From Black Holes and Big Bangs to the Higgs boson and the infinitesimal building blocks of all matter, modern science has been spectacularly successful, with one glaring exception — intelligence. Intelligence still remains as one of the greatest mysteries in science.How do you chat so effortlessly? How do you remember, and why do you forget? From a basis of ten maxims What Makes You Clever explains the difficulties as well as the persuasive and persistent over-estimations of progress in Ar...

Managers, business owners, computer literate individuals, software developers, students, and researchers--all are looking for an understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and what might be in the future. In this literate yet easy-to-read discussion, Derek Partridge explains what artificial intelligence can and cannot do, and what it holds for applications such as banking, financial services, and expert systems of all kinds. Topics include: the strengths and weaknesses of software devel...

IT systems explode budget estimates, bust production deadlines by years, and then fail to work properly. Why this IT-system crisis? Poor programmers? Inadequate project management? No.The Seductive Computer argues that the fundamental nature of programming technology itself is the real culprit; it promises perfection but can only deliver emergent chaos. It is also an insidiously compelling technology, peculiarly male oriented.IT systems, an unavoidable and increasi...

Convalescing in London after a disastrous experience of war in Afghanistan, Dr. John Watson finds himself sharing rooms with his enigmatic new acquaintance Sherlock Holmes. But their quiet bachelor life at 221B Baker Street is soon interrupted by the grisly discovery of a dead man in a grimy "ill-omened" house in southeast London, his face contorted by an expression of horror and hatred such as Watson has never seen before. On the wall, the word rache—German for "revenge"—is writt...

Gathering together in one volume the later exploits of Sherlock Holmes, the world's first consulting detective, His Last Bow includes tales published individually between 1908 and 1917. It also contains one early story, 1892's "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box," which, with its themes of adultery, was previously considered too "scandalous" for American audiences.Here, Holmes must contend with mysterious bearded men, stolen secret submarine plans, a missing lady aristocra...

October on the island of Rhodes is a veritable paradise of privacy, beauty, and calm—or so Hercule Poirot has imagined. The reality is quite different, as the arrival of famed Chanel beauty Valentine Chantry causes a ripple of malice to be felt across the island. She captivates at least one married man with her wiles and good looks, as her brooding husband watches on. Poirot senses that someone has murder in their heart, and he guesses right. As things come to a tragic head, only Poirot th...

Read by Hugh Fraser

Just as World War I is drawing to an end, the prime minister is kidnapped. It is down to Hercule Poirot to locate him before a crucial conference, to avert an international crisis.

Read by Hugh Fraser

Throwing on an almost convincing French accent, Tommy is determined to act the Great Detective Hanaud to his and Tuppence’s latest, lovely client. Miss Hargreaves has recently received a box of chocolates from nobody knows who, and, due to her dislike of chocolates, was the only one to not fall afoul of the arsenic-spiked treats. But, Miss Hargreaves is not the first recipient of such a gift; three other large country houses have received arsenic-laced chocolates. Miss Hargreaves is holdin...

Hercule Poirot is reluctant to answer a letter demanding his services by the reclusive and eccentric millionaire Benedict Farley. Farley wants him to diagnose his recurring dream of death, in which he shoots himself at precisely 3:28 p.m. Then, a week after dismissing Poirot, the dream becomes real. Each member of the Farley household that Poirot questions seems to be more puzzled than the one before. Was Benedict Farley’s death a suicide, or are darker forces at work?

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford wait anxiously for a letter from Russia that may contain information of international importance hidden beneath the stamp. The letter is anticipated by more than just the Beresfords, and they must fight to keep the information from getting into the wrong hands.