The story of English

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Pamela McCorduck

"Pamela McCorduck first went among the artificial intelligentsia when the field was fresh and new, and asked the scientists engaged in it what they were doing and why. She saw artificial intelligence as the scientific apotheosis of one of the most enduring, glorious, often amusing, and sometimes alarming, traditions of human culture: the endless fascination with artifacts that think. Machines Who Think was translated into many languages, became an international cult classic, and stayed in print for nearly twenty years." "Now, Machines, Who Think is back, along with an extended Afterword that brings the field up to date in the last quarter century, including its scientific and its public faces. McCorduck shows how, from a slightly dubious fringe science, artificial intelligence has moved slowly (though not always steadily) to a central place in our everyday lives, and how it will be even more crucial as the World Wide Web moves into its next generation."--Jacket.

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Edmund S. Morgan

The men who came together to found the independent United States either held slaves or were willing to join hands with those who did. George Washington, hero of the Revolution, was the master of several hundred slaves. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, owned more than 200 men, women, and children while eloquently defending the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In this classic work, originally published in 1976, through a meticulous history of Virginia from its earliest settlement through the seventeenth century boom in tobacco, the gradual replacement of servitude with slavery, and the rise of republican ideology, historian Morgan reveals the deep and interlocking relationship between these seemingly contradictory ideas.--From publisher description.

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Trevor Royle

Trevor Royle has recorded the experiences common to this unique cross-section of British society, evoking the good times & the bad. He has interviewed scores of ex-National Servicemen from all over the country & presents their impressions & anecdotes.

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Robert Hendrickson

All of the lingo, slang, and patois of the greatest country on earth. The Queen?s English has no place across the pond, where a long history of defiance, creativity, and originality has made its way into the everyday vocabulary of Americans coast-to-coast. God Bless America is an informative and entertaining guide to the meaning and history beneath our uniquely American words and phrases. Robert Hendrickson makes it clear that whether you?re ordering?fried chicken? or heading out to see a?movie,? you are celebrating contributions to the English language made by Americans, both famous and forgotten. With extensive research and a passion for language, Hendrickson furthers our understanding of the familiar and introduces us to the more obscure artifacts of American speech. God Bless America provides the definitions and background for many uniquely American phrases and terms, such as:? Bald eagle? Boston baked beans? Five-and-ten? Give?em hell? Lazy Susan? Sho? nuff? Yankee Doodle? And more! A dictionary packed full of historical accounts, etymological peculiarities, and imaginative spirit, God Bless America represents not only the American language but also the American people. This book provides an undeniable resource for travelers, patriots, and Anglophiles from all walks of life.