Funny, clear, deep, and right on target. Siegfried] lets us get a handle on ideas that are essential for understanding the evolving world.
-K. C. Cole, author of The Universe and the Teacup
""An eager, ambitious book. A stimulating, accessible introduction to scientific theory.""
-Dallas Morning News
An award-winning journalist surveys the horizon of a new revolution in science
Everything in the universe, from the molecules in our bodies to the heart of a black hole, is made up of bits of information. This is the radical idea at the center of the new physics of information, and it is leading to exciting breakthroughs in a vast range of science, including the invention of a new kind of quantum computer, millions of times faster than any computer today. Acclaimed science writer Tom Siegfried offers a lively introduction to the leading scientists and ideas responsible for this exciting new scientific paradigm.

Can each of us achieve our own "American dream" while recognizing needs of other individuals, society, and future generations? Not if our present national policies continue, warns long term planning expert Joseph L. Daleiden. He persuasively argues that if present socioeconomic trends remain, our nation faces social disaster before the middle of the 21st century.
These trends can be reversed, he insists, but only if we are willing to (1) reject failed policies both liberal and conservative directed at population growth, the environment, the national debt, trade, poverty, crime, race relations, education, healthcare, social security, and tax reform; (2) accept that all of these areas of concern are intertwined; and (3) take responsibility for our decisions.
Avoiding ideology and platitudes, Daleiden's pragmatic approach relies on actual evidence of how prospective policies will influence human behavior and whether their outcomes will increase or decrease human happiness in the long run.

Much has been written about millennialism in the U.S. and its European roots. But although it is widely recognized that millennialism is also endemic to Latin America, until now there has been no systematic study of this phenomenon as it has flourished in that part of the world. Frank Graziano here offers the first such study, examining Latin American millennialism from the pre-Columbian period to the present. Organizing his work thematically, he introduces a fascinating array of movements, ideas, and figures from the legendary Aztec culture hero Quetzalcoatl to the contemporary Peruvian rebels of the Shining Path and their messianic leader Abimael Guzman.

An introductory guide to managing cybersecurity for businesses. How to prevent, protect and respond to threats. Providing an insight to the extent and scale a potential damage could cause when there is a breech in cyber security. It includes case studies and advice from leading industry professionals, giving you the necessary strategies and resources to prevent, protect and respond to any threat: * Introduction to cyber security * Security framework * Support services for UK public and private sectors * Cyber security developments * Routing a map for resilience * Protecting financial data * Countermeasures to advance threats * Managing incidents and breaches * Preparing for further threats * Updating contingency plans

This volume presents a neural network architecture for the prediction of conditional probability densities - which is vital when carrying out universal approximation on variables which are either strongly skewed or multimodal. Two alternative approaches are discussed: the GM network, in which all parameters are adapted in the training scheme, and the GM-RVFL model which draws on the random functional link net approach. Points of particular interest are: - it examines the modification to standard approaches needed for conditional probability prediction; - it provides the first real-world test results for recent theoretical findings about the relationship between generalisation performance of committees and the over-flexibility of their members; This volume will be of interest to all researchers, practitioners and postgraduate / advanced undergraduate students working on applications of neural networks - especially those related to finance and pattern recognition.

Nature, Risk and Responsibility explores ethical interpretations of biotechnology and examines whether sufficient consensus exists or is emerging to enable this technology to occupy a stable role in the techno-economic, social and cultural order. The contributors address the nature and prospective implications of biotechnologies for nature, life and social organisation and employ a wide range of social theories to evaluate risks and propose responses.

As a new century and a new millenium approach, the world braces itself for an outpouring of popular excitement, tabloid predictions and religious hysteria, all egged on by a strong dose of mass-media attention. This work offers an antidote to this information overload with a look at earlier millennial fevers and turn-of-the-century neuroses, from ancient times to 1999 in Times Square. By examining the past, it provides a perspective on the millennial hype coming in the near future.

In Japan, the Delphi method is applied since 1971 to foresee possible technological developments. The same approach was used in Germany in 1992 for the first time. The German expert survey about the development of future technology was based on the Japanese survey conducted in 1991 and discussed the same topics.
In this book, the results of both studies are compared and analysed. From the comparison, conclusions can be drawn on the relevance of certain technology fields or disciplines not only for public technology policy but also for companies. Possible times of realization, constraints on the realization, the current R&D level of nations or the necessity of international co-operation give hints about tomorrow's technology and its economic and societal impacts.

Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First Nation Know-how for Global Flourishing's contributors describe ways of being in the world that reflect a worldview that guided humanity for 99% of human history: They describe the practical traditional wisdom that stems from Nature-based relational cultures that were or are guided by this worldview. Such cultures did not cause the kinds of anti-Nature and de-humanizing or inequitable policies and practices that now pervade our world. Far from romanticizing Indigenous histories, Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom offers facts about how human beings, with our potential for good and evil behaviors, can live in relative harmony again. Contributions cover views from anthropology, psychology, sociology, leadership, native science, native history, and native art.

"Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world." --George Friedman
In his long-awaited and provocative new book, George Friedman turns his eye on the future--offering a lucid, highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century.
"The Next 100 Years "draws on a fascinating exploration of history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years. Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era--with changes in store, including:
- The U.S.-Jihadist war will conclude--replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia.
- China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power.
- A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly.
- Technology will focus on space--both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications.
- The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century.
Written with the keen insight and thoughtful analysis that has made George Friedman a renowned expert in geopolitics and forecasting, "The Next 100 Years" presents a fascinating picture of what lies ahead.
For continual, updated analysis and supplemental material, go to www.Stratfor.com

A manifesto for transforming our thinking from reactionary short-termism to the long-term, widening our scope beyond today, tomorrow, even five years from now to gain perspective, become more creative, and reclaim meaning in our lives.

Every major problem we face today, from climate change to work anxiety, is the result of short-term thinking. We are constantly bombarded by updates, notifications, and “Breaking News,” that are overwhelming our central nervous systems, forcing us to react in the moment and ultimately disconnecting us from what truly matters. But there is a solution. We must embrace what Ari Wallach, futurist and founder of Longpath Labs, calls the “longpath”—a mantra and mindset he developed to help us get beyond short-term thinking, focus on the long view, and cultivate a futureconscious mindset.

Drawing on history, philosophy, theology, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and technology, Longpath reframes how we see our lives and the world. Wallach teaches us how to utilize the longpath mindset to strengthen our ability to look ahead, increase our capacity for cooperation, and even boost our creativity. Every decision we make today impacts the future. Wallach helps us improve our decision-making, challenging each of us to ask, “what is my longpath?”—what is my end goal and how does my choice align with my values and needs?

Whether it’s work, marriage, parenting, or simply trying to be a good human on the planet, framing decisions from a much larger scale creates a more fulfilling and sustainable life now and for future generations. By adopting the longpath mindset, we can relieve our reaction to stressful events and occurrences, cultivate future-conscious thinking, and come up with solutions to improve our lives today and tomorrow—and those of future generations.

Whether it's an unforeseen financial crash, a shock election result or a washout summer that threatens to ruin a holiday in the sun, forecasts are part and parcel of our everyday lives. We rely wholeheartedly on them, and become outraged when things don't go exactly to plan. But should we really put so much trust in predictions? Perhaps gut instincts can trump years of methodically compiled expert knowledge? And when exactly is a forecast not a forecast? Forewarned will answer all of these intriguing questions, and many more. Packed with fun anecdotes and startling facts, Forewarned is a myth-busting guide to prediction, based on the very latest scientific research. It lays out the many ways forecasting can help us make better decisions in an unpredictable modern world, and reveals when forecasts can be a reliable guide to the uncertainties of the future - and when they are best ignored.

This textbook provides an introduction to the scientific study of sociology and other social sciences. It offers the basic tools necessary for readers to become both critical consumers and beginning producers of scientific research on society. The authors present an integrated approach to research design and empirical analyses in which researchers can develop and test causal theories. They use examples from social science research that students will find engaging and inspiring and that will help them to understand key concepts. The book makes technical materials accessible to students who might otherwise be intimidated by mathematical examples. This new text, with the addition of sociologist Steven A. Tuch to the author team, follows the successful format, approach, and pedagogical features in Paul M. Kellstedt and Guy D. Whitten's bestselling text, The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, now in its third edition. Workbooks in Stata, SPSS, and R, three of the most popular statistical analysis programs, are available as separate purchases to accompany this textbook, enabling students to connect the lessons of this book to hands-on applications of the software.

Thinking about the future is essential for almost all organizations and societies. States, corporations, universities, cities, NGOs and individuals believe they cannot miss the future. But what exactly is the future? It remains a mystery perhaps the greatest mystery, especially because futures are unpredictable and often unknowable, the outcome of many factors, known and unknown. The future is rarely a simple extrapolation from the present. In this important book, John Urry seeks to capture the many efforts that have been made to anticipate, visualize and elaborate the future. This includes examining the methods used to model the future, from those of the RAND Corporation to imagined future worlds in philosophy, literature, art, film, TV and computer games. He shows that futures are often contested and saturated with different interests, especially in relation to future generations. He also shows how analyses of social institutions, practices and lives should be central to examining potential futures, and issues such as who owns the future. The future seems to be characterized by 'wicked problems'. There are multiple 'causes' and 'solutions', long-term lock-ins and complex interdependencies, and different social groups have radically different frames for understanding what is at stake. Urry explores these issues through case-studies of 3D printing and the future of manufacturing, mobilities in the city, and the futures of energy and climate change.

Countries, cities, and companies are investing in smart cities and digital economies.

Inhabitable Infrastructures: Science fiction or urban future?, the follow up to Food City and Smartcities and Eco-Warriors, from one of the world's leading urban design and architectural thinkers, explores the potential of climate change-related multi-use infrastructures that address the fundamental human requirements to protect, to provide and to participate. The stimulus for the infrastructures derives from postulated scenarios and processes gleaned from science fiction and futurology as well as the current body of scientific knowledge regarding changing environmental impacts on cities. Science fiction is interdisciplinary by nature, aggregates the past and present, and evaluates both lay opinions and professional strategies in an attempt to develop foresight and to map possible futures. The research culminates in the creation of innovative multi-use infrastructures and integrated self-sustaining support systems that meet the challenges posed through climate change and overpopulation, and the reciprocal benefits of simultaneously addressing the threat and the shaping of cities. J. G. Ballard has written that the psychological realm of science fiction is most valuable in its predictive function, and in projecting emotions into the future. The knowledge from the book is widely transferable, constituting both solutions and speculative visions of future urban environments. The book is indispensable reading for professionals and students in the fields of urban design, architecture, engineering and environmental socio-politics.

In Uncertainty by Design Limor Samimian-Darash presents cases of the use of scenario technology in the fields of security and emergency preparedness, energy, and health by analyzing scenario narratives and practices at the National Emergency Management Authority in Israel, the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe, and the World Energy Council. Humankind has long struggled with the uncertainty of the future, with how to foresee the future, imagine alternatives, or prepare for and guard against undesirable eventualities. Scenario-or scenario planning-emerged in recent decades to become a widespread means through which states, large corporations, and local organizations imagine and prepare for the future. The scenario technology cases examined in Uncertainty by Design provide a useful lens through which to view contemporary efforts to engage in an overall journey of discovering the future, along with the modality of governing involved in these endeavors to face future uncertainties. Collectively, they enable us to understand in depth how scenarios express a new governing modality.

Climate change will impact ecosystems and production processes. Thus, adaptation to climate change has become a prevalent concept in environmental politics worldwide. In South Korea, climate change is expected to be above the global average. As response, the South Korean government has initiated climate change adaptation in diverse sectors. In this book, the entire process, from formulation and development, implementation and reaction of involved people is examined in a particular sector, agriculture. Theoretically framed as an Actor-Network, this study highlights current developments of South Korean politics, the tensions of urban-periphery development, and the status of agriculture.

In a decidedly anti-intellectual moment, exemplified by such recent phenomena as denials of science, defunding of universities, and distrust of "facts," Intra-Public Intellectualism examines the relationships among qualitative inquiry, truth telling and social activism. With contributions from scholars and activists around the world, the book addresses three key tensions in the field of social inquiry. The first tension concerns the proliferation of digital environments and virtual spaces, exploring how the "public" in public intellectualism might be reconsidered. The second tension concerns the ongoing critiques of truth and subjectivity, exploring how these disruptions change the work of the intellectual. The third tension concerns the growing scientific and philosophical rejection of static material worlds, exploring what becomes of social responsibility and justice when agency extends beyond human subjects. Intra-Public Intellectualism will be a must read for those interested in the roles of the intellectual in the academy and beyond and those keen on rethinking critical social inquiry for the twenty-first century.

Five leaders of business, television, education, government, and labor address themselves in this book to the problems concerning their fields and consequently concerning the entire American citizenry. With an eye on the past history of the United States, these men discuss the various problems of the present and future and how we are to cope with them using the lessons and values of the past, as well as recognizing new concepts and ideas that have arisen. Karl R. Bopp, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, concerns him self with the problem of eliminating unemployment of men and capital without resorting to total economic planning. Frank Stanton, former President of the Columbia Broadcasting System, asks who shall determine what the people see on television and whether there is an alternative to "the public verdict" of applause or rejection. Earl J. McGrath, former U. S. Commissioner of Higher Education, raises questions relating to the performance of students and teachers at all levels of our educational establishment. Who should go to college? What differences in curricula should be encouraged? What practices and conditions will produce those intellectual and moral qualities we desire in our citizenry? Milton Katz, former Director of International Legal Studies at Harvard University, discusses the problem of increasing public understanding of the government's conduct of foreign affairs. What is the proper "mix" of professionally trained public servants and talented political "transients"? How can public antipathy to expanding "bureaucracy" be overcome in the interest of raising the quality of our foreign affairs personnel. George W. Taylor, Professor of Industry at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of President Kennedy's Advisory Committee on Labor Management Relations, notes that the "creative responses" required to maintain the nation's economic equilibrium run "deeply against the grain of our traditional thinking." How shall we respond to conflicts of private interests (labor and management) that pose threats to, or actually damage, the general welfare? Do we need institutional arrangements to defend the public interest when great economic powers collide, and, if so, what should be the role of government in these arrangements? These five men do not purport to know all of the answers to the great issues of our society. Implicit in their discussions is an invitation to the reader to enter into a dialogue with them, to examine his or her own ideas while scrutinizing theirs, to seek out further data, to confirm, to refute, or to modify. The State of the Nation: Retrospect and Prospect is an invaluable book for those interested in the problems of society. It is a summons to Americans to realize their responsibilities and privileges as citizens of a democracy in the permanent pursuit of perfection.

Assessing the future is vital in informing public policy decisions. One of the most widespread approaches is the development of scenarios, which are alternative hypothetical futures. Research has indicated, however, that the reality of how professionals go about employing scenarios is often starkly at odds with the theory - a finding that has important ramifications for how the resulting images of the future should be interpreted. It also shows the need for rewriting and updating theory. This book, based on an intensive five year study of how experts actually go about assessing the future, provides a groundbreaking examination of foresighting in action. Obtained via ethnographic techniques, the results lay bare for the first time the real processes by which scenarios are made. It is also the first book to examine foresighting for public policy, which is so often overlooked in favour of business practice. From handling of discontinuity to historical determinism, the analysis reveals and explains why foresight is difficult and what the major pitfalls are. Each chapter ends with a toolkit of recommendations for practice. The book aims to help readers to reflect on their own practices of public-oriented foresight and thus to foster a deeper understanding of the key principles and challenges. Ultimately, this will lead to better informed decision making.

"Startling in scope and bravado." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world." -Los Angeles Times "Elaborate, smart and persuasive." -The Boston Globe "A pleasure to read." -The Wall Street Journal One of CBS News's Best Fall Books of 2005 * Among St Louis Post-Dispatch's Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 * One of Amazon.com's Best Science Books of 2005 A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Nearer who Bill Gates calls "the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence" For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

A profound meditation on race, inheritance, and queer mothering at the end of the world. In a letter to her six-year-old daughter, Julietta Singh writes toward a tender vision of the world, offering children's radical embrace of possibility as a model for how we might live. In order to survive looming political and ecological disasters, Singh urges, we must break from the conventions we have inherited and begin to orient ourselves toward more equitable and revolutionary paths. The Breaks celebrates queer family-making, communal living, and Brown girlhood, complicating the stark binaries that shape contemporary U.S. discourse. With nuance and generosity, Singh reveals the connections among the crises humanity faces--climate catastrophe, extractive capitalism, and the violent legacies of racism, patriarchy, and colonialism--inviting us to move through the breaks toward a tenable future.