Book cover of The Doomsday Calculation: How an Equation that Predicts the Future Is Transforming Everything We Know About Life and the Universe by William Poundstone
Astronomy & Space Science

The Doomsday Calculation: How an Equation that Predicts the Future Is Transforming Everything We Know About Life and the Universe

From the author of Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?, a fascinating look at how an equation that foretells the future is transforming everything we know about life, business, and the universe.

In the 18th century, the British minister and mathematician Thomas Bayes devised a theorem that allowed him to assign probabilities to events that had never happened before. It languished in obscurity for centuries until computers came along and made it easy to crunch the numbers. Now, as the foundation of big data, Bayes’ formula has become a linchpin of the digital economy.
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Book cover of American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
Business & Money

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom—and almost got away with it 
 
In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything—drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons—free of the government’s watchful eye.  […Learn More]

Book cover of A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Biography & Autobiography

A Promised Land

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making–from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy

In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency–a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil. […Learn More]

Book Cover of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac
Business & Money

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber

A New York Times technology correspondent presents the dramatic story of Uber, the Silicon Valley startup at the center of one of the great venture capital power struggles of our time.

In June 2017, Travis Kalanick, the hard-charging CEO of Uber, was ousted in a boardroom coup that capped a brutal year for the transportation giant. Uber had catapulted to the top of the tech world, yet for many came to symbolize everything wrong with Silicon Valley.  […Learn More]

Book Cover of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
Politics & Social Science

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

In this instant New York Times bestselling account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. […Learn More]

Book Cover of Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity by Jamie Metzl
Biological Sciences

Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity

From leading geopolitical expert and technology futurist Jamie Metzl comes a groundbreaking exploration of the many ways genetic-engineering is shaking the core foundations of our lives ― sex, war, love, and death.

At the dawn of the genetics revolution, our DNA is becoming as readable, writable, and hackable as our information technology. But as humanity starts retooling our own genetic code, the choices we make today will be the difference between realizing breathtaking advances in human well-being and descending into a dangerous and potentially deadly genetic arms race. […Learn More]