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The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI

How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It's Too Late

by Cory Doctorow ...

As we enter the age of AI, we are in danger of being reduced to what Cory Doctorow dubs the 'reverse centaur'. With that term he conjures a human being conscripted as the assistant to a dominant machine. It could be a driver made to deliver nonstop, all day long; a warehouse worker packing shelves without bathroom or food breaks; or a programmer reviewing impossible amounts of AI-produced code.Don ... Read more

$16.99 AUD

As we enter the age of AI, we are in danger of being reduced to what Cory Doctorow dubs the 'reverse centaur'. With that term he conjures a human being conscripted as the assistant to a dominant machine. It could be a driver made to deliver nonstop, all day long; a warehouse worker packing shelves without bathroom or food breaks; or a programmer reviewing impossible amounts of AI-produced code.Don
... Read more
Rabid

A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus

by Bill Wasik, Monica Murphy ...

From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind's oldest and most fearsome foes.The most fatal virus known to science, rabies—a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans—kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the ... Read more

$10.44 AUD

From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind's oldest and most fearsome foes.The most fatal virus known to science, rabies—a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans—kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the
... Read more
Build

An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making - The New York Times bestseller

by Tony Fadell ...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.An unorthodox guide to making things worth making, from 'the father of the iPod and iPhone' and the creator of Nest.Everyone deserves a mentor.For every career crisis, every fork in the road, you need someone to talk to. Someone who's been there before, who knows exactly how wobbly and conflicted you feel, who can give it to you straight:Here's how to think about ... Read more

Was $21.99 AUD Now $18.99 AUD

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.An unorthodox guide to making things worth making, from 'the father of the iPod and iPhone' and the creator of Nest.Everyone deserves a mentor.For every career crisis, every fork in the road, you need someone to talk to. Someone who's been there before, who knows exactly how wobbly and conflicted you feel, who can give it to you straight:Here's how to think about
... Read more
Spectacles of Waste

by Warwick Anderson ...

The modern bathroom is an ingenious compilation of locked doors, smooth porcelain, 4-ply tissue and antibacterial hand soap, but despite this miracle of indoor plumbing, we still can’t bear the thought that anyone else should know that our bodies produce waste. Why must we live by the rules of this intense scatological embarrassment?In Spectacles of Waste, leading historian of medicine Warwick ... Read more

$24.99 AUD

The modern bathroom is an ingenious compilation of locked doors, smooth porcelain, 4-ply tissue and antibacterial hand soap, but despite this miracle of indoor plumbing, we still can’t bear the thought that anyone else should know that our bodies produce waste. Why must we live by the rules of this intense scatological embarrassment?In Spectacles of Waste, leading historian of medicine Warwick
... Read more
A City on Mars

Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?

by Dr. Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith ...

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2024ONE OF THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW SCIENTIST BEST SCIENCE BOOKS OF THE YEAR**GUARDIAN BEST SCIENCE AND NATURE BOOK 2024A HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST RELATED WORK 2024THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERTHE #2 MOST GIFTED BOOK IN THE SOLAR SYSTEMFrom the bestselling authors of Soonish, a brilliant and hilarious off-world investigation into space ... Read more

$18.99 AUD

WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2024ONE OF THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW SCIENTIST BEST SCIENCE BOOKS OF THE YEAR**GUARDIAN BEST SCIENCE AND NATURE BOOK 2024A HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST RELATED WORK 2024THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERTHE #2 MOST GIFTED BOOK IN THE SOLAR SYSTEMFrom the bestselling authors of Soonish, a brilliant and hilarious off-world investigation into space
... Read more
Unlatched

The Evolution of Breastfeeding and the Making of a Controversy

by Jennifer Grayson ...

From an environmental journalist and mother of two young breast-fed children comes this searing, insightful look into the breastfeeding controversy and puts “common knowledge” about this most natural of processes to the test by breaking down the complex cultural, corporate, political, and technological factors that have transformed the way people think about breastfeeding and the human experience ... Read more

$10.99 AUD

From an environmental journalist and mother of two young breast-fed children comes this searing, insightful look into the breastfeeding controversy and puts “common knowledge” about this most natural of processes to the test by breaking down the complex cultural, corporate, political, and technological factors that have transformed the way people think about breastfeeding and the human experience
... Read more
Togetherness

How symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our future

by Rowan Hooper ...

Change the way you see the world - and our place in it'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON'Stunning' GUARDIAN'Beautifully written and meticulously researched . . . Vivid and powerful' RICHARD DAWKINS'The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' CHRIS PACKHAMFrom evolution to capitalism, ‘survival of the fittest’ has shaped our view of the world. But we got it... ... Read more

$21.99 AUD

Change the way you see the world - and our place in it'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON'Stunning' GUARDIAN'Beautifully written and meticulously researched . . . Vivid and powerful' RICHARD DAWKINS'The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' CHRIS PACKHAMFrom evolution to capitalism, ‘survival of the fittest’ has shaped our view of the world. But we got it...
... Read more
Psychopolitics

Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power

by Byung-Chul Han ...

Translated by Erik Butler ...

Byung-Chul Han, a star of German philosophy, continues his passionate critique of neoliberalism, trenchantly describing a regime of technological domination that, in contrast to Foucault's biopower, has discovered the productive force of the psyche. In the course of discussing all the facets of neoliberal psychopolitics fueling our contemporary crisis of freedom, Han elaborates an analytical ... Read more

$12.64 AUD or Free with Kobo Plus

Byung-Chul Han, a star of German philosophy, continues his passionate critique of neoliberalism, trenchantly describing a regime of technological domination that, in contrast to Foucault's biopower, has discovered the productive force of the psyche. In the course of discussing all the facets of neoliberal psychopolitics fueling our contemporary crisis of freedom, Han elaborates an analytical
... Read more
Proto

How One Ancient Language Went Global

by Laura Spinney ...

*A GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2025*'The fascinating story of ancient words … new revelations await' The Guardian'A magisterial feat' New Scientist________________________________One ancient language transformed our world. This is its story.Star. Stjarna. Stare. Thousands of miles apart, people look up at the nigh... ... Read more

$11.99 AUD

*A GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2025*'The fascinating story of ancient words … new revelations await' The Guardian'A magisterial feat' New Scientist________________________________One ancient language transformed our world. This is its story.Star. Stjarna. Stare. Thousands of miles apart, people look up at the nigh...
... Read more
The Body

A Guide for Occupants - The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller

by Bill Bryson ...

#1 Bestseller in both hardback and paperback: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE_______'A directory of wonders.' - The Guardian'Jaw-dropping.' - The Times'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' - The Sunday Times'It is a feat of narrat... ... Read more

$16.99 AUD

#1 Bestseller in both hardback and paperback: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE_______'A directory of wonders.' - The Guardian'Jaw-dropping.' - The Times'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' - The Sunday Times'It is a feat of narrat...
... Read more
Thinking in Systems

International Bestseller

by Donella Meadows ...

The classic book on systems thinking—with more than half a million copies sold worldwide!“This is a fabulous book… This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing.”—Forbes“A modern classic”—The New YorkerIn the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a ... ... Read more

$24.63 AUD

The classic book on systems thinking—with more than half a million copies sold worldwide!“This is a fabulous book… This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing.”—Forbes“A modern classic”—The New YorkerIn the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a ...
... Read more
2084 and the AI Revolution, Updated and Expanded Edition

How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future

by John C. Lennox ...

Will technology change what it means to be human?You don't have to be a computer scientist to have discerning conversations about artificial intelligence and technology. We all wonder where we're headed. Even now, technological innovations and machine learning have a daily impact on our lives, and many of us see good reasons to dread the future. Are we doomed to the surveillance society imagined ... Read more

$25.99 AUD

Will technology change what it means to be human?You don't have to be a computer scientist to have discerning conversations about artificial intelligence and technology. We all wonder where we're headed. Even now, technological innovations and machine learning have a daily impact on our lives, and many of us see good reasons to dread the future. Are we doomed to the surveillance society imagined
... Read more
The Emperor of All Maladies

by Siddhartha Mukherjee ...

WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 2011WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2011‘Profound, eloquent and searching’ SUNDAY TIMES‘Essential reading’ INDEPENDENT‘Masterly’ GUARDIAN‘Extraordinary’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWAN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF THE CENTURY SO FAR</p... ... Read more

Was $17.99 AUD Now $5.99 AUD

WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 2011WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2011‘Profound, eloquent and searching’ SUNDAY TIMES‘Essential reading’ INDEPENDENT‘Masterly’ GUARDIAN‘Extraordinary’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWAN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF THE CENTURY SO FAR</p...
... Read more
A Thinker's Book of Dangerous Knowledge

by Peter Rogers ...

WARNINGDo not pick this book up. This book is extremely dangerous. It is also incredibly offensive. This book may even attempt to bite you when you’re not looking.This book will make you think. And that is always a dangerous thing.Do not open it up. Do not read it straight through at one sitting, utterly mesmerized by the thought-provoking, life-changing, paradigm-shifting content therein. The ... Read more

$3.99 AUD

WARNINGDo not pick this book up. This book is extremely dangerous. It is also incredibly offensive. This book may even attempt to bite you when you’re not looking.This book will make you think. And that is always a dangerous thing.Do not open it up. Do not read it straight through at one sitting, utterly mesmerized by the thought-provoking, life-changing, paradigm-shifting content therein. The
... Read more
The Ego Tunnel

The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self

by Thomas Metzinger ...

A "groundbreaking" (Booklist) investigation of the mind and consciousness that asks whether the self even existsIn The Ego Tunnel, philosopher and cognitive scientist Thomas Metzinger argues that neuroscience’s picture of the “self” as an emergent phenomenon of our biology—and the attendant fact that the self can be manipulated and even experimentally controlled—raises novel and serious ethical ... Read more

$13.99 AUD

A "groundbreaking" (Booklist) investigation of the mind and consciousness that asks whether the self even existsIn The Ego Tunnel, philosopher and cognitive scientist Thomas Metzinger argues that neuroscience’s picture of the “self” as an emergent phenomenon of our biology—and the attendant fact that the self can be manipulated and even experimentally controlled—raises novel and serious ethical
... Read more
Breathless

The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus

by David Quammen ...

****A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 and FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2023***Shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize 2023*From the author of Spillover, the book that predicted the pandemic, Breathless** is the story of Covid-19 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists tasked with fighting it.Bestelling author David Quammen draws on ... Read more

$16.99 AUD

****A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 and FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2023***Shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize 2023*From the author of Spillover, the book that predicted the pandemic, Breathless** is the story of Covid-19 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists tasked with fighting it.Bestelling author David Quammen draws on
... Read more
Four Thousand Weeks

Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.

by Oliver Burkeman ...

A life-changing gift of a book: What if you tried to stop doing everything, so you could finally get round to what counts?**The instant Sunday Times bestseller**Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.Drawing on the insights of both ... Read more

$18.99 AUD

A life-changing gift of a book: What if you tried to stop doing everything, so you could finally get round to what counts?**The instant Sunday Times bestseller**Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations.Drawing on the insights of both
... Read more
Everything Is Tuberculosis

The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

by John Green ...

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and ... Read more

$18.99 AUD

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and
... Read more
The Shortest History of Innovation

by Andrew Leigh ...

From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world.In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation.Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. ... Read more

$11.99 AUD

From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world.In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation.Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes.
... Read more
From Electrons to Elephants and Elections

Exploring the Role of Content and Context

Edited by Shyam Wuppuluri, Ian Stewart ...

Series series Physics and Astronomy (R0)
This highly interdisciplinary book, covering more than six fields, from philosophy and sciences all the way up to the humanities and with contributions from eminent authors, addresses the interplay between content and context, reductionism and holism and their meeting point: the notion of emergence. Much of today’s science is reductionist (bottom-up); in other words, behaviour on one level is ... Read more

$170.16 AUD

This highly interdisciplinary book, covering more than six fields, from philosophy and sciences all the way up to the humanities and with contributions from eminent authors, addresses the interplay between content and context, reductionism and holism and their meeting point: the notion of emergence. Much of today’s science is reductionist (bottom-up); in other words, behaviour on one level is
... Read more
50 Quantum Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know

A complete introduction to the key concepts and theories of quantum physics

by Joanne Baker ...

Series series 50 Ideas You Really Need to Know series
In a series of 50 accessible essays, Joanne Baker introduces and explains the fundamental physical concepts and laws that govern the inner workings of our universe.From Schrodinger's cat to Einstein's theory of relativity, energy conservation to speed of light, 50 Quantum Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important quantum physics concepts in history. ... Read more

$12.99 AUD

In a series of 50 accessible essays, Joanne Baker introduces and explains the fundamental physical concepts and laws that govern the inner workings of our universe.From Schrodinger's cat to Einstein's theory of relativity, energy conservation to speed of light, 50 Quantum Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important quantum physics concepts in history.
... Read more
So Very Small

How humans discovered germs, uncovered infectious diseases, and deluded themselves that we had conquered them

by Thomas Levenson ...

In 1665, an infectious disease swept through the British capital and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. It would take another two hundred years for the cause of the Great Plague of London to be confirmed: a powerful bacterium called Yersinia pestis. In those centuries, our understanding of diseases was transformed.In So Very Small, Thomas Levenson reveals how human hubris led us to ... Read more

Was $26.99 AUD Now $18.36 AUD

In 1665, an infectious disease swept through the British capital and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. It would take another two hundred years for the cause of the Great Plague of London to be confirmed: a powerful bacterium called Yersinia pestis. In those centuries, our understanding of diseases was transformed.In So Very Small, Thomas Levenson reveals how human hubris led us to
... Read more
Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction

Make mayhem from your stationery with 35 models to build yourself

by John Austin ...

Series series Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction
We've come a long way from the Peashooter Era: with the advent of modern household products and office supplies - foldback clips, clothespins, rubber bands, ballpoint pens, toothpicks, paper clips and plastic utensils - the everyday junk drawer can hold all the materials needed to create pocket-sized weaponry.Whether you're slowing dying of boredom in a stuffy office, plotting revenge on your ... Read more

$9.99 AUD

We've come a long way from the Peashooter Era: with the advent of modern household products and office supplies - foldback clips, clothespins, rubber bands, ballpoint pens, toothpicks, paper clips and plastic utensils - the everyday junk drawer can hold all the materials needed to create pocket-sized weaponry.Whether you're slowing dying of boredom in a stuffy office, plotting revenge on your
... Read more
Nature's Echo

Harnessing ancient feedback loops to heal a changing planet

by Thomas Crowther ...

Nature wants to heal, and we can help.When Earth's ecosystems fall out of harmony, the damage can spiral out of control. But what if we could help nature to regain its balance?As a leading ecologist, Professor Thomas Crowther studies not just how species work in isolation, but how complex ecosystems regulate themselves. When nature’s cycles are allowed to build momentum, each species can create ... Read more

$21.99 AUD

Nature wants to heal, and we can help.When Earth's ecosystems fall out of harmony, the damage can spiral out of control. But what if we could help nature to regain its balance?As a leading ecologist, Professor Thomas Crowther studies not just how species work in isolation, but how complex ecosystems regulate themselves. When nature’s cycles are allowed to build momentum, each species can create
... Read more

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