In AI for Good: Applications in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action, and Health, a team of veteran Microsoft AI researchers delivers an insightful and fascinating discussion of how one of the world's most recognizable software companies is tackling intractable social problems with the power of artificial intelligence (AI). In the book, you'll see real in-the-field examples of researchers using AI with replicable methods and reusable AI code to inspire your own uses.The aut...

"I am not the Black Piper . . . but I do know the Piper."If you listen closely," she said, "you will hear stories that will transport you into the heart of adventure, force you directly into the path of danger, and if you are lucky . . . or perhaps unlucky"—she looked at the unmoving dragon behind her and inhaled, only barely losing her grip on her smile—"transform you." Her attention turned back to the crowd, and her eyes grew mysterious. "In essence, dear people...

In this fresh survey of foreign relations in the early years of the American republic, William Earl Weeks argues that the construction of the new nation went hand in hand with the building of the American empire. Mr. Weeks traces the origins of this initiative to the 1750s, when the Founding Fathers began to perceive the advantages of colonial union and the possibility of creating an empire within the British Empire that would provide security and the potential for commercial and territori...

In a city where every truth is recorded, altered, and some cases never really close. When Detective Mira Cade discovers a badge linked to a dead man inside a secure salvage network, a finished case tears back open. Offshore accounts, erased identities, and a hidden infrastructure trail her toward a network of operatives and a cryptic entity known only as HONORRACK.SALV-433 was never just a database. It was a tool of control. And it's reactivating. As floodwaters rise and the system...

Showcases the wealth of new research on sacred imagery found in twelve states and four Canadian provincesIn archaeology, rock-art—any long-lasting marking made on a natural surface—is similar to material culture (pottery and tools) because it provides a record of human activity and ideology at that site. Petroglyphs, pictographs, and dendroglyphs (tree carvings) have been discovered and recorded throughout the eastern woodlands of North America on boulders...

This is the story of a man, a treaty, and a nation. The man was John Quincy Adams, regarded by most historians as America's greatest secretary of state. The treaty was the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, of which Adams was the architect. It acquired Florida for the young United States, secured a western boundary extending to the Pacific, and bolstered the nation's position internationally. As William Weeks persuasively argues, the document also represented the first determined step in the...

How well do the places where we live support the wellbeing of older adults?The Canadian population is growing older and is reshaping the nation’s economic, social and cultural future. However, the built and social environments of many communities, neighbourhoods and cities have not been designed to help Canadians age well.Bringing together academic research, practitioner reflections and personal narratives from older adults across Canada, this cutting-edge text provides a r...

Since their first publication, the four volumes of the Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations have served as the definitive source for the topic, from the colonial period to the Cold War. This entirely new first volume narrates the British North American colonists' pre-existing desire for expansion, security and prosperity and argues that these desires are both the essence of American foreign relations and the root cause for the creation of the United States. They required the col...

The development of analytical methods for identifying widespread perchlorate contamination brought about an explosion of research into the environmental problems and their potential solutions along with a corresponding increase in the availability of information. Unlike reference works that focus on only a few aspects of this contaminant, Perchlora

Oggie Cooder returns. . .this time showing what a party animal he can be (birthday party animal, that is)!Oggie Cooder has never set foot (or swim fin) in his neighbor Donnica Perfecto's swimming pool. But now he has his chance - it's Donnica's birthday, and her mom has forced her to invite Oggie to the pool party! Donnica, though, isn't about to let this happen. She has a plan to keep Oggie away. But what she doesn't count on is the power of Oggie's charving, an unexpected visit f...

From the author of So B. It, a super charming middle-grade Napoleon Dynamite with heart - the tale of a very average boy who's put in his school's spotlight when his averageness appeals to a TV show.Oggie Cooder has a talent -- he can charve better than anyone else in Truman Elementary School. (Charving, for the uninitiated, is the carving of a piece of cheese with one's teeth.) Oggie doesn't think this is anything special -- but his whole school will soon be disa...