New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Reconceiving AI: The World as an Apple or a Blue Orange (CRC Press, 2026) is Muhammed Hasan’s interdisciplinary exploration of Artificial Intelligence from philosophical, computational, linguistic and engineering perspectives. Using analogies and metaphors of Apple and Orange, the author conveys complex concepts about human perception and language limitations, as well as his perception of modern AI systems. He also holds that true visual intelligence would involve constructing a visual world similar to how humans do, rather than just analysing pixel-level information. Referencing Paul Cézanne’s philosophy, the author illustrates how language creates division between symbolic identity and personal experience, resulting in an inherent gap that leads to endless desire for new expression.
The book discusses three dimensions of moral intelligence: temporal consciousness—an understanding causality and counterfactual reasoning; self-reflection—the recognition of oneself as the same person over time; and ethical intelligence— shared laws and frameworks for society. The author emphasises the need to question whether AI should mirror human intelligence or exist as a complementary form, suggesting a future where AI and humans might coexist in a more integrated way rather than as separate entities.
Mariam Olugbodi is a university teacher and a writer, she is the author of the monograph titled: “Stylistic Features in the 2011 and 2012 Final Matches Commentaries in the UEFA Champions League”, published by Grin Verlag. Mariam’s greatest dream is seeing a world where knowledge is accessible to all. She does this through her volunteering roles on open knowledge platforms as a host and an editor. As part of her effort to maintain inclusion and diversity in knowledge transmission, she volunteers as a teacher in crises contexts. Learn more and connect with Mariam through her social links on LinkedIn | ORCID | Meta

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In Good Vibes Only: Phenomenology and the Biopolitics of Algorithmic Legitimation, Robin James argues that “vibes” have become a way for how we see ourselves and understand our tastes, as well as how corporations and governments see us in order to categorize and control. Vibes, according to James, are an orientation that situate beings and things in space with others, closer to some things than others, facing is certain directions, and more likely to be grouped together. Drawing from a diverse set of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including continental feminist philosophy, critical philosophy of race, phenomenology, and popular music studies, James walks the reader through how vibes are understood, the mathematical models that vibes are based on, and how vibes function as a new form of biopower and therefore as a means of categorization and control.
You can find a transcript of our conversation here.

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Groundbreaking discoveries in reproductive biology and regenerative medicine are reshaping our ideas of conception, fertility, and the origins of disease. In Embryo: The Science of Becoming Human (Prometheus, 2026), world-leading developmental biologist Alfonso Martinez Arias traces the embryo's formation over its first fifty days while exploring how new technologies are changing how we view our origins, ourselves, and our future. The events that shape our lives happen in secret, inside our mother’s wombs, but Martinez Arias’s research with stem cells has laid them all out in the open. His work has shown that during the first fifty days after conception, a blueprint is created through a conversation between genes and cells in which the cells, not the genes, dictate what happens next. Many diseases have their origins during these early days and research has opened the door to their cure. But it has also opened a Pandora’s box of ethical questions associated with whether we should allow the genetic modification of embryos, or what would happen if we are to create a human being in the laboratory. What exactly are we doing? How far should we take this research? Beyond establishing new paths for the study of human development, Martinez Arias is also a vocal advocate on the need to address outstanding issues of the ethical and legal aspects of human embryology. This brilliant and breath-taking book tackles these existential questions by revealing the cutting-edge developments happening at the frontier of development biology, from In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and artificial wombs to the impact of stem cells, three-parent babies, CRISPR, and the potential for lab-grown embryos. Embryo tells the story that raises these urgent questions and looks into a future that a few years ago would have sounded like science fiction. It is a definitive account of the state-of-the-art in our understanding of the earliest stages of our existence, brought to life through vivid stories blending scientific discovery, history, and real people.

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From maps of colonial empires to charts of national trade, data visualization has long been used to consolidate knowledge and power. But just as often, it has been used to uncover oppression and bring about change. Data by Design: Visualization and Power from Abolition to the Dawn of Data Science (MIT Press, 2026), journeys across continents and over centuries to expose the power of visualization—and to show how it can be wielded back. A group of British antislavery activists who created a diagram of captives in the hold of a ship, accelerating support for the abolitionist cause. A Ñudzahui (Mixtec) painter who designed a map for a king, testifying to his people’s sovereignty and claims to the land. These are but two stories of many, each expertly analyzed and illustrated in full-color detail, that confirm how visualization can lead to a more liberatory world. A set of new images, created by Lauren Klein and her research team—also viewable on an interactive website—further expands our sense of what visualization, when used with intention and care, can achieve. A book for those who love charts and graphs, and for those who create them, Data by Design offers historical grounding, ethical clarity—and the inspiration we need—to envision a more just future.

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Water, malt, yeast, and hops: these are essential ingredients of beer. Hops, specifically, play an outsized role in determining its flavor and aroma. In Beer Ghosts: In Search of Lost Hops and the Women Who Grew Them (U Chicago Press, 2026), Dr. Jennifer Jordan takes us back to a brief but pivotal moment in the nineteenth century when Wisconsin produced much of the hops grown in the United States. Yet those long-ago hops are not the only ghosts in Jordan’s story. Haunting the pages of this book are the young women whose work at harvest time was key to the rise of the American beer industry.
Until the early twentieth century, the work of picking hops was a time-consuming process that could only be done by hand, one cone at a time. In nineteenth-century Wisconsin, that work was performed almost exclusively by women and girls, who traveled to hop farms in droves as summer came to a close and the harvest began. At the height of the hop boom in the 1860s, farmers and their families laid out beds and prepared food for tens of thousands of seasonal laborers, and hosted parties and dances well into the night. Despite the scale of Wisconsin’s hop boom (and subsequent crash), the industry left behind little trace aside from local records and archives. And it is that barely discernible trace that lures Jordan to dig deeper.
Dr. Jordan’s vivid prose takes us back to this era by drawing on a rich trove of archival sources, from the thousands of hop farmers in the agricultural census to the extraordinary diary of a single hop picker, a young woman named Ella. The history of beer is incomplete without the history of Ella and the others who labored in the hop fields and in the houses that hosted them. In this book, Dr. Jordan gives life and voice to these beer ghosts who call to us from the past, showing the rich connections between a nation’s beer and the lives that made it possible.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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