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Don't Look Left by Atef Abu Saif, 2024

A harrowing and indispensable first-hand account of the experience of the first 85 days of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, from a prominent Palestinian writer.

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'In the morning I read the news. The news is about us. But it's designed for people reading it far, far away, who couldn't possibly imagine they could ever know anyone involved. It's for people who read the news to comfort themselves, to tell themselves: it's still far, far away. I read the news for different reasons: I read it to know I'm not dead.'
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    The Life of Lines by Tom Ingold, 2015

    To live, every being must put out a line, and in life these lines tangle with one another. This book is a study of the life of lines. Following on from Tim Ingold's groundbreaking work Lines: A Brief History , it offers a wholly original series of meditations on life, ground, weather, walking, imagination and what it means to be human.

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    In the first part, Ingold argues that a world of life is woven from knots, and not built from blocks as commonly thought. He shows how the principle of knotting underwrites both the way things join with one another, in walls, buildings and bodies, and the composition of the ground and the knowledge we find there. In the second part, Ingold argues that to study living lines, we must also study the weather. To complement a linealogy that asks what is common to walking, weaving, observing, singing, storytelling and writing, he develops a meteorology that seeks the common denominator of breath, time, mood, sound, memory, colour and the sky. This denominator is the atmosphere. In the third part, Ingold carries the line into the domain of human life. He shows that for life to continue, the things we do must be framed within the lives we undergo. In continually answering to one another, these lives enact a principle of correspondence that is fundamentally social. This compelling volume brings our thinking about the material world refreshingly back to life. While anchored in anthropology, the book ranges widely over an interdisciplinary terrain that includes philosophy, geography, sociology, art and architecture.
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    The Science of Music How Technology Has Shaped the Evolution of an Artform by Andrew May, 2023

    Music is shaped by the science of sound. How can music - an artform - have anything to do with science? Yet there are myriad ways in which the two are intertwined, from the basics of music theory and the design of instruments to hi-fi systems and how the brain processes music.

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    Science writer Andrew May traces the surprising connections between science and music, from the theory of sound waves to the way musicians use mathematical algorithms to create music. The most obvious impact of science on music can be seen in the way electronic technology has revolutionised how we create, record and listen to music. Technology has also provided new insights into the effects that different music has on the brain, to the extent that some algorithms can now predict our reactions with uncanny accuracy, which raises a worrying question: how long will it be before AI can create music on a par with humans?
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    The Power of Purpose: Find Meaning, Live Longer, Better (Third Edition) by Richard J. Leider, 2015

    Purpose is fundamental and gives life meaning. It gives us the will not just to live but to live long and well. In this new edition of his bestselling classic, legendary personal coach Richard Leider offers brand - new tools and techniques for unlocking it.

    (There's 4th edition coming out in 2025)

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    The third edition has been completely revised and updated. In addition to new stories, examples, and resources, it features four new chapters. ''Purpose across the Ages'' looks at how purpose can evolve during our lives. ''The 24 - Hour Purpose Retreat'' includes seven mind - opening questions to help you unlock your purpose. ''The Purpose Checkup'' offers a new tool for periodically evaluating the health of your purpose. And in ''Can Science Explain Purpose?'' we learn what researchers are discovering about how an increased sense of purpose can improve our health, healing, happiness, longevity, and productivity. Purpose is an active expression of our values and our compassion for others - it makes us want to get up in the morning and add value to the world. Leider details a graceful, practical, and ultimately spiritual process for making it central to your life. This revitalized guide will help you integrate it into everything you do.
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    Superconvergence How the Genetics, Biotech, and AI Revolutions Will Transform Our Lives, Work and World by Jamie Metzl, 2024

    In Superconvergence, leading futurist and OneShared.World founder Jamie Metzl explores how artificial intelligence, genome sequencing, gene editing, and other revolutionary technologies are transforming our lives, world, and future.

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    These accelerating and increasingly interconnected technologies have the potential to improve our health, feed billions of people, supercharge our economies, store essential information for millions of years, and save our planet, but they can also―if we are not careful―do immeasurable harm. The challenge we face is that while our ability to engineer the world around us is advancing exponentially, our processes for understanding the scope, scale, and implications of these changes, and for managing our...
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    The Sixth Element: How Carbon Shapes Our World by Theodore P. Snow & Don Brownlee, 2024

    A cosmic perspective on carbon—its importance in the universe and our lives.

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    When we think of carbon, we might first think of a simple element near the top of the periodic table: symbol C, atomic number 6. Alternatively, we might think of something more tangible—a sooty piece of coal or a sparkling diamond, both made of carbon. Or, as Earth’s temperature continues to rise alarmingly, we might think of the role carbon plays in climate change. Yet carbon’s story begins long ago, far from earthly concerns. In The Sixth Element , astronomers Theodore Snow and Don Brownlee tell the story of carbon from a cosmic perspective—how it was born in the fiery furnaces of stars, what special chemical and physical properties it has, and how it forms the chemical backbone of the planets and all life as we know it. Foundational to every part of our lives, from our bodies to the food, tools, and atmosphere that sustain our existence, carbon is arguably humankind’s most important element. Snow and Brownlee offer readers the ideal introduction to the starry element that made our world possible and shapes our lives. They first discuss carbon’s origin, discovery, and unique ability to bond with other elements and form countless molecules. Next, they reveal carbon’s essential role in the chemical evolution of the universe and the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, and life, and then, more generally, its technological uses and its influence on Earth’s climate. Bringing readers on a historical, scientific, and cross-disciplinary journey...
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    Reversing Alzheimer's The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health by Dr. Heather Sandison, 2024

    A revolutionary and much-needed exploration of Alzheimer's and how patients and their caregivers can take back control from this insidious disease.

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    A significant portion of our population worries about the grip of dementia as we age. With over 6.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's, the urgency for a solution has never been greater. Dr. Heather Sandison is at the forefront of dementia care and research. The founder of Solcere Health Clinic, San Diego's premier brain optimization clinic, and Marama, the first residential memory care facility to have the goal of returning cognitively declined residents to independent living, Dr. Sandison knows better than most what Alzheimer's does to people—to their brains, their bodies, their families, and their lives.
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    From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation by Michael Kenney, 2008

    From Pablo to Osama is a comparative study of Colombian drug-smuggling enterprises, terrorist networks (including al Qaeda), and the law enforcement agencies that seek to dismantle them.

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    Drawing on a wealth of research materials, including interviews with former drug traffickers and other hard-to-reach informants, Michael Kenney explores how drug traffickers, terrorists, and government officials gather, analyze, and apply knowledge and experience. The analysis reveals that the resilience of the Colombian drug trade and Islamist extremism in wars on drugs and terrorism stems partly from the ability of illicit enterprises to change their activities in response to practical experience and technical information, store this knowledge in practices and procedures, and select and retain routines that produce satisfactory results. Traffickers and terrorists “learn,” building skills, improving practices, and becoming increasingly difficult for state authorities to eliminate. The book concludes by exploring theoretical and policy implications, suggesting that success in wars on drugs and terrorism depends less on fighting illicit networks with government intelligence and more on conquering competency traps―traps that compel policy makers to exploit militarized enforcement strategies repeatedly without questioning whether these programs are capable of producing the intended results.
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    Invisible Rulers The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality by Renee DiResta, 2024

    An essential and riveting analysis of the radical shift in the dynamics of power and influence, revealing how the machinery that powered the Big Lie works to create bespoke realities revolutionizing politics, culture, and society.

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    Renée DiResta’s powerful, original investigation into the way power and influence have been profoundly transformed reveals how a virtual rumor mill of niche propagandists increasingly shapes public opinion. While propagandists position themselves as trustworthy Davids, their reach, influence, and economics make them classic Goliaths—invisible rulers who create bespoke realities to revolutionize politics, culture, and society. Their work is driven by a simple maxim: if you make it trend, you make it true. Reveals the machinery and dynamics of the interplay between influencers, algorithms, and online crowds.
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    How the World Ran Out of Everything by Peter S. Goodman, 2024

    How does the wealthiest country on earth run out of protective gear in the middle of a public health catastrophe? How do its parents find themselves unable to locate crucially needed infant formula? How do its largest companies spend billions of dollars making cars that no one can drive for a lack of chips?

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    By the New York Times's Global Economics Correspondent, an extraordinary journey to understand the worldwide supply chain—exposing both the fascinating pathways of manufacturing and transportation that bring products to your doorstep, and the ruthless business logic that has left local communities at the mercy of a complex and fragile network for their basic necessities. "A tale that will change how you look at the world." —Mark Leibovich
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    A True History of the United States: Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism by Daniel A. Sjursen, 2021

    In vivid, engaging prose, Sjursen challenges readers to think critically and to apply common sense to their understanding our nation's past, and present.

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    Written by a combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, A True History of the United States grew out of a course that Daniel A. Sjursen taught to cadets at West Point, his alma mater. With chapter titles such as "Patriots or Insurgents?" and "The Decade That Roared and Wept", A True History is accurate with respect to the facts and intellectually honest in its presentation and analysis. "Sjursen exposes the dominant historical narrative as at best myth, and at times a lie . . . He brings out from the shadows those who struggled, often at the cost of their own lives, for equality and justice."
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    It's a Jungle in There: How Competition and Cooperation in the Brain Shape the Mind by David A. Rosenbaum, 2014

    Competition within your brain does as much to shape who you are as the physical and figurative competition you face externally.

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    Distinguished professor and cognitive psychologist David Rosenbaum takes this metaphor of surviving in the wild and applies it to the competitive arena within the brain. He argues that the overarching theory of biology, Darwin's theory, should be the overarching theory of cognitive psychology, the science of mental functioning. He explores this new and intriguing idea by showing how neural elements compete and cooperate in a kind of inner jungle, where only the fittest survive. Competition within your brain does as much to shape who you are as the physical and figurative competition you face externally. Just as the jungle night seethes with noisy creatures beckoning their mates, issuing their warnings, and settling their arguments, you might have trouble falling asleep at night because the thoughts in your head are fighting for their chance at survival. Rosenbaum's pursuit of this bold idea explains why we are shaped into who we are, for better or worse, because we are the hosts of inner battlefields. Written in a light-hearted tone and with reference to hypothetical neural "creatures" making their way in a tough environment, Rosenbaum makes cognitive psychology and his theory easy to understand and exciting to ponder. Rather than rely on the series of disconnected phenomena and collection of curiosities that often constitute cognitive psychology, It's a Jungle in There provides a fascinating way to place all cognitive phenomena under one flourishing tree.
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    AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable by Roman V. Yampolskiy, 2024

    Written by one of the founders of the field of AI safety, this book addresses some of the most fascinating questions facing humanity, including the nature of intelligence, consciousness, values, and knowledge.

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    Moving from a broad introduction to the core problems, such as the unpredictability of AI outcomes or the difficulty in explaining AI decisions, this book arrives at more complex questions of ownership and control, conducting an in-depth analysis of potential hazards and unintentional consequences. The book then concludes with philosophical and existential considerations, probing into questions of AI personhood, consciousness, and the distinction between human intelligence and artificial general intelligence (AGI). Bridging the gap between technical intricacies and philosophical musings, AI: Unpredictable, Unexplainable, Uncontrollable appeals to both AI experts and enthusiasts looking for a comprehensive understanding of the field, while also being written for a general audience with minimal technical jargon.
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    Scenes of Attention: Essays on Mind, Time, and the Senses by D. Graham Burnett, 2023

    This book investigates attention from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, history, anthropology, art history, and comparative literature. Each chapter begins with a concrete scene whose protagonists are trying―and often failing―to attend.

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    Authors examine key moments in the history of the study of attention; pose attention as a philosophical problem; explore the links between attention, culture, and technology; and consider the significance of attention for conceptualizations of human subjectivity. Readers encounter nineteenth-century experiments in boredom, ornithologists conveying sound through field notations, wearable attention-enhancing prosthetics, students using online learning platforms, and inquiries into attention as a cognitive state and moral virtue. Amid mounting concern about digital mediation of experience, the rise of “surveillance capitalism,” and the commodification of attention, Scenes of Attention deepens the thinking that is needed to protect the freedom of attention and the forms of life that make it possible.
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    Food Adulteration and Food Fraud by Jonathan Rees, 2020

    In this book, Jonathan Rees examines the complex causes and surprising effects of adulteration and fraud across the global food chain.

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    What do we really know about the food we eat? A firestorm of recent food-fraud cases, from the US honey-laundering scandal to the forty-year-old frozen “zombie” meat smuggled into China, to horse-meat episodes in the United Kingdom, suggests fraudulent and intentional acts of food adulteration are on the rise. While often harmless, some incidents have resulted in serious public health consequences. At the heart of these dubious practices are everyone from large food processors to small-time criminals, while many consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about this malfeasance. Covering comestibles of all kinds from around the globe, Rees describes the different types of contamination, the role and effectiveness of government regulation, and our willingness to ignore deception if the groceries we purchase are cheap or convenient. Pithy, punchy, and cogent, Food Adulteration and Food Fraud offers important insight into this vital problem of human consumption.
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