Tom Griffiths

Brian Christian

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar favorites is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not: computers, too, face the same constraints, so computer scientists have been grappling with their version of such issues for decades. And the solutions they've found have much to teach us. In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths show how the algorithms used by computers can also untangle very human questions. They explain how to have better hunches and when to leave things to chance, how to deal with overwhelming choices and how best to connect with others. From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.

The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Algorithms to Live By

Günlük Kararlarin Bilgisayar Bilimi

Hayatimizdaki Algoritmalar

Libby Robin

Tim Sherratt

Climate plays a considerable role in the society and culture of Australia. This text is an interdisciplinary 'weather report' that draws together perspectives from the social sciences, the humanities, science and engineering to deepen our understanding of the relationship between climate and culture in Australia.

Climate and Culture in Australia

A Change in the Weather

指导工作与生活的算法

算法之美

Christine Hansen

Within the Yarra River catchment area nestles the valley of Steels Creek, a small shallow basin in the lee of Kinglake plateau and the Great Dividing Range. The escarpment walls of the range drop in a series of ridges to the valley and form the south-eastern boundary of the Kinglake National Park. The gentle undulations that flow out from the valley stretch into the productive and picturesque landscape of Victoria’s famous wine growing district, the Yarra Valley. Late on the afternoon of 7 February 2009, the day that came to be known as Black Saturday, the Kinglake plateau carried a massive conflagration down the fringing ranges into the Steels Creek community. Ten people perished and 67 dwellings were razed in the firestorm. In the wake of the fires, the devastated residents of the valley began the long task of grieving, repairing, rebuilding or moving on while redefining themselves and their community. In Living with Fire, historians Tom Griffiths and Christine Hansen trace both the history of fire in the region and the human history of the Steels Creek valley in a series of essays which examine the relationship between people and place. These essays are interspersed with four interludes compiled from material produced by the community. In the immediate aftermath of the fire many people sought to express their grief, shock, sadness and relief in artwork. Some painted or wrote poetry, while others collected the burnt remains of past treasures from which they made new objects. These expressions, supplemented by historical archives and the essays they stand beside, offer a sensory and holistic window into the community’s contemporary and historical experiences. A deeply moving book, Living with Fire brings to life the stories of one community’s experience with fire, offering a way to understand the past, and in doing so, prepare for the future.

People, Nature and History in Steels Creek

Living with Fire

Hunters and Collectors is about historical consciousness and environmental sensibilities in European Australia from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. It is in part a collective biography of amateur antiquarians, archaeologists, naturalists, journalists and historians: people who shaped the Australian historical imagination. Dr Griffiths illuminates the way these avid collectors and investigators of the Australian land and of its indigenous inhabitants contributed a sense of identity at colony-wide and eventually nationwide level. He also considers the rise of professional history, anthropology and archaeology in the universities, which ignored the efforts of the amateurs. Griffiths shows how the seemingly trivial activities of these hunters and collectors feed into the political and environmental debates of the 1990s. This book is outstanding in its originality, interpretative insight and literary flair.

The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia

Hunters and Collectors

"Safer Beaches: Planning, Design, and Operation" offers a systematic approach to planning, designing, renovating, and operating all types of beaches. It provides practices in beach management and protection and uses a needs-analysis approach to help you identify programming and activities that will maximize people's experience at the beach.

Planning, Design, and Operation

Safer Beaches

Um mergulho interdisciplinar na origem e no uso dos algoritmos de nossos computadores e celulares, com dicas valiosas que nos ajudam a enfrentar problemas do dia a dia. Quando ouvimos falar em algoritmos, em geral pensamos em programas de computador que estão fazendo algum trabalho em nosso lugar. No entanto, os algoritmos — séries de passos usadas para resolver problemas — têm sido parte de nossas vidas desde a Idade da Pedra. Explicando com clareza problemas matemáticos célebres e descrevendo a origem e o funcionamento de vários algoritmos, o jornalista Brian Christian e o professor de psicologia e ciência cognitiva Tom Griffiths nos mostram que tanto seres humanos como computadores enfrentam limites e dificuldades para resolver problemas. Mais do que apontar os melhores caminhos para otimizar tarefas, este livro ilumina aspectos surpreendentes do funcionamento da mente humana, de nossas emoções e de nosso comportamento. Com o apoio de pesquisas multidisciplinares e de entrevistas com especialistas de diversas áreas, Algoritmos para viver é um mergulho revelador nos processos matemáticos que regem parte cada vez maior de nossa vida cotidiana.

A ciência exata das decisões humanas

Algoritmos para viver

Jak využít počítačové algoritmy při každodenním rozhodování

Algoritmy pro život

The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Gapyear

Before You Go

Endlich ein Buch, das unser Leben einfacher macht! Jeder von uns trifft unzählige Entscheidungen am Tag. Entscheidungen, die uns viel Zeit kosten – und nicht immer zu den besten Ergebnissen führen. Das ließe sich ändern, wenn wir die Vorteile der Algorithmen stärker für uns nutzen würden. Davon sind der Wissenschaftsautor Brian Christian und der Psychologe Tom Griffiths überzeugt. In ihrem Buch zeigen sie auf, wie uns Algorithmen helfen können, die bestmögliche Lösung für ganz alltägliche Probleme zu finden, von der Suche nach einem Parkplatz bis zur Auswahl des richtigen Restaurants oder Partners. "Algorithmen für den Alltag" überträgt die Erkenntnisse der Informatik in nützliche und alltagstaugliche Strategien und zeigt uns, wie wir mit ihrer Hilfe produktiver, organisierter und wesentlich glücklicher werden.

Die Wissenschaft der perfekten Entscheidung – vom Aufräumen bis zur Partnersuche

Algorithmen für den Alltag

Tim Bonyhady

Stories and phrases can powerfully shape the ways in which we experience and manage our environment. What languages have been used to characterize Australian landscapes and how have they influenced the way we see and treat our environment? This work answers this question and more, while exploring the inter-relationship between Australia's landscape and language. It covers a collection of essays whose subjects range from the Ord River in the far north-west to Antarctica in the south, from the center to the coast, the prehistoric to the present. Its terrain is both environmental and cultural, political and poetic.

Landscape & Language in Australia

Words for Country

This book tells the story of the giant eucalypt, the Mountain Ash, which grows in the north and east of Melbourne. A single tree can reach a height of 120 feet in 20 years, making it the worlds tallest hardwood.

An Environmental History

Forests of Ash

Short stories about doing stupid things in exotic places and living to tell about them.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

No matter how practised we are at history, it always humbles us. No matter how often we visit the past, it always surprises us. The art of time travel is to maintain critical poise and grace in this dizzy space. In this landmark book, eminent historian and award-winning author Tom Griffiths explores the craft of discipline and imagination that is history. Through portraits of fourteen historians, including Inga Clendinnen, Judith Wright, Geoffrey Blainey and Henry Reynolds, he traces how a body of work is formed out of a life-long dialogue between past evidence and present experience. With meticulous research and glowing prose, he shows how our understanding of the past has evolved, and what this changing history reveals about us. Passionate and elegant, The Art of Time Travel conjures fresh insights into the history of Australia and renews our sense of the historian’s craft. ‘Griffiths' luminous new work underlines the inarguable point that if we are truly to understand our history, we must get to know those who wrote it. A must-read for anyone interested in Australia's past.’ —Tim Flannery ‘If the past is a foreign country, Tom Griffiths makes the perfect travelling companion. Erudite but honest. Generous yet discerning. Warm, perceptive and nothing if not elegant. Let him be your eyes and ears on our shared history. Most of all, follow his heart.’ —Clare Wright, author, historian and winner of the Stella Prize ‘Tom Griffiths has the rare, reconciling capacity to envisage Australian history as a symphony, created by many voices – the discordant as well as the harmonious – that tells an evolving, bracing story of who we are. Essential reading.’ —Morag Fraser AM ‘Greatly enriches our understanding of Australia past and present … the book teems with fresh insights. Griffiths poses searching questions, which yield illuminating and often exhilarating answers.’ —Ken Inglis AO, award-winning author and historian ‘A rare feat of imagination and generosity. No other historian has so eloquently and powerfully conveyed history’s allure. The Art of Time Travel will remain relevant for decades to come.’ —Mark McKenna, award-winning author and historian ‘An historian at the height of his powers. This is book is not only a meditation on the past, but a rallying cry for the future, in which Australia’s history might be a source of both unflinching self-examination and poetic wonder.’ —Brigid Hains, editorial director, Aeon Magazine ‘Events happen, but history doesn’t write itself. By exploring the intellectual and emotional backstories of fourteen people who have crafted Australian history, Tom Griffiths shows how and why it is done. In the process, he has created a beautiful work of history.’ —Julianne Schultz AM FAHA, founding editor of Griffith Review ‘Sharp insights, thoughtful judgment, a generous spirit – Griffiths’ panorama of Australian historians shows why any similar survey conducted in the future will include his own artful work among the honoured.’ —Stephen J. Pyne, Arizona State University ‘An enthralling account of the intellectual rediscovery of Australia by fourteen of its most innovative explorers, vividly brought to life by a gifted interpreter. Tom Griffiths’ lyrical prose is mesmerizing in its mastery of Australia’s conjunctures of land and lineage, history and memory, fact and fable.’ —David Lowenthal, University College London ‘Suitable for lovers of Australian history, biography and culture, The Art of Time Travel is a graceful and lively work animated by Griffiths’ experience and enthusiasm’ —Books+Publishing

Historians and Their Craft

The Art of Time Travel

The author reflects on his experiences exploring Antarctica, the last true wilderness.

Tom Griffiths

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