Ryan North
Author of How to Invent Everything and Dinosaur Comics
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Ryan North
“An incredibly accessible, informative, and hilarious look at how the AIs deciding things around us operate.” (from Amazon)
“A deft, informative, and often screamingly funny primer on the ways that machine learning can (and often does) go wrong.” —Margaret Harris, Physics World “You look like a thing and I love you” is one of the best pickup lines ever…according to an artificial intelligence trained by the scientist Janelle Shane, creator of the popular blog AI Weirdness. Shane creates silly AIs that learn how to name colors of paint, create the best recipes, and even flirt (badly) with humans—all to understand the technology that governs so much of our human lives. We rely on AI every day, trusting it for matters both big and small, from unlocking our phones to hospital care. But how smart is AI really…? Shane delivers the answer to every AI question you’ve ever asked, and some you definitely haven’t—such as: How can a computer design the perfect sandwich? What does robot-generated Harry Potter fan fiction sound like? And is the world’s best Halloween costume really “vampire hog bride”? In this smart, often hilarious introduction to the most interesting science of our time, Shane shows how these machines learn, fail, and adapt—and how they reflect both the best and worst of humanity. "I can't think of a better way to learn about artificial intelligence, and I've never had so much fun along the way." —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals
Recommended by Ryan North
“With the conversational style and candor we’ve come to expect, Mike and Kristin Berry have delivered once again. With the wisdom that comes from years of lived experience, they ask all the right questions in Honestly Adoption. But they don’t just ask the questions; they answer them too. Adoption and foster care should not be entered into lightly. In Honestly Adoption, Mike and Kristin provide answers to the questions that everyone should be asking.” (from Amazon)
Discover What Adoption and Foster Care Really Look Like If you are considering adoption or foster care or are already somewhere in this difficult and complicated process, you need trusted information from people who have been where you are. Mike and Kristin Berry have adopted eight children and cared for another 23 kids in their nine-year stint as foster parents. They aren’t just experts. They have experienced every emotional high and low and encountered virtually every situation imaginable as parents. Now, they want to share what they’ve learned with you. Get the answers you need to the following questions, and many more: Should I foster parent or adopt? How do I know? What is the first step in becoming an adoptive or foster parent? What are the benefits of an open versus closed adoption? How and when do I tell my child that he or she is adopted? How do I help my child embrace his or her cultural and racial identity? Honestly Adoption will provide you with practical, down-to-earth advice to make good decisions in your own adoption and foster parenting journey and give you the help and hope you need.
Recommended by Ryan North
“Exploring calculus not with complicated equations, but with stories, tons of illustrations, and (yes!) comics, Change is the Only Constant is an impressively engaging and engrossing read. It's the first -- and so far only -- book of mathematics that I read entirely in a single sitting!” (from Amazon)
The next book from Ben Orlin, the popular math blogger and author of the underground bestseller Math With Bad Drawings.Change Is The Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin's sly humor and wonderfully bad drawings. Change is the Only Constant is an engaging and eloquent exploration of the intersection between calculus and daily life, complete with Orlin's sly humor and memorably bad drawings. By spinning 28 engaging mathematical tales, Orlin shows us that calculus is simply another language to express the very things we humans grapple with every day -- love, risk, time, and most importantly, change. Divided into two parts, "Moments" and "Eternities," and drawing on everyone from Sherlock Holmes to Mark Twain to David Foster Wallace, Change is the Only Constant unearths connections between calculus, art, literature, and a beloved dog named Elvis. This is not just math for math's sake; it's math for the sake of becoming a wiser and more thoughtful human.