written book on a timely and very important topic. Eichhorn blends stories, facts, and research to portray the role digital and social media play in young people’s self-conceptions, identity development, and public image, and reveals why it is important to protect young people’s ability to forget parts of the past.” Simon Nørby, Aarhus University “A necessary, original, and unexpected perspective on the impact of digital technologies on children today.” Marcus Boon, York University “Growing up online, Eichhorn worries, might impede our ability to edit memories, cull what needs to be culled, and move on.” New Yorker “An important manual for anyone who regularly posts on social media. It outlines the dangers that platforms pose, makes a great case for more cautious posting, and advocates for increasing pressure on the tech companies that hold our data.” Sarah Manavis , New Statesman “Eichhorn’s work needs to be included in public discourse about how we make meaning of self and others in digital spaces. We are still in the midst of making sense of the impact of social media on how we record our lives and, by so doing, how we unavoidably carry our digital history forward. The End of Forgetting reminds readers that sampling experiences and trying out different personalities, sometimes in error, is part of the human condition. The degree to which we should forgive others, or hold them responsible, remains a pressing but unacknowledged ethical concern.” Linda Levitt , PopMatters About the Author Kate Eichhorn’s work explores the history of media technology and its impact on our lives. She is Associate Professor of Culture and Media at The New School and author of several books, most recently Adjusted Margin...

-Titulo Original : Privacy’s Blueprint: The Battle To Control The Design Of New Technologies-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: Every day, Internet users interact with technologies designed to undermine their privacy. Social media apps, surveillance technologies, and the Internet of Things are all built in ways that make it hard to guard personal information. And the law says this is okay because it is up to users to protect themselves even when the odds are deliberately stacked against them.In Privacy’s Blueprint, Woodrow Hartzog pushes back against this state of affairs, arguing that the law should require software and hardware makers to respect privacy in the design of their products. Current legal doctrine treats technology as though it were value-neutral: only the user decides whether it functions for good or ill. But this is not so. As Hartzog explains, popular digital tools are designed to expose people and manipulate users into disclosing personal information.Against the often self-serving optimism of Silicon Valley and the inertia of tech evangelism, Hartzog contends that privacy gains will come from better rules for products, not users. The current model of regulating use fosters exploitation. Privacy’s Blueprint aims to correct this by developing the theoretical underpinnings of a new kind of privacy law responsive to the way people actually perceive and use digital technologies. The law can demand encryption. It can prohibit malicious interfaces that deceive users and leave them vulnerable. It can require safeguards against abuses of biometric surveillance. It can, in short, make the technology itself worthy of our trust. Review “[A] smart new book… [W]ill repay the attention of designers, privacy professionals, and anyone who wants to learn how design guided by strengthened laws and regulations might help us emerge from today’s swirl of privacy problems.” James Barszcz , The Privacy Advisor (International Association of Privacy Professionals website) “Deceptive design nudges, tricks, and goads you into sharing more than you might intend to online, Hartzog argues in his new book… And when you think you’re in control of your own data, you rarely are.” Ariel Bogle , ABC News (Australia) “ Privacy’s Blueprint is a real tour de force, introducing a rigorous structure for multiple dimensions of privacy protections.” Frank Pasquale, author of The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information “Filled with fascinating examples and written in a lively and accessible way, Privacy’s Blueprint is the definitive chronicle of Privacy by Design. This is one of the most important books about privacy in our times.” Daniel J. Solove, author of Understanding Privacy “A bold and innovative privacy agenda and a beautifully written book. Hartzog demonstrates how and why privacy design is about power and politics.” Paul M. Schwartz, author of Information Privacy Law “With deep insight, passion, and humor, Woodrow Hartzog demands that we see what has been in front us all along yet never meaningfully reckoned with. As Hartzog makes clear, we can design apps, social media, and networked clothing (underwear!) with privacy in mind but we need a plan and this book provides it in spades. This is a defining book for our information age and a must read.” Danielle Keats Citron, author of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace About the Author Woodrow Hartzog is Professor of Law and Computer Science at Northeastern University School of Law and College of Computer and Information Science...

-Titulo Original : Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings About Technology, From The Telegraph To Twitter-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: An Entrepreneur Best Book of the Year makes us lonely. Selfies breed narcissism. On Twitter, hostility reigns. Pundits and psychologists warn that digital technologies substantially alter our emotional states, but in this lively investigation of changing feelings about technology, we learn that the gadgets we use don’t just affect how we feel they can profoundly change our sense of self. When we say we’re bored, we don’t mean the same thing as a Victorian dandy. Could it be that political punditry has helped shape a new kind of anger? Luke Fernandez and Susan Matt take us back in time to consider how our feelings of loneliness, boredom, vanity, and anger have evolved in tandem with new technologies.“Technologies have been shaping [our] emotional culture for more than a century, argue computer scientist Luke Fernandez and historian Susan Matt in this original study. Marshalling archival sources and interviews, they trace how norms (say, around loneliness) have shifted with technological change.” Nature“A powerful story of how new forms of technology are continually integrated into the human experience.” Publishers Weekly Review “Online immersion can distort emotion…Marshalling archival sources and interviews, [Fernandez and Matt] trace how norms (say, around loneliness) have shifted with technological change. Broadcasting deregulation under President Ronald Reagan, for instance, made room for anger-inducing right-wing ‘talk radio.’ Yet, as they show, the digital world lifts even more limits, stimulating and affirming a range of negative emotions.” Barbara Kiser , Nature “A scholarly attempt to track changes in social norms and in human emotions occasioned by advances in technology across a couple of centuries, but it concludes that our twenty-first-century situation is different from those earlier shifts both in the rate of change and in the problems introduced by cybertechnologies…Narcissus had to find a pool to gaze into; we just pull out our phones.” Gavin Francis , New York Review of Books “This is a thoughtfully nuanced take on the kind of ‘is technology killing us dead’ alarmist tracts that have proliferated as ‘smart’ devices have proliferated, an effect largely achieved by grounding the whole question deeper in history. The social reactions to the telegraph, the home radio, the television, and, crucially, a country-crossing modern highway system, all interestingly foreground many of the modern reactions to further inroads made into our private lives by technology on every side.” Steve Donoghue , Open Letters Review “A valuable addition to the study of social behavior influenced by technologies. The authors have worked hard in aggregating thousands of small pieces of evidence scattered in diverse historical and modern sources to build an illuminating context in which we can begin to fathom our emotional states entangled with technologies.” New York Journal of Books “We take some things for granted today that selfies make us narcissistic, that social media can make us lonely, and so on. This book adds much-needed historical perspective to these knee-jerk fears, by examining how our emotions have been expressed over time, and how theyve been impacted by new technologies along the way.” Jason Feifer , Entrepreneur “Impressive…A well-articulated and nuanced analysis of the overlooked symbiosis between the cultural history of emotions and technological developments.” Alina Ivan , The Psychologist “An important contribution to understanding the digital present by showing the historicity and cultural construction of contemporary (digital) emotions while incorporating the interplay of technology and emotions…As a contribution to the current debate on digital transformation, their book is definitely a worthwhile read.” Martina Hessler , Technology and Culture “A powerful story of how new forms of technology are continually integrated into the human experie...

-Titulo Original : The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France at General Pershing’s explicit request. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. While suffragettes picketed the White House and President Wilson struggled to persuade a segregationist Congress to give women of all races the vote, these courageous young women swore the army oath and settled into their new roles. Elizabeth Cobbs reveals the challenges they faced in a war zone where male soldiers wooed, mocked, and ultimately celebrated them.The army discharged the last Hello Girls in 1920, the year Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. When they sailed home, they were unexpectedly dismissed without veterans’ benefits and began a sixty-year battle that a handful of survivors carried to triumph in 1979.“What an eye-opener! Cobbs unearths the original letters and diaries of these forgotten heroines and weaves them into a fascinating narrative with energy and zest.” Cokie Roberts, author of Capital Dames“This engaging history crackles with admiration for the women who served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the First World War, becoming the country’s first female soldiers.” New Yorker“Utterly delightful… Cobbs very adroitly weaves the story of the Signal Corps into that larger story of American women fighting for the right to vote, but it’s the warm, fascinating job she does bringing her cast…to life that gives this book its memorable charisma… This terrific book pays them a long-warranted tribute.” Christian Science Monitor“Cobbs is particularly good at spotlighting how closely the service of military women like the Hello Girls was tied to the success of the suffrage movement.” NPR Review “This engaging history crackles with admiration for the women who served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the First World War, becoming the country’s first female soldiers. Operating switchboards in France, they juggled constantly shifting lists of codes and connections, worked fast amid artillery blasts, and mastered the ‘genteel diplomacy’ needed to communicate with officials in French as well as English. Their technical skill was matched by what one woman called the ‘great, unquenchable, patriotic desire to do my bit.’ Cobbs intercuts front-line activities with political battles on the home front: the women returned from victory to an America that did not yet grant them the right to vote.” New Yorker “Utterly delightful… It’s a little-known side-story of the war, but it’s not a little story: In Cobbs’s skillful handling, it becomes a big, multilayered tale of courage and long-delayed justice… Cobbs very adroitly weaves the story of the Signal Corps into that larger story of American women fighting for the right to vote, but it’s the warm, fascinating job she does bringing her cast of The Hello Girls to life that gives this book its memorable charisma… [These women] fought for years to gain the recognition they deserved as the forerunners of all women serving in the U.S. armed forces. This terrific book pays them a long-warranted tribute.” Steve Donoghue , Christian Science Monitor “In the crisply written The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers, Elizabeth Cobbs details exactly what was asked of these women during the war, and reveals, with an authoritative, dispassionate, this-was-some-self-evident-nonsense lucidity, the dismaying extent to which their country failed them when it was over… Smartly, she also walks us through the sundry and simultaneous technical demands of switchboard operating, noting that women could connect five calls in the time it took a man to complete one. Cobbs is particularly good at spotlighting how closely the service of military women like the Hello Girls was tied to the success of the suffrage movement.” Glen Weldon , NPR Books “Elizabeth Cobbs draws on a range of official documents, as well as letters and diaries, to tell the fascinating story of the forg...

-Titulo Original : The Art Of Ancient Egypt Revised Edition-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: From the awesome grandeur of the Great Pyramids to the delicacy of a face etched on an amulet, the spellbinding power of ancient Egyptian art persists to this day. Spanning three thousand years, this beautifully illustrated history offers a thorough and delightfully readable introduction to the artwork even as it provides insight into questions that have long engaged experts and amateurs alike. In its scope, its detail, and its eloquent reproduction of over 250 objects, Gay Robins’s classic book is without parallel as a guide to the art of ancient Egypt. And her eagerly awaited new edition includes many new color photographs and a fully revised and updated bibliography. Review Covering three millennia of Egyptian art, this beautifully illustrated volume presents and chronological survey of the monuments and art works of the ruling elite of ancient Egypt...This book is sure to delight anyone interested in the art and archaeology of the ancient world. -- Rhonda Cooper KLIATT Robins has produced the first significant general survey of ancient Egyptian art in the English language since Cyril Aldreds Egyptian Art in the Days of the Pharaohs, 3100-320 BC and W. Stevenson Smiths The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt,..Unique to this survey is the inclusion of Ptolemaic art and the attention paid to the decoration of sarcophagi, coffins, and mummy cartonages over three millennia. The text is authoritative and fully referenced with an excellent bibliography. This work will interest general readers as well as scholars and is recommended for all public and academic libraries. -- Edward K. Werner Library Journal delight anyone interested in the art and archaeology of the ancient world. About the Author Gay Robins is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History at Emory University...

-Titulo Original : What The Best College Teachers Do-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: From Booklist With the strong conviction that good teaching can be learned, and after 15 years of observing teachers in action, Bain undertook an exploration of the essentials of effective teaching. The result is an insightful look at what makes a great teacher, based on a study of three dozen teachers from a cross section of disciplines from medical-school faculties to undergraduate departments. After interviewing students and colleagues, observing classrooms and laboratories, and examining course materials from syllabi to lecture notes, Bain concludes that the quality of teaching is measured not by whether students pass exams but whether they retain the material to such an extent that it influences their thoughts and actions. Bain focuses on what the best teachers know and understand about their subject matter as well as the learning process; how they prepare; what they expect of their students; how they treat students; and how they evaluate student progress. Although this book is aimed at teachers, it is a thoughtful and valuable resource for students and parents as well. Vanessa BushCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is--its not what teachers do, its what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out--but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn. In stories both humorous and touching, Bain describes examples of ingenuity and compassion, of students discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential. What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-year teachers and seasoned educators. From Publishers Weekly Bain s sound and scholarly yet exuberant promotion of America s best college teachers abounds with jaunty anecdotes and inspiring opinions that make student-centered instruction look not only infectious, but downright imperative. Teachers may enjoy the book s plummy examples from their peers interdisciplinary curricula such as the Harvard chemistry professor whose lesson on polymers becomes the story of how the development of nylons influenced the outcome of World War II or the U Penn art professor whose computer game allows students to determine the authenticity of a questionable Rembrandt. Bain s most compelling arguments, however, concern the quirks and motivations of today s college students. Though he acknowledges nationwide trends toward grade inflation, he invokes a 1990 study that suggests students are most driven by high demands and prefer plentiful opportunities to revise and improve their work before it receives a grade. Likewise, the book argues that, even in the cutthroat climate of today s competitive colleges, students thrive best in cooperative classrooms. The best teachers, Bain avers, understand and exceed such expectations, and use them to create natural critical learning environments. Easy-to-follow headings such as Start with the Students Rather Than the Discipline help readers learn to create such environments, too. Inspiring though this slender book will be for college teachers at all levels, it may also delight the general reader with nostalgic reminders of their finest classroom experiences.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review “Reading this book is a jo...

-Titulo Original : How The Other Half Banks Exclusion, Exploitation, And The Threat To Democracy-Fabricante : Harvard University Press-Descripcion Original: About the Author Mehrsa Baradaran is Professor of Law at UCI Law and a celebrated authority on banking law. In addition to the prizewinning The Color of Money, she is author of How the Other Half Banks. She has advised US senators and representatives on policy and spoken at national and international forums including the World Bank. The United States has two separate banking systems today one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later.“Baradaran argues persuasively that the banking industry, fattened on public subsidies (including too-big-to-fail bailouts), owes low-income families a better deal…How the Other Half Banks is well researched and clearly written…The bankers who fully understand the system are heavily invested in it. Books like this are written for the rest of us.” Nancy Folbre, New York Times Book Review“How the Other Half Banks tells an important story, one in which we have allowed the profit motives of banks to trump the public interest.” Lisa J. Servon, American Prospec...