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The axemaker's gift : a double-edged history of human culture / by Burke, James Lee,1936-(CARDINAL)744111; Ornstein, Robert E.(Robert Evan),1942-(CARDINAL)708800;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-337) and index.
Subjects: Culture; Technology and civilization.; Technology; Technology;
Available copies: 3 / Total copies: 3
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Underbug : an obsessive tale of termites and technology / by Margonelli, Lisa,author.(CARDINAL)480680; Shahan, Thomas J.(Thomas Joseph),1857-1932,illustrator.(CARDINAL)809702;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-287) and index.Part I -- A termite safari -- Part II -- Riddles in the dirt -- An inconvenient insect -- Into the mound -- Complexity is the essence -- Because they are so sweet -- A black box with six legs -- Waiting for Carnot -- Part III -- The second termite safari -- Life in the firehose -- Jazz in the metagenome -- Burning very slowly -- Restless streams -- Part IV -- Crossing the abstraction barrier -- Influential individuals -- The robot apocalypse -- Part V -- Darwin's termites -- The soul of the soil -- The math of fairy circles -- The soul of the cell -- Empathy and the drone -- White ants -- Part VI -- Them and us."Are we more like termites than we ever imagined? In Underbug, the award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli introduces us to the enigmatic creatures that collectively outweigh human beings ten to one and consume $40 billion worth of valuable stuff annually. Over the course of a decade-long obsession with one of nature's most influential but least understood bugs, Margonelli pokes around termite mounds and high-tech research facilities, closely watching biologists, roboticists, and geneticists. What begins as a natural history of the termite becomes a personal exploration of the unnatural future we're building, with darker observations on power, technology, historical trauma, and the limits of human cognition. Her globe-trotting journey veers into uncharted territory, from evolutionary theory to Edwardian science literature to the military-industrial complex. Whether in Namibia or Cambridge, Arizona or Australia, Margonelli turns up astounding facts and raises provocative questions. Is a termite an individual or a unit of a superorganism? Can we harness the termite's properties to change the world? If we build termite-like swarming robots, will they inevitably destroy us? Is it possible to think without having a mind? Underbug burrows into these questions and many others--unearthing disquieting answers about the world's most underrated insect and what it means to be human."--Dust jacket.
Subjects: Termites.; Termites; Technology and civilization.;
Available copies: 5 / Total copies: 5
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Lesser known monsters of the 21st century : stories / by Fu, Kim,author.(CARDINAL)352582;
"In the twelve unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible, Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: a group of children steal a haunted doll; a runaway bride encounters a sea monster; a vendor sells toy boxes that seemingly control the passage of time; an insomniac is seduced by the Sandman. These visions of modern life wrestle with themes of death and technological consequence, guilt and sexuality, and unmask the contradictions that exist within all of us. Mesmerizing, electric, and wholly original, Kim Fu's Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century blurs the boundaries of the real and fantastic, offering intricate and surprising insights into human nature"--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Magic realist fiction.; Short stories.; Monsters; Technology and civilization; Death;
Available copies: 12 / Total copies: 14
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The challenge of our times; contemporary trends in science and human affairs as seen by twenty professors at the University of Wisconsin / by Daniels, Farrington,1889-1972.(CARDINAL)145414; Smith, T. Marshall(Thomas Marshall),1883-;
Subjects: Twentieth century.; Technology and civilization.; World politics.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
On-line resources: Suggest title for digitization;
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Return of the primitive : the anti-industrial revolution / by Rand, Ayn.(CARDINAL)132900; Rand, Ayn.New Left.(CARDINAL)657045; Schwartz, Peter,1949-(CARDINAL)650844;
Includes bibliographical references.
Subjects: New Left; Technology and civilization.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The acceleration of history. by Piel, Gerard.(CARDINAL)191896;
Subjects: Civilization, Modern; Science and civilization.; Technology and civilization.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
On-line resources: Suggest title for digitization;
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The evolution of everything : how new ideas emerge / by Ridley, Matt,author.(CARDINAL)424649;
"The New York Times bestselling author of The Rational Optimist and Genome returns with a fascinating, brilliant argument for evolution that definitively dispels a dangerous, widespread myth: that we can command and control our world.The Evolution of Everything is about bottom-up order and its enemy, the top-down twitch--the endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution, for direction rather than emergence. Drawing on anecdotes from science, economics, history, politics and philosophy, Matt Ridley's wide-ranging, highly opinionated opus demolishes conventional assumptions that major scientific and social imperatives are dictated by those on high, whether in government, business, academia, or morality. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. Patterns emerge, trends evolve. Just as skeins of geese form Vs in the sky without meaning to, and termites build mud cathedrals without architects, so brains take shape without brain-makers, learning can happen without teaching and morality changes without a plan. Although we neglect, defy and ignore them, bottom-up trends shape the world. The growth of technology, the sanitation-driven health revolution, the quadrupling of farm yields so that more land can be released for nature--these were largely emergent phenomena, as were the Internet, the mobile phone revolution, and the rise of Asia. Ridley demolishes the arguments for design and effectively makes the case for evolution in the universe, morality, genes, the economy, culture, technology, the mind, personality, population, education, history, government, God, money, and the future. As compelling as it is controversial, authoritative as it is ambitious, Ridley's stunning perspective will revolutionize the way we think about our world and how it works"--"A book that makes the case for evolution over design and skewers a widespread but dangerous myth: that we have ultimate control over our world"--Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-341) and index.Prologue: the general theory of evolution -- The evolution of the universe -- The evolution of morality -- The evolution of life -- The evolution of genes -- The evolution of culture -- The evolution of economy -- The evolution of technology -- The evolution of the mind -- The evolution of personality -- The evolution of education -- The evolution of population -- The evolution of leadership -- The evolution of government -- The evolution of religion -- The evolution of money -- The evolution of the internet -- Epilogue: the evolution of the future.
Subjects: Evolution.; Diffusion of innovations.; Technology and civilization.; Civilization, Modern.;
Available copies: 5 / Total copies: 7
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Your utopia / by Chung, Bora,1976-author.(CARDINAL)857587; Hur, Anton,translator.(CARDINAL)680298;
"Bora Chung's inimitable blend of horror, absurdity, and dark humor reaches its peak in these tales of loss and discovery, dystopia and idealism, death and immortality. In a thrilling translation by the acclaimed Anton Hur, readers will experience a variety of possible fates for humanity, from total demise via a disease whose only symptom is casual cannibalism to a world in which even dreams can be monitored and used to convict people of crimes. In "The Center for Immortality Research," a low-level employee runs herself ragged planning a fancy gala for donors only to be blamed for the chaos that ensues during the event in front of the mysterious celebrity benefactors hoping to live forever. In "A Song for Sleep," an AI elevator in an apartment complex develops a tender, one-sided love for an elderly resident. "Seed" traverses the final frontier of capitalism's destruction of the planet--but nature always creeps back to life. If you haven't yet experienced the fruits of Chung's singular imagination, Your Utopia is waiting."--
Subjects: Science fiction.; Horror fiction.; Short stories.; Capitalism; Technology and civilization; Immortalism;
Available copies: 8 / Total copies: 9
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The axemaker's gift : technology's capture and control of our minds and culture / by Burke, James,1936-(CARDINAL)729825;
Bibliography: pages 313-337.
Subjects: Technology; Technology; Culture; Technology and civilization.;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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The medium is the massage : an inventory of effects / by McLuhan, Marshall,1911-1980.(CARDINAL)155752; Agel, Jerome.(CARDINAL)130215; Fiore, Quentin.(CARDINAL)122048;
Subjects: Communication; Mass media; Technology and civilization.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 41 to 50 of 1,203 | « previous |