Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It's True? - Hardcover

Seife, Charles

3.87

310 ratings by Goodreads

9780670026081: Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It's True?

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670026085 ISBN 13: 9780670026081

Publisher: Viking Pr, 2014

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The bestselling author of Proofiness and Zero explains how to separate fact from fantasy in the digital world
Digital information is a powerful tool that spreads unbelievably rapidly, infects all corners of society, and is all but impossible to control even when that information is actually a lie. In Virtual Unreality, Charles Seife uses the skepticism, wit, and sharp facility for analysis that captivated readers in Proofiness and Zero to take us deep into the Internet information jungle and cut a path through the trickery, fakery, and cyber skullduggery that the online world enables.
Taking on everything from breaking news coverage and online dating to program trading and that eccentric and unreliable source that is Wikipedia, Seife arms his readers with actual tools or weapons for discerning truth from fiction online."

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Review:

Praise for ""Virtual Unreality""
Mr. Seife (a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books on science and math) . . . is a meticulous writer, and he quickly won me over--unfortunately. . . . [H]is portrait is persuasive and thus disconcerting and frightening.
--Howard Schneider, "The Wall Street Journal"
""Virtual Unreality" is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we won't get fooled again."
--Dwight Garner, "The New York Times"

Praise for "Proofiness"
"Passionate...this is more than a math book; it's an eye-opening civics lesson."--"The New York Times Book Review"

"An admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government."--"The Boston Globe"

"A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for...well, everyone."--"Booklist" (starred review)

"Detailed and hardhitting."--"The Charlotte Observer"

"If Stephen Colbert had had time to write a math book, he surely would have written "Proofiness"."--"The Dallas Morning News"

Praise for "Decoding the Universe"
"For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man."--"Salon.com"

"A timely book."--"New Scientist"
Praise for ""Virtual Unreality""

Mr. Seife (a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books on science and math) . . . is a meticulous writer, and he quickly won me over--unfortunately. . . . [H]is portrait is persuasive and thus disconcerting and frightening.
--Howard Schneider, "The Wall Street Journal"

""Virtual Unreality" is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we won't get fooled again."
--Dwight Garner, "The New York Times"

Praise for "Proofiness"

"Passionate...this is more than a math book; it's an eye-opening civics lesson."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"An admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government."--"The Boston Globe"
"A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for...well, everyone."--"Booklist" (starred review)
"Detailed and hardhitting."--"The Charlotte Observer"
"If Stephen Colbert had had time to write a math book, he surely would have written "Proofiness.""--"The Dallas Morning News"

Praise for "Decoding the Universe"

"For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man."--"Salon.com"
"A timely book."--"New Scientist"
Praise for ""Virtual Unreality""

Mr. Seife (a professor of journalism at New York University and the author of five books on science and math) . . . is a meticulous writer, and he quickly won me over unfortunately. . . . [H]is portrait is persuasive and thus disconcerting and frightening.
Howard Schneider, "The Wall Street Journal"

"Virtual Unreality" is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we won t get fooled again.
Dwight Garner, "The New York Times"

Praise for "Proofiness"

Praise for "Decoding the Universe"

"For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man."--"Salon.com"
"A timely book."--"New Scientist"
"

Praise for Virtual Unreality

Virtual Unreality is a talisman we gullible can wield in the hope that we won t get fooled again.
Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Praise for Proofiness

"Passionate...this is more than a math book; it's an eye-opening civics lesson."--The New York Times Book Review
"An admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government."--The Boston Globe
"A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for...well, everyone."--Booklist (starred review)
"Detailed and hardhitting."--The Charlotte Observer
"If Stephen Colbert had had time to write a math book, he surely would have written Proofiness."--The Dallas Morning News

Praise for Decoding the Universe

"For the former liberal arts major and other right-brainers, Seife is the man."--Salon.com
"A timely book."--New Scientist

About the Author:

Charles Seife is the author of five previous books, including Proofiness and Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction and was a New York Times notable book. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, Wired, New Scientist, Science, Scientific American, and The Economist. He is a professor of journalism at New York University and lives in New York City.

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