Living on Earth
£22.00The eagerly anticipated conclusion to Peter Godfrey-Smith’s three-part exploration of the origins of intelligence on Earth, which began with the bestselling Other Minds in 2018 and continued with Metazoa in 2020.
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Moral AI
£25.00Here is a reassuring and thought-provoking guide to all the big questions about AI and ethics. Should robots ever be considered free? Will computers transcend human intelligence? And what can we do to make sure AI is safe? The artificial intelligence revolution has begun. Today, there are self-driving cars on our streets, autonomous weapons in our armies, robot surgeons in our hospitals – and AI’s presence in our lives will only increase. Some see this as the dawn of new era in innovation and ease; others are alarmed by its destructive potential. But one thing is clear: this is a technology like no other, one that raises profound questions about freedom, justice and the very definition of human agency. In ‘Moral AI’, world-renowned researchers in artificial intelligence and philosophy, Jana Schaich Borg, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Vince Conitzer tackle these thorny issues head-on.
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Beyond measure
£12.99We measure rainfall and radiation, the depths of space and the emptiness of atoms, calories and steps, happiness and fear. If we could not measure then we could not observe the world around us; we could not experiment, learn, and co-operate. But why did this urge to measure flourish? And when did measurement become ubiquitous? It is an incredible story that spans hunter-gatherer societies to ancient Egyptians, the French Revolution to the relentless quantification of the 21st century self. It is a tale that tracks humanity’s search for dependable truths in a chaotic universe. Full of mavericks and visionaries, adventure and breakthroughs, ‘Beyond Measure’ shows that measurement has not only made the world we live in, it has made us too.
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The possibility of life
£20.00For fans of Ed Yong, Brian Cox and Carl Zimmer: a dazzling cultural and scientific adventure through our ideas about extraterrestrial life and the cosmos
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The flame of reason
£10.99This is a passionate, highly accessible clarion call to a world dangerously threatened by irrational superstitions of all kinds. In country after country, conspiracy theories and religious dogmas that once seemed to have been overtaken by enlightened thought are helping to loft authoritarian leaders into power. The effects are being felt by women, ethnic minorities, teachers, scientists and students – and by the environment, the ultimate victim of climate change denial. We need clear thinking now more than ever. Christer Sturmark is a crusading secular humanist as well as a Swedish publisher and entrepreneur, and ‘The Flame of Reason’ is his manifesto for a better world. It provides a set of simple tools for clear thinking in the face of populist dogmas, anti-science attitudes and pseudo-philosophy, and suggestions for how we can move towards a new enlightenment.
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Beneath the Night
£9.99From Stone Age to space age, every human who has looked up at the night sky has seen the same stars in the same patterns. They reveal our entire history, as well as hinting at our ultimate fate. Stuart Clark tells the full story of this relationship. From prehistoric cave art and Ancient Egyptian zodiacs to the modern era of satellites and space exploration, he reveals the history of a fascination that has shaped our scientific understanding; helped us navigate the terrestrial world; provided inspiration for our poets, artists and philosophers; and given us a place to project our hopes and fears. This is the story of the universe, and our place within it.
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Love is the Drug: The Chemical Future of Our Relationships
£20.00Love drugs and anti-love drugs exist and more powerful versions will be available in the near future: What are the ethics of using them, how will they affect society, and will they take the magic out of love? A cutting-edge book by two prominent ethicists on ‘love drugs’, and the implications they may have for us all.
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Enlightenment Now
£14.99One of the world’s greatest contemporary thinkers and author of ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’ (described by Bill Gates as ‘the most inspiring book I have ever read’) shows how to think afresh about the human condition and to meet the challenges that confront us. Is modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible? If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet Steven Pinker shows that this is an illusion – a symptom of historical amnesia and statistical fallacies.