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  Investigating the Supernatural -...

  Sofie Lachapelle

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  “A convincing account of science’s flirtation with the marginal and the marvelous” from the author of Conjuring Science (Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences). 
   
  Séances were wildly popular in France between 1850 and 1930, when members of the general public and scholars alike turned to the wondrous as a means of understanding and explaining the world. Sofie Lachapelle explores how five distinct groups attempted to use and legitimize séances: spiritists, who tried to create a new “science” concerned with the spiritual realm and the afterlife; occultists, who hoped to connect ancient revelations with contemporary science; physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists, who developed a pathology of supernatural experiences; psychical researchers, who drew on the unexplained experiences of the public to create a new field of research; and metapsychists, who attempted to develop a new science of yet-to-be understood natural forces. 
   
  An enlightening and entertaining narrative that includes colorful people like “Allan Kardec”—a pseudonymous former mathematics teacher from Lyon who wrote successful works on the science of the séance and what happened after death—Investigating the Supernatural reveals the rich and vibrant diversity of unorthodox beliefs and practices that existed at the borders of the French scientific culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 
   
  “What is science? . . . In her engaging book, Sophie Lachapelle probes for an answer by looking at the liminal realm between science and superstition and the attempt to render the supernatural explicable in naturalistic terms.” —Isis 
   
  “A welcome addition to the growing literature on spiritism, occultism and physical research in modern France.” —French History

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  Over My Head - A Doctor's Own...

  Claudia L. Osborn

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  This physician’s “inspiring” account of overcoming a devastating brain injury “will assist patients, families, and friends enduring the same difficulties” (Library Journal).   Locked inside a brain-injured head looking out at a challenging world is the premise of this extraordinary memoir chronicling the long process of adjustment and rehabilitation after a fateful, helmetless bike ride. In Over My Head, Claudia Osborn, a doctor and clinical professor of medicine, recounts coming to terms with the loss of her identity and the courageous steps (and hilarious missteps) she took while learning to rebuild her life.   For years, Osborn was deprived of the career she loved and the intellectual companionship of her professional colleagues—and the ability to handle the simplest undertakings like shopping for groceries or sorting the mail. Her progression from confusion, dysfunction, and alienation to a full, happy life is told here with restraint, great style, and considerable humor.   “Exceptionally well-written and engaging.” —Publishers Weekly

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  Design for Cognitive Bias

  David Dylan Thomas

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  We humans are messy, illogical creatures who like to imagine we’re in control—but we blithely let our biases lead us astray. In Design for Cognitive Bias, David Dylan Thomas lays bare the irrational forces that shape our everyday decisions and, inevitably, inform the experiences we craft. Once we grasp the logic powering these forces, we stand a fighting chance of confronting them, tempering them, and even harnessing them for good. Come along on a whirlwind tour of the cognitive biases that encroach on our lives and our work, and learn to start designing more consciously. 
  THIS BOOK EXPLORES:Why our brains take shortcuts—and why that matters in our workHow bias influences everything from user behavior to stakeholder decision-making to team dynamicsTechniques for noticing your own biases, and using them for good where you canMaking more humane and conscientious products and experiences

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  Practice the Pause - Jesus'...

  Caroline Oakes

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  These days, many of us live in a state of overreactive fight-or-flight response and chronic stress. The demands of modern life pull us in all directions and can often put the meaningful connections in our lives at risk—connections to our deepest selves, to others, and even to God.But there is good news. New developments in brain science have recently proven that an intentional practice of pausing for a few minutes of meditation, prayer, or other contemplative practice actually rewires our brain in ways that make us calmer, less reactive, and better able to see the bigger picture.In Practice the Pause, spiritual director and writer Caroline Oakes offers easy-to-understand explanations of how this new brain science is confirming what every spiritual tradition has been telling us for millennia: by practicing the pause, we become more self-aware and better able to understand others. We become more "God aware." With a refreshing focus on the Eastern Christian understanding of Jesus as a master of wisdom, Oakes shines a spotlight on Jesus's own centering pause practice as a transformative path for personal and social change. We learn that even a seven-second pause practice can move us beyond the fight-or-flight responses of our ego in our daily lives and actually equip us to cultivate the common good in the world.

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  Artificial Intelligence

  Introbooks Team

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  There is no definition of artificial intelligence (AI), but several. Ia is to make computers think like humans or that are as intelligent as humans. Thus, the ultimate goal of the research on this topic is to develop a machine that can simulate some human skills and to replace them with some activities. 
  Artificial intelligence is part of the Computer Science studies. The programs use the same language of conventional systems, but with a different logic. There are several ways to do this program. In some cases, the intelligent system operates with a simple logic - if the question is x, y is the answer. In other cases, such as studies on neural networks, the machine tries to reproduce the functioning of human neurons, where the information will be transmitted from one cell to another and combined with other data to arrive at a solution. 
  There are several branches of study in intelligent systems, each one dedicated to a particular aspect of human behavior. For example, some robots study and worry about the driving part. Other areas have addressed speech, with the goal of creating machines that can talk, understand the language and their meanings. The professor also claims that all research is highly specialized, and therefore no one is engaged in building a machine that reproduces the human being in its entirety - as in science fiction movies. Also, for this reason, robot production is very unlikely to become more intelligent than humans and can be "rebel". Many experts do not see the possibility of Android similar to man. There are studies that try to make the computer be able to learn, but even so, he still not aware of the world. Follow this e-book some of the major and controversial issues around the Artificial Intelligence.

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  The Wind in the Willows

  Kenneth Grahame

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  This much-loved story follows a group of animal friends in the English countryside as they pursue adventure … and as adventure pursues them! The chief characters - Mole, Rat, and Toad - generally lead upbeat and happy lives, but their tales are leavened with moments of terror, homesickness, awe, madcap antics, and derring-do.Although classed as children’s literature, The Wind in the Willows holds a gentle fascination for adults too. The vocabulary is decidedly not “Dick and Jane”, and a reader with a love of words will find new ones to treasure, even if well-equipped for the journey. Parents will appreciate the themes of loyalty, manners, self-restraint, and comradeship which are evident throughout the book. When the characters err, they are prompt to acknowlege it, and so a reading of this book can model good behavior to children, who will otherwise be enchanted with the many ways in which the lives of these bucolic characters differ from modern life.This book was so successful that it enabled the author to retire from banking and take up a country life somewhat like that of his creations. It has been adapted for screen, stage, and even a ride at the original Disneyland.(Summary by Mark F. Smith)

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