Stephen Baker's The Numerati

I went to the library the other day and picked up a copy of Stephen Baker’s The Numerati, which I first wrote about here.

The book is organized into seven chapters which describe ways that data is being analyzed in mass quantities: Worker, Shopper, Voter, Blogger, Terrorist, Patient, and Lover.

You’d think that Lover would be the most interesting but it had the least substance; Voter (about Josh Gotbaum of Spotlight Analysis) was by far the most interesting chapter.

The Numerati was such a quick read that I finished it in just a few short disappointing hours.

I felt Baker was stretching to fill out his book with examples of how mathematicians are dangerously invading our privacy by quantifying and analyzing our lives.

Still, it was entertaining; just keep your expectations low.

The Numerati by Stephen Baker

As a nerd (MIT grads are nerds by default), I’m deeply interested in reading Stephen Baker‘s The Numerati.

This book explores how mathematicians are quantifying and analyzing our lives. Thanks to the use of credit/debit cards and the electronic gadgets we use (cell phones, TiVo, laptops, GPS, etc), our lives are becoming increasingly digital and increasingly transparent lives.

So many things that we do create digital data points that allow our behavior to be analyzed.

It’s definitely a book of the times; the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Portfolio, San Francisco Chronicle, Business Week, and many other well-respected news sources have reviewed this book favorably.

Click here to listen to Baker speak about The Numerati on NPR’s Fresh Air; an excerpt is also available on that site. Click here to view the table of contents.

October 6 Lectures

Janine Benyus gives a talk on Monday October 6, 2008 at 7PM titled “What Life Knows: New ideas from biology that could change the world” at Great Sage in Clarksville.

Biomimicry seeks to emulate the time-tested adaptive strategies of many species of plants, animals and microorganisms to transform how we live on this planet. Janine Benyus of the Biomimicry Guild celebrates the newest ancient ideas bubbling up in the natural sciences, illuminating how evolution’s wisdom can help us design benign, life enhancing technologies while inspiring us to protect Earth’s biodiversity.

This talk is free and open to the public. Great Sage is located at 5809 Clarksville Square Drive, Clarksville, MD 21029.

Benyus has authored several books including:

• Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature
• The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States
• Nature’s 100 Best: World-Changing Innovations Inspired By Nature
• The Secret Language & Remarkable Behavior of Animals, Northwoods Wildlife: A Watcher’s Guide to Habitats
  
• Beastly Behaviors: A Watcher’s Guide to How Animals Act and Why

Click here to view the table of contents of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature or click here to read an excerpt.

Two related lectures are also scheduled for 7PM on Monday, October 6, 2008 so you can’t go to all of them.

• Jay Harman “Designing the Next Golden Age: A Progress Report” @ The Waldorf School of Baltimore/Music Room, 4801 Tamarind Rd., Baltimore
• Charlotte Brody “How Chemicals are Changing What it Means to Be a Woman (or a Man)” @ Breathe Books, 810 W 36th St, Baltimore

Read on below…

Jay Harman “Designing the Next Golden Age: A Progress Report”
This isn’t a live talk, instead it is a DVD screening ( 30 minutes) and discussion of Jay Harman’s keynote from last year’s Bioneers conference. Award-winning inventor, entrepreneur and CEO of PAX Scientific, Jay Harman shows examples of streamlined geometries and biomimetic approaches to the design of energy efficient, quiet, and ecologically friendly technology. Designs include fans, boats, and water pumps, all based on nature’s efficient, beautiful spiral geometry and rigorous engineering analysis.
7 PM  at The Waldorf School of Baltimore/Music Room, 4801 Tamarind Rd., Baltimore; free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Charlotte Brody “How Chemicals are Changing What it Means to Be a Woman (or a Man)” …and what women and men can do to change chemicals.
Commonweal’s Charlotte Brody, an organizer for civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, peace and environmental health since 1964, explores how chemicals are creating disease and disorders and how solutions are being created to regain health and democracy.
7 PM at Breathe Books, 810 W 36th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211; free and open to the public.

All of these lectures are part of Baltimore Bioneers.