John Pruden

Two Silicon Valley-based professors survey the field of virtual reality to explore the possibilities and potential of emerging digital technologies through which realistic human personalities and environments can be replicated.

In Tik-Tok of Oz, the stalwart mechanical man goes to war when he is pressed into service as the only private in Ann Soforth's army. This restless Queen of the Oogaboos has set out to conquer Oz and the world beyond, but alters her plans to help the Shaggy Man rescue his brother from imprisonment by the Nome King. Joining this adventurous band in their quest is Betsy Bobbin, a young girl from Oklahoma, and her mule, Hank. Along with other magical...

"Researchers are finally cracking the code on artificial intelligence. It has the potential to usher in a new age of affluence and leisure-- but as Kaplan warns, the transition may be protracted and brutal unless we address the two great scourges of the modern developed world: volatile labor markets and income inequality. He proposes innovative, free-market adjustments to our economic system and social policies to avoid an extended period of social...

"Compulsively readable" -San Francisco Examiner

It began as President Ulysses S. Grant's bid for international glory after the Civil War—America's first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall's death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, the ship's evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by thirty-three men, women and children,

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"A hauntingly beautiful story of rescue and rehabilitation….[A] gorgeous tale of redemption." -Susan Richards, New York Times bestselling author of Chosen by a Horse "I could not put this book down." -Stacey O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Wesley the Owl From the moment Jeff Guidry saw the emaciated baby eagle with broken wings, his life was changed. For weeks he and the staff at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center tended to the...

Deployed to Iraq in March 2004 after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, US Marine Michael Zacchea thought he had landed a plum assignment. His team's mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi Army battalion trained by the US military. Quickly, he realized he was faced with a nearly impossible task. With just two weeks' training based on outdated and irrelevant materials, no language instruction, and few cultural tips for interacting...

Before there could be a revolution, there was a rebellion; before patriots, there were insurgents. Challenging and displacing decades of received wisdom, T. H. Breen's strikingly original book explains how ordinary Americans-most of them members of farm families living in small communities-were drawn into a successful insurgency against imperial authority. This is the compelling story of our national political origins that most Americans do not know....

"The New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot and retired USAF F-16 legend Dan Hampton offers the first comprehensive popular history of combat aviation--a unique, entertaining, and action-packed look at the aces of the air and their machines, from the Red Baron and his triplane in World War I to today's technologically expert flying warriors in supersonic jets."--

A collection of lectures by the "founder of modern linguistics" discusses fifty years of scientific development in the study of language as he expounds and criticizes a variety of theories. --Publisher's description.

"One day in the not-too-distant future, Pete Hamlin regains consciousness deep inside the nuclear submarine Polaris. He's got a gun in his hand, a fire raging outside his door, and a dead man at his feet. Soon Pete discovers that the ship is in the middle of a mutiny--and he has no idea what side he's on. He finds the ship is now commanded by the beautiful but volatile Hana Moody. She's locked the former captain, Finn McCallister, inside a steel trunk,...