Search query: john lloyd stevens book

Product: Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI
Description: Science-world luminary John Brockman assembles 25 of the most important scientific minds, people who have been thinking about the field of artificial intelligence for most of their careers, for an unparalleled roundtable examination about mind, thinking, intelligence, and what it means to be human.

"Artificial intelligence is today's story - the story behind all other stories. It is the Second Coming and the Apocalypse at the same time: Good AI versus evil AI." (John Brockman)

More than 60 years ago, mathematician-philosopher Norbert Wiener published a book on the place of machines in society that ended with a warning: "We shall never receive the right answers to our questions unless we ask the right questions.... The hour is very late, and the choice of good and evil knocks at our door." In the wake of advances in unsupervised, self-improving machine learning, a small but influential community of thinkers is considering Wiener's words again. In Possible Minds, John Brockman gathers their disparate visions of where AI might be taking us.

The fruit of the long history of Brockman's profound engagement with the most important scientific minds who have been thinking about AI - from Alison Gopnik and David Deutsch to Frank Wilczek and Stephen Wolfram - Possible Minds is an ideal introduction to the landscape of crucial issues AI presents. The collision between opposing perspectives is salutary and exhilarating; some of these figures, such as computer scientist Stuart Russell, Skype cofounder Jaan Tallinn, and physicist Max Tegmark, are deeply concerned with the threat of AI, including the existential one, while others, notably robotics entrepreneur Rodney Brooks, philosopher Daniel Dennett, and best-selling author Steven Pinker, have a very different view. Serious, searching, and authoritative, Possible Minds lays out the intellectual landscape of one of the most important topics of our time.

Read by Jason Culp, Rob Shapiro, Vikas Adam, Will Damron, and Kathleen McInerney.
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vols. I and II (Illustrated)
Description: Both volumes of John Lloyd Stephens epic accounts of the Yucatan are united in this single volume, complete with over 100 illustrations of encounters on his journeys in Central America.

Prior to the 1840s, when J. L. Stephens published this superb account of his explorations, the Yucatan was only crudely charted by Western explorers. Yet their descriptions of the odd ruins and beautiful landscape intrigued the young John Lloyd Stephens, who spent years yearning to explore and better chart the faraway lands. After a number of years spent traversing Europe and Egypt, Stephens was in 1839 commissioned as a Special Ambassador to the Central Americas.

Accompanied by his friend, the architect and draughtsman Frederick Catherwood, Stephens set off for the wilderness of the Yucatan, landing in what is today Belize. It wasn't long before the pair encountered the first Mayan ruins: the city of Copan. Captivated by the unique architecture and distinctive cultural remnants, the two pressed further inland.

Accounts of the cities of Palenque, Quiriguá and Uxmal are included in this edition, which reprints the many illustrations Frederick Catherwood made of the buildings, items and landscapes encountered. The great temples of the Mayan cities, the detailing of Mayan seals and monuments, as well as the stone houses of those in the upper strata of society, were drawn with an intricate and accurate detail.

Prior to Stephens publishing the accounts of his travels, it was assumed the structures found in Central America had simply been assembled by either Europeans or Asian visitors. It was not until Stephens' immense detailing of the artistic and architectural accomplishments that the Mayans were confirmed as a civilization of great sophistication. The two also noticed the calendar and numerical system the Mayans developed, but it was not until much later that this knowledge was fully deciphered.

Following Stephens' explorations, the Mesoamericas became a place of great interest to North American and European intellectuals. Numerous expeditions and archaeological treks were encouraged by his findings, and today many of the sites visited by Stephens are popular tourist destinations.
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Product: QI: The Third Book of General Ignorance: Qi: Quite Interesting (Qi: Book of General Ignorance 3)
Description: The Third Book of General Ignorance gathers together 180 questions, both new and previously featured on the BBC TV programme's popular 'General Ignorance' round, and show why, when it comes to general knowledge, none of us knows anything at all.
Who invented the sandwich? What was the best thing before sliced bread? Who first ate frogs' legs? Which cat never changes its spots? What did Lady Godiva do? What can you legally do if you come across a Welshman in Chester after sunset?
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Product: Incidents of travel in Egypt - Arabia Petraea and the Holy Land
Description: "Alexandria.—Pompey's Pillar.—The Catacombs.—The Warwick Vase.—The Pacha's Canal.—Boats of the Nile.
ON the afternoon of the December, 1835,
after a passage of five days from Malta, I was perched up in the rigging of an English schooner, spyglass in hand, and earnestly looking for the "Land of Egypt." The(...)"
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Product: incidents of travel in yucatan volumes one and two
Description: Two paperbacks 303 & 336 pages, PLUS a 6-page fold-out plate with engravings of the principal ruins at Uxmal & Labná, and a map of Yucatan. Includes 127 engravings by Catherwood. Clean & crisp, with no marks, tears, or turned corners; tight binding.
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Product: Viaje a Yucatán: Con ilustraciones a color de Frederick Catherwood (Avatares) (Spanish Edition)
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vols. I and II
Brand: Cosimo Classics
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan
Description: In 1839, President Martin Van Buren sent John Lloyd Stephens as Special Ambassador to Central America.

What he found was a state of civil war, but what he found on the ground would change our view of Central American civilization forever.

Although his political mission was doomed from the beginning, Stephens spent the next two years exploring the wild jungles and wilderness of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico, visiting and recording ancient Mayan sites.

Many of these Mayan ruins had been visited previously but it was through the explorations and writings of John Lloyd Stephens that the wider world truly became fascinated with the civilization of the Maya peoples.

Stephens records his two journeys into Mesoamerica in brilliant detail as he describes not only the beauty of ancient cities like Copán and Uxmal, along with forty-two other ancient sites, but also the trials and tribulations that he and his men faced as they cut their way through thick jungles, fought off waves of mosquitos, and avoided robberies and contracting fevers.

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan is a remarkable work of archaeological discovery. Stephens’ book is essential reading for anyone interested in the civilizations of Central America and the archaeological remains that have left behind.

As well as recording a civilization that had long since passed, Stephens’ account provides insight into Central America and the people that lived there during the mid-nineteenth century as it was undergoing turbulent political change.

Edgar Allan Poe described Stephens’ book as “perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published”, and his journeys have recently been the subject of a New York Times bestseller, Jungle of Stone.

John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America. His book was published in two volumes in 1841, this edition however contains both volumes in one book. After completing this work he joined the Panama Railroad Company as Vice President but was struck down by malaria in 1852.
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan: Volume I and II - Complete (Yucatan Peninsula History) (Hardcover)
Brand: Lulu.com
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Product: 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted (Quite Interesting)
Brand: Faber & Faber
FABER & FABER
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Product: 1,234 QI FACTS TO LEAVE YOU SPEEC
Brand: imusti
FABER & FABER
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Product: QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance
Brand: imusti
FABER FABER
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (Volume 2)
Brand: Dover Publications
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Volume I (Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas & Yucatan)
Brand: Dover Publications
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Product: Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya
Brand: William Morrow & Company
MORROW
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Product: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (Abridged)
Brand: Smithsonian Books
Color: Multicolor
Used Book in Good Condition
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