(excerpts from my proposal for the book)
Anyone who has explored the history, technology, or theory of computers has likely encountered the concept of the Turing Machine. The Turing Machine is an imaginary — not even quite hypothetical — computer invented in 1936 by English mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954) to help solve a question in mathematical logic. As a byproduct, Turing also founded the field of computability theory — the study of the abilities and limitations of digital computers.
Although the concept of the Turing Machine is well known, Turing’s original 1936 paper is only rarely read. This neglect may have something to do with the paper’s title — “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem” — and perhaps the paper’s extensive use of a scary German gothic font. That’s too bad, because the paper is not only a fascinating read but a milestone in the history of computing and 20th century intellectual thought in general.
This book presents Turing’s original 36-page paper (and a follow-up 3-page correction) with background chapters and extensive annotations. Mathematical papers like Turing’s are often terse and cryptic. I have elaborated on many of Turing’s statements, clarified his discussions, and provided numerous examples.
Interwoven into the narrative are the highlights of Turing’s own life: his years at Cambridge and Princeton, his secret work in cryptanalysis during World War II, his involvement in seminal computer projects, his speculations about artificial intelligence, his arrest and prosecution for the crime of “gross indecency,” and his early death by apparent suicide at the age of 41.
The book is divided into four parts: Parts I and II together are about 200 pages in length and cover the first 60% of Turing’s paper, encompassing the Turing Machine and computability topics. This part of the book is entirely self-contained and will be of primary interest to most readers.
Part III is a faster paced look at the remainder of Turing’s paper, which involves the implications for mathematical logic. Some readers might want to skip these chapters.
Part IV resumes the more "popular" presentation showing how the Turing Machine has become a vital tool in understanding the workings of human consciousness and the mechanisms of the universe.
Although I expect the primary readers of the book to be programmers, computer science majors, and other “techies,” I have tried my best to make the book accessible to the general reader. There is unavoidably much mathematics in the book, but I have tried to assume that the reader only has knowledge of high-school mathematics, and probably a foggy one at that.

In lively, mordantly witty prose, Negroponte decodes the mysteries--and debunks the hype--surrounding bandwidth, multimedia, virtual reality, and the Internet, and explains why such touted innovations as the fax and the CD-ROM are likely to go the way of the BetaMax. "Succinct and readable. . . . If you suffer from digital anxiety . . . here is a book that lays it all out for you."--Newsday.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review
"Liftoff reads like something out of the golden age of Science Fiction but this isn't a novel by Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke. This is the true, astounding story of the men and women who spun those sci-fi dreams into reality. This is as important a book on space as has ever been written and it's a riveting page-turner, too! -- HOMER HICKAM, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Rocket Boys
“This might be the best space book I've ever read. Liftoff will prove to be a defining story not only for the commercial space industry, but for the Space Age writ large, and there's no one better than Eric Berger to tell it.” -- KELLIE GERARDI, author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science
“Eric Berger brings to life the passion and sacrifice of the early SpaceX team as they navigated through countless obstacles toward unlikely success. The skillfully described technical details, paired with a candid glimpse into individual personalities, makes Liftoff a must read for space enthusiasts and novices alike.” -- KAREN NYBERG, NASA Astronaut
"[Berger] depicts race-against-the-clock crises as fast-paced as a thriller, with moments reminiscent of Apollo 13 or The Martian. ... An exciting and insightful read." -- Booklist
"The elegant brilliance of the engineering that allows today’s space rockets to land themselves back on earth—or at sea—right way up, and on target to the inch, is all the doing of the teams assembled by Elon Musk—and the story of how he did it, and how for sure he will get us to Mars whether we like it or not, is told in appropriately stellar fashion by Eric Berger in a book that held me captive, in earth orbit, from prologue to epilogue, countdown to splashdown." -- SIMON WINCHESTER, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Perfectionists
“Eric Berger has followed the exploits of SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, from its very early days. In Liftoff, Eric relates the many personal accounts collected in one-on-one interviews with Musk and many of his key leaders and associates. He chronicles the frenetic pace of Falcon 1 development and the toll it took on many of the early employees. This is a book that will hold your rapt attention from start to finish.” -- CHARLES BOLDEN, Former NASA Administrator and Four-Time Astronaut

Isaac Newton's "Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended", published in 1728, one year after the great man's death, unleashed a storm of controversy. And for good reason. The book presents a drastically revised timeline for ancient civilizations, contracting Greek history by five hundred years and Egypt's by a millennium. "Newton and the Origin of Civilization" tells the story of how one of the most celebrated figures in the history of mathematics, optics, and mechanics came to apply his unique ways of thinking to problems of history, theology, and mythology, and of how his radical ideas produced an uproar that reverberated in Europe's learned circles throughout the eighteenth century and beyond. Jed Buchwald and Mordechai Feingold reveal the manner in which Newton strove for nearly half a century to rectify universal history by reading ancient texts through the lens of astronomy, and to create a tight theoretical system for interpreting the evolution of civilization on the basis of population dynamics. It was during Newton's earliest years at Cambridge that he developed the core of his singular method for generating and working with trustworthy knowledge, which he applied to his study of the past with the same rigor he brought to his work in physics and mathematics. Drawing extensively on Newton's unpublished papers and a host of other primary sources, Buchwald and Feingold reconcile Isaac Newton the rational scientist with Newton the natural philosopher, alchemist, theologian, and chronologist of ancient history.

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics brings together cutting-edge writing by more than twenty leading authorities on the history of physics from the seventeenth century to the present day. By presenting a wide diversity of studies in a single volume, it provides authoritative introductions to scholarly contributions that have tended to be dispersed in journals and books not easily accessible to the general reader. While the core thread remains the theories and experimental practices of physics, the Handbook contains chapters on other dimensions that have their place in any rounded history. These include the role of lecturing and textbooks in the communication of knowledge, the contribution of instrument-makers and instrument-making companies in providing for the needs of both research and lecture demonstrations, and the growing importance of the many interfaces between academic physics, industry, and the military.

In 1799, a French Army officer was rebuilding the defenses of a fort on the banks of the Nile when he discovered an ancient stele fragment bearing a decree inscribed in three different scripts. So begins one of the most familiar tales in Egyptology—that of the Rosetta Stone and the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. This book draws on fresh archival evidence to provide a major new account of how the English polymath Thomas Young and the French philologist Jean-François Champollion vied to be the first to solve the riddle of the Rosetta.
Jed Buchwald and Diane Greco Josefowicz bring to life a bygone age of intellectual adventure. Much more than a decoding exercise centered on a single artifact, the race to decipher the Rosetta Stone reflected broader disputes about language, historical evidence, biblical truth, and the value of classical learning. Buchwald and Josefowicz paint compelling portraits of Young and Champollion, two gifted intellects with altogether different motivations. Young disdained Egyptian culture and saw Egyptian writing as a means to greater knowledge about Greco-Roman antiquity. Champollion, swept up in the political chaos of Restoration France and fiercely opposed to the scholars aligned with throne and altar, admired ancient Egypt and was prepared to upend conventional wisdom to solve the mystery of the hieroglyphs.
Taking readers from the hushed lecture rooms of the Institut de France to the windswept monuments of the Valley of the Kings, The Riddle of the Rosetta reveals the untold story behind one of the nineteenth century’s most thrilling discoveries.

Newton studies have undergone radical changes in the last half-century as more of his work has been uncovered and more details of his life and intellectual context have come to light. This volume singles out two strands in recent Newton studies: the intellectual background to Newton's scientific thought and both specific and general aspects of his technical science. The essays make new claims concerning Newton's mathematical methods, experimental investigations, and motivations, as well as the effect that his long presence had on science in England.The book is divided into two parts. The essays in part I shed new light on Newton's motivations and the sources of his method. The essays in part II explore Newton's mathematical philosophy and his development of rational mechanics and celestial dynamics. An appendix includes the last paper by Newton biographer Richard W. Westfall, examining some of the ways that mathematics came to be used in the age of Newton in pursuits and domains other than theoretical or rational mechanics.

This volume is an attempt to reconstitute the tacit knowledge - the shared, unwritten assumptions, values and understandings - that shapes the work of science. Jed Z. Buchwald uses as his focus the social and intellectual world of 19th-century German physics. Drawing on the lab notes, published papers and unpublished manuscripts of Heinrich Hertz, Buchwald recreates Hertz's 1887 invention of a device that produced electromagnetic waves in wires. The invention itself was serendipitous and the device was quickly transformed, but Hertz's early experiments led to major innovations in electrodynamics. Buchwald explores the difficulty Hertz had in reconciling the theories of other physicists, including Hermann von Helmholtz and James Clerk Maxwell, and he considers the complex and often problematic connections between theory and experiment. In this first detailed scientific biography of Hertz and his scientific community, Buchwald demonstrates that tacit knowledge can be recovered so that we can begin to identify the unspoken rules that govern scientific practice.

The approach to and understanding of software engineering at Google is unlike any other company. With this book, you’ll get a candid and insightful look at how software is constructed and maintained by some of the world’s leading practitioners.
Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, and Hyrum K. Wright, software engineers and a technical writer at Google, reframe how software engineering is practiced and taught: from an emphasis on programming to an emphasis on software engineering, which roughly translates to programming over time.
You’ll learn:
Fundamental differences between software engineering and programming
How an organization effectively manages a living codebase and efficiently responds to inevitable change
Why culture (and recognizing it) is important, and how processes, practices, and tools come into play

Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the world--and a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the northern hemisphere. Through its ability to nurture trees, matsutake helps forests to grow in daunting places. It is also an edible delicacy in Japan, where it sometimes commands astronomical prices. In all its contradictions, matsutake offers insights into areas far beyond just mushrooms and addresses a crucial question: what manages to live in the ruins we have made?

A tale of diversity within our damaged landscapes, The Mushroom at the End of the World follows one of the strangest commodity chains of our times to explore the unexpected corners of capitalism. Here, we witness the varied and peculiar worlds of matsutake commerce: the worlds of Japanese gourmets, capitalist traders, Hmong jungle fighters, industrial forests, Yi Chinese goat herders, Finnish nature guides, and more. These companions also lead us into fungal ecologies and forest histories to better understand the promise of cohabitation in a time of massive human destruction.

By investigating one of the world's most sought-after fungi, The Mushroom at the End of the World presents an original examination into the relation between capitalist destruction and collaborative survival within multispecies landscapes, the prerequisite for continuing life on earth.

一个现代国家的形成，离不开四个基本要素，即领土、人口、政府和主权。所以，我们要认识现代中国，至少须回答：中国作为一个以汉人为主体的内地各省和以少数民族为主体的各边疆所组成的多民族国家，在19世纪之前是如何成形并得以维系的？ 它在19世纪被卷入世界范围的主权国家体系之后，是如何维持自身的生存尤其是既有疆域，并在国际上获得对其主权的确认的？20世纪以来不同形态的国家体制，又是在怎样的历史背景下以及通过何种路径而形成的? 归根到底，我们需要回答，今天的中国究竟从何而来? 其疆域构成、族群组合和政权形态是否具有历史的合理性? 她到底是一个具有生命力的现代民族国家，抑或一个在疆域整合和政治认同方面依然面临重重危机的非常态国家? 这些问题不解释清楚，中国作为一个现代国家的历史正当性，及其在西方历史经验基础上所建构的国际政治话语中的合法性，便会受到质疑。
欲重新认识现代中国，有必要从过去宏大历史叙事的窠臼以及“碎片化” 的泥潭里解放出来，站在新千年的全球地缘政治的高度，重新探究对今日中国的历史认识最具挑战性的问题。如果我们对当代中国不是仅仅从政权性质的角度加以界定，而是从更宽广的角度，把它定义为一个现代主权国家，那么，整个中国近现代史的宏大叙事和概念架构，均有待重构。在前述组成现代国家的四个基本要素中，除政权外，还必须考虑到疆域、族群构成和主权形成问题。最为重要的是，政权本身也必须放在国家形成的宏观历史视野里加以理解。中国的近现代史，换句话说，是中国朝向一个现代主权国家转型的历史。这一历史的时间跨度和涵盖范围，远远超出了过去以革命或现代化为主叙事的历史书写。

美国历史协会主席埃里克·方纳、《经济学人》重磅推荐！
从世界的边缘到中心，从与世隔绝到息息相关，全球视野下重塑美国历史。
将美国史纳入更为广阔的全球史视野中，已是大势所趋。托马斯·本德是当代具有相当影响力的历史学家之一，首倡跨国史理念并付诸实践。《万国一邦》是本德的代表作，已成为美国史研究的经典作品。本德摒弃单一而孤立的民族国家史，打破早已定型的研究框架，将美国重新放置在全球视野下，重构美国历史。作者将美国独立战争、西进运动、内战、工业革命、现状与未来等美国史中的一切重大主题和独特事件，全部放在全球史背景下接受检视。从16世纪新世界殖民时期到20世纪的社会改革，美国必须被视为全球的一部分，并作为其中一分子与世界互动。
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全球史译丛（见识城邦出品）：
01：全球史是什么[德]塞巴斯蒂安·康拉德（Sebastian Conrad）著
02：堕落之海：地中海史研究[英]佩里格林·霍登（Peregrine Horden）[英]尼古拉斯·珀塞尔（Nicholas Purcell）著
03：19世纪大转型[德]安德烈·贡德·弗兰克（Andre Gunder Frank）著
04：万国一邦：美国在世界史中的地位[美]托马斯·本德(Thomas Bender) 著
05：公司与将军：荷兰人与幕府时代日本的相遇[英]亚当·克卢洛（Adam Clulow）著
06：近代早期世界的全球互动（1400—1800年）[美]查理斯·帕克（Charles Parker）著
07：蚊子帝国：1620—1914年间加勒比地区的生态战争[美]J. R. 麦克尼尔（J. R. McNeill）著
08：中间地带：大湖区的印第安人、帝国和共和国（1650—1815年）[美]理查德·怀特（Richard White）著
09：美国宪法的全球史（1776—1989年）[美]乔治·A．比利亚斯（George Athan Billias）著
10：现代世界的诞生（1780—1914年）[英]C. A. 贝利（C. A. Bayly）著
11：交换之物：荷兰黄金时代的商业、医学与科学[美]柯浩德（Harold J. Cook）著
12：鸟粪与太平洋世界的开启：全球生态史[美]格里高利·库什曼（Gregory T. Cushman）著
13：气候变化与全球史[美]约翰·L. 布鲁克（John L. Brooke）著
14：大转型：中世纪晚期世界的气候、疾病与社会[英]布鲁斯·M. S. 坎贝尔（Bruce M. S. Campbell）著
-----------------------------
【编辑推荐】
1.新美国史。首倡“跨国史”，打破国别史的既有模式，从全球史着眼，重新书写美国历史。观点新颖，视野宏大，令人耳目一新。
不受传统民族国家史的限制，针对“美国例外论”，放弃单纯在国家框架内进行历史研究的做法，将美国史的空间背景扩展至全球，超越民族主义的藩篱，着重分析美国与世界各国的互动和相互影响，方法与视野更胜一筹。
2.读懂美国的经典之作。想要深度理解美国，摆脱自娱自乐，不可缺少本书。
托马斯·本德专门从事美国史研究，是当代具有相当影响力的历史学家之一。本书是托马斯·本德的代表作，涉及美国政治体制和经济制度的演变、当下问题的根源等诸多议题，从历史理解现实，绕不过美国史的经典著作。
3.知识量大，兼容并包。社会史、文化史、政治史、经济史、环境史并重，一本书贯穿美国史方方面面。
除了决定国家命运的大事件，本书还囊括了美国历史上没有被广泛了解的社会、文化和经济现象，如欧洲人、美洲人、非洲人首次相遇时的文化戏码、移民活动和亚裔美洲社区的建立等。政治、经济、文化、社会、环境穿插互动，共同构成完整、系统又生动活泼的美国史。
4.布局细致入微，隐喻恰到好处。妙趣横生的精彩故事与入木三分的分析论断交相辉映，感染力强。
不同于以往讲述美国史的图书，本书在线性叙事的基础上加以提炼升华，如从历史上的诉讼案看美国政党政治、非自由劳工的经济模式对未来工业化组织的指向等，史实之外更有精妙的观点。
5.多位顶尖学者、重量级媒体联袂推荐。
美国历史协会主席、哥伦比亚大学历史学教授埃里克·方纳，芝加哥大学、加州大学伯克利分校托尼·普拉特教授，爱荷华大学琳达·K. 克柏教授、《经济学人》等对本书赞誉有加。
【赞誉推荐】
本德颇具深度的观点令人兴奋，而其阅读的广度又让人望而生畏。这个听上去非常简单的事实就是：美国不可能与世隔绝。这个事实值得反复强调，本德先生在这方面做得很好。
——《经济学人》（The Economist）
雄心勃勃、自始至终充满挑战性，这本书必将改变我们研究和教授美国史的方式。假如我们需要强调我们过往的历史如何融入到全球历史当中，那么现在是时候了。
——埃里克·方纳（Eric Foner）
美国历史协会主席、哥伦比亚大学历史学教授
这是一场结合了睿智与激情的论战。这部生动的著作既不居高自傲又不晦涩难懂。本德并没有按照既有模式书写一段详尽的美国历史，而是用他的全球化观点激发我们的阅读欲望。
——托尼·普拉特（Tony Platt）
芝加哥大学、加州大学伯克利分校历史学教授
本德教授用宏大的气魄和精妙绝伦的文笔，挑战了我们对美国历史的想象。他那清新、活力四射的诠释让陈旧的教科书黯然失色。他为我们理解21世纪世界的形成提供了崭新的视角。我对这本书简直爱不释手。
——琳达·K. 克柏（Linda K. Kerber）
爱荷华大学人文与科学学院教授
这是一本富于启发性且可读性很高的迷人著作……这本书获得了太多的称赞。本德除了对美国史进行全新的解读之外，还提醒我们，美国只是“相互依存的世界”中众多国家中的一个。
——《基督教科学箴言报》

2017年普利策奖决选佳作！
获誉“近十多年来美国独立战争研究领域至关重要的作品之一”！
粉碎美利坚建国神话的良心之作，完整披露被刻意掩盖两百余年的美国独立战争真相！
一部厚重之作，解答一个存在多年的历史谜团：北美殖民地为何能够在独立战争中击败船坚炮利的大英帝国？《友军：法国救星、西班牙援兵与美国独立战争的胜利》是一部以美国独立战争为主题的精彩历史作品，原著跻身2017年普利策奖历史类决选名单三甲之列。
作者搜集、整理、分析了大量一手史料，为广大读者叙述了一个足以戳破“美国建国神话”的真实故事。
多年来，以乔治•班克罗夫特为代表的“美国例外主义”主流史观，宣扬的是美利坚这座“山巅之城”的与众不同，而这种独特性在建国过程中的体现，即是国父们带领民众，浴血奋战，*终击败了强大的大英帝国，取得独立。
本书作者费雷罗直言前述观点是一种神话，“所谓北美军队依靠自身的力量改变了这片土地的殖民地属性，单枪匹马地打赢了这场革命战争并*终获得独立，这作为一种拟制的神话，从根本而言，绝不正确，更不合适”。在他看来，“真实的故事，绝非自给自足的英雄史诗……没有法国的支持，缺少西班牙的帮助，北美就无法赢得独立”。
本书基于扎实客观的研究，得出的结论有利于纠正“美国例外主义”主流史观固有偏见，帮助读者更为全面地认识美国的历史与现状。

本书示例丰富，图文并茂，以让人容易理解的方式阐释了算法，旨在帮助程序员在日常项目中更好地发挥算法的能量。书中的前三章将帮助你打下基础，带你学习二分查找、大O表示法、两种基本的数据结构以及递归等。余下的篇幅将主要介绍应用广泛的算法，具体内容包括：面对具体问题时的解决技巧，比如，何时采用贪婪算法或动态规划；散列表的应用；图算法；K最近邻算法。