Inspired by New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson, an anthology of stories, set in the near future, from some of today’s leading writers, thinkers, and visionaries that reignites the iconic and optimistic visions of the golden age of science fiction.
In his 2011 article “Innovation Starvation,” Neal Stephenson argued that we—the society whose earlier scientists and engineers witnessed the airplane, the automobile, nuclear energy, the computer, and space exploration—must reignite our ambitions to think boldly and do Big Stuff. He also advanced the Hieroglyph Theory which illuminates the power of science fiction to inspire the inventive imagination: “Good SF supplies a plausible, fully thought-out picture of an alternate reality in which some sort of compelling innovation has taken place.”
In 2012, Arizona State University established the Center for Science and the Imagination to bring together writers, artists, and creative thinkers with scientists, engineers, and technologists to cultivate and expand on “moon shot ideas” that inspire the imagination and catalyze real-world innovations.
Now comes this remarkable anthology uniting twenty of today’s leading thinkers, writers, and visionaries—among them Cory Doctorow, Gregory Benford, Elizabeth Bear, Bruce Sterling, and Neal Stephenson—to contribute works of “techno-optimism” that challenge us to dream and do Big Stuff. Engaging, mind-bending, provocative, and imaginative, Hieroglyph offers a forward-thinking approach to the intersection of art and technology that has the power to change our world.

Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future

Literature & Fiction

Cramer, Kathryn

Finn, Ed

United States

William Morrow

William Morrow Paperbacks

The gap between theoretical ideas and messy reality, as seen in Neal Stephenson, Adam Smith, and Star Trek.
We depend on―we believe in―algorithms to help us get a ride, choose which book to buy, execute a mathematical proof. It's as if we think of code as a magic spell, an incantation to reveal what we need to know and even what we want. Humans have always believed that certain invocations―the marriage vow, the shaman's curse―do not merely describe the world but make it. Computation casts a cultural shadow that is shaped by this long tradition of magical thinking. In this book, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm―in practical terms, “a method for solving a problem”―has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking. 
Finn argues that the algorithm deploys concepts from the idealized space of computation in a messy reality, with unpredictable and sometimes fascinating results. Drawing on sources that range from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash to Diderot's Encyclopédie, from Adam Smith to the Star Trek computer, Finn explores the gap between theoretical ideas and pragmatic instructions. He examines the development of intelligent assistants like Siri, the rise of algorithmic aesthetics at Netflix, Ian Bogost's satiric Facebook game Cow Clicker, and the revolutionary economics of Bitcoin. He describes Google's goal of anticipating our questions, Uber's cartoon maps and black box accounting, and what Facebook tells us about programmable value, among other things.
If we want to understand the gap between abstraction and messy reality, Finn argues, we need to build a model of “algorithmic reading” and scholarship that attends to process, spearheading a new experimental humanities.

What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing

Computers & Technology

Programming

Mit Pr

What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing (Mit Press)

The MIT Press

Who Do We Try to Rescue Today: Canada Under the Corporate Rule

Business & Money

Economics

Canadian Ctr for Policy

Most Canadians know that Stephen Harper has had a tremendous impact on the country since becoming prime minister in 2006. But few have the in-depth knowledge of how far his transformation has gone -- what has already been done, and what the consequences will be in the future.
 This book brings together Canadian experts in a wide variety of areas. They document key changes put in place by the Harper government. There have been dramatic changes in education, health care, women's rights, science and research, guiding the economy, labour unions, water and natural resources, and aboriginal affairs. Most of these measures have been designed to be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.
 Readers will for the first time grasp the breadth and depth of the Harper attack on institutions, policies, and programs that embody values and principles shared by most Canadians. Each chapter documents the dangers of a government fixated on the needs of corporations and the one percent, blinded to our environmentally unsustainable lifestyle, and expanding surveillance and security measures to intimidate and threaten opponents.
 The contributors to this book believe that engagement in public affairs by the citizenry can trump the power of the elites and the giant corporations who are the winners of the Harper era. As activists in public life, they propose strategies and measures to create a Canada that champions fairness, social justice, real democracy in our government institutions, action to reverse global warming, and a constructive role in world affairs.

Canada after Harper: His ideology-fuelled attack on Canadian society and values, and how we can now work to create the country we want

Lorimer

What Algorithms Want

We depend on--we believe in--algorithms to help us get a ride, choose which book to buy, execute a mathematical proof. It's as if we think of code as a magic spell, an incantation to reveal what we need to know and even what we want. Humans have always believed that certain invocations--the marriage vow, the shaman's curse--do not merely describe the world but make it. Computation casts a cultural shadow that is shaped by this long tradition of magical thinking. In What Algorithms Want, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm--in practical terms, "a method for solving a problem"--has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking.Finn argues that the algorithm deploys concepts from the idealized space of computation in a messy reality, with unpredictable and sometimes fascinating results. Drawing on sources that range from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash to Diderot's Encyclopédie, from Adam Smith to the Star Trek computer, Finn explores the gap between theoretical ideas and pragmatic instructions. He examines the development of intelligent assistants like Siri, the rise of algorithmic aesthetics at Netflix, Ian Bogost's satiric Facebook game Cow Clicker, and the revolutionary economics of Bitcoin. He describes Google's goal of anticipating our questions, Uber's cartoon maps and black box accounting, and what Facebook tells us about programmable value, among other things.If we want to understand the gap between abstraction and messy reality, Finn argues, we need to build a model of "algorithmic reading" and scholarship that attends to process, spearheading a new experimental humanities.

BRILLIANCE AUDIO ^

A few deadly minutes in 1881, and the shooting was all over. But no, in fact it wasn't. That brief gunfight outside the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, still reverberates today. Literally—it's reenacted daily on the streets of Tombstone, "the town too tough to die." It's also constantly replayed in biographies, novels, movies, TV shows, poems, comic books, websites, and even video games. Clearly the shootout has passed from history into myth. But is that myth the American Iliad or something else entirely? And by the way, what really happened in 1881? 35 b/w and color photographs. About the series: Look West: What do you find? Wide, wild landscapes...extraordinary plants and animals...rugged people rich in history...ghost towns and working ranches...ancient pueblos and ultramodern urban areas. In the West, coyotes howl. Native Americans endure and flourish. Kokopelli, the mythical humpbacked flute player, prances across the cliff dwellings and into popular culture—and thousands of curio shops. Every small, handsome book in Rio Nuevo Publishers' Look West series presents a unique aspect of the American West. Using words and pictures, each volume explores a special Western topic or phenomenon, and all have been written and illustrated by regional experts. Each of these attractive 6 x 6-inch hardcover books contains 64 pages of text, illustrations, and photographs. And each one allows the reader to capture the spirit of the West in the palm of a hand.

The Legend of the O.K. Corral (Look West Series, OK Corral)

History

Americas

Rio Nuevo

Few Canadians have contributed as much as Ed Finn to creating the society we now take for granted. As a journalist in Newfoundland, he defied both his bosses and premier Joey Smallwood by standing up for striking loggers in the late 1950s. He became the first NDP leader in that province, before joining Tommy Douglas in defending the Medicare system Canadians now take for granted. Finn's 70-year career included writing for the Montreal Gazette and the Toronto Star, as well as working for the Canadian Union of Public Employees. He served three years on the board of directors of the Bank of Canada, and most recently has been working with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This book is a history of modern-day Canada from the perspective of an outsider, yet one whose talents led him to positions of influence and the corridors of power.

Ed Finn: A Journalist's Life on the Left

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Boulder Books

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Books by Finn, Ed