Madrid. 21 cm. 421 p. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Colección 'Mitos y Leyendas'. Traductor, María Jesús Sevillano Ureta. Traducción de: India. Mitos y leyendas (M. E. Editores) .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario. ISBN: 84-495-0154-7
Most aspects of our private and social lives—our safety, the integrity of the financial system, the functioning of utilities and other services, and national security—now depend on computing. But how can we know that this computing is trustworthy? In Mechanizing Proof , Donald MacKenzie addresses this key issue by investigating the interrelations of computing, risk, and mathematical proof over the last half century from the perspectives of history and sociology. His discussion draws on the technical literature of computer science and artificial intelligence and on extensive interviews with participants. MacKenzie argues that our culture now contains two ideals of proof as traditionally conducted by human mathematicians, and formal, mechanized proof. He describes the systems constructed by those committed to the latter ideal and the many questions those systems raise about the nature of proof. He looks at the primary social influence on the development of automated proof—the need to predict the behavior of the computer systems upon which human life and security depend—and explores the involvement of powerful organizations such as the National Security Agency. He concludes that in mechanizing proof, and in pursuing dependable computer systems, we do not obviate the need for trust in our collective human judgment.
Technological change is often seen as something that follows its own logic - something we may welcome, or about which we may protest, but which we are unable to alter fundamentally. This reader challenges that assumption and its distinguished contributors demonstrate that technology is affected at a fundamental level by the social context in which it develops. General arguments are introduced about the relation of technology to society and different types of technology are examined: the technology of production; domestic and reproductive technology; and military technology.
This rigorous and well-documented book makes a powerful and fascinating contribution to the history and sociology of Science. Its subject is the crucial period in the development of the modern theory of statistics, when the 'British School' - like Galton, Pearson, Fisher, Yule, and Gosset - turned the embryonic discipline into an established and important scientific field, introducing such concepts as regression, correlation, chi-square testing, t-test, and method of maximum likelihood. It contributes to Sociology also, because Galton to Galton, Pearson and Fisher, all convinced eugenists, statistical theory and method was envisaged as an instrument for social change. Eugenics is shown to have played an important role in motivating their work, thus reflecting the interests of the professional middle class in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain. This is given special consideration in the light of the famous controversy between the 'Biometric School' and the Mendelians.
"Mackenzie has achieved a masterful synthesis of engrossing narrative, imaginative concepts, historical perspective, and social concern." Donald MacKenzie follows one line of technology—strategic ballistic missile guidance through a succession of weapons systems to reveal the workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology.
Ranging from broad inquiries into the roles of economics and sociology in the explanation of technological change to an argument for the possibility of "uninventing" nuclear weapons, this selection of Donald MacKenzie's essays provides a solid introduction to the style and the substance of the sociology of technology. The essays are tied together by their explorations of connections (primarily among technology, society, and knowledge) and by their general focus on modern "high" technology. They also share an emphasis on the complexity of technological formation and fixation and on the role of belief (especially self-validating belief) in technological change. Two of the articles won major prizes on their original journal publication, and all but one date from 1991 or later. A substantial new introduction outlines the common themes underlying this body of work and places it in the context of recent debates in technology studies. Two conceptual essays are followed by seven empirical essays focusing on the laser gyroscopes that are central to modern aircraft navigation technology, supercomputers (with a particular emphasis on their use in the design of nuclear weapons), the application of mathematical proof in the design of computer systems, computer-related accidental deaths, and the nature of the knowledge that is needed to design a nuclear bomb.
This volume, edited by two of McKenzie's former students, brings together a wide range of his writings on bibliography, the book trade and the sociology of texts.
In China and Japan, author Donald McKenzie traces the origins and evolution of oriental myths, and shows how stories spread from China across to Japan. Including tales from the religions of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Shinto, McKenzie dicusses the merging of history and legend in Japan, where the Mikado (emperor) claims descent from the daughter of the Dragon King of the Ocean. Illustrated with examples of oriental art and architecture. From back cover decription
Colorful stories from ancient and modern Scottish sources will charm young readers with the deeds of mermaids, giants and other supernatural creatures. Includes "Battle of the Fairy Kings," "Conall and the Thunder Hag," "In the Kingdom of Seals," "The Maid-of-the-Wave," "The Land of Green Mountains," and many more. 34 illustrations.
This volume deals with the history of Britain from the Ice Age till the Roman period. Evidence is gleaned from sciences usually studied apart: geology, archeology, philology, ethnology, anthropology etc. Mackenzie has set himself to tell the story of the ancients in a manner which will interest a wider circle of readers than usually reached by technical books. It hasn't been assumed that the representatives of modern humankind who 1st settled Europe were simple-minded savages. Evidence afforded by the craftsmanship, burial customs & art of the Cro-Magnon races, contemporaries of the reindeer & hairy mammoths in SW France, suggests they'd been influenced by a centre of civilization in which considerable progress had already been achieved. There's absolutely no evidence that the pioneers were lacking in intelligence or foresight. If we are to judge merely by their skeletons & the shapes and sizes of their skulls, it would appear that they were, if anything, both physically & mentally superior to average present-day inhabitants of Europe. Nor were they entirely isolated from the ancient culture area by which they had been originally influenced. Illustrated with photographs, drawings & maps.
The Reader focuses on the practices of modern and contemporary science and technology located in different national and institutional settings, with some attention to non- Western contexts. By mapping some of the open questions and points of tension likely to occupy the field for years to come, the essays in the Reader cast fresh light on what "science" means at the end of the twentieth century.
Kurt Wallander atraviesa uno de los momentos más sombríos de su vida personas (sus relaciones familiares son un desastre, está ganando peso, bebe mucho y duerme poco) cuando tiene que ponerse al frente de la investigación del asesinato de un apacible matrimonio de ancianos en una granja de Lenarp. El marido ha sido horriblemente torturado y la mujer muere estrangulada poco a poco, con el tiempo justo de pronunciar antes de morir la palabra «extranjero». Kurt Wallander y sus colegas deberán enfrentarse no sólo a un asesino muy especial, que tiene la sangre fría de alimentar a los caballos del establo después del crimen, sino a una comunidad irascible, presa de insospechados prejuicios raciales. Wallander sabe de sobra que la pacífica apariencia de algunas personas oculta a veces a un auténtico monstruo, de modo que no se hace ilusiones acerca de la sociedad en la que vive...
Ein Polizist, der krumme Dinger dreht, hält sich für besonders clever. Soviel Cleverness bricht ihm den Hals...
Geld macht zwar nicht glücklich, aber es beruhigt ungemein. Diese Überzeugung macht die drei Männer zu Komplizen. Sie sind bereit, jeden Preis dafür zu zahlen.Aber ihre Rechnung geht nicht auf. Denn daß Geld auch den Charakter verderben kann, das haben sie nicht einkalkuliert. Und für diesen Fehler müssen sie teuer bezahlen ... (Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine frühere Ausgabe.)
Freiwild für Hyänen - bk687; Scherz Verlag; Donald MacKenzie; pocket_book; 1970
