Kirjahaku

Since the 1960s, the rapid evolution of technology has created a new cultural geography—a virtual geography. The Difference Engine: Computing, Knowledge and the Transformation of Learning offers a conscious critique of this change and its effects on contemporary culture and education. This engaging text assumes that we are at a critical moment—one where we are moving from a modern into a post-modern culture— and examines the seven key components of this change: 1. Hypertext/Hypermedia 2. Augmented Intelligence 3. Networked Information and Communication Systems 4. Collective Intelligence 5. Hyperreality 6. the Panoptic Sort 7. Mobile computing. Deriving its name from Charles Babbage’s experimental calculating machine, also known as the first modern computer, The Difference Engine delineates these seven components, like those of the cogs and gears in Babbage’s engine. As the real power of the engine lies not in its parts, but in its combined reaction, Provenzo’s new book provides a unique perspective by assessing the result of this combination of technology, culture, and literacy.

“The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” This quote is among the most prophetic in American history. It was written by W. E. B. DuBois for the Exhibition of American Negroes displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. They are words whose force echoed throughout the Twentieth Century. W.E.B. DuBois put together a groundbreaking exhibit about African Americans for the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. For the first time, this book takes readers through the exhibit. With more than 200 black-and-white images throughout, this book explores the diverse lives of African Americans at the turn of the century, from challenges to accomplishments. DuBois confronted stereotypes in many ways in the exhibit, and he provided irrefutable evidence of how African Americans had been systematically discriminated against. Though it was only on display for a few brief months, the award-winning Exhibit of American Negroes represents the great lost archive of African American culture from the beginning of the twentieth century.