{"id":8577,"date":"2023-06-16T14:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/?p=8577"},"modified":"2024-05-21T07:48:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T11:48:41","slug":"reading-listening-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/2023\/06\/16\/reading-listening-list\/","title":{"rendered":"CDS Reading & Listening Guide Summer 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BU<\/p>\n

Summer is a time to refresh, renew, and recharge. And for many, finding a good read or podcast is high on the must-do list. With a host of timely topics in mind: AI, the power of data and feminism, or the concept of Freakonomics, CDS faculty have you covered. Check out this summer reading and listening guide, highlighting some of our most inspiring books and podcasts.<\/p>\n

Open to Debate:\u00a0<\/strong>Will ChatGPT Do More Harm Than Good?<\/a> with Gary Marcus and Keith Teare<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"Azer Bestavros,\u00a0Associate Provost, Computing & Data Sciences<\/h4>\n

I like the \u201cOpen to Debate\u201d (previously called \u201cIntelligence Squared US<\/a>\u201d) format, the quality of the folks they invite to debate, and the moderator\/moderation style. I also appreciate how Open To Debate podcasts often introduce me to very fresh and intriguing perspectives and scholarship. As a start, I suggested the “Will ChatGPT Do More Harm Than Good?” debate because it is about the trending Generative AI debate. But, what I am also recommending is to explore the entire series.
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How Data Happened<\/a>\u00a0by Chris Wiggins and Matthew Jones<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"Roscoe Giles,\u00a0Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering + Computing & Data Sciences<\/h4>\n

This book provides a wide-ranging historical perspective on how data has been used as both \u201ca tool and a weapon\u201d and its role in (mostly western) societies. It is based on a course the authors created at Columbia<\/a> (see\u00a0for the course materials, including code). The scope of the book – ranging from early development of statistical approaches to societal data to modern data science – contextualizes our current challenges. \u00a0Also, the set of references in the footnotes point to a wealth of additional resources that allow more in depth followup on the ideas in the book.<\/p>\n

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A Psalm for the Wild-Built<\/a>\u00a0by Becky Chambers<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin Gold,\u00a0Associate Professor of the Practice of Computing & Data Sciences<\/h4>\n

This is a short, cozy, Hugo-award-winning science fiction book about a future society that decided to abandon its factories and lead a simpler life. Calling itself “a Monk and Robot book,” the book features one of the more endearing AI characters in recent memory (the Robot) and a protagonist who wrestles with their purpose in life (the Monk). As they try to figure each other out, we gradually learn more of the history of this society where old cities lay dormant and traveling monks hear out problems over tea. The data science connection is perhaps tenuous, but we might ask, what would data science have to offer their world?\u00a0 Can an ecological and sociological balance really be achieved without the help of data?\u00a0 It’s a great summer read regardless, and while there’s another Monk and Robot book if you like it, it also stands alone just fine.<\/p>\n

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Data Feminism<\/a> by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/h3>\n

Allison McDonald,\u00a0Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Sciences<\/h4>\n

I reference this book all the time in my work. It demonstrates how feminism gives us the tools to think about power in data science: which of our practices further entrench inequality, and how? How can we use data science to challenge power instead? It’s open source, so you can read it for free. I recommend Chapter 1 and 4 especially.
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If Books Could Kill<\/a> with Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"Pawel Przytycki, Assistant Professor in the\u00a0Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences<\/h4>\n

In this funny and educational podcast, the hosts break down all the pseudoscience and fake history that fill the types of books that are sold at airports. If you’ve ever wondered why Freakonomics isn’t that freaky or why the 10,000 hours rule is nonsense, this podcast is for you. A particular emphasis on the misuse of data to draw false conclusions makes this a great listen for aspiring data scientists.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BU Faculty of Computing & Data Science share their most inspiring books and podcasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18026,"featured_media":8862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,1],"tags":[338,27,22,316,364,309,363],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8577"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12886,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8577\/revisions\/12886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}