Bøker utgitt av MIT Press Ltd

How a generation of tech-savvy young Cambodians is restoring historical media artifacts from before the war—and, in the process, helping to repair the Khmer Rouge’s cultural destruction.During the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979), an estimated quarter to a third of the Cambodian population perished from execution, starvation, or disease. The regime especially targeted artists and intellectuals and their work, including films, photographs, and audio recordings. In Media Ruins, Margaret Jack charts the critical role of media in the historical political landscape of Cambodia as well as in its post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. Along the way, Jack tells the remarkable stories of resourceful Cambodians in the decades that followed the end of the regime—those who worked to reconstruct their country’s media infrastructure and restore their damaged cultural heritage.Jack describes the crucial role that media has played in helping the nation grapple with the traumas of its past and imagine brighter futures. She explores how tech-savvy Cambodian media creators have engaged in practices of infrastructural restitution—work that is both emotionally cathartic and politically vital. She also examines the ways these media creators have used digital tools to restore and disseminate lost media artifacts, while embracing an aesthetic of material decay as a visible reminder of loss. As these creators reconcile with the past, they are also finding ways to navigate the country’s increasingly authoritarian media landscape. Bringing media and technology studies into conversation with trauma and memory studies, the book provides a unique, and necessary, perspective on post-conflict reconstruction.

An introduction to how neuroethology can inform the development of robots controlled by synaptic networks instead of algorithms, from a pioneer in biorobotics.The trait most fundamental to the evolution of animals is the capability to adapt to novel circumstances in unpredictable environments. Recent advances in biomimetics have made it feasible to construct robots modeled on such unsupervised autonomous behavior, and animal models provide a library of existence proofs. Filling an important gap in the field, this introductory textbook illuminates how neurobiological principles can inform the development of robots that are controlled by synaptic networks, as opposed to algorithms. Joseph Ayers provides a comprehensive overview of the sensory and motor systems of a variety of model biological systems and shows how their behaviors may be implemented in artificial systems, such as biomimetic robots.  Introduces the concept of biological intelligence as applied to robots, building a strategy for autonomy based on the neuroethology of simple animal modelsProvides a mechanistic physiological framework for the control of innate behaviorIllustrates how biomimetic vehicles can be operated in the field persistently and adaptivelyDeveloped by a pioneer in biorobotics with decades of teaching experienceProven in the classroom Suitable for professionals and researchers as well as undergraduate and graduate students in cognitive science and computer science

The first comprehensive guide to distributional reinforcement learning, providing a new mathematical formalism for thinking about decisions from a probabilistic perspective.Distributional reinforcement learning is a new mathematical formalism for thinking about decisions. Going beyond the common approach to reinforcement learning and expected values, it focuses on the total reward or return obtained as a consequence of an agent's choices—specifically, how this return behaves from a probabilistic perspective. In this first comprehensive guide to distributional reinforcement learning, Marc G. Bellemare, Will Dabney, and Mark Rowland, who spearheaded development of the field, present its key concepts and review some of its many applications. They demonstrate its power to account for many complex, interesting phenomena that arise from interactions with one's environment.The authors present core ideas from classical reinforcement learning to contextualize distributional topics and include mathematical proofs pertaining to major results discussed in the text. They guide the reader through a series of algorithmic and mathematical developments that, in turn, characterize, compute, estimate, and make decisions on the basis of the random return. Practitioners in disciplines as diverse as finance (risk management), computational neuroscience, computational psychiatry, psychology, macroeconomics, and robotics are already using distributional reinforcement learning, paving the way for its expanding applications in mathematical finance, engineering, and the life sciences. More than a mathematical approach, distributional reinforcement learning represents a new perspective on how intelligent agents make predictions and decisions.

How notions of progress, beauty, and cultural superiority structured the genre of nineteenth-century world histories of architecture—and shaped the discipline as we know it today.The nineteenth century saw the emergence of a new genre of architectural writing: the grand history of world architecture. This genre often expressed a deeply Eurocentric worldview, largely dismissing non-Western architecture through narratives of historical progress and stylistic beauty. Yet even as nineteenth-century historians worked to construct an exclusive architectural canon, they were engaged in constant debate over its categories and constraints. Narrating the Globe traces the emergence of this historical canon, exposing the questions and problems that prompted the canon’s very formation.Bringing together architectural historians from around the world, this collection of essays—the first comprehensive examination of the nineteenth-century architectural history survey as a literary genre—includes overviews of the origins and legacy of the global architecture survey genre, as well as close examinations of key works, including books by lesser-known but intriguing authors such as Louisa C. Tuthill, Christian L. Stieglitz, and Daniel Ramée, and the more famous surveys by James Fergusson, Franz Kugler, Banister Fletcher, and Auguste Choisy. Narrating the Globe is an illuminating read for anyone interested in architectural history’s long, complex, and often tendentious trajectory.

Interdisciplinary essays on music psychology that integrate scientific, humanistic, and artistic ways of knowing in transformative ways.Researchers using scientific methods and approaches to advance our understanding of music and musicality have not yet grappled with some of the perils that humanistic fields concentrating on music have long articulated. In this edited volume, established and emerging researchers—neuroscientists and cognitive scientists, musicians, historical musicologists, and ethnomusicologists—build bridges between humanistic and scientific approaches to music studies, particularly music psychology. Deftly edited by Elizabeth H. Margulis, Psyche Loui, and Deirdre Loughridge, The Science-Music Borderlands embodies how sustained interaction among disciplines can lead to a richer understanding of musical life.The essays in this volume provide the scientific study of music with its first major reckoning, exploring the intellectual history of the field and its central debates, while charting a path forward.The Science-Music Borderlands is essential reading for music scholars from any disciplinary background. It will also interest those working at the intersection of music and science, such as music teachers, performers, composers, and music therapists.Contributors:Manuel Anglada-Tort, Salwa El-Sawan Castelo-Branco, Hu Chuan-Peng, Laura K. Cirelli, Alexander W. Cowan, Jonathan De Souza, Diana Deutsch, Diandra Duengen, Sarah Faber, Steven Feld, Shinya Fujii, Assal Habibi, Erin. E. Hannon, Shantala Hegde, Beatriz Ilari, Jason Jabbour, Nori Jacoby, Haley E. Kragness, Grace Leslie, Casey Lew-Williams, Deirdre Loughridge, Psyche Loui, Diana Mangalagiu, Elizabeth H. Margulis, Randy McIntosh, Rita McNamara, Eduardo Reck Miranda, Daniel Müllensiefen, Rachel Mundy, Florence Ewomazino Nweke, Patricia Opondo, Aniruddh D. Patel, Andrea Ravignani, Carmel Raz, Matthew Sachs, Marianne Sarfati, Patrick E. Savage, Huib Schippers, Jim Sykes, Gary Tomlinson, Jamal Williams, Maria A. G. Witek, Pamela Z

How to understand the mistakes we make about those on the other side of the political spectrum—and how they drive the affective polarization that is tearing us apart.It’s well known that the political divide in the United States—particularly between Democrats and Republicans—has grown to alarming levels in recent decades. Affective polarization—emotional polarization, or the hostility between the parties—has reached an unprecedented fever pitch. In Undue Hate, Daniel F. Stone tackles the biases undergirding affective polarization head-on. Stone explains why we often develop objectively false, and overly negative, beliefs about the other side—causing us to dislike them more than we should.Approaching affective polarization through the lens of behavioral economics, Undue Hate is unique in its use of simple mathematical concepts and models to illustrate how we misjudge those we disagree with, for both political and nonpolitical issues. Stone argues that while our biases may vary, just about all of us unwisely exacerbate conflict at times—managing to make ourselves worse off in the long run. Finally, the book offers both short- and long-term solutions for tempering our bias and limiting its negative consequences—and, just maybe, finding a way back to understanding one another before it is too late.

A systematic theory of DIY electronic culture, drawn from a century of artists who have independently built creative technologies.Since the rise of Arduino and 3D printing in the mid-2000s, do-it-yourself approaches to the creative exploration of technology have surged in popularity. But the maker movement is not new: it is a historically significant practice in contemporary art and design. This book documents, tracks, and identifies a hundred years of innovative DIY technology practices, illustrating how the maker movement is a continuation of a long-standing creative electronic subculture. Through this comprehensive exploration, Garnet Hertz develops a theory and language of creative DIY electronics, drawing from diverse examples of contemporary art, including work from renowned electronic artists such as Nam June Paik and such art collectives as Survival Research Laboratories and the Barbie Liberation Front. Hertz uncovers the defining elements of electronic DIY culture, which often works with limited resources to bring new life to obsolete objects while engaging in a critical dialogue with consumer capitalism. Whether hacking blackboxed technologies or deploying culture jamming techniques to critique commercial labor practices or gender norms, the artists have found creative ways to make personal and political statements through creative technologies. The wide range of innovative works and practices profiled in Art + DIY Electronics form a general framework for DIY culture and help inspire readers to get creative with their own adaptations, fabrications, and reimaginations of everyday technologies.

A comprehensive theoretical and practical guide to the operating principles of knowledge auditing, illustrated with numerous case studies.A knowledge audit provides an “at a glance” view of an organization's needs and opportunities. Its purpose is to improve an organization's effectiveness through a better understanding of the dynamics and levers of knowledge production, access, and use. However, this developing field is hampered by the lack of a common language about the origins and nature of knowledge auditing. In Principles of Knowledge Auditing, Patrick Lambe integrates the theory and practices of the field, laying out principles and guidelines for a clearer and more pragmatic approach to knowledge auditing that makes it more accessible to practitioners and researchers.Lambe examines knowledge auditing in the context of the development of communications, information, and knowledge management in the twentieth century. He critiques and clarifies ambiguities in how knowledge audits are approached and described, as well as how the results are conveyed within organizations. He discusses the benefits and risks of knowledge management standards. Knowledge auditors, he says, need a common frame of reference more than they need standards. Standards have their uses, but they provide only markers and sign posts and are poor representations of the richness of the landscape. He concludes with a set of guiding principles for practitioners.

"A series of black-and-white photographs by Roswell Angier, paired with occasional paintings by his wife, the artist Susan Hawley, which explore the town of Gallup, New Mexico, shot largely over a three-year period in the 1980s"--

The first years of the company that developed the microchip and created the model for a successful Silicon Valley start-up.In the first three and a half years of its existence, Fairchild Semiconductor developed, produced, and marketed the device that would become the fundamental building block of the digital world: the microchip. Founded in 1957 by eight former employees of the Schockley Semiconductor Laboratory, Fairchild created the model for a successful Silicon Valley start-up: intense activity with a common goal, close collaboration, and a quick path to the market (Fairchild's first device hit the market just ten months after the company's founding). Fairchild Semiconductor was one of the first companies financed by venture capital, and its success inspired the establishment of venture capital firms in the San Francisco Bay area. These firms would finance the explosive growth of Silicon Valley over the next several decades. This history of the early years of Fairchild Semiconductor examines the technological, business, and social dynamics behind its innovative products. The centerpiece of the book is a collection of documents, reproduced in facsimile, including the company's first prospectus; ideas, sketches, and plans for the company's products; and a notebook kept by cofounder Jay Last that records problems, schedules, and tasks discussed at weekly meetings. A historical overview, interpretive essays, and an introduction to semiconductor technology in the period accompany these primary documents.

"A renowned German photographer combines portraits of and interviews with the world's leading scientists that look back at the personal experiences, successes and setbacks on their way to the very top"--

"Through a series of over 160 interviews, Keogh provides unprecedented access into the lives of game producers, exposing the limits of the concept of the "videogame industry" and challenging core assumptions in videogame research around creativity, professionalism, labor, diversity, education, and community"--

"A recovery of Georg Lukâacs's later thought on aesthetics, politics, and ontology and the first articulation of its unity, through the lens of the philosopher's writing on totality and reification"--

"The Space between Look and Read explores how text, image, and typeface overlap and influence each other"--

"The authors argue that scholarship on social media has been limited by an over-reliance on single country studies that focus on one platform at a time, without considering the ties between platforms and other media. To overcome these limitations, the authors propose that social media are better understood by comparing processes of development and use across nations, media, and platforms"--

"How people in Costa Rica live with algorithms in their daily life"--

"An advanced undergraduate/Master's textbook on the economics of networks"--

"The book examines how the higher education sectors in California and South Korea have created new admissions pathways for South Korean students, reframing student mobility as not solely an individual pursuit but one shaped by institutional opportunities"--

"An introduction for first-year law students to concepts essential for understanding the vast subject of Anglo-American contract law"--

"The author builds on insights developed from observations of Mexico's earthquake early warning system, Sistema de Alerta Sâismica Mexicano, to show how particular social and physical conditions animate the design, maintenance, and use of environmental monitoring technologies, and how they shape where, when, and for whom these technologies manage risk"--

"Provides a comprehensive introduction to ethical frameworks and of many of the modern issues arising in technology ethics including computing, privacy, artificial intelligence, and more"--

"The book shows what it means to write specifications for programs, what it means for programs to satisfy those specifications, and how to write proofs that connect specifications and programs"--

"Worn Out connects scholarship on digital capitalism and surveillance to the specific setting of retail work in fast fashion"--

The first attempt at a restrictive theory of the linear order of sentences and phrases of the world's languages, by one of the founders of cartographic syntax.Linearization, or the typical sequence of words in a sentence, varies tremendously from language to language. Why, for example, does the English phrase “a white table” need a different word order from the French phrase “une table blanche,” even though both refer to the same object? Guglielmo Cinque challenges the current understanding of word order variation, which assumes that word order can be dealt with simply by putting a head either before or after its complements and modifiers. The subtle variations in word order, he says, can provide a window into understanding the deeper structure of language and are in need of a sophisticated explanation.The bewildering variation in word order among the languages of the world, says Cinque, should not dissuade us from researching what, if anything, determines which orders are possible (and attested/attestable) and which orders are impossible (and not attested/nonattestable), both when they maximally conform to the “head-final” or “head-initial” types and when they depart from them to varying degrees. His aim is to develop a restrictive theory of word order variation—not just a way to derive the ideal head-initial and head-final word orders but also the mixed cases.In the absence of an explicit theory of linearization, Cinque provides a general approach to derive linear order from a hierarchical arrangement of constituents, specifically, by assuming a restrictive movement analysis that creates structures that can then be linearized by Richard S. Kayne's Linear Correspondence Axiom.

"A short and possibly the first accessible overview of Operaismo (or "workerism," or "Autonomous Marxism"), which was the movement out of which today's general body of "Italian Theory" (Negri, Berardi, Virno, etc.) emerged"--

"An accessible yet in-depth analysis of recent developments in US-China clean energy collaboration, the most important bilateral relationship in the world in terms of climate change"--

"An exploration of how labor law has protected companies' rights to surveil their employees and limit worker power, and how it might be reformed"--

"An analysis of the recovery of the Roman architect Vitruvius' groundbreaking treatise The Ten Books of Architecture in the Renaissance"--