Naturoids

Naturoids

Author: Massimo Negrotti

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 9810249322

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Since antiquity, technology has tried to either control or imitate nature. Both these traditions take advantage of the progress of science, but their teleology and their typical design problems remain basically different.The technology of the artificial may be defined as the effort to reproduce natural objects or processes by means of current conventional technology and materials. This book reports on the results of a theoretical study of the logic characterizing any attempt to design something artificial.While designers of artificial devices work in their own area facing field-specific problems (e.g. bioengineering, artificial organs, robotics, AI, ALife, remakings, etc.), the present study refers to the artificial in itself, trying to find out what is common to instances very far from each other, in an intrinsically interdisciplinary way. The result may be defined as a proposal of a general theory of the artificial.


Book Synopsis Naturoids by : Massimo Negrotti

Download or read book Naturoids written by Massimo Negrotti and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2002 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since antiquity, technology has tried to either control or imitate nature. Both these traditions take advantage of the progress of science, but their teleology and their typical design problems remain basically different.The technology of the artificial may be defined as the effort to reproduce natural objects or processes by means of current conventional technology and materials. This book reports on the results of a theoretical study of the logic characterizing any attempt to design something artificial.While designers of artificial devices work in their own area facing field-specific problems (e.g. bioengineering, artificial organs, robotics, AI, ALife, remakings, etc.), the present study refers to the artificial in itself, trying to find out what is common to instances very far from each other, in an intrinsically interdisciplinary way. The result may be defined as a proposal of a general theory of the artificial.


The Reality of the Artificial

The Reality of the Artificial

Author: Massimo Negrotti

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-06-05

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 3642296793

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The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus’s wings to modern robotics and bioengineering. This imperative seems to be linked not only to practical utility but also to our deepest psychology. Nevertheless, reproducing something natural is not an easy enterprise, and the actual replication of a natural object or process by means of some technology is impossible. In this book the author uses the term naturoid to designate any real artifact arising from our attempts to reproduce natural instances. He concentrates on activities that involve the reproduction of something existing in nature, and whose reproduction, through construction strategies which differ from natural ones, we consider to be useful, appealing or interesting. The development of naturoids may be viewed as a distinct class of technological activity, and the concept should be useful for methodological research into establishing the common rules, potentialities and constraints that characterize the human effort to reproduce natural objects. The author shows that a naturoid is always the result of a reduction of the complexity of natural objects, due to an unavoidable multiple selection strategy. Nevertheless, the reproduction process implies that naturoids take on their own new complexity, resulting in a transfiguration of the natural exemplars and their performances, and leading to a true innovation explosion. While the core performances of contemporary naturoids improve, paradoxically the more a naturoid develops the further it moves away from its natural counterpart. Therefore, naturoids will more and more affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature, but in ways quite beyond our predictive capabilities. The book will be of interest to design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology.


Book Synopsis The Reality of the Artificial by : Massimo Negrotti

Download or read book The Reality of the Artificial written by Massimo Negrotti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus’s wings to modern robotics and bioengineering. This imperative seems to be linked not only to practical utility but also to our deepest psychology. Nevertheless, reproducing something natural is not an easy enterprise, and the actual replication of a natural object or process by means of some technology is impossible. In this book the author uses the term naturoid to designate any real artifact arising from our attempts to reproduce natural instances. He concentrates on activities that involve the reproduction of something existing in nature, and whose reproduction, through construction strategies which differ from natural ones, we consider to be useful, appealing or interesting. The development of naturoids may be viewed as a distinct class of technological activity, and the concept should be useful for methodological research into establishing the common rules, potentialities and constraints that characterize the human effort to reproduce natural objects. The author shows that a naturoid is always the result of a reduction of the complexity of natural objects, due to an unavoidable multiple selection strategy. Nevertheless, the reproduction process implies that naturoids take on their own new complexity, resulting in a transfiguration of the natural exemplars and their performances, and leading to a true innovation explosion. While the core performances of contemporary naturoids improve, paradoxically the more a naturoid develops the further it moves away from its natural counterpart. Therefore, naturoids will more and more affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature, but in ways quite beyond our predictive capabilities. The book will be of interest to design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology.


Language, Culture, Computation: Computing for the Humanities, Law, and Narratives

Language, Culture, Computation: Computing for the Humanities, Law, and Narratives

Author: Nachum Dershowitz

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-12-04

Total Pages: 765

ISBN-13: 3642453244

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This Festschrift volume is published in Honor of Yaacov Choueka on the occasion of this 75th birthday. The present three-volumes liber amicorum, several years in gestation, honours this outstanding Israeli computer scientist and is dedicated to him and to his scientific endeavours. Yaacov's research has had a major impact not only within the walls of academia, but also in the daily life of lay users of such technology that originated from his research. An especially amazing aspect of the temporal span of his scholarly work is that half a century after his influential research from the early 1960s, a project in which he is currently involved is proving to be a sensation, as will become apparent from what follows. Yaacov Choueka began his research career in the theory of computer science, dealing with basic questions regarding the relation between mathematical logic and automata theory. From formal languages, Yaacov moved to natural languages. He was a founder of natural-language processing in Israel, developing numerous tools for Hebrew. He is best known for his primary role, together with Aviezri Fraenkel, in the development of the Responsa Project, one of the earliest fulltext retrieval systems in the world. More recently, he has headed the Friedberg Genizah Project, which is bringing the treasures of the Cairo Genizah into the Digital Age. This second part of the three-volume set covers a range of topics related to the application of information technology in humanities, law, and narratives. The papers are grouped in topical sections on: humanities computing; narratives and their formal representation; history of ideas: the numerate disciplines; law, computer law, and legal computing.


Book Synopsis Language, Culture, Computation: Computing for the Humanities, Law, and Narratives by : Nachum Dershowitz

Download or read book Language, Culture, Computation: Computing for the Humanities, Law, and Narratives written by Nachum Dershowitz and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-04 with total page 765 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Festschrift volume is published in Honor of Yaacov Choueka on the occasion of this 75th birthday. The present three-volumes liber amicorum, several years in gestation, honours this outstanding Israeli computer scientist and is dedicated to him and to his scientific endeavours. Yaacov's research has had a major impact not only within the walls of academia, but also in the daily life of lay users of such technology that originated from his research. An especially amazing aspect of the temporal span of his scholarly work is that half a century after his influential research from the early 1960s, a project in which he is currently involved is proving to be a sensation, as will become apparent from what follows. Yaacov Choueka began his research career in the theory of computer science, dealing with basic questions regarding the relation between mathematical logic and automata theory. From formal languages, Yaacov moved to natural languages. He was a founder of natural-language processing in Israel, developing numerous tools for Hebrew. He is best known for his primary role, together with Aviezri Fraenkel, in the development of the Responsa Project, one of the earliest fulltext retrieval systems in the world. More recently, he has headed the Friedberg Genizah Project, which is bringing the treasures of the Cairo Genizah into the Digital Age. This second part of the three-volume set covers a range of topics related to the application of information technology in humanities, law, and narratives. The papers are grouped in topical sections on: humanities computing; narratives and their formal representation; history of ideas: the numerate disciplines; law, computer law, and legal computing.


Origin(s) of Design in Nature

Origin(s) of Design in Nature

Author: Liz Swan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-08-27

Total Pages: 812

ISBN-13: 9400741561

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Origin(s) of Design in Nature is a collection of over 40 articles from prominent researchers in the life, physical, and social sciences, medicine, and the philosophy of science that all address the philosophical and scientific question of how design emerged in the natural world. The volume offers a large variety of perspectives on the design debate including progressive accounts from artificial life, embryology, complexity, cosmology, theology and the philosophy of biology. This book is volume 23 of the series, Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology. www.springer.com/series/5775


Book Synopsis Origin(s) of Design in Nature by : Liz Swan

Download or read book Origin(s) of Design in Nature written by Liz Swan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Origin(s) of Design in Nature is a collection of over 40 articles from prominent researchers in the life, physical, and social sciences, medicine, and the philosophy of science that all address the philosophical and scientific question of how design emerged in the natural world. The volume offers a large variety of perspectives on the design debate including progressive accounts from artificial life, embryology, complexity, cosmology, theology and the philosophy of biology. This book is volume 23 of the series, Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology. www.springer.com/series/5775


Cultural Dimensions of the User

Cultural Dimensions of the User

Author: Massimo Negrotti

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9783039106905

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The concept of the user is not a well-established sociological concept even though the user is omnipresent in our culture as someone who uses a device, a machine, the internet or a public service. Due to the close relationship between man and technology user studies have become very important. The papers assembled in this volume were presented at the Vth International Conference on «The Culture of the Artificial» - The User of the Artificial (Ascona Switzerland, Monte Verità, 23-25 April 2004). They deal with various aspects of the figure of the user.


Book Synopsis Cultural Dimensions of the User by : Massimo Negrotti

Download or read book Cultural Dimensions of the User written by Massimo Negrotti and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2005 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of the user is not a well-established sociological concept even though the user is omnipresent in our culture as someone who uses a device, a machine, the internet or a public service. Due to the close relationship between man and technology user studies have become very important. The papers assembled in this volume were presented at the Vth International Conference on «The Culture of the Artificial» - The User of the Artificial (Ascona Switzerland, Monte Verità, 23-25 April 2004). They deal with various aspects of the figure of the user.


Pragmatics & Cognition

Pragmatics & Cognition

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Pragmatics & Cognition by :

Download or read book Pragmatics & Cognition written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Tacit Engagement

Tacit Engagement

Author: Satinder P. Gill

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-10-29

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 3319216201

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This book explores how digital technology is altering the relationships between people and how the very nature of interface itself needs to be reconsidered to reflect this – how we can make sense of each other, handle ambiguities, negotiate differences, empathise and collectively make skilled judgments in our modern society. The author presents new directions for research at the relational-transactional intersection of contrasting disciplines of arts, science and technology, and in so doing, presents philosophical and artistic questions for future research on human connectivity in our digital age. The book presents frameworks and methods for conducting research and study of tacit engagement that includes ethnography, experiments, discourse analysis, gesture analysis, psycholinguistic analysis, artistic experiments, installations, and improvisation. Case studies illustrate the use of various methods and the application and emergence of frameworks. Tacit Engagement will be of interest to researchers, designers, teachers and students concerned with new media, social media and communications networks; interactive interfaces, including information systems, knowledge management, robotics, and presence technologies. Not since Michael Polanyi have we seen such wise science about the tacit: how we know more than we can tell. Gill brings to the present era of design and data a profoundly needed perspective on meaning that comes from social dialogue, skilled performance, relational gesture and rhythm. – Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D. (Synthesis, ASU)


Book Synopsis Tacit Engagement by : Satinder P. Gill

Download or read book Tacit Engagement written by Satinder P. Gill and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-29 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how digital technology is altering the relationships between people and how the very nature of interface itself needs to be reconsidered to reflect this – how we can make sense of each other, handle ambiguities, negotiate differences, empathise and collectively make skilled judgments in our modern society. The author presents new directions for research at the relational-transactional intersection of contrasting disciplines of arts, science and technology, and in so doing, presents philosophical and artistic questions for future research on human connectivity in our digital age. The book presents frameworks and methods for conducting research and study of tacit engagement that includes ethnography, experiments, discourse analysis, gesture analysis, psycholinguistic analysis, artistic experiments, installations, and improvisation. Case studies illustrate the use of various methods and the application and emergence of frameworks. Tacit Engagement will be of interest to researchers, designers, teachers and students concerned with new media, social media and communications networks; interactive interfaces, including information systems, knowledge management, robotics, and presence technologies. Not since Michael Polanyi have we seen such wise science about the tacit: how we know more than we can tell. Gill brings to the present era of design and data a profoundly needed perspective on meaning that comes from social dialogue, skilled performance, relational gesture and rhythm. – Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D. (Synthesis, ASU)


Biocommunication

Biocommunication

Author: Richard Gordon

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2016-11-01

Total Pages: 700

ISBN-13: 1786340461

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All coordination between cells, organs, and organisms depends on successful biocommunicative processes. There are abundant cases of communication in the biological world, both within (intraspecific) and between (interspecific) single-cell and multicellular microorganisms and higher animal forms. Split into two parts, this book first looks at the history, development and progress within the field of biocommunication. The second part presents real-life case studies and investigation into examples of biocommunication in the biological world. Among the organisms covered are bacteria, fungi, plants, terrestrial and marine animals, including bonobos, chimpanzees and dolphins, as well as a new theory of communication between parts in developing embryos (cybernetic embryos). Contributions from international experts in the field provide up-to-date research and results, while in depth analysis expands on these findings to pave the way for future discoveries. As the first comprehensive review of its kind, it is perfect for undergraduates, graduates, professionals and researchers in the field of life sciences.


Book Synopsis Biocommunication by : Richard Gordon

Download or read book Biocommunication written by Richard Gordon and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All coordination between cells, organs, and organisms depends on successful biocommunicative processes. There are abundant cases of communication in the biological world, both within (intraspecific) and between (interspecific) single-cell and multicellular microorganisms and higher animal forms. Split into two parts, this book first looks at the history, development and progress within the field of biocommunication. The second part presents real-life case studies and investigation into examples of biocommunication in the biological world. Among the organisms covered are bacteria, fungi, plants, terrestrial and marine animals, including bonobos, chimpanzees and dolphins, as well as a new theory of communication between parts in developing embryos (cybernetic embryos). Contributions from international experts in the field provide up-to-date research and results, while in depth analysis expands on these findings to pave the way for future discoveries. As the first comprehensive review of its kind, it is perfect for undergraduates, graduates, professionals and researchers in the field of life sciences.


Origins of Mind

Origins of Mind

Author: Liz Swan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-22

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9400754191

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The big question of how and why mindedness evolved necessitates collaborative, multidisciplinary investigation. Biosemiotics provides a new conceptual space that attracts a multitude of thinkers in the biological and cognitive sciences and the humanities who recognize continuity in the biosphere from the simplest to the most complex organisms, and who are united in the project of trying to account for even language and human consciousness in this comprehensive picture of life. The young interdiscipline of biosemiotics has so far by and large focused on codes, signs and sign processes in the microworld—a fact that reflects the field’s strong representation in microbiology and embryology. What philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists can contribute to the growing interdiscipline are insights into how the biosemiotic weltanschauung applies to complex organisms like humans where such signs and sign processes constitute human society and culture.


Book Synopsis Origins of Mind by : Liz Swan

Download or read book Origins of Mind written by Liz Swan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-22 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The big question of how and why mindedness evolved necessitates collaborative, multidisciplinary investigation. Biosemiotics provides a new conceptual space that attracts a multitude of thinkers in the biological and cognitive sciences and the humanities who recognize continuity in the biosphere from the simplest to the most complex organisms, and who are united in the project of trying to account for even language and human consciousness in this comprehensive picture of life. The young interdiscipline of biosemiotics has so far by and large focused on codes, signs and sign processes in the microworld—a fact that reflects the field’s strong representation in microbiology and embryology. What philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists can contribute to the growing interdiscipline are insights into how the biosemiotic weltanschauung applies to complex organisms like humans where such signs and sign processes constitute human society and culture.


Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics

Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics

Author: Carl Mitcham

Publisher: MacMillan Reference Library

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13:

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This encyclopedia considers both the professional ethics of science and technology, and the social, ethical, and political issues raised by science and technology.


Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics by : Carl Mitcham

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics written by Carl Mitcham and published by MacMillan Reference Library. This book was released on 2005 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This encyclopedia considers both the professional ethics of science and technology, and the social, ethical, and political issues raised by science and technology.