The Idea of the Brain: A History. Matthew Cobb. Profile (2020)

 

The Idea of the Brain puts our current predicament in context and synthesizes much that needs attention. It is a very good book. It could have done more in a time when science is coming to terms with the limitations of the straight, white, wealthy, Western, non-disabled, male perspective. But I hope it provokes contemplation about why certain metaphors linger, where they come from, how they persist, and in what ways they burden us with the invisible assumptions of past cultures.

Source: www.nature.com

Imagine living in a city where people could move freely and buildings could be replaced at minimal cost. Reality cannot be further from such. Despite this imperfect world in which we live, urban planning has become integral and critical especially in the face of rapid urbanization in many developing and developed countries. This book introduces the axiomatic/experimental approach to urban planning and addresses the criticism of the lack of a theoretical foundation in urban planning.

With the rise of the complexity movement, the book is timely in its depiction of cities as complex systems and explains why planning from within is useful in the face of urban complexity. It also includes policy implications for the Chinese cities in the context of axiomatic/experimental planning theory.

Source: www.routledge.com

Edited by Alex Pentland, Alexander Lipton, and Thomas Hardjono

With each major crisis, be it war, pandemic, or major new technology, there has been a need to reinvent the relationships between individuals, businesses, and governments. Today’s pandemic, joined with the tsunami of data, crypto and AI technologies, is such a crisis. Consequently the critical question for today is: what sort institutions should we be creating both to help us past this crisis and to make us less vulnerable to the next crisis? This book lays out a vision of what we should build, covering not only how to reforge our societies’ social contract but also how institutions, systems, infrastructure, and law should change in support of this new order. We invite your comments and suggestions on both the ideas and the presentation, preferably by June 1, 2020 when we will move to make the book more widely available.

Source: wip.mitpress.mit.edu

Gary W. Miller

 

The Exposome: A New Paradigm for the Environment and Health, Second Edition, is a thoroughly expanded and updated edition of The Exposome: A Primer, the first book dedicated to the topic. This new release outlines the purpose and scope of this emerging field of study, its practical applications, and how it complements a broad range of disciplines. The book contains sections on -omics-based technologies, newer detection methods, managing and integrating exposome data (including maps, models, computation and systems biology), and more. Both students and scientists in toxicology, environmental health, epidemiology and public health will benefit from this rigorous, yet readable, overview.

This updated edition includes a more in-depth examination of the exposome, including full references, further reading and thought questions.

Source: www.elsevier.com