Ocean State Libraries

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind. All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar...

The interaction of man and machine can make our lives easier. But what will the world look like when algorithms control our hospitals, our roads, our culture, and our national security? It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills--and maybe an advanced degree or two. These days, high-level tasks are increasingly being handled...

"Seventeen-year-old Lake seeks the secret heart of the computer simulation that safeguards passengers aboard a ship orbiting a post-apocalyptic Earth, on a quest that will either save or destroy them all." -- The Earth's survivors escaped into a passenger ship orbiting Earth. Their minds were put in a simulation designed to prepare them all for life after the nuclear event, but some are trapped in a shared virtual reality, their bodies in stasis...

"Minecraft offers many ways to craft things and add more color to your world. Read on to learn more!" --

In Mario Kart Wii, the player(s) can choose any one of up to 24 unique characters to operate their kart, which are separated into various classes of weight. The game includes 32 different tracks, half of which are remakes of tracks from previous Mario Kart games, and up to twelve characters can participate in a race.

"Simulations help people understand large, complex problems using smaller, simpler models. This book delves into the history and thinking behind simulations. Readers will learn about Georg Leopold von Reiswitz's development of a Kriegsspiel for military training, and other major developments. This volume also gives examples of ways that simulations can be useful, and discusses data sources. A concluding simple simulation will round out the learning...

"In the real world, it really wouldn't be a good idea to play with lava. It's not a great idea in Minecraft, either, but it's a lot safer than it would be at home! This fascinating book will show young readers ways they can experiment in Minecraft using real-world facts about the science behind these projects. They can work with lava and water to produce different kinds of stone, with gunpowder to produce fireworks (and TNT!), and with the game's...