John Brockman has 6 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 14 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 28 ratings. The most-rated is This Idea Is Brilliant.
This Idea Is Brilliant
Summary
The latest volume in the best-selling series from Edge.org - dubbed "the world's smartest website" by The Guardian - brings together 206 of the world's most innovative thinkers to discuss the scientific concepts that everyone should know. As science informs public policy, decision making, and so many aspects of our everyday lives, a scientifically literate society is crucial. In that spirit, Edge.org publisher and author of Know This, John Brockman, asks 206 of the world's most brilliant minds the 2017 Edge Question: What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known? Contributors include: author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins on using animals' "Genetic Book of the Dead" to reconstruct ecological history; MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on "scientific realism", the idea that scientific theories explain phenomena beyond what we can see and touch; author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics Carlo Rovelli on "relative information", which governs the physical world around us; theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss on the hidden blessings of "uncertainty"; cognitive scientist and author of The Language Instinct Steven Pinker on "The Second Law of Thermodynamics"; biogerontologist Aubrey De Grey on why "maladaptive traits" have been conserved evolutionarily; musician Brian Eno on "confirmation bias" in the Internet age; Man Booker-winning author of Atonement Ian Mcewan on the "Navier-Stokes Equations", which govern everything from weather prediction to aircraft design and blood flow; plus pieces from Richard Thaler, Jared Diamond, Nicholas Carr, Janna Levin, Lisa Randall, Kevin Kelly, Daniel Coleman, Frank Wilczek, Rory Sutherland, Nina Jablonski, Martin Rees, Alison Gopnik, and many, many others.
©2018 Edge Foundation, Inc. (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
This Will Make You Smarter
Summary
What scientific concept would improve everybody's cognitive toolkit? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the world's most influential thinkers. Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world. This Will Make You Smarter features Daniel Kahneman on the “focusing illusion”; Jonah Lehrer on controlling attention; Richard Dawkins on experimentation; Aubrey De Grey on conquering our fear of the unknown; Martin Seligman on the ingredients of well-being; Nicholas Carr on managing “cognitive load”; Steven Pinker on win-win negotiating; Daniel C. Dennett on benefiting from cycles; Jaron Lanier on resisting delusion; Frank Wilczek on the brain's hidden layers; Clay Shirky on the “80/20 rule”; Daniel Goleman on understanding our connection to the natural world; V. S. Ramachandran on paradigm shifts; Matt Ridley on tapping collective intelligence; John McWhorter on path dependence; Lisa Randall on effective theorizing; Brian Eno on “ecological vision”; Richard Thaler on rooting out false concepts; J. Craig Venter on the multiple possible origins of life; Helen Fisher on temperament; Sam Harris on the flow of thought; and Lawrence Krauss on living with uncertainty.
©2012 Edge Foundation, Incorporated (P)2013 Tantor
What Should We Be Worried About?
Summary
Drawing from the horizons of science, today's leading thinkers reveal the hidden threats nobody is talking about - and expose the false fears everyone else is distracted by. What should we be worried about? That is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the planet's most influential minds. He asked them to disclose something that, for scientific reasons, worries them - particularly scenarios that aren't on the popular radar yet. Encompassing neuroscience, economics, philosophy, physics, psychology, biology, and more - here are 150 ideas that will revolutionize your understanding of the world.
©2014 Edge Foundation, Inc. (P)2014 Tantor
Life
Summary
Scientists' understanding of life is progressing more rapidly than at any point in human history, from the extraordinary decoding of DNA to the controversial emergence of biotechnology. Featuring pioneering biologists, geneticists, physicists, and science writers, Life explains just how far we've come - and takes a brilliantly educated guess at where we're heading. Richard Dawkins and J. Craig Venter compare genes to digital information and sketch the frontiers of genomic research. Edward O. Wilson reveals what ants can teach us about building a superorganism - and, in turn, about how cells build an organism. Elsewhere, David Haig reports new findings on how mothers and fathers individually influence the human genome while Kary Mullis covers cutting-edge treatments for dangerous viruses. And there's much more in this fascinating volume. We may never have all the answers. But the thinkers collected in Life are asking questions that will keep us dreaming for generations.
©2016 John Brockman (P)2016 Tantor
The Next Fifty Years
Summary
A brilliant ensemble of the world's most visionary scientists provides 25 original never-before-published essays about the advances in science and technology that we may see within our lifetimes.Theoretical physicist and best selling author Paul Davies examines the likelihood that by the year 2050 we will be able to establish a continuing human presence on Mars. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigates the ramifications of engineering high-IQ, genetically happy babies.Psychiatrist Nancy Etcoff explains current research into the creation of emotion-sensing jewelry that could gauge our moods and tell us when to take an anti-depressant pill. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explores the probability that we will soon be able to obtain a genome printout that predicts our natural end for the same cost as a chest x-ray. (Will we want to read it? And will insurance companies and governments have access to it?) This fascinating and unprecedented book explores not only the practical possibilities of the near future, but also the social and political ramifications of the developments of the strange new world to come.Includes original essays by: Lee Smolin, Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, Brian Goodwin, Marc D. Hauser, Alison Gopnik, Paul Bloom, Geoffrey Miller, Robert M. Sapolsky, Steven Strogatz, Stuart Kauffman, John H. Holland, Rodney Brooks, Peter Atkins, Roger C. Schank, Jaron Lanier, David Gelernter, Joseph LeDoux, Judith Rich Harris, Samuel Barondes, and Paul W. Ewald.The Next Fifty Years is also available in print from Vintage.
©2002 Vintage Books (P)2002 Random House, Inc.
What Do You Think About Machines That Think?
Summary
As the world becomes ever more dominated by technology, John Brockman's latest addition to the acclaimed and best-selling Edge Question Series asks more than 175 leading scientists, philosophers, and artists: What do you think about machines that think? The development of artificial intelligence has been a source of fascination and anxiety ever since Alan Turing formalized the concept in 1950. Today, Stephen Hawking believes that AI "could spell the end of the human race". At the very least, its development raises complicated moral issues with powerful real-world implications - for us and for our machines. In this volume, recording artist Brian Eno proposes that we're already part of an AI: global civilization, or what TED curator Chris Anderson elsewhere calls the hive mind. And author Pamela McCorduck considers what drives us to pursue AI in the first place. On the existential threat posed by superintelligent machines, Steven Pinker questions the likelihood of a robot uprising. Douglas Coupland traces discomfort with human-programmed AI to deeper fears about what constitutes "humanness". Martin Rees predicts the end of organic thinking while Daniel C. Dennett explains why he believes the Singularity might be an urban legend. Provocative, enriching, and accessible, What Do You Think About Machines That Think? may just be a practical guide to the not-so-distant future.
©2015 Edge Foundation, Inc. (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers