Two Aussies who live near the Snowy Mountains, Kravin and his seventeen year old son, Dallas, are thrown into the midst of an alternate world; a world full of mythological creatures and force fields, of swords and inoculations. There are battles to be fought and triremes to sail. There are pyramids to climb and worm holes to find. This is the ultimate adventure of a father and son except there are spies who steal your heart and villains who steal your life. But most of all beware lest the dragoneyes find you.
This is the first scholarly exploration of concepts and representations of Artificial Intelligence in ancient Greek and Roman epic, including their reception in later literature and culture. Contributors look at how Hesiod, Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, Moschus, Ovid and Valerius Flaccus crafted the first literary concepts concerned with automata and the quest for artificial life, as well as technological intervention improving human life. Parts one and two consider, respectively, archaic Greek, and Hellenistic and Roman, epics. Contributors explore the representations of Pandora in Hesiod, and Homeric automata such as Hephaestus' wheeled tripods, the Phaeacian king Alcinous' golden and silver guard dogs, and even the Trojan Horse. Later examples cover Artificial Intelligence and automation (including Talos) in the Argonautica of Apollonius and Valerius Flaccus, and Pygmalion's ivory woman in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Part three underlines how these concepts benefit from analysis of the ekphrasis device, within which they often feature. These chapters investigate the cyborg potential of the epic hero and the literary implications of ancient technology. Moving into contemporary examples, the final chapters consider the reception of ancient literary Artificial Intelligence in contemporary film and literature, such as the Czech science-fiction epic Starvoyage, or Small Cosmic Odyssey by Jan Kr?esadlo (1995) and the British science-fiction novel The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett (2004).
It is widely held that Bayesian decision theory is the final word on how a rational person should make decisions. However, Leonard Savage--the inventor of Bayesian decision theory--argued that it would be ridiculous to use his theory outside the kind of small world in which it is always possible to "look before you leap." If taken seriously, this view makes Bayesian decision theory inappropriate for the large worlds of scientific discovery and macroeconomic enterprise. When is it correct to use Bayesian decision theory--and when does it need to be modified? Using a minimum of mathematics, Rational Decisions clearly explains the foundations of Bayesian decision theory and shows why Savage restricted the theory's application to small worlds. The book is a wide-ranging exploration of standard theories of choice and belief under risk and uncertainty. Ken Binmore discusses the various philosophical attitudes related to the nature of probability and offers resolutions to paradoxes believed to hinder further progress. In arguing that the Bayesian approach to knowledge is inadequate in a large world, Binmore proposes an extension to Bayesian decision theory--allowing the idea of a mixed strategy in game theory to be expanded to a larger set of what Binmore refers to as "muddled" strategies. Written by one of the world's leading game theorists, Rational Decisions is the touchstone for anyone needing a concise, accessible, and expert view on Bayesian decision making.
A reference book for scholarship on Edmund Spenser offering a detailed, literary guide to his life, works and influence. Over 700 entries by 422 contributors, an index and extensive bibliography.
Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong… We face a spiritual crisis, but the extremes of religious fundamentalism on one hand, and scientific atheism on the other, offer no cure. Scepticism is soaring, especially among Millennials. Daily, we read of scandals among our politicians, priests and Hollywood stars. Mass shootings are epidemic, yet entertainment media glorifies violence. Drugs, not “religion” as Karl Marx claimed, are now the “opiate of the masses". “Christian” TV preachers use donations to purchase private jets and mansions - while children starve. The White House has claimed that “Truth is not the truth.” Our leaders and institutions have lost all moral authority. A common religious response to crisis is to thump the Bible harder and louder. This book challenges us to go beyond a simple, childish belief. Dr Lance Moore offers an intelligent faith rooted in a respect for Scripture, while taking a fresh look at calcified orthodoxies. He invites readers to embrace paradox - in Spirituality and in Science - to rediscover God for our Quantum Age.
A Storm In Pandora's Tea Box by Garry B Grove is a volume of reflective poetry. As love is polarised by hate, pain the antithesis of pleasure, the deceptive calm that precedes a storm can also be an impending maelstrom. When the lid is removed from Pandora's Tea Box then many elements of the life experience and it's emotions are open from the cradle to the grave. A paean to the cyclical mystery of life's inherent gift and celebrations of individual expression. Fate's finger points and the consequences may be serious or hilarious, a matter of life and death, much ado about nothing or an unforeseen catastrophe. All extremities have their felicitous paradoxes.
Educational Partnerships and the State is a compelling collection of essays by an international group of scholars that provides a critical exploration of the role of partnerships in contemporary educational reform. Their focus is on the expanding role that collaboration between the public and private sector has come to play in the governing of schools, children, and families in response to an array of worldwide economic and social changes. The contributors to this volume highlight the new relationship between civil society and the state through partnerships and what that linkage has come to mean for an array of educational issues including academic achievement, school governance, school parent-relationships, teacher education, the construction of family and community involvement, and the discourses of reform as practices that order participation and action.
The notorious image of Pandora haunts mythology: a woman created as punishment for the crimes of man, she is the bearer of hope yet also responsible for the Earth’s desolation. She binds together perpetuating dichotomies that underlie the most fundamental aspects of the Western canon: beauty and evil, body and soul, depth and superficiality, truth and lie. Speaking in multiplicity, Pandora emerges as the first sign of female complexity. In this compelling study, Vered Lev Kenaan offers a radical revision of the Greek myth of the first woman. She argues that Pandora leaves a decisive mark on ancient poetics and shows that we can unravel the profound impact of Pandora’s image once we recognize that Pandora embodies the very idea of the ancient literary text. Locating the myth of the first woman right at the heart of feminist interrogation of gender and textuality, Pandora’s Senses moves beyond a feminist critique of masculine hegemony by challenging the reading of Pandora as a one-dimensional embodiment of the misogynist vision of the feminine. Uncovering Pandora as a textual principle operating outside of the feminine, Lev Kenaan shows the centrality of this iconic figure among the poetics of such central genres as the cosmological and didactic epic, the Platonic dialogue, the love elegy, and the ancient novel. Pandora’s Senses innovates our understanding of gender as a critical lens through which to view ancient literature.
It started with a revolution nobody had even realized occurred...Its cruelty sparked a rebellion that everyone refused to admit existed...Now, the Machine-a terrifying and relentless enemy-reigns supreme in the galaxy, and the real fight is just beginning.Omega Force keenly feels the weight of responsibility for the Machine's arrival in the quadrant, but even with the resources of the Blazing Sun organized crime syndicate backing them, there's only so much the small mercenary crew can do against the malevolent AI that has already usurped control of most of the government. With the Machine now firmly in control of the ConFed's military, they are out of time and out of options. Captain Jason Burke knows that along with the Machine, something else came back from the outer regions... something he's kept a secret from everybody, even his own crew. He knows that he likely has the power to stop the Machine in its tracks, but it means unleashing an equally uncontrollable force. As he struggles to know what the right thing to do is, he can't help but fear that the cure could very well be worse than the disease. The Pandora Paradox is the 12th installment of the bestselling Omega Force Series.
