Utopias by
This volume contains a collection of texts that pertain to the notion of "utopia", examining the concept as a recurrent literary and theoretical trope and as it relates to contemporary artistic practice. Succinctly contextualized by Noble as an "impulse or tendency" rather than a place, "utopia" is examined from its earliest explicit articulation in Thomas Moore's 1516 eponymous text through its 19th-century entanglement with revolutionary aspirations in the work of Marx and Engels and its 20th-century negation in George Orwell's 1984.
Speculative Everything by
In Speculative Everything, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby propose a kind of design that is used as a tool to create not only things but ideas. For them, design is a means of speculating about how things could be—to imagine possible futures.
Designing Utopia: John Hargrave and the Kibbo Kift by
This is the first detailed account of the remarkable British writer and artist John Hargrave (1894-1982), and his three creations: The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift, The Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit and The Social Credit Party of Great Britain.
Utopia Toolbox: or Working on the Future: an Incitement to Radical Creativity by
Think of a hybrid between something like a how-to book and a theoretical framework that asks artists, designers, planners, architects and cultural producers to consider their actions in context. Utopia Toolbox contains an anthology of texts, quotations, interviews, documentation of art and design projects, and do-it-yourself actions and performances.
Abstracting Craft: the Practiced Digital Hand by
In this investigation of the possibility of craft in the digital realm, the author discusses the emergence of computation as a medium, rather than just a set of tools, suggesting a growing correspondence between digital work and traditional craft.
Emissaries Guide to Worlding by
Emissaries (2015-2017) is a trilogy of simulations about cognitive evolution, past and future, and the ecological conditions that shape it. Each simulation is centred on the life of an emissary who is caught between unravelling old realities and emerging weird ones. For artist Ian Cheng, the making of Emissaries became a lesson in Worlding--the unnatural art of creating an infinite game by choosing a present, storytelling its past, simulating its futures, and nurturing its changes.
Cruising Utopia: the Then and There of Queer Futurity by
In a startling repudiation of what the LGBT movement has held dear, Muñoz contends that queerness is instead a futurity bound phenomenon, a "not yet here" that critically engages pragmatic presentism. Part manifesto, part love-letter to the past and the future, Cruising Utopia argues that the here and now are not enough and issues an urgent call for the revivification of the queer political imagination.
Utopian Entrepreneur by
A heady hybrid of critical thinking, personal narrative, and economic analysis, Utopian Entrepreneur is a field manual for those who want to do socially positive work in the context of business.
The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by
Chef Dan Barber explores the evolution of American food from the "first plate," or industrially-produced, meat-heavy dishes, to the "second plate" of grass-fed meat and organic greens, and says that both of these approaches are ultimately neither sustainable nor healthy. Instead, Barber proposes Americans should move to the "third plate," a cuisine rooted in seasonal productivity, natural livestock rhythms, whole-grains, and small portions of free-range meat.
Fighting for the Future of Food by
Addresses society's understanding and trust (or mistrust) of technological innovation and the complexities of the global agricultural system that provides our food.
Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food by
This book argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture, genetic engineering and organic farming, is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner
Afrofuturism : The World of Black Sci-fi and Fantasy Culture by
Comprising elements of the avant-garde, science fiction, cutting-edge hip-hop, black comix, and graphic novels, Afrofuturism spans both underground and mainstream pop culture. This book introduces readers to the burgeoning artists creating Afrofuturist works, the history of innovators in the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and NK Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas ...
Envisioning the Future by
In this unique collection of fiction and essays, some of the best writers in the science fiction world explore our relationship to the future through the dual lens of science fiction and cultural studies, and provide a rich testament to the power of science fiction to help us re-imagine reality.
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements by
This book brings twenty of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.
Philosophy and Simulation: the Emergence of Synthetic Reason by
emergence in history -- The storm in the computer -- Cellular automata and patterns of flow -- Artificial chemistries and the prebiotic soup -- Genetic algorithms and the prebiotic soup -- Genetic algorithms and ancient organisms -- Neural nets and insect intelligence -- Neural nets and mammalian memory
An Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods by
1. Introduction -- 2. The Coffee Cooling Problem -- 3. The Motion of Falling Objects -- 4. The Two-Body Problem -- 5. Simple Linear and Nonlinear Systems -- 6. The Chaotic Motion of Dynamical Systems -- 7. Random Processes...
Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World by
he interaction of man and machine can make our lives easier. But what will the world look like when algorithms control our hospitals, our roads, our culture, and our national security? It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills--and maybe an advanced degree or two.
Experience on Demand: what virtual reality is, how it works, and what it can do by
Virtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, pushing the limits of our imagination and granting us access to any experience imaginable. With well-crafted simulations, these experiences, which are so immersive that the brain believes they're real, are already widely available with a VR headset and will only become more accessible and commonplace. But how does this new medium affect its users, and does it have a future beyond fantasy and escapism?
Hierarchical Linear Modeling by
Fundamentals of hierarchical linear (multilevel) modeling
Environmental Modeling: fate and transport of pollutants in water, air, and soil by
Transport Phenomena -- Chemical Reaction Kinetics -- Equilibrium Chemical Modeling -- Eutrophication of Lakes -- Conventional Pollutants in Rivers -- Toxic Organic Chemicals -- Modeling Trace Metals -- Groundwater Contamination -- Atmospheric Deposition and Biogeochemistry -- Global Change and Global Cycles
Systems Thinking for Social Change: a Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results by
By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work.
Change by Design: How Design Thinking Can Transform Organizations and Inspire Innovation by
Getting under your skin, or how design thinking is about more than style -- Converting need into demand, or putting people first -- A mental matrix, or-"these people have no process!" -- Building to think-the power of prototyping -- Returning to the surface-the design of experiences -- Spreading the message-the importance of storytelling
How to Make Collaboration Work; Powerful Ways to Build Consensus, Solve Problems, and Make Decisions by
The process of human problem solving -- Part II: the principles of collaboration -- Involve the relevant stakeholders -- Build consensus phase by phase -- Design a process map -- Designate a process facilitator -- Harness the power of group memory -- Part III: putting it all together -- Facilitative leadership -- Collaborative organizations
Making Things Work: Solving Complex Problems in a Complex World by
Today, as individuals and as a society, we are faced with highly complex challenges. When we don't solve them correctly they rapidly become crises. This book explains how we can use complex systems research to solve complex problems in: healthcare, education, military conflict, ethnic violence and terrorism, international development.
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by
A call-to-arms about the broken nature of artificial intelligence, and the powerful corporations that are turning the human-machine relationship on its head. The big nine corporations (Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM and Apple) may be inadvertently building and enabling vast arrays of intelligent systems that don't share our motivations, desires, or hopes for the future of humanity.
The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable by
For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know.
The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail--But Some Don't by
Human beings have to make plans and strategize for the future. As the pace of our lives becomes faster and faster, we have to do so more often and more quickly. But are our predictions any good? Is there hope for improvement? In this book the author examines the world of prediction, investigating how we can distinguish a true signal from a universe of noisy, ever-increasing data. Many predictions fail, often at great cost to society, because most of us have a poor understanding of probability and uncertainty.
Designing Regenerative Cultures by
The book asks how can we collaborate in the creation of diverse regenerative cultures adapted to the unique biocultural conditions of place? How can we create conditions conducive to life?
Abundance by
The authors document how four forces--exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion--are conspiring to solve our biggest problems. "Abundance" establishes hard targets for change and lays out a strategic roadmap for governments, industry and entrepreneurs, giving us plenty of reason for optimism.
Chances Are ...Adventures in Probability by
The twin disciplines of probability and statistics underpin every modern science and sketch the shape of all purposeful group activity--politics, economics, medicine, law, sports--giving humans a handle on the essential uncertainty of their existence.
Future and Its Enemies: the Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress by
Looking ahead into the next century, the author predicts a conflict between advocates of bureaucracy and the status quo and advocates of competition and choice.
Utopia Matters: from Brotherhoods to Bauhaus by
Catalog of the exhibition held at Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Jan. 23-April 11, 2010 and at Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, May 1-July 25, 2010.
Ian Cheng: Forking at Perfection by
The work of the American artist Ian Cheng (b. 1984, Los Angeles, lives in New York) explores the nature of mutation and people's capacity to relate to change. Drawing on principles of video game design, improvisation, and Darwinian brutality, Cheng has developed so-called 'live simulations, ' virtual living ecosystems that begin with basic programmed properties, but that are left to evolve without authorial control or aim. His simulations model the dynamics of often imaginary organisms and ecologies, but do so with the unforgiving causality found in nature itself.
Andrea Zittel Critical Space by
This first comprehensive publication on the influential contemporary artist focuses on the experimental nature of Andrea Zittel's signature objects, inhabitable sculptures, and other projects. In her work as an artist, Zittel investigates domestic and urban life in Western societies.
Superkilen : a project by BIG, TOPOTEK 1, SUPERFLEX by
Superkilen is a half a mile long urban space wedging through one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Denmark. It has one overarching idea that it is conceived as a giant exhibition of urban best practice – a sort of collection of global found objects that come from 60 different nationalities of the people inhabiting the area surrounding it.
Utopia Forever: Visions of Architecture and Urbanism by
The cities in which we live today are unfortunately not the cities that we need for a humane and sustainable tomorrow. Because societies and politicians are desperately looking for solutions and ideas for the urban areas of the future, explorations of utopias and radical approaches to city planning have become the predominant themes in contemporary architecture. Utopia Forever, conceived by Lukas Feireiss, is a collection of current projects and concepts from architecture, city planning, urbanism, and art that point beyond the restrictions of the factual to unleash the potential of creative visions.
Utopia or Oblivion: The Prospects for Humanity by
A provocative and challenging blueprint for the future by one of the world's leading philosopher-scientists.
The Spirit of Utopia by
I am. We are.That is enough. Now we have to start.These are the opening words of Ernst Bloch’s first major work, The Spirit of Utopia, written mostly in 1915-16
Utopia by
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More, written in Latin and published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs.
Brave New World by
Huxley's vision of the future comes to life in his astonishing 1931 novel Brave New World--a world of tomorrow in which capitalist civilization has been reconstituted through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering--and its sequel, written thirty years after his classic novel of the future, in which Huxley describes the shocking scientific devices and techniques available to any group in a position to manipulate society.
1984 by
The classic science fiction story of a society in which "Big Brother" is always watching everyone's actions.
Fahrenheit 451 by
In a society in which books are outlawed, Montag, a regimented fireman in charge of burning the forbidden volumes, meets a revolutionary school teacher who dares to read. Suddenly he finds himself a hunted fugitive, forced to choose not only between two women, but between personal safety and intellectual freedom.
The Handmaid's Tale by
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, originally published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a totalitarian state resembling a theonomy that overthrows the United States government. The novel focuses on the journey of the handmaid Offred.
In America by
In 1876 a group of Poles led by Maryna Zalewska, Poland's greatest actress, travel to California to found a "utopian" commune. Maryna, who has renounced her career, is accompanied by her small son and husband; in her entourage is a rising young writer who is in love with her.
Inventions That Didn't Change the World by
A selection of impractical and improbable nineteenth-century inventions includes technical illustrations for such devices as a mustache protector, a top hat ventilator, and a rotary hair brushing machine
IDEO Method Cards
Keep people at the center of your work! Ask them how to help. Look at what they do. Learn from the facts you gather. Try it yourself! Ideo has become a leader in design by keeping people at the center of the design process. Each card describes one method and includes a brief story about how and when to use it. This is not a "how to" guide. It's a design tool meant to help you explore new approaches and develop your own. Use the deck to take a new view, to inspire creativity, and to communicate. The cards are divided into four categories: Learn, Look, Ask, and Try, making it easy to reference, browse, sort, and share the cards.
Responsible Object: a History of Design Ideology for the Future by
Today, in an economic system that revolves around producing and consuming these objects, we are starting to review their role in a series of challenges that lie ahead of us. In the design discipline, sustainability and social responsibility have become prolific epithets, generating new products, materials, and technologies, designed to change the course of our future.
The Evolution of Useful Things by
Throughout the book familiar objects serve to illustrate the general principles behind the evolution of all products of invention and engineering.
Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by
Pronged ants, horned humans, a landscape carved on a fruit pit--some of the displays in David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology are hoaxes. But which ones? As he guides readers through an intellectual hall of mirrors, Lawrence Weschler revisits the 16th-century "wonder cabinets" that were the first museums and compels readers to examine the imaginative origins of both art and science.
In Flagrante Collecto: Caught in the Act of Collecting by
According to author Marilynn Gelfman Karp, collecting is a calling; and those who are driven to collect unloved objects are the purest collectors of all. In this literary and sophisticated celebration of humble objects, Karp shares her passionate insights on what she calls the "rapture of the capture."
Cabinets of Curiosities by
Unicorns’ horns, mermaids’ skeletons, stuffed and preserved animals and plants, work in precious metals, clocks, scientific instruments, celestial globes . . . all knowledge, the whole cosmos arranged on shelves. Such were the cabinets of curiosities of the seventeenth century, the last period of history when one could aspire to know everything.
A History of the World in 100 Objects by
Traces the stories of one hundred human innovations to explain their pivotal role in shaping civilization, from weapons and the domestication of cows to currency and music.
Oracles of Nostradamus by
In this book, first published in 1891, he attempts to unravel the ancient seer's complex, often nonsensical, poetry so that all can clearly understand the man's genius. Ward strongly believed in the accuracy of Nostradamus's predictions, and it was his scholarly opinion that the mystic's visions were written in clear prose first, then arranged as poetry to safeguard the world from their power.
When Prophecy Fails by
When Prophecy Fails is a classic text in social psychology that chronicles the experience of a UFO cult that believed the end of the world was at hand. In effect, it is a social and psychological study of a modern group that predicted the destruction of the world, and the adjustments made when the prediction failed to materialize.
Ouija Board
Llewellyn's Complete Book of Tarot by
Discover basic reading techniques for a wide variety of systems, including Marseilles, Rider-Waite, and Thoth. Identify the meaning of associations, correspondences, reversals, and dignities, and experience the ways that tarot interacts with astrology and personal spirituality.
The City, Seen as a Garden of Ideas by
The City, Seen as a Garden of Ideas is a survey of Peter Cook's career-long project to reinvigorate the city as we know it. A series of meditations on contemporary urban conditions in cities as diverse as Tokyo, Edinburgh, Houston, and Santa Monica, this volume also functions as an informal memoir in which Cook reveals the influences and motivations behind his seminal works for Archigram in the 1960s and early '70s, as well as more recent projects such as the biomorphic Kunsthaus, a contemporary-art exhibition space in Graz, Austria
X and the City: Modeling Aspects of Urban Life by
X and the City, a book of diverse and accessible math-based topics, uses basic modeling to explore a wide range of entertaining questions about urban life. How do you estimate the number of dental or doctor's offices, gas stations, restaurants, or movie theaters in a city of a given size? How can mathematics be used to maximize traffic flow through tunnels? Can you predict whether a traffic light will stay green long enough for you to cross the intersection? And what is the likelihood that your city will be hit by an asteroid? Filled with interesting and unusual observations about how cities work, X and the City shows how mathematics undergirds and plays an important part in the metropolitan landscape.
Riding the Rapids: Urban Life in an Age of Complexity / Charles Landry by
Building Futures was established in April 2002 as a joint initiative between CABE and RIBA to create space for discussion about the needs of society from our built environment and consequently, the built environment professions in twenty years and beyond.
Spaces of Commoning: Artistic Research and the Utopia of the Everyday by
paces of Commoning: Artistic Research and the Utopia of the Everyday' is the outcome of a research project pursued by a group of artists, architects, and social theorists, who, in the face of exhilarating politics of accumulation and dispossession, explore commoning as the subject as well as the means of their collective study.
Sustainable Urban Design: an Environmental Approach by
Sustainable Urban Design, 2nd Edition addresses the issues faced by planners and designers in making these areas environmentally sustainable
Sentient City: ubiquitous computing, architecture, and the future of urban space by 
Ideal Cities: Utopianism and the (Un)built Environment by
Ideal cities, or utopias, have been imagined in dazzling detail by philosophers, poets, architects, social reformers, religious zealots, and artists for more than two millennia, an abiding and ever-evolving vision Eaton cogently surveys in this illustrated history.
The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City by
The author, an urbanologist, takes us to cities across the country to reveal how the roles of America's cities and suburbs are changing places; young adults and affluent retirees moving in, while immigrants and the less affluent are moving out, and the implications for the future of our society.
The Future of Public Space by 
Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by
fter freakishly fortelling the death of a friend, 17 year old Luke become big news in his tiny hometown. Terrified, he holds everyone at arm's length as he lurches through a personal minefield studded with existential ponderings, Christian fundamentalism, a missing teen's frantic mother, and a dream girl who isn't his.
Everything Matters! by
Junior Thibodeau grows up in rural Maine in a time of Atari, baseball cards, pop Catholicism, and cocaine. He also knows something no one else knows: The world will end when he is thirty-six. While Junior searches for meaning in a doomed world, his loved ones tell an all-American family saga of fathers and sons, blinding romance, lost love, and reconciliation-culminating in one final triumph that reconfigures the universe.
The Regional Office Is under Attack! by
When a prophecy suggests that an insider might bring about the downfall of a powerful underground organization known as the Regional Office, devoted recruit Sarah and young assassin Rose find their respective lives clashing in a dispute that threatens everything they know.
Good Omens by
The world is going to end next Saturday, but there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the representatives from heaven and hell decide that they like the human race.
Playing at the World: a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games by
The invention of role-playing games serves as a touchstone for exploring the ways that the literary concept of character, the lure of fantastic adventure and the principles of gaming combined into the signature cultural innovation of the late twentieth century
First Person: new media as story, performance, and game by
The relationship between story and game, and related questions of electronic writing and play, is examined through a series of discussions among new media creators and theorists.
War Play: Video Games and the Future of Armed Conflict by
A behind-the-scenes look at how the military uses cutting-edge video game technology to train soldiers for new forms of armed conflict, treat veterans, and entice new recruits.
A Brief History of Video Games by
A Brief History of Video Games" offers a global perspective on gaming s past and its cutting-edge future with the evolution of virtual reality, 3D graphics, and thought-interface technology. It also addresses the design process from concept to packaging, considers the influence of manga and anime, and explores the relationship between video games and movies.
Techno Textiles 2: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design by
Here are textiles for a new world: fabrics that shrink or expand to the desired size; textiles developed from carbon, steel, glass, and ceramics; materials that protect the wearer from environmental extremes on earth and in space.
