Monday, October 12, 2020

A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution

Jennifer A. Doudna, Samuel H. Sternberg
online access from iRead eBook (Chinese)
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World-famous scientist Jennifer Doudna - winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating the revolutionary gene-editing technique CRISPR - explains her discovery, describes its power to reshape the future of all life and warns of its use.


“The future is in our hands as never before, and this book explains the stakes like no other.” — George Lucas

“Required reading for every concerned citizen.” — New York Review of Books

Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. That is, until 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the gene-editing tool CRISPR—a revolutionary new technology that she helped create—to make heritable changes in human embryos. The cheapest, simplest, most effective way of manipulating DNA ever known, CRISPR may well give us the cure to HIV, genetic diseases, and some cancers. Yet even the tiniest changes to DNA could have myriad, unforeseeable consequences, to say nothing of the ethical and societal repercussions of intentionally mutating embryos to create “better” humans. Writing with fellow researcher Sam Sternberg, Doudna—who has since won the Nobel Prize for her CRISPR research—shares the thrilling story of her discovery and describes the enormous responsibility that comes with the power to rewrite the code of life.

“An invaluable account . . . We owe Doudna several times over.” — Guardian

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

穿梭太平洋︰金山夢、華人出洋與香港的形成 (Pacific Crossing)

冼玉儀 (Elizabeth Sinn)
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「第十三屆香港書獎」

十九世紀美國加州的淘金熱
改變了香港的命運


1848年初,加州發現金礦,自此華南地區尤其是珠江三角洲的人,前仆後繼遠渡重洋,到達加州尋找他們的金山夢,此一浪潮也徹底改變了香港的命運。淘金熱把太平洋變成了連接北美洲和亞洲的幹道,並在此過程中把香港打造成亞洲的主要太平洋門戶。香港與後來被稱「舊金山」的三藩市的距離,比起從大西洋的港口到舊金山要近得多,令香港迅速崛起成為太平洋商貿的樞紐。

香港作為華人移民的「中介之地」,既是資金、貨物、資訊、意念、個人通信不斷往來流動的樞紐,也為移民提供各種與家鄉保持聯繫的方法。香港對華人出洋的重要性,以及華人出洋對香港經濟、社會和文化發展的深遠影響,一直欠缺足夠研究,而這正是本書的重點,以華人出洋前往加州為案例,探討香港在華人移民史中的地位。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, October 5, 2020

The Dutch House: A Novel

Ann Patchett
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central Perpetual Titles
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New York Times
best seller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | Time Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 | 2020 Audie finalist - audiobook of the year and best male narrator

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed


Ann Patchett, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Commonwealth, delivers her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love, and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves, and of who we really are.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

當代藝術,如何看?:藝術家觀點,帶你看懂作品 (How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking About Art)

大衛‧薩利 (David Salle)
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好藝術,如何看?
當代藝術就是布滿專業術語的地雷區
該相信你的眼睛?藝評評價?藝術史論斷?還是市場賣價?

紐約最前線、美國80年代新表現主義大將
塗鴉藝術家巴斯奇亞、凱斯˙哈林同代人、普普大師李奇登斯坦好友

重返20世紀藝術現場,說出藝術家們的激辯、交心、回憶與自白

◎什麼因素讓當代藝術滴答運作?什麼因素讓它變成好藝術?又是什麼因素讓它顯得有趣?

自杜象1917年在小便斗上簽名後,撼動了繪畫主導的藝術世界。視覺藝術的變化速度日益加快,未來主義、構成主義、新地理、機制批判、非具象主義、表現主義、抽象表現主義、低限主義、新表現主義等新名詞大量繁殖,當代藝術成了布滿專業術語的地雷區,這些術語就像是為了將欣賞者淘汰出局而設計的。

◎近五百年後,再度挑戰「藝術家談藝術家」

美國80年代最重要的新表現主義大將:大衛•薩利(David Salle),試圖扭轉一般人被藝評家阻隔於現代藝術之外的現況。身為塗鴉藝術家巴斯奇亞和凱斯˙哈林的同代人,及普普大師李奇登斯坦的好友,他想用藝術家聚在一起聊天的語言談論當代藝術,說出一位創作人面對藝術世界這四十年來天翻地覆驟變的真心話。他是繼1550年義大利藝術家瓦薩利,時隔近五百年後,再度挑戰藝術家談藝術家的後繼者。文集收錄的主題,從當代指標型人物到歷史人物皆有。許多是作者的同代人,有些更是認識幾十年的好友、同學 ......

本書的架構分為四部分:「如何為想法賦予形式」、「當個藝術家」、「世間藝術」和「教學與論戰」。

關於藝術的「如何」論戰,沒人比大衛˙薩利探索得更棒。──作家˙魯西迪

「如果說約翰•伯格的《觀看的方式》是藝術評論的經典,探究了藝術是『什麼』,那麼大衛•薩利的《當代藝術,如何看》就是藝術家給的答覆,告訴觀者該『如何看』。篇篇精彩的文章談論藝術家在創作時,他們想什麼? 關於藝術的『如何』論題,或許從來沒人比他探索得更棒。」──作家˙魯西迪

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, September 28, 2020

Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages

Guy Deutscher
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A New York Times Editor's Choice
An Economist Best Book of 2010
A Financial Times Best Book of 2010
A Library Journal Best Book of 2010


The debate is ages old: Where does language come from? Is it an artifact of our culture or written in our very DNA? In recent years, the leading linguists have seemingly settled the issue: all languages are fundamentally the same and the particular language we speak does not shape our thinking in any significant way. Guy Deutscher says they're wrong. From Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, and through a strange and dazzling history of the color blue, Deutscher argues that our mother tongues do indeed shape our experiences of the world. Audacious, delightful, and provocative, Through the Language Glass is destined to become a classic of intellectual discovery.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)


International Translation Day (30 September)

The United Nations designates 30 September as International Translation Day to recognise the role of language professionals in connecting nations and strengthening world peace and security. READ MORE

花街.廢園.烏托邦:都市空間中的日本文學

前田愛
online access from HyRead ebook
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「文學文本的閱讀行為啟動後,
一步步包圍讀者沉浸其中的『空間』,
與夢境的空間多少有幾分相似」。

日本「文學社會學」研究的傳奇作品
榮獲日本藝術選獎文部大臣獎
30年來日本文學評論不朽巨著
中文版首度於華文世界面世!


「作者與讀者如何在都市空間相遇?」
──前田愛以流麗詩意和精準科學,
處理這樣一個文學理論的大哉問。
文學只是作者的提問,但答案卻在「讀者」,
唯有讀者回應了作者,一切意義才會正式開啟;
前田愛開創「讀者」研究的新世界,
以「空間」馳騁讀者的想像力,
其觀點、技法,走在西方理論的最前緣,
以迷人的膽識,為日本文學作出最卓越的貢獻。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)