Jathan Sadowski, "Too Smart" (MIT Press, 2020)
The ubiquity of technology that collects massive volumes of all kinds of data lends itself to one overarching question: “What?” As in what is the purpose(s) of this collection? What are the benefits? ...
29 Huhti 202046min
Wade Roush, "Extraterrestrials" (MIT Press, 2020)
Everything we know about how planets form and how life arises suggests that human civilization on Earth should not be unique. We ought to see abundant evidence of extraterrestrial activity―but we don'...
27 Huhti 202054min
Alex Berke, "Beautiful Symmetry: A Coloring Book about Math" (MIT Press, 2020)
Alex Berke's Beautiful Symmetry (MIT Press, 2020) is both a fascinating book and a concept -- it's like no other book I’ve ever read. It's a coloring book about math, inviting us to engage with mathem...
22 Huhti 202050min
Matt Cook, "Sleight of Mind: 75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy" (MIT Press, 2020)
Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician's purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat. Yet paradox doesn't require tangibles, like rabbi...
30 Maalis 202051min
Adrian Currie, "Rock, Bone, and Ruin: An Optimist’s Guide to the Historical Sciences" (MIT Press, 2018)
The “historical sciences”—geology, paleontology, and archaeology—have made extraordinary progress in advancing our understanding of the deep past. How has this been possible, given that the evidence t...
27 Maalis 202054min
Joseph Reagle, "Hacking Life: Systematized Living and its Discontents" (MIT Press, 2019)
Life hackers track and analyze the food they eat, the hours they sleep, the money they spend, and how they're feeling on any given day. They share tips on the most efficient ways to tie shoelaces and ...
26 Maalis 20201h 16min
Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein, "Data Feminism" (MIT Press, 2020)
The increased datafication our interactions and permeation of data science into more aspects of our lives requires analysis of the systems of power surrounding and undergirding data. The impacts of th...
3 Maalis 202034min
David J. Gunkel, "Robot Rights" (MIT Press, 2018)
We are in the midst of a robot invasion, as devices of different configurations and capabilities slowly but surely come to take up increasingly important positions in everyday social reality―self-driv...
27 Helmi 20201h 28min
