An explosive insider account charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them. From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite. Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.” Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us. Read more

The #1 New York Times bestseller from the author of Steve Jobs—this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter. When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive. At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said. It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground. For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress? Read more

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity. Read more

The difference between growing your business and going out of business is your ability to think strategically. The problem is, most leaders are stuck in the operational weeds, struggling to find the time to make better strategic decisions. This challenge is only heightened by the rise of AI. While you know AI is the future, current demands leave you with no time to explore its benefits. Meanwhile, your competition is gaining an edge by integrating AI. The time to act is now.In The AI-Driven Leader, you’ll learn how to:Escape operational overwhelm and lead with strategic clarity (Chapter 3)Collapse the time it takes to turn data into decisions (Chapter 7)Transform your decision-making with AI for strategic advantage (Chapter 9)10x the impact of every employee (Chapter 12)Apply real-world examples and prompts to get immediate results (every chapter) Your company can adopt AI now and see immediate returns. The AI-Driven Leader provides clear guidance on where to begin, helping you achieve rapid results.PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. Read more

The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHYDiscover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever. START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.  START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY. Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AISomething new entered our world in November 2022—the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world.In Co-Intelligence, Mollick urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher, and coach. He assesses its profound impact on business and education, using dozens of real-time examples of AI in action. Co-Intelligence shows what it means to think and work together with smart machines, and why it's imperative that we master that skill.Mollick challenges us to utilize AI's enormous power without losing our identity, to learn from it without being misled, and to harness its gifts to create a better human future. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking, optimistic, and lucid, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era.A limited amount of text-to-speech is used throughout the title for specific characters to achieve a particular creative effect, and the title is otherwise narrated by a human. Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AISomething new entered our world in November 2022 — the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, Mollick urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher, and coach. He assesses its profound impact on business and education, using dozens of real-time examples of AI in action. Co-Intelligence shows what it means to think and work together with smart machines, and why it's imperative that we master that skill. Mollick challenges us to utilize AI's enormous power without losing our identity, to learn from it without being misled, and to harness its gifts to create a better human future. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking, optimistic, and lucid, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era. Read more

#1 New York Times bestseller From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive. At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said. It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground. For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress? Read more

From one of tech’s boldest thinkers and his deputy, a sweeping indictment of the West’s culture of complacency, arguing that timid leadership, intellectual fragility, and an unambitious view of technology’s potential in Silicon Valley have made the U.S. vulnerable in an era of mounting global threats.“Fascinating and important.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Elon MuskSilicon Valley has lost its way.Our most brilliant engineering minds once collaborated with government to advance world-changing technologies. Their efforts secured the West’s dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions.Today, the market rewards shallow engagement with the potential of technology. Engineers and founders build photo-sharing apps and marketing algorithms, unwittingly becoming vessels for the ambitions of others. This complacency has spread into academia, politics, and the boardroom. The result? An entire generation for whom the narrow-minded pursuit of the demands of a late capitalist economy has become their calling.In this groundbreaking treatise, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition, arguing that in order for the U.S. and its allies to retain their global edge—and preserve the freedoms we take for granted—the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. The government, in turn, must embrace the most effective features of the engineering mindset that has propelled Silicon Valley’s success.Above all, our leaders must reject intellectual fragility and preserve space for ideological confrontation. A willingness to risk the disapproval of the crowd, Karp and Zamiska contend, has everything to do with technological and economic outperformance.At once iconoclastic and rigorous, this book will also lift the veil on Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality. Read more

From one of tech’s boldest thinkers and his deputy, a sweeping indictment of the West’s culture of complacency, arguing that timid leadership, intellectual fragility, and an unambitious view of technology’s potential in Silicon Valley have made the U.S. vulnerable in an era of mounting global threats.“Fascinating and important.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk Silicon Valley has lost its way.  Our most brilliant engineering minds once collaborated with government to advance world-changing technologies. Their efforts secured the West’s dominant place in the geopolitical order. But that relationship has now eroded, with perilous repercussions.Today, the market rewards shallow engagement with the potential of technology. Engineers and founders build photo-sharing apps and marketing algorithms, unwittingly becoming vessels for the ambitions of others. This complacency has spread into academia, politics, and the boardroom. The result? An entire generation for whom the narrow-minded pursuit of the demands of a late capitalist economy has become their calling.In this groundbreaking treatise, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition, arguing that in order for the U.S. and its allies to retain their global edge—and preserve the freedoms we take for granted—the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. The government, in turn, must embrace the most effective features of the engineering mindset that has propelled Silicon Valley’s success.  Above all, our leaders must reject intellectual fragility and preserve space for ideological confrontation. A willingness to risk the disapproval of the crowd, Karp and Zamiska contend, has everything to do with technological and economic outperformance.At once iconoclastic and rigorous, this book will also lift the veil on Palantir and its broader political project from the inside, offering a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality. Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance—from a co-founder of the pioneering artificial intelligence company DeepMind“A fascinating, well-written, and important book.”—Yuval Noah Harari“Essential reading.”—Daniel Kahneman“An excellent guide for navigating unprecedented times.”—Bill GatesBest Book of the Year: CNN, Economist, Bloomberg, Politico Playbook, Financial Times, The Guardian, CEO Magazine, Semafor Winner of the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award Finalist for the Porchlight Business Book Award and the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year AwardWe are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change.Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organise your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy.None of us are prepared.As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, part of Google, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the centre of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.In The Coming Wave, Suleyman shows how these forces will create immense prosperity but also threaten the nation-state, the foundation of global order. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into disaster, we face an existential dilemma: unprecedented harms on one side, the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other.Can we forge a narrow path between catastrophe and dystopia?This groundbreaking book from the ultimate AI insider establishes “the containment problem”—the task of maintaining control over powerful technologies—as the essential challenge of our age. Read more

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence. Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity. Read more

Filled with gorgeous illustrations and concept art from the hit Netflix series, The Art and Making of Arcane is an immersive journey behind the scenes of the Emmy Award-winning Animated Series!The Art and Making of Arcane takes readers through the visual journey of Riot Games’ and Fortiche's revolutionary animated series. Featuring early art styles, evolving character designs, and jaw-dropping worldbuilding artwork, this volume is the definitive compendium of Arcane’s creative process and vision. Arcane and League of Legends fans alike will be amazed by the visual development of fan-favorite champions, the breathtaking cityscapes of Piltover and Zaun, and the riveting inventions of hextech and Shimmer. This book includes early designs showing how characters evolved visually, gorgeous vistas of sprawling background and setting art, and interviews with over 20 key animators, writers, directors, artists, game designers, musicians, and other creators. EXCLUSIVE ACETATE COVER: The Art and Making of Arcane comes with an acetate jacket exclusive to this edition. IN-WORLD EXTRAS: This stunning tome will also come with a trove of in-world extras. All editions of the book will include a Jinx poster, a removable map of Piltover, an in-world blueprint, a Vander Letter, fold-out spreads showcasing content from seasons one and two, and more. ORIGINAL ART: Features beautiful, never-before-seen concept art that helped adapt the global blockbuster video game into a critically acclaimed animated series. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: Hear from the development teams at Riot Games and Fortiche on the groundbreaking process that brought the world of Runeterra into the cinematic limelight. GO BEHIND THE SCENES: Filled with both behind-the-scenes looks at the inspiration and iteration of the people and places in Arcane, breakdowns of key scenes, and a deep dive into Fortiche’s artisanal animation style, The Art and Making of Arcane chronicles the incredible work and talent that went into crafting such a dynamic and instantly iconic series. Read more

Python Crash Course is the world’s bestselling programming book, with over 1,500,000 copies sold to date!Python Crash Course is the world’s best-selling guide to the Python programming language. This fast-paced, thorough introduction will have you writing programs, solving problems, and developing functioning applications in no time.You’ll start by learning basic programming concepts, such as variables, lists, classes, and loops, and practice writing clean code with exercises for each topic. You’ll also learn how to make your programs interactive and test your code safely before adding it to a project. You’ll put your new knowledge into practice by creating a Space Invaders–inspired arcade game, building a set of data visualizations with Python’s handy libraries, and deploying a simple application online.As you work through the book, you’ll learn how to:Use powerful Python libraries and tools, including pytest, Pygame, Matplotlib, Plotly, and DjangoMake increasingly complex 2D games that respond to keypresses and mouse clicksGenerate interactive data visualizations using a variety of datasetsBuild apps that allow users to create accounts and manage their own data, and deploy your apps online Troubleshoot coding errors and solve common programming problems New to this edition: This third edition is completely revised to reflect the latest in Python code. New and updated coverage includes VS Code for text editing, the pathlib module for file handling, pytest for testing your code, as well as the latest features of Matplotlib, Plotly, and Django.If you’ve been thinking about digging into programming, Python Crash Course will provide you with the skills to write real programs fast. Why wait any longer? Start your engines and code!Covers Python 3.x Read more

By New York Times bestselling author and Minecraft expert, Megan Miller, a full-color book full of practical advice that boys and girls will refer to again and again! Minecraft is the one game that children, parents, and teaches all agree on. It’s great fun and a wonderful teaching tool. The Ultimate Unofficial Encyclopedia for Minecrafters reveals expert tricks of the trade for gamers. This exciting book will cover everything players need to know about mining, farming, building, villagers, the Nether, and more! Young gamers will be surprised at how quickly they can learn hundreds of new tricks and tips! Want to know where you’ll find the most diamonds or how to protect your villagers at night? This A–Z reference is a quick guide to all the tips you want to know, including: How to spawn and kill the Wither boss How to rescue a baby zombie villager How to make a portal without a diamond pickaxe How to make a secret passageway using paintings A big book of players’ hacks organized in an easy-to-reference encyclopedia format, this book will show readers the ins and outs of the game, how to survive and thrive, and various mods that can improve play. The book is illustrated in full-color throughout, making it easy for new and experienced Minecrafters to build, fight, protect, and survive in their creative worlds. This is a great, unparalleled guide especially for readers who love the fight of good vs. evil, magical academies like Hogwarts in the Harry Potter saga and games like Terraria and Pokemon GO, ideal for both the young newcomer and the seasoned player. From abandoned mineshafts to mini-games, mods, and zombie sieges, Read more

Thaden is built for running dungeons solo, but in order to progress past his current Level, he’s going to have to find some friends rather quickly…After resolving all the pending SPECIAL Quests that had been plaguing him, Thaden is finally ready to evolve his Class, where he can then continue to Level-up past his current limit. Unfortunately, his current Evolution Assignment is proving to be a bit more difficult than his last one, as it requires him to complete one of the new Intermediate dungeons with a full Raid Party of at least 100 people without any casualties. Throwing money at the problem might’ve worked in the past, but now there’s a complication that makes such a prospect nearly impossible.The rise of the Contender Guilds.Thaden has had his run-ins with the Guilds in the past, of course, but while he had been away for a while, the Assimilation System has embraced these Guilds and incorporated them into its mechanics, legitimizing them past the relatively loose groups of Contenders they were before and making them official organizations – with specific Quests to go along with them. With Guild Quests including the completion of Intermediate dungeons and a Ranking system with ongoing awards, the competition is fierce – and no one is willing to risk their Ranking by taking someone not affiliated with their Guild along.With these obstacles in place, Thaden struggles to find a Guild willing to accept him as a member, even if only temporarily. This is proving harder than it should be, as while his Class is undoubtedly powerful, information about it and the detrimental drawbacks it enforces on any party he participates in is now widely known.Will he be able to find a Guild inclined to giving him a chance, or will this unaffiliated healer be stuck at his current Level, unable to progress any further?This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems. Read more

“Stephen Witt’s deep reporting shines through every page of The Thinking Machine. The result is a page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world.” —David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of RangeNvidia is as valuable as Apple and Microsoft. It has shaped the world as we know it. But its story is little known. This is the definitive story of the greatest technology company of our times.In June of 2024, thirty-one years after its founding in a Denny’s restaurant, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of video game equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process re-invented the computer.Essential to Nvidia’s meteoric success is its visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who more than a decade ago, on the basis of a few promising scientific results, bet his entire company on AI. Through unprecedented access to Huang, his friends, his investors, and his employees, Witt documents for the first time the company’s epic rise and its single-minded and ferocious leader, now one of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures.The Thinking Machine is the story of how Nvidia evolved to supplying hundred-million-dollar supercomputers. It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, becoming one of the wealthiest men alive. It is the story of a revolution in computer architecture, and the small group of renegade engineers who made it happen. And it’s the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, which Huang has billed as the ‘next industrial revolution,’ as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars, and new movies, art, and books, generated on command.This is the story of the company that is inventing the future. Read more

Exposed as the Contender at the top of the Rankings, Thaden has to make a run for it….After the Assimilation System inadvertently outed Thaden as a Contender, as well as confirming that he was at the top of most of the Rankings, the Lifewarden has to leave the town of Ashcleft as soon as possible. Why? Because with his Level being over 21, he can now be attacked by other Contenders with a lower Level than him; they are eager to bring him down so that they’ll have a chance at the top spot, which will guarantee that their families back home on Earth will be safe. With the completely unfair Contender versus Contender system in place, he can’t defend himself even if he had that capability, as any damage he might inflict upon them is immediately negated.Fortunately, Thaden escapes those who wish him harm, but as he travels further from Ashcleft, he realizes that he doesn’t exactly have a plan on how to proceed now that his status has been revealed. Venturing into the wider world of Tarth has its own problems, though the danger to him is largely in the form of other Contenders learning his identity, and not the monsters that roam across the landscape or the dungeons that might challenge him. Despite those dangers, the Lifewarden decides to begin accumulating more of the resources needed to Level-up; but when he unwittingly stumbles upon a challenge that the Assimilation System has designed, Thaden is completely unprepared for the consequences of his actions.But in reality, it’s the world of Tarth that is completely unprepared for him….This story contains an overpowered MC with a normally non-offense-based Class, LitRPG progression mechanics and stats, and isekai/portal fantasy elements. Contains no sexual content or harems. Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Wall Street quant sounds the alarm on Big Data and the mathematical models that threaten to rip apart our social fabric—with a new afterword “A manual for the twenty-first-century citizen . . . relevant and urgent.”—Financial Times NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Boston Globe • Wired • Fortune • Kirkus Reviews • The Guardian • Nature • On Point We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules. But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data. Read more

A practical guide to making good decisions in a world of missing dataIn the era of big data, it is easy to imagine that we have all the information we need to make good decisions. But in fact the data we have are never complete, and may be only the tip of the iceberg. Just as much of the universe is composed of dark matter, invisible to us but nonetheless present, the universe of information is full of dark data that we overlook at our peril. In Dark Data, data expert David Hand takes us on a fascinating and enlightening journey into the world of the data we don't see.Dark Data explores the many ways in which we can be blind to missing data and how that can lead us to conclusions and actions that are mistaken, dangerous, or even disastrous. Examining a wealth of real-life examples, from the Challenger shuttle explosion to complex financial frauds, Hand gives us a practical taxonomy of the types of dark data that exist and the situations in which they can arise, so that we can learn to recognize and control for them. In doing so, he teaches us not only to be alert to the problems presented by the things we don’t know, but also shows how dark data can be used to our advantage, leading to greater understanding and better decisions.Today, we all make decisions using data. Dark Data shows us all how to reduce the risk of making bad ones. Read more