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Nature and Science April 2019
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Figuring
by Maria Popova
What it is: a lyrical exploration of the connections between great minds throughout history.
Why you might like it: Starting with Johannes Kepler and concluding with Rachel Carson, Figuring's discursive narrative follows an idiosyncratic, erudite path that blends science and art.
About the author: Maria Popova is the creator of the popular and expansively multidisciplinary Brain Pickings blog.
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| Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction by Judith GriselWhat it's about: a behavioral neuroscientist with a history of substance abuse examines addiction from a scientific and personal perspective.
Media buzz: Author Judith Grisel appeared on NPR's Fresh Air to discuss both the book and her experiences with addiction.
Food for thought: Grisel notes, "The opposite of addiction, I have learned, is not sobriety but choice." |
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Cultured : how traditional foods feed our microbiome
by Katherine Harmon Courage
The science journalist author of Octopus! draws on ancient food traditions and the latest research on healthy gut maintenance to explain the role of the microbiome and how to adapt a diet to promote optimal microbiome balance
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| No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, The Deadliest Animal... by Dane HuckelbridgeWhat it's about: the notorious Champawat Tiger, which killed more than 400 people in Nepal in the early 1900s -- and the intrepid hunter that tracked her down and killed her.
Read it for: a suspenseful account of the hunt, evocative descriptions of the tiger's territory, and reflections on environmental issues.
For fans of: John Vaillant's The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. |
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Focus on: Artificial Intelligence
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| Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era by James BarratWhat it is: a sobering look at the existential threats humanity may face once ANI (artificial narrow intelligence) begets AGI (artificial general intelligence), which in turn will beget ASI (artificial superintelligence).
What does that even mean? Once machines reach human levels of intelligence, it's only a matter of time before they attain superintelligence -- and our inferior human brains can't even fathom how that will play out.
Try this next: scholar and AI expert Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence, which offers a philosophical view of artificial intelligence. |
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| Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max TegmarkWhat it is: an MIT professor's largely optimistic take on the future of AI -- and the ultimate fate of humans.
What sets it apart: In conversational style, Life 3.0 presents an overview of the field of artificial intelligence, while addressing some of the social and ethical issues that accompany it.
Supplementary materials: flowcharts, diagrams, and explanatory sidebars. |
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Machines of loving grace : the quest for common ground between humans and robots
by John Markoff
A Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times science writer travels across the country to evaluate the present state of the artificial intelligence and the intelligence-augmentation debate, delving into the science-fiction worlds that are fast becoming a reality and talks to the insiders who are shaping the future.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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