The Selfish Gene


Book Description

Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science




The Car Hacker's Handbook


Book Description

Modern cars are more computerized than ever. Infotainment and navigation systems, Wi-Fi, automatic software updates, and other innovations aim to make driving more convenient. But vehicle technologies haven’t kept pace with today’s more hostile security environment, leaving millions vulnerable to attack. The Car Hacker’s Handbook will give you a deeper understanding of the computer systems and embedded software in modern vehicles. It begins by examining vulnerabilities and providing detailed explanations of communications over the CAN bus and between devices and systems. Then, once you have an understanding of a vehicle’s communication network, you’ll learn how to intercept data and perform specific hacks to track vehicles, unlock doors, glitch engines, flood communication, and more. With a focus on low-cost, open source hacking tools such as Metasploit, Wireshark, Kayak, can-utils, and ChipWhisperer, The Car Hacker’s Handbook will show you how to: –Build an accurate threat model for your vehicle –Reverse engineer the CAN bus to fake engine signals –Exploit vulnerabilities in diagnostic and data-logging systems –Hack the ECU and other firmware and embedded systems –Feed exploits through infotainment and vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems –Override factory settings with performance-tuning techniques –Build physical and virtual test benches to try out exploits safely If you’re curious about automotive security and have the urge to hack a two-ton computer, make The Car Hacker’s Handbook your first stop.







An Introduction to Qualitative Research


Book Description

'The fourth edition of Uwe Flick's Introduction to Qualitative Research remains the most comprehensive and thorough text in qualitative research. It is student-and user-friendly, thoroughly up-to-date in terms of the latest developments in the field, imminently practical. it is the single most important introductory book on qualitative inquiry in the social sciences today' - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois The new edition of Uwe Flick's bestselling textbook has been fully revised, expanded and updated. An Introduction to Qualitative Research guides the student step-by-step through the research process of qualitative research. This classic text covers all of the main theoretical approaches to qualitative research, and provides unmatched coverage of the full range of different qualitative methods and approaches now available to researchers. A range of new features have been added to the new edition including: - New structure to better meet the needs of teaching qualitative research - A new chapter on Grounded Theory plus updated coverage on the full range of other qualitative methods - A summary section discussing the state-of-the-art in qualitative research - A glossary - Updated cases studies, exercises and guided questions This new edition will continue to ensure that An Introduction to Qualitative Research remains an essential introductory text for all students of qualitative research.




Golden Gulag


Book Description

Since 1980, the number of people in U.S. prisons has increased more than 450%. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called "the biggest prison building project in the history of the world." Golden Gulag provides the first detailed explanation for that buildup by looking at how political and economic forces, ranging from global to local, conjoined to produce the prison boom. In an informed and impassioned account, Ruth Wilson Gilmore examines this issue through statewide, rural, and urban perspectives to explain how the expansion developed from surpluses of finance capital, labor, land, and state capacity. Detailing crises that hit California’s economy with particular ferocity, she argues that defeats of radical struggles, weakening of labor, and shifting patterns of capital investment have been key conditions for prison growth. The results—a vast and expensive prison system, a huge number of incarcerated young people of color, and the increase in punitive justice such as the "three strikes" law—pose profound and troubling questions for the future of California, the United States, and the world. Golden Gulag provides a rich context for this complex dilemma, and at the same time challenges many cherished assumptions about who benefits and who suffers from the state’s commitment to prison expansion.




Rhythms of the Brain


Book Description

Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides eloquent support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It takes a fresh look at the coevolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brain's fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small-world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive "metastable" state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of "cycles," György Buzsáki guides the reader from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage. His clear, fluid writing-accessible to any reader with some scientific knowledge-is supplemented by extensive footnotes and references that make it just as gratifying and instructive a read for the specialist. The coherent view of a single author who has been at the forefront of research in this exciting field, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain.




The Mismeasure of Man (Revised and Expanded)


Book Description

The definitive refutation to the argument of The Bell Curve. When published in 1981, The Mismeasure of Man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits. And yet the idea of innate limits—of biology as destiny—dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined by Stephen Jay Gould. In this edition Dr. Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve. Further, he has added five essays on questions of The Bell Curve in particular and on race, racism, and biological determinism in general. These additions strengthen the book's claim to be, as Leo J. Kamin of Princeton University has said, "a major contribution toward deflating pseudo-biological 'explanations' of our present social woes."