technology and civilization

A graphic novel that explores the history of human beings.

A graphic novel that explores the history of human beings.

In the second "Sapiens" volume, Yuval Noah Harari tells the story of how we took over the world; how an unlikely marriage between a god and a bureaucrat created the first empires; and how war, famine, disease, and inequality became a part of the human condition. The origins of modern farming are introduced through Elizabethan tragedy, the changing fortunes of domesticated plants and animals are tracked in the columns of the Daily Business News, and the story of urbanization is told as a travel brochure offering discount journeys to ancient Babylon and China.

Examines and compares the different technologies and applications of science in ancient civilizations, including of Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica, covering developments in mathematics, construction, astronomy, medicine, food processing, writing, irrigation, agriculture, and more.

"An electrifying vision of how we can safeguard AI's future for the public goodArtificial intelligence may be the most transformative technology of our time. As AI's power grows, so does the need to figure out what-and who-this technology is really for. AI Needs You argues that it is critical for society to take the lead in answering this urgent question and ensuring that AI fulfills its promise.Verity Harding draws inspiring lessons from the histories of three twentieth-century tech revolutions-the space race, in vitro fertilization, and the internet-to empower each of us to join the conversation about AI and its possible futures. Sharing her perspective as a leading insider in technology and politics, she rejects the dominant narrative, which often likens AI's advent to that of the atomic bomb. History points the way to an achievable future in which democratically determined values guide AI to be peaceful in its intent; to embrace limitations; serve purpose, not profit; and to be firmly rooted in societal trust. AI Needs You gives us hope that we, the people, can imbue AI with a deep intentionality that reflects our best values, ideals, and interests, and that serves the public good. AI will permeate our lives in unforeseeable ways, but it is clear that the shape of AI's future-and of our own-cannot be left only to those building it. It is up to us to guide this technology away from our worst fears toward a future that we can trust and believe in"--.

"A stark and urgent warning on the unprecedented risks that a wave of fast-developing technologies poses to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance-from a cofounder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind. Imagine a world in which anyone with a $20,000 desktop DNA synthesizer could develop and unleash a deadly virus. Imagine an undetectable deepfake video of a U.S. president making a racial slur racing across the internet on the eve of an election. Imagine terrorists or paramilitaries stockpiling autonomous weapons designed to make their own decisions about when to engage. As cofounder of DeepMind, the pioneering AI company now owned by Google, Mustafa Suleyman has witnessed firsthand just how rapidly our technology is advancing-and how flawed our approaches to grappling with these changes are. The coming decades, he argues, will be defined by a burst of innovation, an inevitable wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies across fields like synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. Driven forward by immense strategic and financial incentives, these breakthroughs will solve huge challenges and create vast wealth-but upheaval, too, on a once unimaginable scale. Will humankind make it through the narrow corridor between dystopia and catastrophe? In The Coming Wave, Suleyman shows how this new technological super-wave fits a historical pattern of innovation and proliferation, while departing from it in key ways: namely, the speed of change, the breadth of risks, and the wave's potential to democratize access to dangerous, world-altering power. The cumulative risks threaten the very nation state, humanity's centuries' old "grand bargain" of living under centralized authority in exchange for security. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into catastrophe, humanity is left in an existential bind, with techno-authoritarianism on one side and even more catastrophic outcomes, like societal collapse, on the other. We are about to cross a critical threshold in the history of our species. In this groundbreaking book from the ultimate AI insider, Suleyman firmly establishes "the containment problem"-or the challenge of maintaining human control over dangerous technologies-as the essential dilemma of our age, showing that radical steps must be taken if we are to live alongside technology of once unimaginable power"--.

"The ancient Greeks lived thousands of years ago. However, their discoveries about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) aren't out-of-date or old-fashioned. In fact, some of the ideas and inventions they dreamed up so long ago are useful to the modern world. In every field, including geometry, astronomy, zoology, and medicine, the ancient Greeks were constantly looking at their world and making important discoveries--building blocks for science and technology in the modern age. This . . . book helps readers understand and better appreciate the . . . STEM discoveries the ancient Greeks have handed down through the centuries"--Provided by publisher.

Looks at how the world will be affected by artificial intelligence.

"Modern technology has enhanced our lives in numerous ways--we can now communicate in real time with friends and colleagues around the world, and do our shopping and banking without leaving home. But, as technology crowds further into our personal lives, is it doing us more harm than good? Are we becoming anxious, depressed and socially isolated, unaware of the manipulating influence of algorithms designed to keep us engaged and to filter the picture of the world we see? Has our online gaming or gambling unwittingly developed into a disturbing addiction? This . . . volume assesses the impact of our increased screen time and daily interactions with personal technology on our individual choices, our relationships, and our mental and physical health, and suggests how best to mitigate any adverse effects"--OCLC.

"An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible--a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check--because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable--the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world's rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020--and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future"--.