Still don't know what to give for Book Day? Maybe you haven't entered a bookstore in ages, or maybe you have a shelf at home full of titles that are getting dusty... Don't despair! This Sant Jordi is your chance to find the perfect gift. In this article we propose 10 books about technology that you can't miss, some of the latest global news about the world of Big Data, Machine Learning, artificial intelligence, new digital professions and some biographies of relevant historical personalities. Do not miss any detail!
10 must-read technology books
- Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance (2015).
It was one of the best books of 2015 according to The Wall Street Journal, and one of the New York Times Best Sellers. In this book, journalist Ashlee Vance recounts the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most famous and fearless characters, South African entrepreneur Elon Musk. Vance conducted interviews with Musk for more than 30 hours and spoke with nearly 300 people close to him to delve into the success story of his companies: PayPal, Testa Motors, Space X and SolarCity. - Rise of the rocket girls, by Nathalia Holt (2016).
Between 1940 and 1950, when the U.S. Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed mathematicians to calculate velocities and trajectories, they didn't look for the last male graduates. Instead, they recruited a group of young women who, with only pencil and paper, transformed rocket design and helped put the first American satellites into orbit. Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the story of the women who became true human calculators during the space race through interviews with the members of the team who are still alive. A good opportunity to discover what was the real role of these scientists in a world dominated by men. - The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Klaus Schwab (2016).
According to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, the period of change we are living through is the most important in human history. In this book, Schwab analyzes the industrial revolution we are living through, paying special attention to collective responsibility to ensure that innovation will indeed be positive for all of us. You will find ideas, opinions and advice from some of the most influential people in the World Economic Forum, from governments, civil society and large companies. - The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee (2014).
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, two of the world's leading scientists and MIT professors, reflect on how technology is working and how it is reinventing our lives and our economic system. According to Brynjolfsson and McAffe, businesses will be forced to transform or die in an attempt to survive and open new paths to prosperity. This process includes reforming education and preparing new generations for the new economic reality and exploring new legislation to adapt to the renewed technological landscape. - The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough (2015).
In this book, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough tells the story of how the Wright brothers took flight. Wilbur and Orville Wright were two mechanics who, despite not being able to go to school, managed to achieve success through their determination and curiosity. McCullough has consulted the family's private diaries, notebooks, sketches, and more than a thousand letters of private correspondence to tell the personal story behind the myth of the Wright brothers. - The future of the professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts, by Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind (2015).
Although it may seem a bit disheartening, this book talks about the decline of today's professions and how systems (and also people) are going to replace them. According to Richard and Daniel Susskind, in the information society we will not need doctors, teachers, accountants, architects, consultants or lawyers to work as they did in the 20th century. The Future of the professions raises practical and moral questions, such as: In an era in which artificial intelligence can replace a human in certain situations, which jobs will be reserved exclusively for people? - Digital Transformation Playbook: Rethink your Business for the Digital Age, by David L- Rogers (2016).
According to David Rogers, the important thing for a company to successfully complete its digital transformation is not to update all the technology systems, but to renew the business strategy. Based on research David Rogers has conducted as a professor at Columbia Business School, The Digital Transformation Playbook shows how companies from the pre-digital era can generate new opportunities in the internet age. - Big Data: Principles and best practices of scalable realtime data systems, by Nathan Marz and James Warren (2016).
This book shows a new way to explore Big Data systems and how to implement them in a practical way. In addition to discovering a general framework for processing large amounts of data, you will also learn how specific technologies such as Hadoop, Storm and NoSQL work. It is an ideal book for newcomers to Big Data, as it does not require any prior knowledge of big data analysis. - Ten Billion Tomorrows: How Science Fiction Technology Became Reality and Shapes the Future, by Brian Clegg (2015).
Why do we love science fiction so much? Maybe because we have all seen a time or space travel movie and thought: What if it were true? At Ten Billion Tomorrows, Brian Clegg looks at whether some of the clichés of science fiction could actually happen. A fun mix of imagination and technology that will appeal to movie buffs and experts alike. - Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing., by Beth Noveck (2015).
Advocating innovation, Smart Citizens, Smarter State suggests that the public decision-making process would be much more efficient if government bodies were Smart (i.e., if our institutions knew how to use new technologies to make life easier for citizens). According to Beth Noveck, the same thing happens to governments as to people when they only use a small part of their brains to solve most problems: Our institutions do not know how to take advantage of the skills and experience of the people who make up governments and other decision-making bodies. Noveck proposes, precisely, new collaborative methods to make decision-making much faster and more participatory.
These recommendations have only been a quick review of the latest titles on technology written by experts in their respective fields. As we have seen, most of them are published in Anglo-Saxon countries, although all of them can be easily acquired through the Internet. Whether you're interested in biographies and historical facts, or you're a fan of new technologies and the latest in business innovation, you're sure to find in this compilation of technology books you've been able to find something that fits what you were looking for - enjoy the book day!