New Book Out

Jfvirey@aol.com
Wed, 3 Mar 1999 23:40:23 EST

"How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics"
by N. Katherine Hayles
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226321460/ref=ad_cy1
>From the moment researchers first noticed the similarities
between the workings of computers and the workings of the mind, cybernetic technology has been forcing modern culture to rethink what makes humans human. In "How We Became Posthuman," N. Katherine Hayles, a professor of English at UCLA, traces the course of this change by interweaving the fascinating history of postwar cybernetics and robotics with a deft reading of science fiction novels that brings to life the dreams and nightmares those high-tech fields inspire. Her sophisticated narrative makes a masterful--and highly readable--contribution to the philosophy of identity in the shadow of the digital.