Access to scientific literature and resources
An overview of selected new books in Szilárd Library, with a word from their authors, reviewers and publishers.
By Mustafa Suleyman
Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. In a world of quantum computers, robot assistants and abundant energy, they will organize your life, operate your business, and run government services. None of us are prepared. In this groundbreaking book we learn how to think about the essential challenge of our age.
By Madeleine Orr
The world of sport has a new opponent: climate change. A world-leading sport ecologist, Madeleine interviews athletes, coaches, politicians and thought-leaders to learn more about the inevitable consequences for this trillion-dollar industry and how the sports world can fight back.
By Dave Farina
We live in the internet age, where scams, frauds, fake-news, fake stories, fake science, and false narratives are everywhere. With the knowledge base gained from Dave Farina’s simple explanations, learn to spot misinformation and lies on the internet before they spot you.
By Janis Varoufakis
Capitalism is dead – welcome to technofeudalism. In his boldest and most far-reaching book, the visionary economist and number-one bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis shows how the owners of big tech became the world’s feudal overlords – replacing capitalism with a fundamentally new system that enslaves our minds, defies democracy and rewrite the rules of global power.
By Kelly Clancy
Neuroscientist and physicist Kelly Clancy argues, it’s time we started taking games more seriously. In Playing With Reality, she chronicles the riveting and hidden history of games since the Enlightenment, weaving an unexpected path through military theory, biology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and the future of democracy.
By Caroline Crampton
In this fascinating book, a survivor of a life-threatening illness chronicles the history of health anxiety and ponders whether it is a rational response to our flawed bodies.
By Tim James
From an untimely sneeze in a petri dish leading to the groundbreaking creation of antibiotics, to the incredible discovery of microwaves via melted chocolate, Accidental is a rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, and accidentally changing humanity for the better.
By James Lawrence Powell
Under the radar—or, rather, sonar—of most people and many scientists, for the last six decades ships have plied the world’s oceans, mining the seafloor for its secrets—and quietly resolving confounding geological mysteries.
By Thibaut Meurisse
Do you keep procrastinating? Do you feel restless and unable to focus on your work? Do you have trouble getting excited about major goals? If so, you might need a dopamine detox. In today’s world where distractions are everywhere, the ability to focus has become more and more difficult to achieve. Dopamine Detox will help you lower your level of stimulation and regain focus,so that you can tackle your key tasks.
By Matyáš Namai
Originally published in 1949, this graphic novel edition of the dystopian classic “1984”, powerfully illustrated by Matyáš Namai, reveals Winston’s fight against the Party in all its horror and futility.
By Eric Schwitzgebel
In The Weirdness of the World, philosopher Schwitzgebel argues that the answers to the fundamental questions lie beyond our powers of comprehension. We can be certain only that the truth — whatever it is — is weird.
By Jessica J. Lee
Combining memoir, history, and scientific research in precise and poetic prose, Jessica J. Lee meditates on the question of how both plants and people come to belong – or not – as they border cross, and reveals how all our futures are more entwined than we might imagine.