Olle Häggström - Böcker

There is a widely held conception that progress in science and technology is our salvation, and the more of it, the better. This, however, is an oversimplified and even dangerous attitude. While the future will certainly offer huge changes due to such progress, it is far from certain that all of these changes will be for the better. The unprecedented rate of technological development that the 20th century witnessed has made our lives today vastly different from those in 1900. No slowdown is in sight, and the 21st century will most likely see even more revolutionary changes than the 20th, due to advances in science, technology and medicine. Particular areas where extraordinary and perhaps disruptive advances can be expected include biotechnology, nanotechnology, and machine intelligence. We may also look forward various ways to enhance human cognitive and other abilities using, e.g., pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering or machine-brain interfaces - perhaps to the extent of changing human nature beyond what we currently think of as human, and into a posthuman era. The potential benefits of all these technologies are enormous, but so are the risks, including the possibility of human extinction. This book is a passionate plea for doing our best to map the territories ahead of us, and for acting with foresight, so as to maximize our chances of reaping the benefits of the new technologies while avoiding the dangers.

This volume is dedicated to the memory of the late Oded Schramm (1961-2008), distinguished mathematician. Throughout his career, Schramm made profound and beautiful contributions to mathematics that will have a lasting influence.In these two volumes, Editors Itai Benjamini and Olle Häggström have collected some of his papers, supplemented with three survey papers by Steffen Rohde, Häggström and Cristophe Garban that further elucidate his work. The papers within are a representative collection that shows the breadth, depth, enthusiasm and clarity of his work, with sections on Geometry, Noise Sensitivity, Random Walks and Graph Limits, Percolation, and finally Schramm-Loewner Evolution. An introduction by the Editors and a comprehensive bibliography of Schramm's publications complete the volume. The book will be of especial interest to researchers in probability and geometry, and in the history of these subjects.

This volume is dedicated to the memory of the late Oded Schramm (1961-2008), distinguished mathematician. Throughout his career, Schramm made profound and beautiful contributions to mathematics that will have a lasting influence.In these two volumes, Editors Itai Benjamini and Olle Häggström have collected some of his papers, supplemented with three survey papers by Steffen Rohde, Häggström and Cristophe Garban that further elucidate his work. The papers within are a representative collection that shows the breadth, depth, enthusiasm and clarity of his work, with sections on Geometry, Noise Sensitivity, Random Walks and Graph Limits, Percolation, and finally Schramm-Loewner Evolution. An introduction by the Editors and a comprehensive bibliography of Schramm's publications complete the volume. The book will be of especial interest to researchers in probability and geometry, and in the history of these subjects.