Synopses & Reviews
The bestselling author of Proofiness and Zero explains how to separate fact from fantasy in the digital world
Digital information is a powerful tool that spreads unbelievably rapidly, infects all corners of society, and is all but impossible to controleven when that information is actually a lie. In Virtual Unreality, Charles Seife uses the skepticism, wit, and sharp facility for analysis that captivated readers in Proofiness and Zero to take us deep into the Internet information jungle and cut a path through the trickery, fakery, and cyber skullduggery that the online world enables.
Taking on everything from breaking news coverage and online dating to program trading and that eccentric and unreliable source that is Wikipedia, Seife arms his readers with actual toolsor weaponsfor discerning truth from fiction online.
Review
Praise for
Virtual Unreality Mr. Seife (a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books on science and math) . . . is a meticulous writer, and he quickly won me over—unfortunately. . . . [H]is portrait is persuasive and thus disconcerting and frightening.
—Howard Schneider, The Wall Street Journal
“Virtual Unreality is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we wont get fooled again.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Praise for Proofiness
"Passionate...this is more than a math book; it's an eye-opening civics lesson."--The New York Times Book Review
"An admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government."--The Boston Globe
"A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for...well, everyone."--Booklist (starred review)
"Detailed and hardhitting."--The Charlotte Observer
"If Stephen Colbert had had time to write a math book, he surely would have written Proofiness."--The Dallas Morning News
Praise for Decoding the Universe
"For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man."--Salon.com
"A timely book."--New Scientist
Review
Praise for
Virtual Unreality
“Mr. Seife (a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books on science and math) . . . is a meticulous writer, and he quickly won me over—unfortunately. . . . [H]is portrait is persuasive and thus disconcerting and frightening.”
—Howard Schneider, The Wall Street Journal
“Virtual Unreality is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we wont get fooled again.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“Intense and incisive, Seifes exposé of potent tricks on the mesmerizing, overpowering Internet makes us very wary about anything that cannot be verified with our own eyes.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An ingenious overview of a wildly unreliable Internet.”
— Kirkus (starred review)
“A cogent, balanced, quietly impassioned call for Internet skepticism.”
—Nature
“Seife proves meticulous in amassing much of what we know about the perils of the Internet and explaining its significance for anyone trying to separate truth from falsehood . . . informed, nimble, endlessly quotable, and timely . . . an indispensable guide to almost everything sinister about the Internet.”
—Christian Science Monitor
Praise for Sun in a Bottle
“A model of what scientific history should be.”
—The Washington Times
Praise for Alpha and Omega
“Dispatches from sciences front lines . . . spiced with fresh discoveries and dsiputes.”
—Los Angeles Times
Praise for Zero
“Written with clarity and infectious enthusiasm that are rare in science writing, and practically unknown among those who dare to explain mathematics. Zero is really something.”
—The Washington Post
Praise for Decoding the Universe
“For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man.”
—Salon.com
Synopsis
With his knack for translating science into understandable, anecdotal prose and his trademark dry humor, award-winning science writer Charles Seife presents the first narrative account of the history of fusion for general readers in more than a decade. Tracing the story from its beginning into the twenty-first century, Sun in a Bottle reveals fusion's explosive role in some of the biggest scientific scandals of all time. Throughout this journey, he introduces us to the daring geniuses, villains, and victims of fusion science. With the giant international fusion project ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) now under construction, it's clear that the science of wishful thinking is as strong as ever. This book is our key to understanding why.
Synopsis
The author of Zero and Proofiness explains how to tell truth from fantasy in the digital world, and why it matters Today, the Internet allows us to spread information faster and to more people than ever beforenever mind whether its true or not. In Virtual Unreality, mathematician, science reporter, and journalist watchdog Charles Seife takes us deep into the information jungle and cuts a path through the trickery, fakery, and cyber skullduggery that the Internet enables. Providing a much-needed toolkit to help separate fact from fiction, Seife, with his trademark wit and skepticism, addresses the problems that face us every time we turn on our computers and Google our most recent medical symptoms, read a politicians tweet, fact-check something on Wikipedia, or start an online relationship. Let the clicker beware.
About the Author
Charles Seife is the author of five previous books, including
Proofiness and
Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction and was a
New York Times notable book. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including
The New York Times, Wired, New Scientist, Science, Scientific American, and
The Economist. He is a professor of journalism at New York University and lives in New York City.