{"title":"Mit Press Essential Knowledge","description":"\u003cp\u003eNavigate complex ideas with the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series. These concise, accessible books offer authoritative introductions to crucial subjects, perfect for curious minds seeking clarity and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ketamine-book-bita-moghaddam-9780262542241","title":"Ketamine","description":"The emergence of ketamine--previously known as a combat anesthetic and club drug--as a treatment for depression.  Ketamine, approved in 2019 by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of depression, has been touted by scientists and media reports as something approaching a miracle cure. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series chronicles the ascent of a drug that has been around for fifty years--in previous incarnations, a Vietnam-era combat anesthetic and a popular club drug--that has now been reinvented as a treatment for depression. Bita Moghaddam, a leading researcher in neuropharmacology, explains the scientific history and the biology of ketamine, its clinical use, and its recently discovered antidepressant effects, for the nonspecialist reader.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49614814806289,"sku":"GOR013302710","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49738950934801,"sku":"NGR9780262542241","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50283997757713,"sku":"CIN0262542242VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347462525201,"sku":"CIN0262542242G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000622809361,"sku":"NIN9780262542241","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262542242.jpg?v=1751356754"},{"product_id":"science-fiction-book-sherryl-vint-9780262539999","title":"Science Fiction","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow science fiction has been a tool for understanding and living through rapid technological change.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe world today seems to be slipping into a science fiction future. We have phones that speak to us, cars that drive themselves, and connected devices that communicate with each other in languages we don't understand. Depending the news of the day, we inhabit either a technological utopia or \u003ci\u003eBrave New World \u003c\/i\u003enightmare. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge surveys the uses of science fiction. It focuses on what is at the core of all definitions of science fiction: a vision of the world made otherwise and what possibilities might flow from such otherness.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49738902765841,"sku":"NGR9780262539999","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49884639133969,"sku":"CIN0262539993G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000606064913,"sku":"NIN9780262539999","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51323077722385,"sku":"CIN0262539993VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262539993.jpg?v=1751070390"},{"product_id":"the-technological-singularity-cd-9781469095899","title":"The Technological Singularity","description":"The idea that human history is approaching a singularity -- that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both -- has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop at its current dizzying rate, the singularity could come about in the middle of the present century. Murray Shanahan offers an introduction to the idea of the singularity and considers the ramifications of such a potentially seismic event. Shanahan's aim is not to make predictions but rather to investigate a range of scenarios. Whether we believe that singularity is near or far, likely or impossible, apocalypse or utopia, the very idea raises crucial philosophical and pragmatic questions, forcing us to think seriously about what we want as a species. Shanahan describes technological advances in AI, both biologically inspired and engineered from scratch. Once human-level AI -- theoretically possible, but difficult to accomplish -- has been achieved, he explains, the transition to superintelligent AI could be very rapid. Shanahan considers what the existence of superintelligent machines could mean for such matters as personhood, responsibility, rights, and identity. Some superhuman AI agents might be created to benefit humankind; some might go rogue. (Is Siri the template, or HAL?) The singularity presents both an existential threat to humanity and an existential opportunity for humanity to transcend its limitations. Shanahan makes it clear that we need to imagine both possibilities if we want to bring about the better outcome.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50376911126801,"sku":"CIN1469095890VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1469095890.jpg?v=1751242573"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/mit-press-essential-knowledge-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}