Selected Reading List - Science and Technology Studies

Here are some books I never got to read when I was studying Computing Science at Imperial, plus some that were published after I graduated.



Albert Borgmann, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life (1984)

Donna Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs and Women (1991)

Larry Hirschhorn, Beyond Mechanization (1986)

Bruno Latour, Aramis, or the Love of Technology (1996)

Lewis Mumford, The Myth of the Machine (Vol 1 1967, Vol 2 1970)

Mark Poster, The Mode of Information (1990)

Dora Russell, The Religion of the Machine Age (1983)

Lucy Suchman, Plans and Situated Actions (1987)

Joseph Weizenbaum, Computer Power and Human Reason (1976)

Norbert Wiener, Human Use of Human Beings (1950)

Weapons of Math Destruction

Cathy O’Neil, a data scientist and activist, has written a new book, “Weapons of Math Destruction.” She is concerned about the proliferation of certain kinds of algorithms – that help make important decisions, but that could be based on unfair statistics with hidden biases. She explains how to look out for them, and what we can do to protect ourselves.

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Cathy O'Neil's website
https://mathbabe.org/

Executive Edge Video
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000549011

YouTube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdCJYsKlX_Y

More or Less Podcast (2 September 2016)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p046x243
http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/http/vpid/p046n56s.mp3

Extract
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/01/how-algorithms-rule-our-working-lives

Interviews with the Author
http://www.salon.com/2016/09/08/the-case-against-big-data-it-is-like-youre-being-put-into-a-cult-but-you-dont-actually-believe-in-it/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/27/cathy-oneil-weapons-of-math-destruction-algorithms-big-data

Reviews
https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=8732
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/review-weapons-of-math-destruction/
https://www.infoq.com/articles/weapons-of-math-destruction-review


http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/12/22/they-have-right-now-another-you/

Related Posts
The Shelf-Life of Algorithms (October 2016)
The Transparency of Algorithms (October 2016)
Pay as you Share (November 2016)

The Leadership Secrets of Hewlett Packard

@lucykellaway complains about the boneheaded aphorisms from Davos’s windy summit. Among other things, she critiques the advice given by Meg Whitman of HP — “You can always go faster than you think you can” — and points out that no, you can’t. Sometimes, when you go faster you fall flat on your face.

I hate to say this, but Lucy Kellaway is not entirely correct here. Or at least her counter-example doesn't prove her point. When you fall flat on your face, you ARE going faster than you thought you could. Just not quite in the direction you wanted.

But that's not to let Meg Whitman off the hook. Her quote has been widely disseminated as a leadership lesson. Framed thus, it appears to encourage people to ALWAYS go faster than they thought they could, and to imply that going faster than you thought you could is ALWAYS a good thing.

But what if it's not quite in the direction you wanted?

World Economic Forum underway. Meg about to participate in digital transformation panel. @HPE @wef @Davos pic.twitter.com/OeGK1sarhy

— Henry Gomez (@magicgus) January 20, 2016

“The future belongs to the fast” - Meg Whitman @Davos https://t.co/uYR2Kb3oeA #wef #digitaleconomy pic.twitter.com/S04angFGzD

— HPE (@HPE) January 21, 2016

The plot thickens. The Financial Times receives an email from Henry "MagicGus" Gomez, head of marketing and communications at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, alleging biased reporting on Ms Kellaway's part, and warning FT management to consider the impact of unacceptable biases on its relationships with advertisers.

Fortunately, FT management is made of sterner stuff.

My reply to HP, which threatened to cut ads in FT after reading my col. I love the FT for letting me write this. https://t.co/m4oBFxzHFn

— Lucy Kellaway (@lucykellaway) February 7, 2016

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HT @stoiczak

Digital Transformation of Industries (World Economic Forum, 20-23 January 2016)

Stéphanie Thomson, Leadership lessons from Davos 2016 (World Economic Forum, 23 January 2016)

Lucy Kellaway, Boneheaded aphorisms from Davos’s windy summit (FT 1 February 2016)

Lucy Kellaway, An old-school reply to an advertiser’s retro threat (FT 7 February 2016)

Paywall note: I believe the FT allows one link per day for non-subscribers.