Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think - Hardcover

Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor; Cukier, Kenneth Niel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544002695 ISBN 13: 9780544002692

Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Synopsis

A revelatory exploration of the hottest trend in technology and the dramatic impact it will have on the economy, science, and society at large.

Which paint color is most likely to tell you that a used car is in good shape? How can officials identify the most dangerous New York City manholes before they explode? And how did Google searches predict the spread of the H1N1 flu outbreak?

The key to answering these questions, and many more, is big data. “Big data” refers to our burgeoning ability to crunch vast collections of information, analyze it instantly, and draw sometimes profoundly surprising conclusions from it. This emerging science can translate myriad phenomena—from the price of airline tickets to the text of millions of books—into searchable form, and uses our increasing computing power to unearth epiphanies that we never could have seen before. A revolution on par with the Internet or perhaps even the printing press, big data will change the way we think about business, health, politics, education, and innovation in the years to come. It also poses fresh threats, from the inevitable end of privacy as we know it to the prospect of being penalized for things we haven’t even done yet, based on big data’s ability to predict our future behavior.

In this brilliantly clear, often surprising work, two leading experts explain what big data is, how it will change our lives, and what we can do to protect ourselves from its hazards. Big Data is the first big book about the next big thing.

www.big-data-book.com

About this title

Review

'Just as water is wet in a way that individual water molecules aren't, big data can reveal information in a way that individual bits of data can't. Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier show us the surprising ways that enormous, complex and messy collections of data can be used to predict everything from shopping patterns to flu outbreaks' (Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody)

'Every decade, there are a handful of books that change the way you look at everything. This is one of those books. Society has begun to reckon the change that big data will bring. This book is an incredibly important start' (Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and author of Remix and Free Culture)

'An optimistic and practical look at the big data revolution - just the thing to get your head around the big changes already underway and the bigger changes to come' (Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing)

'In Big Data, Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier break new ground in identifying how today's avalanche of information fundamentally shifts our basic understanding of the world. Argued boldly and written beautifully, the book clearly shows how companies can unlock value, how policymakers need to be on guard, and how everyone's cognitive models need to change' (Joi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab)

'This brilliant book cuts through the mystery and the hype surrounding big data. A must-read for anyone in business, information technology, public policy, intelligence, and medicine. And anyone else who is just plain curious about the future' (John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist, Xerox Corp. and head of Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre)

'The book teems with great insights on the new ways of harnessing information, and offers a convincing vision of the future. It is essential reading for anyone who uses - or is affected by - big data' (Jeff Jonas, IBM Fellow & Chief Scientist, IBM Entity Analytics)

'Big Data is a must-read for anyone who wants to stay ahead of one of the key trends defining the future of business' (Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO, salesforce.com)

An excellent primer (Financial Times)

Fascinating (Observer)

Raises profound questions (Evening Standard)

Book Description

We are witnessing the beginnings of a revolution. Big data - the explosion of information that digitization has sparked - is changing our world in ways we are just starting to appreciate.

Edition details

• Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0544002695
• ISBN 13: 9780544002692
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 242