A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory, and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature

Tom Siegfried
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Millions have seen the movie and thousands have read the book but few have fully appreciated the mathematics developed by John Nash's beautiful mind. Today Nash's beautiful math has become a universal language for research in the social sciences and has infiltrated the realms of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and even quantum physics. John Nash won the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics for pioneering research published in the 1950's on a new branch of mathematics known as game theory. At the time of Nash's early work, game theory was briefly popular among some mathematicians and Cold War analysts. But it remained obscure until the 1970's when evolutionary biologists began applying it to their work. In the 1980's economists began to embrace game theory. Since then it has found an ever expanding repertoire of applications among a wide range of scientific disciplines. Today neuroscientists peer into game players brains, anthropologists play games with people from primitive cultures, biologists use games to explain the evolution of human language, and mathematicians exploit games to better understand social networks. A common thread connecting much of this research is its relevance to the ancient quest for a science of human social behaviour, or a Code of Nature, in the spirit of the fictional science of psychohistory described in the famous Foundation novels by the late Isaac Asimov. In "A Beautiful Math", acclaimed science writer Tom Siegfried describes how game theory links the life sciences, social sciences, and physical sciences in a way that may bring Asimov's dream closer to reality.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

For more information about John Forbes Nash, Jr., please visit John Nash from Gale Biography in Context.

博弈論的詭計：日常生活中的博弈策略

王春永 編著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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博弈論的目的在於巧妙的策略，而不是解法。我們學習博弈論的目的，不是為了享受博弈分析的過程，而在於贏得更好的結局。博弈的思想既然來自現實生活，它就可以高度抽象化地用數學工具來表述，也可以用日常事例來說明，並運用到生活中去。沒有高深的數學知識，我們同樣通過博弈論的學習成為生活中的策略高手。孫臏沒有學過高等數學，但是這並不影響他通過運行策略來幫助田忌贏得賽馬。

博弈時時存在，它就在你的身邊。本書就是試圖通過日常生活中常見的例子，來介紹博弈論的基本思想及運用，並且尋求用種智慧來指導生活決策的方法。

(摘錄自amazon.cn)

How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

Leil Lowndes
online access from EBSCOhost
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"You'll not only break the ice, you'll melt it away with your new skills." -- Larry King

"The lost art of verbal communication may be revitalized by Leil Lowndes." -- Harvey McKay, author of “How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive”

What is that magic quality makes some people instantly loved and respected? Everyone wants to be their friend (or, if single, their lover!) In business, they rise swiftly to the top of the corporate ladder. What is their "Midas touch?"

What it boils down to is a more skillful way of dealing with people.

The author has spent her career teaching people how to communicate for success. In her book How to Talk to Anyone (Contemporary Books, October 2003) Lowndes offers 92 easy and effective sure-fire success techniques-- she takes the reader from first meeting all the way up to sophisticated techniques used by the big winners in life. In this information-packed book you’ll find:

• 9 ways to make a dynamite first impression
• 14 ways to master small talk, "big talk," and body language
• 14 ways to walk and talk like a VIP or celebrity
• 6 ways to sound like an insider in any crowd
• 7 ways to establish deep subliminal rapport with anyone
• 9 ways to feed someone's ego (and know when NOT to!)
• 11 ways to make your phone a powerful communications tool
• 15 ways to work a party like a politician works a room
• 7 ways to talk with tigers and not get eaten alive

In her trademark entertaining and straight-shooting style, Leil gives the techniques catchy names so you'll remember them when you really need them, including: "Rubberneck the Room," "Be a Copyclass," "Come Hither Hands," “Bare Their Hot Button,” “The Great Scorecard in the Sky," and "Play the Tombstone Game,” for big success in your social life, romance, and business.

How to Talk to Anyone, which is an update of her popular book, Talking the Winner's Way (see the 5-star reviews of the latter) is based on solid research about techniques that work!

By the way, don't confuse How to Talk to Anyone with one of Leil's previous books, How to Talk to Anybody About Anything. This one is completely different!

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

Communication

傾聽：決定人際關係的奧秘和技巧 (The Lost Art of Listening)

邁克爾·P·尼科爾斯 (Michael P. Nichols)
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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現代的人們渴望被傾聽，被了解。什麼是真正的傾聽？為什麼它在現實生活中變得這樣稀少？《傾聽:決定人際關係的奧秘和技巧》闡述了阻礙人們傾聽的各種原因，教導人們如何運用傾聽的藝術來改進和修復各種人際關係，例如夫妻之間，情人之間，父子之間，母女之間，朋友之間，同事之間等。

(摘錄自amazon.cn)

Listening

Big Data Revolution: What Farmers, Doctors and Insurance Agents Teach Us about Discovering Big Data Patterns

Rob Thomas, Patrick McSharry
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Exploit the power and potential of Big Data to revolutionize business outcomes

Big Data Revolution is a guide to improving performance, making better decisions, and transforming business through the effective use of Big Data. In this collaborative work by an IBM Vice President of Big Data Products and an Oxford Research Fellow, this book presents inside stories that demonstrate the power and potential of Big Data within the business realm. Readers are guided through tried-and-true methodologies for getting more out of data, and using it to the utmost advantage. This book describes the major trends emerging in the field, the pitfalls and triumphs being experienced, and the many considerations surrounding Big Data, all while guiding readers toward better decision making from the perspective of a data scientist.

Companies are generating data faster than ever before, and managing that data has become a major challenge. With the right strategy, Big Data can be a powerful tool for creating effective business solutions – but deep understanding is key when applying it to individual business needs. Big Data Revolution provides the insight executives need to incorporate Big Data into a better business strategy, improving outcomes with innovation and efficient use of technology.
• Examine the major emerging patterns in Big Data
• Consider the debate surrounding the ethical use of data
• Recognize patterns and improve personal and organizational performance
• Make more informed decisions with quantifiable results

In an information society, it is becoming increasingly important to make sense of data in an economically viable way. It can drive new revenue streams and give companies a competitive advantage, providing a way forward for businesses navigating an increasingly complex marketplace. Big Data Revolution provides expert insight on the tool that can revolutionize industries.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

書於竹帛 : 中國古代的文字記錄

錢存訓 著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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作者依據大量的傳世文獻和考古文物資料，用自己的語言向讀者娓娓講述中國古代文字及其載體和書寫工具的演變史。書中的一些真知灼見：甲骨文字彙、文字書寫的傳統順序等論斷，都給予一種新鮮的觀念。而不斷增補的新的考古資料，又使此書在學術上一直處於研究前沿。因此，本書可作為普通讀者欲了解中國古代書籍史的參考書，也可作為一般學者修習圖書目錄和書籍史的參考書。同時書中包含的中國古代文化傳播和繼承的信息，亦為研究中國文化史、科技史、考古學等學科提供治學資料。

(摘錄自cp1897.com.hk)