Since the rise of Napster and other file-sharing services in its wake, most of us have assumed that intellectual piracy is a product of the digital age and that it threatens creative expression as never before. The Motion Picture Association of America, for instance, claimed that in 2005 the film industry lost $2.3 billion in revenue to piracy online. But here Adrian Johns shows that piracy has a much longer and more vital history than we have realized—one that has been largely forgotten a...

For the first time, the story of how and why we have plumbed the mysteries of reading, and why it matters today.Reading is perhaps the essential practice of modern civilization. For centuries, it has been seen as key to both personal fulfillment and social progress, and millions today depend on it to participate fully in our society. Yet, at its heart, reading is a surprisingly elusive practice. This book tells for the first time the story of how American scientist...

A novel based on the short and eventful life of Englishman William Reynolds. Sailor, soldier, prisoner, coalminer…Reynolds' story switches from Victorian Portsmouth to Nova Scotia, to Civil War torn America.Come April 1865 and in the aftermath of the momentous events at Ford's Theatre – the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln – fate decrees that Reynolds is set to lead a gruelling manhunt across rural Pennsylvania…

Perceptively explores the shifting intersections between algorithmic systems and human practices in the modern era.How have algorithmic systems and human practices developed in tandem since 1800? This volume of Osiris deftly addresses the question, dispelling along the way the traditional notion of algorithmic “code” and human “craft” as natural opposites. Instead, algorithms and humans have always acted in concert, depending on each other to advance new k...

For the first time, the story of how and why we have plumbed the mysteries of reading, and why it matters today.Reading is perhaps the essential practice of modern civilization. For centuries, it has been seen as key to both personal fulfillment and social progress, and millions today depend on it to participate fully in our society. Yet, at its heart, reading is a surprisingly elusive practice. This book tells for the first time the story of how American scientist...

“A superb account of the rise of modern broadcasting.” —Financial TimesWhen the pirate operator Oliver Smedley shot and killed his rival Reg Calvert in Smedley’s country cottage on June 21, 1966, it was a turning point for the outlaw radio stations dotting the coastal waters of England. Situated on ships and offshore forts like Shivering Sands, these stations blasted away at the high-minded BBC’s broadcast monopoly with the new beats of the Stones and DJs ...

This book talks about the scientific processes involved with the matter of our being and how we are evolved, as are all species when their DNA molecules react to the effects of their incoming environment and are dealt with. Some billions of years ago, DNA molecules not only came into being in the right conditionsincluding the presence of five elements (hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and phosphorous) and a moist environment when an enzyme-assisted chemical process resulted in them beco...

Five years after the events of Imaginarium Machine, Legion (brainwashed people controlled by the cocreator of the Imaginarium Machine Kevin Young) and Kevin Young took over the world. FBI Mike Thompson and his partner Becks are on the run while trying to save humanity from Legions clutches. Discover what is possible with a little imagination as humanity tries to break free from Kevins grasp. Will they succeed or will Kevins madness continue?

Its 2030 and video games have hit that barrier where graphics and innovation is at its peak. At E3, Sony reveals their next gen gaming console, the Imaginarium Machine. Instead of playing on a TV, you play in your mind. In doing this, you break all boundaries in regards to your senses. You can now feel the wind, smell the flowers, taste the breadthe possibilities are endless. With a magnificent piece of hardware given to the world, what could possibly go wrong?

**In this harrowing young adult novel, two teens try to save a class of first graders from a gun-wielding soldier suffering from PTSD.“Fast-paced, suspenseful thriller. . . . The hours-long standoff comes to a dramatic and violent climax. . . . A vividly depicted and gripping tragedy.”—Kirkus Reviews“A well-imagined and tragic story with surprising characters and an unforgettable climax. It’s hard to believe this was written by a first-time novelist.”—Todd Strasser...

**A brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Enlightenment Now."Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive." --TimeFinalist for the Pulitzer Prize**Updated with a new afterwordOne of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, an...

Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners of the world.When Flashman was inveigled into a game of pontoon with Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck, he was making an unconscious choice about his own future – would it lie in the House of Commons or the West African slave trade? Was there, for that matter, very much difference?...