Böcker utgivna av MIT Press Ltd

"Pioneering technologist and AI ethicist sounds the alarm on AI as a threat to humanity if left unregulated. De Kai suggests that we all need to act as parents and to train our AI to avoid this future"--

What it means to design at a time when, for many people, the future seems to have become an impossibility.When reality fails us, what can design do? Question design’s relationship to reality, as Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby do, in this exhilarating, yet thoughtful journey to the edges of science, philosophy, and literature to find new ways of thinking about the possible—and about the meaning, function, and place of design in that speculative world of “not here, not now.” A conceptual travelogue of sorts, Not Here, Not Now brings together words, images, and objects that capture, in design form, some of the ideas encountered along the way. Itself a design experiment, the book explores ways to bring these ideas into conversation with objects through imagined archives, libraries, glossaries, taxonomies, lists, tales, and essays.The design responses in Not Here, Not Now—to a stone raft, e.g., or a vegetable lamb, swatches of imaginary colors, a pocket universe in the home, objects undergoing space-time collapse—are, like the most compelling utopias, impossible by design, aiming instead to nourish the creative, intellectual, and imaginative ground from which new possibilities, still unknown, might begin to emerge.

A groundbreaking approach to currency and community that may allow us to seize carbon from the atmosphere—and offer a new tool in the fight against climate change.Through the ages, currencies have been based on all manner of objects—from tobacco leaves to salt to gold to collateralized debt obligations. The only thing that this odd assortment of objects shares is the communal belief that these objects could harness and direct economic growth—that they were, in a sense, fertile. In The First and Last Bank, Gustav Peebles and Benjamin Luzzatto propose that atmospheric carbon could be seen anew as fertile in this same sense. In other words, carbon, rather than loom as waste in our skies, could instead be “drawn down” to the earth by millions of currency users and the communally owned banks they rely on, where it could serve as a foundation of new biological life.Seeing currency as a powerful tool for collective action, the authors argue that dovetailing developments in digital currencies and the biosequestration of carbon have, together, made a new and radical intervention in the climate battle possible: a nonproprietary currency backed by sequestered carbon. This new currency would be managed via Wikipedia-style open-source policies that privilege sustainability and equity over endless growth and pollution. Because it is backed by sequestered carbon, the use of the currency would draw gaseous carbon out of the atmosphere and push it back into the ground, following the exact same trajectory as gold during the era of the international gold standard. While it is no silver bullet, such a currency would act as a necessary complement to wide-scale mitigation efforts, at the same time engaging ordinary citizens in the fight to reduce the dangerous levels of carbon in our atmosphere.

A moving, patient-centered portrait of the social importance of speech, from a medical expert known for his humanizing explorations of health.Language comes to us through culture, environment, and family. Words embed over time, as we use our minds to comprehend them and then our mouths to say, mean, and own them. Without the ability to speak, or when talking becomes difficult, we face a challenge like few others, forced to reconnect with a world that assumes its communicators are eloquent vocally. In Hard Talk, Jonathan Cole takes a necessary look at the privilege of speech so we can better accommodate those for whom it presents problems. Cole creates space for people with a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, vocal cord palsy, cleft palate, Parkinson’s, and post-stroke aphasia, to describe in their own words what the experience of difficult speech is like. No struggle is the same. Each develops along its own axis of factors—cognitive, social, and physical—that lead to unique vulnerabilities as well as extraordinary moments of adaptation and resilience. One person finds social chatter becoming more problematic than work speech. Another grows alarmed as changes in speech begin to constrain inner thoughts. Some lose the ability to find or make words though they retain awareness, while others lose self-awareness but maintain fluent speech bereft of meaning. One even loses the ability to speak with family while continuing to interact at work.Hard Talk reacquaints us with the social power of speech while affirming the humane value of listening. Cole also reflects on the neuroscientific advances we’ve made in understanding barriers to speech and how we might reduce them.

What teeth can tell us about human evolution, development, and behavior.Our teeth have intriguing stories to tell. These sophisticated time machines record growth, diet, and evolutionary history as clearly as tree rings map a redwood's lifespan. Each day of childhood is etched into tooth crowns and roots—capturing birth, nursing history, environmental clues, and illnesses. The study of ancient, fossilized teeth sheds light on how our ancestors grew up, how we evolved, and how prehistoric cultural transitions continue to affect humans today. In The Tales Teeth Tell, biological anthropologist Tanya Smith offers an engaging and surprising look at what teeth tell us about the evolution of primates—including our own uniqueness.Humans' impressive set of varied teeth provides a multipurpose toolkit honed by the diet choices of our mammalian ancestors. Fossil teeth, highly resilient because of their substantial mineral content, are all that is left of some long-extinct species. Smith explains how researchers employ painstaking techniques to coax microscopic secrets from these enigmatic remains. Counting tiny daily lines provides a way to estimate age that is more powerful than any other forensic technique. Dental plaque—so carefully removed by dental hygienists today—records our ancestors' behavior and health in the form of fossilized food particles and bacteria, including their DNA. Smith also traces the grisly origins of dentistry, reveals that the urge to pick one's teeth is not unique to humans, and illuminates the age-old pursuit of “dental art.” The book is generously illustrated with original photographs, many in color.

How and why the US government gave up its control of ICANN, the global coordinator of internet names, numbers, and protocols—and what the geopolitical consequences were.In 1997 the U.S. decided that the Internet should be governed not by governments, but by something called the “global Internet community.” In Declaring Independence in Cyberspace,Milton Mueller tells the story of why it took 20 years of organizational and geopolitical stuggle to make that happen.ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), created in 1998, was the US government’s answer to the question of who would control the Internet registries—a key part of the Internet infrastructure supporting domain names, network numbers, IP addresses, and other protocol parameters. Originally, ICANN was a bold institutional innovation based on a vision of Internet governance that was thoroughly globalized and independent of nation-states. Declaring Independence in Cyberspace explains where this vision came from, the problems posed by its implementation, and the organization’s near-self destruction in its first five years. The U.S. government refused to let go of ICANN for 15 years, triggering geopolitical conflicts over sovereignty and U.S. power. Mueller details why, what prompted its change of heart, and how the problem of making ICANN accountable to its community in the absence of U.S. government control sparked a political battle in Washington. His account gets to the very heart of a pressing question with profound global implications: Is state sovereignty the immutable foundation of global governance, or do new technological capabilities change the model?

A media history of how the UK and US governments have surveilled citizens by intercepting their private communications.It may not be Big Brother (yet), but the state is watching you—watching all of us, in fact, systematically intercepting our private communications and putting them to work in its own interests. In Interception, a media genealogy of the surveillance state at its most intimate, Bernard Keenan investigates the emergence of this practice as a governmental power, and the secret role it has played in the development of communication systems and law. His book exposes the complex, largely obscure history of a covert and fundamental connection between the secret powers of the state and the means by which we communicate our everyday lives. Keenan analyzes key moments in this history, from the formation of the postal system to cable networks, satellites, and the internet, with particular attention to the role that media play in determining the political and legal conditions of the power of interception in governmental affairs. While chiefly focused on Britain, the Empire, and the post-1945 UK-USA signal intelligence alliance, the book’s analysis has international reach across networks and jurisdictions, connecting Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and post-2013 developments, to a longer media history, foregrounding the technical dimensions of an inherently secret practice and well-guarded political power. Ultimately, Keenan’s work reveals how law and information systems have been interpolated over time, linking communication, governmental power, law, and information science—often to dark, anti-democratic ends.

A compelling proposal for new international law and institutions to address the planetary crisis that improves biodiversity protection, supports Indigenous peoples, and prevents catastrophic climate change.In The Ecology Politic, Anthony Burke and Stefanie Fishel contend that the roots of our planetary crisis lie in the modern state: in its destructive entanglement with capitalism and its colonial legacies of extraction and oppression. This, in turn, has shaped global governance and international law, as they continue to fail to curb global heating, deforestation, and extinction. In a far-reaching critique of the foundational political theory of the modern state—the Body-Politic—the authors insist that nothing less than a radically different model of the polity—an Ecology Politic—is needed if we are to escape this impasse.Burke and Fishel argue that the international rule of law enacts a sovereign ban of nature that appropriates nonhuman lives for profit and use while denying them political and legal standing. We fail because we rely on the very institutions, worldviews, and systems that generated the crisis to solve it. The authors reconsider political power, agency, scale, and democracy in the Anthropocene and assert a biospheric ethic that values the entangled planetary structure of matter, energy, and life. Further, they argue for more-than-human beings to be represented in an ecological democracy that flows across borders. In short, they imagine a polity whose fundamental purpose is to protect planetary ecosystems and nurture interlocking systems of social and ecological justice.

"On the role of women in Islamic culture, told largely through the films of Iranian filmmaker Kiarostami and the broader philosophical concept of the cloud and veiling in Persian culture"--

A highly anticipated and richly illustrated anthology of essays on the work of artist Tacita Dean.This volume explores the deeply-influential work of Tacita Dean, recognized increasingly as one of the key artists of our times. Emerging initially as part of the generation of the so-called “Young British Artists” in the 1990s, Dean (b. 1965) has reinvented the manner in which artists use analogue mediums such as drawing, photography, and film, prompting major questions in her work around the issues of time, memory, history, and chance events. Dean’s films embrace long takes that achieve a near-photographic stillness; they have been dedicated to obsolescent objects or stranded buildings, failed quests, as well as extraordinary figures—usually other artists and writers—nearing the end of their lives. But Dean’s contemplative films have been rigorously reinvented as a form over the course of her career, and linked to a widening series of projects involving writing, chalk drawings, found photographs, dance, and theater. This anthology explores the artist’s expansive practice, gathering essays and interviews by authors from an array of disciplines including art criticism, philosophy, literature, and film. Spanning 25 years of the artist’s career, the volume includes writings by George Baker, Douglas Crimp, Brian Dillon, Briony Fer, Hal Foster, Mark Godfrey, Louise Hornby, Rosalind Krauss, Elisabeth Lebovici, Jean-Luc Nancy, Tamara Trodd, Marina Warner, Peter Wollen, and the artist herself.

"Traces anti-env. from the 19th-c frontier to the 1950s suburb, from the shuttered shops of Main St to Trump Country and presents a political theory of anti-env. grounded in class struggle"--

"An attempt to solve the problems of algorithmic injustice by bringing Rawl's theory of fairness to the domain of AI ethics"--

"More than a practice of war, military targeting has become a self-propelling worldview driven by dominance, violence, and power. This book helps us understand its prevalence and alarming ubiquity"--

An ecological epistemology arguing that epistemic agents, communities, and environments adapt to one another to generate evolving understandings of the world.Mainstream epistemology focuses on static states. In Epistemic Ecology, Catherine Elgin adopts a dynamic stance, viewing epistemic subjects as agents rather than onlookers. She examines how, individually and collectively, we construct our epistemic practices, policies, principles, and procedures to overcome our limitations, exploit our assets, and correct our mistakes. Taking an ecological approach, she shows how human organisms and their social and natural environments mutually adjust to accommodate each other. Elgin’s ecological model of understanding reveals that epistemic agents and communities are interdependent and are more deeply implicated in the individuation and characterization of the phenomena they access than standard spectatorial approaches to epistemology assume. Elgin maintains that a commitment’s epistemic acceptability turns in large part on its providing resources for further epistemic advancement. Epistemic progress is an iterative process that corrects, refines, and extends current understanding. Epistemic subjects are agents, not mere observers, and the positions they accept are springboards for improvement rather than windows into the world.  Responsible disagreement is an asset because it has the potential to identify and correct shortfalls in the views that are currently accepted.  Rather than treat epistemic success—knowledge, understanding, wisdom—as fixed and final, Elgin views success as a stable platform on which to build. How, she asks, should we leverage our findings to move beyond them? Her holistic conception of understanding is integral to education.

"An attempt to construct a broad, interdisciplinary framework for thinking about ethical issues, and acting on them, from a leading researcher in the field"--

"A reissue of a classic work in philosophical biology written by Francisco Varela, with introductory material by Evan Thompson and Ezequiel Di Paolo"--

An ingenious reconstruction—and revealing analysis through “visual archaeology”—of avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich's lost arkhitektons.Among the Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich’s most intriguing works, the arkhitektons are also the most enigmatic, as these quasi-architectural sculptures made between 1920 and 1930 were almost entirely lost, along with many of the accompanying drawings, or planits. In The Additional Element in Architecture, Pedro Ignacio Alonso and Paulina Bitraìn bring Malevich’s elusive arkhitektons to startling, three-dimensional life and show how these objects form a comprehensive universe that embodies the artist’s Suprematism—his belief in the supremacy of pure artistic sensation in abstraction. The book features digital reconstructions of 15 arkhitektons and planits that are lost in their original physical form. Using a method they call visual archaeology, Alonso and Bitraìn explore how these structures figure in Malevich’s investigations of spatial form. In the authors’ view, the arkhitektons and planits constitute a series of changing configurations, or “states,” rather than fixed or closed monolithic sculptures that can be reckoned with individually. They are provisional assemblages of prismatic volumes linked only by gravity and equilibrium—ephemeral arrangements that digital modeling exposes and opens to new analysis. Along with its illustrations and analysis of the ingeniously recreated arkhitektons and planits, Alonso and Bitrán provide historiographical notes on the different appearances of these models, as well as a critical consideration of how Malevich’s own conception of the “additional element” might place these beguiling figures within a wider history of modern architecture.

An action-oriented and radically hopeful field guide to the underground, patient-led revolution for better health and health care.Anyone who has fallen off the conveyer belt of mainstream health care and into the shadowy corners of illness knows what a dark place it is to land. Where is the infrastructure, the information, the guidance? What should you do next? In Rebel Health, Susannah Fox draws on twenty years of tracking the expert networks of patients, survivors, and caregivers who have come of age between the cracks of the health care system to offer a way forward. Covering everything from diabetes to ALS to Moebius Syndrome to chronic disease management, Fox taps into the wisdom of these individuals, learns their ways, and fuels the rebel alliance that is building up our collective capacity for better health.Rebel Health shows how the next wave of health innovation will come from the front lines of this patient-led revolution. Fox identifies and describes four archetypes of this revolution: seekers, networkers, solvers, and champions. Each chapter includes tips, such as picking a proxy to help you navigate the relevant online communities, or learning how to pitch new ideas to investors and partners or new treatments to the FDA. On a personal level, anyone who wants to navigate the health care maze faster will want to become a health rebel or recruit some to their team. On a systemic level, it is a competitive advantage for businesses, governments, and organizations to understand and leverage the power of connection among patients, survivors, and caregivers. Proactive, optimistic, and innovative, Rebel Health is a guiding light for anyone who wishes to join the health rebel alliance and become the hero of their own story.

An exciting new title in the vein of Hidden Figures, which tells the inspiring stories of long-overlooked women physicists and astronomers who discovered the fundamental rules of the universe and reshaped the rules of society.Women physicists and astronomers from around the world have transformed science and society, but the critical roles they played in their fields are not always well-sung. Her Space, Her Time, authored by award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, brings together the stories of these remarkable women to celebrate their indelible scientific contributions. In each chapter of the book, Ghose explores a scientific topic and explains how the women featured in that chapter revolutionized that area of physics and astronomy. In doing so, she also addresses particular aspects of women’s experiences in physics and astronomy: in the chapter on time, for instance, we learn of Henrietta Leavitt and Margaret Burbidge, who helped discover the big bang and the cosmic calendar; in the chapter on space exploration, we learn of Anigaduwagi (Cherokee) aerospace scientist Mary Golda Ross, who helped make the Moon landings possible; and in the chapter on subatomic particles, we learn of Marietta Blau, Hertha Wambacher, and Bibha Chowdhuri, who contributed to the discovery of the building blocks of the universe, and, in doing so, played a crucial role in determining who gets to do physics today.Engaging, accessible, and timely, Her Space, Her Time is a collective story of scientific innovation, inspirational leadership, and overcoming invisibility that will leave a lasting impression on any reader curious about the rule-breakers and trendsetters who illuminated our understanding of the universe.Some of the featured women scientists in the book•   Williamina Fleming•   Annie Jump Cannon•   Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin•   Antonia Maury•   Henrietta Leavitt•   Margaret Burbidge•   Mary Golda Ross•   Dilhan Eryurt•   Claudia Alexander•   Joyce Neighbors•   Navajo women of Shiprock •   Harriet Brooks•   Marie Curie•   Lise Meitner•   Marietta Blau•   Hertha Wambacher•   Bibha Chowdhuri•   Wu Chien-Shiung•   Women of the Manhattan Project•   Vera Rubin

How scientists saved humanity from the deadliest infectious diseases—and what we can do to prepare ourselves for future epidemics.After the unprecedented events of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be hard to imagine a time not so long ago when deadly diseases were a routine part of life. It is harder still to fathom that the best medical thinking at that time blamed these diseases on noxious miasmas, bodily humors, and divine dyspepsia. This all began to change on a day in April 1676, when a little-known Dutch merchant described bacteria for the first time. Beginning on that day in Delft and ending on the day in 1978 when the smallpox virus claimed its last known victim, Ending Epidemics explains how we came to understand and prevent many of our worst infectious diseases—and double average life expectancy.Ending Epidemics tells the story behind “the mortality revolution,” the dramatic transformation not just in our longevity, but in the character of childhood, family life, and human society. Richard Conniff recounts the moments of inspiration and innovation, decades of dogged persistence, and, of course, periods of terrible suffering that stir individuals, institutions, and governments to act in the name of public health. Stars of medical science feature in this drama, but lesser-known figures also play a critical role. And while the history of germ theory is central to this story, Ending Epidemics also describes the importance of everything from sanitation improvements and the discovery of antibiotics to the development of the microscope and the syringe—technologies we now take for granted.

An adventurous collection that examines how the design field has consistently failed to attract and support Black professionals—and how to create an anti-racist, pro-Black design industry instead.An Anthology of Blackness examines the intersection of Black identity and practice, probing why the design field has failed to attract Black professionals, how Eurocentric hegemony impacts Black professionals, and how Black designers can create an anti-racist design industry. Contributing authors and creators demonstrate how to develop a pro-Black design practice of inclusivity, including Black representation in designed media, anti-racist pedagogy, and radical self-care. Through autoethnography, lived experience, scholarship, and applied research, these contributors share proven methods for creating an anti-racist and inclusive design practice. The contributions in An Anthology of Blackness include essays, opinion pieces, case studies, and visual narratives. Many contributors write from an intersectional perspective on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and ability. Each section of the book expands on community-driven concerns about the state of the design industry, design pedagogy, and design activism. Ultimately, this articulated intersection of Black identity and Black design practice reveals the power of resistance, community, and solidarity—and the hope for a more equitable future. With a foreword written by design luminary Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, An Anthology of Blackness is a pioneering contribution to the literature of social justice.ContributorsKprecia Ambers, Jazmine Beatty, Anne H. Berry, John Brown VI, Nichole Burroughs, Antionette D. Carroll, Jillian M. Harris, Asher Kolieboi, Terrence Moline, Tracey L. Moore, Lesley-Ann Noel, Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Jules Porter, Stacey Robinson, Melanie Walby, Jacinda N. Walker, Kelly Walters, Jennifer White-Johnson, Maya Aduba Williams, S. Alfonso Williams

How our false narratives about post-racism and meritocracy have been used to condone egregious economic outcomes—and what we can do to fix the system.The Myth That Made Us exposes how false narratives—of a supposedly post-racist nation, of the self-made man, of the primacy of profit- and shareholder value-maximizing for businesses, and of minimal government interference—have been used to excuse gross inequities and to shape and sustain the US economic system that delivers them. Jeff Fuhrer argues that systemic racism continues to produce vastly disparate outcomes and that our brand of capitalism favors doing little to reduce disparities. Evidence from other developed capitalist economies shows it doesn’t have to be that way. We broke this (mean-spirited) economy. We can fix it.Rather than merely laying blame at the feet of both conservatives and liberals for aiding and abetting an unjust system, Fuhrer charts a way forward. He supplements evidence from data with insights from community voices and outlines a system that provides more equal opportunity to accumulate both human and financial capital. His key areas of focus include universal access to high-quality early childhood education; more effective use of our community college system as a pathway to stable employment; restructuring key aspects of the low-wage workplace; providing affordable housing and transit links; supporting people of color by serving as mentors, coaches, and allies; and implementing Baby Bonds and Reparations programs to address the accumulated loss of wealth among Black people due to the legacy of enslavement and institutional discrimination. Fuhrer emphasizes embracing humility, research-based approaches, and community involvement as ways to improve economic opportunity.

"A collection of Hal Foster's writing as a critic, since 1993"--

"A senior scholar's comprehensive analysis of the dramatic increase in and impact of cultural expression-enormous art exhibitions and pop culture-in relation to expanded capitalist energy and investment, i.e., the so-called East Asian Miracle"--

"This book is about a distinctly new approach to using games in classrooms, one that focuses on the way in which they can act as multimodal texts that engage players - specifically adolescent students - in learning around universal themes and rich literary experiences"--

Un grupo multirracial de amigos adolescentes aprende cómo la computación puede empoderarlos personal y políticamente, y por qué todos los estudiantes necesitan acceso a la educación en ciencias de la computación.Esta animada novela gráfica sigue a un diverso grupo de adolescentes mientras descubren que las ciencias de la computación pueden ser divertidas, creativas e inspiradoras. Taylor, Christine, Antonio y John se comportan como adolescentes típicos: se comunican a través de interminables mensajes de texto, comparten bromas, se preocupan por el comienzo de su vida en la escuela secundaria y se ayudan mutuamente. Pero cuando un hombre negro es asesinado a tiros por la policía en su ciudad, se indignan y luego se enteran de que había sido identificado y rastreado erróneamente por un programa de inteligencia artificial. ¿Cómo puede un algoritmo ser racista? ¿Y qué es un algoritmo?En la escuela deciden explorar las clases de computación con resultados variados. En una clase enseñan solo digitación. La clase a la que Christine se quiere unir ya no tiene cupo y la consejera escolar le sugiere que, en su lugar, tome la clase de Turismo y Hospitalidad (¿¿De veras??). Pero la clase de Antonio sí es a todo dar, y cuando Christine encuentra un programa extracurricular, deciden enseñarse unos a otros lo que aprendan. Para cuando llega el verano, cuatro amigos han descubierto que la computación los empodera tanto personalmente como en la política. Intercalados en la narrativa hay cuadros de texto con explicaciones pertinentes a las ciencias de la computación e inspiradores perfiles de mujeres y personas de color en el campo de la tecnología (entre ellos Katherine Johnson de Hidden Figures). ¡Conectados! es una lectura esencial para los jóvenes, lectores en general, educadores y cualquier persona interesada en aprender sobre el poder de la computación, en su habilidad para causar bienestar o perjuicio, y por qué el abordaje del tema de la subrepresentación necesita ser una prioridad. De las autoras de ¡Conectados!Hoy en día, la tecnología impacta todos los aspectos de nuestras vidas. Escribimos ¡Conectados! para llenar un vacío en las aulas de ciencias de la computación y programas extraescolares con una herramienta educacional accesible que permite la discusión de importantes temas de igualdad y ética en tecnología, al mismo tiempo que motiva a la juventud a aprender ciencias de la computación, sin importar la carrera que elijan. Nuestra esperanza es que esta novela gráfica sirva como una forma atractiva de aprender sobre las investigaciones actuales en informática y educación computacional.También esperamos que este libro sirva para motivar conversaciones e introducir un gran rango de temas que los lectores puedan escoger, discutir y aprender juntos. Este libro será publicado con una guía gratuita para maestros disponible en www.poweron.com, con preguntas para la discusión como: ¿De qué formas la computación está creando bienestar y haciendo daño al mismo tiempo?¿Los robots pueden ser racistas?¿Por qué es importante resaltar la subrepresentación de los estudiantes de color y del sexo femenino?¿Qué se puede hacer para revertir esta subrepresentación?¿Tienes alguna idea para una innovación tecnológica que pueda ayudar a resolver algún problema social que te interesa?¿Cómo podemos ayudar para que todos los estudiantes reciban la educación que merecen y necesitan?