Monday, November 7, 2011

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)

美麗心靈: 納什傳 (A Beautiful Mind)

西爾維婭.娜薩 (Sylvia Nasar)
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在這本感人至深的生動傳記中,西爾維婭.娜薩逼真地再現了一個數學天才的一生。他的生涯被精神分裂症所打斷,但是在經受30年毀滅性的精神疾病困擾後,竟奇蹟般地康復,並因年輕時在博弈論方面的奠基性工作,獲得1994年諾貝爾經濟學獎。本書追溯了小約翰.福布斯.納什在30歲以前短暫而輝煌的傳奇生活,他解決了一系列數學界公認的難題,成為一顆璀璨的明星。

在盛名的頂峰,納什遭受了災難性的精神崩潰,陷入可怕的精神錯亂。他辭去在麻省理工學院的教職,沉浸在一系列奇怪的幻想之中,最後成為普林斯頓一個在黑板上亂塗數字命理學瘋話的夢幻般幽靈人物。他幾乎被世界所遺忘—直到他從癲狂中甦醒並重新獲得世界的關注。本書作為一本出色的傳記,同時引人入勝地描述了天才們傑出而又脆弱的本性。

本書獲1998年美國書評界傳記獎,2000年美國數學聯合政策委員會傳播獎。

(摘錄自haotushu.com)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World

Don Tapscott
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Chances are you know a person between the ages of 11 and 30. You've seen them doing five things at once: texting friends, downloading music, uploading videos, watching a movie on a two-inch screen, and doing who-knows-what on Facebook or MySpace. They're the first generation to have literally grown up digital--and they're part of a global cultural phenomenon that's here to stay.

The bottom line is this: If you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future.

If you're a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer: This is your field guide. …

A fascinating inside look at the Net Generation, Grown Up Digital is inspired by a $4 million private research study. New York Times bestselling author Don Tapscott has surveyed more than 11,000 young people. Instead of a bunch of spoiled “screenagers” with short attention spans and zero social skills, he discovered a remarkably bright community which has developed revolutionary new ways of thinking, interacting, working, and socializing.

Grown Up Digital reveals:
• How the brain of the Net Generation processes information
• Seven ways to attract and engage young talent in the workforce
• Seven guidelines for educators to tap the Net Gen potential
• Parenting 2.0: There's no place like the new home
• Citizen Net: How young people and the Internet are transforming democracy

Today's young people are using technology in ways you could never imagine. Instead of passively watching television, the “Net Geners” are actively participating in the distribution of entertainment and information. For the first time in history, youth are the authorities on something really important. And they're changing every aspect of our society-from the workplace to the marketplace, from the classroom to the living room, from the voting booth to the Oval Office.

(Excerpt from amazon.co.uk)

蘇格拉底之道: 最充分地運用你的智慧的 7 把萬能鑰匙 (Socrates' Way)

羅納德・格羅斯 (Ronald Gross)
online access from Apabi
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

無知並不是真正的幸福。哲學家約翰.穆勒說︰做一位不滿足的人總比做一頭滿足的豬好做一位不滿足的蘇格拉底總比做一個滿足的傻瓜好。如果讓智慧的蘇格拉底做你的導師,如果能用他的思想方法來指導你的事業、你的教育,以及你的生活,你將會獲得多大的成就?

本書從七個方面介紹了掌握蘇格拉底思想方法的關鍵︰了解你自己,學會正確提問,自己思考,敢于反常規,與朋友切磋,講真話,提升靈魂。掌握了這些關鍵點,也就是掌握了蘇格拉底的思想方法,就可以在同學、同事和朋友間開展蘇格拉底式的談話,就可以改進你的生活、工作和教育,就能在你身上找到蘇格拉底的精神。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Brain Storm: Tap Into Your Creativity to Generate Awesome Ideas and Remarkable Results

Jason R. Rich
online access from EBSCOhost
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Business people, entrepreneurs, artists, entertainers, parents, students, teachers, and people from all walks of life can improve their lives by learning how to brainstorm. Successfully implementing an idea is what generates success and results, whether it's a business or personal challenge. Here is a fun, easy-to-read, upbeat book designed to help people boost creativity by learning how to brainstorm and transform their best ideas into reality. Starting with the basics, this book discusses the anatomy of ideas and how they're generated. Focusing on various brainstorming techniques, it offers step-by-step directions for using these techniques as an individual or in a group situation. It helps readers analyze their ideas, pick out the best ones, and implement those ideas to produce positive and measurable results. This book also features in-depth interviews and profiles of a handful of well known people whose brainstorming skills have led them to incredible success.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

重塑心靈: NLP--一門使人成功快樂的學問

李中瑩 著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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《重塑心靈:NLP--一門使人成功快樂的學問》全面地介紹了NLP的歷史、理論框架、基本概念等基礎理論;共分為10章,每章都有其獨立的主題。書中提供了少量NLP技巧,既安全又容易產生實效的技巧,以及更多與時代同步發展的新觀點與新案例;同時本書的概念與技巧也可為所有人在面對人生時提供啟迪。

(摘錄自卓越亞馬遜)