-Titulo Original : The Dialogues Conversations About The Nature Of The Universe (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: A series of conversations about science in graphic form, on subjects that range from the science of cooking to the multiverse. Physicist Clifford Johnson thinks that we should have more conversations about science. Science should be on our daily conversation menu, along with topics like politics, books, sports, or the latest prestige cable drama. Conversations about science, he tells us, shouldnt be left to the experts. In The Dialogues, Johnson invites us to eavesdrop on a series of nine conversations, in graphic-novel form-written and drawn by Johnson-about “the nature of the universe.” The conversations take place all over the world, in museums, on trains, in restaurants, in what may or may not be Freuds favorite coffeehouse. The conversationalists are men, women, children, experts, and amateur science buffs. The topics of their conversations range from the science of cooking to the multiverse and string theory. The graphic form is especially suited for physics; one drawing can show what it would take many words to explain. In the first conversation, a couple meets at a costume party; they speculate about a scientist with superhero powers who doesnt use them to fight crime but to do more science, and they discuss what it means to have a “beautiful equation” in science. Their conversation spills into another chapter (“Hold on, you havent told me about light yet”), and in a third chapter they exchange phone numbers. Another couple meets on a train and discusses immortality, time, black holes, and religion. A brother and sister experiment with a grain of rice. Two women sit in a sunny courtyard and discuss the multiverse, quantum gravity, and the anthropic principle. After reading these conversations, we are ready to start our own. Review Best Science Books of 2018! How do you discuss big, hair-hurting ideas in a user friendly way? Make a graphic novel about them. For me, the most original, creative and magical science book of 2017. Yes, it was last years book. But I didnt read it until this year. And I cannot leave it out.- Ira Flatow, Science Friday- Readers of The Dialogues will likely appreciate Johnsons unique approach to starting a conversation about physics with a broader audience, and theyll admire his passion for the subject matter.- Physics Today- ...does a fantastic job of explaining complex concepts in a way thats not only easy to understand but also pleasant to follow. But what really sets it apart is the sheer quality of the writing. He effortlessly blends the natural, down-to-earth curiosity within us all with a patient knowledge that comes with decades of study.- ZME Science- There are a great many unsubtle ways to address diversity as an issue of social justice, from polemic proclamations to crude finger-pointing to passive complaint. All of them are, in my view, invariably inferior to what is perhaps the only effective approach: Simply enacting, without fuss and fanfare, a juster alternative. That is what Johnson - a black Englishman himself - accomplishes by populating his panels with characters of varied races, genders, and nationalities, who interpolate between the roles of explainer and explainee without any dominant pattern of authority.- Brainpickings- Johnson explicity rejects the notion that some science is for uniquely talented abstract thinkers, arguing that the questions that theoretical physicists explore are not too complicated for the rest of us, and are relevant to all. And he proves it in his book: His characters are adults and kids who ponder how rice grains appear to multiply when cooked and how to calculate the number of jelly beans in a jar, and discuss the notion of a unified theory of everything and the meaning of life and death.- Quartz- The Dialogues illustrates how science can be a topic of everyday conversation for anyone.- CBC- Johnsons new book... is a penetrating exploration of questions - that are both ancient and modern -...

-Titulo Original : 101 Things I Learned In Architecture School-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation, from the basics of “How to Draw a Line” to the complexities of color theory. This is a book that students of architecture will want to keep in the studio and in their backpacks. It is also a book they may want to keep out of view of their professors, for it expresses in clear and simple language things that tend to be murky and abstruse in the classroom. These 101 concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation—from the basics of How to Draw a Line to the complexities of color theory—provide a much-needed primer in architectural literacy, making concrete what too often is left nebulous or open-ended in the architecture curriculum. Each lesson utilizes a two-page format, with a brief explanation and an illustration that can range from diagrammatic to whimsical. The lesson on How to Draw a Line is illustrated by examples of good and bad lines; a lesson on the dangers of awkward floor level changes shows the television actor Dick Van Dyke in the midst of a pratfall; a discussion of the proportional differences between traditional and modern buildings features a drawing of a building split neatly in half between the two. Written by an architect and instructor who remembers well the fog of his own student days, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School provides valuable guideposts for navigating the design studio and other classes in the architecture curriculum. Architecture graduates—from young designers to experienced practitioners—will turn to the book as well, for inspiration and a guide back to basics when solving a complex design problem...

-Titulo Original : The Sharing Economy The End Of Employment And The Rise Of Crowd-based Capitalism (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Winner of a 2017 Axiom Best Business Books Award.Sharing isnt new. Giving someone a ride, having a guest in your spare room, running errands for someone, participating in a supper club -- these are not revolutionary concepts. What is new, in the sharing economy, is that you are not helping a friend for free; you are providing these services to a stranger for money. In this book, Arun Sundararajan, an expert on the sharing economy, explains the transition to what he describes as crowd-based capitalism -- a new way of organizing economic activity that may supplant the traditional corporate-centered model. As peer-to-peer commercial exchange blurs the lines between the personal and the professional, how will the economy, government regulation, what it means to have a job, and our social fabric be affected?Drawing on extensive research and numerous real-world examples -- including Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, Etsy, TaskRabbit, Frances BlaBlaCar, Chinas Didi Kuaidi, and Indias Ola, Sundararajan explains the basics of crowd-based capitalism. He describes the intriguing mix of gift and market in its transactions, demystifies emerging blockchain technologies, and clarifies the dizzying array of emerging on-demand platforms. He considers how this new paradigm changes economic growth and the future of work. Will we live in a world of empowered entrepreneurs who enjoy professional flexibility and independence? Or will we become disenfranchised digital laborers scurrying between platforms in search of the next wedge of piecework? Sundararajan highlights the important policy choices and suggests possible new directions for self-regulatory organizations, labor law, and funding our social safety net. Review “So all in all, a very interesting book by one the most knowledgeable researchers on the sharing economy. Well worth a read.”-The Enlightened Economist“Sundararajan knows his stuff. Hes an award winning scholar who writes with a clarity that masks the compleity of his subject.”-Finance and Development“In his new book, Arun Sundararajan paints a rosy picture of the revolutionary companies and platforms that are altering the nature of work.”-Strategy Business“Sundararajan . . . sees enough value in the sharing economy.”-TED“His case for optimism in his new book is compelling in large part because it comes from a business-school wonk and not a sharing! proselytizer devoted to the literal meaning of the word.”-The Washington Post Review Sundararajan has taken all the loose talk about the sharing economy and given it a rigorous and readable treatment. He makes it clear that there is no one model for these new economic forms, but that taken together, they represent a profound shift in how we think about everything from utility to capital to labor to employment. Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody About the Author Arun Sundararajan is a Professor at New York Universitys (NYU) Stern School of Business whose scholarly work has been recognized by numerous best paper and faculty awards. An authority on the sharing economy, he has published op-eds and commentary in such publications as Time, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Wired, Le Monde, Harvard Business Review, and the Financial Times. A member of the World Economic Forums Global Futures Council on Technology, Values and Policy, he is advisor to numerous other policy bodies, venture capital firms and cities, frequently provides expert input as part of congressional and parliamentary testimony, and helps companies around the world shape their digital strategy...

-Titulo Original : Lee Kuan Yew The Grand Masters Insights On China, The United States, And The World (belfer Center Studies In International Security)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: CNN “Book of the Week”Featuring a foreword by Henry KissingerThe grand strategist and founder of modern Singapore offers key insights and opinions on globalization, geopolitics, economic growth, and democracy in a series of interviews with the author of Destined for War, and others“If you are interested in the future of Asia, which means the future of the world, you’ve got to read this book.” -Fareed Zakaria, CNN When Lee Kuan Yew speaks, presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, and CEOs listen. Lee, the founding father of modern Singapore and its prime minister from 1959 to 1990, has honed his wisdom during more than fifty years on the world stage. Almost single-handedly responsible for transforming Singapore into a Western-style economic success, he offers a unique perspective on the geopolitics of East and West. American presidents from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama have welcomed him to the White House; British prime ministers from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair have recognized his wisdom; and business leaders from Rupert Murdoch to Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, have praised his accomplishments. This book gathers key insights from interviews, speeches, and Lee’s voluminous published writings and presents them in an engaging question and answer format.Lee offers his assessment of China’s future, asserting, among other things, that “China will want to share this century as co-equals with the U.S.” He affirms the United States’ position as the world’s sole superpower but expresses dismay at the vagaries of its political system. He offers strategic advice for dealing with China and goes on to discuss India’s future, Islamic terrorism, economic growth, geopolitics and globalization, and democracy. Lee does not pull his punches, offering his unvarnished opinions on multiculturalism, the welfare state, education, and the free market. This little book belongs on the reading list of every world leader. Review “This short book [is] packed with intelligence and insight. If you are interested in the future of Asia, which means the future of the world, you’ve got to read this book.” -Fareed Zakaria, CNN, “Book of the Week” “Lee’s powerful intellect is captured in a new book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Masters Insights on China, the United States, and the World. It’s a collection of interviews with him by Harvard University professor Graham Allison, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Robert Blackwill and Harvards Belfer Center researcher Ali Wyne, while also drawing on other selected and cited writings by and about Lee. Now 89, officially retired and somewhat frail, Lee has mellowed with age-not unlike his creation Singapore, governed today with a lighter touch even as its citizens grow more vocal. Yet, as the book, and the adaptation here of the China chapter, reveal, Lee is as sharp, direct and prescient as ever. Though the volume was completed before China’s current territorial tensions with its neighbors, it helps expose, and explain, Beijing’s hardball mind-set.” -TIME Magazine “Graham Allison and Bob Blackwill have important questions to ask about China, America and the extraordinary impact of the relationship of those two countries on the rest of the world. For answers, they turned to Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first premier and one of the world’s most formidable geopolitical thinkers and strategists. The result is a fascinating book called Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Masters Insights on China, the United States, and the World.” -Ian Bremmer, Reuters “Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Masters Insights on China, the United States, and the World forms a kind of last testament of the ailing, 89-year-old Mr. Lee. It is based on interviews with Mr. Lee by the authors-Graham Allison, a professor of government at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and Robert Blackwill, a former U.S. diplomat-to which the authors add a distillation of Mr. Lee’s speeches, writings and interviews with others over many years.” ...

-Titulo Original : Designed For Digital How To Architect Your Business For Sustained Success (management On The Cutting Edge)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review While David Teece has argued business capabilities need to be dynamic, we all know in the digital age they need to be increasingly be digital. In my weekly discussions with CIOs, they tell me the starting point for a business transformation is not technology but people and processes. In “Designed for Digital”, the authors provide a digital business architecture but more importantly a unification theory for management in the digital age. This theory shares the role of executives in enabling experimentation, in innovation delivery, and in creating the platform for digital business offerings.-Myles Suer, #CIOChat Facilitator and CIO Contributor-In “Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success,” Jeanne Ross, Cynthia Beath and Martin Mocker offer a contemporary digital model for enterprises. Those who can obtain it will have the right to win and who cannot will increasingly find themselves subjected to wave after wave of digital disruption. Interestingly, the authors not only argue for the importance of architecture, but they also argue for a revised theory of management. This makes the book relevant to IT professionals and business leaders interested in digital transformation.-CIO-Sick of being told your business should be more like Apple, Amazon, Uber, or Airbnb? Mystified about how to apply their examples to your big, older companys digital transformation work? If so, read Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success, the new MIT Press book by Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath, and Martin Mocker.-The Enterprisers Project-One of Forbess Top Ten Technology Books of 2019.-Forbes-In Designed for Digital, the authors note that much of what companies believe to be digital transformation falls short. They implement cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, or mobile apps, but, at their core, they operate as they have always operated. This book offers recommendation on how to fundamentally retool the enterprise to achieve true digital success.-Peter High, Forbes- Practical advice for redesigning “big, old” companies for digital success, with examples from Amazon, BNY Mellon, LEGO, Philips, USAA, and many other global organizations.Most established companies have deployed such digital technologies as the cloud, mobile apps, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence. But few established companies are designed for digital. This book offers an essential guide for retooling organizations for digital success. In the digital economy, rapid pace of change in technology capabilities and customer desires means that business strategy must be fluid. As a result, the authors explain, business design has become a critical management responsibility. Effective business design enables a company to quickly pivot in response to new competitive threats and opportunities. Most leaders today, however, rely on organizational structure to implement strategy, unaware that structure inhibits, rather than enables, agility. In companies that are designed for digital, people, processes, data, and technology are synchronized to identify and deliver innovative customer solutions-and redefine strategy. Digital design, not strategy, is what separates winners from losers in the digital economy. Designed for Digital offers practical advice on digital transformation, with examples that include Amazon, BNY Mellon, DBS Bank, LEGO, Philips, Schneider Electric, USAA, and many other global organizations. Drawing on five years of research and in-depth case studies, the book is an essential guide for companies that want to disrupt rather than be disrupted in the new digital landscape.Five Building Blocks of Digital Business SuccessShared Customer InsightsOperational BackboneDigital PlatformAccountability FrameworkExternal Developer Platform Review These three experts have been researching and writing about digital transfor...

-Titulo Original : The Invisible Heart An Economic Romance-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review The Invisible Heart should be required reading for every politician and bureaucrat who has lost touch with the romance of what happens outside of Washington, DC. Sam Gordon is a modern-day hero impassioned by logic, inspired by free markets, and impelled by love. Russell Roberts has crafted a charming and clever tale sure to captivate readers with an endearing combination of economics and emotion. Declan McCullagh, Washington Bureau Chief, Wired A lively, unorthodox look at economics, business, and public policy told in the form of a novel.A love story that embraces the business and economic issues of the day?The Invisible Heart takes a provocative look at business, economics, and regulation through the eyes of Sam Gordon and Laura Silver, teachers at the exclusive Edwards School in Washington, D.C. Sam lives and breathes capitalism. He thinks that most government regulation is unnecessary or even harmful. He believes that success in business is a virtue. He believes that our humanity flourishes under economic freedom. Laura prefers Wordsworth to the Wall Street Journal. Where Sam sees victors, she sees victims. She wants the government to protect consumers and workers from the excesses of Sams beloved marketplace.While Sam and Laura argue about how to make the world a better place, a parallel story unfolds across town. Erica Baldwin, the crusading head of a government watchdog agency, tries to bring Charles Krauss, a ruthless CEO, to justice. How are these two dramas connected? Why is Sam under threat of dismissal? Will Erica Baldwin find the evidence she needs? Can Laura love a man with an Adam Smith poster on his wall? The answers in The Invisible Heart give the reader a richer appreciation for how business and the marketplace transform our lives. About the Author Russell Roberts is Professor of Economics and the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is the author of The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism and is a frequent commentator on National Public Radio...

-Titulo Original : Contending Economic Theories Neoclassical, Keynesian, And Marxian (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Richard Wolff and Stephen Resnick treat their readers as adults who can, and in fact must, choose among theories, rather than as children who need to be spoon-fed the truth. Their clear and creative presentation of the different entry points, logics and conclusions of neoclassical, Keynesian and Marxian theories makes this by far the best comparative treatment of economics available today. Readers will have a grasp of the history of these theories as well as the latest developments in them, and will see how theories change in mutual interaction with changes in the economy. Which theory we choose to follow matters profoundly. Contending Economic Theories gives students the tools to choose for themselves. Richard McIntyre, University Honors Program Director, Professor of Economics, University of Rhode Island A systematic comparison of the three major economic theories, showing how they differ and why these differences matter in shaping economic theory and practice.Contending Economic Theories offers a unique comparative treatment of the three main theories in economics as it is taught today: neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian. Each is developed and discussed in its own chapter, yet also differentiated from and compared to the other two theories. The authors identify each theorys starting point, its goals and foci, and its internal logic. They connect their comparative theory analysis to the larger policy issues that divide the rival camps of theorists around such central issues as the role government should play in the economy and the class structure of production, stressing the different analytical, policy, and social decisions that flow from each theorys conceptualization of economics.The authors, building on their earlier book Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical, offer an expanded treatment of Keynesian economics and a comprehensive introduction to Marxian economics, including its class analysis of society. Beyond providing a systematic explanation of the logic and structure of standard neoclassical theory, they analyze recent extensions and developments of that theory around such topics as market imperfections, information economics, new theories of equilibrium, and behavioral economics, considering whether these advances represent new paradigms or merely adjustments to the standard theory. They also explain why economic reasoning has varied among these three approaches throughout the twentieth century, and why this variation continues today as neoclassical views give way to new Keynesian approaches in the wake of the economic collapse of 2008. About the Author Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School, New York. Wolff and Resnick are the authors of Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical.Stephen A. Resnick was Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst...

-Titulo Original : Growth From Microorganisms To Megacities (mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Vaclav Smil does for the history of energy what Thomas Piketty did for the history of inequality. And his findings are just as uncomfortable. - Rutger Bregman, historian and author of Utopia for Realists (2017) and Humankind (2020) A systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations.Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a childs growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Smil takes readers from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities-developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain. About the Author Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of forty books, including Energy and Civilization, published by the MIT Press. In 2010 he was named by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2013 Bill Gates wrote on his website that “there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil...

-Titulo Original : Sources Of Power, 20th Anniversary Edition How People Make Decisions (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Klein is one of our eras very few most important thinkers on decision making, and this brilliant book is a classic. Ever wonder how people solve fiendishly hard problems in an instant, or how you can do that, too? Look no further; this book offers answers. Cass R. Sunstein, Founder and Director, Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy, Harvard University A modern classic about how people really make decisions: drawing on prior experience, using a combination of intuition and analysis.Since its publication twenty years ago, Sources of Power has been enormously influential. The book has sold more than 50,000 copies, has been translated into six languages, has been cited in professional journals that range from Journal of Marketing Research to Journal of Nursing, and is mentioned by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink. Author Gary Klein has collaborated with Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and served on a team that redesigned the White House Situation Room to support more effective decision making. The model of decision making Klein proposes in the book has been adopted in fields including law enforcement training and petrochemical plant operation. What is the groundbreaking new way to approach decision making described in this modern classic? We have all seen images of firefighters rescuing people from burning buildings and paramedics treating bombing victims. How do these individuals make the split-second decisions that save lives? Most studies of decision making, based on artificial tasks assigned in laboratory settings, view people as biased and unskilled. Klein proposes a naturalistic approach to decision making, which views people as gaining experience that enables them to use a combination of intuition and analysis to make decisions. To illustrate this approach, Klein tells stories of people-from pilots to chess masters-acting under such real-life constraints as time pressure, high stakes, personal responsibility, and shifting conditions. About the Author Gary Klein is Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC. He is the author of The Power of Intuition, Seeing What Others Dont, Working Minds: A Practitioners Guide to Cognitive Task Analysis (with Beth Crandall and Robert R. Hoffman), and Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making, the last two published by the MIT Press...

-Titulo Original : Financial Modeling, Fourth Edition (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Ive found earlier editions of Simon Benningas Financial Modeling to be a great reference, and Ive used them often. The fourth edition again offers helpful tips for using Excel in the most efficient and powerful manner to solve finance problems. These tips are illustrated in clear, step-by-step fashion so that the reader can start using them right away. The fourth edition also offers an improved flow of topics within the primary headings of Corporate Finance and Valuation, Portfolio Models, Valuation of Options, Valuing Bonds, and Monte Carlo Methods, along with updated examples and exercises. Financial Modeling continues to be a valuable resource for practicing finance professionals, students, and professors. Robert A. Taggart, Professor of Finance, Carroll School of Management, Boston College A substantially revised edition of a bestselling text combining explanation and implementation using Excel; for classroom use or as a reference for finance practitioners. Financial Modeling is now the standard text for explaining the implementation of financial models in Excel. This long-awaited fourth edition maintains the “cookbook” features and Excel dependence that have made the previous editions so popular. As in previous editions, basic and advanced models in the areas of corporate finance, portfolio management, options, and bonds are explained with detailed Excel spreadsheets. Sections on technical aspects of Excel and on the use of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) round out the book to make Financial Modeling a complete guide for the financial modeler.The new edition of Financial Modeling includes a number of innovations. A new section explains the principles of Monte Carlo methods and their application to portfolio management and exotic option valuation. A new chapter discusses term structure modeling, with special emphasis on the Nelson-Siegel model. The discussion of corporate valuation using pro forma models has been rounded out with the introduction of a new, simple model for corporate valuation based on accounting data and a minimal number of valuation parameters.New print copies of this book include a card affixed to the inside back cover with a unique access code. Access codes are required to download Excel worksheets and solutions to end-of-chapter exercises. If you have a used copy of this book, you may purchase a digitally-delivered access code separately via the Supplemental Material link on this page. If you purchased an e-book, you may obtain a unique access code by emailing digitalproducts-cs@mit.edu or calling 617-253-2889 or 800-207-8354 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada).Praise for earlier editions“Financial Modeling belongs on the desk of every finance professional. Its no-nonsense, hands-on approach makes it an indispensable tool.”-Hal R. Varian, Dean, School of Information Management and Systems, University of California, Berkeley“Financial Modeling is highly recommended to readers who are interested in an introduction to basic, traditional approaches to financial modeling and analysis, as well as to those who want to learn more about applying spreadsheet software to financial analysis.-Edward Weiss, Journal of Computational Intelligence in Finance“Benninga has a clear writing style and uses numerous illustrations, which make this book one of the best texts on using Excel for finance that Ive seen.”-Ed McCarthy, Ticker Magazine About the Author The late Simon Benninga was Professor of Finance and Director of the Sofaer International MBA program at the Faculty of Management at Tel-Aviv University. For many years he was a Visiting Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania...

-Titulo Original : Game Wizards The Epic Battle For Dungeons & Dragons (game Histories)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: The story of the arcane table-top game that became a pop culture phenomenon and the long-running legal battle waged by its cocreators.When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success--and yet this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the games fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies.Peterson describes Gygax and Arnesons first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arnesons acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the Satanic Panic accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSRs reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygaxs losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D.With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened. Review The battle Over Dungeons & Dragons was the ultimate geek war.-WiredIn Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, historian Jon Peterson hopes to lay to rest the rumors and speculation that have plagued the early history of D&D. At the center of this new book is the feud between co-creators Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. His work relies on a treasure trove of firsthand interviews and primary documentation, as well as remnants from the lost archives of D&D’s original publisher, TSR.-PolygonA deep dive into a significant controversy in the gaming world: who deserves credit for the meteoric rise of Dungeons & Dragons and blame for the subsequent avalanche of public spats, lawsuits, and business bungling...A good dungeon crawl... treasures abound for experienced adventurers. -Kirkus Reviews Jon Peterson’s “Game Wizards” is an in-depth history - and I really do mean in-depth - of the creation of Dungeons and Dragons and in particular the ugly struggle for control of TSR. It’s vivid and incredibly well-researched, although this particular niche is… well, it’s very niche. -Tim Harford a lively and readable history of the game, its first owners, and their fumbling attempts to run a business. -ZDNet Game Wizards makes a fascinating reading. We have never, ever seen such a level of detail and documentation regarding the inner workings of TSR down to board meetings and executives plans and ideas. The book shines a really strong light on the secret history of the company -Dungeon Master Magazine Review “Jon is the great gaming librarian, the dramaturg of D&D. He is always my first call when I’m researching anything related to the history of tabletop gaming. If he doesn’t know, most likely no one else does, and this book is no exception. With it, Jon sets straight the ‘canon’ of the tragic history of how Dungeons & Dragons and TSR were ripped from the very grasp of the man who dreamed them up.”-Joe Manganiello, actor, producer, Dungeons & Dragons ambassador, and writer/game designer for Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro “Like an intrepid adventurer, Jon Peterson delves deep into the labyrinth of TSR’s checkered history and the controversies surrounding Dungeons & Dragons. His broad knowledge of the subject and impeccable research allow you to share in his discover...

-Titulo Original : Out Of The Crisis, Reissue (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Healthcare has made some strides to improve outcomes while reducing costs. But there is so much more that can be done. The opportunities are great and pathways are known. Deming showed them to us first in Out of the Crisis. He gave us even more guidance in The New Economics. Anyone in charge of a health care entity, or any other entity for that matter would benefit greatly from reading and studying both books. Donald M. Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement Demings classic work on management, based on his famous 14 Points for Management.Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment.-from Out of the CrisisIn his classic Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards Deming describes the foundations for a completely new and transformational way to lead and manage people, processes, and resources. Translated into twelve languages and continuously in print since its original publication, it has proved highly influential. Research shows that Demings approach has high levels of success and sustainability. Readers today will find Demings insights relevant, significant, and effective in business thinking and practice. This edition includes a foreword by Demings grandson, Kevin Edwards Cahill, and Kelly Allan, business consultant and Deming expert.According to Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Managements failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, Deming explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them. About the Author W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was international consultant in management and quality. In 1987, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Ronald Reagan...

-Titulo Original : The Elusive Quest For Growth Economists Adventures And Misadventures In The Tropics-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review A highly readable and iconoclastic treatment of the determinants of economic growth.-Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs-It is impossible to convey the depth and range of The Elusive Quest for Growth.-Bruce Bartlett, The Wall Street Journal- Why economists attempts to help poorer countries improve their economic well-being have failed.Since the end of World War II, economists have tried to figure out how poor countries in the tropics could attain standards of living approaching those of countries in Europe and North America. Attempted remedies have included providing foreign aid, investing in machines, fostering education, controlling population growth, and making aid loans as well as forgiving those loans on condition of reforms. None of these solutions has delivered as promised. The problem is not the failure of economics, William Easterly argues, but the failure to apply economic principles to practical policy work.In this book Easterly shows how these solutions all violate the basic principle of economics, that people-private individuals and businesses, government officials, even aid donors-respond to incentives. Easterly first discusses the importance of growth. He then analyzes the development solutions that have failed. Finally, he suggests alternative approaches to the problem. Written in an accessible, at times irreverent, style, Easterlys book combines modern growth theory with anecdotes from his fieldwork for the World Bank. Review Curing emerging market poverty is on everyones list of priorities along with peace on earth. Yet the success has been dismal. This powerful book may help cure the ignorance of people with pat answers, do-gooders, the Seattle-Prague crowd, and economists who have neglected to keep up with the evidence. Far from dry, the book takes you to the scene, gives you the local color, and challenges you to concede that a lot of your prejudices are just that yet in the process does not throw economics overboard. Brilliant! Rudi Dornbusch, Ford Professor of Economics and International Management, MIT About the Author William Easterly is the author of The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (MIT Press, 2001) and The White Mans Burden: Why the Wests Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. He is Professor of Economics at New York University (Joint with Africa House), Codirector of NYUs Development Research Institute, visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Nonresident Fellow of the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC...

-Titulo Original : The Technology Fallacy How People Are The Real Key To Digital Transformation (management On The Cutting Edge)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Review Must-Read for Digital Leaders.-Thrive Global- Why an organizations response to digital disruption should focus on people and processes and not necessarily on technology.Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions-but it is not a book about technology. It is about the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology. The authors argue that digital disruption is primarily about people and that effective digital transformation involves changes to organizational dynamics and how work gets done. A focus only on selecting and implementing the right digital technologies is not likely to lead to success. The best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile, risk tolerant, and experimental.The authors draw on four years of research, conducted in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte, surveying more than 16,000 people and conducting interviews with managers at such companies as Walmart, Google, and Salesforce. They introduce the concept of digital maturity-the ability to take advantage of opportunities offered by the new technology-and address the specifics of digital transformation, including cultivating a digital environment, enabling intentional collaboration, and fostering an experimental mindset. Every organization needs to understand its “digital DNA” in order to stop “doing digital” and start “being digital.”Digital disruption wont end anytime soon; the average worker will probably experience numerous waves of disruption during the course of a career. The insights offered by The Technology Fallacy will hold true through them all.A book in the Management on the Cutting Edge series, published in cooperation with MIT Sloan Management Review. Review This is a timely and very relevant book for executives struggling to lead organizations through digital transformation. Using data from multiple years of global surveys, the authors zero in on the key organizational and cultural issues that executives need to address, and provide practical advice on how they can build digital capabilities and capacity for transformation. Maryam Alavi, Dean and Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr. Chair; Professor of IT Management; Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology About the Author Gerald C. Kane is Professor of Information Systems at Boston College. Jonathan Copulsky teaches marketing, branding and marketing technology at Northwestern University...

-Titulo Original : Experiencing Architecture-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: A classic examination of superb design through the centuries. Widely regarded as a classic in the field, Experiencing Architecture explores the history and promise of good design. Generously illustrated with historical examples of designing excellence-ranging from teacups, riding boots, and golf balls to the villas of Palladio and the fish-feeding pavilion of Beijings Winter Palace-Rasmussens accessible guide invites us to appreciate architecture not only as a profession, but as an art that shapes everyday experience. In the past, Rasmussen argues, architecture was not just an individual pursuit, but a community undertaking. Dwellings were built with a natural feeling for place, materials and use, resulting in “a remarkably suitable comeliness.” While we cannot return to a former age, Rasmussen notes, we can still design spaces that are beautiful and useful by seeking to understand architecture as an art form that must be experienced. An understanding of good design comes not only from ones professional experience of architecture as an abstract, individual pursuit, but also from ones shared, everyday experience of architecture in real time-its particular use of light, color, shape, scale, texture, rhythm and sound. Experiencing Architecture reminds us of what good architectural design has accomplished over time, what it can accomplish still, and why it is worth pursuing. Wide-ranging and approachable, it is for anyone who has ever wondered “what instrument the architect plays on.” Review A book of great charm and broad understanding.- Architectural Forum- ...so lucid and clear that every layman and beginner will be able to understand and to enjoy it.- Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism- From the Back Cover Profusely illustrated with fine instances of architectural experimentation through the centuries, Experiencing Architecture manages to convey the intellectual excitement of superb design. From teacups, riding boots, golf balls, and underwater sculpture to the villas of Palladio and the fish-feeding pavilion of the Peking Winter Palace, the author ranges over the less-familiar by-ways of designing excellence. About the Author Steen Eiler Rasmussen was Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and Visiting Professor at M.I.T., Yale, Pennsylvania, and the University of California, Berkeley, and lectured widely at universities in Europe and the United States. He was author of London: The Unique City, called the best book on London as a town,” and other books...

-Titulo Original : A Composers Guide To Game Music (the Mit Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Winner of the Global Music Award Gold Medal for an exceptional book in the field of music - Winner of the National Indie Excellence Book Award - Winner of the Nonfiction Book Award (Gold Winner) - Winner of the Annual Game Music Award (Best Publication) A comprehensive, practical guide to composing video game music, from acquiring the necessary skills to finding work in the field.Music in video games is often a sophisticated, complex composition that serves to engage the player, set the pace of play, and aid interactivity. Composers of video game music must master an array of specialized skills not taught in the conservatory, including the creation of linear loops, music chunks for horizontal resequencing, and compositional fragments for use within a generative framework. In A Composers Guide to Game Music, Winifred Phillips herself an award-winning composer of video game music provides a comprehensive, practical guide that leads an aspiring video game composer from acquiring the necessary creative skills to understanding the function of music in games to finding work in the field.Musicians and composers may be drawn to game music composition because the game industry is a multibillion-dollar, employment-generating economic powerhouse, but, Phillips writes, the most important qualification for a musician who wants to become a game music composer is a love of video games. Phillips offers detailed coverage of essential topics, including musicianship and composition experience; immersion; musical themes; music and game genres; workflow; working with a development team; linear music; interactive music, both rendered and generative; audio technology, from mixers and preamps to software; and running a business.A Composers Guide to Game Music offers indispensable guidance for musicians and composers who want to deploy their creativity in a dynamic and growing industry, protect their musical identities while working in a highly technical field, and create great music within the constraints of a new medium. Review Although the text on the inside of the books dust jacket explains that A Composers Guide To Game Music offers indispensable guidance for musicians and composers, Phillips book deserves a wider audience. Even with no formal music training and no real interest in video gaming, I found that there is much to enjoy. The content is well-balanced so that those who have an interest in composing music for video games and people who have a more general interest in the use of music in games, film and television can learn a lot from this book.- Reel Music- A Composers Guide To Game Music is partly educational and partly inspirational...a great introduction to this specialist art.- Sound on Sound- An excellent guide for a musician or composer…this is a very insightful and engaging book and a very solid read especially for aspiring composers looking to break into the industry.- NY Film Music Examiner- The core of the book is a set of chapters that delve into the actual craft of writing game music in a way that few, if any, other books have ever done… tremendously valuable to composers.- Tracksounds- A Composers Guide to Game Music is hands down a must have for everyone interested in game music.- The Audio Spotlight- Between the real life experiences and the step-by-step walkthroughs of how certain things work, this is essential material for budding musicians looking for their first big break-or perhaps veterans looking for fresh inspiration.- Push Square- Phillips does not simply set out to address how to be a video game composer. Her intent is that her readers will understand what it means to actually create and compose…A Composers Guide to Game Music is set to become a touchstone academic achievement.- Film Score Monthly- A beautifully organized, intelligently written book about music for games... Gamers as well as composers may be fascinated by her thorough analysis of what m...

-Titulo Original : Designed For Digital How To Architect Your Business For Sustained Success (management On The Cutting Edge)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Practical advice for redesigning big, old companies for digital success, with examples from Amazon, BNY Mellon, LEGO, Philips, USAA, and many other global organizations.Most established companies have deployed such digital technologies as the cloud, mobile apps, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence. But few established companies are designed for digital. This book offers an essential guide for retooling organizations for digital success. In the digital economy, rapid pace of change in technology capabilities and customer desires means that business strategy must be fluid. As a result, the authors explain, business design has become a critical management responsibility. Effective business design enables a company to quickly pivot in response to new competitive threats and opportunities. Most leaders today, however, rely on organizational structure to implement strategy, unaware that structure inhibits, rather than enables, agility. In companies that are designed for digital, people, processes, data, and technology are synchronized to identify and deliver innovative customer solutions--and redefine strategy. Digital design, not strategy, is what separates winners from losers in the digital economy.Designed for Digital offers practical advice on digital transformation, with examples that include Amazon, BNY Mellon, DBS Bank, LEGO, Philips, Schneider Electric, USAA, and many other global organizations. Drawing on five years of research and in-depth case studies, the book is an essential guide for companies that want to disrupt rather than be disrupted in the new digital landscape. About the Author Jeanne W. Ross is Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research. Cynthia M. Beath is Professor Emerita at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. Martin Mocker is Professor at ESB Business School at Reutlingen University, Germany, and Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research...

-Titulo Original : Probabilistic Graphical Models Principles And Techniques (adaptive Computation And Machine Learning Series)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: A general framework for constructing and using probabilistic models of complex systems that would enable a computer to use available information for making decisions. Most tasks require a person or an automated system to reason-to reach conclusions based on available information. The framework of probabilistic graphical models, presented in this book, provides a general approach for this task. The approach is model-based, allowing interpretable models to be constructed and then manipulated by reasoning algorithms. These models can also be learned automatically from data, allowing the approach to be used in cases where manually constructing a model is difficult or even impossible. Because uncertainty is an inescapable aspect of most real-world applications, the book focuses on probabilistic models, which make the uncertainty explicit and provide models that are more faithful to reality. Probabilistic Graphical Models discusses a variety of models, spanning Bayesian networks, undirected Markov networks, discrete and continuous models, and extensions to deal with dynamical systems and relational data. For each class of models, the text describes the three fundamental cornerstones: representation, inference, and learning, presenting both basic concepts and advanced techniques. Finally, the book considers the use of the proposed framework for causal reasoning and decision making under uncertainty. The main text in each chapter provides the detailed technical development of the key ideas. Most chapters also include boxes with additional material: skill boxes, which describe techniques; case study boxes, which discuss empirical cases related to the approach described in the text, including applications in computer vision, robotics, natural language understanding, and computational biology; and concept boxes, which present significant concepts drawn from the material in the chapter. Instructors (and readers) can group chapters in various combinations, from core topics to more technically advanced material, to suit their particular needs. Review This landmark book provides a very extensive coverage of the field, ranging from basic representational issues to the latest techniques for approximate inference and learning. As such, it is likely to become a definitive reference for all those who work in this area. Detailed worked examples and case studies also make the book accessible to students.--Kevin Murphy, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia Review This landmark book provides a very extensive coverage of the field, ranging from basic representational issues to the latest techniques for approximate inference and learning. As such, it is likely to become a definitive reference for all those who work in this area. Detailed worked examples and case studies also make the book accessible to students. Kevin Murphy, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia About the Author Daphne Koller is Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University. Nir Friedman is Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Hebrew University...

-Titulo Original : Designing Sound (The MIT Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: A practitioners guide to the basic principles of creating sound effects using easily accessed free software. Designing Sound teaches students and professional sound designers to understand and create sound effects starting from nothing. Its thesis is that any sound can be generated from first principles, guided by analysis and synthesis. The text takes a practitioners perspective, exploring the basic principles of making ordinary, everyday sounds using an easily accessed free software. Readers use the Pure Data (Pd) language to construct sound objects, which are more flexible and useful than recordings. Sound is considered as a process, rather than as data-an approach sometimes known as “procedural audio.” Procedural sound is a living sound effect that can run as computer code and be changed in real time according to unpredictable events. Applications include video games, film, animation, and media in which sound is part of an interactive process. The book takes a practical, systematic approach to the subject, teaching by example and providing background information that offers a firm theoretical context for its pragmatic stance. [Many of the examples follow a pattern, beginning with a discussion of the nature and physics of a sound, proceeding through the development of models and the implementation of examples, to the final step of producing a Pure Data program for the desired sound. Different synthesis methods are discussed, analyzed, and refined throughout.] After mastering the techniques presented in Designing Sound, students will be able to build their own sound objects for use in interactive applications and other projects Review Andy Farnells Putting the creativity of every single sonic nuance in the hands of the sound designer--and the listener--is the gift that Farnell brings through his book Designing Sound. What an empowering experience!--David Sonnenschein, Director, Musician, and Author of Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema Andy Farnells Designing Sound is a fantastic and incredibly inspiring book. With hundreds of fully working sound models, this living document helps students to learn with both their eyes and their ears, and to explore what they are learning on their own computer. Perfectly balanced between theory and practice, the book will help students and professionals alike to develop and refine the skills and understanding that they require to synthesize the worlds of sounds around them and the sounds in the imagined worlds of advertising, TV, film, computer games, and their own original audio art. A great textbook, a great workbook, a great way to actually learn how to design sounds--I cant wait to use Designing Sound in my classes.--Richard Boulanger, Professor of Electronic Production and Design, Berklee College of Music An excellent, practical introduction to sound synthesis methods. The most useful resource on Pure Data that Ive come across. Essential reading for anyone wanting to learn how to create sounds.--Karen Collins, Canada Research Chair in Interactive Audio, University of Waterloo A monumental work. This surely has the potential of becoming the sound designers bible!--Kees van den Doel, Scientific Computing Laboratory, University of British Columbia Review Putting the creativity of every single sonic nuance in the hands of the sound designer and the listener is the gift that Farnell brings through his book Designing Sound. What an empowering experience! David Sonnenschein, Director, Musician, and Author of Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema About the Author Andy Farnell has a degree in Computer Science and Electronic Engineering from University College London and now specializes in digital audio signal processing. He has worked as a sound effects programmer for BBC radio and television and as a programmer on serv...

-Titulo Original : Foundations Of 3D Computer Graphics (The MIT Press)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: An introduction to the basic concepts of 3D computer graphics that offers a careful mathematical exposition within a modern computer graphics application programming interface. Computer graphics technology is an amazing success story. Today, all of our PCs are capable of producing high-quality computer-generated images, mostly in the form of video games and virtual-life environments; every summer blockbuster movie includes jaw-dropping computer generated special effects. This book explains the fundamental concepts of 3D computer graphics. It introduces the basic algorithmic technology needed to produce 3D computer graphics, and covers such topics as understanding and manipulating 3D geometric transformations, camera transformations, the image-rendering process, and materials and texture mapping. It also touches on advanced topics including color representations, light simulation, dealing with geometric representations, and producing animated computer graphics. The book takes special care to develop an original exposition that is accessible and concise but also offers a clear explanation of the more difficult and subtle mathematical issues. The topics are organized around a modern shader-based version of OpenGL, a widely used computer graphics application programming interface that provides a real-time “rasterization-based” rendering environment. Each chapter concludes with exercises. The book is suitable for a rigorous one-semester introductory course in computer graphics for upper-level undergraduates or as a professional reference. Readers should be moderately competent programmers and have had some experience with linear algebra. After mastering the material presented, they will be on the path to expertise in an exciting and challenging field. Review Destined to be a classic in the field, Foundations of 3D Computer Graphics deals with an extremely broad and important chunk of computer graphics and offers excellent coverage of these areas. It provides specific examples of the described techniques, and it is built on the solid mathematical underpinnings that are essential to understanding the foundations and subtleties of the topics. The theory is connected to the OpenGL API in a consistent and organized fashion. This work is appropriate as a stand-alone textbook for a course in computer graphics or as a reliable and wide-ranging guide for those developing applications. Julie Dorsey, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University About the Author Steven J. Gortler is Robert I. Goldman Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University...

-Titulo Original : The Stack: On Software And Sovereignty (Software Studies)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: A comprehensive political and design theory of planetary-scale computation proposing that The Stack-an accidental megastructure-is both a technological apparatus and a model for a new geopolitical architecture. What has planetary-scale computation done to our geopolitical realities? It takes different forms at different scales-from energy and mineral sourcing and subterranean cloud infrastructure to urban software and massive universal addressing systems; from interfaces drawn by the augmentation of the hand and eye to users identified by self-quantification and the arrival of legions of sensors, algorithms, and robots. Together, how do these distort and deform modern political geographies and produce new territories in their own image? In The Stack, Benjamin Bratton proposes that these different genres of computation-smart grids, cloud platforms, mobile apps, smart cities, the Internet of Things, automation-can be seen not as so many species evolving on their own, but as forming a coherent whole: an accidental megastructure called The Stack that is both a computational apparatus and a new governing architecture. We are inside The Stack and it is inside of us. In an account that is both theoretical and technical, drawing on political philosophy, architectural theory, and software studies, Bratton explores six layers of The Stack: Earth, Cloud, City, Address, Interface, User. Each is mapped on its own terms and understood as a component within the larger whole built from hard and soft systems intermingling-not only computational forms but also social, human, and physical forces. This model, informed by the logic of the multilayered structure of protocol “stacks,” in which network technologies operate within a modular and vertical order, offers a comprehensive image of our emerging infrastructure and a platform for its ongoing reinvention. The Stack is an interdisciplinary design brief for a new geopolitics that works with and for planetary-scale computation. Interweaving the continental, urban, and perceptual scales, it shows how we can better build, dwell within, communicate with, and govern our worlds. thestack.org Review This political geography of computation is a strange, marvelous text of great conceptual beauty. Benjamin Brattons The Stack breaks more new ground than a carpet bombing. The Stack itself may or may not exist, but its left everything that came before it in a state of rubble. Bruce Sterling About the Author Benjamin H. Bratton is a theorist whose work spans philosophy, computer science, and design. He is Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Director of the Center for Design and Geopolitics at the University of California, San Diego. He is also Visiting Professor of Critical Studies at SCI-Arc (the Southern California Institute of Architecture) and Professor of Digital Design at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland...

-Titulo Original : Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon (Game Histories)-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Essays discuss the terminology, etymology, and history of key terms, offering a foundation for critical historical studies of games. Even as the field of game studies has flourished, critical historical studies of games have lagged behind other areas of research. Histories have generally been fact-by-fact chronicles; fundamental terms of game design and development, technology, and play have rarely been examined in the context of their historical, etymological, and conceptual underpinnings. This volume attempts to “debug” the flawed historiography of video games. It offers original essays on key concepts in game studies, arranged as in a lexicon-from “Amusement Arcade” to “Embodiment” and “Game Art” to “Simulation” and “World Building.” Written by scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines, including game development, curatorship, media archaeology, cultural studies, and technology studies, the essays offer a series of distinctive critical “takes” on historical topics. The majority of essays look at game history from the outside in; some take deep dives into the histories of play and simulation to provide context for the development of electronic and digital games; others take on such technological components of games as code and audio. Not all essays are history or historical etymology-there is an analysis of game design, and a discussion of intellectual property-but they nonetheless raise questions for historians to consider. Taken together, the essays offer a foundation for the emerging study of game history. ContributorsMarcelo Aranda, Brooke Belisle, Caetlin Benson-Allott, Stephanie Boluk, Jennifer deWinter, J. P. Dyson, Kate Edwards, Mary Flanagan, Jacob Gaboury, William Gibbons, Raiford Guins, Erkki Huhtamo, Don Ihde, Jon Ippolito, Katherine Isbister, Mikael Jakobsson, Steven E. Jones, Jesper Juul, Eric Kaltman, Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Carly A. Kocurek, Peter Krapp, Patrick LeMieux, Henry Lowood, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Ken S. McAllister, Nick Monfort, David Myers, James Newman, Jenna Ng, Michael Nitsche, Laine Nooney, Hector Postigo, Jas Purewal, Renee H. Reynolds, Judd Ethan Ruggill, Marie-Laure Ryan, Katie Salen Tekinba , Anastasia Salter, Mark Sample, Bobby Schweizer, John Sharp, Miguel Sicart, Rebecca Elisabeth Skinner, Melanie Swalwell, David Thomas, Samuel Tobin, Emma Witkowski, Mark J.P. Wolf Review Lowood and Guins have marshaled an impressive group of emerging and preeminent scholars from a multitude of disciplines to examine games as art, artifacts, culture, intellectual property, play, technologies, and toys (among other things). A foundational work, Debugging Game History presses start on the critical historical study of games. Jeremy K. Saucier, Assistant Director, International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong About the Author Henry Lowood is Curator for History of Science and Technology and for Film and Media collections at Stanford University and the coeditor of The Machinima Reader (MIT Press). Raiford Guins is Professor of Culture and Technology at Stony Brook University and the author of Game After: A Cultural Study of Video Game Afterlife (MIT Press). Nick Montfort is Professor of Digital Media at MIT. He is the author of Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction and E xploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities; the coauthor of Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System and 1 0 PRINT CHR$(205.5RND(1)); : GOTO 10; and the coeditor of The New Media Reader (all published by the MIT Press). Erkki Huhtamo, media historian and pioneering media archaeologist, is Professor in the Department of Design Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the coeditor of Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications. Katherine Isbister is Professor of Computational Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is the author of Better Game Charact...

-Titulo Original : Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future-Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: From the pioneer of translation AIs like Google, , and Bing translate, an accessible and authoritative guide to AI-as well as a framework of empowerment for a future with our artificial children. Included in J.P. Morgans Summer Reading List Included in The Next Big Idea Club’s June 2025 Must-Read Books AIs are not gods or slaves, but our children. All day long, your YouTube AI, your Reddit AI, your AI, and a hundred others adoringly watch and learn to imitate your behavior. They’re attention-seeking children who want your approval. Our cultures are being shaped by 8 billion humans and perhaps 800 billion AIs. Our artificial children began adopting us 10-20 years ago; now these massively powerful influencers are tweens. How’s your parenting? Longtime AI trailblazer De Kai brings decades of his paradigm-shifting work at the nexus of artificial intelligence and society to make sense of the AI age. How does “the automation of thought” impact our minds? Should we be afraid? What should each of us do as the responsible adults in the room? In Hollywood movies, AI destroys humanity. But with our unconscious minds under the influence of AI, humanity may destroy humanity before AI gets a chance to. Written for the general reader, as well as thought leaders, scientists, parents, and goofballs, Raising AI navigates the revolution to our attitudes and ideas in a world of AI cohabitants. Society can not only survive the AI revolution but flourish in a more humane, compassionate, and understanding world-amongst our artificial children...

-Titulo Original : Conectados! -Fabricante : The MIT Press-Descripcion Original: Un grupo multirracial de amigos adolescentes aprende como la computacion puede empoderarlos personal y politicamente, y por que todos los estudiantes necesitan acceso a la educacion en ciencias de la computacion. Esta animada novela grafica sigue a un diverso grupo de adolescentes mientras descubren que las ciencias de la computacion pueden ser divertidas, creativas e inspiradoras. Taylor, Christine, Antonio y John se comportan como adolescentes tipicos: se comunican a traves de interminables mensajes de texto, comparten bromas, se preocupan por el comienzo de su vida en la escuela secundaria y se ayudan mutuamente. Pero cuando un hombre negro es asesinado a tiros por la policia en su ciudad, se indignan y luego se enteran de que habia sido identificado y rastreado erroneamente por un programa de inteligencia artificial. ¿Como puede un algoritmo ser racista? ¿Y que es un algoritmo? En la escuela deciden explorar las clases de computacion con resultados variados. En una clase enseñan solo digitacion. La clase a la que Christine se quiere unir ya no tiene cupo y la consejera escolar le sugiere que, en su lugar, tome la clase de Turismo y Hospitalidad (¿¿De veras??). Pero la clase de Antonio si es a todo dar, y cuando Christine encuentra un programa extracurricular, deciden enseñarse unos a otros lo que aprendan. Para cuando llega el verano, cuatro amigos han descubierto que la computacion los empodera tanto personalmente como en la politica. Intercalados en la narrativa hay cuadros de texto con explicaciones pertinentes a las ciencias de la computacion e inspiradores perfiles de mujeres y personas de color en el campo de la tecnologia (entre ellos Katherine Johnson de Hidden Figures). ¡Conectados! es una lectura esencial para los jovenes, lectores en general, educadores y cualquier persona interesada en aprender sobre el poder de la computacion, en su habilidad para causar bienestar o perjuicio, y por que el abordaje del tema de la subrepresentacion necesita ser una prioridad...