Tim O’Reilly

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today. George Saunders shares his twenty-year experience teaching a class on Russian short stories to MFA students at Syracuse University. In this book, he pairs iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol with his technical yet accessible essays on how narrative functions, why we stay immersed in a story, and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster to create compelling fiction. Through this exploration, Saunders illuminates how the mind itself works while reading and how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.

Explore the fascinating life of iconic visionary Stewart Brand, from his involvement with the counterculture and creation of the influential Whole Earth Catalog, to his commitment to environmentalism and pragmatic embrace of technology. Written by technology and society chronicler John Markoff, this biography delves into Brand's contradictions and powerful influence on California culture and the wider world. With his emphasis on direct power and planetary consciousness, Brand's story is one that will inspire readers to reimagine how we live on this planet.

No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of S�o Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is. Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

Explore the fascinating history of how we came to view the earth's limits and the importance of embracing them in this passionate book. Author Giorgos Kallis challenges the belief that going beyond limits is the only path to progress and advocates for a culture of sharing and collective self-limitation. Discover the separation between limits and scarcity, two concepts often conflated in both environmental and economic theory. From ancient Greece to present-day radical environmentalists, join Kallis on a journey to redefine our relationship with the planet and make an impassioned plea for limits.

This nonfiction graphic novel delves into the broken democracy of the United States and the heroic efforts of those unrigging the system to return power to the people. Written by a democracy reform leader and illustrated by an artist, the book takes readers behind the scenes of where politicians acquire their funds, from corporate CEOs to billionaire supporters. Unrig also provides solutions to limit the influence of big money and redraw the lines of political power. If you're searching for hope in the current political climate, this book will restore your faith in the path forward to fix our democracy.

En el desértico planeta Arrakis, el agua es el bien más preciado y llorar a los muertos, el símbolo de máxima prodigalidad. Pero algo hace de Arrakis una pieza estratégica para los intereses del Emperador, las Grandes Casas y la Cofradía, los tres grandes poderes de la galaxia. Arrakis es el único origen conocido de la melange, preciosa especia y uno de los bienes más codiciados del universo. Al duque Leto Atreides se le asigna el gobierno de este mundo inhóspito, habitado por los indómitos Fremen y monstruosos gusanos de arena de centenares de metros de longitud. Sin embargo, cuando la familia es traicionada, su hijo y heredero, Paul, emprenderá un viaje hacia un destino más grande del que jamás hubiese podido soñar. Mezcla fascinante de aventura, misticismo, intrigas políticas y ecologismo, Dune se convirtió, desde el momento de su publicación, en un fenómeno de culto y en la mayor epopeya de ciencia-ficción de todos los tiempos.

This groundbreaking book by a leading AI researcher explores how we can coexist with increasingly intelligent machines, rather than viewing them as a threat to civilizations. The author outlines the benefits and potential misuse of AI, and suggests that we rethink the design of AI to ensure that machines are inherently uncertain about human preferences, thereby creating provably deferential and beneficial machines. Solve the problem of control over AI and unlock a future of unlimited promise.

Discover the greatest thinkers of our time with The Last Unknowns. This book features over 250 scientists, artists, and theorists answering the profound question: "What is 'The Last Question,' the question for which you will be remembered?" Explore the deepest riddles about our world, civilization, and the meaning of life with contributions from Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, Nobel laureates, philosophers, and more. With a foreword by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, this little book of unknowns engages and fascinates readers from start to finish.

A celebrated historian shares his personal experiences researching and writing his acclaimed books in this evocatively written collection of personal pieces. From interviewing powerful figures like Robert Moses to encountering witnesses of political power, and finding a writer's community, the author reflects on his journey and the importance of infusing writing with a sense of place and mood. These candid, deeply revealing recollections bring into focus the passion, integrity, and self-deprecation behind his acclaimed work.

El día siguiente a la victoria de Donald Trump en las elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos, los empleados del Departamento de Energía —un ministerio que gestiona algunos de los riesgos más peligrosos a los que se enfrenta la humanidad— esperaron, como es habitual, la llegada del equipo del nuevo presidente. Sin embargo, nadie se presentó para gestionar el periodo de transición. Nadie llamó ni dio señales de vida. El que iba a ser el próximo gobierno no parecía interesado en gobernar, y mucho menos en dejar de lado la ideología para afrontar cuestiones eminentemente pragmáticas y comprender y abordar los problemas reales del país. La administración de Trump, con una enorme arrogancia y un desprecio absoluto por el trabajo de gran parte de las instituciones, entró en la administración con la única ambición de deshacerse de las políticas implementadas por Barack Obama, denunciar a quienes creyeran en el cambio climático y lucrarse personalmente del desmantelamiento paulatino de varios servicios públicos. En una historia tan increíble que a veces parece mentira, Michael Lewis relata, con su característico y fascinante estilo, la peligrosa combinación de ignorancia, desprecio a la ley e intereses privados que guiaron los primeros pasos del gobierno de Donald Trump.