Russ Poldrack

Philosophy. Science...

Unlock the mystery of how living things maintain their complexity despite constant genetic mutations with Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems. Author Andreas Wagner explores the paradox of genetic instability and organism success, delving into everything from DNA and genetic networks to whole organisms. Discover how evolution finds and favors robust solutions to survival and reproduction, and how this robustness enhances future innovation. This groundbreaking analysis offers valuable insights for biologists, engineers, and social scientists alike.

This book is the ultimate guide to mentoring. It summarizes the most important research on the topic and provides 65 concise truths for supervisors in all fields. Learn what makes an excellent mentor, how to set up a successful mentor-protégé relationship, and how to work through problems that may develop. This is a must-have for any mentor or mentor-to-be.

Discover the language that allowed scientists to understand the essence of what 85 billion neurons do - mathematics. Computational neuroscientist Grace Lindsay delves into how mathematical models have helped us understand the brain's processes, such as decision-making and sensory processing, and how they create thoughts, perceptions, and actions. She walks readers through important concepts in modern neuroscience, highlighting the tensions that arise when bringing mathematical modeling into the messy details of biology. Follow Lindsay as she takes you on a journey through the history of neuroscience, from experiments on frogs to artificial neural networks. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the mechanics of the mind.

This groundbreaking book challenges our assumptions about social evolution and human history. The authors delve into the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself, revealing unexpected and hopeful possibilities. Through research in archaeology and anthropology, they argue that human history is less set in stone than we tend to assume, and offer new ways of imagining freedom and organizing society. With formidable intellectual range and a faith in the power of direct action, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in rethinking the course of human history.

"Re-Engineering Philosophy for Limited Beings" by William C. Wimsatt is an intellectual tour of essays spanning thirty years, offering a philosophy for error-prone humans trying to understand messy systems in the real world. Wimsatt argues that our philosophy should be rooted in heuristics and models that work in practice, not only in principle, and offers new perspectives to deal with emerging natural and social complexities. This book offers a refreshing alternative to simplistic reductionism, demonstrating how to recalibrate our reductionistic and analytic methodologies for a transfigured philosophy."

"Transform requirements into working, maintainable code that delights users with guidance from The Pragmatic Programmer. Updated with ten new sections and major revisions, this book covers topics from career development to architectural techniques for keeping software code flexible and reusable. Organized with self-contained sections and illustrated with compelling anecdotes and examples, this guide highlights the best practices and major pitfalls of software development. Whether you're new to coding or an experienced programmer, The Pragmatic Programmer's lessons will help you improve productivity, quality, and job satisfaction."