Sociology Technology

The story of human civilization can be read most deeply in the materials we have found or created, used or abused. They have dictated how we build, eat, communicate, wage war, create art, travel, and worship. Some, such as stone, iron, and bronze, lend their names to the ages. Others, such as gold, silver, and diamond, contributed to the rise and fall of great empires.

This book provides basic information about sociology and is an excellent resource for beginners or those seeking general knowledge about the subject matter. It is divided into three parts. Part one introduces the concept of sociology, explores micro-sociologist and macro-sociologist types, and explains the differences between quantitative and qualitative methodologies used in research. Part two focuses on specific areas of interest for sociological research including cults, family, religion, education, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, health, gangs, crime, and immigration. Part three ...

The grid is an accident of history and of culture, in no way intrinsic to how we produce, deliver and consume electrical power. Yet this is the system the United States ended up with, a jerry-built structure now so rickety and near collapse that a strong wind or a hot day can bring it to a grinding halt. The grid is now under threat from a new source: renewable and variable energy, which puts stress on its logics as much as its components.

THE OPTIMISTIC BOOK PEOPLE HAND TO SOMEONE WHO’S AFRAID OF AI. In 1920s England if you wanted to be woken up on time to get to your job at the factory, you had to hire a ‘knocker-upper’—a guy who drags a big wooden stick around town and knocks on your window. Then, the alarm clock arrived, and the knocker-uppers were left asking, ‘what are we worth now?’ Now, AI is here to do the same thing the alarm clock did to the knocker-uppers, but this time it’s the doctors, lawyers, accountants, designers, developers, teachers and business owners. It’s every job that can be done on a computer.

Founding the Colony is the second of two volumes revised and expanded from the original Colonization Chronical. This volume follows Ricky and his family after they reach Murna, after overcoming seemingly impossible system and component failures to their ship while escaping two separate piratical attacks. One of the first colonists to step foot on his new planets, he immediately begins establishing his farmstead with his girlfriend Edin. Using technology he has developed, Ricky is able to communicate directly with his Grammy back on Earth. He is concerned the ansible network may be ...

Fighting for the Colony is the first of two volumes revised and expanded from the original Keeping the Colony. This volume follows Ricky as he defends against an interstellar empire. Ricky and his girlfriend Edin have both been medically tested and proven to be adults, so now they are engaged, and Ricky provides Edin the full ability to determine when she will become pregnant. With a triple birth underway in the specially prepared birthing suite in his house, Ricky invites his Grammy and Edin’s immediate family to visit Murna using a secret, rapid method he has recently developed. He ...

“With wit and brio, Frank separates current nonsense about aliens from the serious and fascinating search for extraterrestrial life.” —Carlo Rovelli, New York Times bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics From astrophysicist Adam Frank, a little book on the biggest questions...

"Bold, provocative...illuminates why we’re having fewer babies, the middle class is stagnating, unemployment is shifting, and new powers are rising.” —ADAM GRANT The world is changing drastically before our eyes—will you be prepared for what comes next? A groundbreaking analysis from one...

Fighting for the Colony is the second of two volumes revised and expanded from the original Keeping the Colony. This volume follows Ricky as he goes up against an interstellar empire. Ricky’s forces continue their counterattack against the Interstellars at a rapid pace. His Marines initiate their first invasions and orbital drops. A new hero arises who turns into the leader the Marines need to build their history and esprit de corps. The Spindle Military does their best to not lose their momentum in their advancements against the Interstellars. Ricky has to deal with the fallout from ...

“The audiobook is down to earth in both [Nick] Foster's precisely enunciated performance and in his cogent explanations of the four most common mindsets: could, should might, don't.”—AudioFile An invaluable guide for how to think—and not to think—about the future, written and read by...

A 2023 Audie Award winner! "Ever careful in his pacing, BD Wong narrates this cybersecurity tale as if he's pitching the story for a movie."- AudioFile A real-life technological thriller about a band of eccentric misfits taking on the biggest cybersecurity threats of our time. "What Michael...

Another Skin What if you woke up tomorrow in another skin? Maya Williams has never imagined that the world could change in a single moment. But when the impossible happens, she finds herself living in a body—and a reality—that forces her to question everything she thought she understood about race, identity, privilege and prejudice. Suddenly, the rules have changed. The assumptions people make about her have changed. The way she is seen, treated and judged has changed. And for the first time, Maya is forced to experience a world she once believed she understood from the other side. But ...

An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart, mobile, connected future. We live in a world defined by urbanization and digital ubiquity, where mobile broadband connections outnumber fixed ones, machines dominate a new "internet of things," and more people live in cities than in the countryside.

An entertaining, scientifically rigorous exploration of the social and biological effects of our wireless world. The way we use technology is affecting our health and happiness. Engaging and entertaining yet scientifically rigorous, this fully revised and updated second edition of i-Minds comprehensively explores an era of screen-based technology's assimilation into our lives, pondering it as both godsend and plague. i-Minds is for anyone interested in fostering health and happiness or who is struggling with the role of screened technology in our lives.

Launching the Colony is the first of two volumes revised and expanded from the original Colonization Chronical. This volume follows teenager Ricky Cruz and his family as they migrate from their successful farm to be first wave settlers on the newly terraformed planet Murna. Ricky becomes part of the crew as a repair technician and shuttle pilot. Plagued with problems from the start, Ricky begins investigating the source of the problems and discovers their ship has been deliberately sabotaged in an attempt to prevent them from being the first settlers on their new home, therefore preventing ...

In Distracted, journalist Maggie Jackson ponders our increasingly cyber-centric world and fears we're entering a dark age of interruption that will render us unable to think critically, work creatively or cultivate meaningful relationships.

ABUNDANCE IS COMING. THE QUESTION IS WHO IT'S COMING FOR. Artificial intelligence is not just automating tasks. It is reshaping the economic foundations of society. Jobs that took years to master are now done in minutes. Productivity is accelerating beyond the limits of human labor. And the institutions built on the assumption that people must produce value to earn a living are beginning to crack. What happens to work when machines do it better? What happens to wealth when productivity no longer depends on human effort?

OpenAI: The Downfall of Sam Altman delivers the definitive, unvarnished account of Silicon Valley’s most consequential corporate civil war. In this gripping exposé, double #1 bestselling author Carol Denise Mitchell takes readers inside the volatile aftermath of the historic 2026 Musk v. Altman trial—where a courtroom victory flipped overnight into a stunning internal collapse. Mitchell documents the silent departure of OpenAI’s top scientific minds, catastrophic breaches in autonomous agent containment, and the escalating macro‑geopolitical standoff between America’s AI ...

Ricky’s forces have beaten back the Empire of Man’s attempted invasion of Earth, though he suspects that was a fact-finding mission in force. While doing so, his Navy has captured members of an alien spacefaring species currently known as the Kinaklyn. Ricky has the first known vocal conversation with the Kinaklyn people with very positive results. Now, he needs to figure out a way to get to their home worlds, which are located on the far side of a fair portion of the Empmen’s space. Space Marine Major Amy Brella is Ricky’s pointwoman in dealing with the Empmen. She leads the ...

Flash crashes. Speed dating. Instant messaging. From the devices we carry to the lives we lead, everything is getting faster, faster. But where did this great acceleration come from? And where will it lead? In this vitally important new audiobook, Robert Colvile explains how the cult of disruption in Silicon Valley, the ceaseless advance of technology and our own fundamental appetite for novelty and convenience have combined to speed up every aspect of daily life.